Chapter 523 - 357: Almost Touched It

Chapter 523: Chapter 357: Almost Touched It

"O... Okay, thank you, Oppa."

Jin Meiyan hadn’t expected Lin Chen to be so thoughtful, using the ten-odd minutes to quickly build a drying rack, even deliberately placing it on the other side of the fire.

Although it wasn’t completely out of sight, the rising flames mostly obscured the view. Plus, they would be picking crab meat soon, so he probably wouldn’t be deliberately looking over here.

’He saw me wearing it for a good two hours, yet he’s acting so reserved now that I’m drying it. What a cute man~!’

While she was hanging her clothes to dry, Lin Chen casually broke open the shells of the fully cooked European Green Crabs and Rock Crabs.

With a crisp CRACK, a rich, savory aroma of crab instantly filled the air.

Just smelling that fragrance made her stomach rumble uncontrollably.

After quickly hanging up her undergarments, she took small, hurried steps and crouched down next to Lin Chen.

Lin Chen held up the carapace of a European Green Crab and looked at her with a probing gaze. "You Koreans eat a lot of marinated raw crab. Do you know how to clean a crab?"

"Not really."

Unexpectedly, she shook her head quite decisively.

"The marinated raw crab in South Korea is always prepared by the restaurant. They trim off the sharp parts and inedible bits. When it gets to the table, you just need a spoon to scoop out the roe and eat it directly. For the body, you just squeeze it with your hands. There’s not much technique involved."

More importantly, marinated raw crab is a type of cured raw food. The texture of raw crab meat is completely different from when it’s cooked.

"Let me teach you, then. It’s not hard. You can show off to your friends later, haha."

He turned the crab shell around, pointed its eyes toward the girl, and gestured to the area between them.

"See this part here? This is the crab’s mouth. It’s connected to its esophagus, stomach, heart, and other organs. None of that is edible. There’s a very simple way to remove it all. You just press down hard on the mouth with your thumb, like this."

With a CRACK, the entire mouth section detached from the carapace, pulling a long string of innards out with it.

"The edible parts are this dark membrane and the roe. Just scrape them lightly with chopsticks. Anything that comes off easily is edible. You can throw away the rest, and anything you’re not sure about. Finally, scrape out all the roe stuck inside the shell."

Without any perceptible motion, he finished cleaning the carapace in just over ten seconds, piling all the edible parts into the center.

A look of understanding flashed in Jin Meiyan’s eyes. She picked up another European Green Crab, broke it open, and quickly cleaned it following Lin Chen’s demonstration.

"After the carapace, we move on to the body. First, remove all these feather-like things on the sides. These are the crab’s gills. They filter impurities from the seawater, so they’re dirty and you can’t eat them."

"Then, flip it over and pull off the apron that’s pressed against the body. There might be some roe in there, but it’s not the right season, so it’s probably empty. You can just toss it."

"Next, you can break the body in half. Scrape off any excess roe. Don’t touch the meat yet. First, pull off all the legs; we’ll deal with them later."

At this point, all that was left of the once-whole crab were two white halves of the body and a pile of legs.

He took out his military knife, sliced off the edge of the body where the legs connected, then stood it up and cut it in half vertically.

"See? When you cut the body like this, it’s like a series of small drawers filled with crab meat. You just need to gently pick it out with chopsticks or a similar tool."

Jin Meiyan’s mouth formed an "O," her face a mask of astonishment.

She never would have imagined that a crab could be processed this way. Every step seemed to have a special purpose, but it all boiled down to more efficiently and effortlessly extracting every last bit of meat hidden in the crevices.

After the body, it was finally time for the most troublesome part: the legs.

"It would be easier with scissors, but for now, we’ll have to make do with the knife. This is simple, too. First, separate the upper and lower leg sections. Cut off a piece at the joints on both sides of the upper leg. Then, break off the tip of the lower leg. Use the thin end to push into the upper leg’s joint, and look—the whole piece of leg meat gets pushed out."

She incredulously grabbed the piece of chopstick-thick leg meat and pulled it out. "You use the crab’s own leg to poke itself? How did you guys come up with such a genius method!"

"Who knows? I guess some bored fisherman by the sea discovered it while messing around, then it became popular because it was so convenient. The easiest way, though, is with a proper crab cracker set. This method is only for when you don’t have the right tools."

Lin Chen shrugged and explained with a smile, "Actually, most common modern dishes and various life hacks were discovered by people in the past by accident. Back then, they were poor, technology wasn’t advanced, and with nothing much to do all day, they could only tinker with this and that."

"Oh, right! When I think about ancient times with no phones, no TVs or computers, no clubbing, not even clocks... just farming, working, and sleeping every day. The thought of that life is suffocating. You’d definitely have to find something to pass the time."

