Chapter 6: Hairy Crabs

“Xiao Lu, are you feeling better now? Are you still feverish?”

Lu Zecheng’s name was changed by himself after he went to the army. When he was at the Lu family’s house, he was called Lu Da. Li Fang was obviously not used to calling him by his new name, so she called him Xiao Lu instead.

“Auntie, I’m much better.”

“You do look a little better.” She said this and poured him a glass of warm water.

Before, he and Xia Ning’an were the only ones at home. He had been holding back from drinking water to avoid going to the toilet. Now that the family was about to come back, he drank the whole cup of water. Li Fang knew what he was thinking.

“You’re at home now, so don’t be a stranger. If you’re thirsty or hungry, just say so. Tomorrow, I’ll ask Xiao Hao to come back at noon and in the afternoon.”

“No need, Auntie. I’m already causing you all so much trouble.”

“We’re family. That’s settled.”

Just as they were talking, Xia Ninghao came back.

The first thing he did after washing his hands was to come in and see Lu Zecheng.

He carried him to the toilet and came back to wash his hands for him.

Xia Ning’an saw this and told her second brother that the new towel was Lu Zecheng’s.

Xia Ninghao saw such a good towel and thought it was brought back from Lu Zecheng’s army. Lu Zecheng thought it was prepared by the Xia family. Both of them exclaimed that such soft and thick towels were rare.

After the bowls and chopsticks were set, Xia Changhai hadn’t come home yet. He should have been home by this time.

Xia Ning’an served all the dishes into bowls and brought them out. She had just finished setting them when Xia Changhai pushed a wooden wheelchair in and carried a goose in each hand.

It turned out that after he got off work, he went to the village secretary’s house with the village secretary to get the wheelchair. The wheelchair was used by the secretary’s father and had been left for over a year, but it was still usable. He borrowed it. The secretary’s wife also gave him a goose, saying it was for Lu Da to replenish his body. He couldn’t refuse, so he brought it back.

Everyone in the family thought the wheelchair was just what they needed. Li Fang took the goose, untied the rope, and put it in the backyard to raise. They would kill it in a few days. There was plenty of food to replenish his body now. When she came back from work, several families who were close to them had brought things over: old hens, eggs, brown sugar, and vegetables.

They would wash the wheelchair after dinner and it would be ready to use tomorrow.

Xia Changhai went into the room and saw that Lu Zecheng looked better. He asked him if he wanted to eat at the table or in his room.

Lu Zecheng was about to say he would eat in his room when Xia Ning’an came in and said, “Dad, you and Second Brother carry Zecheng Ge out to eat together. He’s been cooped up in the room all afternoon. It’ll be more lively if we eat together, and we can take care of him.”

Lu Zecheng heard Xia Ning’an call him Zecheng Ge for the first time. He felt inexplicably happy.

Xia Changhai agreed, “It’s a good chance for us to chat. Let’s eat together.”

Xia Ning’an filled a bowl of chicken soup for Lu Zecheng, with a chicken leg and chicken breast in it. She also put some fish meat and eggplant that she had carefully deboned on a separate plate for him.

She put a soup spoon and a steamed bun on the table beside him.

Xia Ninghao looked at the dishes today and said, “Brother-in-law, it’s good that you’re here. This is the first time my little sister has cooked at home. I didn’t expect her to be such a good cook!”

He was immediately knocked on the head by Xia Ning’an, who was carrying a plate of hairy crabs. “You can’t even shut your mouth when you’re eating.”

“Huh? Little sister, what are you doing with this? It’s not good to eat, and there’s no meat.”

“You don’t understand. The more shelled things are, the more I love to eat them. Don’t fight with me for them later.”

Xia Ning’an was from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so she was very good at eating this.

After preparing the food for Lu Zecheng, she picked up a crab and started to dismantle it. In a short while, she had separated the meat and shell. She put the crab meat and crab roe in a bowl and gave it to Li Fang. “Mom, dip it in this sauce and eat it. It’s delicious.”

