"Little Yaozi, I didn’t expect you to be so familiar with this area," Yang Ruxin exclaimed. Even Yang Dani, a local, didn’t understand her own living environment as well as he did.
"Before we settled in Dapu East Village, we actually lived in Peach Blossom Town for two months," Gu Yao glanced at Yang Ruxin. "Also, for the past two years to make money, I’ve been to the surrounding towns, but there was no suitable work, so I started hunting."
Yang Ruxin nodded. So that’s how it was; she finally understood why even the small Lianhua Town was so prosperous.
From Beijing to Hangcheng in the south, it would take a month by land, but even by water it would take more than twenty days. You couldn’t stay on the boat all the time, so along the way, you would stop at some small waterway-connected villages for repairs and supplies.
Lianhua Town was located at about one-third of the way down the Grand Dayuan River. After sailing for seven or eight days, and just when the novelty had worn off and fatigue set in, many boats would dock here. Of course, Xiaocang River was shallow, so big boats couldn’t pass through; some choosier people would continue for a few more days to the next big dock, but many of the less fussy or smaller boats would stop here for repairs.
This also drove the economic development of Lianhua Town.
"Let’s hurry and go have a look," Yang Ruxin said excitedly. In her previous life, seafood was her favorite, and she hadn’t eaten it for a long time, especially spicy grilled squid – just thinking about it made her mouth water. Unfortunately, since she couldn’t go back, she probably wouldn’t be able to eat it again, but now, having some freshwater fish and shrimp to eat was also nice.
Gu Yao watched Yang Ruxin’s eager expression, couldn’t help but laugh, and then led her towards the dock.
When the two of them arrived at the dock, only a small fishing boat was left in the river; there were no big fish, not even small ones, just some little shrimp.
"What a pity, otherwise we could have bought a fish to take back," Gu Yao sighed. "My older brother loves fish..." They should come earlier next time to check it out.
Yang Ruxin glanced at the little shrimp and her eyes lit up, "Boatman, how much are these selling for?"
"These aren’t worth much. If the miss likes them, I’ll just give them to you..." The boatman was a man in his thirties, his face beaming with obvious joy.
Yang Ruxin was delighted. Although these freshwater shrimp were small, they were very delicious. There must be seven or eight pounds of them. Fried until crispy with a bit of pepper, they were sure to tantalize the taste buds. Yet no one here wanted them, so she would benefit. However, since the man offered to give them away for free, she felt it wouldn’t be right to just take them, so she smiled, "How could I just accept them for free? You should take something for them; it looks like there’s seven or eight pounds."
"Miss, these are actually over ten pounds. But it looks more than it is; there’s not much meat," the boatman said, waving his hand unconcernedly. "Some of the wealthy families take them to feed their chickens, it’s just an extra. I’ve heard those chickens really do love it, haha..."
"It’s fine, they’re still good for satisfying a craving," Yang Ruxin said with a smile. "Just sell them to me."
The uncle had no choice but to accept five copper coins in the end.
"But Boatman Uncle, you sold your fish pretty quickly..." Yang Ruxin asked casually while taking out her money.
"Isn’t the Shen Family preparing for the madam’s birthday these past few days? They gave us a heads up early, and any decent catch was bought up by them, and they paid a good price too..." the boatman explained happily. "And since our dock is small, there aren’t many fishing boats; some boatmen go to the nearby larger docks to sell their fish..."