Chapter 278 - Making Grasshopper Sauce (1/2)
The village head, who had already queued up till the side of the door, extended his head to peer inside the grain shop, only to see that the grains inside had been piled to the height of half a wall. How could they say there was no grain?
At this moment, the shop assistant of the grain shop took up the door plank, ready to close up shop. The village head panicked and was about to debate with the shopkeeper when Yu Hai walked over, lightly waving at him and whispered, “Village Head, it’s no use even if you argue with the shopkeeper. You’ve also seen the man who had come just now—it was only because of something he said to the shopkeeper that made him announce that there was no more grain left. Even the shopkeeper cannot defy the wishes of his superiors.”
The shopkeeper of the grain shop, hearing bits and pieces of their conversation, nodded his head at Yu Hai. He thought that this man looked somewhat familiar, and only realized a few moments later that this seemed to be Yu Hai of Dongshan Village. Any servant of any importance in the employ of the Zhou Family knew, the Yu Family of Dongshan Village was extremely trusted and respected by the future head of the Zhou Family.
Although the shopkeeper had no idea why the future head of the family would hold a mere farmer in such high regard, but as a servant of the Zhou Family, being able to judge and act according to the master’s wishes was the way to attain the master’s favor. The servant, who told him to shut their doors and raise the prices by half the next day just now, was currently the favorite of the eldest young master from the first branch. Even though Eldest Young Master was in charge of the Zhou Family’s grain shops, but in the end, it was still Third Young Master from the second branch who was going to be the future head of the family. Naturally, the shopkeeper of the grain shop would have his own considerations in his heart.
The shopkeeper of the grain shop walked over with a smile and said to Yu Hai, “Is this Brother Yu Hai?”
Seeing Yu Hai nod, he continued, “May we speak elsewhere?”
At this time, the doors of the Zhou Family’s grain shop had already been closed shut. The queue in front of the door made some ruckus for a while, but they had all slowly scattered in time. The ten or so villagers from Dongshan Village, who had come to buy grain, were the only ones left. They looked helplessly at the village head, waiting for his word.
The shopkeeper of the grain shop called Yu Hai to the side and asked with a smile, “Brother Yu Hai came to buy grain?”
What else could he have come for? Could he have been queueing in front of a grain shop to buy meat? Yu Hai nodded his head and said, “Yes, the village is suffering from a locust plague, so there is no harvest. We want to stock up on some grain and see if we can last through this famine.”
The shopkeeper of the grain shop thought for a moment, and then said, “Brother Yu Hai, how much grain are you planning to buy? As you can see, our eldest young master had given out orders to close the shop and raise the price. But if it’s Brother Yu Hai who wants to buy, I’ll sell it to you at today’s price—take it as making a new friend!”
Eldest Young Master didn’t know how much grain the shop sold today anyways, so he could do a favor for Yu Hai today and make plans for his future. The shopkeeper of the grain shop had capabilities, but he lacked opportunities. If he could get a chance to appear in front of the future head of the family due to Yu Hai, with his capabilities, he definitely wouldn’t be a mere shopkeeper of a small grain shop in the future.
Yu Hai appeared conflicted upon hearing this. He shook his head slowly and said, “There are thirty or so families in my village who are all waiting for grain to survive! As fellow villagers, I will not be selfish and care only for my own, disregarding the survival of others!”
The shopkeeper of the grain shop hesitated for a while before giving Yu Hai a thumbs up, saying, “Brother Yu Hai is indeed an affectionate and righteous man. How much grain does your village need? If it is within one thousand catties, your brother, I, can still make the decision!”
Yu Hai was elated, and he eagerly exclaimed, “Really? That’s excellent! I’ll go and ask the village head how much grain we need!”
Yu Hai ran over and pulled the village head to the side, quietly telling him that the shopkeeper agreed to sell Dongshan Village one thousand catties of grain in private. The villagers who came to buy grain this time were mostly the ones who didn’t have much grain in their store and also had no harvest. There was a total of thirteen families.
Coarse grains usually cost about five copper coins per catty, but the Zhou Family grain shop was currently selling them for five times the usual price, which was twenty-five copper coins per catty. These ten or so families had all saved a small fortune from selling spoon worms and oysters, so even though they were quite distressed about spending the money, all of them were still capable of buying grain. Once they heard that the shop was raising its prices, they wanted to buy more grain back. However, the shopkeeper only supplied them a thousand catties of grain for them to distribute among themselves. What should they do?
In the end, the village head made the decision for everyone to distribute according to the headcount in each family. The families with more family members would get a little bit more, while smaller households would get less grain. On average, each family would obtain at least seventy to eighty catties of grain. If they wanted to buy more at this price, it would be impossible! Tomorrow? The price of grains would increase considerably.
A thousand catties of grain were all loaded onto the horse and donkey carts from Dongshan Village. Yu Hai also symbolically bought about a hundred catties of fine grain, totaling up to a cost of nearly five taels. Yu Hai silently thought that the grain shops was really a profitable business. When he came to purchase two days ago, a hundred catties of fine grain only cost about one tael, and now he had gratuitously spent five times the original price!
When he reached home, everyone in the family were busy with work. The hot weather made it unsuitable for the locusts to be left out for too long, so the adults and children worked together to preserve the locusts that they managed to catch.
With Madam Liu and Oldest Aunt’s help, Yu Xiaocao made grasshopper sauce. Locusts were more commonly known as grasshoppers and had a delectable texture—delicious like prawns. It also contained protein and all kinds of amino acids that would be beneficial towards the human body if eaten.