N-M Chapter 27 Getting vaccinated and eating crab
Chapter 27 Getting vaccinated and eating crab
"Hello, can I get my dog bathed here? Also, I'd like to get it dewormed and vaccinated."
Now that we've decided to adopt Dahuang, some preparations still need to be made.
Although raising dogs in the countryside is not as particular as in the city, basic deworming and vaccinations are still essential, especially since there are two children in the family.
So the group didn't rush home, but instead drove Dahuang to the only pet hospital in town.
Well, you can call it a pet hospital or a veterinary station.
Anyway, judging from the signs at the store entrance, it seemed that this store did almost everything related to animals.
"OK."
Upon hearing this, the doctor in the shop quickly stood up and responded, but was taken aback when he saw Big Yellow following behind him.
"Hey, isn't that Big Yellow?"
"Woof woof!"
Strangely enough, the dog had been very docile the whole time they were going to adopt Dahuang.
Whether you put it in the back of the truck bed or pet it, it always wags its tail obediently.
Once inside the truck bed, it obediently sat down next to the styrofoam boxes, looking around and remaining still.
The dog's loyal and devoted guarding appearance pleased Zhou Yue'e, who kept praising it for being sensible and caring towards the family.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the store and saw the doctor, his face immediately changed, and he lowered his head and started yelling at him.
The atmosphere was quite hostile, almost like they were mortal enemies.
This made Sun Ran start to doubt whether she had entered the wrong shady business.
"Haha, actually, Da Huang and I have a personal grudge."
The doctor chuckled and explained with a smile, "Last year, the town felt there were too many stray dogs around and it wasn't safe."
Let me vaccinate them and get them spayed/neutered or something.
"After I gave Dahuang a shot, it started to hold a grudge against me. Every time we meet, it has to bark at me a few times, haha."
As he spoke, he walked over and patted Big Yellow's head.
Seeing that although Da Huang looked wary, it didn't show any aggression, Sun Ran couldn't help but chuckle.
I'd seen similar videos before, but I never expected to actually encounter one now.
"So it's been spayed/neutered?" Sun Ran had also checked when he adopted Da Huang, and since it was a male dog, he asked curiously.
"No, it's very clever. It slipped away as soon as I finished the injection and I wasn't looking. No matter how hard I tried to catch it, I couldn't, not even by trying to trick it with delicious food."
The doctor smiled and said, "If you need surgery in the future, you can come to me, and I'll give you a discount."
Before the words were finished, a few whimpers were heard, and when the head was turned around, Big Yellow was no longer fierce, and it hid behind the little girl with its tail between its legs.
He kept his head down and refused to show himself no matter what.
Upon seeing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, and then burst into laughter again.
After a series of coaxing and cajoling attempts, it was only through the little girl's persuasion that Da Huang finally obediently entered the bathing tub in the shop.
Then they gave me a thorough wash and blow-dry.
While they were taking a bath, the doctor talked to them about Big Yellow and said that he had thought about adopting it before, but unfortunately, they had already made enemies.
I kept avoiding him, and I couldn't catch him no matter how hard I tried.
When it came time for the final vaccination, the dog behaved well; Sun Ran held it and it stayed still.
The little girl, however, immediately covered her eyes with her little hand as soon as she saw the doctor take out the syringe.
I dare not look at anything.
An'an is scared!
After the fight, I comforted Da Huang for a long time, feeling sorry for him.
They say things like, "Injections hurt so much," or "After getting an injection, you won't get sick anymore."
His childlike voice and earnest expression amused everyone in the shop.
Finally, they bought some deworming medicine at the store, paid by scanning a QR code, and added the doctor on WeChat before taking Dahuang home.
After driving all the way back to the village along the mountain roads, the family parked the car and started sharing the crabs in the village.
A basket of crabs weighed 50 jin (25 catties), and before leaving home, I discussed with the villagers that we would divide about 30 jin (15 catties) of them among ourselves.
They took the scale and divided it up right at their doorstep, one person buying one jin and another two jin. Then, the remaining ten or twenty jin were sold out in just ten minutes.
The village is mostly populated by elderly people, and it's troublesome for them to go down the mountain.
Now that I can buy fresh crabs right at my doorstep, I'm naturally very enthusiastic.
Moreover, since they were all acquaintances, Zhou Yue'e had no intention of taking advantage of the situation to make a quick buck, and sold them at the original price of 65 yuan per catty.
This price is cheaper than the price in the town market down the mountain, so everyone's going to be scrambling to buy it.
In other words, everyone is looking for something fresh, and the crabs are eaten on the same day they are bought. Otherwise, some people would probably buy more and hoard them.
