Perfumery

11-20

Chapter 11 Oil cockroach

After the rain, there were more oil cockroaches, especially in the grass, almost all of them would pounce on people's feet. In the morning, Bai Xin caught a bag full of them. Although he didn't do any physical work, he was busy running around, and he was hungry after drinking the watery porridge in the morning.

He thought he had caught enough, enough for at least one meal, so he took the bag and walked home. As soon as he entered the house, he saw his grandmother scolding his aunt. His happy mood instantly disappeared, and his chest felt blocked instead. His aunt half lowered her head and said nothing, staring at the ground with a dull look, almost numb.

Bai Xin saw this and hurried forward to interrupt and shouted, "Grandma, I'm back."

Grandma couldn't help but get angry at Bai Xin because of the aunt's matter. She turned around and said unhappily, "You just go out to play all day and the whole family eats idle meals..." Bai

Xin was so impatient that he almost bit his teeth. His eldest brother worked on the land, his mother and eldest sister took care of the housework, and even his sister-in-law was taking care of the dog while sewing soles to sell in town. Bai Xin was afraid that if he listened any further he would not be able to help but retort, so he hurriedly raised the bag at his waist, tried to force a smile, and raised the corners of his mouth stiffly, "Grandma, look what I caught?"

"What?" Grandma didn't take it seriously when she said this, and glanced at the white cloth bag with drooping eyelids.

Bai Xin pretended to be presenting a treasure. He opened the bag and said, "I caught a lot of oil-shelled beetles."

Grandma stretched her neck to look inside, and sure enough, it was packed with oil-shelled beetles, black and shiny, huddled together. Most people would have turned their heads away in disgust, but grandma showed a surprised smile on her face and licked her lips subconsciously. She seemed to change her expression and her voice immediately changed, "Hey, this is a good thing, why didn't I think of it? Good boy, you are so sensible!"

Grandma grabbed the bag. Seeing this, Bai Xin took the opportunity to wink at the old lady. The old lady was rather dull and stood there stupidly, not understanding what Bai Xin meant when he asked her to leave first.

"It was fried at noon..." Grandma Bai grabbed the bag and walked towards the kitchen, completely forgetting about her aunt. But she slowed down halfway and said in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, "Let's wait until Erlang comes back tonight before eating."

Bai Xin pouted, but he had guessed that his grandmother would say that, and was not surprised at all.

At noon, they had the usual black glutinous steamed buns and porridge, with two kinds of cold and salted vegetables, and they were reluctant to add even a drop of sesame oil. Grandma Bai was thinking about eating oil cockles in the evening, and she kept talking about it at the table. She also became friendly to Bai Xin, praised him a few times, and personally picked up a chopstick of salted vegetables for him, with wrinkles on her face. "Sanlang, go get some more in the afternoon, and grandma will cook it for you in the evening."

In fact, she cooked it for Erlang. Bai Xin bit the steamed bun in anger, and at the same time, he was also tempted by the taste of oil cockles in his memory. When he thought of the delicious taste, a lot of saliva was secreted in his mouth, and the slightly hard steamed bun was more like chewing wax.

"Yeah." Bai Xin replied absent-mindedly.

Grandma Bai smiled even more happily, and praised him: "Sanlang is really sensible."

Many families in the village like this. Bai Xin caught more in the afternoon, but he didn't catch as much as in the morning. He only caught less than half a bag.

When Grandma Bai saw him coming back, she first looked at his bag. Seeing that the bag was empty, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She muttered: "Why did you catch so little, Sanlang? Did you go out to play secretly? There are a lot of these things after the rain."

Bai Xin's eyes flashed with displeasure, and he said calmly: "Many people catch oil shell mantis to eat, I have searched all over the village."

Although Grandma Bai said this, she was not angry at all. She took the cloth bag and went to the kitchen.

Cao knew that her mother-in-law was going to cook the insects herself, so she stood by and watched. Grandma Bai first ripped off the wings of the oil cockroaches, then rinsed them several times with water. The oil cockroaches were already half dead. Then Grandma Bai poured all the oil cockroaches into the pot and kept frying them. After the water was dried up, she added salt and continued to fry. The shells of the oil cockroaches made a crisp sound when they rubbed against the insects.

Bai Xin also stood by the kitchen door and watched. He could imagine the taste by listening to the sound, and swallowed his saliva again.

After a while, the fried mantis shrimps with salt were out of the pot. It was a pitch-black plate with clear black and white colors, and a burnt aroma wafted out. Just as Grandma Bai finished frying them, Erlang came back from outside. The sweat on his face was like a stream, and he looked tired. When Grandma Bai saw him, her eyes lit up, and she waved and shouted, "Erlang, you're back. We'll have something delicious to eat today!"

When Erlang heard what his grandmother said, he couldn't help but feel a little excited. He subconsciously looked into the kitchen and sniffed.

After Grandma Bai finished shouting, Erlang also approached. She saw that her precious grandson looked tired. Grandma Bai looked distressed and turned her anger to Cao, "Seeing Erlang come back, why don't you pour some hot water for him to wash his face? You just stand there stupidly, without any sense of taste."

Erlang glanced over here, with a matter-of-fact expression, and then walked back to the house with his chin held high.

Hearing this, Cao hurriedly nodded in response, scooped water, and followed Erlang to carry the basin into the main house.

