Siheyuan: I have a multi-dimensional chat group!

It seems this is an extra perk for business trips.

After all, Xiao Shan had been working in the factory canteen for so long, but he had never seen meat in the canteen's regular dishes.

Xiao Shan got off the bus with Zhou Bangqiu and squatted on the curb to eat.

Neither of them was used to eating in the car; they both felt there was a strange smell in the car, making the food taste bland.

After lunch, everyone rested for a while before gradually getting back into the car.

In the evening, we finally managed to get close to a commune.

With the letter of introduction in hand, Zhou Bangqiu led everyone to have dinner at the commune's canteen.

Finally, around midnight, the convoy entered the city in a grand procession and arrived at the designated guesthouse to rest.

Only high-ranking officers in the motorcade are entitled to single or double rooms.

Other people will have to sleep in shared rooms or large communal beds.

After all, the budget for business trips is limited.

Xiao Shan and Zhou Bangqiu were assigned to a double room.

A junior employee from the foreign trade department even thoughtfully brought Xiao Shan a basin of hot water so he could soak his feet before bed.

This made Xiao Shan feel somewhat flattered.

After two full days of travel, the convoy successfully arrived at Qingdao Port on the morning of the third day.

John Bull's men were already waiting at the port.

Zhou Bangqiu, along with Xiao Shan and several other personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Trade, met with John Bull's side.

Thanks to Xiao Shan's excellent translation, the handover between the two parties went very smoothly.

Even as they were leaving, John Bull's men secretly pulled Xiao Shan aside and offered to recruit him.

They greatly admired Xiao Shan's English proficiency and said that John Bull also needed talent like Xiao Shan.

Chapter 382, ​​Only the Poor Eat Lobster and Crab! (Please Subscribe!)

However, Xiao Shan firmly rejected John Bull's offer to recruit him.

As a transmigrator with a cheat code like a chat group, wouldn't it be beneath me to go and work for John Bull?

Faced with Xiao Shan's firm stance, John Bull's people were not annoyed at all; on the contrary, they appreciated Xiao Shan even more.

After expressing their regret, John Bull's people also gave Xiaoshan a beautifully crafted kerosene lighter.

After John Bull's men left, Zhou Bangqiu asked Xiao Shan with a serious expression what John Bull's men had just said to him.

Xiao Shan told Zhou Bangqiu about how John Bull's people tried to recruit him, and after he refused, they even gave him a lighter.

As he spoke, Xiao Shan took out the kerosene lighter that John Bull had given him and handed it to Zhou Bangqiu.

"This thing is really rare!" Zhou Bangqiu played with the kerosene lighter in his hand for a while before returning it to Xiao Shan. "Don't worry about it, we'll help you explain if anyone asks about it later!"

Zhou Bangqiu felt that this thing must be extremely valuable.

After all, in this era, people used matches to light cigarettes.

Where have I ever seen such a delicate little gadget as a kerosene lighter?

And don't let its small size fool you, it's made of steel.

Xiao Shan knew Zhou Bangqiu had misunderstood, and explained with a smile, "Brother Zhou, the people from John Bull said that this thing is like our trains in their country, something that ordinary people can afford."

Zhou Bangqiu suddenly realized: "This is great, we should import more of it. It's much more convenient than matches."

Xiao Shan knew that Zhou Bangqiu liked the lighter, so he pretended to give it to Zhou Bangqiu.

He wasn't afraid that Zhou Bangqiu would actually accept the offer, after all, the Ministry of Foreign Trade was still asking him to help translate documents!

As expected, Zhou Bangqiu refused to accept it no matter what, and forcefully stuffed the lighter into Xiao Shan's pocket: "This is from someone else, so just keep it."

The transaction was completed ahead of schedule, and Zhou Bangqiu generously gave the convoy a full day off so that everyone could wander around Qingdao Port.

After greeting Zhou Bangqiu, Xiao Shan strolled alone down the street.

After wandering around for a while, Xiao Shan found that most of the seafood sold in the market were sea fish, and there were no large lobsters or plump swimming crabs as he had imagined.

