The tide ebbed, revealing a vast expanse of bare mudflats.
With the morning glow in the sky and the sea breeze caressing her face, there was a sense of comfort and tranquility.
Qi Jiao rolled up her trouser legs, took off her shoes, exposing her fair feet. She stepped barefoot on the moist beach.
The sand beneath her feet was soft and slightly ticklish. A playful thought came to Qi Jiao. She stomped left and right, making a series of "plopping" sounds, leaving continuous footprints. Streams of sand immediately oozed out between her toes.
Soon after, she spotted a cat's eye snail lying in the sand. She picked it up and squeezed it. The snail instantly spurted out a lot of water. She couldn't help bursting into laughter, enjoying herself immensely.
Pei Xia was bending down to put a lively octopus into a bamboo basket. Hearing Qi Jiao's laughter, he called out to her over the clear sea breeze, "Jiao Niang—if you don't come here soon— the tide will rise soon—"
Qi Jiao said she knew, but then she picked up a huge shell. There was a palm - sized swimming crab hiding timidly inside.
Seeing that she was still playing, Pei Xia put down the bamboo basket, strode over, and hoisted her onto his shoulder.
The view in front of Qi Jiao flipped. She was stunned for a moment before she let out a scream. She pounded his butt desperately, "Pei Xia! Put me down! I'm so dizzy!"
Pei Xia had no choice but to gently take Qi Jiao off his shoulder. But he didn't let her feet touch the ground. Instead, he carried her directly to the coastal rocks and stopped.
"Aren't you looking for oysters? They're all here."
Pei Xia exerted force to turn over a movable rock. There were moss that looked like moldy laver and a large number of oysters on it.
Qi Jiao of course didn't forget her main task. She picked up a tool, pried off an oyster, and peeled it open to check the inside.
Tasting oysters was like tasting the sea.
Maybe it was a psychological effect, but Qi Jiao always felt that the sea water in Yinggehai was very pure, much cleaner than the so - called first - class sea areas in later generations.
She took out the small knife from Pei Xia's waist, peeled out the whole oyster meat, took small sips, and then threw the empty shell into the boundless sea.
Qi Jiao squinted slightly. As expected, the meat was sweet, fat, tender, and clean.
She smiled and handed one to Pei Xia's lips.
Pei Xia wasn't used to eating oysters, but in front of his beloved, he couldn't say no.
Wiping the juice from his lips, Pei Xia nodded non - committally, "The taste is okay."
Qi Jiao urged him to help pry off more oysters. They would be very useful when they got home.
The two of them worked together and finally harvested a full bamboo basket of oysters before the tide came back.
When they got home, Qi Jiao gave the arduous task of opening the oysters to Pei Xia and Pei Li.
She told them not to spare any effort. As long as they could open the oysters, they could use any method.
Pei Li huffed and puffed. With great difficulty, he managed to pry open a dozen or so oysters. When he looked up, there was already a small mountain of opened oysters in front of Pei Xia.
Pei Li: …
Qi Jiao took some of the oysters to make garlic - baked oysters, and used the rest to make oyster omelets.
Oyster omelets were also known as oyster pancakes, oyster frittatas, or oyster griddles.
Although the cooking method seemed simple, it was quite difficult to make them extremely delicious. After all, everyone had different preferences, and the flavors of the fried omelets would vary accordingly.
Qi Jiao checked the ingredients at home. The side dishes she had on hand were roughly sweet potato starch, eggs, cabbage, two stalks of green garlic shoots just picked from the backyard vegetable garden, and a bunch of coriander.
Since there was no chili sauce, she would make a light - flavored omelet for the time being.
Oyster sauce hadn't been made yet, but adding soy sauce would do the same. She mixed the oysters evenly and marinated them for a while, then quickly stirred up a sweet potato starch batter.
She heated up a pan and added oil. She put the marinated oysters into the pan one by one and fried them until they were about 70% cooked. Then she poured in the batter and patiently spread it into a round cake shape.
