Chapter 87 Dragon and Phoenix Soup

When the group walked to the alley outside the house, they smelled the aroma of chicken. Several children cheered and ran home in a swarm.

When we walked outside the courtyard, we saw oyster meat drying on the bamboo sieve. Zhou Ruonan and her two sisters-in-law were weaving nets on the eaves, and Grandma Chen was also helping.

"Why are you back so late?" Zhou Ruonan stood up and dusted off her apron. "The dragon and phoenix soup is ready. We're just waiting for you to come back for dinner!"

Mrs. Li said with a smile, "Ah Le, I should have gone fishing with you guys last night, and shared in your good luck!"

"Okay, we'll call you next time we go."

After Li Changle finished speaking, he glanced at Zhou Ruonan, went into the house, took out the popcorn and put it on the table, took out the cloth, and then took out the money under the bucket. As soon as he entered the house, Zhou Ruonan followed him in.

"How is it? How many beads did you open?"

"I opened two. One is not as big as the one you opened last night, nor as round as the one you opened last night. The other one is even bigger, and it's golden. It looks very beautiful."

Zhou Ruonan said happily as she opened the drawer and took out the beads wrapped in a handkerchief. "It looks good, doesn't it?"

Li Changle picked up the golden one and thought it would be very beautiful if it was made into a pendant. "It's really beautiful. It would be great if I could make a few more."

Zhou Ruonan glared at him in reproach. "What are you thinking? One is good enough. Also, the whole village is buzzing about you finding a purple sea urchin. If you go to the cave at night, you have to be careful."

"I just heard from Xiaoyang." Li Changle put the beads back into the handkerchief and handed her the money. "Keep it and give the money to Awei after dinner."

Zhou Ruonan looked at the thick stack of banknotes and said happily, "So many!"

"The price of Buddha's hand conches is one yuan per pound, and the price of sea urchins is nearly twice as high as that of the seafood market. If Chen Dong hadn't seen them, he would have sent them all to the restaurant and sold them for more than that!"

"After you left, I sold the ones I caught with the traps for more than four yuan. Together with what I sold last night, the total was 123 yuan. With what I made here, I made more than 300 yuan in one night, which is almost as much as my salary for three years. I should be content!"

"Silly woman." Li Changle pinched her nose and was about to show her the material she had bought when she heard her eldest son's shouting from outside.

"Dad, Mom, it's time to eat." Li Xiaohai came running in. "Grandma said the dragon and phoenix soup smells so good! I told you guys to hurry up or it won't taste good if it gets cold."

"Now that we're here, let's eat first." Li Changle followed her son out and saw that Mrs. Li had carried her dining table to her parents' side.

After two tables were placed in the room, it seemed even more crowded.

Mrs. Li Da and Mrs. Li Er helped to serve the dishes, including stewed green beans, stir-fried conch meat with celery, braised black snapper, boiled shrimp and clams, and finally a large pot of milky white dragon and phoenix soup.

"Brother, we have nothing to do in the afternoon, let's have a drink!" Chen Yongwei said while standing behind him, holding a wine jug.

"Okay! Have a drink and have a good sleep!" Li Changle took the wine pot and sat next to Father Li. "Dad, take good care of your injuries. When you get better, I'll drink with you."

Father Li smiled and said, "Forget it. The doctor told me to drink less. Wait for your brother to come back, and you three brothers can drink well."

Li Changle: "Last time, my sister-in-law said that my brother and his family would be back soon. The typhoon has passed, so why haven't they come back yet?"

"After restocking at the dock, they went to the fishing grounds to fish. They said they won't be back until the end of the month." Mrs. Li said, coming out with a plate.

This is what it is like to be a boat helper. There is no freedom at all. Every time you set sail, it takes at least half a month or at most a month to get home.

Whenever a typhoon comes, the family members will also have to worry.

Grandma Chen came out with a vinegar dish and said cheerfully, "This is a great meal today, just in time for the New Year."

Li Xiaozhou looked up at her and said, "Grandma, we just celebrated the Chinese New Year a few days ago, and today we celebrate the Chinese New Year again! Does eating delicious food mean celebrating the Chinese New Year?"

Grandma Chen smiled and said, "Yes, eating delicious food is the New Year."

Li Xiaohai asked curiously: "Dad, it's obviously sea snake stewed with chicken, why do you say it's dragon and phoenix soup?"

"Snakes are often called little dragons, and chickens are considered phoenixes. When we stew the two together, we call it dragon and phoenix soup!"

"Uncle San, the dragon is male and the phoenix is female. The dragon and phoenix soup is made by killing a hen and stewing it." Li Xiaoyang said.

Mrs. Li came out and glared at him. "You have no manners. The bigger your mouth is, the more annoying it is. I've saved the firewood for you. When the day comes when it falls on you, I'll see if you dare to talk back."

"You only know how to talk about me!" Seeing her glaring at him, Li Xiaoyang quickly shrank his neck and slipped to the next table.

Li's mother and Zhou Ruonan came out with fried octopus with celery. "You said we wanted dragon and phoenix soup, so your grandmother Chen went home and caught a big rooster and stewed a big pot of it."

Grandma Chen said cheerfully, "This chicken is so annoying. Every day it either pecks at this or chases that. I've long wanted to kill it and stew it."

"We'll eat grandma's food this time, and next time we'll kill our big rooster." Li Changle poured the wine, and everyone sat down around the table.

