Chapter 87 Cheap Seafood

A small shop in Shankouwei.

After weighing, the shop had a total of 8.6 kilograms of sandworms and 12.3 kilograms of squid.

The seafood store owner took out his abacus and started calculating: one pound of sandworms is 3.3 yuan, 8.6 yuan is 28.38 yuan. One pound of squid is 3.6 yuan, 12.3 yuan of squid is 44.28 yuan, adding up to 72.66 yuan.

The seafood store owner said with a smile on his face: "Uncle, the total is 72.66 yuan. I won't count the 6 cents as yours!" He has run this small store for more than three months, and this is the first time he has encountered such a big customer.

Deng Shirong looked at the pile of sandworms and squids in front of him that looked like a "small mountain", but only cost more than 70 yuan. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that seafood in this era is really cheap. In a few years, the price of seafood will go up, and it will be impossible to eat such cheap seafood.

You know, this is dried seafood!

For example, don’t think squid is expensive just because it costs RMB 3.6 per pound. In fact, it is not expensive at all. One pound of dried squid requires at least five pounds of fresh squid. If you calculate it based on the price of fresh squid, it is actually just over 70 cents per pound, which is much cheaper than pork.

As for sandworms, there is no need to say more. One pound of dried sandworms requires ten pounds of fresh sandworms to be dried. On average, one pound of fresh sandworms is only 33 cents, which is cheaper than eggs. This is really a price that is only available in this era!

Deng Shirong took out a stack of money, counted out 72.60 yuan and handed it to the seafood store owner, saying, "I'm getting married on the 12th of next month, so I need to buy a lot of crabs, shrimps, and mudworms on the 11th. How much do you sell these fresh goods for per pound?"

The seafood store owner took the money and said enthusiastically, "Cousin, I usually sell flower crabs for 56 cents a pound, so I'll charge you 53 cents. I sell prawns for 88 cents a pound, so I'll charge you 85 cents. As for mudworms, I sell them for 35 cents a pound, so I'll charge you 33 cents!"

Upon hearing this, Deng Shirong sighed again, saying that the prices of seafood in this era are so affordable, and are all cheaper than pork.

Of course, although it is cheap, the price still needs to be pushed down.

So, after some bargaining, the seafood store owner made concessions again and again, and finally the two men settled on a price of 50 cents per pound for flower crabs, 80 cents per pound for prawns, and 30 cents per pound for mudworms.

There's nothing we can do, it's a buyer's market now.

Deng Shirong wanted to buy 36 kilograms of flower crabs, 24 kilograms of prawns, and 48 kilograms of mudworms. If the seafood store owner did not make concessions, he would not be able to make this big deal.

After the price was agreed upon, Deng Shirong took out a big unity note and handed it over, saying, "Boss, this is your deposit. I will come to pick up the goods around 2 or 3 in the afternoon on the 11th. You must ensure that the goods I want are fresh. Can you do that?"

The seafood store owner took the money, patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, cousin, I promise that all the seafood you get are fresh and good."

Deng Shirong nodded with satisfaction and said, "That's good!"

Next, the seafood store owner took a pen and paper and wrote a deposit receipt for Deng Shirong, and then used a lot of newspapers and hemp ropes to pack the sandworms and squids.

"A cousin, this stuff is a bit heavy. It's not convenient for you to ride the bike with one hand. Do you want me to tie it to the back seat of the bike?"

"Okay, then help me fix it. Otherwise, it will be hard to carry so many things back."

"Well, let me help you tie it up."

…

When Deng Shirong returned home, it was already past four in the afternoon.

Seeing her father bringing back two large bags, Deng Yunzhen asked, "Dad, what are these things?"

Deng Shirong handed her the two large bags and said with a smile, "These are the sandworms and squids I bought. Take a basket and hang them up."

Deng Yunzhen took it and asked, "Dad, this is the first time I've heard of squid. Is it delicious?"

"Of course it's delicious. Fried squid is one of the best dishes to go with wine, but eating too much can easily cause a sore throat."

Deng Shirong pointed and said, "This is the squid. Open it and take out three or four. I will fry them for you brothers and sisters to taste later."

Deng Yunzhen knew her father's cooking skills very well. Since he said fried squid was one of the best dishes to go with wine, it must taste first-rate. She couldn't help but look forward to it. She put the sandworms and squid on the dining table in the living room, untied the hemp rope that tied the squid, and saw the dry and flat squid stacked together. Each one was as wide as her palm and had relatively thick meat.

Even though it was the first time she saw this thing, Deng Yunzhen could tell that the quality of this squid was quite good.

According to her father's instructions, Deng Yunzhen took out four squids, tied them up as they were, put them together with the bag of sandworms in a basket, and then hung the basket on an iron hook about two meters above the ground. The iron hook was hanging from the beam. At that time in the countryside, almost every household had such an iron hook. In this way, they could hang delicious food in the basket without worrying about mice and the like stealing the food.

After hanging up the things, Deng Yunzhen picked up the four squids and asked, "Dad, do we need to clean the fried squids in advance?"

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"Of course you have to wash it. Wash it clean and drain it."

"Oh, I see!"

A few minutes later, Deng Yunzhen was putting the cleaned squids on the bamboo cover to dry, and at this time, Deng Yunzhu also came back from outside, jumping and skipping.

I greeted my father who was smoking at the door, and then I saw the squid hanging on the bamboo cover and asked curiously, "Sister, what is this?"

Deng Yunzhen said: "Dad said it was a squid."

Deng Yunzhu sniffed and said with some disdain: "Why do I feel that this smells bad? Will it taste good?"

Deng Yunzhen couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's raw, so it's normal for it to smell bad. For example, you said you like the stir-fried pork belly shreds the most. If you were asked to smell the smell of raw pork belly, I guess you would dislike it. As for whether this squid is delicious, I don't know, but dad said that fried squid is one of the best dishes to go with wine, so it should taste very good. You'll know when dad makes it later."

Deng Yunzhu said "Oh" when she heard this. Although her sister's words made sense, she didn't drink alcohol and was not very interested in the so-called side dishes.

Of course, the main reason is that she has been eating too well recently! Especially yesterday, when the future sister-in-law came to visit, her father cooked a large table of food and wine, and there was still some left over until today. In a short period of time, her resistance to delicious food has been greatly enhanced.

I was really speechless when I saw some bigwigs in the book review area saying that the price of seafood described by the author was too high. They didn't understand the difference between dried seafood and fresh seafood at all. They just felt it was outrageous when they saw that it was sold at such a high price per pound. But in fact, if calculated by the price of fresh seafood, it is much cheaper than pork. How is it expensive? 　　 　 (End of this chapter)