"Haha, this stall of mine is inherited from my ancestors. My grandfather was a butcher, and my father was a butcher. It has been passed down to me and I am still a butcher. When my son grows up, he will definitely be a butcher too." The shopkeeper said happily.
"Yes, they are almost the same. When I opened the stall before, my eldest brother would often come to help me. He did his job well and was smart. He basically knew all the customers who often bought meat. Except that I didn't let him kill pigs, he did other work on the meat stall very well." Yun the butcher boasted.
"Brother, you have really given birth to a good son. When you are stable in the future, you can continue to do this business. Speaking of which, my eldest son is only eight years old, and it is still too early for him to help me with work. I really envy you, brother." The shopkeeper said enviously.
"You're doing well too. You're in the capital, it's stable. Unlike us, we had to leave our homes to escape famine."
"Yes, our life in the provincial capital will be more stable. I also heard from others that a large number of refugees have gathered at the city gate. It's too difficult to live now." The shopkeeper also sighed.
"Yes, there are indeed a large number of refugees gathered at the city gate tower. However, our entire village is fleeing famine, and we don't plan to settle down in the provincial capital. Today we are here to buy things on behalf of the village. Tomorrow we will continue to head south." said Yun the butcher.
"Our family is all in the city, and most of our relatives are also here. There is plenty of water and food in the city now. Therefore, not many people in the city are willing to flee the famine." The shopkeeper shook his head and said.
"It's good to be like you. It's very stable, and we are very envious of you. However, we have to go south to escape the famine. There is a shortage of water and food outside the city, and it is difficult to survive. We also want to find an ideal place and settle down." Yun the butcher said helplessly.
"Alas, now the government has restricted refugees from entering the city, otherwise the city would be in chaos." The shopkeeper said thankfully.
"It's not easy for any of us. Boss, I want to buy some fat meat. What's the price of fat meat now?" Butcher Yun asked, pointing at the fat meat on the table.
"This kind of fat meat is 300 wen per jin, and pork belly is 260 wen per jin."
"I want to buy a hundred kilograms of this fat-filled meat first, so that I can make oil for consumption when I get back. For people like us who have been on the road fleeing famine, our bodies cannot bear not eating meat for a long time. Lard is convenient to eat and the aroma is not that strong, which is suitable for us now. I bought a lot at once, can you make the price cheaper?" asked Yun the butcher.
"Let me put it this way. You've sold meat before, so you know the market conditions. Here in the city, fat meat doesn't sell as well as pork belly, and it doesn't sell as quickly. The main reason is that the residents of this city don't lack oil and water. Therefore, there are fewer people willing to buy fat meat. You want one hundred catties, and I'll charge you two hundred and sixty cents per catty. This saves me from selling it catty by catty. Do you think this is a good idea?" The shopkeeper looked at Yun the butcher and said.
Butcher Yun thought about it. This price wasn't high. Even in good years, fat meat in town was still three hundred coins per jin. And the shopkeeper had discounted it so much. Indeed, the price was right. This way, every household in the village could get a few jin back home, refine it into oil, and use it as a nutritional supplement for the journey.
Eating only grains, pickles, and kimchi isn't very nutritious. Over time, elderly people and children with weak constitutions will definitely get sick. Lard can occasionally provide a nutritional boost. And the shopkeeper is really taking good care of him, otherwise the price wouldn't have dropped so much all of a sudden.
"Okay, shopkeeper, thank you so much. This way, after we go back, each of our families can get a few pounds, and the elderly and children can occasionally supplement their nutrition." Yun the butcher bowed to the shopkeeper and said gratefully.
"You're too polite, big brother. I kill a lot of pigs every day. In the past, I delivered them to restaurants and sold the rest in butcher shops. However, in the current situation, restaurant business is not good, and they want much less meat than before. Now, I dare not kill more pigs. I only kill three pigs a day, so that I can sell almost the same amount every day. However, the fat meat is always the last to be sold." The shopkeeper spoke the truth.
"Okay, boss, please pack 20 kilograms of fat for me. Also, how much do you sell your offal for? I'd like to buy a few, pickle them with salt when I get home, and eat them on the road. This way it won't be noticeable. As for pig's feet, you also need 20." said Yun the butcher.
"Pig offal is not easy to sell, so I usually sell it at a discount and give it away for free. This is because many people don't know how to clean pig offal. If the pig offal is not cleaned properly, it will not taste good. The restaurant orders a few sets every day. Their chef has a secret to cleaning the pig offal. The pig offal he cleans is particularly clean and has no peculiar smell. They braise the cleaned pig offal first and then stir-fry it to make it spicy. It is a very good dish to go with wine. It sells very well and the price is not high. It is very popular with diners." said the shopkeeper.
"I'll charge you twenty cents for a pair of pig offal. My pig's feet are bigger and still have some meat on them. I'll give you thirty cents each." The shopkeeper went to the back of the shop and brought out a basket of pig's feet. He took one out to show Yun the butcher.
Butcher Yun took a look and found that the pig's feet were indeed large, with a lot of meat on them, and the price was very reasonable. Butcher Yun was very satisfied.
"Boss, let's go with the price you mentioned. However, I have to trouble you with one thing. I heard that there is no shortage of water in your city for the time being. Can I borrow a place from you to clean up the pig offal? After we bring the pig offal back, we will be short of water and it will be inconvenient to clean it up, and it will be too conspicuous." Yun the butcher requested.
"No problem. These are all small matters. The large wells dug by the government in our city have plenty of water. It's convenient for us to use water on a daily basis. How about this, you go to the yard behind my shop. There's a well in my yard that I hired someone to dig a while ago. Because we use a lot of water, it's inconvenient to always have to go there to draw water. At that time, the well was dug by the person who dug it, almost twenty meters deeper than the neighbor's well, so there is still water.
"But I also use it secretly. I didn't dare tell anyone, for fear that someone would sneak into the store at night. I don't live in the store, so if a thief breaks in, I won't know, which would be very troublesome. Sometimes, when sales are slow, we will have some leftover meat and leave it in the store," the shopkeeper said in a low voice.
"Thank you so much, boss." Yun the butcher said gratefully.
The shopkeeper led Yun the butcher through the back door and drove the donkey cart into the courtyard. Then, he closed the door. At first glance, the courtyard was quite large, probably around sixty square meters. In the middle of the courtyard stood a large locust tree, its trunk thick and tall. One could imagine that in previous years, when there was much rain, its leaves would have shaded the entire courtyard. It must have been very cool in the courtyard in the summer.
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