She picked up another one and continued to dismantle it. After dismantling the second one, she gave it to Xia Changhai. “Dad, you eat too.”

The old couple ate the crab meat that their daughter had peeled for them and kept saying how delicious it was. Xia Ninghao also looked eager to try and followed his little sister’s example to eat the crab.

She gave the third one to Lu Zecheng, put the sauce in the bowl, mixed it, and then placed it next to Lu Zecheng’s hand, letting him hold the bowl and eat the crab first.

All three of them found the crab to be very delicious.

Xia Ninghao saw that his little sister had given three to others but not to him. He looked pitifully at the crab shell and struggled with it.

Xia Ning’an found it funny and quickly peeled one for him. He happily ate it.

“It’s so delicious. Little sister, you eat too.”

Seeing that Lu Zecheng had finished the crab meat in his bowl, she took the bowl. “Zecheng Ge, you haven’t fully recovered yet, so you can only eat one crab.”

Lu Zecheng smiled at the corner of his mouth and gently replied, “I’ll listen to you.”

Xia Ma filled a bowl of chicken soup for her daughter. There was a chicken leg left in the pot, so she decisively put it in her daughter’s bowl.

Thinking of the fish in the bucket, Xia Ning’an and Li Fang said,

“Mom, I caught a lot of fish today. Later, you can pick two big ones and send them to Big Brother’s house.”

“No need to send them. Keep the fish for Lu Da to replenish his body.”

“Mom, go take a look. There are a lot of fish in the bucket. I’ll go catch some more after we finish eating,” Xia Ning’an said casually.

Li Fang insisted, “Fish are hard to catch in the river. Let’s keep them.”

Xia Ninghao said, “Mom, Little Sister is amazing. She caught some really big fish. You won’t believe it. Go take a look after you eat. It’s okay to send two to Big Brother’s house. Tomorrow, Little Sister and I will go fishing together.”

Li Fang thought that Big Brother’s family had just sent over chicken and eggs, so she would send two fish as a return gift. She said, “Alright, I’ll send them over after I eat, when there are fewer people around.”

“Okay, we’ll go out together later. I’ll send one to Yanzi’s house too.”

Xia Ning’an knew from the original owner’s memories that she had a good friend named Wang Yan. Two days ago, because she was making a fuss about breaking off the engagement, Wang Yan came to persuade her, and the two of them had a falling out. This was one of the few friends the original owner had. She was a feisty and righteous person, and she had always protected the original owner, who had a meek personality. Xia Ning’an actually liked Wang Yan’s personality. She had good morals and was worth befriending.

After the family finished their delicious meal, Li Fang went to wash the dishes.

Xia Ning’an pulled Xia Changhai aside. “Dad, I want to ask Sister Xiaojuan to temporarily take over my work in the village. I’ll be taking care of Lu Zecheng for the next few months, so I won’t be going to work. Do you think that’s okay?”

“That’s fine. That’s what I was planning to do anyway.”

“Then it’s settled. Tomorrow, I’m going to the county to see if there are any medicines for his eyes. I’ll buy some and bring them back.”

“That’s important too.” He said this and went into the room to get twenty yuan and a cloth ticket for Xia Ning’an.

“Buy some fabric you like at the supply and marketing cooperative with the remaining money and make some clothes when you come back.”

“Dad, I still have clothes. I don’t need any.”

“Take it. Be good.”

Xia Changhai took the wheelchair to the river to wash it. Xia Ninghao boiled water to prepare for Lu Zecheng’s bath. Xia Ning’an went into the room to chat with him.

The two of them sat there in silence, unable to find any topics to talk about. Xia Ning’an simply went into the room and took out a geography book to read. She needed to learn more about the geographical situation of this parallel world.

They could discuss the contents of the book while reading. For a while, Lu Zecheng was lost in Xia Ning’an’s gentle and sweet voice.

