About three weeks ago, Meituan bought 400g of original flavor sunflower seeds for 8 yuan, and it became uncontrollable. In the evenings, when tutoring or having nothing to do, I started to munch on sunflower seeds. I thought 10 yuan per pound was expensive. However, the 5.99 yuan per pound I bought online was indeed a bit small, and there were many small ones. I also bought JD's own brand, using a 10 yuan discount coupon, which was over 8 yuan per pound. I haven't started eating those yet.
Munching on sunflower seeds is like playing a game; there's instant feedback, and after working, there's an immediate reward of flavor that is addictive.
Years ago, I lost a layer of enamel on my front teeth from munching on sunflower seeds, a tiny piece that shocked me. It reminded me of my uncle, who had chipped front teeth from eating too many sunflower seeds. So, I bought a sunflower seed tool that looks like scissors, which I've used for many years. I haven't bought any other tools, but this sunflower seed tool is also liked by my second child. His way of eating sunflower seeds is to save up dozens of kernels and then start eating them slowly. He and his mom both like various flavored seeds, like caramel and five-spice. My eldest child has a strange way of eating, chewing the whole seed with the shell, mainly tasting the inside. I found that after 2 or 3 times, I corrected him, telling him not to eat it that way. He eventually changed his method.
When I stopped buying the 5.99 yuan per pound original flavor seeds, I still believed that the quality of the original flavor was quite high, as it was said online. The original flavor just had a bit of salt; if the quality was poor, the taste wouldn't be good or fragrant. Other flavored seeds might not be as aromatic if made from the original flavor. They can only enhance the flavor with various tastes. This is indeed the case; the probability of encountering bitter or spoiled seeds when eating various flavored seeds is significantly higher, and the color of flavored seeds might darken. When I use the tool to peel them, I can't identify the results.
Eating too many sunflower seeds can easily cause heatiness. I usually eat about 100g, roughly 4.5 handfuls, and that might cause heatiness, like blisters on my lips. Before I had the tool, I thought it was caused by the fibers of the seeds poking me. Now, even with the tool, I still get heatiness because the seed shells hardly touch my lips, but it still happens. It might be due to other substances inside. On the way to pick up my child, there's a storefront with a gas tank and a cylindrical device specifically for frying sunflower seeds. The cylinder rotates like a drum in a washing machine, and the gas tank is lit to start frying. After about 5 minutes, when it starts to emit blue smoke, I see the owner occasionally using a hollow iron pipe to take out a seed to check the doneness. Every time I see the blue smoke, I feel like the seeds are about to burn. When I was a child, playing with fire and igniting paper, the paper would also smoke before it burned, using ordinary wooden sticks or matches, which probably didn't have enough power. This might also explain why it causes heatiness; it's actually quite similar to barbecuing, which is addictive while also being carcinogenic.
I forgot to mention, with online shopping, offline stores basically only sell emergency items, like when a teacher says to bring a certain number of sketchbooks tomorrow, you can only buy them offline. As for sunflower seeds, it's better to buy them online. The offline store I looked at sells them for 14 yuan, 16 yuan, and 18 yuan per pound, with three different qualities.