Strawberries

Steam rose from the stir-fried river snails, Zhao Danshi's focused figure appearing and disappearing behind the mist.

Watcher stood to one side, guiding Zhao Danshi as he added the rice wine. It sizzled, and billowing steam rose. The fishy smell quickly vanished, replaced by an indescribable fragrance.

That was not all. Watcher seized the right moment and had Zhao Danshi pour in the fried pork cracklings he had prepared earlier and stir-fry them quickly. Then he poured in the bone broth that had been bubbling away, brought it to a rolling boil over high heat, and then let it simmer slowly over low heat.

The river snails were fresh and delicious, the pork cracklings rich and fragrant. Blended with bone broth, what had once been a plain flavor instantly became layered and full.

The flavors of the accompanying ingredients also unfolded in perfect layers. The sour bamboo shoots eliminated the faint fishiness of the river snails, leaving nothing but freshness and fragrance.

The aroma of the river snails was intensely strong. It drifted who knew how far from the chimney, and even neighbors dozens of meters away could smell it.

The villagers still working in the fields could not bear the hungry growling in their stomachs. Farmers who had originally planned to work until twelve-thirty or one began heading home one after another, so hungry their stomachs were nearly cramping.

Spoon lived close to Zhao Danshi's house, and the two families were familiar with each other, visiting often. Smelling that aroma, he could no longer sit still. He brought his son Zhao Luxing over to chat, calling out from outside the courtyard, "What are you cooking? Why does it smell so good? The scent's practically rushing up my nose."

The old man sat in the courtyard teasing Dou Dou and said cheerfully, "They're filming a video. Wait here for a bit. They'll be done soon. Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, yeah, I have. Then I'll wait a while. This smell is killing me. We already had lunch, but we still can't resist it. It keeps making us want to eat something."

"I can't resist it either. I've already eaten several crackers. Come on, have some tea first. It should be ready any minute now."

Zhao Luxing sat stiffly in front of the old man, his eyes repeatedly stealing curious glances at Dou Dou's face.

Dou Dou was not shy around strangers. Seeing this unfamiliar older brother, he flashed him a huge smile, waving his tiny hands and feet. He even rolled over, as though he wanted to crawl toward Zhao Luxing.

The old man saw it and said, "Oh my, Dou Dou likes you. Luxing, do you want to hold Dou Dou?"

Zhao Luxing looked at his father, who laughed heartily. "Be careful. Hold Dou Dou properly, and don't drop him."

Having received permission, Zhao Luxing stretched out his arms and copied the old man, holding Dou Dou in his embrace. The old man did not dare let go completely and stayed close by to watch over them.

Once Dou Dou had had his fill of fun, the old man took him back and settled him in his little bed.

"Kids grow so fast. The last time I saw Dou Dou, he was only this tiny. Now he's grown again."

"Yeah. He just learned how to roll over these past two days. I think he'll be able to sit, crawl, and walk before long. In a few years, he'll probably be going to school with Luxing."

"That's a good thing."

Zhao Danshi heard the conversation outside. He plated the river snails and set them on the table beneath the eaves.

Knowing he was still filming, the old man and Spoon deliberately moved farther away so they would not appear on camera.

Once Zhao Danshi had arranged the dish and picked out a few snails to taste, the video finally came to an end.

When Spoon saw Li Ping turn off the camera, he could not help asking, "Danshi, what did you put in those stir-fried river snails? Why do they smell so good? It smelled so good I couldn't even sit still at home."

"I added pork belly, pork cracklings, and bone broth. There were sour bamboo shoots and all kinds of seasonings too. Go ahead and suck on the snails first. I'll stir-fry a couple more dishes and come back."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Spoon went in to help tend the fire. "I'll watch what you make and pick up a few tricks while I'm at it."

"There's nothing special, just ordinary vegetables."

Though Zhao Danshi said that, the vegetables beside him had already been chopped. He swiftly stir-fried three dishes in a row before calling Spoon and his son over to eat.

The first dish on the table was the stir-fried river snails. No one cared about manners as they picked up the snails and sucked on them.

There was a trick to eating river snails. First, gently suck on the tail to drink up the broth inside, then suck the meat out from the opening, or use a toothpick to pick it out.

"Well? These river snails are good, right?" Zhao Danshi looked a little proud.

Spoon and his son enthusiastically nodded. "Honestly, before eating river snails at your place, we never imagined they could taste like this. They're so delicious! We'll go catch some tomorrow too."