However, there's only so much stuff in total.
130 crabs seem like a lot, but with a village of about a hundred people, that's only one crab per person on average, so there will always be some who don't get any.
In their dissatisfaction, it's inevitable that some people will say something sarcastic or critical.
You can't expect cheap stuff to be good, or maybe they're just making a huge profit selling these crabs.
Zhou Yue'e and Sun Ran didn't pay much attention to this.
With so many people in the village, it's impossible for everyone to love each other and be like one big family.
Just ignore people like that in the future.
After the crabs were divided, Zhou Yue'e picked out the best ones, keeping a total of 5 jin (2.5 catties), and took them to her brother-in-law's house.
The whole family gathered together and happily ate dinner...
"Here they are, the crabs are ready!"
Liu Huiying walked into the main hall with a smile and placed the large pot she was carrying in the center of the round table.
There are a lot of people eating today, so we need to find a more spacious place.
As soon as the lid was lifted, a burst of steaming heat rushed out, revealing rows of bright orange crabs lying in the pot, a delightful sight.
Eating crabs is a tradition in China, and each region has its own unique way of doing it.
Just like people in Shanghai love to eat hairy crabs, which gradually became popular in other parts of China as well, there are similar crabs in the rice paddies of Panjin in Northeast China.
Now that economic conditions have improved, there are quite a few people who enjoy expensive seafood such as king crab, snow crab, and Dungeness crab.
But at Sun Ran's family's place, the crabs they eat the most are definitely swimming crabs and mud crabs from the sea.
These are all specialties of the East China Sea, so this is perfectly normal.
Swimming crabs, in particular, are relatively inexpensive and therefore very popular, with a wide variety of ways to prepare them.
The simplest and most delicious way to cook it is undoubtedly steaming or making it with scallion oil, which allows you to enjoy the freshness and the natural sweetness of the crab.
Crabs are only stir-fried or braised if they are of poor quality or lack freshness.
In addition, you can also use brine made with Shaoxing wine to marinate pickled crabs and crab paste, which are excellent accompaniments to alcohol.
So today we're having steamed crabs at home. After all, Zhou Yue'e praised them highly, saying they were all excellent!
Well, I also have to thank Mr. Zhang, the owner of the stall.
What a kind person!
Otherwise, it would be really hard to find crabs that are both this good and this cheap.
"Dad, Mom, these are for you. May you be safe and sound. Here, take the crabs. Your grandma will peel them for you later. Here, Xiaoran, these are for you..."
Liu Huiying was dividing the crabs one by one.
Beside him, Sun Bolang held chopsticks and a wine glass, looking resentful.
No, where are my crabs?
Why haven't you given me one yet?!
Why should I have to wait in line behind that brat?!
unfair!
"Thank you, Auntie! Ouch, it's hot!"
The two little ones picked up the small bowls in front of them, took the crabs, and thanked them. The little girl was so eager to peel them that she immediately burned herself and cried out.
The little foodie's appearance made everyone at the table burst into laughter.
"Here, Grandma will peel it for you."
Zhou Yue'e, suppressing a laugh, reached out and took the crab to help her peel it. Sun Ran did the same, helping Xiao Sunping peel the crab.
These swimming crabs are called "little female crabs" or "second female crabs," meaning they are female crabs that have not yet fully matured.
If it were November or December, the female crabs would have orange-red roe after they matured, while the shells of these young female crabs now are all light yellow, semi-liquid, soft yellow.
Although it doesn't taste as rich as the red roe, it melts in your mouth and has an extra touch of sweetness.
Even the crab meat is more tender, sweeter, and juicier than that of the red-roe crab.
So quite a few gourmets actually prefer to eat these little female crabs.
Peel open the crab shell, remove the stomach and teeth, scoop out all the crab roe and pile it high inside the shell, then pour a spoonful of crab vinegar mixed with ginger shreds on top...
After helping Xiao Sunping prepare the crabs, I also broke open a crab shell and cleaned it myself...
Sun Ran scooped out a spoonful of crab roe, put it in his mouth, and let out a satisfied sigh.
It's so fresh!
good to eat!
He raised his spoon, about to scoop out a second bite...
"By the way, Ranran, today your auntie found a pretty girl for you in Jiangjia Village. She's also a recent college graduate, and I heard she's quite beautiful..."
Before he could even take a spoonful, he heard his aunt Liu Huiying's voice from the other side of the dining table, and Sun Ran's hand froze.
No!
We were having a nice meal, how did it suddenly turn into pressure to get married!