Aren't you supposed to be cultured?

Zhou Chenglei directly carried Jiang Xia away from the beach before putting her down, then escorted her home and took out Yunnan Baiyao, intending to apply it to her wounds.

Jiang Xia said, "Just use red potion, this medicinal powder is almost finished, don't waste it. Your arm needs medicine too."

His arm wound was deeper.

Zhou Chenglei didn't speak, scattering the medicinal powder on the wounds on her knees and ankles as if it were free.

After he finished, he stood up, "I'll go to the beach to sell those shrimp. You sit at home and don't wander around."

Jiang Xia couldn't help but say, "When do I ever wander around?"

Zhou Chenglei didn't reply. It seemed she didn't wander around, but…

He didn't know how to say it, but he just felt she was quite disobedient.

Jiang Xia didn't argue with him, "Sell that mantis shrimp in the bucket, that green wrasse, and anything else valuable. But don't sell that Orangutan Sea Chrysanthemum Clam."

Zhou Chenglei responded and went out, picking up the mantis shrimp and green wrasse Jiang Xia had caught in her bucket and putting them in his. Besides the Orangutan Sea Chrysanthemum Clam, he didn't plan to sell the other large conch either. That was an Emperor Tang Guan Conch; such a big one might contain pearls.

He wouldn't sell the crabs Jiang Xia had picked up either; she liked to eat them. He also picked up a few crabs, just in time for an early dinner tonight, and would steam them with the mantis shrimp for her to eat later.

The rest were just some White Clams, Blood Cockles, Oysters, and Clams. These weren't worth much, so he wouldn't sell them. He would fetch some seawater later to keep them alive, saving them for the family to eat.

After sorting everything, Zhou Chenglei carried the bucket and the Snakeskin Bag containing the large ribbonfish, pushing the family's handcart out.

It was already starting to get dark. Jiang Xia estimated they wouldn't be back so soon.

She went out to heat water, planning to wash her hair and take a bath.

Jiang Xia went out and saw the mantis shrimp and several crabs in the bucket, clearly left for her to eat, since she was the only one who liked crabs.

The oysters, mussels, and other shellfish were placed on the ground, forming a small pile. The oysters weren't very big.

The large conch and the Orangutan Sea Chrysanthemum Clam hadn't been sold either.

Jiang Xia felt a little hungry. She had eaten dinner before four in the afternoon, and it was already past seven.

White porridge was simmering in the coal stove, cooked by Mother Zhou, probably left for them to eat at night or for breakfast tomorrow.

Jiang Xia thought they would probably be hungry when they came back, so she decided to open some oysters and make an oyster, shrimp, and crab seafood porridge for them later.

Jiang Xia first started the fire to heat the water before opening the oysters.

Just as she had opened a small plate of oysters and prepared the mantis shrimp and crabs, Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou pulled back two Bamboo Baskets of shrimp.

Jiang Xia was surprised to see them, "Why didn't you sell them?"

Mother Zhou said, "There were too many people selling shrimp today. The purchasing station said it was too late and they wouldn't be fresh by tomorrow, so they offered a very low price. A'Lei said he would take them back to dry and sell them."

Jiang Xia heard this and said, "There won't be much even if you dry them here. Why don't we buy up the shrimp from the other villagers too?"

Zhou Chenglei, who was unloading the shrimp from the handcart, glanced at her.

Father Zhou laughed, "Xiao Xia's idea coincides with A'Lei's."

Mother Zhou said with some heartache, "A'Lei has already spoken to your eldest brother, Great-Grandmother, and a few other families about buying their shrimp. He's buying them for five cents more per pound than the purchasing station."

Not only did they not make money, but they also had to buy the shrimp for five cents more per pound than the purchasing station.

That spendthrift was really generous; Mother Zhou's heart ached.

Jiang Xia then said, "It's okay, we can earn it back when they're dried."

Mother Zhou said, "You and A'Lei say the same thing. But you have to take them to the market in the city to sell them when they're dried. It's not easy to sell them in town, it's too much trouble."

Mother Zhou felt that it was fine if she didn't sell her own shrimp, at least she wouldn't lose money. If she dried them and couldn't sell them, she could slowly eat them without wasting them. But spending money to buy other people's shrimp was not cost-effective; she would lose money if she couldn't sell them.

Moreover, the weather wasn't good. Who knew if the sun would come out tomorrow? If the shrimp couldn't be dried and rotted, it would be a huge loss.

