Ch 23: Daily Farm Life After Returning from Interstellar

Crayfish

The scorching May was a warm season and also the best time for eating crayfish.

When Su Mu had crossed over to the interstellar, she couldn’t forget this taste. When she first arrived, her meals consisted of nutritional liquids three times a day. The cultural system there was completely different from Earth’s. Perhaps due to the absence of plants, culinary culture hadn’t developed much. Even the birds flying in the sky, animals on the ground, and creatures in the water were considered unclean by the people there. It was baffling since the nutritional liquids were derived from animals.

Back then, she couldn’t tolerate the blandness and the faint fishy smell of the nutritional liquids. Luckily, there were a few small ponds nearby where she was temporarily staying. She thought of catching fish to eat, but the fish there were much larger than those on Earth. With her frail physique, she couldn’t handle them. It was only later, when crayfish appeared, that she found a solution to her pressing problem.

The water quality in the interstellar planet was good, and she didn’t know what these crayfish survived on. After cleaning them, a simple cooking process brought out a wonderful flavor.

After coming back, she had so much good food to enjoy every day that she nearly forgot about her old companion. It wasn’t until she saw them now that her craving resurfaced.

There were quite a few crayfish in the shallow waters, large and plump. Su Mu picked up a crayfish and flipped it over to examine its abdomen. It was a bright reddish color, clean and pristine. One could imagine how delicious it must taste.

She had caught quite a few small shrimp and river prawns earlier, but now that she saw the crayfish, her focus was entirely on them.

Chen Mengzhi was a bit torn between snails and crayfish, both being her favorites. Which one should she pick?

Later, she saw her younger sister-in-law deftly catching crayfish, filling her basket to the brim. Chen Mengzhi then focused on picking snails, but whenever she saw the crayfish, she couldn’t resist catching some too.

Su Mu was very skilled at this, and the crayfish were restless, always trying to crawl out. After thinking for a moment, she called out to her sister-in-law and informed her that she would go home to fetch a large basket.

The number of crayfish in a small basket was too few, not enough for her to eat, let alone the several sturdy young men there.

When she returned, Su Chen and Wei Liu had already joined the hunt, commandeering Chen Mengzhi’s bucket of snails, not minding their wet pants, wholeheartedly focused on the crayfish.

“Now that Mu Mu has brought a big basket, we can really get to work.”

Su Mu was speechless. Did you two just rein in your ravenous appetites after the way your eyes were gleaming earlier?

She had seen through these two hidden foodies’ attributes and entrusted them with the crayfish-catching task. Then she walked upstream to see how the fishing team was faring.

Unlike the liveliness of the shallow waters, only Gu Shi and He Fu remained in the fishing activity. Both of them appeared calm, giving Su Mu the impression she had stumbled upon some realm of experts. It seemed they were bathed in an air of transcendence.

She walked over, glanced at the small bucket filled with fish, and saw that they had caught quite a few. Each one was the size of a palm, their tails constantly thumping against the bucket, unable to jump out.

“How’s it going? Bored with fishing? Do you want to come with us and catch crayfish?”

He Fu glanced at Gu Shi, who seemed to be in a state of meditation, and shook his head. “Fishing is peaceful. When it’s time to head back later, just call us.”

“Sure, feel free to call me if you need anything,” Su Mu said while looking at Gu Shi. However, he didn’t turn to look at her, which left her somewhat disappointed.

The footsteps grew distant, and He Fu’s gaze fixed on the flowing river. Suddenly, he said, “If you don’t like…”

“Hmm?” His voice held no joy or sorrow, yet it held an irresistible power.

He Fu chuckled, “You’re something.”

A puzzle box, he clearly has some affection for the young lady, but he’s hot and cold, making it hard to decipher his intentions.

Summer had arrived, and daylight hours grew longer. When the last trace of sunlight disappeared, the sky remained bright. It was already half past six, and everyone happily carried their small buckets back home.

Today’s harvest was quite good, whether it was fish, snails, or crayfish, their containers were filled to the brim.

“Mu Mu, not only does your place have good people, beautiful scenery, and abundant resources, why not consider starting an agritourism business? Many city dwellers would surely enjoy it.” After a few days of interaction, Wei Liu became more and more relaxed, even becoming familiar and chummy with Su Chen.

Su Mu shrugged indifferently. “I still have a lot of things to take care of. Where would I find the time to entertain tourists?” The produce from the vegetable garden is for show, and even the flower shop is meant for the little fairies. The real money comes from cultivating precious flowers. Like this time, a pot of Fairy Lips earned her 90 million. With that money, she could build two greenhouses, and what’s left will last her a long time. Why bother bringing people in to disrupt her peaceful days?

After returning home, Mother Su had already prepared the crayfish and shrimp Su Mu had brought back earlier.

Apart from the snails and river clams needing to spit out sand overnight, the crayfish could be cooked after being cleaned.

