Chapter 159 (1/2)

Chapter 159

Chapter 159 - Intimidated

Doctor Sun smiled and said, “After the spoon worms are cleaned and dried, it won’t be very heavy . Tongren Medicine Hall has branches in the capital, prefectural city, and several cities in the south, so there’s a high demand for them . ”

Xiaolian gave the five to six catties of sandworms that she dug out to the staff in charge of weighing, and then carried Xiaocao’s bucket to the front . Xiaocao was afraid that she would sell everything, so she hastily stopped her, “Xiaolian, save some for me . I’ll make a sandworm feast for lunch!”

“What? Sandworms can also be made into food? It looks so disgusting . Who would dare to eat it ah?!” Zhou Shanhu, who had already received her payment, came over and wrinkled her nose as she looked at the soft, fleshy sandworms with disgust . She pursed her lips and said .

Yu Xiaocao smiled at her mysteriously and whispered, “If you haven’t tried it, you won’t know . But once you eat it, you won’t be able to forget it . Let me tell you, sandworms are not only delicious, but they are also nutritious . They aren’t inferior to sea cuc.u.mbers and abalones . ”

Doctor Sun asked with interest, “Oh? Do you know how to prepare these sandworms?”

“You can make soup with it . It can also be steamed, stewed, and stir-fried . Of course, it can also be eaten raw with a sauce!” Yu Xiaocao had a confident smile on her face as she talked about it .

Zhou Shanhu had an even more disgusted expression on her face, “How can it be eaten raw?! Who can even eat that?”

“Like eating raw fish fillet, you just need to dip it in sauce . Wouldn’t it be fine if you don’t think about what it looks like when you’re eating?” Yu Xiaocao pinched her wrinkled up face and laughed .

Doctor Sun stroked his beard and smiled faintly, “Although raw fish fillet is a dish hand-picked by the current emperor, it’s not a dish that most people can get used to . We’re still used to cooked food . ”

“That’s right, that’s right! Raw fish fillet doesn’t taste good!” Zhou Shanhu nodded in agreement .

Xiaolian had also heard that villagers used to eat spoon worms to fill their hunger during the years of famine . When there was food to eat, no one would actually eat it . However, Xiaolian was still rather confident in her younger sister’s culinary skills . She turned her head and asked, “Younger Sister, how much do you want to keep for cooking?”

“Keep half of it!” Ten catties only cost one tael, which wasn’t much to the current Yu Family .

But Zhou Shanhu got anxious . She stomped her feet and said, “Why are you keeping so much? You can’t keep sandworms for a long time . If you don’t finish them and it goes bad, wouldn’t that be too wasteful? I think you should just keep two to three catties . That’s enough for a meal at noon . If you want to eat more tomorrow, I will accompany you to dig some more when the tide ebbs!”

For most families in Dongshan Village, one tael of silver was considered a lot of wealth . It was enough for the entire family to eat for several months . To keep the sandworms that were worth one tael as a cooking ingredient, that person was either a fool or a spendthrift .

Yu Xiaocao, who had always kept a low profile, noticed the probing eyes around her and hastily said, “Alright, I’ll listen to Shanhu and just keep two to three catties . It’s my first time using sandworms as ingredients to cook, so I wanted to keep more for training!”

In the meantime, the worker of Tongren Medicine Hall had already finished weighing their harvest . The sisters dug out a total of twenty-eight catties of sandworms, which was much more than many of the adult workers . Shuanzhu’s wife repeatedly praised the sisters for being so capable .

After removing the three catties of sandworms that Xiaocao wanted to keep, Tongren Medicine Hall gave the sisters a total of two taels and five mace . Under everyone’s envious gazes, Xiaocao and Xiaolian carried their tools and went home .

As luck would have it, they encountered Madam Zhang on their way back . It had been a while since they had seen Madam Zhang . The old lady’s hair had gotten a lot whiter and she seemed to have gotten thinner . Her cheekbones became more prominent, and there was a gloomy look in her saggy eyes .

She had naturally heard the news about Tongren Medicine Hall purchasing sandworms . But, Old Yu and Yu Dashan had gone out to fish in the sea, and Yu Heizi had left for the docks before the sky had even lit up . That brat was becoming more and more slick . After Madam Zhang seized more than half of his first income, he didn’t bring money home anymore . Instead, he just put it on account and waited until it reached a certain amount before withdrawing them all at once .

The only ones left at home were Madam Zhang and her daughter, and the lazy and gluttonous Madam Li . Madam Zhang wasn’t originally from the fis.h.i.+ng village, so she didn’t know how to dig for sandworms . Yu Caidie was someone who rarely left the house and stayed at home the whole day, and Madam Li was someone who was even less reliable .

Seeing others bringing home hundreds and even thousands of copper coins home, Madam Zhang felt as if there were twenty-five mice on her heart—a hundred claws were scratching her heart . She heard that Xiaolian and her sister had also gone to the beach, so she deliberately waited on the path that they would definitely walk by on their way home .

“You’re back?” Madam Zhang asked insidiously, “Did you get a good harvest today? How many taels did you get?”

“A few taels? Grandmother, do you think that spoon worms are just blown over by the wind? Did you go look at the beach? It takes a long time to dig up one sandworm! Xiaolian and I have slender arms and legs, so it’s already pretty good that we can dig out a few of them!” Yu Xiaocao knew that nothing good would come out of seeing Madam Zhang, so she used the ‘tactic of mourning soldiers [1]’ first .