Chapter 162 (1/2)
Chapter 162
Chapter 162 - Jealousy
In Dongshan Village, Third Young Master Zhou had solemnly entrusted Yu Hai to help him purchase those items . Of course, he would not let Yu Hai work for nothing . Zhenxiu Restaurant would give him ten percent of the profit as remuneration . Dongshan Village wasn’t the only fis.h.i.+ng village around the area, so Zhenxiu Restaurants had also selected a staff member to be responsible for that task in the other fis.h.i.+ng villages .
Seafood like oysters and p.e.n.i.s fish were too common in the coastal region, and there weren’t many people who eat it, so very few people would buy them . Even with occasional acquisition, it was hard to sell them for a high price . However, Zhenxiu Restaurant the price that Zhenxiu Restaurant offered for these goods was higher than the market price: ten copper coins for a catty of oysters and twenty copper coins for a catty of spoon worms .
Although offered a much higher price for spoon worms, it was only a temporary acquisition for the medicine hall . Zhenxiu Restaurant, on the other hand, were purchasing spoon worms all year round .
After the news came out, there was an endless stream of people who came to visit the Yu Family’s residence . They were all inquiring about the purchase and the prices of the oysters and spoon worms . After they received reliable information from Yu Hai, both the old and young villagers of Dongshan Village all began to dig for spoon worms and gather oysters .
The sea’s gift to the people was selfless . Every time the tide went out, people would flock to the beach and leave when the tide rises . Even if the was low tide at night, people would still carry a lantern and work hard throughout the night .
As long as one was willing to work, there would definitely be a harvest . An average adult could dig at least ten catties of spoon worms in a day . The old, weak, women, and children could also harvest a few catties of oysters . In this way, as long as someone someone from each household in Dongshan Village was willing to contribute, they could earn a few hundred copper coins in a day without any problem .
There was a steady flow of oysters and spoon worms being purchased . Yu Hai had already taken in over a thousand catties of seafood . These seafood products were all transported to the workshops at the dock . The employees of the condiment factory were all servants who had signed a death contract with the Zhou Family . Whether it was the oyster sauce or MSG, the formulas must be kept a secret . So, the core employees must’ve served the Zhou Family for many generations . Fifty people were carefully selected from the servants to work in the workshop, but when faced with the endless orders, they still lacked manpower .
Cleaning the sandworms was a labor-intensive job . Thus, Third Young Master Zhou set down a new purchasing rule: the prices for cleaned oysters and spoon worms would be twice as high as those that hadn’t been cleaned . Of course, the seafood must still be fresh .
What did the villagers not lack the most? It was labor and time . Although the oysters wasn’t bad, there wasn’t much profit to be earned after the sh.e.l.l was removed . In contrast, the spoon worms wouldn’t lose much weight even after the sand was removed from it . The price of the spoon worm was more expensive than pork, so even if it took more time, the villagers were willing .
For a while, Yu Hai had more work than he could handle . All the cleaned seafood and the uncleaned seafood had to be separately weighed and paid for, and they must also be stored separately . The Yu Family had planted their entire courtyard with vegetables . In order to prevent the people who came to their house to sell seafood from damaging their garden, Yu Hai specially set up a wooden shed at the west side of the fence to be used for the purchase of seafood . It was too much work for just one person, so he asked Yu Hang to help out . The father and son were frantically busy and barely managed to handle everything .
Yu Hai had become stricter with the purchase of seafood ever since he found out that his daughter owned a part of the shares of the condiment factory . He didn’t accept spoon worms that weren’t cleaned properly, seafood that weren’t fresh, and also if they practice fraud by putting water inside the spoon worms to increase its weight… Although he offended some people who wanted to take advantage of him, Yu Hai’s reputation in the village was still pretty good .
No matter where Madam Zhang went these days, she would always hear: XX family earned XX amount of money from selling seafood; XX family was able to pay back their debt owed for several years from famine in just ten days; XX family didn’t have anything to eat or wear in the past, but now they can afford meat… Thus, the old lady’s heart began to waver .
Of course, she couldn’t go cause trouble at the old residence . The imperial envoy was now living in Old Zhao’s old house and would eat all of his three meals at the Yu Family’s house . With such a big Buddha there, even if Madam Zhang was given three times more courage, she still wouldn’t dare to look for trouble .
But at her house, Old Yu and his son had to go out to the sea every day . So, she put her mind on Madam Li and Yu Heizi . Yu Heizi would diligently run to the dock every day, but he wouldn’t even bring back one copper coin . If they are all as greedy as this grandson of hers, where would she get the money for her daughter’s dowry? Where would she get the money to pay for her younger son’s education?
She couldn’t bear to let her daughter, who was going to marry in the autumn, to go to the seaside under the sun and wind . So, she forced Madam Li and Yu Heizi to go to the seaside to dig for spoon worms . One catty of cleaned spoon worms was worth fifty copper coins . With both Madam Li and her son working, it shouldn’t be a problem for them to earn two or three hundred copper coins in a day!
Yu Heizi wasn’t someone who was obedient . Although he could earn money by digging spoon worms, he knew that he wasn’t going to receive any of the money he earned . So why did he have to waste so much effort to get them? After a month of physical exercise, Yu Heizi didn’t look like the short and fat Yu Heizi from the past . Although his skin was still dark, he was a lot stronger, and he didn’t have much body fat on him . He had also grown taller, so now he looked like he was full of vigor .
In order to hide from his grandmother, he would run away every day before the sky turned bright . Madam Zhang couldn’t catch Heizi who was as slippery as a mudfish, so she had strictly watched over Madam Li, forcing her to go to the beach every day . But with Madam Li’s gluttonous and lazy character, how could she be the type of person to work? After digging only a few times, she would start lamenting to the heavens while bawling with tears in her eyes and snot dripping from her nose .