After finishing their tour of the entire Yue Lao Temple, it was just in time for dinner, so the group headed to the Restaurant for their meal.

Recently, Qiao Wanqing’s vegetarian restaurant launched a new summer product to help beat the heat: vegetable jelly.

However, this dish is not completely vegetarian.

The gelatin sheets used to create the gel texture are derived from animal bones, so the menu clearly indicates this.

This precaution is to avoid any inconvenience for customers who strictly avoid animal products.

The vegetable jelly typically includes okra, cauliflower, asparagus, zucchini, carrots, cabbage, and cucumber strips.

The cabbage is blanched and used to line the bottom and sides of a storage container.

Then, each type of blanched vegetable is neatly layered inside, with each layer being drizzled with a mixed vegetable broth containing dissolved gelatin sheets.

Once all the vegetables are in place, the top is also covered with a layer of cabbage.

The container is then sealed and refrigerated until the jelly sets.

After setting, it is taken out and cut open from the side, revealing neatly arranged layers of vegetables, looking particularly appealing.

When ready to eat, the jelly is sliced horizontally into pieces and drizzled with a sauce made from minced garlic, chili oil, soy sauce, cilantro, and fragrant vinegar.

This dish is especially enjoyable during the summer.

The vegetable jelly features vibrant colors of red, green, and white, and has a crystal-clear appearance.

Its texture is tender, crisp, and smooth, with a bouncy feel when bitten.

Dipped in the flavorful sauce, it tastes deliciously fresh and is not greasy at all. It’s a refreshing and popular choice for summer, well-received by diners.

Lu Yunfei and Lort were thoroughly satisfied with their meal.

After dinner, Lu Yunfei, rubbing her stuffed belly, said, “I’m leaving tomorrow and I don’t want to go. It’s all my cousin’s fault for telling me there was nothing fun here and that I could see everything in one day, so I only planned for a weekend trip.”

Gu Yanqu shrugged. “Isn’t there only one place to visit? You’ll have nothing to do tomorrow.”

“I can eat here!” Lu Yunfei shamelessly said. “Vegetarian food is green, healthy, and helps with weight loss.”

“Give it a rest,” Gu Yanqu said, glancing at her sideways.

Lu Yunfei had a bad feeling, which was confirmed when Gu Yanqu continued, “Wasn’t it you who ate only vegetables for three days to lose weight and then went crazy on WeChat at midnight, craving meat?”

“…” Lu Yunfei was ruthlessly reminded of her past embarrassment and decided not to talk to him anymore.

Instead, she turned to Qiao Wanqing, who was feeding Koukou, and asked, “Cousin-in-law, are there any activities around here in the evening?”

Evening activities?

There really weren’t many in the countryside.

But: “Does catching cicadas count?”

During the hot summer nights, there were a lot of cicada nymphs on the mountain.

At night, they would emerge from the ground and climb up the tree trunks.

At that time, it was easy to catch them, and they were delicious when fried.

Qiao Wanqing initially didn’t dare to eat them, but last time Ah Lai caught some and brought half a pound to their house.

Grandma Qiao fried them, and seeing how much she enjoyed them, Qiao Wanqing couldn’t resist trying one.

Although cicadas are insects and not very appealing in appearance, they were crispy, fragrant, and spicy when eaten.

Qiao Wanqing, the foodie, was instantly won over, and even started to find their appearance cute.

Later, during summer nights when Koukou was asleep, Qiao Wanqing and Grandma Qiao would go to the mountain to catch cicadas.

Since there were fewer people catching them in their area, they could usually gather over a pound in less than two hours.

Selling them at the market fetched about 70 yuan per pound.

Lu Yunfei wasn’t aware that cicadas could be eaten, but she found the idea of catching them quite interesting.

Such rural activities were things she had only seen in videos or read about in books.

Now, given the opportunity to experience it firsthand, she was eager to try.

The woods next to the Yue Lao Temple were filled with cicadas.

Since no one lived there, even fewer people went there to catch them, making it an even better spot for catching a lot.

However, the mountain also had some tombstones, which made Qiao Wanqing nervous.

She wasn’t familiar with the mountain, and bumping into a tombstone in the dark would be terrifying.

So, she decided to catch cicadas on the mountain near their home instead.

To prevent Lu Yunfei and Lort from being too scared to catch the insects with their bare hands, Qiao Wanqing made a special stop in town to buy gloves and flashlights.

Once it got dark, they headed to the nearby woods to catch cicadas.

