Sha Zhu's Rebirth in the Courtyard: Starting with Hitting Someone in the Head

Chapter 18 Tianjin Mega Purchase

morning.

When He Yuzhu arrived at the Military Control Commission, Chen Xiangqian had already prepared the license. It was a metal sign with the words "Beijing Municipal Street Vendor Business License" printed on it, along with a number.

Chen Xiangqian handed him the sign: "Take this, it won't be replaced if you lose it. Be careful going to Tianjin alone."

He Yuzhu took it and put it in his pocket: "Thank you, Uncle Chen."

"Go ahead, and come back soon."

After leaving the military control office, He Yuzhu went straight to the train station.

He bought a ticket to Tianjin, an express train, for three yuan and forty-five cents. The waiting room was packed with people, carrying bundles, holding children, and carrying loads on shoulder poles. The air was thick with the smell of dry tobacco mixed with sweat.

The train swayed and rattled along. The view outside the window changed from city walls to fields, the ground bare in winter.

Two hours later, we arrived in Tianjin.

As soon as he stepped out of the station, he heard all sorts of shouts and calls, the Tianjin dialect with its rising intonation, like singing. He Yuzhu didn't waste any time, found a mule cart pulled by a footman, and headed straight for Tanggu.

Tanggu Wharf. The sea breeze was salty and pungent, filling his nostrils. He Yuzhu jumped off the mule cart and stood on the shore. The sea stretched as far as the eye could see. Waves crashed against the shore one after another, making a loud, resounding noise.

He never saw the sea in his past life. He spent his entire life holed up in Beijing, wandering around in the kitchen, wandering around in the courtyard house, wandering around in the circle drawn by those beasts.

Like a big, clumsy ox tethered by a rope, head bowed, pulling the plow for a lifetime. Never traveled far, never enjoyed happiness, never had a single good day.

The sea breeze stings your face after a while in winter.

He Yuzhu snapped out of his daze; fishing boats were docking at the pier. They were all wooden boats, their sides covered with seashell fragments.

Fishermen rolled up their trousers to their knees and carried seafood ashore. Crabs, fish, shrimp, and shellfish were dumped on the dock and sorted. Crabs spit out white foam, and fish tails slapped against the sides of the baskets with a loud thud.

He Yuzhu walked over and squatted down next to a man who was sorting things. The man was in his forties, his face rough and red from the sea breeze, and his hands were covered in cracks.

He Yuzhu pulled out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes, took one out, and handed it over: "Where's your village chief?"

The man took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear, then sized He Yuzhu up. "What do you want with the village chief?"

"Buy seafood."

The man laughed: "You come here to buy seafood? Go to the market."

"I want more."

"How many?"

He Yuzhu stood up and glanced at the baskets on the dock: "I want all of these. And the ones from the ship too."

The man froze. The cigarette in his mouth nearly fell out. "How...how many do you want?"

"Ten tons."

The man stared at He Yuzhu for a full five seconds, then turned and ran. As he ran, he shouted, "Village Chief! Village Chief! Someone's going to take over the entire dock!"

A moment later, an old man in his fifties strode over. He had a dark complexion, a straight back, and walked with a brisk pace. Several fishermen followed behind him, all staring at He Yuzhu.

The village chief stopped in front of He Yuzhu: "Young comrade, you said you wanted ten tons?"

He Yuzhu nodded.

The village chief looked him up and down: "You have money?"

He Yuzhu lowered his voice: "Let's find a secluded place to talk."

The village chief paused for a moment, then nodded and led him to a stone house by the dock. They went inside and closed the door. The house was piled with fishing nets and floats, and smelled strongly of fish.

He Yuzhu pulled three large yellow croakers from his pocket. The village chief's eyes widened, and he reached out to take them.

He took the gold bars and said, "The goods are ready, here's the money."

The village chief swallowed hard: "Okay! Okay!"

The two men came out of the house. The village chief shouted at the top of his lungs, "Don't just stand there! Move! Unload everything from the boat! Crabs, fish, shrimp, shellfish, everything! Weigh them!"

The docks came alive. Fishermen carried baskets back and forth, piling baskets of seafood onto the shore. Crabs had green shells and white bellies, their claws bound with straw ropes. Sea fish of all sizes, including yellow croaker, ribbonfish, and mackerel, were also present.

