Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

The village chief slapped his thigh and said, "How could we have forgotten this? Next time you come, I will arrange for someone to drive a bullock cart to pick you up at the train station. Go to the inner room and ask your aunt to check if your leg is okay."

Xu Huizhen: "Come again? Never again! You have to live to earn money, but you also have to live to spend it."

The village chief got angry when he heard this: "How can you not come? We are relatives. This time it's all my fault for not thinking carefully. Next time I promise you won't get tired or cold. I'll put a quilt on the ox cart for you, it will be comfortable and warm."

Xu Huizhen was so busy performing that she looked up and saw the four children of the village chief, three sons and one daughter, all staring at the roast duck on the table, swallowing their saliva desperately and sniffing from time to time to feel the aroma of the roast duck in the air. The youngest, Xiao Shuan, was drooling.

Upon seeing this, Xu Huizhen quickly opened the paper bag that contained the candy, took out the candy from it, gave each person two pieces, and said, "This is the candy that your cousin brought for you. Eat one piece to sweeten your mouth." As for the roast duck, she did not make the decision on her own, so she let the village chief decide.

Each of the four children peeled a piece of candy, put it in their mouths, closed their eyes and enjoyed the sweetness of the candy. The beautiful snot bubbles were all colorful.

The village head's wife took the opportunity to pick up the roast duck and hid it in the cupboard. Xiao Shuanzi was unhappy: "Mom, aren't you going to eat the roast duck today? I haven't eaten meat for a long time."

The village head's wife scolded him sternly: "Eat, eat, you naughty child has only the desire to eat. It's good enough to have some candy, save the roast duck for the New Year!"

Xu Huizhen looked at the children's skinny bodies, their dark skin cracked by the sea breeze, and their clothes covered with patches.

Especially the pants, the blue pants had faded after washing, and turned into blue-white, and then a new rectangular patch was added on the knee and a round patch on the buttocks. The color difference was particularly obvious, and it looked ridiculous.

Xu Huizhen tried hard not to laugh out loud. In this era, wearing patched clothes is not shameful, and many people wear them, so it is not surprising. This is the situation of the village chief's family. It is estimated that other families are not as good as the village chief's family.

I think of the past when the fishermen on the coast were all very rich and the seafood was ridiculously expensive. But now the fishermen are struggling on the poverty line. Alas, there is no comparison. There is really no comparison.

After warming up, the village chief took Xu Huizhen to the warehouse to check the goods. Before leaving, he said to his wife, "Mother, make some good food and ask your niece and daughter to come home for dinner later."

After arriving at the warehouse, dry seafood is packed in sacks and fresh seafood is packed in baskets. In this season, nature is a natural cold storage, and the fresh seafood is also frozen hard, which makes it convenient to transport.

The village chief picked up a bag at random, put it on the scale, and weighed it for Xu Huizhen to see: "Look, the scale is high, guaranteed to be just the right amount. You can check the goods at will." People of that era were very simple and honest, and would not shortchange customers on weight. Moreover, since the transaction was mutually beneficial, Xu Huizhen naturally believed that they would not cheat.

Xu Huizhen said, "I asked the driver to bring the sacks and baskets from last time. I'll put them in the warehouse for you when the time comes."

The village chief nodded to show that he understood, and then pointed to the fish and shrimp frozen into rectangular lumps in the corner and said: "If you don't mind these small fish and shrimp, you can take them away. They are all free for you. It was too cold, and they were frozen into lumps of ice before we had time to sort them."

Xu Huizhen looked at the pile of small fish and shrimps, including small yellow fish, small flathead fish, and shrimps, all of which were not sorted and frozen together. There were quite a lot of them, estimated to be 1,500 kilograms, and they were just given away like that? It seemed that she was judging others by her own standards. They didn't want to raise the price at all, but instead gave away gifts. So she said, "That won't work. It's not easy for you to go out to sea to fish. I'll pay you."

Village Chief Feng said, "Look at you kid. I've already accepted your roast duck and meat, which are so precious. Shouldn't you give me some small fish and shrimp as a gift? Here, these things are worthless, especially in the summer. We use the ones we can't eat as fertilizer."

What the hell? Fertilizer? Oh my god, what a waste, a huge waste! How are they small? Not at all, they are much bigger than the fish roe and shrimp she ate before. In the previous life, due to overfishing, the marine resources were becoming less and less, and the fish roe and shrimp were sold at a very high price. For example, this small yellow croaker was sold for 7 yuan per catty.

Retracting her thoughts, Xu Huizhen said, "Are there any more small fish and shrimp like this? If there are, I'll buy another 1,000 kilograms. It would be a waste to use them for composting! Even a fly's leg is meat, no matter how small it is."

"Yes! The villagers still have some, they keep them for their own consumption. But they are slightly larger than these, and they are all sorted. How about giving them to you at 1.5 cents per pound?"

Hearing the price of 1.5 cents per pound, Xu Hui really thought it was a friendly price, two words: cheap! It was almost like giving it away for free.

It's not easy to come here, so it's okay to bring some seafood back, right? She thinks these small fish and shrimps are more popular among ordinary people. Why? Of course, because they are cheap! What ordinary people want is economical and affordable.

Sijiu City is so big, throwing this little thing in there probably won't make much of a splash. It seems like my vision is still too small.

Xu Huizhen asked again: "Do you have sea cucumbers and abalone?"

Village Chief Feng: "Sea cucumbers and abalone are expensive, so they are all sold to the purchasing station. Most families are reluctant to keep them. If you want them, you have to wait until the weather warms up next year. Every summer, young people in the village who are good at swimming will dive and fish for seafood in the sea. If you need them, I will keep them for you then."

The two counted the goods, and Xu Huizhen paid for them, part of which was deducted with sweet potatoes and cornmeal. Bring them with you when the car comes tonight, and she will put them in the warehouse. The village chief had nothing to worry about.

The village chief took the money and smiled happily. He said to Xu Huizhen, "Go to my house for dinner first, and I'll buy you some small fish and shrimp."

Xu Huizhen didn't want to show her face in front of the villagers, so she went to the village head's house. The village head's wife was cooking, and Da Shuanzi was making a fire. Two stoves were burning at the same time. One pot was covered with a lid, and there was steam coming out of the pot. A fishy smell filled the air. It was probably stewed fish. The other pot was cooking, and it was pork stewed with cabbage, the main dish on the winter table.

Seeing Xu Huizhen coming back, Dashuanzi immediately stood up to greet her. The village head's wife also smiled and asked her to sit down first, as the meal would be ready soon.

The village chief then went to call the accountant, and told the people he met on the road that they were buying small fish and shrimp at 1.5 cents per pound, and asked them to notify each household.