Qiao Wanqing wanted Gu Yanqu to stay home with Koukou.

The last time they went cicada catching, he seemed more interested in spending alone time with her than actually catching cicadas.

They barely caught any that night, and Gu Yanqu took the opportunity to tease her, leaving her flustered.

Such behavior, Qiao Wanqing thought, should disqualify Gu Yanqu from cicada catching.

However, Gu Yanqu had a different concern.

Who knew if Lort, who might have intentions toward his wife, would try to take advantage of the darkness?

So he insisted on going along!

Seeing his determination, Qiao Wanqing had no choice but to leave Koukou with Grandma Qiao.

They snuck out, avoiding their son, and headed to catch cicadas.

That evening, the weather was cool.

The path they took was narrow, and Gu Yanqu insisted on holding Qiao Wanqing’s hand, causing them to lag behind.

This left Lort to lead the way, with Lu Yunfei, who was already fed up with their public displays of affection, rolling her eyes at her cousin.

Though her disdain was only expressed inwardly.

“This forest has plenty of cicadas. I’ll show you how to catch them,” Qiao Wanqing said as they reached the woods.

In the quiet forest, where the only sounds were the chirping of insects, Lu Yunfei felt a bit scared and stuck close to Qiao Wanqing, following her to a tree.

When Qiao Wanqing shone the flashlight on the tree, revealing three or four insects slowly climbing up, Lu Yunfei’s scalp tingled, and she reflexively stepped back, shouting, “There are bugs!”

Qiao Wanqing, who wasn’t scared, was startled by Lu Yunfei’s reaction and patted her chest, saying, “You scared me.”

Gu Yanqu shook his head helplessly. “Those are cicadas. Isn’t that what you came to catch?”

Lu Yunfei: “…”

These cicadas looked different from the ones she’d seen online.

She thought cicadas had wings and could fly, but these were just crawling up the tree!

Lort, however, wasn’t afraid.

He looked curiously at the slowly climbing cicadas and said, “They look plump and tasty.”

“…” The acceptance level of men is indeed different.

Qiao Wanqing quickly grabbed the four cicadas and put them into a bag.

“That’s how you catch them. It’s simple. Look for tree trunks. You’ll often see them climbing up, and you just put them in the bag.”

Lu Yunfei was still a bit scared, but Lort was eager and interested.

The forest was small and flat, making it easy for the four of them to search the trees in a small area.

Qiao Wanqing and Lu Yunfei paired up, each taking one side.

“Do you want to give it a try?” Qiao Wanqing asked, noticing that Lu Yunfei, who had been excited earlier, was now hesitant.

The cicadas, short and plump with many legs, looked black and a bit shiny under the flashlight, making her reluctant to catch them.

“No, cousin-in-law, you do it. I’ll hold the flashlight for you!”

“Aren’t you wearing gloves? What’s there to be afraid of? Come on, try it quickly, this one is about to crawl up.”

Lu Yunfei looked at the insect crawling up the tree with its many legs and hesitated for a while before daring to reach out and grab it.

It turned out that the cicada was just an insect, with no special tricks.

Once caught, it was at her mercy, helplessly waving its little legs without any resistance.

After her first successful catch, Lu Yunfei grew bolder and started catching the cicadas while Qiao Wanqing held the flashlight and pointed them out.

They were getting into the rhythm when suddenly they heard a noise from Gu Yanqing’s direction.

The two of them hurried over, and Qiao Wanqing anxiously asked, “What happened?”

“My hand got a small cut, it’s nothing.”

Qiao Wanqing grabbed his hand to inspect it.

She saw that half his palm had a deep gash, with blood trickling out. “Nothing? The wound is so deep!”

It must hurt a lot.

“It’ll be fine soon,” Gu Yanqu tried to reassure her, though his furrowed brows betrayed the pain he was feeling.

Lort came over as well, and, being prepared, he had a handkerchief.

“Wait a moment,” Gu Yanqing said.

Qiao Wanqing held the flashlight and looked around, finally finding the herb she was looking for.

She picked a few leaves, chewed them up, and then spat them into her hand. “This is for stopping the bleeding. Grandma used it on me before when I got cut.”

Lu Yunfei helped wipe the blood off Gu Yanqing’s wound, and Qiao Wanqing carefully applied the herbal paste to the still-bleeding cut.

The injury seemed to be from a sharp tree branch, both long and deep.

Feeling distressed, Qiao Wanqing meticulously applied the herbal remedy, and only when the bleeding began to slow did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Seeing her furrowed brow, Gu Yanqu reached out with his uninjured hand to touch her face. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt.”

