HCB Chapter 513 Sudhana's Plea 11
Chapter 513 Sudhana's Plea 11
at the same time.
Xu Yiyi led Sihai into the shop.
A fragrant aroma, a blend of fresh rice, dry wheat bran, and rich soybeans, wafts towards you.
The shop was packed full, with waist-high burlap sacks standing in the corner.
The bag was tied with a hemp rope, and you could vaguely see the silvery-white rice grains, golden millet, and brownish-red mixed beans inside.
Several workers carried sacks of grain back and forth, their voices rising and falling in a sparse, intermittent murmur.
Even though there were no customers in the grain shop at that moment, it was still bustling with activity.
"Big sister, it smells so good here!" Sihai blinked his dark grape-like eyes and carefully observed every corner of the grain shop.
The shopkeeper was a capable middle-aged man. Upon hearing Sihai's words, he hurriedly came out from behind the counter.
"This is all new grain from this year, how can it compare to old grain with a musty smell..." he said, a smile on his face.
"Mr. Xu, you've arrived! How are you feeling? Please come in. The new grain just arrived yesterday, and we were just thinking you might need some, but we haven't had a chance to tell you yet..."
"Thank you for your concern, shopkeeper. I'm much better now." Xu Yiyi nodded slightly, took Sihai's little hand, and walked to the open sack.
The first thing she looked at was rice.
I grabbed a handful of freshly harvested rice with a measuring cup. The grains were plump, white in color, and almost free of broken grains or impurities.
She leaned closer and smelled it; it was the fresh scent of rice.
"The rice Mr. Xu is looking at is late-season rice that was just transported from the south. It has a high yield of cooked rice, a soft and glutinous texture, and is very nourishing," the shopkeeper introduced from the side.
Xu Yiyi nodded slowly, then looked at the brown rice beside her.
This is the type of rice that ordinary people buy the most.
This type of rice retains some of the bran and germ, and has a slightly yellow color. It doesn't look as refined as japonica rice, but it keeps well and is cheaper.
"How is the quality of the brown rice? Has it been exposed to the cold during the winter?" Xu Yi asked carefully.
"Absolutely not!" the shopkeeper assured him, patting his chest. "This is all new rice harvested this autumn, transported from the dry lands in the north. It was handled with excellent moisture control along the way; you can tell just by how dry it is..."
Moreover, it had just been unloaded from the ship and hadn't had time to undergo any further processing.
Xu Yiyi nodded again.
Then, I carefully inspected the flour. The snow-white and fine flour was naturally of the highest quality and suitable for making various kinds of pastries and noodles.
Standard flour that is slightly darker in color and has a coarser particle size is more suitable for making steamed buns and noodles, and it is also more affordable.
Next come various grains. Yellow millet is stickier than rice and larger than millet. After cooking, it is soft, sticky, and sweet, perfect for making pastries and for brewing wine.
There are also various kinds of soybeans, mung beans, and red beans.
Attracted by the abundance of grain in the room, Sihai curiously ran to a winnowing basket containing red beans and reached out to pick a few to play with.
"Sihai, don't make any rash moves," Xu Yiyi gently stopped them.
After inspecting the quality of the grain, Xu Yi began to discuss business with the shopkeeper.
She also had her own plans.
"The shopkeeper needs ten shi of new glutinous rice, one shi of brown rice, five shi of standard portion, and one shi of each of various grains..."
The number she quoted was quite large, and the shopkeeper's eyes lit up. He quickly took out his abacus and started calculating rapidly.
Xu Yiyi continued, "Please deliver these to the restaurant, and also give me ten bushels of brown rice and two bushels of flour... Take them all to the dock to be loaded onto a ship and transported to Wanghai Island..."
The shopkeeper, his abacus still busy, looked up at Xu Yiyi with some surprise upon hearing this.
"Mr. Xu is truly benevolent..."
This means it's time to distribute grain to the clan members again.
Xu Yiyi remained silent until the abacus stopped clicking, at which point the shopkeeper announced a total price.
After paying, Xu Yiyi just watched the guys load the truck.
Xu Anyang checked the food sent to the restaurant, so she wasn't too worried.
The important thing was to get her back to the island, so she didn't go back to the restaurant immediately.
Instead, he took Sihai, the chubby little boy, and followed the deliveryman and his cart from the grain shop to the bustling dock.
The docks are busiest in the afternoon.
Those unloading cargo, loading ships, repairing fishing nets, and hawking odds and ends...
The various sounds, mixed with the pungent smell of the sea, created a vivid picture.
