"Mom, we're back!" Ai Xiaohui shouted loudly as he stepped into the courtyard of the Ai family home.
Hearing his voice, Ai Xiaoxi's mother emerged from the kitchen where she had been busy preparing food.
"Oh wow, you caught a lot!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up at the sight of the three buckets full of seafood. "Quick, separate them, pour in some water, let them spit out the sand—we'll have a feast tonight!"
She brought out several large basins and began sorting the catch. One basin was filled with clams, another with various shellfish, and a third held all kinds of crabs. Though it wasn't seawater, the crabs and shellfish could still survive for a while, allowing them to purge the sand from their systems.
Ai Xiaoxi's mother added some salt to the crab basin and poured cooking oil into the two shellfish basins. Jiang Hai recognized the method—it was to help the seafood purge mud and sand from their bodies. Since many of these sea creatures live buried in the sand, their bodies often hold a surprising amount of grit. Without this process, eating them would feel like biting into dirt.
Once the seafood was taken care of, Jiang Hai and his friends sat down for lunch.
Thanks to Jiang Hai, the meal was generous, even though it was all simple home-cooked fare. The main feast, of course, would come in the evening.
Since most of the extended family was noisy and busy with their own festivities, there were no outside guests at Ai Xiaoxi's home. When the food was brought out, Jiang Hai and his companions eagerly picked up their chopsticks and began to eat.
To Jiang Hai's delight, the meal was hearty—even if a bit on the salty side. Then again, Shandong cuisine was known for its bold, salty flavors. Luckily, Ai Xiaoxi had anticipated this and had asked her mother to reduce the salt. Normally, she'd use three spoonfuls, but today she only used one, which suited Jiang Hai perfectly.
They enjoyed a lively meal, and Jiang Hai even shared a few beers with Ai Xiaoxi's father.
By the time lunch was over, it was past 3 p.m. Ai Xiaoxi's father, having had a bit too much to drink, went off to take a nap. As for Jiang Hai, drinking beer was more about savoring the flavor than actually getting drunk. With a physical constitution four times stronger than the average person, his tolerance was incredible—he could down thirty or fifty bottles and still recover quickly.
Of course, he didn't drink that much today. Both he and Ai Xiaoxi's father had six bottles each before her father turned in. Jiang Hai stayed up and played video games with Ai Xiaohui.
Meanwhile, Ai Xiaoxi and her mother were busy hand-making mooncakes. Jiang Hai had to admit, Ai Xiaoxi's mother really could do it all.
Before they knew it, evening had fallen and the lights came on. That was one annoying thing about eastern provinces—the sun rose and set early. Around six o'clock, the mooncakes were done, and Ai Xiaoxi's mother went to prepare the reunion dinner.
Jiang Hai and Ai Xiaohui moved the dining table into the courtyard. They even locked the front gate to avoid unwanted visitors during the festival. Thankfully, it seemed like everyone else was also busy with their own celebrations and had no time to cause trouble.
The first items served were mooncakes and boiled eggs. The mooncakes were filled with red bean paste—Jiang Hai's favorite. Unlike store-bought ones, these were soft and freshly made, still warm from the kitchen.
The eggs were a regional tradition. In many parts of China, people eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. But in Shandong, it's also customary to eat "reunion eggs," symbolizing completeness. Following local custom, Jiang Hai first ate an egg, then a mooncake—it was officially a festival celebration.
Then came dinner.
Perhaps because Jiang Hai was visiting, Ai Xiaoxi's mother had outdone herself: prawns, tiger-skin pork knuckle, braised ribs, stir-fried cucumber, Kung Pao pork cubes, crispy fried meat, steamed yellow croaker (farmed, of course), pan-fried tofu, spicy stir-fried clams made from their morning catch, and a big pot of winter melon and dried shrimp soup.
Ten dishes—a perfect number for a festive meal. But there were more treats. The shellfish had been boiled simply and served whole, while the crabs had been prepared in two ways: some were marinated into crab sauce, while others were cleaned, shelled, dusted with flour, and deep-fried by Ai Xiaoxi's mother. They looked—and smelled—incredible.
Though Jiang Hai had no shortage of meat back home, he found himself especially drawn to the little crabs they had caught.
He picked one up, bit down, and immediately hummed in satisfaction. The outer shell had been fried to a perfect crisp, shattering easily in his mouth. Inside, the crab meat was tender and juicy. And best of all, the crabs were full of rich yellow roe.
Crab roe—called "yellow" for females and "roe" for males—is especially abundant this time of year. It can be hard to tell the difference, but Jiang Hai didn't mind either way. Some people shy away from it once they know what it really is, much like certain regional delicacies. But Jiang Hai had long since gotten over that kind of squeamishness. After all, he used to enjoy kidneys and had even eaten bombs—fermented fish stomachs—so he wasn't fazed.
These small crabs were unusually plump. If you boiled them, they might not yield much meat. But deep-fried like this, they were addictively good. The crisp flour coating, tender meat, and rich crab roe all mixed in the mouth to create a delicious, layered flavor that was impossible to resist. The more he chewed, the more fragrant it became.
Eating the crabs and sipping wine under the moonlight, Jiang Hai lost track of time. By the time he looked down, the entire pot of fried crabs was empty.
"Ha! If I'd known Xiao Jiang liked them so much, I would've made more. We have plenty here," Ai Xiaoxi's mother said with a warm smile.
The Ai family was so used to these little crabs that they had long grown tired of them—especially Ai Xiaoxi and Ai Xiaohui, who used to catch them all the time as children and beg their mother to fry them as a snack. That pot of four to five pounds of crabs had been mostly devoured by Jiang Hai.
He had tasted each dish Ai Xiaoxi's mother had made, but didn't eat too much of them. The little crabs were just too good. He even considered learning the recipe so he could replicate it at home. With his own manor full of fresh seafood, he figured his own crabs might taste even better.
"We should catch more tomorrow. These little guys are amazing," Jiang Hai said, still eyeing the last few crab legs in the basin with a hint of longing. A true foodie could never be denied their fill of good food.
"Sure, let's go again tomorrow—but we'll have to go an hour later," Ai Xiaoxi said after thinking for a moment. Their return flight to Bingcheng wasn't until October 1st, and today was only September 27th, so they still had a few days to enjoy.
As for the later start time? It had to do with the tides. Growing up by the sea, they knew the best time to forage was during low tide—any other time would be fruitless.
"So we're talking around ten o'clock?" Jiang Hai asked.
"Yep, around then. But… would you mind giving me a ride into town first?" Ai Xiaoxi's father chimed in.
"Sure! No problem at all, Uncle. What are you heading to town for?" Jiang Hai asked, curious.
"The leeks in the field are ready again. I want to sell the extras in town before they spoil," the older man replied with a chuckle.
Jiang Hai didn't know much about this kind of thing, but he had some understanding of farming now. Leeks, after all, regrow quickly and can be harvested multiple times a year. While Jiang Hai didn't care much about the income from his own vegetables, Ai Xiaoxi's father clearly made the most of every crop.