The prawns arched their backs, their antennae trembling. Several sacks were filled with shellfish—clams, oysters, and scallops—colliding and making a clattering sound.

The pile grew larger and larger; crabs were stacked into small mountains, fish were arranged in rows, shrimp filled several baskets, and sacks of shellfish were piled up to half a person's height. The fishy smell was so strong it was almost unbearable, and seagulls circled overhead, cawing loudly.

They worked until almost dark, and ten tons of seafood were all stacked up.

The village chief was keeping accounts in a notebook, counting with his fingers, and finally looked up: "Three tons of crabs, four tons of sea fish, one and a half tons of shrimp, and two tons of shellfish. The rest is yours."

He Yuzhu pulled the village chief into the stone house and took out gold bars. The village chief took them, bit into one, looked at it in the light coming through the window, nodded, and put the gold bars into his inner pocket. He came out and waved to the fishermen: "That's it for today! Go home!"

The fishermen dispersed.

The village chief looked at the mountain of seafood piled up by the roadside and asked, "Young man, how are you going to transport all this?"

"My friend will be picking me up in a bit. You can go back now."

The village chief glanced at him, said nothing more, and left.

He Yuzhu was the only one left by the roadside, standing next to ten tons of seafood. Once everyone had gone and the dock had quieted down, a thought struck him.

Ten tons of seafood vanished in the blink of an eye. The roadside was deserted, with only a damp patch on the ground, mixed with a few fish scales and white foam from crabs.

He Yuzhu turned and walked into the city.

I found a small hotel to stay in. The room was small, with just a bed and a table, and the bedding smelled damp.

The next morning, he found a dried goods store. The storefront was small, but the shelves were filled with all kinds of dried seafood.

Dried abalone were strung together with red thread and hung in a row; dark sea cucumbers were piled up in wooden boxes; shark fins were in glass jars; and there were also dried scallops, dried shrimp, and seaweed—a dazzling array of goods.

The shopkeeper was a fat old man who didn't get up when He Yuzhu came in: "What would you like to order?"

He Yuzhu pointed to the dried abalone: ​​"How much is this?"

"Which one? The larger one is this price, the smaller one is cheaper." The shopkeeper gestured to indicate the price.

"The big one. Give me fifty catties."

The portly shopkeeper stood up from his chair, his glasses nearly falling off: "Fifty pounds?"

"Yes. Sea cucumbers too. Liaoning sea cucumbers, fifty catties."

The fat shopkeeper's mouth was agape.

"Twenty catties of shark fin, twenty catties of dried scallops, ten catties of fish maw. Shopkeeper, do you have any ham?"

The chubby shopkeeper realized what was happening and his face lit up with a smile: "Yes, we have Jinhua ham! Young master, please have a seat, I'll weigh it for you first!" He busied himself quickly, glancing at He Yuzhu as he weighed it.

The goods were weighed, packed, and piled up on the counter. The abacus clicked away, and the plump shopkeeper announced a number. He Yuzhu took out a cloth bag from his pocket, pulled out gold bars of various sizes, and handed them over.

The portly shopkeeper took the money, bit into it, weighed it, nodded, and gave him some change. He Yuzhu put the money away, went outside, hailed a cart, and loaded all the dried goods onto it.

They pulled the cart into a deserted alley and drove off. He Yuzhu looked around to make sure no one was watching, then, with a thought, the dried goods were gone.

On the train back to Beijing. The carriage was much less crowded. He Yuzhu sat by the window with his eyes closed. He was mentally flipping through the recipes for Tan Family Cuisine. Among the things left behind by Judge Seychelles, there was a descendant of the Tan Family Cuisine lineage.

Tan Family Cuisine is official cuisine, meticulous and refined, not something ordinary chefs can handle. These recipes are in his mind, every single dish and every step crystal clear. How to control the heat, how to prepare the broth, how to infuse the ingredients—it's all there.

I need to practice when I get back. I have abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw in my storage space; the dried goods are ready to use as soon as they're shipped. I can make a seafood feast for Uncle Chen and the others. Those soldiers have never eaten seafood before; I'll let them try it.

The train rattled along.