"I'm planning to mail the dried goods. I'm also figuring out how to ship the fresh ones."
"Why don't you just come to our village? We have all three kinds of dried goods that you asked for."
"Okay, first help me move these to the roadside, find a shady spot, a car will come to pick them up in a bit, no need to take them to the hotel. After that, I'll go to your village."
“Okay. There’s an abandoned sentry post by the roadside over there. I’ll put it there for you; it’ll get damaged by the sun when it comes out.”
This person had just seen Zhang Hongmei get off the bus, so he didn't doubt what she said.
"Thank you. Which direction is your village in? Here's the money, count it. Three items for five hundred and fifty yuan. This basket is for me."
"OK."
Ten full baskets were laid out on the ground, but others were loading them onto a truck and didn't have time to help Zhang Hongmei, so she could only wait.
Looking at the lively shrimp, Zhang Hongmei knew that only the surface layer was alive; the ones below were probably crushed to death.
The remaining two people, along with half a cartload of sea bass (a type of sea fish), drove the cart away. The three of them also loaded Zhang Hongmei's ten baskets onto the cart.
It's almost dawn, we need to hurry, or things will get complicated.
Zhang Hongmei also took a donkey cart, and it took about twenty minutes to reach the place they had mentioned. The three of them finished unloading in no time.
"Uncle, how much is this seaweed per kilogram?"
"We've run out of scales, but we have two baskets left. We'll charge you ten yuan per basket."
"Okay!"
People nowadays are truly honest; they fill their baskets to the brim before carrying them inside.
"Young lady, our village is Wangxinzhuang, which is in the opposite direction from here. My name is Wang Dehai. You can find out when you get to our village. We have to go back now." With that, he drove off.
Zhang Hongmei checked the time. It was already past seven o'clock, and no one was passing by on the road. She wanted to put the twelve baskets of seafood into her spatial storage, but she felt they were too dirty. She tried to transfer the seafood into her ring, but she couldn't put it in; she couldn't put living things in there.
They had to wait another half hour, until all the seafood in the basket had died, before they could put it into the ring.
Others who acquire treasures display their valuables, but here I am, with three wild boars and twelve baskets of seafood. This truly reveals my foodie nature.
He shook his head, thinking that if he brought back fresh produce this time, he could clean and tidy everything up in Shuren Hutong, and then he would no longer have any doubts.
After leaving the dilapidated sentry post, we headed in the direction they had indicated.
It took about two hours to see the houses. We finally arrived. I was willing to risk everything for food.
I saw it, but it took another fifteen minutes to walk there. Once inside the village, it was unusually quiet; I couldn't see a single child. With no other option, I followed the fishy smell to a house.
Zhang Hongmei knocked on the door, and it was Wang Dehai who answered.
"Young lady, come inside and have some water. Did you walk all the way here?"
"Um. Uncle, I'm in a hurry. I wonder what kind of dried goods your village has?"
"We have the seaweed, dried shrimp, and fresh shellfish you requested."
"What else haven't I mentioned?"
"Dried mantis shrimp, dried cockles, dried flounder, dried mackerel."
"Uncle, if I need a lot, could you deliver it to the nearest post office?"
"Sure, I'll bring it to you in my donkey cart."
"Uncle, how much do these things cost per kilogram?"
"All five cents."
"How many kilograms of each can you sell to me?"
“Every household in the village has dozens of kilograms of each. Adding them all together, each item must weigh at least two or three hundred kilograms.”
"Okay, I'll take everything you've said. I'll wait at your house and have them deliver it to me, okay?"
"Okay. I'll go tell them."
"Uncle, how much are the seaweed and dried shrimp per pound?"
"It also comes with five cents, and two cents for dried shrimp."
"Give me two hundred catties of kelp and fifty catties of dried shrimp."
"Okay, this is enough for my family. I'll go and let everyone know right away. You just wait at home. Our family should be back soon."
Then a woman wearing a headscarf and a mask came in with three children.
“Wife, this is a girl from out of town who came here to buy seafood. Cook her a meal, and I’ll go and tell everyone to come and deliver the dried seafood.”
"Okay. Go ahead."
"Please come inside and sit down, young lady. It's too hot in the yard when the sun comes out. I don't know what you like to eat, but we have plenty of seafood here."
"Auntie, you can just cook seafood for me. I still need to learn from you how to cook it."
"Hehe, we only steam or boil seafood here, that's all. Have some water."
Zhang Hongmei took a sip; it was a bit bitter and astringent, so she decided to pass.
The three children, the eldest boy who was about the same age as himself, were in the yard with the two younger ones, sorting through the seafood they had collected that day.
Zhang Hongmei walked over, squatted down, and saw fresh blood clams.
"Auntie, shall we cook some blood clams?"
“Zhong. Daliang, take all the blood clams out and soak them in water with some lard. They’ll purge the mud clean in no time.”
Zhang Hongmei saw that Da Liang had taken out a few small crabs, which seemed to be something to eat later. She wondered how such small crabs were going to be eaten.
Two small ones carried over a large basin, pumped out a bucket of water, added lard, and put cockles, clams, razor clams, and other seafood into the water to soak.
Zhang Hongmei guessed that the family hadn't eaten either, because there was a big pot of round flatbreads on the stove, with small mixed fish stewed underneath, mostly sea bass.
Before the food was even cooked, people started coming into the yard one after another, carrying baskets on their backs.
Everyone greeted each other, seemingly waiting for Wang Dehai to return. No one went near Zhang Hongmei.
Wang Dehai came in carrying a steelyard balance. He also brought several snakeskin bags from his home. In the end, Zhang Hongmei got 150 jin of dried mantis shrimp, 200 jin of cockles, and 200 jin of flounder and mackerel.
Finally, Zhang Hongmei took out 275 yuan and gave it to Wang Dehai. Now, Zhang Hongmei's mind was entirely on the kitchen.
The smell of fish wafting out was amazing. And I saw them carrying washed cockles into the kitchen; they must be cooking them.
"Little girl, we also have dried shrimp, but it costs one yuan per pound."
"Okay, uncle, I'll take them. Uncle, are they all dried? I need to mail them back, in case they get lost."
"Don't worry about that. I just weighed and checked them. I guarantee they're all from last year and they're all dried out. They can last for a year without any problems."
"That's good. We need 100 catties of dried shrimp."
"Honey, the food is ready, let's eat first."
Zhang Hongmei went into the kitchen on her own initiative without being invited.
Wang Dehai washed his hands and came in. "Girl, hurry up and eat. There's nothing special, don't be shy."
"Hehe, you're too kind, uncle."
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