Chapter 211 - 178: Air-Dried Chicken

Chapter 211: Chapter 178: Air-Dried Chicken

Huai Yu’s expression immediately twisted in pain. "Well... sir, thank you for your hard work bringing the goods here. I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you to take them back. Come, I’ll pay you the balance."

The tricycle driver glanced at the water vat seller, thinking that the man had brought this upon himself. He had gotten covered in dust just moving those broken-down vats. Who would buy them these days? Did he expect the residents living in the thirty-plus-story walk-ups of Golden Yuan District to buy them?

Thus, he happily reached out his hand. "Oh, the deal didn’t even go through. How could I accept?

"The parking fee over there is quite expensive, but miss, if you need a transport job next time, just look for me. I’ll cover the parking fee."

Even as he said he couldn’t accept, his trading bracelet was already moving into position to scan. The vat seller instantly snapped to attention. "Hey, hey, hey! Miss! We’re doing business in good faith here. At least make an offer!

"Otherwise, all this lifting and transporting back and forth, what’s the point, right?"

He was reluctant, and Huai Yu was just as reluctant. "But I don’t have any money.

"Four vats in total cost 2,560 points. Even with my relative working a full-time job, it would take him over two years to earn that much.

"I live in such a remote place. How could I possibly have that kind of money?"

That made sense. To be honest, if the driver hadn’t brought his tricycle to help transport the goods, they truly wouldn’t have known that there was a place even more remote than their Golden Yuan District.

The seller’s face instantly scrunched up in bitterness. "Well... since you’re already here, you should at least make an offer."

Huai Yu blinked. "500 points, and I’ll take them all. It’ll save you the effort of hauling them all the way back."

She felt her price was quite fair. After all, the vats were incredibly heavy, and transportation was the biggest issue. But to the seller, slashing the price from 2,560 to 500 points couldn’t just be called a fifty-percent cut—it was practically amputating all four limbs.

"That’s way too ruthless!" he cried out.

However, looking at the vats again, he really didn’t want to haul them back. The moment that reluctance set in, he lost his upper hand in the negotiation. Thus...

"No way, this price is too ruthless. I won’t even make back my cost! It was expensive for me to collect these vats in the first place. Tell you what, a fixed price of 1,800!"

"500."

"Miss, you’re not doing business in good faith. Who sticks to just one number? Look at how sturdy these vats are! If you miss this, you won’t be able to buy them anywhere else! Forget it, forget it, I’ll give you my bottom line, and don’t try to haggle anymore—1,500! 1,500, alright?"

Huai Yu blinked. "500."

The seller instantly stomped his feet. "I told you no more haggling!"

Huai Yu flared up even more. "Boss, these are just a few water vats that can’t be eaten or drunk. I have to pay forty-five points just for the shipping! Inside or outside the city, who else is as generous as me?

"Maybe I can’t buy them anywhere else, but nowhere else needs them either! 500 points!"

The seller’s expression instantly turned pitiful. "Please add a little more..."

The two of them went back and forth for over ten minutes. Finally, with the tricycle driver’s assist, she successfully bought them for 660 points.

Huai Yu panted and puffed as she pedaled the tricycle back with the vats, her heart blooming with joy the entire way. Getting all of these for just over 700 points, including shipping, made her incredibly happy! Similar vats at the trading market, with shipping included, cost 800 points apiece! Moreover, she already had a designated spot for the two large vats. The smaller vats weren’t exactly tiny either—they were perfect for pickling vegetables. She could pickle so much! She could even pickle different varieties at the same time!

Weighed down by the heavy cargo, the tricycle was a bit strenuous to pedal across the bumpy grassland. Because she wasn’t very skilled, Huai Yu didn’t even dare to make sharp turns. But she was still so happy!

If she was happy, the vat seller was just as delighted. For Golden Yuan District, 660 points was considered a big deal. Most importantly, those vats were an absolute eyesore just sitting there, and they took up a ton of space! These days, whose family didn’t hoard some junk to trade? But no matter how much you hoarded, having points in hand was the only real security! Today, he was going to buy a fish by the district’s lake for dinner!

The tricycle driver was thrilled as well. He had landed a big client today and earned a full hundred points. On top of that, he had discovered a place like the Golden Yuan Trading Market, which sold so many vegetables. Looking at the two large bags of vegetables sitting by his feet, he decided to tell his wife as soon as he got back, so she could take the bus here to buy groceries! He planned to observe a bit later and calculate the price difference to see if he could buy goods here to flip in the city.

Back at her place, with no one to help, Huai Yu laid a thick bed of dry grass at the back of the tricycle and finally managed to carefully slide the vats down one by one. However, she only managed to get them on the ground. She didn’t have a single ounce of strength left to move them into the house or the shed. Plus, she had a heavy workload today! First, she had to hurriedly ride the tricycle back and swap it for her own bicycle. Immediately upon her return, she had to get busy preparing the wild pheasant.

A wild pheasant the size of an ostrich!

After smashing the ice blocks off, Huai Yu stared at it for a long time. Eventually, she could only pull out her knife and decide to skin it entirely. She had no other choice. The wild pheasant had been frozen with its feathers intact. Not only were the frozen feathers impossible to deal with, but she also couldn’t use the conventional method of scalding it with hot water to pluck them. Otherwise, plucking the feathers would tear off the skin along with them, leaving the bird in tatters and looking utterly unappetizing.

But truth be told, processing it directly without plucking the feathers was actually much more efficient. The wild pheasant was huge! The meat on its legs was firm and powerful, and there was plenty of meat on its body as well!

Huai Yu was as joyful as if she were slaughtering a pig for the New Year. Chopping and slicing, she deboned the entire bird. In just two hours, the chicken meat was all cut into strips and chunks, sitting neatly in a basin.

As for the bones... She thought about it and decided to leave them for Big Pup and Second Pup to try. If they wouldn’t eat them, she would bake the bones dry, grind them into bone meal, and offer it to them again.

Next came the purification process. After training with the ginseng last time, her control had grown increasingly precise. Since she planned to eat this chicken meat herself, she purified it exceptionally thoroughly. Although the sheer volume left her panting from exhaustion, merely glancing at the massive basin of meat instantly filled Huai Yu with boundless, ox-like strength. The wild pheasant hadn’t been fully bled out, so the sliced meat didn’t look particularly appealing right now, but to someone who hadn’t eaten a proper meat meal in months, none of that mattered.

She decided to soak it in cold water first!

She dug out the various spices she had previously bought at the trading market—though calling them "various" was a stretch, as her selection was quite limited. But given her current circumstances, just having meat was wonderful enough. She wasn’t picky at all.

Now, it was time to make air-dried chicken!

She stir-fried chilies with some other assorted spices until fragrant, then tossed in freshly grown, freshly harvested, and freshly chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic. She rubbed the mixture evenly into the chicken...

It smelled incredible!

If it weren’t for the more tender bullfrogs still waiting to be processed, Huai Yu would have immediately cooked up a bowl to satisfy her craving! But as it was already getting into the afternoon, and a line of bullfrogs awaited her attention, she gritted her teeth, powering through as she sped up her work.

Taking advantage of the fantastic midday weather, she skewered those meat strips and chunks with thin bamboo sticks and brought them out to sun-dry!

In this mid-May weather, right before the high temperatures hit, giving them a first round of sun-drying for two or three days should be just about right, shouldn’t it?