Zhao Luxing immediately said, "Dad, I want to go with you too."

"Sure. Once you finish your homework, we'll go together." Spoon agreed readily.

The group ate and drank around the table, finishing three or four jin of river snails in one meal.

Little glutton Dou Dou watched them eating from the side and cried anxiously, constantly slapping the railing of his little bed as he tried to get their attention.

Unable to deal with his fussing, Zhao Danshi picked him up and settled him in his lap. He dipped his chopsticks into the bowl of bone broth and put a little into Dou Dou's tiny mouth for him to taste.

Dou Dou smacked his lips, his little brows creasing slightly as though he were puzzled why what he tasted did not match what he had smelled.

Zhao Danshi could not help laughing. He dipped up a little more bone broth and fed it to him again.

Seeing this, Spoon sighed. "Ah, your Dou Dou is really too clever. You can still fool him now, but in a few months, I doubt you'll be able to hide it from him."

"For now, he can have a little meat broth. In a few months, he can taste a bit of vegetable juice too."

Once the video was filmed, Zhao Danshi and Li Ping edited it that night and uploaded it to Weibo.

They had been posting videos for some time now, and they had more followers than before. The video quickly received responses after being posted.

-Ahhhhh, Brother Danshi is so handsome. How can someone look so good even handling river snails?

-The ingredients for those stir-fried river snails are way too lavish, right? I can practically smell that fragrance through the screen.

-Did the neighbors come over to mooch a meal? So jealous. I want to be Brother Danshi's neighbor.

-Are there still so many river snails around right now? I thought they were an autumn food.

-Brother Danshi, do you want to do some kind of repost giveaway too? I don't want anything else as a prize, just the river snails you cooked.

Only after the fans mentioned it did Zhao Danshi realize that he had posted three videos without starting any repost giveaways. Most other self-media bloggers held a giveaway with practically every video to attract followers.

Zhao Danshi turned to Li Ping. "Senior Brother, should we do a giveaway too?"

Li Ping leaned over and glanced at the screen. "What do you want to give away?"

"How about stir-fried river snails? We can draw next week and pick ten people. We have ice packs now, so as long as it isn't an especially remote area, the river snails should not spoil if we send them by SF Express."

"Sure. Then let's do a giveaway."

Zhao Danshi chuckled and reposted the stir-fried river snail video they had just posted: Repost and @ one person. Next Saturday, ten winners will receive authentic wild river snails. Cooked or uncooked, your choice~

After posting that Weibo update, he checked again after taking a shower and found that the video had indeed received many more reposts.

As Zhao Danshi dried his hair, he asked Watcher excitedly, "How is it? Did we receive any Bio-Energy?"

"We did. Seventy-seven entries, 13.86 Bio-Energy. Split evenly, you receive 6.93 Bio-Energy. The Bio-Energy collected tomorrow will likely reach its peak."

Zhao Danshi was so happy that he immediately wanted to throw himself onto the bed and roll around, but Li Ping caught him by the collar in time and pulled him back. He took the towel and helped dry his hair, softly scolding, "You're already an adult. Why are you so lacking in composure?"

"We've found a viable source of steadily increasing Bio-Energy. Of course I'm happy." Zhao Danshi's eyes gleamed, his face filled with anticipation. "Senior Brother, if I became like those other influencers and had several million, or even tens of millions, of active followers, how much Bio-Energy could I earn from one video?"

"We'll get there. We'll work toward it."

Li Ping held him in place and gently dried his hair. "After we post another seven videos and reach ten in total, how about we buy a Weibo Hot Search?"

Once his hair was mostly dry, Li Ping took a hair dryer from the drawer and began blow-drying it for him.

Zhao Danshi sat in the chair. "Would that work?"

"Why wouldn't it? What we need most right now is publicity. If we get on Weibo Hot Search and make use of it early, then once we have more followers, it'll be easier to gain new ones based on our existing fanbase."

"Okay, I'll listen to you. Senior Brother, let's film videos more frequently. How about we go on a picnic for the next one? The peach blossoms on Oxhead Mountain are in full bloom right now. A little bridge, flowing water, peach blossoms, and a picnic should be pretty interesting. We can bring a chicken and make beggar's chicken."

"Sure. Next week, we'll film a picnic video." Li Ping finished drying his hair and casually tucked the hair that had fallen below his eyebrows behind his ear.

