Chapter 156

At dinnertime, everyone sat around the table, which was laden with a variety of seafood and two plates of stir-fried greens. The benefit of living by the sea was that even if one couldn't have chicken, duck, or pork, there was always plenty of fish, shrimp, and crab. Thanks to her spatial dimension, it was quite simple for Qiao Qingqing to get fresh shrimp. Tonight, to host the Brigade Leader’s family, she had gone to the extra effort of preparing special dishes rather than just the usual steamed fare: garlic vermicelli shrimp, spicy swimming crab, oil-drizzled steamed fish, braised eel, dry-fried squid, and a pot of steamed oysters. The stir-fried greens had been picked from Aunt Xiumei’s own garden. Although the vegetables in Qiao Qingqing’s spatial dimension were ready for harvest, she didn’t use them this time. Aunt Xiumei had insisted on contributing something, and Qiao Qingqing, not wanting her to go back and haul grain, had suggested she bring two baskets of greens from home instead. If she was going to host a meal, she wouldn’t make her guests pay for the provisions. To avoid drawing too much attention, Qiao Qingqing had cooked sweet potato rice.