Whether the five-yuan price had really been an attempt to overcharge her, Shen Niao wasn’t sure. She was only worried that if they sold the fish too cheaply, the two little girls would be scolded when they got home.
Hearing her ask that, Zhang Cuihua froze for a moment. Looking at Shen Niao’s worried expression, she smiled.
“Do you think they’re pitiful?”
Shen Niao nodded.
“I do.”
In her previous life, she had participated in plenty of charity work and had even visited impoverished rural areas herself. She had seen children living in terrible conditions.
But those children had at least worn clothes and shoes, even if they were old and ragged.
She had never seen children whose clothes barely covered them and who didn’t even own a pair of shoes.
Although she had read books describing the hardships of those years, seeing it with her own eyes was far more impactful.
“When I first came here, I thought exactly the same.”
Zhang Cuihua recalled the past.
Back then, children were always selling seafood outside the military family compound, and she had bought from them several times. Later, after becoming familiar with the other military wives, someone told her the truth.
The locals all knew that military families had money and soft hearts, so they deliberately sent their children to sell seafood to gain sympathy.
It was said that in the beginning, many military wives had felt too embarrassed to bargain. Only after living here for a while and learning the actual prices did they realize they had been paying far more than the seafood was worth.
Being kind was one thing.
Being treated like an easy target was another.
From then on, everyone still bought seafood from the children, but only at the proper market price.
“These kids aren’t stupid. They’ve grown up by the sea—of course they know what seafood is worth. As for whether they’ll get scolded… all I know is that if they can’t sell it and have to carry it back home, things might be even worse for them.”
After saying that, Zhang Cuihua stopped in front of a courtyard.
“Alright, we’re here!”
Shen Niao followed her inside.
On the way over, she’d been too busy chatting with Zhang Cuihua to pay much attention to the surroundings.
Only now did she notice that the military family compound sat on relatively high ground. Looking into the distance, she could see the endless blue sea.
The houses were simple single-story homes, built in orderly rows of two along the hillside. Their gray-white walls and green wooden doors and windows gave the neighborhood a neat, pleasant appearance.
Each house had its own little courtyard.
In the corner of Zhang Cuihua’s yard grew a few sparse vegetables that looked far from thriving.
Several chickens wandered leisurely through the vegetable patch, pecking here and there.
After pouring the oysters into a basin and returning the empty tub to the two little girls, Zhang Cuihua turned around and found Shen Niao staring curiously at her vegetable patch.
“The soil here isn’t good for growing vegetables. They say it’s saline-alkali soil. Most people don’t even bother planting anything, but I was pretty good at farming back in the countryside, so I figured I’d give it a try. At worst, I’d only waste a few seeds.”
“But this land just won’t grow decent vegetables. No matter how much care I put into it, it doesn’t improve.”
Back in her village, she’d been an excellent farmer. Every vegetable she grew was healthy and beautiful.
When she moved here, she figured she couldn’t keep relying on buying vegetables forever, so she decided to grow her own.
Who would’ve thought that after tending this patch for several years, the vegetables still looked like this?
Of course, it wasn’t entirely her fault.
Every typhoon season, no matter how well she had improved the soil, it would all be ruined and return to its original state.
Shen Niao had originally planned to grow vegetables herself.
Once Wu Qingchuan was gone, she would definitely have to move out of the military family compound. By then, she’d rent a house with a yard and grow enough vegetables for herself.
As time went on, supplies across the country would become increasingly scarce. Even with money and ration coupons, buying vegetables wouldn’t always be possible.
Since the soil couldn’t support crops, there was nothing she could do.
Fortunately, her dimensional space allowed her to exchange items. She could probably trade for vegetables from other worlds when the time came.
It was nearly noon now, and smoke was rising from every household chimney as families prepared lunch.
Since Shen Niao had promised to cook a few dishes for Zhang Cuihua to try, she naturally rolled up her sleeves and headed into the kitchen.
Originally, Zhang Cuihua had thought Shen Niao was just joking.
She looked like a pampered young lady—hardly someone who knew how to cook.
Yet when Shen Niao pried open oyster shells, her movements were skillful.
When washing and chopping vegetables, she worked steadily and confidently.
The only thing she couldn’t do was tend the fire.
Reduced to the role of firekeeper, Zhang Cuihua carefully watched the stove while occasionally helping by peeling garlic or washing scallions.
The moment Shen Niao saw the oysters, several dishes immediately came to mind: oyster omelets, stir-fried oysters, oyster soup…
Since removing the meat from the shells wouldn’t leave much, and they also had a coral grouper, and only the two of them were eating lunch, she didn’t plan on making too many dishes.
She settled on an oyster omelet, oyster tofu soup, and steamed coral grouper.
She first mixed sweet potato starch with water until smooth, then beat two eggs and set them aside.
Next, she added chopped garlic chives and oyster meat to the starch mixture.
She seasoned it with salt, sugar, and white pepper before stirring everything evenly.
Using about two ladles of batter per pancake, she poured the mixture into a lightly oiled pan over low heat.
Just before the pancake finished cooking, she poured beaten egg over the top.
Seeing Zhang Cuihua craning her neck to watch, Shen Niao placed the freshly cooked oyster omelet onto a plate and handed it over.
“Sister-in-law, help me taste it and see if it’s seasoned right.”
Ever since Shen Niao started frying the oyster omelets, Zhang Cuihua had been tortured by the irresistible aroma.
Now that she had one in hand, she didn’t stand on ceremony.
She took a big bite.
The edges were crispy while the inside remained tender and juicy.
It was fresh, savory, and slightly sweet all at once.
Delicious.
“It’s so good!”
Zhang Cuihua exclaimed.
She had always cooked oysters the way the other military wives taught her—simply steaming them.
They were certainly fresh, but also a little fishy.
If she’d known they could be prepared like this, she never would’ve disliked oysters so much.
She quickly finished one pancake.
Shen Niao fried four more.
There was no need to cook any staple food for lunch; the oyster omelets alone would serve as their main dish.
Next came the oyster tofu soup and the steamed coral grouper.
The tofu had been bought early that morning by Zhang Cuihua from the supply store at the compound entrance.
Most goods delivered by the supply ship were sold there, and military families purchased nearly everything from that store.
The tofu itself hadn’t come from the supply ship.
Instead, several military wives who knew how to make tofu had formed a small tofu-making group, producing fresh tofu every three days for both the supply store and the military cafeteria.
To eliminate any fishiness, Shen Niao first boiled water with ginger before adding the tofu and oysters.
Right before serving, she sprinkled in white pepper.
Steaming the fish also required careful timing.
For such a large coral grouper, she steamed it for twelve minutes, then let it rest for another two.
After removing it from the steamer, she topped it with shredded scallions and red chili before pouring hot oil over the fish.
Since there was no steamed fish soy sauce in this era, only regular soy sauce, Shen Niao improvised by mixing soy sauce with water, a little sugar, and white pepper to create a simple substitute before pouring it over the fish.
At last, all the dishes were finished.
Zhang Cuihua happily carried everything to the table.
Just as the two women sat down with their chopsticks, voices came from outside the courtyard.
“My wife and your fiancée must’ve cooked something amazing. It smells incredible.”
“Let’s hurry in before they finish everything.”
Shen Niao paused with her chopsticks in hand and looked up.
Wasn’t the tall figure leisurely following behind Li Jianguo… none other than Wu Qingchuan?