MTL - Traveling Through Ancient Times To Be a Shopkeeper-Chapter 44 Seashells

Sea cargo terminal.

"Brother Shao, no one wants these shells, what should we do now?"

"We also borrowed two taels of usury, but we didn't make any money. How can we pay back when we go back?"

The voice was very impatient, and the man was circling impatiently at the same time.

There were four men on the fishing boat, their faces were dry and sallow, they were wearing rough clothes and coarse cloth, and the clothes on their bodies smelled of fish after staying on the boat for a long time.

A few people come from remote villages. Their village is close to the sea. There are not many fish in the sea in their village, but there are a lot of shellfish. No one wants the shells. They used to catch them and throw them back into the sea. Recently, they have been flooded.

For the villagers who live on fishing, the shells are flooded again, and there are fewer sea fish, and they cannot catch sea fish. The villagers' livelihood was difficult before, but now it is even more difficult.

Zhang Shao in the village saw that there were some shellfish in the sea. He also tried to open the shellfish and found that they were edible. He thought that someone would buy them if they sold them in the market.

Seafood is bought, and people don’t know how to make new things, and they don’t know them, and they don’t know if they can be eaten, so no one buys them.

Zhang Shao thought that the people in the town had little knowledge, and if they sold it to the county town, where the people in the county town were well-informed, they might be able to find a way to sell it.

You can't go to the county town to sell seafood by land, otherwise it will be broken when it is delivered to the county town.

There are fishing boats in the village, but the fishing boats are not big. They can go out to sea for a day and a night to reach the nearest county town. Fishing boats in the village are not available, and they must rent larger boats.

Several good brothers in the village know his idea and think it is feasible. Maybe he can sell it. If he can sell it, the livelihood of the village will not be so difficult.

Their families are in a difficult situation. They have no money and decide to borrow usury loans, lease cargo ships, and transport things to the county town to sell.

The people in the village knew that the idea was good, but if they couldn't sell it, they would have to lose all their wealth, so no one was optimistic about it.

Zhang Shao didn't care, he sent the goods by sea. The idea was good, but the reality hit him hard.

The sea fish brought in are all sold, and the remaining shells, sea squid and sea shrimp cannot be sold, even if they are sold cheaply.

Sea squid and seafood are bought in the county, not all of them are bought, others can't sell them all, so how could they buy Zhang Shao's.

The money from selling sea fish is not enough to repay the usury, and the four men don't know what to do.

They went to the county pier yesterday, and if they couldn't sell the remaining seafood today, they had to throw it away. The charter fee is calculated on a daily basis, and the usury is also calculated on a daily basis. If you stay for one more day, you will have to pay one more day. They must return today.

The four of them lowered their heads and their faces were gloomy.

"If not, I'm going to sell the house."

Zhang Shao is the backbone of several people. He proposed it at the beginning, and he will bear the consequences.

The other three men felt uncomfortable when they heard this, and the impatient man said in a low voice, "Brother Shao, if you sell your house, where will you live in the future?"

Zhang Shao said calmly, "I'll find an uninhabited place in the village, and go to the mountains to chop wood and build a simple house to live in."

"If you sell the house, can my sister-in-law's family agree to marry my sister-in-law to you?"

The impatient man's words made Zhang Shao hoarse, his originally calm expression was struggling endlessly.

They all know that Zhang Shao has a brother who insists on marrying, and that brother's family wants him to pay two taels of silver before they are willing to marry him. He used the money from the bride price and borrowed usury.

The other three men have family members. Unlike Zhang Shao's parents who died in an accident in the sea, his relatives and elders didn't care about him. He raised himself alone.

If you are single, you will sell your house as soon as it is sold. It is better than being in debt to a usury. The daily interest is not something poor people like them can afford.

But if he sells the house, he will definitely not be able to marry the person he likes without a house.

The impatient man said, "Brother Shao, we can share."

Zhang Shao looked at the three of them and said, "Ah Wu, you have a lot of family members, can you give out the silver taels?" Then he looked at the other person, "Your families are all poor, so you can give out the money."

All three bowed their heads sadly.

The conscience of the three couldn't live with it.

With a gloomy atmosphere, several people from Wei Cheng came to find him.

Wei Cheng didn't notice Zhang Shao's boat at first, he looked all the way from the front, and found that they were all small fish and shrimps that were about to be thrown back into the sea, not as big as a tail finger, as well as green sea and some small shells.

