The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 518 - 517: Raw Marinated Soy Sauce Crab

Chapter 518: Chapter 517: Raw Marinated Soy Sauce Crab

Shen Xiangnan looked up and saw a face brimming with a smile.

"Executive Chef, what are you doing here?"

"Lun Jiao, what brings you here?"

Lun Jiao shook the book in her hand, "I just got out of night school and was planning to come here to memorize some content. I saw you sitting here in a daze the moment I arrived, not even aware of the huge mosquito on your arm."

Shen Xiangnan looked at where he had been bitten on his arm and sure enough, there was a stain the size of a fingernail.

He was just about to wipe it when Lun Jiao had already taken out a handkerchief and wiped it off for him.

"Thank you."

Shen Xiangnan was a bit surprised and touched, and couldn’t help but take a closer look at Lun Jiao’s face.

She had thick eyebrows and big eyes, with slightly upturned eyelids, and somewhat thick lips. She might not be very beautiful, but she had that lively and cheerful vigor unique to young girls.

Lun Jiao noticed the sleeping Erya on the bench, and said in a lowered voice, "Executive Chef, this is your daughter, isn’t it? If she’s sleepy, why don’t you take her home to sleep?"

Shen Xiangnan was hesitating, searching for an excuse, but Lun Jiao covered her mouth with a smile, "Don’t tell me you’ve had a fight with your wife?"

Shen Xiangnan sheepishly admitted, "How did you know?"

Lun Jiao sat down with a laugh, saying, "With your wife’s temper, after you were fined so much today, she must have picked a fight with you."

Looking at the girl’s vivid profile, Shen Xiangnan curiously asked, "How do you know what she’s like?"

Lun Jiao huffed, "Who at Shenji doesn’t know your wife is a tigress?"

After saying that, she laughed again, "Executive Chef, I’m just joking. Don’t be angry, alright?"

Shen Xiangnan grunted, "You’re not wrong, she is a tigress, overbearing, irrational, and heartless."

Lun Jiao blinked, "Executive Chef, you really had a fight with your wife, huh?"

Shen Xiangnan remained silent, which was as good as a confirmation.

Lun Jiao consoled him with a laugh, "It’s not that big of a deal. There’s no couple that doesn’t fight. Like the old saying goes, ’you fight at the head of the bed but make up at the foot of it.’ It’s getting late. Go home and bow your head a little, say a few soft words to your wife, and this will blow over. Trust me."

Shen Xiangnan was already feeling suffocated with frustration. Hearing this only infuriated him further, "Why should I bow to her? That would just spoil her!"

Lun Jiao chuckled, "You are a man, and it’s only right for a man to give in to his wife a bit."

Not wishing to continue this topic, Shen Xiangnan turned his attention to the book in her hand, "What are you reading?"

"English, ’English’."

"You’re a service worker. Why study that?"

Lun Jiao smiled, her confidence shining through, "Being a service worker is only temporary. I can’t be a service worker all my life."

Feeling restless, Shen Xiangnan naturally started to chat with her.

"Then what job do you want to do?"

"I want to work in foreign trade. My cousin is a foreign trade merchandiser, not only does she earn a high income, but she also gets the opportunity to travel abroad and see the world. To do foreign trade, you need good English, so now I’m working as a service worker while learning English. In the future, I’ll get into a foreign trade company. I even want to go abroad to see if the moon is rounder than ours."

After learning all this, Shen Xiangnan couldn’t help but look at the girl before him with more admiration and a fresh perspective.

Among the many female service workers of Shenji, most of them chatter about dresses and makeup or who married well, whose husband earns a lot of money —all kinds of trivial household matters.

In comparison, Lun Jiao appeared to be quite exceptional.

"Executive Chef, you could learn English too."

Shen Xiangnan waved his hands repeatedly, "I can’t, I have no education, I can’t even write properly."

"You don’t need education to learn English, you just need a mouth that can speak and a brain that can remember. Once you learn English, you can go work as a chef in big restaurants in the Capital or Shanghai City, greeting foreign guests and communicating with them. You could even participate in international culinary competitions and become a top-notch famous chef."

