"Dad, come sit! Look, Sister cooked some scallops." Yang Qingrui gestured for Yang Dachuan to sit down and placed chopsticks in his hand.
"Xiaxia really knows how to cook? I thought only people in restaurants could make these things."
At these words, Yang Chuxia laughed and picked up a clam with chopsticks, dipped it in vinegar, and placed it in an empty bowl in front of Yang Dachuan. "Dad, you should try it!"
Yang Dachuan picked it up with a grin and put it in his mouth.
The children hadn’t eaten and were all staring at Yang Dachuan intently.
Ms. Wang couldn’t wait to ask, "How is it?"
"Delicious!" Though Yang Dachuan was a country man who had been away from books for many years and couldn’t come up with fancy words, these two simple words expressed that the steamed scallops suited his taste and that he liked them.
Hearing Yang Dachuan say it was delicious, the children couldn’t wait to reach out with their chopsticks and exclaim, "So delicious, too delicious!"
"Indeed, it’s not worse than fish at all."
"As long as it’s delicious, I’ll go collect more with my younger brother tomorrow, and we can eat them again." Yang Chuxia was very happy that her food was well received. "Oh, Dad, please bring some more clay pots back from town."
"Alright, I’ll carry bags in town tomorrow, and I will bring them back in the evening."
Everyone in the third branch of the family enjoyed a hearty meal and then slept soundly.
The next morning, Yang Dachuan had to carry bags at the dock in town, so Ms. Wang got up early to make corn cakes on their new stove. Dachuan grabbed a couple and hurriedly went to town.
Yang Chuxia and her siblings got up around the same time as Yang Dachuan. Seeing that the corn cakes were ready to eat, they each grabbed one or two, took a sip of water, picked up their wooden buckets, and hurriedly left.
However, on their way to the small beach, they encountered someone with a thin, narrow back, limping and carrying a small bamboo basket.
"Sister, it’s Brother An!" Sure enough, the person in front was Ye Zi’an, and Yang Qingrui was exceptionally glad to see him.
Ye Zi’an in front also heard the voices behind him and turned around to see the Yang siblings, a faint smile appearing on his cold, handsome face.
Yang Chuxia had noticed earlier that this Brother An was very good-looking, but now in the daylight, she found him even more attractive. His skin was so white it was almost translucent, his delicate features chiseled, his eyes black and bright like stars. He was tall and emitted an understated, noble aura from his body. This kind of nobility couldn’t be hidden even by his coarse hemp clothing. The only flaw was his leg, but this person had a good demeanor. She remembered that some people with physical disabilities tended to speak with their heads down, but this person was straightforward and had no strange colors in his eyes.
"Brother An!" Yang Chuxia greeted with a smile.
Ye Zi’an responded with a nod and a smile.
"Where are you going?" Yang Chuxia asked, noticing he seemed to be heading in the same direction as them.
As expected, Ye Zi’an replied, "I’m going to the small beach on the west side. Are you going there too?"
"Yes, we’re going to the small beach too. Let’s go together."
On the way, Yang Chuxia, considering Ye Zi’an’s leg, decided to walk slowly. However, she soon discovered that even with his bad leg, he walked quite fast and wasn’t any slower than a normal person.
"Brother An, what are you going to do at the seaside?" Yang Chuxia asked, trying to make conversation on the way.