In order to enjoy some fresh food, everyone didn’t mind the work. They gathered around the pool, scrubbing the crayfish. Even Gu Shi was a little embarrassed to just stand by and watch, so he awkwardly joined in.

The three rich young masters had never done such dirty work before, their faces showing obvious distaste, yet their hands didn’t stop moving. The main contributors were still Su Chen and Chen Mengzhi. Later, Father Su came to help, alleviating some of the pressure on them.

Meanwhile, Su Mu went to prepare her beloved green mangoes.

Mangoes have thick skin, so she used a peeler to remove the green peel, controlling the pressure so as not to peel too deeply, leaving a thin layer of skin. This way, the pickled mangoes would remain crisp.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

With the skin removed, she proceeded to cut the mango into finger-sized strips. She added salt, rock sugar, and chili flakes, and finally poured rice vinegar over them, allowing them to marinate for about half an hour to develop flavor.

Mother Su was also busy in the kitchen preparing dinner. Seeing her handling the green mangoes, she asked curiously, “Where did you get these mangoes?” There were quite a few mango trees in the village. They used to have one in their yard too, but they had to cut it down to build a house, which she regretted for a long time.

Su Mu continued adding ingredients while answering, “I got them from Grandpa Huang. His mango trees have produced a lot of fruit this year, and quite a few have gone bad on the ground.”

Her gaze shifted to the white radishes her mother had cleaned, and she spoke again, “Mom, can I have half of these radishes?” Earlier, Father Su had slaughtered a duck at home, planning to use the radishes and duck to make soup. The homegrown radishes were large, too many for the whole family to finish, and it wouldn’t be wasteful if she used some.

“Sure, you can take half,” Mother Su replied.

She then paused for a moment and then added, “After the soup is ready, make sure to give Grandpa Huang a bowl.” It wouldn’t be right to receive things from others without reciprocating; mutual giving is the key to a long-lasting relationship.

Just like with the mangoes, skipping the peeling step, Su Mu followed the same procedure to prepare the radishes. Afterward, she covered them with plastic wrap and placed them in the refrigerator for later.

They would be ready to eat after dinner.

With these tasks done, Su Mu stayed in the kitchen to assist her mother. After all, preparing dinner for so many people was quite a laborious task and not easy.

The duck was cut into pieces and placed in the soup pot. After it boiled for a while and the scum was removed, the radishes were added, and the heat was reduced for simmering.

This dish wasn’t difficult to make, and Su Mu could handle it on her own.

“These fish are quite plump,” Mother Su remarked. They had fish in their pond, so the family rarely went to the river to fish. She had assumed that the river contained only small fish, and she was surprised to find such large ones.

“That’s right. Maybe everyone is busy with work in the fields and doesn’t have time to fish. These fish have plenty of time to grow, which benefits us.”

“How should we cook the fish? Braised? Stewed? Boiled?” With more people, there were more factors to consider. Cooking had to take into account the preferences of the guests.

Su Mu pondered for a moment and said, “Let’s make two dishes. One can be a simple pan-fried dish, and the other can be the same tomato-stewed fish we had last time. It’s hot, and the tangy-sweet fish would be appetizing.”

Mother Su unconditionally accepted her daughter’s suggestion and gestured, “I’ll handle this. You go to the garden and pick some small tomatoes.”

As the sky gradually darkened, the crayfish cleaning team finally finished their work. Su Chen carried a pot full of crayfish into the kitchen.

The lingering fishy odor on their hands was quite off-putting. They washed their hands with soap multiple times, but the smell only faded slightly.

In the end, Su Mu offered a solution by plucking some fresh mint leaves. “Rub your hands with this mint. It might help get rid of the odor.”

Compared to the fishy smell, the refreshing aroma of mint was much more pleasant.

As night fell and the moon and stars emerged from the clouds, the Su family’s dinner finally began.

Duck and radish soup, pan-fried grass carp, tomato-stewed fish, sautéed garlic scapes with river shrimp, and two vegetable stir-fries. Among them, the most eye-catching was the large bowl of spicy crayfish.

Su Chen was the chef behind the crayfish. He was skilled in this aspect and prepared delicate and beautiful spicy crayfish. The taste was also highly praised.

Gu Shi had a milder palate, and Su family dishes particularly suited his taste.

Seeing that he had only taken a bit of duck soup and a couple of vegetable dishes, Su Mu wanted to load his plate with more food. He was just too skinny.

However, mindful that everyone was around, if she were to take action, her intentions would be exposed, right? So, she set aside those thoughts and quietly indulged in eating shrimp.

Everyone had a wonderful and fulfilling day, and the night passed without any dreams.

The next morning, Su Mu finally received a call from Fu Da.

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

Thingyan: Upset with this Gu Shi. Hmmph, playing hard to get 😤