It was the night of September 16, 2013, in the Lianhu District of Nanling City.
Having steamed the crabs, Qin Zixin used tongs to lift them from the pot and set them aside to cool.
While they cooled, she bustled about, preparing the dipping sauce to accompany the crab.
First, Qin Zixin used a cleaver to smash a piece of old ginger into a pulp, then sliced it into fine threads.
She spread the ginger threads evenly in a small, deep dish, then poured three spoonfuls of vinegar and one spoonful of light soy sauce over them.
The girl frantically added white sugar, white pepper, and a touch of sesame oil, as if determined to include every possible condiment from her pantry, much like an Indian chef preparing a meal.
Feeling that the ‘small ingredients’ were sufficiently added, she quickly stirred the dipping sauce with chopsticks.
Once it was thoroughly mixed, Qin Zixin took a slurp with her chopsticks.
The astringency of the aged vinegar was mellowed by the white sugar and ginger, leaving behind only a refreshing sourness.
The umami-rich soy sauce added a hint of savory depth, while the white pepper imbued the sauce with a pleasant, subtle kick.
This small portion of dipping sauce perfectly balanced the five flavors of sour, sweet, spicy, salty, and savory, causing Qin Zixin to smack her lips in satisfaction.
The System, observing her prepare half a bowl of dipping sauce for just one crab, was tempted to comment on her wasteful behavior but ultimately held its tongue.
Feeling that the first taste hadn’t fully registered, Qin Zixin leaned in for another sip, but misjudged the angle and swallowed a rather large mouthful.
The vinegar surged through her oral cavity, its sharp acidity stinging her tongue and the roof of her mouth.
She instinctively wanted to spit it out in discomfort, but since it was already in her mouth, there was no logical reason to expel it.
Qin Zixin swallowed it down.
The pungent sourness of the aged vinegar shot straight up her nose, causing her delicate features to contort into a grimace, and tears were stimulated to stream from her eyes.
She panted, her small tongue flicking out, as if this could alleviate the painful sourness.
She regretted swallowing the dipping sauce.
But with the sauce already consumed and no way to spit it out, Qin Zixin quickly pulled open the refrigerator door, retrieved a carton of yogurt, bit open the seal, and gulped down several large mouthfuls until the intense sourness was finally suppressed.
She took a serving plate from the cupboard and found a pair of scissors on the table.
First, she snipped the strings binding the crab, then broke off the two crab claws, before finally prying open the crab’s apron.
Even before opening the shell, she could see a generous amount of crab roe, with some yellow roe clinging to the bottom of the apron.
With the anticipation of a lottery winner, Qin Zixin carefully held a crab leg in one hand and subtly tilted the shell open with the other.
A rich yellow paste overflowed, and just looking at it seemed to evoke the intense, briny aroma unique to river crabs.
Qin Zixin’s mouth watered profusely, unsure whether it was from the lingering sourness of the vinegar or the sheer temptation of the crab roe.
‘My uncle is truly wonderful!’
Only remembering her uncle’s kindness right before eating, The System couldn’t even be bothered to retort.
Nimbly, she stripped away the crab’s gills, broke the crab into two sections, and then used the scissors to pick out the translucent crab heart.
This was considered an extremely ‘cold’ food, and consuming it would surely lead to a stomachache.
Qin Zixin arranged the crab shell, claws, and the two body sections on a plate, carrying the plate in one hand and the small bowl of dipping sauce in the other.
She hurried into her room, settling back at her computer desk, where she saw Muzigu still rambling wildly in the ‘Touch of Life’ QQ group on the screen.
[Muzigu: I’m in Nanling, a 150-jin dead pig with a human face. How should I dispose of it?]
[Old Fang: Damn it, what kind of messed-up stuff are you doing?]
[Muzigu: I’m writing a novel and came up with a plot point about destroying a body.]
[Mr. Pickles: Are you getting material for your novel here?]
[Muzigu: Anyway, it’s a waste of time. I have a scenario where I accidentally killed a 150-jin pig in Nanling.]
With a ruby-red mouth, she held a grape, its sweet juices bursting as her tongue pressed it against her palate.
As she watched the lively banter in the chat, her small hand, sculpted like white jade, reached for her phone, snapping a picture of her crab before posting it to the group.
