At the tail end of summer, as she tidied up the mats, she thought of the saleswoman from the bamboo mat shop and remembered Grandma saying they needed a meditation cushion, so she decided to go to the bamboo mat shop to see if she could have a few cushions made to order.
But Meixin happened upon a coincidence; the bamboo mat shop had turned into an Agricultural Specialty Store, which now also sold sweet potatoes, and by an even greater stroke of fortune, they also sold meditation cushions. The only regret was that the saleswoman from last time was no longer there.
Another saleswoman, who looked somewhat similar to her, said she had gone off to study.
So she was still a student, thought Meixin, feeling somewhat downhearted when she learned this.
Although she didn’t see the woman, the cushion she bought from that store was very good; not only was the design simple, but the grass material was also quite special. With a price of five hundred yuan each, they were still worth buying.
Not long after the cushions had been sent back home, her father called to say that after Grandma started using the cushion, her severe rheumatism, which usually flared up with the autumn wind, didn’t act up this year.
During her second visit to purchase cushions, Meixin saw the green-shelled, white-bellied Hairy Crabs. Huang’s now raises Hairy Crabs in Mingkun Lake, a notable gimmick that sold quite well.
Huang Tengchong also privately brought some home. Meixin had eaten a few; previously living inland, she rarely ate shrimp or crabs, but having tried a few because of Huang Tengchong’s fondness for crabs.
This time, noting that the crabs in the Agricultural Specialty Store were larger and seemed to be better quality than the ones from Huang’s Breeding, she bought a few to take home.
The next evening, while cooking the Hairy Crabs, her brother fetched a few from Huang’s Breeding. Thinking to save the fresh ones for later, Meixin decided to cook those bought from the Agricultural Specialty Store first. That night, both Huang Tengchong and her brother ate them, praising how delicious the Hairy Crabs were, and mentioned bringing more over the next day.
Upon hearing this, Meixin spilled the beans about the crabs. Seeing a bad look on Huang Tengchong’s face, he immediately went to the kitchen and cooked a few crabs. After paring them, the freshly caught Hairy Crabs from Huang’s Breeding couldn’t hold a candle to the randomly purchased ones.
"Here to buy crabs, are you? e on in," Mao Dazhu saw another customer ing in. Although the sight wasn’t particularly appealing to him, the money in their pockets surely was. As long as the money looked good, he didn’t mind the people, and Mao Dazhu’s mood slightly improved.
Huang Tengchong glanced sideways at Mao Dazhu, just an old wretch, who didn’t look like any expert in breeding, yet he managed to raise such good crabs. The meat quality was excellent, each weighing about three to four liang, looking like the standard Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crab. When did such crabs start appearing on the Beijing market?
"I’ll take all the Hairy Crabs you’ve got," the first thing that crossed Huang Tengchong’s mind was the batch of crabs stolen from the Miyun Reservoir. He had already noticed the price tagged on the Hairy Crabs in the store. If they truly were from Yangcheng Lake, given their size and freshness, just the transportation costs from south to north would be a substantial amount. Such a price was absolutely impossible.
"That won’t do, boss. As you can see, our crabs are almost sold out. But no need to fret, the next delivery of crabs is ing soon," Mao Dazhu pulled up a stool and invited the customer to e in and sit.
Huang Tengchong found the stool too hard, picked up a meditation cushion, and placed it under his buttocks. Meixin couldn’t tell whether Huang Tengchong was in a good or bad mood, so she remained silent, picking out meditation cushions in the store and buying a few pounds of the sweet potato flour from last time that she hadn’t had the chance to taste.
The shop was quiet and still; an old-style bicycle was parked at the shop’s entrance. Yezi hopped down from the bike. He hesitated at first, not ing in right away, but when he made sure that the person inside was Mao Dazhu, he sighed in relief and unloaded several boxes of foam cartons from the bike.
These past few days, Uncle Lu’s mother had fallen ill and was in the hospital, which is why Uncle Lu had Yezi deliver the crabs instead.
Huang Tengchong’s eyes instantly fell on those cartons, and he swiftly made his way out in a couple of long strides. He glanced at the bicycle first, and without a word, he opened the cartons.
"What are you doing?" Yezi protested, moving forward to intervene.
"Kid, he’s a customer, a big patron at that, don’t get in the way of the customer checking the crabs," Mao Dazhu winked and pulled Yezi aside.
Huang Tengchong checked the water temperature inside the boxes and noticed a partially melted ice mineral water bottle; he frowned deeply, realizing these crabs were caught locally in Beijing. He picked up a crab, lifted its claws, and weighed it. Each weighed almost half a jin.
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