Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space novel Chapter 261

Chapter 261: Chapter 195: Red Wine and Seafood

Zhou Xiaozheng and Cheng Hongli entered the kitchen and saw Cheng Hongli taking a deep breath with her eyes closed, and they both burst into laughter.

Lin Lishan, worried she might feel embarrassed, gave them a stern look, "You’re laughing at us now, but wait and see, you won’t get to eat anything. We’ve prepared quite a bit of sea snails and mantis shrimp. We’ll have a seafood feast tonight. Xiao Wu, do you have any red wine left? Seafood pairs perfectly with red wine."

Zhang Guoqing chuckled and said, "Mom, you really know how to enjoy life. I have some, but if I don’t, as long as you ask for it, I’ll immediately go to the provincial city to buy some. I just happen to have a bottle of white wine, which pairs best with seafood. Let me go back and get you two fully cooked crabs to bring to Jiao Jiao."

Zhou Xiaozheng gave Zhang Guoqing a meaningful look after hearing that. This kid really knows a lot.

He stepped forward and packed two of the largest crabs and a bowl of sea snails into a big wooden tray, covered with a clean cloth, and said, "Xiao Wu, remember to tell Jiao Jiao to only eat the roe. After the confinement, she can eat as much as she wants. Check with your mother about whether she can eat these sea snails. Shanshan, keep cooking, these are not enough to gap the teeth."

Zhou Xiaozheng helped carry the bamboo baskets to the car, and when Zhang Guoqing saw this, he said, "Dad, you’re not planning to take these two baskets home, are you? It’s too much."

Zhou Xiaozheng waved him off, "Let’s go, hurry back, remember to go to Master Fatty’s. Tell Jiao Jiao there will be buns waiting tonight."

Seeing his impatience, Zhang Guoqing didn’t insist. There was no need for pleasantries between him and his dad, so he nodded, got into the car, and drove off quickly.

The drive from the county town back to the village was swift, and worried that the crabs might get cold, he sped up. When he got home, he saw his mother waiting at the gate, smiling at him.

Zhang Guoqing got out of the car, carrying two baskets of seafood towards the gate, and said with a happy grin, "Mom, are you happy to see your eldest son?"

Mother Zhang, seeing him carrying in both hands, quickly stepped forward to take one of the baskets, "Come on, give one to your mom. Both hands are busy, they’re quite heavy, aren’t you tired? Where did these come from? They’re not something we regularly see."

Zhang Guoqing held on tightly to the baskets, shaking his head, "Mom, they’re not heavy, I can carry them. Come with me inside, you need to sort these out now, some are alive, they’ll be wasted if they die. My father-in-law brought them from another province, and there’s another basket in the car for Grandma Zhou."

Mother Zhang hurriedly led the way to the well, "Leave them here, I’ll handle it. You go deliver to the Zhou family first. Also, check on Jiao Jiao. You’ve been out all day, your second brother said you’d return early, probably went to find your father-in-law."

"I know, I’ll get the stuff from the car and head in right away," said Zhang Guoqing as he walked off briskly.

He carried the big wooden tray to the west wing’s inner room, where Zhou Jiao was already waiting eagerly, "Ta-da... look what I brought? Big live crabs! Dad bought a whole car full of seafood and rice. The noodles are piled up in the cellar like firewood in the woodshed. Mom steamed these first, worried about your confinement and the cold, so you just eat the roe of two crabs. Dad said, when you’re out of confinement, you can eat as much as you want."

Zhou Jiao looked at Zhang Guoqing in delight and asked curiously, "Where did my dad go today? How did he buy so much seafood? It’s expensive, isn’t it? And the rice, did he get it from the black market through connections? You should tell Dad to be more economical; these aren’t cheap."

Zhang Guoqing chuckled, shaking his head mysteriously, "Dad went straight to the fishing village. All the 400 pounds of rice and flour were bought from a nearby village. There are three boxes of large prawns and three boxes of large yellow croakers hidden in the cellar, with the barn filled with large dried fish. Besides these, the crabs are all female, each this big, a total of three large baskets brought back weighing 50 pounds.

Right now, in the county yard, Aunt Cheng is steaming seafood, mom is wrapping red roe mixed with meat buns for you to eat tonight. Dad specially instructed the buns to be filled with red roe and pork belly, so they’re small enough for you to eat in one bite, but exquisite with a thin crust and lots of filling. I’m also to find out from Master Fatty how to prepare prawns and yellow croakers during your confinement. Jiao Jiao, aren’t you excited? Happy?"

Zhou Jiao laughed heartily and took the lid Zhang Guoqing handed her, grabbing a large piece with chopsticks to feed him.

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