Chapter 8.1

After the delivery incident passed, Su Ying spent a few more days at home eating and relaxing. When she opened her account, she noticed many fans had left messages on her previous videos looking for her.

[I’m such a big fan, why hasn’t there been any updates yet?]
[Maybe she’s preparing better videos? But it’s been quite a while.]
[Ah, I miss my “meal accompaniment” videos.]

Seeing her fans’ comments warmed Su Ying’s heart. But she knew it was time to get back into work mode. She opened her laptop and uploaded all the videos she had shot in S City, organizing them one by one. By the time she had sorted and edited them into several clips and scheduled their release, the entire day had flown by.

The first video she released was filmed on the day she arrived at the hotel. The view from the balcony directly overlooked the Bund, capturing beautiful scenes at various times of the day. The breathtaking scenery was an instant hit, and the comment section immediately became lively.

[Ah, the familiar style, but this time in S City!]
[I know this hotel! One night here costs thousands!]
[Such huge floor-to-ceiling windows and balcony, and that view is stunning. I’m jealous!]

The Bund had a different charm at every hour: blue skies and white clouds during the day, warm orange sunsets in the afternoon, and dazzling lights at night. Through Su Ying’s lens, her followers got to see another side of the Bund.

The second video was released at 12:30 a.m. and showed Su Ying and her family eating and exploring the night market. As soon as it went live, a swarm of foodies gathered in the comments.

[I can’t stand it, I need to go to the night market too.]
[That butterfly pastry is so good. If you go to S City, you have to buy it from this store—local approved.]
[Finally not just internet-famous shops, these are places us locals actually go.]

With the two videos boosting her account, her traffic skyrocketed, and her follower count steadily rose.

—-

The next morning, after breakfast, Su Ying opened her laptop again. Having been home for a while now, she decided she wanted to renovate the house. The decorations in the home dated back to her grandfather’s generation. Her parents had gotten married, raised children, and watched Su Ying grow up here, so the house was at least fifty years old. The timber-framed home was sturdy but old and decayed in places, though it still carried a warm, lived-in feel.

Because Ying Dad (Ying Father) was often doing small repairs and Ying Ma (Ying Mother) was a clean and tidy person, the house had always been kept neat. But Su Ying had long dreamed of renovating it to make it more comfortable—especially now that her parents were getting older. She wanted to install age-friendly features to make their daily lives easier.

Now that she was home, it was time to set things in motion. Over the years, she had saved quite a bit, at least over a million yuan. Plus, her current income from the video account brought in a few thousand yuan a month. Next, she needed to figure out how to convince her parents.

She searched online for home renovation videos suitable for old timber houses like theirs. Most designs fell into three categories:

1. Modern style – laying bright white tiles, cementing and waterproofing the exterior walls, making the entire house brighter.
2. Simple European style – wooden floors and modern, leisurely furniture with a more designer feel.
3. Traditional Chinese style – preserving the original structure, repairing it, and pairing it with warm lighting for a classic, elegant look.

Su Ying compiled examples of all three styles to discuss with her parents at lunch and get their opinions. She wanted to do the renovation herself as much as possible. She had plenty of time since there was no farm work at the moment. Anything she couldn’t handle, she could hire local villagers to help with. If everything went according to plan, the renovations could be finished before the New Year.

—-

At midday, Su Ying went to the small village market. It wasn’t a formal market, just a place where villagers sold their homegrown fruits and vegetables, fresh fish and shrimp from the streams, and produce from local farms.

To her surprise, she found someone selling crabs—river crabs, also called mitten crabs. Many outside vendors tried to pass these off as hairy crabs from Yangcheng Lake, but to be honest, Su Ying preferred saltwater blue crabs, which had a richer flavor. Still, being able to buy mitten crabs here was already a treat.

Each crab weighed about 100 grams, and there were both males and females. It was the perfect season for crabs in November. After bargaining, Su Ying bought 2.5 catties (1.25 kg) for 50 yuan per catty—a full basket’s worth, enough to feast on. She decided to make a crab banquet for lunch.

When she returned home, Ying Dad had already come back from playing chess. Seeing the basket, he took it and was surprised to find it full of crabs. “These are fresh! Should we steam them?”

Su Ying thought for a moment. “Let’s steam the females and make spicy fried crab with the rest.”

Ying Dad nodded, opened the basket, and began cleaning the crabs, while Su Ying went to the vegetable patch behind the house to dig up a piece of old ginger. Old ginger, as the name suggested, was more pungent and warming than young ginger. It could also be used for pickling and was perfect for removing the “cold” nature of crabs.

After washing the fresh soil off the ginger, Su Ying sliced it into thick pieces to place on the crabs while steaming. Ying Dad picked out the biggest female crabs, poured Shaoxing wine over them, and let them get drunk so they wouldn’t struggle and lose their legs during steaming. He placed them belly-up in the steamer, put a slice of ginger on each, and set them to steam for fifteen minutes.

Meanwhile, Su Ying chopped the remaining crabs in half and dusted the cut sides with sweet potato starch. She heated oil in a wok, fried the crabs cut-side down until set, then removed them. She added a spoonful of broad bean paste to the wok, stir-frying until it released red oil, then tossed in onions, garlic, and scallions for aroma. Finally, she added the crabs back, stir-frying over high heat with a splash of soy sauce and dark soy for color. The spicy fried crab was done.

When the steamer was opened, the crabs inside were bright red, fully cooked, and looked incredibly tempting. Su Ying couldn’t help but admire the ancient person who first dared to eat crabs. Thanks to them, everyone now got to enjoy such a delicacy.