Chapter 69: Dissecting the Pine Needle Crab

Instead of going along with the viewers’ hype, Li Xiao simply came clean.

He quickly explained,

"Everyone, it’s a misunderstanding. This really isn’t Damascus steel."

"This is a new multi-purpose chef’s knife from Zwilling."

"Although the steel it uses is good, it’s definitely not Damascus steel."

"The pattern on the surface, just as one of you pointed out earlier, is laser-etched. It’s purely for aesthetic reasons."

As he spoke, he took out several other chef’s knives of the same model.

All of these knives had a beautiful metallic pattern instead of a plain, solid silver color.

"This is Zwilling’s newest line of kitchenware. While it’s a bit pricey, I think it offers great value for the money."

"If any of you are interested, you can just buy a set."

Live Stream:

"I just checked the official Zwilling website. Holy cow, the full 21-piece set of kitchenware costs 32,000???"

"The person above has to be kidding, right? That works out to 1,500 per piece???"

"Wow, just wow. So this is what the streamer calls ’great value for the money.’ Absolutely insane!!!"

"The streamer eats nine Pine Needle Crabs in one sitting. Is 30,000 for a set of kitchenware really that excessive for him?"

"That set is so beautiful. If only the streamer would gift me one?"

Ignoring the outrageous requests from some of the "beggars" in the stream, Li Xiao continued explaining the preparation method.

"As you all can probably see, there’s a ring of white soft shell around the joints of the crab legs."

"These spots are very soft. You can easily pierce them with the tip of a knife or a pair of scissors."

As he spoke, he held up the scissors in his hand and aimed them at a crab leg’s joint.

Although this pair of chef’s scissors from Zwilling wasn’t made of Damascus steel, the steel itself and the forging technique were both excellent.

Li Xiao barely applied any force, and the tip of the scissors easily pierced the crab leg’s joint.

Following this white joint, Li Xiao easily snipped off one of the still-moving crab legs.

He held the still-squirming crab leg up to the camera.

"See how simple that was? You can take off a leg in less than two seconds."

As soon as he finished speaking, the scissors in his hand opened and closed in rapid succession. Soon, all eight crab legs were laid out neatly on the stainless steel tray beside him.

Live Stream:

"The streamer is so fast!"

"Fast at what, exactly?"

"Am I the only one who thinks it’s just because the scissors are super sharp?"

"A pair of scissors that costs over 1,000, how could it not be sharp?"

"It really does look simple."

"I suspect the streamer is advertising for these Zwilling scissors!"

"Got it! Going to buy a pair of chef’s scissors right now!"

"I was originally going to take my Pine Needle Crab to the market to have someone else prep it, but it doesn’t look that hard to do."

"I’m so jealous of the person above who won one. I wonder if it’ll be my turn next time."

······

Li Xiao didn’t continue working on the crab legs. Instead, he picked up the body of the now-legless Pine Needle Crab.

He flipped the crab’s body over, showing its white belly to the camera.

"I just showed you all how to easily snip off the legs. Now, I’ll teach you how to separate the body completely."

As he spoke, Li Xiao took the scissors and gently pried at the Pine Needle Crab’s apron.

Because its eight legs had already been removed, the previously lively Pine Needle Crab had little ability to resist and could only be at Li Xiao’s mercy.

The Pine Needle Crab’s tightly sealed apron was easily pried open.

Li Xiao guided the scissors along the end of the apron and cut the entire thing off.

"This tail section is what the crab uses for excretion. It’s full of waste and bacteria, so you must never eat it."

"Once the apron is removed, you can insert the scissors into the opening and cut along the seam connecting the carapace and the body."

The sharp scissors sliced through the connection point. Then, with a gentle push of his fingers, Li Xiao pried the entire carapace off.

With the carapace opened, the inside of the Pine Needle Crab was revealed to everyone.

Since it wasn’t autumn yet, the Pine Needle Crab hadn’t started feeding heavily and accumulating enough fat in its body. As a result, there wasn’t much meat on the carapace, and the crab roe was pitifully scarce.

Li Xiao gave it a quick rinse with water to wash off the slime and set the carapace aside.

Picking up the now bare crab body, he continued to explain to the viewers:

"You need to be extra careful when cleaning the crab’s body because there are actually many parts you can’t eat."

Li Xiao picked up the scissors and pointed to the two rows of gills next to the leg joints.

"These are the crab’s gills, its respiratory organs, equivalent to a land animal’s lungs. Crabs use them to filter impurities from the water, so they tend to accumulate pollutants."

As he spoke, Li Xiao carefully used the scissors to remove the gills.

Setting down the scissors, he picked up a nearby spoon and scraped the meager amount of tomalley from the body into a small bowl.

After scraping off the tomalley, the other organs in the crab’s body were exposed.

Li Xiao pointed out the inedible organs one by one.

"The crab’s stomach and intestines are its digestive organs. They accumulate a lot of pollutants and contain a lot of bacteria, so they can’t be eaten."

"The crab heart... it’s the ’coldest’ part of the crab. You *can* eat it, but I don’t recommend it, especially for women."

"Also, this small black-and-white strip is the crab’s intestinal tract, which leads to the excretory pore. It contains feces that haven’t been fully expelled, so it’s also inedible."

After identifying all the inedible parts, Li Xiao removed them completely.

Once he had cleared away these organs, he rinsed the crab body meticulously one more time, washing away as much debris and slime as possible.

He gutted and cleaned the other eight Pine Needle Crabs in the same manner.

Soon, the not-so-large kitchen was piled high with crab parts of all sizes.

Looking at the cramped kitchen space, Li Xiao’s brow furrowed slightly.

’Looks like I’ll have to find some time to buy a new house.’

’Although this apartment is spacious enough for me, the kitchen it came with is definitely too small.’

However, after a moment’s thought, he pushed the idea of buying a house aside.

’It’s true I have some money on hand after receiving several rewards from the system.’

’But all told, it doesn’t even add up to 10 million.’

’Ten million might be a huge sum in other cities, more than enough to buy a villa.’

’But in the city center of a first-tier city like Yangcheng, 10 million is only enough to get something barely adequate.’

’However, since I’m already thinking about moving, I should do it right the first time. Constantly moving would be too much of a hassle.’