When Wei Cheng came over and saw more than a dozen baskets of seafood on Zhang Shao's boat, his eyes lit up and he finally found it.

"How do you sell these seafood?"

The four of them lowered their heads, their faces ashen ashes suddenly raised their heads.

They... heard right? Someone asked to buy?

"You...do you want to buy it?" The four of them snapped back to their senses and asked in trembling voices, with disbelief on their faces.

Wei Cheng walked in and looked at the baskets of seafood. He was very satisfied, and he didn't care about people being stunned. "Yes, how do you sell it?"

After confirming that Wei Cheng wanted to buy it, the four of them were ecstatic, but in the next second, they thought about the person in front of them, maybe buying a few catties to eat, a few catties is not worth much at all.

The look of joy converged again.

It’s still Zhang Shao, who insists that no matter how much the customer buys, if someone buys, they will sell it, and if you sell more or less, it is money.

"Guest, big seafood with shells costs five cents a catty, small seafood with shells costs five cents a catty, sea squid costs five cents a catty, big shrimp costs eight pennies a catty... are you How much does it cost?"

Shells have shells and have a certain weight, so the price is very low. This price was quoted by Zhang Shao after careful consideration.

Wei Cheng: "..."

An indescribable expression.

All right, cheap is cheap, do as the Romans do.

"I want them all. Can you help deliver them outside the city? The delivery fee will be paid separately."

"You... have everything..." The four of them were shocked, and then said in ecstasy: "Send it, send it, you can deliver it, and you don't have to pay for the delivery."

The whole ship of seafood, shells weighed thousands of catties, sea squids weighed hundreds of catties, and sea prawns...we sent them there, looking for a cart. Wei Lei was familiar with the pier, so he looked for a cart.

There is a place to rent carts at the wharf, and they can also help deliver goods. For a few pennies a trip, Weicheng does not need people who sell seafood to deliver goods.

Wei Cheng settled the bill and gave them more than ten taels, and Zhang Shao took over. The three of them looked at Zhang Shao's hand full of silver taels, and rubbed their eyes in unison, fearing that this might be a dream.

Wei Cheng: "If there is still this kind of seafood, we will take the quantity today and ship it again in half a month. If there are other seafood that can be shipped as a sample, I will accept it if it suits me."

The four of them were stunned by this surprise, but Zhang Shao was more stable, he recovered and agreed immediately.

Zhang Shao: "What do you call the boss? I will deliver the goods when the time comes. Where can I find you?"

"My name is Wei Cheng." Wei Cheng said, "You can go to the wharf to eat at the food stalls. If you ask anyone where Wei Ji's stall is, almost everyone knows it. If you go to Wei Ji's stall and look for the owner of the stall, you can find me.

Wei Cheng paid the deposit and left.

The four of Zhang Shao felt that they were dreaming, and after taking a trip, after deducting the principal and two taels of usury plus interest, they would earn five taels of silver, and they would also make a deposit.

The boss named Wei Cheng also asked them to deliver goods for a long time.

There is no fear that the seafood in the village will not be sold.

Looking at the money in their hands, the eyes of the tall men turned red.

—

When Wei Cheng came back from buying a bunch of seafood, everyone's jaws dropped in shock. They were all shellfish. What do you buy them for?

Wei Hu was about to yell, but Wei Cheng stared at him and shut his mouth instantly.

Zhou Yuan asked: "Husband, why are you buying these things?"

Wei Cheng asked Wei Lei to go to the market to invite people. The seafood had to be processed on the same day, and he also asked Xiao Liu to call Aunt Yang and the others over. After ordering Wei Cheng, he walked to Zhou Yuan and explained: "There is a drying room in the workshop at home. , Don’t look at these are seafood with shells, the shell meat inside can be made into scallops, which are very delicious to eat, and squid and sea shrimp can also be made into dried goods.”

Zhou Yuan seemed to understand but not understand.

Wei Cheng smiled and said, "You'll know when you make it."

Wei Cheng held his daughter-in-law's hand, and the two entered the grocery store and walked through the backyard. The backyard of the store was connected to the workshop at home. On the side of the workshop was a row of living rooms, all of which were used for the employees to live in.

