Chapter 211 – A Transformation
The raging demand for the Yu Family’s starch jelly was more than they could supply. Even the passengers on the ships would also come over to join in on the fun and buy a bowl of takeout to taste. Naturally, one bowl was not enough to satisfy the desires of a whole family. Thus, they would send their servants to buy some more. However, the Yu Family’s starch jelly was too popular. Oftentimes, by the time the servants arrived for the second portion, they had to go back empty handed. There were even some people who waited in line for a long time in order to just have a taste of the starch jelly!
The few baskets of red algae that Yu Xiaocao had brought over had very quickly been simmered away into starch jelly, and there were still people clamoring for more. Furthermore, starch jelly was not the type of food that filled people up, so after eating one bowl the person would soon get hungry again. Thus, the dockworkers all came back during their next break to consume another bowl to satisfy their desires and cool themselves down.
Xiaocao’s cold noodles were also quite popular, especially during the time when one pot of starch jelly was sold out and the other was still simmering on the stove. The workers who couldn’t wait could only settle for the other option and order a bowl of cold noodles to eat. However, they didn’t expect the cold noodles to also be incredibly delicious, so they were all pleasantly surprised. All of the remaining flour in the noodle stand, whether it was made of coarse grains or wheat, had all been used up by the time evening arrived.
By the time it was suppertime, the Yu Family’s stand had nothing left to sell to the workers who came by. After sending off the groups of disappointment workers, Xiaocao and her family cleaned up the stand in preparation to go home.
At this time, a tanned youth who wasn’t very tall but was very muscular stopped by quickly. He flashed a smile that revealed a row of white teeth, “Second Uncle, Xiaocao, are you guys cleaning up already? Do you need my help with anything?”
It took Xiaocao a moment before she recognized the brawny and tan young man in front of her. Apparently it was her paternal cousin, who she technically didn’t have blood relations with, Heizi. Although Yu Hai had pretty much stopped having any encounter with the main branch, he was still quite friendly to Heizi, who had little to do with their complicated relationship, “Heizi ah! You must be hungry right? There’s still some starch jelly in the bucket that your younger sister, Xiaocao, left for me. Take some to eat!”
It could be said that Yu Heizi had undergone an astounding transformation in these past few months. Not only did he manage to endure through backbreaking hard labor, but he also officially became a regular worker under Brother Six. Regular workers received a monthly salary. In addition, they also got two days of paid leave every month and bonuses when they did well. Becoming part of the regular staff meant that one no longer had to fear not having a job to feed oneself.
Heizi, who had worked hard the past few months, had long transformed his body full of fat into a ball of muscle. Although he was on the shorter side, he now looked a lot more brawny and strong. In fact, within his group of coworkers, there were a few who had inquired whether he had already married or had a fiancée yet. If not, they wanted to introduce their own daughters to see if they could be matched with this competent and slick young fellow. Heizi carefully inspected a few families and ended up choosing a girl who had average looks but was kind and hardworking. Then, he had his parents propose the marriage to the girl’s family.
Originally, Madam Li had wanted to match her son with a girl whose family had decent circumstances in town. The first person that came to mind was her maternal niece. Her second older brother had a general goods store in town. Right after her niece was born, her second brother had an unexpected accident and harmed his core, so he was unable to father any more children. Although he technically adopted a son from his elder brother’s family to carry on the line, at least half of her second brother’s fat inheritance had to be given to her niece. Madam Li was planning on using marriage ties to get wealth!
