"Young Master, Lord, my dear prince, today was agreed upon that the key is pleasing the Young Madam. If you intend to punish me, we should first hear what our Lady has to say. Otherwise, I won't accept it." Cheng Dian, with his playful nature, accurately guessed his Young Master's current mindset. Observing how the crazy guy only responded to "Young Madam," he didn't believe that his prince could come up with any severe punishment if the Lady requested otherwise.
"Haha, well done, little guy. You know how to find support, huh? Let's start by examining your peculiar findings! Hahaha." Chengmo didn't dare to say what he truly felt, hoping that his subordinates would help him out with a few more shouts. That's why Cheng Dian was indeed clever; with a few words, he got their lord in high spirits.
"Enough, close that mouth of yours. Your jaw is about to fall off. Control them, or I'll leave if they keep making a ruckus like this." Xiangbei said helplessly. It was clear that their lord indulged them, and he couldn't suppress them. In the end, she would be the one feeling embarrassed.
"They are all rough people, lacking manners. I'll punish them later. Don't be mad at me. Let's first see what they've brought and then decide how to punish, okay?" Chengmo suddenly took the lead, shamelessly.
On the stone embankment along the beach, a large water area was artificially enclosed. Normally, the camp would temporarily keep some of the catch in it. Following Cheng Dian to these sea treasures, Xiangbei had no thoughts of punishment. It was a trip down the memory lane with each bite. Look at this! A large cage filled with three or four kilograms of green-backed lobsters, eye-catching king crabs, blue flower crabs, green-fleshed crabs, squid, cuttlefish, large octopuses, sea cucumbers, seahorses, large prawns, and even big purple sea urchins resembling hedgehog balls. It seemed like they were planning to open an oceanarium with this bounty.
"Hurry, please have the kitchen cook a large pot of rich rice soup. Remove the heads and shells of the smaller shrimp and crabs. Clean the meat. Wash the tentacles and horns of squid-like creatures and cut them into small pieces. Then grind some rice paste. Later, I'll make a pot-side paste for you to eat. Now let's see what we have in the harvest of shellfish." Xiangbei shifted everyone's attention to the next batch.
While others turned around, she swiftly and unabashedly stole a bit of each item into the coral harbor in her Jade space.
As reported by Cheng Yu, the laborers were indeed practical people. Piles of snails and shells formed small mountains. "I say, Rain Bro, winning by quantity is fine, but are you deceiving yourself? These gray-shelled, rock-like things are ugly and tasteless. Are you using them just to make up the numbers?" Cheng Dian, at this moment, was enjoying other people's jokes without a care in the world.
"This is really something good; I wouldn't even trade it for large prawns." Xiangbei 's culinary expertise immediately added oyster sauce and the idea of garlic-roasted oysters by the campfire tonight.
"Rain Bro, have you ever had these large green abalones before? How should they be eaten?" Xiangbei, thinking that people nowadays wouldn't use them for sashimi, asked Cheng Yu, only to put this valiant man in an embarrassing situation.
"I dare not, I dare not. Rain can't bear the title 'Madam.' Please call me Cheng Yu," Cheng Yu respectfully saluted. "Regarding Madam's question, we occasionally pick abalones and chop them for consumption, but they cannot be considered delicious."
"Right, right, Rain Bro, if they aren't delicious, why did you bring them raw? I told you that you were just trying to get by." Cheng Dian was the only one in the crowd who remained silent.
"Well, you won't have a share of what I'll make for eating later." Xiangbei glanced at him, and Cheng Dian immediately felt that he would miss something that would make him regret it. His lips tightened, and he didn't utter another word.
"Chengmo, could you please ask someone to help me extract the abalone meat? And then, grind off this layer of green outer shell to reveal the shiny surface." Xiangbei wanted to see if the green abalone shells here could be polished to a gem-like luster.
"I'll do it." Chengmo took a large green abalone, drew a short knife from his waist, dug out the abalone meat, and gently wiped off a layer of shell with his thumb.
The brilliant and unique patterns, similar to those of South African abalone shells, were revealed.
Cheng Hai immediately thought of his jewelry shop and grabbed a few abalones to imitate, digging the meat and removing the shell.
Xiangbei opened her mouth in amazement, looking around at the people frantically polishing shells. Were they polishing abalone shells? Since when did polishing become such a simple stonecraft?
Xiangbei grabbed Chengmo's hand, repeatedly rubbing his thumb, "It's completely comparable to a diamond, Chengmo. Is this the legendary internal air power? Can you also fly on roofs and walls? Are they all proficient in this? Are you airbenders?