Chapter 55 Seafood Dinner

After the rice was cooked, Qian Xiaolan had also cleaned all the sea cucumbers. She also scrubbed eight abalone, two blue crabs, and four conchs. She scooped some hot water from the back pot and soaked a handful of dried mushrooms she had brought from home. She served the rice, put water in the pot, added ginger slices, and put the conchs in. She brought the water to a boil over high heat, then reduced the heat and simmered for five minutes before taking them out. She put all the sea cucumbers in the pot, stirred constantly until they set and hardened, and then took them out. She washed the pot, added fresh water, put in ginger slices and abalone. When the water boiled, she simmered for another ten minutes, added some salt, took a sip, and it was incredibly delicious. She didn’t need any other seasonings. She served it.

Today, she hadn’t prepared ribs or chicken, otherwise, the soup would have been even more delicious.

During this time, she took four sea cucumbers, cleaned them again, and sliced them. She used a bamboo skewer to pick out the conch meat, removed the bitter gall, cut off the tail, and sliced it. She washed a handful of scallions and sliced them into sections. She peeled a clove of garlic and sliced it. She sliced two chili peppers. She washed the dried mushrooms, squeezed out the water, and sliced them.

She heated the pot, added oil, and sautéed the chili peppers, white scallions, garlic slices, and dried mushrooms until fragrant. She added the conch slices and stir-fried them while adding soy sauce, vinegar, salt, sugar, and other seasonings. Then, she added the scallion segments, and the aroma filled the air. Finally, she added a light layer of cornstarch slurry, stir-fried the conch slices until done, and served them.

She used the same method for the sea cucumbers, but this time, she didn’t add chili peppers. The taste was still good.

For the last dish, she cut the blue crabs in half, heated the oil in the pot, added some water, and pan-fried them for fifteen minutes.

Just as Gu Yanqing pushed his bicycle into the yard, she had just finished serving all the dishes. Hearing the sound of the bicycle, Qian Xiaolan happily ran out to take a look. The bicycle they had sent before they came here had arrived.

Gu Yanqing washed his hands at the well and went inside. Seeing the dishes on the table, he smiled and asked her, “Did you go catch seafood again today? It looks like you had a good harvest.”

Qian Xiaolan arrogantly hummed a sound, causing Gu Yanqing to laugh softly. He strode forward, hugged her face, and kissed her. “My wife is so capable.”

He was about to kiss her lips when Qian Xiaolan reached out and stopped him, scolding him, “Do you still want to eat?”

Gu Yanqing “smack” kissed her palm, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, “Actually, if you’re willing, I don’t have to eat.”

“You’re such a teasing man.” Qian Xiaolan rolled her eyes at him and immediately retreated to a safe distance.

Gu Yanqing smiled and went into the kitchen to serve rice. The couple ate their fill of delicious food, so full that they couldn’t even bend down to wash the dishes by the well. They looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh.

In the end, Gu Yanqing carried the wash basin with the dishes to the stone table in the yard and washed them. He said to Qian Xiaolan, “Tomorrow, I’ll nail a wooden frame by the well. We won’t have to squat down to wash dishes and vegetables anymore.”

Qian Xiaolan nodded and told him about the barefoot doctor exam she was thinking of taking in the commune.

Gu Yanqing was very supportive of this. In his opinion, if it weren’t for the current political situation, his wife’s ability to do business would be better than his. He had become the president of a group in his previous life, but that was only because of his family background. His wife, however, had gone from being an orphan to managing thousands of people in just a few years. The key was that many of her ideas and contributions had been suppressed by her superiors. Otherwise, her achievements would have been far greater than that.

After Qian Xiaolan finished talking about this, she took Gu Yanqing into the kitchen to show him her harvest. When Gu Yanqing saw the processed sea cucumbers in the ceramic basin, he was only amazed by Qian Xiaolan’s good luck. But when he saw the abalone in several basins, his jaw almost dropped.

Qian Xiaolan smiled and lifted his chin, “I think I’m really lucky. Wang Auntie took me there. We spent the same amount of time, but she only found twenty or so abalone and a few conchs. She didn’t find a single sea cucumber.”

Gu Yanqing regained his senses and smiled, praising her, “My wife is a lucky charm. It’s a blessing from several lifetimes to have married you.”

Qian Xiaolan was immune to his words. She pretended not to hear and turned to go back to the house.

Gu Yanqing pestered her for the rest of the night. After they went to bed, they slept soundly.

The next morning, as soon as Gu Yanqing left, she woke up and went into her space to continue sleeping. After waking up, she ate two pieces of cake and continued reading medical books. When it was almost time, Qian Xiaolan exited the space, put on Gu Yanqing’s army green backpack, rode her bicycle, and headed towards Bailong Commune.

Bailong Commune was located on Bailong Island, next door to their island. The island they were on was called Xiya Island. The west side, closer to the border, was where Gu Yanqing’s naval base was. The islanders lived on the east side. There were two brigades.

The navy had previously considered relocating these original residents to other islands to make it easier for them to manage. However, there were only so many resources on one island, and the other islands were unwilling to accept anyone else. The residents of Xiya Island had lived there for generations and didn’t want to leave. In the end, the navy had no choice but to set up more checkpoints around the island.

To get from Xiya Island to Bailong Island, you had to take a boat. She had already found out yesterday that there were boats leaving at five and ten in the morning. The return times were one and four thirty.

Qian Xiaolan rode her bicycle quickly to the ferry terminal. There was a soldier standing guard at the ferry terminal. He recognized Qian Xiaolan somehow. When he saw her, he saluted and shouted, “Sister-in-law, good morning! Be careful on the road, Sister-in-law!”

Qian Xiaolan replied, confused, “Good morning, comrade. Thank you for your hard work, comrade!”

There weren’t many people on the ferry yet. Everyone smiled and greeted Qian Xiaolan, their eyes glancing at the bicycle without a trace. The bicycle was so impressive. No one on their island had a bicycle.

The ferryman saw Qian Xiaolan’s bicycle and frowned, “Comrade, your bicycle takes up too much space. You have to pay five cents extra.”

The ticket was one yuan and five cents. Five cents extra was fine with Qian Xiaolan. She paid without hesitation, and the ferryman tied her bicycle to the top of the cargo hold with a rope.

The ferry departed on time at ten o’clock. The diesel engine “Duang Duang Duang” for half an hour before finally reaching its destination. After getting off the ferry, Qian Xiaolan could still hear the hypnotic sound. She followed the crowd into the commune street and went directly to the commune hospital.

The barefoot doctor exam was held by the commune together with the commune hospital.

It was unclear whether Qian Xiaolan was lucky or unlucky. As soon as she entered the commune hospital, she saw a man drenched in water with a bleeding arm. The doctors and nurses in the hospital were busy and had no time to attend to him.

Qian Xiaolan didn’t hesitate. She stepped forward and said to the man and his family, “I also studied medicine. If you trust me, I’ll stop the bleeding first.”

The man had been bleeding for a long time, and his face was pale. Seeing that he was about to bleed to death, how could they not trust her?

Qian Xiaolan got their consent and immediately asked the man to take off his shoes and socks. Then, she took out disinfectant and an acupuncture kit from her backpack. She first disinfected the area around the Kongzui and Yinbai acupoints, then quickly pricked the needles.

The man’s blood had been flowing for a long time, and his entire face was pale. Seeing that he was about to bleed to death, how could they not trust her? Qian Xiaolan got their consent and immediately asked the man to take off his shoes and socks. Then, she took out disinfectant and an acupuncture kit from her backpack. She first disinfected the area around the Kongzui and Yinbai acupoints, then quickly pricked the needles.