About three weeks ago, Meituan bought 400g of original flavor sunflower seeds for 8 yuan on TaoCaiCai, and it became uncontrollable. In the evenings, while tutoring or when there's nothing to do, I start to snack on sunflower seeds. I think 10 yuan per pound is expensive. However, the ones I bought online for 5.99 per pound are indeed a bit small, and there are 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.
Eating sunflower seeds is like playing a game, with instant feedback; after working, you immediately get a reward, and the taste is fragrant, making it addictive.
Years ago, I lost a layer of enamel on my front teeth, a tiny piece, which shocked me. It reminded me of my uncle, whose front teeth are chipped; both of them are due to the side effects of 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 to eat various flavored sunflower seeds, like caramel and five-spice. The older 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 like that. He eventually changed his way.
When I stopped buying the original flavor sunflower seeds for 5.99 per pound, I still believed that the quality of the original flavor was quite high, and that's what they say online. The original flavor just has a little salt; if the quality is poor, it won't taste good or fragrant, and other flavored seeds might not be as aromatic if made from the original flavor. They can only add various flavors to enhance the aroma and taste. This is indeed the case; the probability of tasting bitter or spoiled seeds when eating various flavors is significantly higher, and the color of flavored seeds may deepen. When I use the tool to peel them, I can't identify them, leading to this result.
Eating too many sunflower seeds can easily cause heatiness. I usually eat about 100g, roughly 4.5 handfuls, which 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, but now with the tool, it still causes heatiness because the seed shells hardly touch my lips. However, it still happens; perhaps it's the irritation from other substances inside. On the way to pick up the kids, there's a storefront with a gas tank and a horizontal 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 emit smoke before it burned, using ordinary wooden sticks or matches, which probably weren't powerful enough. This might also explain why it causes heatiness; it's actually quite similar to barbecuing, which is carcinogenic and addictive at the same time.
I forgot to mention that with online shopping, offline stores are basically just for buying 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 checked has prices of 14 yuan, 16 yuan, and 18 yuan per pound for three different qualities.