So Xiao Shan, out of curiosity, asked one of the vendors at the stall.

Upon hearing Xiao Shan's question, the vendor looked Xiao Shan up and down, revealing a puzzled expression.

After all, judging from Xiao Shan's clothes, he's not the kind of person who's so poor that he has to eat lobster and crab!

Although the vendor had doubts, he still told Xiao Shan.

If you want to eat lobster and crab, you have to go to the village and find fishermen, or you can go out to sea to catch them yourself.

After all, lobsters and crabs are both meat, so who would be willing to pay for meat ration coupons to buy these things?

Even spending a meat ration coupon to buy seafood is considered a luxury.

Xiao Shan then suddenly realized what was going on.

He only knew that crabs and lobsters were for poor people in this era, and he thought they would be sold very cheaply, so he was prepared to buy them in bulk.

Surprisingly, they didn't care to sell that stuff at all.

After getting the answer he wanted, Xiao Shan took out his meat coupons and bought a few yellow croakers from the vendor's stall.

In the 21st century, due to overfishing, the price of wild cucumber fish has become comparable to that of gold.

Since I saw them here in Xiaoshan today, I naturally have to buy a few to take back and try.

When he left Xiaoshan, he brought a lot of meat coupons with him, which he planned to use to buy seafood.

After John Bull's ship left port, Zhou Bangqiu also slipped Xiao Shan a small envelope, saying it was a token of appreciation from the Ministry of Foreign Trade for his willingness to help.

There were many national grain coupons and meat coupons inside, and even more rare was a watch coupon.

So Xiaoshan is not short of meat tickets at all right now, and people will stop and buy some unknown sea fish.

In addition to fresh sea fish, Xiaoshan also bought a lot of dried fish.

Xiao Shan then found a secluded spot, threw all the fresh seafood into his inventory in the chat group, and kept only some dried goods in his hand.

Xiao Shan arrived at the convoy's encampment carrying large and small bags of dried goods.

After putting all the dry goods into the trunk, Xiao Shan found Lao Zhao, the driver for this trip.

Then, with a smile, he stuffed two packs of Daqianmen cigarettes into Old Zhao's hand: "Master Zhao, I'd like to go to a nearby village to buy some exotic seafood to take back with me. Could you give me a ride?"

Having accepted the cigarette, Old Zhao naturally wouldn't refuse, and directly gestured for Xiao Shan to get in the car: "No problem! I've been to this place several times, I know it very well! Last time I even helped my father-in-law buy some abalone from the village!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shan's smile widened: "Since Master Zhao knows a place, that's perfect! I was just wondering where to go!"

After getting on the bus, Lao Zhao and Xiao Shan started chatting about all sorts of things: "Don't underestimate abalone. Although it's said to be something for poor people here, it's still quite rare in Beijing."

“You can take more abalone and sea cucumbers there. Whether you give them to relatives or leaders, they will make you look very prestigious.”

Xiao Shan smiled and nodded repeatedly in agreement to Lao Zhang's instructions.

Upon arriving at their destination, Lao Zhao led Xiao Shan to a villager's house.

The villager happened to be returning from his boat when he heard that the two wanted to buy his seafood, and he immediately beamed with joy.

Xiao Shan followed the villager to his small wooden boat and immediately saw many mantis shrimp and lobsters as thick as a wrist.

There are also various seafood such as swimming crabs, abalone, and sea urchins.

"Don't worry, these were all freshly caught!" The villager rubbed his hands together, looking at Xiao Shan and Lao Zhao with a nervous expression.

Xiao Shan didn't stand on ceremony with him and immediately picked out a lot of mantis shrimp and swimming crabs, as well as a lot of sea urchins.

Seeing that Xiao Shan was only taking some cheap items, Old Zhao quickly stepped forward and whispered instructions: "Take more abalone and sea cucumber too."

Xiao Shan readily accepted the suggestion and picked out some abalone and sea cucumber.

They took quite a few more scallops before finally stopping, still wanting more.

Old Zhao's presence greatly limited the quantity he could purchase.

The villagers only paid four cents per pound for lobsters and crabs.

