Chapter 145 - Put Forward (2/2)
“Heizi, let’s go! The earlier we start, the earlier we finish! Unloading a passenger ship is not only easy but also very profitable. If it weren’t for Younger Cousin over there, how could us two brothers get such work? We need to work smartly and energetically! If we do well, the masters might even give us tips!” Liu Zhiwei heavily thumped on Yu Heizi’s shoulders.
Under Liu Zhiwei’s meticulous orders and slight desire to be hard on him, Yu Heizi worked without stopping. Heizi, who had never done hard physical labor before, started out full of energy and enthusiasm, but after moving a few pieces of luggage, he felt like there was a five hundred kilogram weight on his shoulders. Countless drops of sweat scattered onto the ground with every step he took. However, Yu Heizi didn’t give up and stubbornly carried on with one thought——I need to endure through this, make a lot of money to marry a wife…
After they finished unloading all of the luggage on the passenger ship, Liu Zhiwei only had a few trickles of sweat flowing down his body. On the other hand, Yu Heizi was gasping for air like an old ox who was seriously ill. Sweat poured down his body like torrential rain, and his two legs trembled viciously. Despite all that, he didn’t voice a single word of complaint.
Brother Six came over and patted his shoulder, “Good work there! The first time is always like this, once you get used to it, you’ll be fine!! Rest a bit and eat something to save some energy. There will be more coming this afternoon! Did you bring any money? If you didn’t, you can go to the payroll and get some money paid in advance…”
“No need, Brother Six! I already ate this morning before I came over, so...not hungry yet!” Yu Heizi wiped the sweat off his face with a hand and left behind a few obvious lines of dirt.
Brother Six nodded his head, “Then go find a place and make sure you get some good rest!”
When he was working, Yu Heizi had taken off his jacket and only wore a single unlined shirt. He lightly lifted the cloth from his shoulders and saw that the skin in the area had already been rubbed a bright red. He grimaced as he gently kneaded the area.
Liu Zhiwei had a whole new level of respect for him after this morning and came over. He commented, “Your wounds here are considered quite light! When I first started working here, I didn’t know Brother Six yet, so I did the same type of work that the adult men do. I also got half as much as they did for pay. After working for a day, the top layer of skin on my shoulders had been rubbed off. It hurt like hell at night and I couldn't fall asleep then.”
Yu Heizi rubbed his shoulders as he grinned, “Thank you very much for taking care of me, Brother Zhiwei. I’m not as strong as you, so all of the larger pieces of luggage were all carried off by you. In a moment, when we get our wages, you should get a larger portion!”
“You also worked very hard too!” Liu Zhiwei looked at Heizi, flabbergasted. Previously, Heizi had always been someone who would slack off and bully others, why did it feel like he’d suddenly become a whole new person?
“I’m going to go see our little sisters over there. Right now there’s a lot of people eating, so they are probably very busy right now!” When Xiaolian used to come over by herself, Liu Zhiwei would help her during the meal break. Today was also not an exception.
The braised food for one copper coin a portion was becoming more and more popular at the docks. The amount of food made from one pig head and the ten or so portions of pickled fish was unable to satisfy the fiery demand. Now, their customers not only were the dock workers but also the people living nearby in the area. There were even people who traveled from far away to buy a few portions of the braised food to take home for entertaining guests.
Thus, every time the dock workers had a break, the braised food pretty much sold out within minutes. A lot of the workers, who were looking forward to eating a portion, had to leave empty-handed. In order to meet the people’s demand, Yu Xiaocao had no choice but to increase the amount they made. She first asked the dock workers for help. If their village had anyone slaughtering a pig, she asked them to help her buy the pig head and offal. In return, she would give them two portions of braised food for free. Very quickly, she had a few more fixed suppliers for her raw ingredients.
They also sold more varieties of food than before. Other than the braised meat dishes, they also had braised kelp, braised dried tofu and other vegetarian dishes. Although it was said to be vegetarian, the vegetables and tofu were all braised using the sauce that was stewed with pig head meat. Thus, the vegetable based dishes had absorbed a lot of animal fat and flavor, so anyone eating them could taste the flavor of braised pig meat. The portion of the vegetarian dishes were also larger than the meat dishes. Thus, these dishes were quite popular too.
With more variety of braised food to sell, they could no longer rely on portioning out food in advance at home. Consequently, Yu Xiaocao bought a copper pot and small clay stove to heat the braised food at the docks while selling it. Braised food that had been heated up had an even more dense flavor, and the smell traveled into every nook and cranny of the docks with the sea breeze. Even the women coming off of the passenger ships couldn’t help but ask about it.
Having to portion out the food while selling, along with the larger customer base, made it difficult for only one person to handle all of the work alone. Luckily, the vast majority of customers were dock workers and were all well acquainted with the two sisters. All of them would conscientiously line up to buy braised food.
At this point, there was a very long queue in front of Yu Family’s clay brazier. Most of the people in line knew each other, so they waited as they conversed genially. None of them seemed to be in a rush.
“Ehh? What are those people all standing in line for? Are they looking for work?” A loud and clear voice suddenly asked, clearly flabbergasted at the sight.
“My Lord! That is the dock’s most famous ‘one copper coin per portion of braised food’. Although it’s food that’s a bit crude, the flavor is quite good!” The overseer at the docks glanced at the crowd that wasn’t too far from them and humbly replied with a smile on his face.
The person next to him was someone who was personally appointed by the emperor himself to oversee the construction of the harbor. Even the prefectural magistrate had to treat him politely, let alone himself, who was just a small supervisor. If he wanted to continue this line of work in the future, he absolutely needed to serve this lord very well ah!