Chapter 72: Six-Zero Farm System (38)

Chuan Nan is an inland County; usually, let alone fresh seafood, even dried seafood is rarely sold.

Even if it occasionally arrives, it is internally digested by the Supply and Marketing Cooperative employees as soon as it hits the shelves.

Therefore, the news that Xie Yang had received over ten jin of dried seafood was second in shock value only to her buying a bicycle.

"Comrade Xiao Xie, well, with so much dried seafood, I'm afraid you won't be able to finish it all by the end of the year even by yourself. If you plan to trade it away, remember to find me; I want to trade with you for some small dried shrimp and seaweed."

"Me too, Educated Youth Xie! I want to trade with you for a piece of dried cuttlefish. I've only heard my grandfather talk about this stuff; I've never seen it, let alone eaten it. I really want to taste it..."

"Oh, it's not just you who hasn't seen it; none of us have seen it. Xiao Xie..."

Xie Yang was surrounded so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.

She was between laughter and tears: "Everyone, don't crowd! Let me organize this first. Actually, let alone you all, even back home we rarely manage to buy such a wide variety of dried seafood, so I might need to set aside a few portions to mail to my family and friends, and then trade the rest with you."

The brigade members nodded busily: "That's only right! Then Xiao Xie, hurry up and organize. We'll line up in this order; first come, first served. Whoever comes later can only blame themselves for being slow."

Xie Yang could understand their urgent feelings.

It was just like when she had first arrived in the countryside and lacked meat; she would have gone into debt just to get a Lulubeast.

She simply took all the dried seafood out in the courtyard of the Youth Hostel, keeping three portions of each, intending to mail one to her aunt, one to Lin Xi, and keeping one openly for herself, which she would later find an opportunity to give to Song and his grandfather.

She herself was not lacking for seafood to eat now, and if she wanted dried goods, she could have the Sub-system simulate a drying environment to get some dried seafood for her.

Therefore, she traded the rest on the spot to the present brigade members and some Educated Youth who had just received their grain and were relatively well-off.

The things the brigade members brought to trade were varied and miscellaneous—

There were seasonal vegetables grown at their doorsteps;

There were Rice Field Eels and Loaches caught when the rice paddies were drained;

There were sweet and sour wild fruits picked in the mountains;

There were also the thousand-layer sole cloth shoes, insoles, and socks made by the clever-handed women themselves;

And there were bamboo baskets and back-baskets woven by the older generation in their spare time...

The male Educated Youth didn't have as many supplies, so they directly used newly milled Rice to trade with Xie Yang for some Dried Prawns, Dried Clams, or kelp and seaweed to have a taste.

Lai Zhaodi hadn't taken any leave this year and had earned quite a few work points. As soon as her grain was distributed, she went to mill a few jin of Rice, and now she brought two jin of Rice to trade with Xie Yang for some Dried Laver and Shrimp Skin and kelp.

Xie Yang grabbed an extra handful of Dried Prawns and a handful of Dried Razor Clams for her: "These are a gift for you. Occasionally, when you cook Rice porridge as a special treat, put a few in, and it will be a salty and fragrant Seafood Porridge."

The other female Educated Youth could only watch helplessly.

They earned fewer work points and were always taking leave; after all the deductions, it was hard to say if they would even have enough to eat after the autumn harvest distribution, let alone have extra Rice to trade for seafood.

Zhao Wanqing regretted her actions deeply.

If she had known Xu Shengnan would mail so much dried seafood over, she wouldn't have risked taking them into her space at the time. If she had listened to that little girl and helped them call the police, wouldn't this life-saving favor have been her own? There would be nothing left for Xie Yang to do!

If that had happened, the system wouldn't have unbound from her, and everything would still be fine!

The more she thought, the more annoyed she became.

However, it was all too late!

Zhao Wanqing whimpered in distress, covered her face, turned around, and ran out.

"What's wrong with Wanqing?"

"I don't know, I wasn't paying attention."

