Transmigration: The Little Chef Calls The Shots-Chapter 1481 - 300, Go to Sleep (17)

In an era where aquaculture entirely depended on the whims of nature, crabs were not a year-round delicacy. Generally, from mid-September to December was the maturation period for river crabs. Around the fifteenth of September, female crabs had full, bulging shells with tender meat, while in October, male crabs were rich in creamy roe and had plentiful, delicious flesh—all prime time for eating crabs.

Now, in the late autumn, was the perfect time to enjoy female crabs.

When Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng returned to Dong Tian, Xu Muqing and Wei Borong were in the backyard bickering over a basin of river crabs!

Yes, bickering!

"Hey! Why did you hit me, huh? You domineering brute, how could you hit someone?" This was Xu Muqing’s voice.

"Humph, I did hit you! Who else should I hit when you’re obviously the smallest and thinnest? Haha!" That was Wei Borong’s voice.

Hearing Wei Borong’s words, Lin Yuan couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows, even Xia Zheng burst out laughing. The smallest and thinnest? Was he talking about Xu Muqing, that fatty? It seemed there was a reason why the people of the Capital city called Wei Borong ’Second Fool’.

But when the two approached the pair quarreling by the basin, they couldn’t help but snicker.

This wasn’t them fighting at all; it was clearly the crabs in their hands that were battling!

Wei Borong was pinching a large crab that shimmered with a blue-black glow between his two fingers, making it raise its large pincers to attack the smaller crab opposite.

To call the one in Wei Borong’s hands a ’large crab’ was an overstatement, as it was only slightly bigger than the rest in the basin, and was only about as big as a man’s palm.

As for Xu Muqing’s crab, it was even smaller. She was holding it with her plump fingers, bumping its head towards the bigger crab while chanting energetically, "Charge! Charge!"

Lin Yuan found it amusing; even for a crab, this girl, the daughter of the Minister of War, turned it into a little soldier ready for battle.

Hearing the laughter, Xu Muqing and Wei Borong both looked up and chuckled sheepishly.

Wei Borong, a grown man, was also playing such childish games, seemed a bit embarrassed.

Xu Muqing felt no such embarrassment, holding her small crab excitedly and shouting at Lin Yuan, "Yuanyuan, look! Isn’t this crab big? Shall we eat it later? It’s my invincible General, already beaten up several of Brother Rong’s Great Generals!"

"I let you win." Wei Borong couldn’t help but correct her, but as he saw Xu Muqing’s excited little face, his voice got softer and softer, until it faded away.

"Alright, we’ll feast on crabs this noon."

Lin Yuan nodded and crouched down to take a look at the basin full of river crabs.

These two really were greedy; were all the crabs caught by the fishermen bought and stuffed into this large basin?

The size of the river crabs was not big, but Lin Yuan noticed that the basin was full of female crabs, all with green backs and white bellies, lively and squirming around.

River crabs must be eaten alive, and the heavier, the better. If a crab is light or has a soft shell, it’s either empty or filled with water.

"These crabs look great! Each one so plump!" Lin Yuan couldn’t help but exclaim in praise.

Hearing Lin Yuan’s praise, Xu Muqing immediately hugged Wei Borong’s arm excitedly and proudly announced: "It was Brother Rong who picked them out; all those fishermen were saying how awesome Brother Rong is!"

"I read about it in a book." Wei Borong chuckled with a shining gleam in his eyes, thoroughly enjoying the compliment from his beloved.

At the sight of this couple’s public display of affection, Xia Zheng silently rolled his eyes and took the opportunity to crouch down beside Lin Yuan, resting his head on her shoulder.

Lin Yuan had just touched the crabs and her hands were grimy. Otherwise, she would definitely have pushed away this guy who was taking advantage of the situation.

Crabs are easy ingredients to prepare. Lin Yuan, seeing so many crabs and thinking about Yan Ruchun and Wei Boyu, who were coming later, decided to steam a portion and then make some spicy crabs.

Xu Muqing loves spicy food; she didn’t know what kind of flavors Yan Ruchun preferred.

Hearing Lin Yuan mutter to herself while she was laughing and joking with Wei Borong, Xu Muqing quickly chimed in: "Stinky Mouth favors light flavors, but she can’t handle spicy food."

After saying that, Xu Muqing seemed to think of something, chuckled mischievously, and looked at Lin Yuan: "Yuanyuan, make all of today’s dishes spicy, so she’ll feel fire in her mouth! Haha, after that, Stinky Mouth won’t be called Stinky Mouth anymore, she’ll be called Spicy Mouth, haha."

Lin Yuan twitched the corner of her mouth. How come she had never noticed that this chubby, honest-looking, and cute Xu Muqing was actually a little devil? Just look at all the mischief brewing! freёweɓnovel_com

Of course, Lin Yuan wouldn’t conspire with Xu Muqing, so she stuck with her original plan to steam a portion of the crabs and prepare the rest as spicy crabs and sauce-blast river crabs.

Steamed crab doesn’t require much technique, one just needs to steam the fattier looking river crabs in a steamer until cooked.

Perhaps because the last time she made sugared lotus root with Lin Yuan was so much fun, this time, without needing Lin Yuan’s instruction, Xu Muqing enthusiastically volunteered to pick out the fattest and most beautiful river crabs.

And of course, there was the crab-picking expert Wei Borong.

Watching the two of them in high spirits, Lin Yuan couldn’t help but laugh. Then she looked at Xia Zheng; he had come back last night to help her check the account books, was woken up early by her this morning, and now that he had calmed down, appeared quite worn out.

"Go and take a nap. I’ll call you when the crabs are ready."

Lin Yuan felt a little sorry for him. He had just come back from Xiliang, and next, he would have to deal with Yao Hanai’s matters, followed by the Crown Prince of Xiliang. It’s rare to have a day off today, so better to let him get a good sleep!

Xia Zheng was truly tired. Although he didn’t have to fight on the battlefield in Xiliang, just hearing the drumbeats outside every day made him anxious. It felt scoundrel-like to let his soldiers fight while he was comfortably sleeping in his room.

However, he was indeed exhausted, yet he couldn’t help but glance at the door, where he could vaguely see the figures of Yan Ruchun and Wei Boyu entering.

"I won’t sleep, I wouldn’t be able to rest easy even if I went back."

Lin Yuan was both frustrated and amused. It seems this guy didn’t trust Wei Boyu! Is he really worried that, aside from having snatched his first shop, he might also snatch away his woman?

"Alright, go to sleep. If you stay here, you’ll just end up arguing with that guy! Annoying!"

Lin Yuan pushed Xia Zheng towards the second floor, but the guy was so heavy that she barely moved him a few steps despite trying hard.

Listening to Lin Yuan heaving with effort behind him, Xia Zheng smirked with mischief. Although he and Wei Boyu didn’t see eye to eye, he was still confident in his relationship with Lin Yuan.

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