Shen Xiangnan looked at the girl beside him, speechless for a long time.

Going to a major city like the Capital sounded far-fetched and unrealistic, but which man can resist the temptation of fame and fortune?

His calm life appeared to have been disturbed by a large stone, creating ripples ever since.

...

In the living room, Pei Yang pretended to watch television, but his gaze drifted to the kitchen from time to time.

Glancing at the clock, it was already ten. Pei Yang nudged Pei Ziheng with the tip of his foot.

"Go ask your mom when we’re going to sleep."

Pei Ziheng glanced at him, her expression cool, "Why don’t you go?"

"Your mom’s in a bad mood. If I bother her, I’ll only get scolded."

Hehe, "I’m the one you picked up, so you don’t feel bad when I get scolded, right?"

Pei Yang choked, "Nonsense, your mom loves you, she just can’t bear to scold you."

Pei Ziheng said, "Then I have even more reason not to make Mom mad."

That made so much sense, it was irrefutable.

Pei Yang turned his head to look at his daughter leaning against his son.

Guoguo was already so sleepy her eyes were watery, and when she saw Pei Yang look her way, she stretched out her little arms, asking to be held.

"Daddy, sleepy."

Pei Yang picked his daughter up off the couch and patted her little bottom, "Go find your mom and ask when it’s time to sleep."

Guoguo was obedient and, rubbing her eyes, headed for the kitchen.

See, having a daughter is useful after all.

Pei Yang turned his head, only to be met with his son’s disdainful gaze.

"Mommy, sleepy."

Shen Mingzhu frowned, looking down at her daughter who was clinging to her legs and acting coquettishly, "Pei Yang!"

"Coming—"

Pei Yang happily trotted to the kitchen, "What’s up?"

"What time is it, and you still haven’t put the kids to bed!?"

"Guoguo wants to hear you tell a story before she sleeps, right, Guoguo?"

Shen Mingzhu shot him a glare, then bent down to coax her daughter, "Be good, go to sleep with Daddy, and Mommy will tell you a new story tomorrow night, okay?"

Hearing that there would be a new story, Guoguo immediately nodded, "Okay."

Seeing this, Pei Yang had no choice but to carry his daughter upstairs to sleep.

Once father and daughter had ascended the stairs, Pei Ziheng turned off the TV and went into the kitchen.

"Mom."

Shen Mingzhu glanced at him, "It’s late, go to sleep."

"I’m not sleepy yet."

Pei Ziheng spoke and walked up to her.

"Mom, what’s the new dish you’re working on?"

"Raw-marinated crab."

"Raw crab can be eaten?"

"Yes, if it’s prepared properly, raw is more flavorful than cooked."

"Mom, can you teach me? I want to learn."

"Of course."

Shen Mingzhu looked at her son, who was nearly as tall as her shoulder, and smiled slightly before she started with teaching how to pick out crabs, raising them in clear water to spit out sand, and then how to make the raw-marinating sauce.

Pei Ziheng listened carefully, watching her demonstration and memorizing the steps in his mind.

After settling his daughter, Pei Yang came to the kitchen doorway and seeing his son learning to cook with Shen Mingzhu, he shamelessly joined in.

Half an hour later—

"It smells so good!"

As the reddish-brown sauce in the iron pot simmered, the whole kitchen was filled with a rich and tempting aroma.

Shen Mingzhu took a clean bowl, scooped up a spoonful of the sauce to taste, then handed it to the father and son to try.

After perfecting the sauce and turning off the heat, they strained and placed it in an ice-water bath to cool down quickly before starting to process the swimming crabs.

The swimming crabs were thoroughly washed inside and out, including flipping open and cleaning the small lid on their bellies.

The cleaned swimming crabs were dried off, evenly coated with Moutai wine, then placed inside a glass jar in order.

After arranging the swimming crabs, they filled the gaps in the glass jar with raw garlic cloves and chili peppers, then poured the cooled sauce into the jar, submerging the crabs completely.

They then placed a fist-sized goose egg stone on the crabs to weigh them down, ensuring that every crab would be evenly flavored.

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