"You have a home, and little crabs have homes too."

Upon hearing this, Dundun immediately rubbed his round, chubby head against Lin Xu.

After father and son had interacted by the reservoir for a while, Lin Xu then silently invoked in his mind, "Draw!"

Soon, a lottery wheel appeared on the light screen in his mind. It was filled with names of various seafood dishes. As the wheel spun rapidly, a draw button appeared beside it. After choosing to draw, Lin Xu quickly heard the system's prompt in his mind, "Congratulations to the Host for acquiring the Excellent Level seafood dish—Shrimp Pancake. Congratulations, Host."

Shrimp Pancake? Pan-fried cake made with fresh shrimp?

As he was pondering this, a tidal wave of experience flooded his mind. He then realized that the so-called Shrimp Pancake was made by mixing small river shrimp with batter and then frying it in a flat pan with hot oil.

Tsk, when I check the shrimp traps tomorrow, I can try making some with small river shrimp. The taste shouldn't be too bad. After all, river shrimp are so fresh that even if you dry-fry them in a pot without water or oil, the cooked shrimp will still be delicious.

On the way back with Dundun, he ran into his cousins who had been playing all afternoon.

"Stop playing, it's time to eat!"

"Got it, Cousin!"

"Cousin, can you give me a ride for a bit?"

"Cousin, why is it that since this afternoon, every time we post something online, someone reminds us to go home and do our homework?"

"..."

Hearing his cousins' questions, Lin Xu immediately said, "The electric scooter is almost out of power. You guys wait and go back with Second Uncle's car later. I need to go back and charge mine."

Right, he couldn't answer these kinds of questions. He had to dodge them for now.

The first thing he did after returning was delete the social media post he'd made at noon, so they wouldn't discover that their cousin was the mastermind.

It wasn't long after he returned that his parents, Chen Yuanyuan, Second Uncle Chen Meiliang, and the others came back and started eating. Uncle Shi Wenming cooked a few small dishes. These, along with river snails, accompanied his father Lin Hongqi and Second Uncle Chen Meiliang as they drank beer. Meanwhile, Lin Xu went into the kitchen to make Snail Noodles.

He put the soaked noodles into the pot to boil. After the noodles were soft, he scooped them into a bowl with a strainer. Then he ladled a big spoonful of snail broth, which had been cooked in a pressure cooker for an hour, into the bowl. Next, he arranged blanched greens, deep-fried tofu skin, water-blanched and shredded wood ear mushrooms, intensely sour and fragrant Pickled, slightly sweet pickled radish cubes, Bamboo Shoots, and peanuts in the bowl, in that order. Finally, he drizzled a spoonful of Chili Oil on top, and the bowl of Snail Noodles was ready.

At first, the smell in the bowl was quite normal. But as the pickled bamboo shoots warmed up from the noodles and broth, that unique sour and foul smell of pickled bamboo shoots began to waft from the bowl. When Lin Xu brought it to the dining room, the family couldn't help but glance sideways.

Chen Yuanyuan, who usually liked to eat it, started salivating upon smelling it and said, "Wow, it smells so potent; Little Bro, remember to cook another bowl for me later. I've been craving it all day while watching the live stream."

"No problem!"

Bowls of Snail Noodles were brought over. Although the cousins thought the taste was a bit strange, after a crazy afternoon of play, they were starving, so they held their bowls and started eating. While eating, they even complimented their cousin on his good cooking skills. They even forgot the questions they wanted to ask earlier.

His father, Lin Hongqi, had never tried this stuff before. He frowned as he took it, then lowered his head to smell it again, his expression somewhat reluctant. But seeing everyone acting as if they had encountered a delicious treat, he followed his son's lead, stirred the ingredients in the bowl until well mixed, and then slurped up a mouthful of the rice noodles. "Hmm? This thing smells stinky, but it tastes quite..."

He tasted it carefully and found it wasn't bad. The faint foulness of the pickled bamboo shoots actually transformed into a rich, savory flavor in his mouth. This feeling was really nice. He tried another slurp. The sour, savory, aromatic, and spicy flavors intertwined, perfectly complemented by the smooth rice noodles. A sense of satisfaction washed over him with that single bite.

"Hmm, tasty, these Snail Noodles are really good." After finishing one bowl, he even wanted another. "Xiaoxu, make me another bowl and add more pickled bamboo shoots. Huh, I never expected this stinky stuff to be so enticing!"

Well, he was completely hooked now.

Lin Xu laughed and agreed before looking around at the others in the family and asking, "Who else wants another bowl?"

"Me, me, me!"

"And me!"

"Cousin, I want one too."

"Xiaoxu, just make a bowl for everyone then."

Originally, he thought the family wouldn't be used to it, but unexpectedly, they actually fell in love with the taste. Lin Xu stood up and went into the kitchen to cook the noodles.

While Lin Xu was cooking, everyone picked up the river snails from the dining table with their chopsticks and started eating. Mmm, eating the spicy and numbing river snails, then taking a sip of chilled beer. It was just too refreshing!

"These Spicy Snails have to be enjoyed with beer!"

「In Beijing, at the Shen Family's villa dining room.」

Shen Guofu slurped a bite of river snails, followed by a big gulp of draft beer, and let out a satisfied sigh. Han Shuzhen wore disposable gloves, holding a river snail in one hand and a toothpick in the other. She ate a few bites of snail meat and then slurped some Snail Noodles. It really felt great.

"Old Shen, we need to eat a bit lighter while Yueyue is not home. Otherwise, when Lin Ji opens, it'll be all rich food again, and your body won't handle it."

"Mm-hmm, got it, Dear. I'll indulge just a bit today, and start on a diet meal tomorrow... It's all my daughter's fault. If she's going to livestream by the reservoir, fine, but why bring up river snails? It made Xiaoxu busy all afternoon."

As Shen Guofu shifted the blame onto his daughter, he continued slurping down river snails non-stop, occasionally sipping beer, truly enjoying himself!

「On the other side.」

After eating, Lin Xu, along with his uncle Shi Wenming, cleaned up the kitchen, then drove back to the Cliffside Hotel. As he went upstairs, the hotel's front desk manager asked with a smile, "Xiaoxu, your mom asked me to check if you want us to send over a bottle of red wine."

... Red wine? What red wine?

He hurriedly declined, "No need, no need, can't get used to that at all. We're better off drinking the beverages in the room."

After saying that, he took Shen Baobao by the hand and entered the elevator leading to the top floor...

I was too reckless with the air conditioning this morning, and now I have a cold; my head feels like it's about to explode. Somehow managed to write 5,100 words. I've finished the 10,000-word daily update for today. I need to take some cold medicine and lie down quickly, hoping to feel better tomorrow. Brothers, I need Monthly Ticket!

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