Beside them, Xu nodded and added an explanation:
“Mr. Li, these are indeed sea snails that we commonly eat around here.
“Locally, we call them bitter snails, and some places call them rock snails.
“This type of snail inhabits the reefs or empty oyster shells in the intertidal zone, from the mid-tide to the low-tide line.
“They grow in clusters and reproduce quickly. Often, wherever you find two large ones, there will be a large swarm of smaller ones gathered around them.
“They are very easy to catch in large numbers on the rocks by the sea, so the price isn’t too high. If you are interested, Mr. Li, I can also take you all to the beach to see if we can find some.
“As for the taste, it’s actually not bad.
“Although the meat is slightly bitter, after you eat it, it leaves a sweet aftertaste on your tongue. If you can get used to it, they’re actually a pretty good choice.”
After hearing their introductions, Li Xiao actually became interested in these small sea snails that cost fifteen yuan per catty.
“Hearing you put it like that makes me want to try them.
“Let’s just get one catty. That way, if they really are too bitter, it won’t be a waste.”
The female stall owner originally thought the customer in front of her would refuse to buy the snails after hearing about their bitter taste. She hadn’t expected him to buy some to try, and a smile immediately broke out on her face.
Zhou Shishi and Wenchu People each picked out a few crabs as well.
The other stalls on the pier were equally bustling. The sounds of bargaining rang out from all around, intermingling with the splashing sounds of jumping seafood in the buckets to compose a lively coastal symphony.
With Xu’s help, they quickly finished buying the seafood they needed. Li Xiao looked at the bags in their hands and asked Xu, who was beside him, “At this hour, are there any restaurants open nearby?”
Xu nodded repeatedly. “Of course. Several restaurants nearby are open from six in the morning until two or three in the morning.
“The food at those places is quite good.”
Li Xiao nodded. “Then you make the call. Pick any place to have this seafood cooked.”
Xu led everyone away from the pier, and they soon arrived at a commercial street. Both sides of the street were bustling with early-rising locals and tourists weaving between the various shops. Sunlight spilled down through the blue sky, adding a touch of vitality to the entire street.
Xu led them to a simply decorated restaurant. The restaurant’s display window showcased all kinds of seafood, which was incredibly enticing.
“This place isn’t bad. The food is good and the prices are fair,” Xu introduced. “They sell seafood in the shop, but they also offer cooking services for outside ingredients. We can just hand over the seafood we just bought for them to prepare.”
Li Xiao nodded in agreement, and they walked into the restaurant. Although the decor was relatively simple, the overall environment was clean and tidy.
Seeing customers arrive, a waitress immediately came out to greet them enthusiastically. “Isn’t this Xu? Brought us some customers again?”
Xu waved his hand. “What’s with the formalities? Just calling me Xu is fine. These are guests from our hotel, so you can’t cut any corners.”
The waitress quickly rolled her eyes. “Xu, don’t talk nonsense. We never cut corners.
“Guests, please follow me. We have a dedicated seafood preparation area.”
The waitress led them through the restaurant to a brightly lit open kitchen. Here, they handed their seafood over to a waiting chef.
The chef wasn’t in a hurry to start cooking; instead, he weighed the seafood item by item. With each item weighed, the young chef recorded the corresponding weight on an order slip.
Finally, the slip was handed to the waitress, who verified the seafood that had been dumped into the plastic baskets one by one.
“One catty of bitter snails, two catties of crabs, 1.7 catties of small grouper, one catty of octopus, and one and a half catties of small red scallops.
“That’s five types of seafood in total. Please take a look and see if anything is incorrect.”
Li Xiao was quite satisfied, not expecting their process to be so rigorous.
“No problem.”
The waitress quickly asked, “By the way, how would you like this seafood prepared?
“The sign on the wall lists our cooking methods and their corresponding prices. You can take a look.”
Following the waitress’s gesture, Li Xiao looked at a signboard nearby.
Preparation Price List:
Steamed: 15 yuan per portion
Garlic Sauce: 25 yuan per portion
Salt and Pepper: 25 yuan per portion
In Broth: 15 yuan per portion
Boiled: 15 yuan per portion
Sea Urchin: 5 yuan each
To be honest, these preparation prices really weren’t expensive at all; they were even a bit cheap.
After all, South Australia Island was a tourist attraction. These prices could, at most, serve to draw in foot traffic.
He had just glanced at the menu and noticed that the vegetable prices in the shop were quite high. Even the most ordinary vegetable dish cost over forty yuan.
However, Li Xiao could understand the pricing. Businesses always needed to make a profit. Since they weren’t making money on the seafood preparation, it was impossible to expect them not to make a little elsewhere.
Li Xiao pondered for a moment before placing the order.
After the four of them found a table, Xu originally wanted to just find a random spot to eat some noodle soup, just like yesterday. This time, however, Li Xiao didn’t let him leave straight away, convincing him to stay after much persuasion.
After all, Xu had been incredibly diligent in his work. Li Xiao would have felt guilty if he didn’t treat him to a meal.
After they sat down, Wenchu People lowered her voice. “The prices in this tourist area really are a bit expensive. Just a plate of stir-fried choy sum costs forty-five yuan.”
Beside her, Zhou Shishi also nodded. In her opinion, the cost of living in Yangcheng was already considered quite high; she completely hadn’t expected the prices here on South Australia Island to be even higher.
“The preparation prices are quite cheap, but the prices for vegetables and other meat dishes are a bit expensive.”
Hearing this, Xu quickly explained, “Miss Wen, these prices aren’t considered high. They’re already on the lower end for this area. There are places next door charging over sixty yuan for a vegetable dish.
“Besides, this shop doesn’t cut corners, so they can only make their money in other areas.
“You have to realize that many of these restaurants that cook ingredients for customers actually have hidden tricks.
“Either they secretly withhold some of the customers’ ingredients—like taking two catties of seafood into the kitchen and directly siphoning off half a catty without the customer even noticing.
“Or they just directly swap out the customers’ live ingredients for dead ones from the fridge. This happens most easily with dishes that are heavily seasoned with salt and pepper or stir-fried.
“Of course, there are also some who directly swap large seafood for smaller ones. Just the price difference in the middle is enough to let many bosses rake in a fortune.
“However, this restaurant won’t do that.
“Their kitchen is set up right here in the restaurant, so everyone can directly watch the chefs work.
“Also, I don’t know if you esteemed guests noticed, but all our seafood just now was placed in plastic baskets of the same color.
“This is to allow the customers to better see if their seafood has been secretly swapped out.”
Listening to Xu’s explanation, everyone immediately looked over at the open kitchen in the center of the restaurant.