Everyone was swallowing their saliva while staring at Xie Yang's dried seafood; no one was paying attention to her.

"Educated Youth Xie, thank you! Thanks to you, we have something good to eat today!"

"Today is truly a good day! Not only is there new Rice to eat, but there's also fresh seafood to taste!"

The brigade members, having traded for dried seafood from Xie Yang, went home to cook in high spirits.

Those who arrived a step late and didn't get to trade felt like they had lost a hundred million.

They kept pulling on Xie Yang, asking if there was any more.

Xie Yang really couldn't spare any more, so she said: "If you really want to eat it, I'll contact my friend and see if she can mail some more for me. I'll trade her for the Wild Mushrooms we have in abundance here. Her home is near the sea and far from the mountains, so mountain goods like mushrooms must be scarce."

The brigade members agreed immediately: "Good, good, good! Educated Youth Xie, then hurry up and write a letter to ask for us. You don't need to prepare the mushrooms; we'll go pick them. It just so happens that the summer harvest is finished, and there isn't as much work in the fields as before, so we have time to go up the mountain."

Being able to trade worthless mountain goods for rare seafood, everyone felt they had made a killing! They would probably even laugh in their dreams!

Thus, for the next period of time, anyone with nimble feet would head into the mountains whenever they were free.

Xie Yang took a day off, pedaled her bicycle to the Commune, and mailed a letter and a package each to her aunt's family, Lin Xi and his father, and Xu Shengnan.

She mailed a portion of dried seafood and five jin of newly milled Rice to her aunt.

She mailed a portion of dried seafood, a portion of mountain goods, and a ten-year-old Wild Ginseng to Lin Xi. The Wild Ginseng was a thank-you gift for the Bicycle Coupon from last time.

She mailed a few jin of wild mushrooms, two jin of Gastrodia, and a few pieces of dried freshwater Fish to Xu Shengnan.

She took the opportunity to express in the letter the admiration and love the Yuewan Brigade members had for the dried seafood, and if possible, she wanted to trade mountain goods for another batch of dried seafood from her.

Of course, if Xu Shengnan couldn't produce more dried seafood, she would just get some seafood raised in her space and have the Sub-system process it into dried goods. It wasn't a difficult task.

Returning from the Commune, Xie Yang didn't go straight back to the Youth Hostel, but detoured to the foot of Banyue Mountain. Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one else at the Pig Pen, she gave the remaining reserved portion of dried seafood to Song and his grandfather.

"Lao Song, Song, are you both doing well lately? Both of you—one old and one young—need to supplement your calcium. This Dried Laver and Shrimp Skin is easy to prepare; just pour boiling water over it and it's ready to eat. It's very satisfying."

Lao Song: "..."

Song: "..."

Besides the Dried Laver and Shrimp Skin, Xie Yang also took out a jin of Dried Prawns—

"These are cooked shrimp that have been dried; you can eat them directly. They are chewy and fragrant, perfect for Song to have as a snack. You can also put them in Rice porridge to make Seafood Porridge; they're delicious either way."

Then she took out a jin of Dried Razor Clams and a jin of Dried Clams—

"When you stir-fry wild vegetables, put in a handful that has been soaked; it's absolutely fresh!"

"Oh, and this kelp, it's also a good thing for calcium; soak it and use it to stew soup."

Finally, she took out a Yellow Croaker Fillet—

"This is most delicious when steamed with a meat patty, but since Pork is hard to get right now, poaching two eggs with it also tastes quite good."

Song Shuhe was indescribably grateful, but his supplies were currently limited, and the few food items he had were things Xie Yang had privately helped his grandmother and him with; he truly had nothing to offer to thank her.

After thinking it over, he wrote a short letter and entrusted Xie Yang to mail it out.

"Educated Youth Xie, hearing you mention calcium supplements, I remembered an old friend of mine in the Northwest Frontier; that place abounds in cattle and sheep, and dairy products are quite plentiful, so I will ask him to send you some local specialties from there."

"!!!"