She Only Cares About Cultivation
Chapter 209: [208] Tasty and Pretty Fisherman 59 (Second Update)

Chapter 209: [208] Tasty and Pretty Fisherman 59 (Second Update)

"Why doesn’t sister go back home to take a look?"

"I did, but there was nothing left, so I had to find another place to land. And there you were, so now I am homeless. Thank you, Yaya, for taking me in."

"Sister, please don’t say that. If it weren’t for you, Grandma and I wouldn’t have had a full meal. If Sister doesn’t mind, please think of this place as your own home from now on?"

Xiao Yu didn’t refuse the girl’s kindness. Now that she had explained her origins and reported her name, if she could also save the Old Lady, then she should be able to create a household registration and settle in this family.

Since she had agreed to save the Old Lady, and considering the treatment period for tuberculosis, she feared she wouldn’t be able to leave until next spring.

The kelp soup Xiao Yu made was simple, with kelp, tofu chunks, bean paste, Chili Sauce, scallions, and minced garlic thrown together in a pot to stew. Since the local custom was such, favoring stews over using oil in cooking.

In the yard, there were some green vegetables with wormholes. After cleaning them, she would just toss them into the pot and add a bit of salt before serving. However, when she went to look for salt, she found that the household had none?

Yaya’s face turned red with embarrassment: "Sister, we’ve been without salt for a long time because it’s too precious, and I simply don’t have the money to buy it."

"Do you normally not eat salt then?" Even living by the sea, seafood naturally contains some salt, but how could that compare to proper edible salt?

Without saying a word, Yaya stood up and went out with a bucket. Moments later, she came back with half a wooden bucket of seawater. Xiao Yu thought she intended to boil the water for salt, but to her astonishment, Yaya was actually suggesting she scoop some seawater into the soup for flavor. This shocked Xiao Yu considerably.

When she came to her senses, she couldn’t help but ask.

"Yaya, do the villagers here, when they run out of salt at home, really use seawater as a substitute?"

Yaya nodded as if it were only natural.

"Yes, Sister, salt is precious, and the government even limits its quantity. It’s not something you can buy just because you have money. Sometimes, to avoid trouble, we simply use seawater for cooking."

Xiao Yu suddenly had a bad feeling, "Then, the kelp tofu soup just now, you didn’t use... seawater, did you?"

Seeing the look on Xiao Yu’s face, Yaya quickly shook her head: "No, no, the water I used was from the well over there. If we cooked with seawater, we wouldn’t need to add any seasonings at all. However, for pickles and such, we do directly use the water from the sea."

As mentioned earlier, the local customs are influenced by the Korean community, so having pickled vegetables at home is not unusual. Otherwise, why would there be so many cabbages and radishes planted in the yard? It’s just that when the girl mentioned that pickles were prepared with seawater, why did that make Xiao Yu feel so queasy?

Relieved that the kelp tofu soup wasn’t made with seawater, she let out a sigh, but the girl’s expression seemed too matter-of-fact, didn’t it?

Seeing something was off in her expression, Yaya asked concernedly: "Sister, everyone in the village does it this way, is it not good?"

Of course, it’s not good.

Not only is it not good, but... it’s very unsanitary, you know?

Even if an ancient fishing village didn’t have many scruples, and seawater might look cleaner than that of later times, does that mean it actually was clean?

The sea embraces all rivers, and fish need to eat, drink, and excrete, don’t they?

There are also many microorganisms and toxic substances in seawater, how could one directly consume it?

"But we don’t drink it directly; it’s always boiled first!"

"It’s still not clean, don’t directly scoop seawater to eat again, understand?"

Intimidated by Xiao Yu’s scolding, Yaya shrank her neck: "I understand, Sister. I’ll remember from now on."