Qiao Wanqing, eyes downcast, retorted, “Who’s worried about you?”

Lu Yunfei and Lort looked skyward, trying to give them some privacy.

Given the situation, they couldn’t continue catching cicadas.

Luckily, they had already caught nearly a pound, which would be enough for a stir-fry.

Back at home, Qiao Wanqing soaked the cicada nymphs in salted water, then found some hydrogen peroxide to clean Gu Yanqing’s wound.

Koukou, initially upset that his parents had sneaked out without him, was no longer angry when he saw his dad injured.

He came over to help blow on his dad’s hand, saying, “Koukou blow, no, no pain.”

Gu Yanqing patted his son’s head. “Yes, when Koukou blows, daddy doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Koukou, encouraged, blew a few more times.

Seeing his little face turn red, Qiao Wanqing worried he might get light-headed.

“Come, Koukou, let mommy disinfect daddy’s hand so it heals faster.”

Koukou obediently stepped aside.

Qiao Wanqing and Gu Yanqing sat on the sofa, and Koukou, too short to see, fetched a small plastic stool to stand on.

If an older child had done this, Lu Yunfei wouldn’t have thought much of it.

But seeing Koukou, so small yet clever enough to fetch a stool to see better, left her amazed at his intelligence.

“My little nephew, you’re just too smart.” Lu Yunfei couldn’t help but marvel at Koukou’s intelligence, thinking that exceptional genes indeed produce exceptional children.

Normally, Koukou would be delighted to receive compliments, but today, with his dad injured, he was too focused to care.

He watched his mom carefully clean his dad’s wound with a serious expression.

The hydrogen peroxide stung a bit, making Gu Yanqing wince.

Seeing this, Koukou grabbed his uninjured hand and, mimicking the way adults comfort him, said, “Daddy, daddy be good, no, no pain.”

Touched by his son’s concern, Gu Yanqing relaxed and pulled Koukou onto his lap, kissing his cheek. “Daddy doesn’t hurt, and Koukou is very good.”

But Koukou insisted on getting down, saying, “Daddy hurts, no, no hug~”

This action warmed everyone’s hearts.

Children truly are their parents’ little treasures.

Once the wound was cleaned, Qiao Wanqing applied medicine and bandaged it.

Thankfully, they had all the necessary supplies at home.

Otherwise, a trip to the clinic at this hour would have been quite troublesome.

With the wound properly dressed, Koukou sat beside Gu Yanqing, leaning against him obediently, which melted Qiao Wanqing’s heart.

Even her usually mischievous son could be so considerate.

Lort and Lu Yunfei planned to stay at a hotel that night.

Qiao Wanqing, fearing they wouldn’t come back the next day, decided to cook the cicadas right away.

They wouldn’t be too filling, so they could serve as a post-dinner snack.

Grandma Qiao helped start the fire while Qiao Wanqing washed the cicadas.

Lort, clearly interested, came to the kitchen to watch.

“Why do you have to wash them so many times? Are they that dirty?” Lort asked, seeing Qiao Wanqing change the water several times, though the cicadas looked clean to him.

“These come from the soil. They look clean, but they actually have a lot of dirt and sand. So, we need to wash them several times to get rid of all the mud.”

As she explained, Qiao Wanqing took out the finally clean cicadas and set them aside to dry.

Since both Lu Yunfei and Lort could handle some spice, Qiao Wanqing prepared dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns as seasonings.

She then asked Lort, “You don’t eat garlic, right?”

Lort indeed doesn’t eat garlic, but he has never mentioned it.

Unexpectedly, Qiao Wanqing also noticed. he said, “Yes, Miss Qiao, you’re very observant.”

Qiao Wanqing cleaned up the table herself, and from where Lort was sitting, she picked out some garlic.

Today’s vegetable dish wasn’t dipped in the garlic sauce, which had minced garlic, but instead in the soy sauce provided on the table for customers, which was easy to notice.

After cleaning the condiments, Qiao Wanqing washed some spring onions and chopped them into pieces, planning to stir-fry them later for added flavor.

Watching Qiao Wanqing skillfully chopping the spring onions, Lort praised, “Miss Qiao is not only beautiful but also skilled at cooking and thoughtful. If you didn’t have a boyfriend, I would really want to pursue you.”

Qiao Wanqing: “…”

Just then, Kouko came in with Gu Yanqing, who was here to see the cicada: “…”