Goldfield
Chapter 37: The Pier

They left just as he had planned! Yu Xiaocao took some money from the hidden stash money. After thinking for a moment, he also took out a piece of copper coin and stuffed it into his chest pocket. Winter arrived early in the north, so it was already cold in the air. Many people have worn thick winter coats. Therefore, no one knew that Yu Xiaocao had about a hundred copper coins hidden in him.

Yu Xiaocao happily jumped into the street while carrying a large basket. The equally excited Little Shitou followed him as they went towards the pier. Although the pier is closer to Dongshan Village compared to the city, it is still about an hour's walk away. Since Yu Xiaocao was in a good mood, he did not feel too tired by the time he got there. They arrive at the busiest time on the pier. The fisherman who was at sea had just returned with his cargo. The southwest corner of the pier has naturally become a fish market.

The servants responsible for buying from the mansion were all there early so they could choose their master's favorite fish and seafood. In addition, shoppers from restaurants, taverns, and small restaurants are also waiting there for a fresh catch of the day.

At the dock there are several cargo ships that just got to the beach. The dock workers under the direction of a foreman continued to load cargo from the ship into several carts. The sounds of hawkers, shouts, and work songs filled the air. Simultaneously, the various sounds fused into the typical sound of a busy dock.

Under the rich and dense atmosphere of the pier, Xiaocao could feel himself immersed in this new environment.

“Second Sister, there they sell snacks. I had come once with my father before and he bought me a giant steamed bun made with white flour. Bread made with white flour is really too good! ”

Little Shitou, a little food lover, points to the road on the edge of the pier. Some simple huts were built along the way and a gust of warm air came with the morning breeze blowing from there.

Fishermen and dock workers may bring some dried goods to eat. However, in the midst of the cold morning, it is still necessary to drink a bowl of warm soup to warm the body.

Where there is demand, there is a market. Under the low ceiling of the huts were people selling porridge and hot gravy noodles. Others have stoves with steamed baskets full of steamed bread and sandwich bread for sale. There are even some farmers, who do not have jobs in the fields in the off-season, with baskets full of dishes or pickled vegetables from the farm for sale.

A scheme began to form in Xiaocao's mind. With his culinary talent at the cuisine boiled from his past life, it would be easier for him to obtain a good life here. Unfortunately, the people here were gossiping and chatting. Once his grandmother found out, even the capital money used here would be taken from him completely …

“Is it Xiaolian... or is it Xiaocao?” Xiaocao had not expected him to meet someone he knew here, at the dock. He turned his head and looked at the unfamiliar face.

The dark-skinned youth in front of him looked to be around fifteen to sixteen years old and had a tall and large body. His large eyes were placed under a pair of thick eyebrows, and strangely his face looked familiar...who is this? Little Shitou, who was standing beside him, answered his unspoken question. “Oldest cousin, why are you here? Did you come with the Oldest Aunt? ”

Ah, so it was Second Uncle Liu Zhiwei's fourteen-year-old son. Although this person was only fourteen years old, he looked extremely strong and sturdy. In terms of appearance, she was not similar to her parents. Instead, he was most like Oldest Uncle.

Liu Zhiwei chuckled, “Yes, I came along with my Eldest Aunt and also Eldest Uncle. I was looking to see if I could find any work here at the pier. Eldest Uncle often came here and was familiar with the foreman. He's dropping cargo off the ship. They thought I was too young and didn't want to hire me! ”

The young man declared all of this with a face full of hatred. Despite his young age, he still had a lot of strength. Usually he spent time with his father working in the fields and had done many jobs that required brute strength. How dare they look down on him!

“Xiaocao, Shitou! Why are you two at the dock? ” Eldest Aunt, Madame Han, asked gently as she came with the basket on her arm.

The two brothers politely returned his greetings and called him ‘Toldest Aunt’. When Xiaocao had an accident on his head and was in a coma for three days, his maternal grandmother, grandfather, uncle, and aunt all came to visit him. They even brought him a chicken and half a basket of eggs. Unfortunately, all of these items were confiscated by Madam Zhang.

In Madam Zhang's eyes, since Madam Liu had a sick body and Yu Xiaocao was a medicine-taking demon, the gifts brought by the Liu Family were not enough to make up for these two wastes!

Xiaocao's impression of his mother's family was quite good. She had learned from Xiaolian that the Eldest Aunt was an honest and sincere person. From personal experience, this is true.

Right now, the dock workers are about to take a break and have breakfast. After the foreman rang the bell, about a hundred or so workers, some with food in their hands, others did not, began to come to this area.

The merchants selling breakfast food immediately began to advertise their wares enthusiastically, “Sup hot, soup hot for sale, steamed hot cabbage soup, radish soup.”.

“Hot pulp, hot slurry! Warm and cheap, only 1 copper coin per bowl. ”.

“Sup noodles for sale! You there, young man, let's eat a bowl of noodle soup! I guarantee one bowl will keep you full completely .. ”

“The vegetable linings are salty, delicious! With one copper coin you can earn enough money to split a few people! Good master, buy some pickled vegetables to eat! In a moment, you will have enough power to work again. ”.

As he spoke, a harbor worker who smelled a lot of sweat came over. Head sweating. He turned his head towards Oldest Aunt and said, “Mistress, can I get a soybean paste worth one copper coin with salted vegetables on cooked dough?”

“Good!” The Eldest Aunt quickly gave him some pancakes and applied soybean paste on it. Pickled vegetables have been finely cut and sauteed with lard. Instead of copper coins, the food was wrapped in a sheet of oiled paper and given to the man.

