When Father Xu saw the extra things in the Kitchen, he couldn't help but frown, "Ning'er, where did this fish and shrimp come from? Did you go into the water?"
Xu Jianing didn't feel anything was wrong.
She couldn't wait to show off the results of her labor, "Father, look at that big crucian carp; I caught it with my bare hands. How about that, am I amazing?"
Father Xu shook his head helplessly, "You girl, if you want fish in the future, just tell Father, and I'll go catch some for you. But this fish really doesn't taste good; it's too fishy. Many people would rather go to the Mountains to look for wild vegetables than eat this thing."
"And these River Clams, if you wanted to play, you could have just picked a few back. Why did you bring so many? This thing can't be eaten. Don't go into the water for them anymore."
Xu Jianing wasn't annoyed. She scooped up the largest River Clam from the bucket, used a knife to pry its mouth open, and the meat inside was revealed.
"Father, look, the meat inside this River Clam is edible. Really, whether it's Stir-fried or made into soup, the taste is very good. Look how plump the meat is!"
As Xu Jianing casually sifted through them, she actually dug out a pearl.
She said in surprise, "Father, quickly pinch me to see if I'm dreaming!"
Father Xu looked at her with some amusement, "What is this thing you fished out? Why does it look somewhat familiar?"
"A pearl, Father! I didn't expect to find a pearl. I was just worrying about not having money. Tomorrow I'll go to the Town's jewelry store to ask how much Silver this quality of pearl can sell for."
Before they could react, Xu Jianing used the excuse of needing firewood and quickly walked out.
Arriving at an Empty plot of land, she hurriedly summoned the Little Cute Beast from her Space, "Little Cutie, quickly tell me, is this pearl a treasure?"
"Congratulations, Master, you have obtained a Hundred-year Pearl."
"What? A Hundred-year Pearl!" Xu Jianing hadn't expected that by casually sifting through the water, she had fished out a Hundred-year Pearl. This luck was truly Amazing.
She calmed her mood and found some dry branches from outside to take back.
Eldest Sister Xu Jiayin in the Kitchen was not affected by her previous words.
Seeing her return, Xu Jiayin pointed at the things in the bucket and said, "How should these River Clams be handled?"
"This is the first time I've seen a pearl grow inside a River Clam. Ning'er, you are truly amazing. A Pearl hairpin of good quality can be worth quite a bit of Silver. Back then..."
As if recalling some sad memory, Xu Jiayin suddenly became silent.
Xu Jianing didn't know how to comfort her. She stepped forward and held her hand, "Sister, it's all in the past. After our family gets through this rough patch and we earn money before the New Year, I will definitely buy you more beautiful jewelry."
Xu Jiayin shook her head at her, "I don't need that jewelry. I just thought of some unpleasant things; someone disgusted me."
"After I broke off the engagement, I returned everything that person secretly gave me back. But a few days ago, I saw one of those pieces of jewelry on Lan Hua's head. I guess that person must have given it to her!"
Xu Jianing was so angry her fingers cracked audibly. It was truly sickening; she would settle this score with every single one of them sooner or later.
Their Eldest Sister, such a good person, was actually looked down upon because of the family's changes. It even led to breaking off the engagement.
Breaking off the engagement was one thing, but they even spread rumors that their Eldest Sister had gone mad. Was it really worth it for an unreliable man?
In the countryside, if a girl is maliciously rejected for marriage, her reputation is ruined, and finding a match in the future becomes very difficult. Especially in their family's situation, it would be doubly hard.
She didn't know how to comfort her, so she simply changed the subject.
Worried there might be more pearls inside the River Clams, she pried them open one by one to check, while simultaneously scraping out the River Clam meat.
Soon, a pile of River Clam meat accumulated on the Plate.
But they did not see a second pearl. Xu Jianing was somewhat disappointed with this result.
She knew clearly that relying on just one pearl, they definitely couldn't get a very good price.
If this pearl could be made into jewelry, the effect would be completely different.
It was just that without tools, and since their family didn't have any valuable jewelry to fuse with it, this idea was quite difficult to execute in reality. It was basically impossible to complete.
But it didn't matter. In her Previous life, she had a lot of jewelry, and she was originally from a design background, so casually sketching out a jewelry Design was no problem at all. She could definitely sell it for a good price one way or another.
She made up her mind to visit the jewelry store tomorrow to understand the market situation. Selling the pearl was secondary; her real goal was to sell jewelry Designs.
She couldn't tell her Father or the others about this because it would be hard to explain.
After all, in everyone's eyes, she was just a native Country Girl. With her level of knowledge, she shouldn't be capable of doing such things.
She touched her stomach, which ached from hunger, and sighed silently.
The most important things right now were having enough to eat, being warm, and having a place to live. Nothing was more important than being able to survive well.
Looking at the River Clam meat on the Plate, she swallowed her saliva.
She wanted to eat Stir-fried River Clam meat. Following the method from memory, she blanched the washed River Clams in boiling water and quickly took them out.
Then she sliced the retrieved River Clams into shreds, also slicing the green peppers and red peppers into shreds, and prepared the ginger slices and minced garlic nearby.
She added an appropriate amount of cooking oil to the wok, sautéed the ginger slices and minced garlic until fragrant, then added the green and red pepper shreds and stir-fried them over high heat until slightly cooked. She added the River Clams and continued to stir-fry, adding some salt, Soy Sauce, and other seasonings. Soon, a rich aroma filled the air.
Xu Jianing picked up some with her chopsticks to try; the taste was quite good.
While Eldest Sister Xu Jiayin wasn't paying attention, she quickly picked up a mouthful with her chopsticks and stuffed it into her mouth, "Sister, try it, it tastes really good."
Remembering her grand plan, she casually asked, "Sister, do you know if anyone in our village still has Brush, ink, paper, and inkstone?"
If she wanted to sell jewelry Designs, she had to draw them out first.
Given their family's current situation, those items were completely impossible to have.
She held onto a sliver of hope, wondering if anyone familiar to them might possess such things.
But she forgot, how would her Eldest Sister possibly know?
As expected, her Eldest Sister quickly shook her head at her.
Just as she was about to give up, her Eldest Sister spoke with some uncertainty, "If I remember correctly, Doctor Liu should have some. I remember he wrote prescriptions when he was treating Mother and the others."
Xu Jianing touched the Hundred-year Pearl she had fished out in her pocket and sighed helplessly. She didn't know how much in medical fees this single pearl could cover.