Most other seafood also costs no more than one cent per pound.

Xiaoshan bought so much seafood, and in the end, it only cost him less than five yuan.

While Xiaoshan felt that his money was well spent, the villagers also felt that they had been ripped off.

When they received the money, the villagers still had an unreal expression on their faces.

Xiaoshan spent another 50 cents to buy several large wooden basins from the fishermen.

Then, I put the seafood I bought into a wooden basin, added a small amount of seawater to keep it as fresh as possible.

Chapter 383, A Seafood Feast! (Please Subscribe!)

Seeing that Xiao Shan had bought so much seafood, Lao Zhao also bought some sea cucumbers and abalone.

However, Lao Zhao did not buy a large quantity.

Although he knew this thing was rare, he could only give it away or eat it himself; he absolutely could not sell it.

So buying too much might just lead to waste.

After the seafood transaction was completed, the villagers, feeling they had been ripped off, gave Xiaoshan a lot of their own dried scallops and kelp.

After filling the trunk with their belongings, Xiao Shan and Lao Zhao drove away, still feeling unsatisfied.

The convoy returned to Beijing early the next morning.

Zhou Bangqiu played with the Xiaoshan lighter with great interest the whole way: "This thing is good. When it lights up, it has a faint smell of kerosene!"

After two more days of travel, the group finally returned to Beijing, weary from their journey.

Fortunately, winter is approaching and the temperature is low, otherwise Xiaoshan was worried that the seafood in the trunk would spoil.

With the help of Zhou Bangqiu and others, Xiao Shan moved all the seafood to his home.

In the afternoon, Xiao Shan invited He Yuzhu to his home to help prepare a seafood feast.

When He Yuzhu saw the seafood at Xiao Shan's house, he was also dumbfounded.

Having been a chef for so many years, He Yuzhu has never seen so much seafood.

"Xiaoshan, you didn't just go on a business trip, you went on a vacation!" He Yuzhu exclaimed in amazement as he looked at the seafood in the kitchen.

Xiao Shan leaned against the door frame and laughed, "It's all thanks to the leaders of the Foreign Trade Department that I was able to bring back so much seafood!"

"It's so good to be educated!" He Yuzhu said with envy. "If I were educated, I wouldn't have had to toil away in the cafeteria for so many years."

"Alright, hurry up and cook. We'll have a good drink tonight," Xiao Shan said to He Yuzhu with a smile.

Because they were having a seafood feast that night, Xiao Shan invited Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong, Xu Damao, his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and his master and mistress to come and eat together.

Smelling the delicious aroma wafting from the backyard, Jia Zhangshi felt her mouth water.

"Mom, when can we eat seafood too?" Bang Geng, who was also craving seafood, asked Qin Huairu with a hopeful look on his face.

Qin Huairu glared at Bang Geng: "When you're as cultured as your Uncle Xiaoshan, our family will be able to eat seafood too!"

Seeing that Qin Huairu seemed a little angry, Banggeng quickly lowered his head and stuffed a steamed bun into his mouth.

Seeing her grandson like this, Madam Jia Zhang instinctively defended him and said a few words.

Hearing Jia Zhangshi's words protecting Bang Geng, Qin Huairu sighed helplessly.

Qin Huairu misses Jia Dongxu a little!

If Jia Dongxu were still alive, and he were to discipline Bang Geng, Jia Zhangshi certainly wouldn't say anything.

At his home in Xiaoshan, He Yuzhu served a series of seafood dishes.

Stir-fried blue crab, braised abalone, steamed mantis shrimp and cucumber fish, and He Yuzhu also specially steamed a large crab and a large lobster in a big pot.

"How much money must this have cost!" Yan Bugui looked at the seafood feast on the table, and hesitated to pick up his chopsticks.

"Uncle, don't worry, these things are everywhere by the sea, nobody even bothers to sell them!" Xiao Shan said to Yan Bugui with a smile. "I got these things from the villagers, let's eat them fresh!"

Yan Bugui and the others naturally knew that Xiao Shan was on a business trip with the factory's foreign trade department to export steel, so they kept praising Xiao Shan for his abilities.