After waiting for a while and seeing fewer people outside, the old man led them into the warehouse. Once inside, they realized it was enormous, equipped with a cold storage room. Outside, a tank held live prawns and fish. "Don’t buy these live ones. If you want to eat them, look around the village. There are bigger prawns in the cold storage. I saw a broken box this morning, and they just tossed it by the door. There aren’t any large yellow croakers; the broken ones have been sent to the cafeteria." The two followed into the cold storage, shivering from the cold. The cold storage wasn’t just cool; it was freezing. Liu Sanyuan and Zhou Xiaozheng first looked around at the broken boxes by the door. Surprisingly, there were quite a few, at least 300 pounds, all piled up. Facing away from the old man, Liu Sanyuan signaled a 5 with his fingers. Seeing Zhou Xiaozheng nod slightly, he took out five one-yuan bills and slipped them to the old man. The old man didn’t shy away, accepting them into his coat, indicating he’s quite familiar with such transactions. The old man pointed at the pile of leftovers, tossing them two large burlap bags, and said, "Pack it all yourselves. Do you still want large yellow croaker and prawns? The prawns are two and a half yuan this time. They were originally meant for export, but plans changed to domestic sales. Large yellow croaker and Xiao Liu’s are the same, one and a half yuan each. If you want them, I’ll get them out. Each box weighs 50 pounds. You two think it over." Liu Sanyuan glanced at the seafood pile that already had prawns and hesitated. After looking at Zhou Xiaozheng and seeing him nod, he indicated he didn’t want them. Zhou Xiaozheng did some calculations and asked the old man directly, "Uncle, give me three boxes of prawns and three boxes of large yellow croaker. Should I pay you now or after we go outside?" "Pay Xiao Liu, and he’ll settle it all together later. You two pack up the pile by the door first. I’ll go inside to find you better prawns, selected for consistency without regard to size." "Thank you, Uncle." Zhou Xiaozheng watched the old man walk away, then turned to Liu Sanyuan, laughed heartily upon seeing the scene. "Brother, don’t be so picky. Just grab enough. I’m lucky you brought me here today. Even if you take it all, I wouldn’t complain." After saying this, Zhou Xiaozheng opened the bag and started dividing the prawns into the burlap bags equally. Liu Sanyuan laughed, "No worries, we have time to pack after the uncle brings everything. You load up more. I can come back to buy more next time." The two packed up, then stood and saw that the old man already had the boxes ready, waiting for them. "Have you packed up? Let’s get out quickly; it’s freezing in here." After exiting the cold storage, the old man brought over a cart. "Load everything on top and pull it to the car. Xiao Liu, include these six boxes in the final tally. Do you want the dead prawns outside? If you do, toss them in the bags to take back. If you wait too long, there’ll be none left because they’ll all be taken by people outside. I’m giving them to you all." Liu Sanyuan excitedly ran to the tank, seeing the bamboo basket outside filled with dead prawns, "Uncle, I’ll take them all then. I’ll bring you some good liquor next time. Thanks in advance." He said this while stuffing the two bags on the cart full. Once the two bags were filled to the brim, they stopped. The three of them pushed the cart out to load everything into the car. A bag was so heavy it needed two people to lift. After sending off the old man, Liu Sanyuan looked at Zhou Xiaozheng’s car and laughed, "Brother, your car sure looks rare on the road. Those 100 pounds of vermicelli were not a great buy. If we buy more, there’ll be no space left." Zhou Xiaozheng looked at the car, "Hehe, there’s no other option. If we get more, we can only put them upfront. Once you’re settled, should we head to the village?" He finished, pulling out money from his pocket, counting out the six boxes and the 3 yuan for splitting the goods, and handed it to Liu Sanyuan. Liu Sanyuan took the money without looking and stuffed it into his pocket, "Yes, we must go. We must buy live crabs and more dried fish to take back as gifts. I’ve already figured it out. Mix crab roe with meat to make buns, and stir-fry the rest with chili. I know a place that reserves crabs with a lot of roe, unlike others that mix in male crabs. The prices are the same. They also have dried fish and other dried sea products. Next time you come by yourself, just head to their place, he knows the area well, and you can usually buy some." He glanced across the street eagerly, "Brother, wait here. I’ll go find them to hurry up." And without waiting for Zhou Xiaozheng’s reply, he ran across the street. Ten minutes later, Liu Sanyuan ran out, seeing Zhou Xiaozheng and shouted eagerly, "Finally done, let’s go buy crabs. If we’re any later, we won’t make it to the bun-making." ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚫𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚫𝕟𝕖𝕥 Zhou Xiaozheng laughed heartily, now understanding his friend’s personality. No wonder they hit it off; when it comes to food, this fellow was cheerful and excited. It’s no surprise he suggested buying a large quantity of rice. Liu Sanyuan wasn’t the least bit surprised; he could never have enough food. Zhou Xiaozheng followed Liu Sanyuan’s car, not far, just around a corner, and they arrived. Once there, they both entered the yard and saw to the left a tank of seawater holding crabs, with a couple in sight. Upon seeing Liu Sanyuan, the middle-aged man hurried up to greet them. "Brother Liu, these are all full of roe this time. How about it? Want to take some back?" Liu Sanyuan looked at the tank and slowly said, "How much for them this time? If the price is low, I’ll buy more. If it’s too high, I can’t afford them. My whole month’s salary can’t buy a few crabs." Zhou Xiaozheng smirked, putting a fist to his mouth. He enjoyed watching Liu Sanyuan’s bartering. If the seller refused, he might explode. "Last time, one yuan fifty cents was already cheap. How many do you want to buy?" Liu Sanyuan looked at him in astonishment, "Brother Wang, no way. Rice isn’t even one yuan twenty cents. This time we’re buying a lot; how about one yuan flat? We’ll get 100 pounds and buy some other dry goods." Old Wang lowered his head in thought, "100 pounds for one yuan forty cents, no less. Look, there are no males here; they all have full roe. Small dried fish are five cents, large ones are eight. If you want, I’ll have my wife bring them out." Zhou Xiaozheng nodded at Liu Sanyuan, who cheerfully agreed, "Alright, deal. Bring them all out. The roe crabs should be bigger, divided into two 50-pound portions. I’ll pick some dried fish, then settle up." "I’ll pack everything in bamboo baskets so they won’t die easily. It’s low tide now; do you want snails and mantis shrimp like last time? If so, let my youngest son collect them for you. No need to go yourselves, one yuan only, and the kids will deliver them." "Alright, we’ll give two yuan for the both of us, and have your kids go round them up. I’m in a hurry to get home. Brother Zhou, bring the live ones back for your neighbors to try." Zhou Xiaozheng wasn’t worried about one or two yuan, "Sure, whatever you arrange." After about an hour and settling payments, the two of them loaded up three bamboo baskets into their cars. Both sighed, then started laughing heartily as they exchanged looks. Zhou Xiaozheng pulled out a notepad from the car, wrote down an address, tore it out, and handed it to him, "This is my address in Beijing. If you drop by, call me. Below is my daughter and son-in-law’s address; if you run into trouble in L Province, seek them out. They can usually help with most things. Give me your address too, and I’ll send you some game. It’s not much, just a taste for you." Liu Sanyuan looked at the handwriting on the paper, hearing him out, and nodded happily, "Sure, we’re meant to be; I’ll also write down my work and home address. Look me up when you’re in the provincial city, I’ll take you to the best places for food. I won’t be polite; other things I’d feel shy to accept, but I can’t refuse game." Zhou Xiaozheng stepped forward to shake his hand, "Let’s keep in touch and write often. I won’t hold you from your buns anymore; let’s get going." The two chatted a bit longer reluctancly, then got in their cars and headed back. Zhou Xiaozheng drove, looking at the fully loaded car, and thought about Liu Sanyuan, chuckling to himself. This guy had an interesting personality, much like a hero from ancient times—easygoing, carefree, quite similar to Zhao Chuan Guang’s nature.