Until Xia Ninghao carried the bathtub into the room. Their house didn’t have a separate bathroom. They bathed by carrying a wooden tub into the room.

In the summer, they could bathe in the river. When the weather turned cold, they would bathe once every ten days or half a month, so not having a bathroom didn’t seem inconvenient.

After adjusting the water temperature, Xia Ning’an cut a small piece of unscented soap from the space.

Xia Ninghao looked at it curiously. Xia Ning’an told him, “I made several bars of soap this afternoon. You can use them in a few days. Don’t feel bad about using them.”

Xia Ninghao said in admiration, “Little Sister, how did you learn to do this?”

“I learned from someone. I also made dishwashing liquid. You can use it tomorrow. You won’t have to use wood ash to wash dishes anymore.”

She finished speaking and patted her second brother’s shoulder reassuringly.

He usually did the dishes at home. He was overjoyed to hear that he wouldn’t have to use wood ash anymore.

Lu Zecheng listened to his brother and sister’s banter and felt curious about his little fiancée. She seemed to know a lot of things.

She knew how to make soap and dishwashing liquid in the countryside. These were not things that a village girl would know.

Xia Ning’an didn’t think about Lu Zecheng’s thoughts. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she said she was tired and went back to her room.

She closed the door and went into the space.

She saw the things that Bond had cleaned up all afternoon. They were really a mixed bag.

There were laptops of various brands, iPads, various watches, phones, earphones, cameras, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, hats, clothes, car keys, various bags, and even more diverse things in the bags, as well as skin care products, makeup, and so on.

She chose two models of men’s and women’s watches that could be used in the 1970s, two of each. There were some prescription drugs in the bags that weren’t available at the pharmacy, such as medicines for heart disease, high blood pressure, and so on. She also chose skin care products, a few simple black, white, and gray clothes, a Polaroid camera, and so on. She asked Bond to take out new ones every day and put them in the warehouse. The rest were temporarily stored in a fixed location in the warehouse.

Bond put the new copies of all the food in the farm, as well as the old-fashioned radio, sewing machine, TV, electric fan, washing machine, grain and feed from the farm, and the picked fruits and vegetables from the nostalgic themed courtyard, into the warehouse every day.

After giving these instructions, she asked Xiaomiao, “Can I use the gene optimization agent now?”

“Yes, you can. It takes three months for the optimization to take effect after using it.”

“That’s best. If I suddenly change drastically, it will scare people. It’s best to change gradually.”

She chose the most luxurious suite on the top floor. Bond had already replaced all the items here with new ones. Xia Ning’an opened the wardrobe and found that it was already filled with clothes suitable for this era, chosen by Bond. She didn’t know where he had found them, but they were all brand new. Even skin care products were prepared in the room.

Xia Ning’an took a face mask and went to the bathroom to take a bath.

Her skin was very dry.

The north was dry, and in this era, the only skin care products were snow cream and lard, which not everyone could afford. Dry skin was normal.

She drank a large glass of Farm Spring Water, applied a face mask, and lay in the bathtub.

She listened to music, took a bath, and thought about her future plans.

Tomorrow, she would first go to the county to take a look around. Most importantly, she wanted to get a radio for Lu Zecheng. Now that he couldn’t see and didn’t like to talk, she was worried that he would be lost in his thoughts at home. It would be better if he had a voice to keep him company.

She would go to the department store to see what was available for sale in this era, and then she would go to the legendary black market.

She had to get some money first. Thinking about the original owner’s 2 yuan and 10 cents, she couldn’t sleep peacefully. She had been inexplicably transported here, and she didn’t know where the original owner had gone. Now that she had the space and the system as her backing, she would use them to help the original owner’s family live a good life in this era. It would be a kind of compensation for the original owner and her family. After all, she didn’t want to stay in this small mountain village forever. If she had the chance, she still wanted to go out. So, she would be good to her family for the next few years. Who knows, maybe she would return to her own world in a few years.