An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

The inner hall and the outer hall have basically the same layout, with neatly stacked bamboo baskets, and there seem to be quite a few of them.

"This is kelp, this is dried fish, and this is dried shrimp. They are all dried after the autumn wind blows. Open them and take a look." Village chief Zhang carried down three large baskets from different locations. Just by looking at the way he moved them, you could tell that they were much heavier than eggs.

Qingfeng opened the lid of one of the baskets and found that there was a layer of oil paper covering it, probably to prevent the upcoming return of southerly weather.

Village Chief Zhang opened the baskets of fish and shrimp himself. He picked up a few and broke them in half. The flesh was white and golden, and the crackling sound was crisp. "Your Excellency trusted me. Look at what I've done."

After saying this, he handed half of the fish to Xu Zize and folded the other half into his mouth. While chewing, he said, "Dried fish and dried shrimp are very fresh and fragrant even when chewed dry."

Seeing that his master didn't take it, Qingfeng quickly took it, put it in his mouth, chewed it a few times, and then said with a look of amazement, "Okay..." He wanted to say that it can be eaten during the march and battle, but realized his mistake and immediately changed his words, "It's more delicious than dried meat."

"Tell me? How do you calculate the price of these three things?" Jing Chunxi's eyes sparkled again, as if he was a hamster that had seen some tender sprouts. Xu Zize smiled helplessly and said.

"Sir, could you please give us five cents per pound of kelp? A large basket would be worth fifty pounds, no more, no less."

"There are a full 40 catties of fish and shrimp. I'll give you 15 cents. Although fish and shrimp are not valuable, drying them in the sun is not easy. I have to remove the heads and internal organs, which is very time-consuming."

Jing Chunxi was stunned. How could fish and shrimp be cheaper than the eggs he could easily pick up on the island? But since he himself said fish and shrimp were worthless, he understood.

This time, before she could even nod to Xu Zize, he had already taken the order. "Qingfeng, go check with them! After we pay, the village chief will have to get the villagers to help us get to the village entrance where the carriages and horses are parked."

"The noble man wants it all, and at a high price." As the child's exclamation spread outside, cheers broke out again outside.

It turned out that a few brave children had already followed him into the inner hall. As soon as Xu Zize finished speaking, someone rushed out and went to report the good news.

The final result was that he spent less than two hundred taels of silver to collect all the hundreds of baskets of dry goods in the inner hall.

Only Qingfeng and Lvying were left with a few guards, directing the villagers to push a dozen creaking wooden carts to load the goods.

I saw a thin boy secretly putting a cracked egg at the bottom. Xiaoman saw it but didn't say anything. Instead, she stuffed a piece of candy into his hand.

When we returned to the village chief's house, four strong young men were carrying wet bamboo baskets into the yard. The young man in the front grinned at Chuntao and Tangsuan and said, "Just caught them!"

When the lid of the basket was opened, the fish and shrimp were still jumping around, the crabs were waving their claws, and the oyster shells were still covered with seaweed.

Village Chief Zhang waved his hand proudly: "As agreed, this meal is on our table! All you can eat!"

"Village Chief Zhang is very generous." Xu Zize winked at the secret guards and said, "Since that's the case, let's show our appreciation by treating the entire village to a meal."

As he spoke, the six bags of yellow grains and corns were unloaded from the car.

The villagers were in an uproar, and the heads of the families all came to Zhang, the village chief, to share their money. They were so happy. It was a rare leap year in ten years, and every family could get a few ingots of this precious silver, but it had never happened before.

At the old village chief's beckoning, the women swiftly set up the cauldrons, while the children ran back and forth carrying firewood. The thuds of killing fish, the clacking of knives, and the sizzling of stir-frying continued one after another.

A woman wearing a blue headscarf gave orders loudly: "Second Aunt, you will be responsible for cooking for Xiaodong and the others. Third Aunt will also select a few families to make porridge. The old village chief said to cook four bags of rice first. If it's not enough, add more. My family will stir-fry crabs and fry fish!"

The whole village suddenly came alive, and even the sea breeze carried a cheerful salty fragrance.

As soon as the seafood was sold, the huge amount of silver was distributed to every household on the spot. All the villagers were smiling, and their dark faces were glowing red.

As soon as they had silver, the adults loosened their grip and threw the few copper coins left in the house to the half-grown children. Some of the children jumped and danced in the drying yard, and their laughter scared away the swallows under the eaves.

Without the old village chief's call, the villagers had already spontaneously brought out their treasured sweet potato wine and cassava wine. The coarse pottery wine jars were still covered with fresh soil, obviously having just been taken out of the cellar.

An old man with wrinkles on his face filled a broken bowl with turbid liquor and tremblingly held it in front of Kuaijiao: "Try it, my lord! It's home-brewed and very strong!"

The guests and hosts enjoyed the banquet very much, and the yard was filled with the fresh aroma of fish and shrimp and the mellow fragrance of wine.

Xu Zize caught a glimpse of the old village chief and village chief Zhang, one on each side, standing with their feet fast, playing rock-paper-scissors with their rough fingers. Several guards were surrounded by enthusiastic villagers who urged them to drink, their faces as red as boiled shrimps.

He took the opportunity to pull Jing Chunxi's sleeve and whispered, "I'm going to the toilet." Then, one in front and one behind, the two of them slipped out of the noisy yard tacitly and headed straight for the beach at the entrance of the village where seafood was parked.

"Thank you for your hard work, brothers," Xu Zize patted the shoulders of the two young men guarding the goods, "Our convoy will be here soon. We'll be watching over you here. Go eat."

He deliberately looked up at the sun and said, "If it's any later, the crabs for drinking will be snatched up." The young man had just been muttering about why no one had come to take his turn, but when he heard this, a smile immediately appeared on his face. He touched his rumbling stomach and ran towards the village, thanking the waiter profusely.

As soon as they were far away, Jing Chunxi sprang into action. Her slender fingers traced a graceful arc in the air, and the piles of baskets vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye, as if snatched up by an invisible hand.

Xu Zize turned his back to her, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings, his ears alert to any movement. The whole process took only a few breaths, and the beach was empty, leaving only the deep ruts left by the wooden cart.

"Hey! Don't stop starting tomorrow. If you don't unload the goods, the space will be full." She deliberately stacked the baskets into several layers. If she received more goods, she would have no place to stand.

"Speaking of which, the biggest credit for receiving so much seafood this time goes to Brother Xiaokang." Jing Chunxi dusted off her clothes, her eyes crescent-shaped. She deliberately imitated an exaggerated tone and raised her thumb towards Xu Zize's eyes, but her childishness made her look particularly adorable.

Xu Zize shook his head and laughed, tightly grasping her outstretched finger: "If it weren't for some playful little girl who wanted to roll around on the beach, we wouldn't have happened to end up in this village."

Brushing away a piece of seaweed debris from her hair, his tone was full of doting, "The credit goes to Xi'er."