[Grand Master Hunyuan: Mid-Autumn Festival crabs]
[Mr. Pickles: I remember Old Dog is from Nanling, go ask Old Dog]
After typing this, Mr. Pickles sent an image.
The picture showed a plump hand making a middle finger gesture, with a whole matsuba crab on a plate in front of it.
The crab looked to weigh at least three jin, and its long, slender legs were visually striking.
Behind the matsuba crab were a pile of other dishes, indistinct, but the setting alone suggested it was anything but cheap.
In comparison, Qin Zixin’s small crab seemed rather pathetic.
She looked at Mr. Pickles’s thick, long crab legs, then at her own crab.
Although a six-liang mitten crab was considered top-grade, Qin Zixin still felt hers was small.
She pursed her lips and began to type.
[Grand Master Hunyuan: Looks stale!]
[Mr. Pickles: I’m dying of laughter, stale, is it?]
[Old Fang: Damn rich kid, eating so well. Old Dog, what kind of crap are you eating @Grand Master Hunyuan]
[Mr. Pickles: He can’t get any, so he’s just trash-talking, saying it’s stale.]
[Grand Master Hunyuan: It is stale, it’s dead, how could it be fresh, damn it?]
[Mr. Pickles: I know you’re eager, but I hope you don’t rush it for now.]
[Mr. Pickles: You want to see live ones, huh?]
Wang Tianzhuo continued to upload pictures of his dinner, casually taken with his phone.
The smartphone’s camera had excellent resolution, but the lighting and angles were utterly neglected.
From a photographic standpoint, Wang Tianzhuo’s pictures were a complete failure, yet Qin Zixin found herself utterly tempted.
A truly inept photographer can only move people’s hearts through raw authenticity.
Wang Tianzhuo had merely documented his daily meals without much thought, but the inadvertent display still broke the poor Qin Zixin.
She didn’t even know what these dishes tasted like, and a profound sense of regret welled up in Qin Zixin’s heart.
Her mind raced with anxiety for the fate of these seafood delicacies, feeling that feeding them to Mr. Pickles, that fat pig, was an absolute waste, akin to feeding them to a dog; they should have been fed to her!
[Grand Master Hunyuan: You fat pig, still eating despite being so fat? Die of fatness! You definitely have fatty liver, and it might even progress to cirrhosis next year.]
[Muzigu: Old Dog, where in Nanling is best for destroying a body?]
[Grand Master Hunyuan: What? A pig farm, of course. Pigs are stupid; you chop up a few pieces, they’ll root around, and there won’t even be bones left.]
[Muzigu: Can you say something realistic? A pig farm? How about a dog farm?]
[Grand Master Hunyuan: You were the one talking nonsense first.]
[Grand Master Hunyuan: Just find a place with water. Tourists go missing in Tangshan every year, their bodies swept into the Qixiang River, flowing down to Anji Lake. By the time they emerge from the lake and flow downstream, they’re just bones.]
Wang Tianzhuo’s photos continued to appear, and Qin Zixin cursed internally even more, yet she couldn’t resist clicking to view them.
The pictures were all of formidable sea creatures, starting with Wang Tianzhuo’s initial display of steamed matsuba crab.
Next appeared a large platter of sea urchin sashimi and extra-large raw pickled mantis shrimp, arranged on a gilded bone china plate.
Following that was a white porcelain pot containing exquisitely cooked oarfish, then charcoal-grilled conger eel, a fierce fish weighing over ten jin, chopped into适medium-sized chunks and coated in a uniquely sweet and savory sauce.
Finally, there was a video of large oil-spotted grouper slices and regular grouper slices being cooked in a hotpot, the rich broth still boiling in the pot.
The two fish looked incredibly fresh; after the chef sliced off most of the meat, the fish head and body were placed aside as decorative garnishes, the fish’s mouth still opening and closing.
Across from the person filming sat an internet celebrity with revealing attire and a ‘net-red’ face, smiling fawningly at the camera.
If one word could describe Qin Zixin’s feelings at that moment, it was envy; two words would be envy and jealousy.
She only had vague recollections of such food from her memory.
She looked at the photos on the screen for a while, then glanced at the mitten crab she had just taken apart.
The more she looked, the more ravenous she felt.