There is still a large open space between the backyard and the workshop, and a shelter is built in the open space to facilitate work when it rains. There is a well in the open space, which is used for cleaning things, and all the sea goods are transported here.

When everyone arrived, in addition to the invited people, there were long-term workers in the grocery store and employees of the food store in the county town who were being trained, including Wei Cheng's servants, and they all started working together.

In addition to scallops, this batch of seafood also includes conch and mussels. The conch is very big. Wei Cheng keeps some for extra meals on the day, and the rest are made into dry goods. When the time comes, the dry goods with good quality will be sold. restaurant.

After the stall closed, Wei Yuan's family and his husband Yang Dashan came to help on the way.

As for the extra meal that day, except for Wei Cheng, it was the first time for everyone else to eat it. With Wei Cheng's guidance, the chef cooks. At first, he wondered why Wei Cheng bought shells and sea squid, but after eating, they were convinced.

Wei Cheng also deliberately asked the chef to make a seafood pot for Wei Hu to send to Taifulou, and then Yan Yi appeared. After Yan Yi learned about it, he went back to report, and took away a lot of open shell meat. Chengfeng Mansion has an ice cellar for storage, and the shell meat is not afraid of being damaged if it is taken away.

As for Yun Chengfeng's personal thoughts, Wei Cheng didn't know.

Do dry goods, from morning to midnight, and there is seafood porridge in the middle of the night.

In the middle of the night, Wei Cheng asked his daughter-in-law to rest on the attic in the backyard of the grocery store, where their bedroom was located. Those who have to work the next day are asked to go back to sleep, and the others work a few times.

It took a day and a night to make seafood into dry goods, and the oven was baked for a whole day.

There are drying rooms and cellars for dry goods, but if they are to be stored for a long time, they must be vacuumed. In ancient times, there was no plastic, and oiled paper bags were used together with manual vacuuming, which can be stored for a long time.

On the third day, Yun Chengfeng came and insisted that Wei Cheng sell him the seafood pot recipe. The seafood he brought back couldn't even be tasted by a chef.

Seafood hot pot is the food of Weicheng Restaurant, and the recipe will definitely not be sold to Yun Chengfeng.

Yun Chengfeng: "..."

Yun Chengfeng had no choice but to rest his mind, and then asked Wei Cheng to cook the seafood pot again. Wei Cheng simply cooked it himself. In addition to making the seafood pot, he also made a delicious meal with dried seafood.

After listening to Yan Yi's report, Yun Chengfeng said that dried seafood was for sale, and he didn't care at first, but now, Yun Chengfeng asked for cooperation.

It's okay to cooperate with Wei Cheng, but he can't afford to do it now, so he doesn't want to agree for the time being.

Yun Chengfeng was not happy when he heard that Wei Cheng disagreed. In order to get Wei Cheng to agree, he drew a picture of dried seafood that would definitely become the only rare product in the Dajing Dynasty after the cooperation, and even monopolize the entire market.

He also said that there are more seafood and seafood in Yuanhai Fucheng. With the power of his family, he can monopolize the source of goods and open shops all over the country. Most importantly, if they agree to cooperate, officials and businessmen will definitely have a position in Weicheng.

Well, Wei Cheng was moved.

It's just that we have to wait for his food shop to open and the business is stable before we cooperate.

How could Yun Chengfeng wait, when he signed the contract that day, Yun Chengfeng was so generous that he even gave him 40% of the profits, with direct management authority, not dividends.

Wei Cheng didn't even know what Yun Chengfeng was in such a hurry to give him so much profit.

Yun Chengfeng saw the monopoly of the market. Compared with the sauce workshop cooperation, he didn't pay much attention to it. He only paid attention to dried seafood as his own truly independent and independent industry. Even his elder brother didn't plan to tell it. If you tell him, it will definitely impress his elder brother.

That's why he acted so vigorously.

Yun Chengfeng is still working on the idea of ​​seafood pot: "We have cooperated, can the recipe of seafood pot be revealed now? I won't use this recipe in the county and prefectural cities, I will use it in other restaurants."

Wei Cheng refused: "No!"

Yun Chengfeng: "..."

Wei Cheng: "There is no source of goods, what's the use of taking the recipe, if you want to eat, come to the store to eat."

Yun Chengfeng: "..."

His family owns a restaurant and asked him to patronize other restaurants?