Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space novel Chapter 256

Chapter 256: Chapter 188: Foodie

After waiting for a while and seeing fewer people outside, the old man led them into the warehouse. Once inside, they realized it was enormous, equipped with a cold storage room. Outside, a tank held live prawns and fish. "Don’t buy these live ones. If you want to eat them, look around the village. There are bigger prawns in the cold storage. I saw a broken box this morning, and they just tossed it by the door. There aren’t any large yellow croakers; the broken ones have been sent to the cafeteria."

The two followed into the cold storage, shivering from the cold. The cold storage wasn’t just cool; it was freezing. Liu Sanyuan and Zhou Xiaozheng first looked around at the broken boxes by the door. Surprisingly, there were quite a few, at least 300 pounds, all piled up.

Facing away from the old man, Liu Sanyuan signaled a 5 with his fingers. Seeing Zhou Xiaozheng nod slightly, he took out five one-yuan bills and slipped them to the old man. The old man didn’t shy away, accepting them into his coat, indicating he’s quite familiar with such transactions.

The old man pointed at the pile of leftovers, tossing them two large burlap bags, and said, "Pack it all yourselves. Do you still want large yellow croaker and prawns? The prawns are two and a half yuan this time. They were originally meant for export, but plans changed to domestic sales. Large yellow croaker and Xiao Liu’s are the same, one and a half yuan each. If you want them, I’ll get them out. Each box weighs 50 pounds. You two think it over."

Liu Sanyuan glanced at the seafood pile that already had prawns and hesitated. After looking at Zhou Xiaozheng and seeing him nod, he indicated he didn’t want them.

Zhou Xiaozheng did some calculations and asked the old man directly, "Uncle, give me three boxes of prawns and three boxes of large yellow croaker. Should I pay you now or after we go outside?"

"Pay Xiao Liu, and he’ll settle it all together later. You two pack up the pile by the door first. I’ll go inside to find you better prawns, selected for consistency without regard to size."

"Thank you, Uncle." Zhou Xiaozheng watched the old man walk away, then turned to Liu Sanyuan, laughed heartily upon seeing the scene.

"Brother, don’t be so picky. Just grab enough. I’m lucky you brought me here today. Even if you take it all, I wouldn’t complain." After saying this, Zhou Xiaozheng opened the bag and started dividing the prawns into the burlap bags equally.

Liu Sanyuan laughed, "No worries, we have time to pack after the uncle brings everything. You load up more. I can come back to buy more next time."

The two packed up, then stood and saw that the old man already had the boxes ready, waiting for them. "Have you packed up? Let’s get out quickly; it’s freezing in here."

After exiting the cold storage, the old man brought over a cart. "Load everything on top and pull it to the car. Xiao Liu, include these six boxes in the final tally. Do you want the dead prawns outside? If you do, toss them in the bags to take back. If you wait too long, there’ll be none left because they’ll all be taken by people outside. I’m giving them to you all."

Liu Sanyuan excitedly ran to the tank, seeing the bamboo basket outside filled with dead prawns, "Uncle, I’ll take them all then. I’ll bring you some good liquor next time. Thanks in advance."

He said this while stuffing the two bags on the cart full. Once the two bags were filled to the brim, they stopped. The three of them pushed the cart out to load everything into the car. A bag was so heavy it needed two people to lift.

After sending off the old man, Liu Sanyuan looked at Zhou Xiaozheng’s car and laughed, "Brother, your car sure looks rare on the road. Those 100 pounds of vermicelli were not a great buy. If we buy more, there’ll be no space left."

Zhou Xiaozheng looked at the car, "Hehe, there’s no other option. If we get more, we can only put them upfront. Once you’re settled, should we head to the village?" He finished, pulling out money from his pocket, counting out the six boxes and the 3 yuan for splitting the goods, and handed it to Liu Sanyuan.

Liu Sanyuan took the money without looking and stuffed it into his pocket, "Yes, we must go. We must buy live crabs and more dried fish to take back as gifts. I’ve already figured it out. Mix crab roe with meat to make buns, and stir-fry the rest with chili. I know a place that reserves crabs with a lot of roe, unlike others that mix in male crabs. The prices are the same. They also have dried fish and other dried sea products. Next time you come by yourself, just head to their place, he knows the area well, and you can usually buy some."

He glanced across the street eagerly, "Brother, wait here. I’ll go find them to hurry up." And without waiting for Zhou Xiaozheng’s reply, he ran across the street.

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