CHAPTER 418: CHAPTER 109: CRABS GROW FAT BEFORE THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS TURN YELLOW (PART 2)

Regarding the Roster family, Xu Changfu, Xu’s father, had an inscrutable view and even warned not to let any flirtatious idea fall upon the mother-daughter duo of the Roster family.

"Who is this?" Xu Song was very curious, wondering what kind of man warranted such attentive care from Aisha.

Only two guests had already been admitted to the feast. Huang Tengchong, the host, occupied the seat of honor, while Xu Song and Aisha were seated to the left and right of Huang Tengchong. When Zhou Ziang entered, the appetizer had just been removed, and the Hairy Crab, with its golden-yellow shell, had just been served.

After Zhou Ziang sat down beside Aisha, two servants from the Huang family were already waiting by his side with a hot towel for wiping hands and utensils, quickly getting everything ready for him.

"This is Mr. Zhou Ziang, the youngest Senior Researcher at Mengshan Pharmaceutical. This time, he is here with Miss Aisha to oversee the public project between the two governments," Huang Tengchong hurriedly explained.

Upon hearing that Zhou Ziang was a Senior Researcher at Mengshan Company, Xu Song quickly stood up, raising his wine glass: "My apologies for the oversight, Mr. Xu did not recognize Mount Tai in your presence."

Xu Song, the future heir to the Xu Family, naturally knew far more than the likes of Huang Tengchong.

If Zhou Ziang were just an ordinary researcher at Mengshan, at most it would have meant he was a salaried employee. But as a Senior Researcher, the significance was different. According to information in the hands of the Xu Family, Mengshan had not employed a foreign Senior Researcher for decades. This man from China, looking so young, his background unknown.

"Mr. Xu, you’re too kind," Zhou Ziang did not inquire about the missing students, instead taking a napkin and placing it in front of him.

The red wine that accompanied the appetizers was replaced, and a white wine suited for pairing with seafood was served.

Accompanying the wine, there was also a complete set of tools for eating Hairy Crab. Ordinarily, eating crabs involves simply lifting the shell, splitting the body in two, and enjoying the roe and flesh one by one.

Huang Tengchong was also intentionally showing off this evening, specifically arranging for ancient official households’ crab-eating tools, all exquisitely carved from ivory, including a round mallet, a small square table, tweezers, a long-handled axe, a spoon, a long-handled fork, a scraper, and a needle, collectively known as the "Eight Crab Utensils."

Seeing these tools, even Aisha, who was awkward with chopsticks, pursed her lips, "Your Chinese tools for eating crabs are really complicated," Aisha murmured, feeling slighted as the men spoke their halting and florid Chinese.

She liked to eat crabs, but she had just gotten her nails done. A pair of diamond-studded nails, once stained with the fishy scent of seafood, would indeed spoil the scene. She looked at the complete set of crab-eating tools laid out before her on the table and whined in a delicate voice.

Hearing this, the servant beside her looked towards Huang Tengchong. Preferences for eating Hairy Crab vary; some guests enjoy the fun of peeling it themselves, so the servant did not dare to lend a hand without being asked.

Huang Tengchong was also somewhat knowledgeable about raising and eating Hairy Crabs. Hearing the beauty complain, he quickly stood up, bootlicking as he said, "Miss Aisha is afraid of dirtying her hands, isn’t she? I’ll do these rough tasks." It wasn’t even the right season for eating crabs – "Chrysanthemum yellow, crab fattening" is common knowledge among Chinese gourmets. However, Huang Tengchong dared to invite honored guests over, naturally, he had his reasons.

The Hairy Crabs brought over by the servants weighed about half a pound each, tied up with thin ropes around their legs, and each guest’s china plate bore one. Just one of these crabs filled the palm-sized plate completely.

Beside the plate was a prepared dipping sauce, a mixture of soy sauce with minced ginger and garlic, designed to dispel the chill from the crab.

Huang Tengchong picked up the crab, untied the string, and used round-headed scissors to snip off the two furry large pincers and eight crab legs.

He first tapped around the shell with a rounded mallet, then used a long-handled ax to split the backshell and the belly button, removing the soft white bristle brush on the back of the crab. Finally, he used tongs to pry apart each crab leg, scraping out the slender leg meat inside.

The crab shell and meat were completely separated without wasting a bit, and Aisha noticed that Huang Tengchong’s hands were not at all fishy or dirty, rather resembling a cultured scholar immersed in brush and ink, unexpectedly adept at eating crabs in such a way.

The crab, weighing more than half a pound, was completely dismembered, and in the small plate, the golden and shiny crab roe, with the meat underneath trembling slightly in the light, was as white and creamy as jade, making one’s cheeks itch with anticipation.

"Not only is Boss Huang skilled at raising crabs, but he is also an expert at eating them. Truly admirable," Xu Song watched Huang Tengchong’s diligent work without pointing it out, simply echoing the sentiment.

Zhou Ziang watched with a faint smile, praising the effort as he untied the Hairy Crab.

He looked at it for a few moments, and instead of starting right away, he flipped over the crab’s back and gently tapped it a few times.

"Could it be that Mr. Zhou is also a novice at eating crabs? No matter, I’ll have someone clean the crab and serve it up again," Huang Tengchong thought to himself with secret delight; even if Zhou Ziang surpassed him in certain aspects, there were always places where he came up short.

Women, after all, prefer a gentle and considerate man. What’s the use of looking good if you can’t take care of someone?

"Speaking of Yangcheng Lake crabs, I lived in Shanghai a few years ago and have eaten quite a few Hairy Crabs. May I ask where these crabs from Boss Huang come from?" Zhou Ziang put the crab on the plate without any intention of eating.

"That’s quite a coincidence, they are authentic Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crabs, from my own farm planned for the market this year. These are some of the earliest ones, and Mr. Huang thought to offer a taste to a few distinguished guests," Huang Tengchong’s crab cultivation work went smoothly this year, just waiting to open the gates to harvest the crabs and make a big profit.

"Oh, then I must be mistaken, for I don’t see these crabs as from Yangcheng Lake, they rather resemble crabs from Tai Lake," Zhou Ziang picked up the white wine in front of him, took a slight sip, and indeed, being unkind even makes one’s wine at home sour.

**

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