Bai Xin tightly closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. He felt that if he opened his mouth, he would definitely start cursing. He hissed a few times through his nose, then slowly opened his eyes. He once again warned himself in his heart that as long as he didn't get rid of the Bai family, he would not be able to escape from this situation. He clenched his right fist tightly, wishing he could make more money. This urgent feeling made his whole body filled with a feeling of powerlessness.

After Erlang had finished washing up and dinner was ready, Grandma Bai placed the oil-shell cockroaches in front of Erlang and said in a tone of offering a treasure: "Erlang, grandma fried some crabs for you. They are so delicious. Eat more."

Erlang had originally expected something delicious, at least fish or meat, but he was fed with insects that made him sick just by looking at them. He did not appreciate it at all. Instead, he became angry because his expectations were not met, and said with disgust. Leaning back, waving her right hand frequently, she said unhappily, "Take it away, take it away, who wants to eat insects!"

In fact, in previous years, the Bai family also used oil cockroaches for their feast, but Erlang's meals were usually the best in the family, with eggs every now and then, and sometimes his classmates in the academy would treat him to a bowl of noodles or something. Of course, he looked down on these insects, and like Yu Xiaobao, he was too late to be disgusted.

Grandma Bai's face was a little hurt, but she still persuaded unwillingly, "Try it, it's delicious."

Erlang's voice was a little cold, "Take it away, I don't want to eat it."

Seeing this, the second uncle glared at him and scolded, "How do you talk to grandma?"

Erlang was not afraid at all, but put down his chopsticks with a snap, stood up and was about to leave, looking like he didn't plan to have dinner.

Second Auntie was the one who loved her son the most. She quickly pulled Erlang and complained to her husband, "The child is tired all day, and you are still yelling at him!"

Seeing this, Grandma Bai also hurriedly said, "Okay, I'll take it away. Erlang, sit down and eat quickly. Don't be hungry."

Erlang sat down slowly, still leaning back, with no intention of picking up his chopsticks. Grandma Bai was stunned for a moment and understood, and hurriedly took the oil cockroach to the place farthest from him - in front of Bai Xin.

Country people don't pay attention to eating, and there is no distinction between men and women. Erlang sat on Grandma Bai's left, and then the second family, the third family on the other side, and the first family sat opposite Grandma Bai.

Bai Xin looked at Erlang and then at Grandma, and felt secretly happy, thinking that there is really a thing that can defeat another thing, and at the same time he was happy that the oil cockroach came to their house.

Grandma Bai was still coaxing Erlang, "Okay, hurry up and eat."

Erlang started to eat, very politely picking up the salted vegetables with the chopsticks, and put them in his mouth to chew slowly. Seeing that he was really eating, Grandma Bai also started to eat, and the others saw this and raised their chopsticks.

Bai Xin immediately picked up a cockroach and put it in his mouth. It was crispy and crispy, with a little oily fragrance. For Bai Xin, it was no different from a delicacy in the world.

He ate several in a row, and he wanted to eat the whole plate. Grandma Bai was stunned for a moment before she remembered that there were cockroaches, but because they were a little far away from her, she didn't dare to bring them to her. She asked someone to scoop a spoonful for her anxiously. Grandma Bai put it in her mouth, and her expression was the same as Bai Xin's, enjoying it.

But Erlang was closest to her, and couldn't even stand the sound of the crunching, so he moved to the other side without leaving a trace. Grandma Bai didn't notice it at first, but later she saw that Bai Xin was almost close to his mother, and then she realized it. It was like a needle pricked in her heart. Although she still ate it, she rarely ate it anymore.

Second Uncle and Second Aunt also liked it, but for the same reason as Grandma Bai, they only ate a few bites and stopped. However, the third family didn't eat a single bite.

Dalang also loved this dish very much. He didn't pay attention to Erlang's reaction, and he was far away, so he ate a lot of it. The eldest sister-in-law was shy and didn't eat much. The eldest aunt and Cao also ate a little. Wu Niang was young and disliked eating insects. No matter how Bai Xin persuaded her, she didn't eat any.

Bai Xin caught a lot of oil-shell cockroaches, but he couldn't help eating them. Each person took a chopstick and soon finished half a plate. If they ate the whole plate, Grandma Bai would definitely not be happy, so the eldest family didn't eat much later and intentionally left half a plate, but almost half of it was eaten by their family.

After the meal, when clearing the dishes, Bai Xin thought that he could not do good deeds without leaving his name, so

he secretly said to Grandma Bai: "Grandma, I saw that you didn't eat much at the table and left half a plate." Grandma Bai was feeling a lot of emotion at this moment. She had just been stabbed by Erlang, and now she had Sanlang's thoughtfulness as a comparison. She also realized that Sanlang was a really good kid, with a quick mind, cleverness, and filial piety. She began to like Bai Xin and her eyes softened. However, when she thought that no matter how obedient Bai Xin was, he would just be a farmer in the future and would have no future, while Erlang was different. She would have to rely on Erlang to pass the imperial examinations, so she said indifferently: "Well, take it to my room for me."

Bai Xin didn't understand why his grandmother spoke in such a weird way. If he knew what his grandmother was thinking, he would have slapped himself in the face and blamed himself for being shameless.