Father Zhou said, "We can dry some fish too and take them to sell together when we don't go out to sea. Why are you worrying so much?"

Jiang Xia thought so too. She didn't respond and changed the subject, "The water's hot, Mom, go take a bath. I'll make some oyster and shrimp porridge to eat later."

Since the shrimp weren't being sold, she would put a few more shrimp in the porridge to make it sweeter.

Mother Zhou said, "I won't wash yet. The hot water is just right. I'll blanch the shrimp and dry them."

Mother Zhou did as she said. There were so many shrimp; she was afraid they would rot.

Jiang Xia also took half a kilogram of shrimp, cleaned them, blanched them in boiling water, and added them to the porridge. More shrimp would make the porridge sweeter.

Zhou Chenglei glanced at Jiang Xia's knees, but she had already pulled down her trouser legs, so he couldn't see them. He didn't say anything, and carried the two bamboo baskets of shrimp into the kitchen, pouring them into the two large iron pots in batches.

Mother Zhou had already divided the water from one large iron pot into two iron pots.

They blanched the shrimp in hot water and spread them out to dry. Jiang Xia also finished making the porridge and called them to eat before continuing.

The family was indeed hungry, and they each took a bowl of porridge and started eating.

Jiang Xia gave Zhou Zhou a bowl of porridge with lots of shrimp, oysters, and crab, and asked Zhou Chenglei, "Why didn't you sell the remaining large conch?"

Zhou Chenglei said, "That conch is an Emperor Tang Guan Conch, and like the Orangutan Sea Chrysanthemum Clam, it has a chance of producing pearls."

Jiang Xia stopped eating her porridge and immediately went out to take the large conch and clam back to her room first.

People would be coming to sell shrimp later.

Although she didn't know if there were any pearls, if someone casually took it, they would definitely feel as heartbroken as if there were pearls inside.

At this moment, Mother Zhou shouted in the yard, "A'Lei, someone is here to deliver shrimp! Come out quickly."

Zhou Chenglei responded, quickly finished his porridge, and went back to his room to take a stack of change from an iron box and gave it to Jiang Xia, "You'll be responsible for settling accounts with the villagers later. There are one hundred and fifty yuan here. If it's not enough, come back to the box to get more."

"Okay," Jiang Xia took it.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei hurried out.

Jiang Xia first found a plastic woven shopping basket to hold the change, which was very convenient to carry on her arm.

Several villagers came to the yard, each with a little more than half a bucket of shrimp.

Wen Wan stood behind the villagers, carrying two Snakeskin Bags.

After falling into the water, she went home to change her clothes and came to sell shrimp.

She glanced at the bowl of porridge Mother Zhou was holding, which was full of shrimp, oysters, and crab, and unconsciously swallowed her saliva.

The Zhou family was really rich, with such good food.

No wonder Jiang Xia came back after being reborn and didn't leave, and even managed to divide the family.

Father Zhou had already prepared the scale, and he and Zhou Chenglei were responsible for weighing the shrimp.

Pan Daidi rushed out first with her bucket, "Weigh mine first!"

Zhou Chenglei weighed hers first. There wasn't even enough for half a bucket of shrimp. After weighing it, excluding the weight of the bucket, "One point six kilograms."

Pan Daidi said, "How can there be so little? Is your scale accurate?"

Zhou Chenglei said, "If you don't think it's accurate, you can go to the purchasing station to sell it."

Pan Daidi said, "Forget it, forget it, I'm too lazy to bother. Give me the money! How much is it? Who can help me calculate it?"

Wen Wan's sweet voice sounded, "Thirty-five cents per kilogram, one point six kilograms is fifty-six cents."

The villagers were still calculating, but they didn't expect Wen Wan to calculate it so quickly.

Someone praised, "Xiao Wan is really good at calculating."

Zhou Min, a girl in the village who was Wen Wan's classmate and also her friend, said after hearing this, "A'Wan is the best student in our school. She's always first in the whole school in every exam, so of course she's good at calculating."

After speaking, she glanced at Jiang Xia, "But Sister-in-law Jiang Xia should be even better at calculating! After all, she's from the city, so she should be more cultured."

Pan Daidi, thinking that Jiang Xia ignored her last time, immediately said, "That's right, A'Lei's wife is from the city, isn't she said to be very cultured? Can't even calculate such a small number?"