"Clubbing?"

Lin Chen sharply caught the incongruous keyword, an eyebrow arching. "Sounds like you go clubbing often. Makes sense, I guess people who dance would like that kind of scene, right?"

"It’s alright. I mean, I like it, but I don’t go often. I mostly don’t have the time. Recently, I’ve only been to a few bars in different cities after coming to Canada. They were pretty boring. The ones in South Korea are more fun. The only interesting thing here are the strip... uh."

Before she could finish, she suddenly realized what she was saying and quickly covered her mouth. She instinctively glanced at Lin Chen, only to meet his teasing gaze.

"Strip clubs?"

"You know, when I was in Toronto, there were several of them right on the main street downtown. The signs were huge and bright, practically the most eye-catching buildings on the street. I heard they don’t just have female strippers, but handsome male ones too."

"Yeah! There are a lot of handsome foreign guys who strip. When they walk through the crowd, it’s mostly men who reach out to touch them. The women can’t even get a chance!"

"You sound pretty disappointed. What, didn’t get to touch one?"

"I didn’t!! There was this hot, muscular guy, blond with blue eyes, who walked past me just a meter away. I really thought I could get a touch, but then this huge dude next to me shoved his way in and nearly sent me flying. I turned around just in time to see him smack the hot guy’s butt, and the hot guy even winked at him! So gross! Yuck... good thing I didn’t touch him!"

For Koreans, bars are a pretty normal part of social life, so in her mind, there was nothing wrong with going to one. But a strip club was... a bit much.

She thought Lin Chen would judge her for the topic, but she was surprised to find he knew a little about it too, and she unconsciously ended up rambling on.

When she snapped out of it, she realized what she had just said and quickly tried to change the subject.

"The male models are boring. The women are more popular; both men and women want to touch them. Oppa, have you ever secretly reached out and taken your chance in the chaos?"

Although she knew Lin Chen was a man with high moral standards, in a place like that, nobody knows anyone, everyone’s there for more or less the same reason, and no one would think it’s a big deal.

"Me?"

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I’ve never been."

"Huh?? How is that possible? Then you..."

She was about to ask how he knew, but she suddenly recalled that the word he had used was "heard."

In an instant, her face turned bright red.

"W-Well, Oppa, you must have been to a bar before, right? Although with your personality, you probably wouldn’t hit on girls."

"Never been. I’m not interested in places like that. They’re too loud."

Lin Chen gave her no chance to recover, shaking his head with a smile. "Besides, bars have a pretty bad image in Great Xia. Parents generally think they’re places for bad kids."

"You know what bars are like. Most people who go there are looking for a thrill. It’s easy to get drunk and for things to happen. It’s a threat to your health and safety, too. That’s why people who go to bars often are labeled as playboys or players."

"Of course, there are exceptions, like the quiet lounges that play soft music, perfect for a few friends to chat and pass the time. Those are fine. It’s the high-energy dance clubs that are usually chaotic."

"As expected, people in Great Xia are much more conservative than in South Korea. It makes sense, otherwise, how could a good man like you, Oppa, exist? Young people in South Korea party too much, and that’s led to the social situation we have now. But let me be clear, I just go for the clubbing atmosphere, and I only drink with my girlfriends!"

Lin Chen didn’t dwell on the topic for too long, afraid he’d bum the girl out and have to comfort her.

He glanced at the time, then picked up a stick and used it to pull the Treasure Crab out from the edge of the bonfire.

After being cooked, it looked almost the same as when it was raw, only a more vibrant red. Some white paste could be seen in the cracks of the shell—that was the crab’s blood mixed with its juices, cooked through.

Crab blood, also known as crab urine, is normally a clear liquid that turns white when cooked.

Seeing him obviously changing the subject, Jin Meiyan opened her mouth, wanting to explain herself further. But when she saw the camera on his chest, she swallowed the words that had been on the tip of her tongue.

’I have a feeling Erica will watch one hundred percent of the footage from this recording. I’d better restrain myself in front of the camera. I can always say what I want tonight when we go to sleep.’

CRACK.

Lin Chen flexed his arm, veins popping as a familiar sound echoed out. The Treasure Crab’s fan-shaped carapace was forced open.

A rich fragrance of crab roe, mingled with a faint, milky aroma, wafted out. It was distinctly different from the other two types of crab.

As a qualified beauty blogger, the study of fragrance was a mandatory part of her curriculum. She had even taken specialized courses on perfume, which made her extremely sensitive to smells, able to easily discern and magnify subtle differences.

Upon smelling that milky fragrance, her body instinctively began to salivate. Any more words were defeated by her overwhelming hunger.