After taking two bites, Mrs. Li said to Li Changle, "Ah Le, can your jar really catch twenty or thirty octopuses at a time?" Mrs. Li also looked up at him. When she heard from Li's mother that A Le was willing to help them buy a jar to catch octopuses, she was also very tempted.

Almost all women who grew up by the sea can swim. With their swimming skills, it is more than enough for them to find a jar under a rocky beach.

Li Changle told them about his gains from both times, "One hundred cans, a bundle of fishing rope over a hundred meters long, and steel wire for less than eight yuan in total. With good luck, I made back my investment in one go."

"It's much more cost-effective than buying clay jars. Next time you go to Tuxiaqiao, buy me two hundred." Mrs. Li also looked at the jars and thought the material was quite thick and should be able to last for two years.

Mrs. Li said a little embarrassedly: "Ah Le, please buy two hundred for me as well."

"No problem." Li Changle agreed readily.

Seeing the children's chattering and lively at the table, Grandma Chen said to Li's mother, "Xiaohua, your family is still lively. I don't know when my Awei will be able to bring his grandson's wife home."

Mother Li looked at her grandchildren and said, "Look, they were fine now, but in the blink of an eye they started quarreling. Sometimes it was so noisy that it gave me a headache."

Grandma Chen: "Now that we are not allowed to have more children, I just want Ah Wei to bring his wife home as soon as possible so that we can have a lively life like this."

Chen Yongwei muttered, "What's the hurry? Once I make some money, I won't be worried about not having a wife!"

Li's mother smiled and nodded, "Yes, as long as a man is capable, he can get married a few years later."

Everyone ate while chatting. Two bowls of dragon and phoenix soup were completely finished, including the meat and soup. After dinner, the children went to play in the alley.

Zhou Ruonan and her two sisters-in-law cleaned up the dishes. Li Changle and Chen Yongwei drank two bowls of old wine and became dizzy. They went home to sleep without even settling the bill.

When he woke up, it was already past one o'clock. Li Changle saw the net bag at the end of the bed, took out the cloth and put it on the bed, then went out and called Zhou Ruonan who was sitting at the door weaving a net.

The ground trap net and crab net have been completed in the past two days with the help of Li's father and mother.

Including those found today, there are now a total of 41 ground traps and 33 crab cages.

Zhou Ruonan followed him into the room, and seeing the fabric on the bed, she frowned and said, "We still have clothes to wear, why did you buy so much fabric?"

He said he wanted to save money to build a new house and buy a big boat, but after making a little more money this time, he immediately started spending lavishly again.

Li Changle picked up the cloth and said, "These pieces are for Dad and Mom, this one is for your Mom, this one is for the two sons, and these are all yours."

Zhou Ruonan watched him display the fabrics to her as if they were treasures. When she saw that there were pieces of fabrics belonging to her, her parents, and her children, but not his, she couldn't bring herself to complain.

"What about yours? You only have one set of nicer clothes. Now that you often go to the restaurant to sell your catch, you should buy yourself a set of nicer clothes."

"Compared to the clothes worn by those people in the restaurant, no matter how well I dress, I am still a fisherman." Li Changle smiled and hugged her, "I see that the clothes you wear to class are worn out. Find someone to make them for you as soon as possible so that you can wear new clothes to class when school starts."

"Forget about buying it this time, but don't waste money on so much fabric next time. These are from your parents. Keep them for now and bring them over during the Mid-Autumn Festival. You bought so much fabric during the off-season. You'll definitely get scolded if you give it to them!"

She was very happy. The clothes she wore to class were made for her by her mother when she just became a substitute teacher. This time when she went back to her mother's home, she wore the new clothes so that her mother wouldn't worry about her not being well.

"I'll do whatever you say. When the time comes, you can say that you got the material for them."

"Yeah!" Zhou Ruonan looked at him and said softly, "Ah Le, these can be worn for several years. It's not easy to make money. We still have to build a house. Don't spend money lavishly in the future."

Li Changle smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, I won't spend money recklessly in the future." The money that should be spent still needs to be spent, otherwise what is the point of making money?
"I really like this piece of floral fabric. And this piece of fabric from my mother is also very beautiful. If she knew you bought it for her, she would definitely make it right away and wear it to show off to her old sisters."

"When we earn enough money to build a new house, we will go and bring her over to live with us for a while, so she won't be lonely at home."

“I hope that day comes soon.”

Zhou Ruonan thought about how every time she took Xiaohai and Xiaozhou back to her mother's home, her mother would send them to the station and wait until the bus left before they went home alone. It made her heart ache to see them like that.

"If I pry out all the salable Buddha's hand snails in the cave and sell them, I can get at least a few hundred dollars. If I can open a few more pearls from the oysters, I can go fishing in the sea to earn some more. It won't be long before I can build a new house."

"Well! I'll use my salary for expenses, and save the money from weaving webs to build a new house." Zhou Ruonan became happier and happier as he thought about it, as if he saw a two-story building rising from the ground.

Li Changle looked at her and closed the door. "Anan, you see how hard I've been working these days. Please spend some time with me while the kids are away."

Zhou Ruonan's face flushed immediately, "You said you worked hard, but you're still thinking about that in broad daylight..."

"I just drank the Dragon and Phoenix Soup today and had a good sleep. I am now as strong as a dragon and a tiger, and full of energy..." Li Changle said as he hugged her and leaned towards the bed.

Zhou Ruonan slapped him in annoyance, "You use idioms incorrectly... woo... woo..."

He buried his head and blocked out the rest of the words. After a rustling sound, the bunk bed began to creak and groan.

(End of this chapter)

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