Aside from sea urchins, which she had tasted, she had never seen any of these other delicacies in her life.
‘This bastard, why doesn’t he choke to death!’
Qin Zixin silently cursed internally, clicking on each photo Mr. Pickles had sent, taking a vicious bite of a steamed bun filled with braised pig ears.
Eating while glaring at the photos, as if doing so could conjure the taste of seafood.
[Old Fang: Good heavens, is that for evening entertainment? @Mr. Pickles]
[Mr. Pickles: A quickie. I was scared off by that person last time.]
[Mr. Pickles: Is Old Dog there? Why aren’t you saying anything? @Grand Master Hunyuan]
[Grand Master Hunyuan: What kind of low-grade stuff are you playing with? The one opposite is truly ugly!]
[Mr. Pickles: Don’t change the subject, Old Dog, just say if you want to eat or not? You still find the one opposite ugly? She has 150,000 followers on Weibo, do you even have the right to play with her?]
Qin Zixin couldn’t take it anymore; this fat pig was practically taunting her face-to-face.
She was truly triggered.
[Grand Master Hunyuan: It hasn’t been long since the Fukushima accident, and you’re still eating seafood? Your d*ck will glow! @Mr. Pickles]
[Mr. Pickles: Fine, I’m asking you, will you eat it or not?]
Qin Zixin refused to answer.
[Grand Master Hunyuan: Search her Weibo, maybe she’s an independent woman, perhaps a feminist who vows to stomp men underfoot on Weibo.]
[Old Fang: 6]
[Han Heng: You’re good at being disgusting. Since when did ‘independent’ and ‘feminist’ become insults?]
[Fulian Hongcha High Quality Nationwide Delivery: Sigh, independent women don’t necessarily mean they don’t spend men’s money. Last time I delivered goods to Huai River, the boss’s daughter was like a madwoman. She said she felt dirty just thinking about having an X chromosome from a man in her body.]
[Old Fang: 6]
[Old Fang: Her father’s X chromosome came from his grandmother. This is just madness.]
[Han Heng: Did her father abuse her?]
[Fulian Hongcha High Quality Nationwide Delivery: Nonsense, her father cherished her, practically carrying her in his arms. For real abuse, you should look at me; I’m not even graduated yet and already helping run the business.]
Qin Zixin stopped reading the group messages.
She broke off a crab leg, which still had some glistening white, translucent crab meat attached to the body.
She poked the crab meat into the dish, dipped it in the vinegar sauce, then popped it into her cherry-red mouth, chewing vigorously.
All happiness stems from comparison.
She had been perfectly happy today, but Mr. Pickles had ruined her joy.
If Mr. Pickles hadn’t sent those pictures, she would have been happy all evening.
Qin Zixin felt a pang of regret at that moment; she should have muted the entire group chat immediately after showing off her own crab.
She resolved not to look at the group chat anymore, focusing wholeheartedly on eating, which made her feel much better.
After only eating a little over half a crab, a third of the pig ears, and less than a quarter of the grapes, she felt full.
Wang Tianzhuo still hadn’t replied to her, likely enjoying his lavish meal.
Qin Zixin got up, put the pig ears and grapes back in the refrigerator, intending to slowly savor the remaining crab while watching a movie tonight.
Qin Zixin opened Baofeng Yingyin.
In 2013, Baofeng Yingyin was still a treasure trove of software, with a comprehensive film library offering free, high-definition resources.
She sorted the movies by rating, from highest to lowest, searching for something that piqued her interest.
In her memories from her previous life, she had watched many movies, but because it was another world, although there were many convergent points, the differences in cultural entertainment were still vast.
At the very least, in her previous world, Huaxia reigned supreme globally in both military might and cultural products.
In this world, while there weren’t no good domestic films, they were at a significant disadvantage compared to foreign ones.
However, Qin Zixin didn’t care about such distinctions; as long as a movie was good, she would watch it, regardless of whether it was domestic or foreign.
After a long search, she came across a movie called ‘Orphan’.
Qin Zixin remembered that the film had been released long ago, but the title was so uninspired she had always been disinclined to watch it.
Now, however, she clicked on it and discovered its rating was surprisingly high.
For a horror film to have a rating of seven points intrigued Qin Zixin, and feeling bored at the moment, she decided to open it and take a look.