The grain shop had its own two small cargo ships that ran short-distance freight, which were currently docked at a relatively quiet berth at the wharf.
The guys were all experienced and worked very quickly.
They quickly unloaded the sacks at the dock, then worked in pairs, chanting slogans, and carefully carried the goods onto the ship using sturdy gangplanks.
Brown rice and flour were neatly stacked in the cabin, categorized according to Xu Yiyi's instructions.
Xu Yiyi, holding Sihai, stood quietly on a slightly higher stone step not far away, watching.
She looked focused, her eyes following each sack as it moved, and she would occasionally offer a word of reminder.
Sihai followed her example, staring wide-eyed with curiosity on his little face.
Just then, a louder commotion and a strong fishy smell came from not far away.
That's the area in the harbor specifically for berthing large fishing boats.
A large fishing boat slowly docked under the direction of the dockworkers.
The large ship was drafting very deep, indicating that it had reaped a considerable harvest.
As soon as the ship came to a stop, dozens of light and agile boats on the berth swarmed around it from all directions, like a school of fish that had smelled fish.
The boatmen chanted work songs as they quickly adjusted their positions, preparing to receive the cargo.
On the large ship, thick mooring lines were thrown down to secure it to the small boat.
Immediately afterwards, the fishermen on the boat, dressed in heavy oilcloth clothing, began to get busy.
The people above used huge hooks and fishing nets to hoist the sorted fish from the hold and carefully transfer them to the waiting boats.
The small fishing boat sank slightly under the weight, but the experienced boatmen quickly regained their balance, rowed, and, laden with their heavy catch, skillfully weaved between other boats, heading towards different collection points or fish market docks on the shore.
Xu Yiyi looked over in the direction of the commotion and saw that the boat belonged to Grandpa Xu.
They seemed to have a good haul today, with all sorts of fresh fish jumping around in their baskets, attracting many vendors and restaurant buyers who gathered around to negotiate prices.
Xu Zhengci was directing the unloading when he glanced up and saw Xu Yiyi loading the ship at the berth.
He squinted and looked him over.
A look of confusion suddenly appeared on his face, and he nudged Xu Ming, who was haggling with the fishmonger next to him, with his elbow:
"Hey, second brother, look over there, what's that girl Yi Yi doing over there?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Ming turned his head impatiently and glanced in the direction the man was pointing.
Just then, they saw Xu Yiyi carrying Sihai aboard their small boat. Behind them, the grain shop's boats had already been loaded and were slowly sailing away.
Following behind Xu Yiyi.
He spat fiercely: "What else can it do? Open your eyes and look carefully, this is a grain shop's boat."
Xu Ming said through gritted teeth.
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhengci squinted and looked over himself.
“It really is true, second brother, you have a sharp eye…” Xu Zhengci said with a smile.
Xu Ming glared at him, then stared intently at Xu Yiyi's back and the grain piled up on the two ships behind her.
He suddenly got angry, and his voice unconsciously rose, drawing the attention of several tribesmen unloading goods nearby.
"That brat! She must have taken the meager money she made from running the restaurant again and used it to buy food for those unrelated people in the clan... Look! Look at the sacks on the boat, they're almost piled up like a small mountain... Damn it, does she really think she's some kind of freeloading fairy?"
His face grew increasingly grim as he recalled how, not long ago, Xu Yiyi had refused to let his son, Xu Yizhi, eat at her restaurant.
The insults grew increasingly vile, as if she wanted to pierce the air and point her finger directly at Xu Yiyi: "This little slut only knows how to squander money! How could our Xu family produce such a traitorous brat? With all that money, she doesn't know how to show filial piety to her elders or help her brothers; she just uses it all to fill the mouths of those poor wretches! Bah! She's an ungrateful wretch!"
His tone was filled with resentment, which made Xu Zhengci, who was standing next to him, feel somewhat uncomfortable.
He turned around and glanced at the tribesmen behind him who were processing the fish, then reached out and tugged at Xu Mingzai's sleeve.
"Second brother, watch your words. There are many people on the ship, and it's easy to see what's going on."
He spoke cautiously, afraid that one word might provoke Xu Mingzai.
"Am I wrong? Xu Yiyi is an ingrate. Believe it or not, there's so much grain on the ship, but our family still didn't get any."
Xu Ming looked at Xu Zhengci and said.
“This…” Xu Zhengci hesitated.
Suddenly, Xu Ming let out a cold laugh.
"You see! You know perfectly well that Xu Yiyi is indeed an ingrate." He said in a deep voice.
As he watched Xu Yiyi leave the dock with two grain transport ships, a thought suddenly popped into his mind.