"It's delicious! Then Mom will peel a few more for you." Zhang Xin placed some more clam meat into her daughter's bowl. "An'an, eat slowly."
"Mom, you eat too." An'an picked up a piece and carefully put it into her mother's bowl.
"Mommy doesn't want this. Mommy doesn't really like it." Zhang Xin gently returned the chewy clam meat to An'an's bowl. "An'an, eat more."
After her daughter finished the clam meat, Zhang Xin scooped some steamed egg custard, mixed it with rice, and fed her. "Here, An'an, have some steamed egg with rice."
An'an didn't resist at all. She obediently opened her mouth and kept eating. The rice was soft and fragrant, and the steamed egg was smooth and tender. Bite after bite, she ate quite a lot.
"Mom, this egg is so delicious. It's better than the one at home."
Seeing how happily her daughter ate, Zhang Xin discreetly wiped at the corners of her eyes. Sister Li and the others hadn't lied—this place really did serve amazing food. Just smelling it made her stomach ache with hunger.
Forcing a smile, she said, "You like it? Then eat more."
"Mm, it's delicious," An'an replied softly.
Zhang Xin smiled at her and asked, "When we get home, Mom will make it for you again, okay?"
An'an blinked. "Will it taste as good as this?"
Zhang Xin nodded. "Mom will do her best to make it just as delicious, okay?"
An'an nodded obediently. "I like it here."
Zhang Xin felt a rush of relief. If she had doubted the place earlier, she would've missed such an opportunity. After feeding her daughter, she quietly finished the leftovers with the remaining rice. The steamed egg was soft and silky, while the asparagus was crisp and fresh, without even a hint of fishiness. It even had a faint sweetness afterward—it was no wonder An'an loved it so much.
After the mother and daughter finished eating, they paid the bill and hurried home.
As soon as they entered the house, Zhang Xin froze. Her parents-in-law—who were supposed to be visiting relatives—were sitting on the sofa, watching TV.
She was startled. "Mom, Dad, why are you back so early?"
"You came back early if there was nothing wrong," her mother-in-law said lazily, glancing at her with drooping eyelids. "Where did you go? Why didn't you make dinner at home?"
"It cooled down after the rain this afternoon, so I took An'an out for a walk," Zhang Xin replied. She settled her daughter in the room, then hurried into the kitchen. "Mom, Dad, I'll cook right away."
Her father-in-law snorted impatiently. "Hurry up. We're starving."
Zhang Xin took a deep breath. "Okay."
...
Night fell, and warm lights lit up every household.
After closing her shop, Ye Jiujiu made herself a cold salad of dragon beard vegetables. Once she had eaten her fill, she washed up and went to rest.
Before turning in, she tallied up the day's earnings. Because the refrigerator hadn't delivered much seafood today, business was worse than on previous days. She hoped tomorrow's delivery would be larger.
With so many sea snails and clams, she wasn't sure how to arrange the menu.
Ye Jiujiu clasped her hands and muttered fervently, "May the Bodhisattva bless us, may Grandma bless us. I hope the refrigerator brings some expensive seafood tomorrow! Only seafood sells for a good price. Only with good prices can I pay off my debts—and only after that can I fix this rundown courtyard. Amitabha."
Bodhisattva: What are you saying? I can't hear you.
The next morning, the first thing Ye Jiujiu did was check the refrigerator.
Before she even reached it, she heard rustling sounds from inside. Her eyes lit up. From experience, she knew that sound—crabs!
She eagerly opened the door.
The shelves were pitch black, as though someone had splashed ink all over them.
"What the hell happened here?!" Ye Jiujiu stared in disbelief. "How did my refrigerator turn into this?"
After searching around, she finally found the culprits—squid, octopus, and cuttlefish tangled together at the bottom of the crisper drawer, apparently still fighting.
Of all the luck in her eight lifetimes, she had to unbox the ink-spraying family. One species wasn't enough—they had come in a whole group!
How dissatisfied are you with me, refrigerator?!
She glared at the offenders that had turned her refrigerator into a crime scene. "You have no manners at all. Don't you know how to behave as guests in someone else's house?"
The squid, octopus, and cuttlefish wriggled their tentacles in protest: We were sent here to be cooked—why should we bother being polite?
"How am I supposed to clean all this up?" Ye Jiujiu looked at the once-spotless refrigerator, now dyed black, and felt her head throb.
With mounting irritation, she put on plastic gloves and caught the slippery tentacled monsters one by one, tossing them into a bucket with visible disgust while counting.
Ten squid.
Five octopuses.
Six cuttlefish.
Twenty-one in total, all quite large—together weighing around twenty to thirty pounds.
After relocating the calamity, Ye Jiujiu began cleaning. The refrigerator walls were completely black. To make things easier, she removed all the shelves and rinsed them thoroughly under running water, then placed them under the pear tree to dry.
She wiped down the interior and cleaned every bottle and jar inside. Just as she finished, her phone rang—it was the vegetable supplier asking what vegetables she needed today.
Ye Jiujiu, still undecided about the menu, glanced at the giant octopus that had somehow crawled out again and felt a headache coming on. Today would probably be an all–squid-and-octopus menu. Would customers even like that?
After a moment's hesitation, she decided on side dishes like Typhoon Shelter Cuttlefish Chunks and Takoyaki.
Might as well go all in.
Once the vegetables arrived, Ye Jiujiu did as usual—chopping seasonings and preparing everything in advance to avoid getting flustered later.
When it was time, she opened the shop right on schedule.
Just as she hung up the "Open for Business" sign, an old woman in a dark floral blouse walked briskly toward the entrance.
"Are you the owner?"