Zhao Danshi did not think there was anything strange about the gesture. He touched his nearly dry hair and shuffled off in his slippers to check on Dou Dou.

Dou Dou had eaten and drunk his fill, had already peed, and was sleeping soundly. Zhao Danshi gently lowered his head, kissed Dou Dou's chubby little cheek, and smiled as he silently wished him good night.

Li Ping also came over and kissed Dou Dou, then said to Zhao Danshi, "Go to bed early. Tomorrow, we'll get up early to pick strawberries and make a trip to the county town."

Zhao Danshi nodded. "Good night, Senior Brother."

Li Ping's voice was low and gentle. "Good night."

The next day, the two of them got up shortly after five. After washing up quickly, they took the foam boxes prepared at home and headed to the fields.

It was getting light earlier and earlier now. By nearly six o'clock, they could already see everything clearly.

With a pair of scissors each, they found separate strawberry rows and began picking.

Strawberries were soft and tender, so they had to be careful when picking them. A little too much force could crush them. Besides watching their strength, they also had to watch for ants around the strawberries.

Their strawberries grew well. Aside from being sweet and juicy, they gave off a fragrance that was especially attractive to ants.

Zhao Danshi and Li Ping had never wanted to spray pesticides. Fortunately, these ants generally did not eat strawberries, and they did not have to worry about wormholes. They merely had to be careful while picking, lest they end up with a hand full of ants and get bitten.

The ants here were all black ants, each one thick and sturdy. A single bite could make the wound swell as large as a pigeon egg.

The two worked quickly, their scissors snipping off one bright-red strawberry after another. They filled box after box, eventually filling four and a half foam boxes.

"The weather is warm and clear. More strawberries ripened than I expected. With this many strawberries, I'm afraid it'll be hard to sell them all at once."

"It's fine. We'll try first. If we can't sell them, we can bring them back and make candied strawberries. The weather is good, so we don't have to worry about them not drying."

The old man had already made breakfast at home. After the two ate, they loaded the strawberries into the trunk, secured Dou Dou's carrier, and headed for the county town with him.

Now that they had their own car, they no longer had to specially rent a truck in town. Getting around was much more convenient.

Still, it was rather unfair to use Li Ping's million-yuan car to sell vegetables.

"Do you know which fruit shop in the county town is the biggest?"

"Let's check around Central Square near the pedestrian street. I remember there are several fruit shops there. They also sell things like expensive cigarettes and liquor, and their business seems pretty good. Those should be the larger fruit shops in the whole county."

"Alright, let's try there first."

Li Ping drove a good car, and people in business had some discernment. When the fruit shop owner saw him park outside his storefront, he immediately came over with a smile. "Boss, what fruit would you like? I have every kind of fruit here. If it's for a gift, I also have custom fruit baskets."

Li Ping looked around the shop. "Do you have strawberries here?"

"Yes, yes. They're fresh strawberries that came in this morning, twenty-five yuan per jin. How many jin would you like?"

Li Ping smiled. "I'm not here to buy strawberries. I'm here to sell them."

"Ah?" The owner was stunned and could not react for a moment.

Li Ping opened the trunk. "These strawberries were picked fresh this morning too. They were grown in our own field. Have a taste first."

Li Ping had long been used to being a leader. Even after returning to be a farmer for so many days, he had not worn away the air of authority around him. His smile was gentle yet impossible to refuse. The owner put on a troubled expression, but Li Ping acted as though he had not seen it. He opened a foam box, revealing the glossy, bright-red strawberries inside. "Try my strawberries first, then we can talk."

Strawberries were expensive now, and there was no reason not to eat free ones. At Li Ping's suggestion, the owner indeed took several. He washed them briefly nearby before putting them into his mouth to taste.

Before tasting them, he had been quite suspicious of Zhao Danshi and Li Ping. But the moment the strawberries entered his mouth, he could not voice a single doubt.

He had run this shop for so long, changing supplier after supplier, yet he had never tasted strawberries this delicious!

The strawberries were sweet, tart, and juicy, with an indescribably rich fragrance when bitten into. They tasted exquisite.

Most importantly, this sweetness was not the artificial sweetness of added sweetener, but something indescribably fresh and natural! After running a fruit shop for so long, this was the first time he had ever had such a treat!

The owner ate happily, finishing the strawberry in his hand after only a few chews. Just as he was about to ask Li Ping for another couple, he met Li Ping's smiling gaze.

Instinctively, the owner felt a chill run through his heart.