After receiving the package, the man started to eat one big bite and said, “Mistress, I must say, your soybean paste has the best taste and pickled vegetables are perfect, not too salty. Once you get used to eating, other people's food tastes bad! ”

“Of course! Don't you know whose wife this is? ” A tall, broad-shouldered middle-aged man, came from behind and patted the other man on the shoulder. Her handsome face was bright and her skin was a healthy bronze brown. He grinned which showed a mouth full of sparkling white teeth.

Little Shitou happily threw herself towards the newcomer and hugged the man's shin as she exclaimed, “Oldest Uncle, it has been a long time since you last visited us. I miss you so much!”

Liu Pei bowed to pull the little boy into his arms. She put Shitou in her arms to check her weight and looked with pleasant surprise at the now heavy face of the boy. “Did your family start giving you more food? Looks like you're old enough, little buddy! ”

“Nuh uh! Second Brother knows how to catch fish and trap rabbits. It tastes so good when baked! Next time I'll give you my Eldest Uncle as well. ”If it had happened earlier, Shitou would never have exchanged meat to get closer to someone. Now he could eat grilled meat or boiled meat every few days (after bringing the game animals to Aunt Zhao's house and using his stove to cook meat), he said, he no longer felt that meat was a rare and precious item to stockpile.

Liu Pei scanned Yu Xiaocao's skin and his smile deepened. “Xiaocao is really capable of catching fish and rabbits! It makes my heart happy to know you're doing better. Your grandmother doesn't mind you using the game for your own purposes? ”

What did you say to the kids? The eldest aunt glared at her husband. Xiaocao knew that his business was not going well. It is not surprising because salted vegetables, ripe dough, and soy pasta are foods that every family has. Those who bring food from home will carry the exact same rates, why would anyone spend money to buy more of the same goods?

Little Shitou giggled and said, “We cooked meat in the mountains and then gave the portions to the people in our immediate family. Grandma knows nothing. ”

“Don't forget to give some to your mother. Your mother's been having a hard life lately! ” Liu Pei feels bad about her sister's only difficulty because she can't help her as much as she wants.

At that time, his father should not marry his sister who became one family with a stepmother. Where there is a stepmother, there will soon be a stepfather. At first it was still tolerable, but once the third son of the Yu Family went to school, even Old Yu's feelings became biased.

“Iya! I've left chicken feet and rabbits for Mom. His feet had the most meat! ” The little boy knows how to lick himself with an older person.

After greeting his eldest uncle with his brother, Yu Xiaocao stood to the side while smiling silently. Only now did he chirp, “Shitou, hurry down! You should let Oldest Uncle rest for a while and eat something. ”

“Not a problem! How much does a five-year-old weigh? ” Despite his words, Liu Pei still let the boy down. The foreman had told him earlier that they needed to load the ship of a high-ranking official. They cannot be careless in this task.

The surrounding dock workers ate while talking about the officer ship. Yu Xiaocao had eavesdropped on their conversation and discovered it was a sailor ship owned by a royal prince from the capital. Apparently he had traveled to a very distant place and found some new items. From the nonsense gossip of the people around him, Yu Xiaocao learned that the current emperor also liked to travel by ship when he was still an imperial prince. All the great ships sailing in the ocean today were all purchased by the emperor as imperial princes in his teens.

Before his ascension, Emperor Jianwen had traveled several times to the sea. He went to the South Sea, the West Sea, and to more distant places. On one of his trips, he brought home a tall crop, sweet potatoes, and some strange spices. Some other examples of new items he brought back include: spicy chili peppers that are so spicy that they cause men's mouths to swell, fresh and crunchy cucumbers, as well as watermelon that refreshes and quenches thirst.

Yu Xiaocao suddenly recalled that, in his previous life, the Ming Dynasty also conducted several maritime voyages. However, the one who sailed in the West Sea was Eunuch Sanbao, Zhang He, and not the imperial prince. Admiral Zhang He in his previous life did not have any relationship with Emperor Jianwen. Could it be that the founding emperor and Emperor Jianwen had moved into this life?

Uh! Transmigration does not come without risk and must be careful! In fact, many novels about political combat and planning often allude to this. When more than one person moves, they rarely work together. Instead, they were often locked up in a fight to the death! Since in the end I am a small fish in the sea, there is no point in trying to fight with the emperor! Better to keep your head down and live a quiet life!

In the end, the two brothers did not allow their Eldest Aunt to buy them steamed bread. They both admitted to having breakfast. They remained at the docks, and, shortly afterwards, an officer came to ask them to move. The royal prince had departed, so the idle personnel and the two siblings were not the only ordinary people to be expelled. In fact, people who peddle merchandise from baskets were driven from the dock. Only the merchants in the huts who were lucky enough did not have to leave.

Little Shitou whined that she wanted to see the prince of the kingdom. Against her feelings, Yu Xiaocao could only tightly hold onto her body and wriggle among the people who were encouraged by the bailiff to find a place for them to see.

In about fifteen minutes, the noisy pier became silent. A long line of horse carriages, all filled with goods, appeared. There were so many carriages that they could not see the end of the queue. In front of the wagon were some haughty people dressed simply. They were all on horseback, and they surrounded a young man wearing an expensive robe.

“Second Sister, is that the royal prince's elder brother?” Little Shitou's voice wasn't too loud. However, in the glaring silence where even the sound of the horse tread was heard, his voice sounded very clear.