Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

When the village chief and the accountant arrived at the warehouse, they saw adults and children from various families, some pushing carts, and two people carrying baskets, rushing here, fearing that they would be late and would not get their turn.

The village chief said: "Line up, line up. Those who don't line up will not be accepted, and those who are too small will not be accepted." Everyone pushed and shoved each other, chattered and made noises, and the line was formed.

The village chief weighed the fish and the accountant kept the accounts. The two worked in perfect harmony and collected more than 1,600 kilograms of fish in a short time. The people who sold the fish and shrimp went home happily. More than ten households behind them were dissatisfied. Some said, "Village chief, this is unfair. We live far away, so we came late. How can you not collect any from us?"

"Yes, village chief, we have to treat everyone equally. This is fair and just."

The village chief had no choice but to say, "It's okay to charge more, but you have to wait a few days for the payment. Is that acceptable to you?" He was worried that Xu Huizhen didn't have enough money for the goods.

In the eyes of the villagers, these small fish and shrimps are not rare things. There are plenty of them in the sea. They are satisfied as long as they can exchange them for money, and it doesn’t matter if they pay a few days later.

So the village chief collected another 800 kilograms. After all, this thing was not valuable, and 800 kilograms was only 12 yuan. I think his nephew and daughter would be able to accept it. After sending everyone away, he locked the door of the warehouse and went home to eat.

The food was served on the table: shredded potatoes with vinegar, stir-fried cabbage with meat, braised Spanish mackerel, and steamed prawns. Finally, a pot of shellfish was served, including mussels, conchs, oysters, etc. The staple food was cornmeal steamed bread.

Looking at the eager eyes of the children, it was clear that today's meal was a good meal that they could not get at other times. The village chief said, "Huizhen, eat while it's hot."

Looking at so many seafoods, Xu Huizhen's appetite was aroused. She didn't hesitate to eat shrimps first, then conchs. She couldn't stop eating, absolutely couldn't stop.

But the Feng family's children were just the opposite. They used their chopsticks to pick up the food. Seeing this, the village head's wife picked up her chopsticks and slapped the children's hands: "What are you doing? What are you doing? Eat less food. Isn't that a big bowl of fish enough for you?"

Then he put on a kind smile and said to Xu Huizhen, "Huizhen, eat vegetables instead of just those fishy seafood."

Xu Huizhen raised her head and said in confusion, "It's not fishy. I like eating seafood."

Er Shuanzi asked in disbelief: "What? You like to eat seafood?"

Xu Huizhen understood now that people living by the sea eat seafood every day, and they are probably tired of it. Instead, they like to eat vegetables and steamed bread, while people inland cannot eat seafood. It is really uneven in drought and flood. Those who are drought-stricken will die of drought, and those who are flood-stricken will die of flood.

She said sincerely, "I'm telling the truth. We don't usually get seafood, so I really like eating seafood. If you don't believe me, I'll eat it for you to see." After that, she performed for them.

The village chief stared at Xu Huizhen as she ate heartily. It took him a long time to react and said, "Then you can exchange grain with us for seafood in the future. Cornmeal and sweet potatoes will do. We all like grain and have had enough of seafood. You can see that our village is all sandy land, with low grain production, and our ancestors made a living by fishing."

Xu Huizhen: "Try your best. Now food is purchased with vouchers and has a fixed quantity. It's not something you can buy casually."

The village chief said: "The cornmeal you brought today is of very good quality and bright yellow. I'll give you 1.6 yuan per pound and 0.5 yuan per pound of sweet potatoes."

Xu Huizhen nodded, indicating that she was satisfied with the price. During the meal, Xu Huizhen basically ate seafood and did not eat much steamed bread.

The children of the Feng family enjoyed the steamed bread. After dinner, Village Chief Feng and Xu Huizhen went to the warehouse again. On the way, he took out two paper bags from his arms, handed them to Xu Huizhen and said, "This is a pound of dried sea cucumber and a pound of abalone. I saved them for my family. I'll give your family a dish for the New Year. In addition, I collected another 2600 pounds of small fish and shrimp. Can you eat them?"

"Okay, it doesn't matter if you have a few hundred kilograms. But this sea cucumber is too expensive. I have to pay you."

"Just take it. It's a gift from your uncle." Xu Huizhen couldn't refuse, so she said, "The car will come soon, bringing some food, including sweet potatoes, cornmeal and rice. After deducting the money I owe you, the rest will be my advance payment. I'll settle the bill next time I come."

Village Chief Feng was overjoyed when he heard this: "That's great, thank you Huizhen, our village can have a good New Year this year." The two chatted for a while and explained everything to them, and then Xu Huizhen sent Village Chief Feng away.

Then she took out 100 kilograms of rice, 200 kilograms of cornmeal, and 500 kilograms of sweet potatoes from her space. Through these two interactions, she felt that Feng Dahai was a trustworthy person, mainly because she was satisfied with the price Feng Dahai offered. She could also use seafood to exchange for food in the countryside in the future. In this way, she could make some money from the difference.

He used his mind to collect all the goods into the space. This time there was a lot of goods, and the warehouse and utility room were full, so he placed them directly in the yard.

On the second day, when she went back, she had more experience riding a bike. She didn't walk on the slippery and shiny places in the middle of the road, where it was easy to fall. She walked on the snowy places on the roadside, where the snow was not very compacted, so it was not so slippery. She walked carefully all the way to the train station, thinking to herself that she would never come here again on a snowy day.

After returning home, she put some of the seafood in the cellar, but the cellar couldn't hold them all. She took some seafood and put it in the kitchen to thaw it for lunch. Then she went to the tavern. At this time, there were no customers in the tavern, only Cai Quanwu was guarding his post.

Seeing Xu Huizhen coming in, Cai Quanwu put down his work and said, "Boss, you're back?" Xu Huizhen thought to herself, "That's all Cai Quanwu knows how to say."

He replied, "I'm back. You don't know how slippery the roads in Tianjin are. I almost fell and became disabled. Fortunately, I'm young and my bones are soft, so I can withstand falls. Otherwise, I would have to use crutches like Mrs. Wen."

Cai Quanwu nodded and said, "It's not easy for a woman like you to go out. Why don't you let me go next time?"

Xu Huizhen blinked and whispered, "We bought a lot of goods this time, enough to sell for a while. We'll talk about the future later."

Cai Quanwu immediately became motivated when he heard this: "I will contact the buyer this afternoon. Since we have so much goods, why not go directly to the factory's buyers or restaurants. They need large quantities. Last time I met a buyer from a textile factory, and he said I could go to him if I have any seafood."

Xu Huizhen: "You have a point. It's okay to go to the market occasionally to sell, but if you go today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, it would be bad if someone with ulterior motives spotted you and accused you of undermining the unified purchase and marketing. I brought back some fresh vegetables this time to sell together. The New Year is coming soon, and who wouldn't be tempted by green vegetables? You can decide the price yourself, you can let it fluctuate a little, or you can give some to the buyers as a gift. It's all fine."