Qi Jiao kept an eye on the solidification state of the batter. When it was in a state between solid and liquid, she put in finely chopped cabbage shreds. When the sweet potato starch became crystal - clear and translucent, she poured in the beaten eggs along the edge of the pan.
Then, when the eggs were almost dry but not completely, she sprinkled on the green garlic leaves and coriander seeds. And the oyster omelet was done.
Even without the garlic chili sauce condiment, it tasted very rich on its own.
The crispy - on - the - outside and smooth - on - the - inside oyster omelets were served on the table. As expected, they were well - received by the whole family.
Coupled with the garlic - baked oysters that smelled delicious from afar, as soon as Qi Jiao sat down and picked up her chopsticks, the meal was quickly finished.
Qi Jiao felt very satisfied.
It would be a great waste to discard the delicious and nutritious oysters.
Following the law of nature, she thought that turning each oyster into a delicious dish and enjoying it with joy was the best way to fulfill their existence in this world.
It was the eighth day of the lunar month, a day suitable for everything.
Aunt Ye got up early in the morning. She put on the best set of clothes she had, carefully combed her hair into a bun in front of the mirror, and put on two silver hairpins with the character "Fu" on them. After checking herself several times, she brushed off two strands of hair from her shoulders.
Then she woke up her husband, Ye Xueqin, and urged him to change and wash properly.
The couple went to the town to buy fresh streaky pork, killed the free - range chicken they raised at home, opened the thick wine they brewed themselves, and picked countless vegetables. They prepared a meal before noon.
The reason for their solemnity was simple. Today was a good day to recognize a god - daughter.
After Qi Jiao became Aunt Ye's god - daughter, she had been too busy to spare any time. Unfortunately, it had been delayed for so long before it was finally put on the agenda.
During this period, Ye Geng's wife, Jiang Yuniang, the eldest son of the Ye family, was pregnant and suffered severely from morning sickness.
Aunt Ye had to take care of her daughter - in - law on the one hand and do some work to support the family on the other, which made her even busier.
It was inconvenient for both sides.
It wasn't until recently that Jiang Yuniang's condition improved a lot and Qi Jiao had two days off that they started to prepare for it.
Recognizing a god - daughter was a major event, especially for someone like Qi Jiao who had no relatives to rely on.
Tang Guiniang took it very seriously and helped Qi Jiao prepare gifts such as shoes and socks in advance.
Qi Jiao's poor needlework skills could be ignored, so she made some food.
Soon it was time. Pei Xia and Qi Jiao walked behind Tang Guiniang and entered the Ye family's small courtyard hand in hand.
The Ye family attached great importance to Qi Jiao. Even Ye Pa, the third son of the Ye family who was often away from home, came back.
The Ye family had three sons.
Ye Geng, Ye Yun, and Ye Pa.
Many years ago, Ye Xueqin had a narrow escape from a shark's mouth when he was out at sea. He was seriously injured. Even after he recovered, he became half - disabled.
Although he could take care of himself, he couldn't do any heavy work.
From then on, Ye Xueqin was determined not to let his descendants learn fishing skills or go out to sea.
So the eldest son, Ye Geng, stayed at home to farm, and the second son, Ye Yun, worked as a rickshaw puller in the county town.
The third son, Ye Pa, was the most active. He went out as a peddler with others when he was only ten years old. Now he had achieved some success and was engaged in the business of selling small commodities between the prefectural city and the surrounding areas of Lingle County.
Ye Geng married Jiang Yuniang from the same village the year before last. Ye Yun and Ye Pa were still unmarried.
Qi Jiao entered the house and greeted everyone in the Ye family one by one.
Aunt Ye and Uncle Ye sat in the main seats. After receiving Qi Jiao's salute, they quickly helped her up.
Aunt Ye held Qi Jiao's hand, her eyes full of kindness and joy. "This is great. I finally have a daughter today!"
Uncle Ye wasn't good at expressing his feelings, but his smile was sincere and honest. He took out the red envelope he had prepared from his sleeve and gave it to Qi Jiao.