Chapter 170: Mai Has Made a New Friend

In the study room.

Lu Lin looked at the account book and said in a good mood, "It looks like people really like the dried squid!"

Chen Xiao Mi nodded. "The price has been raised a few times. The order hasn't decreased at all. Instead, it's getting more and more."

Lu Lin nodded, he was glad that now he had more money in hand so he could reward his fleet members even more.

"Maybe there are many people buying because the price has increased, " Lu Lin smiled smugly.

At the moment Lu Lin mainly sold the squid to the capital city. The capital city was not far from the Fish Cabin county, and the price offered by the people in the capital city was relatively high!

There were too many rich people in the capital city, pork was only about 10 cents per kilo, yet dried squid was sold for 30 cents per kilo. The demand exceeded the supply even though that was the case.

Lu Lin mulled it over and he figured he probably could raise the price a little more. Lu Lin recalled some strategy called hunger marketing in modern society and he itched to have a go.

There were many people in the capital city who were willing to pay anything for this trendy food!

"It is said that squid was in abundance in the past few years and everyone hated squid, no one was interested in putting it on the dinner table, however, the fleet finds it hard to fish squid recently," said Chen Xiao Mi with a worried face.

Lu Lin shook his head and thought, 'The power of foodies is daunting! We have driven the price up and maybe even overfished the squid.'

However, on second thought, Lu Lin didn't think his fleet had been overfishing. The fishing methods in this time and space were very eco-friendly compared to modern society, so he figured psychological factors played a big role in this. No one wanted squid in the past, and people would feel perturbed whenever they found squid in their fish nets. But things were different now, people would actively look for squid in the fishing net and they would feel disappointed whenever they found the real wasn't as great as expected.

"Credit shall be given to Highness Cheng now that the squid is so popular in the capital city," Lu Lin said.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "Mai mentioned in the letter that Highness Cheng always invites himself to their house and promotes whatever Mai has treated him. Sometimes he would stay in their house till his wife and concubine rush him back home."

Lu Lin laughed, "Is Highness Cheng staying at Mai's for food or some private time?"

"I don't know either, but let's not laugh at him, he is a great person!" Chen Xiao Mi had a very good impression of Highness Cheng and so did Lu Lin.

In Lu Lin's eyes, Highness Cheng was the best food ambassador! Anything that was eaten by the prince would soon become popular.

Highness Cheng was a firm believer of 'It is much more joyful to share the joy than enjoy alone'. He loved to promote the food he had tried in Mai and Ji Yun An's house.

There were a significant number of gourmets in the capital city, and a lot of them were highbrow food snobs who looked down upon on ordinary people's food. But they dared not say anything when Highness Cheng promoted it.

Highness Cheng had impressed some gourmets since he had introduced hotpot and Roasted Whole Lamb.

Lu Lin appreciated Highness Cheng's nature, and he saw Highness Cheng like a celebrity and his spokesman. Lu Lin was secretly thrilled that he didn't have to pay Highness Cheng a single cent for promoting his stuff. All he needed to do was send this spokesman some samples, and more often than not, this spokesman would return Lu Lin something more valuable.

Ever since Lu Lin sent two boxes of dried squid to Highness Cheng, many people from the capital city had placed orders. In just a few days, Lu Lin had raised the price several times, but for the rich people in the capital city, money was not a problem.

The only thing Lu Lin wished for was better transportation in this time and space.

......

"Did Ji Yun An send a letter?" asked Lu Lin.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "Yes, Mai also sent a letter."

Lu Lin's mouth twitched and he thought to himself, 'I'm afraid only you can understand the letter written by Mai in the entire world, but it is no wonder, you two are brothers!'

"Mai is doing well in the capital city, yeah?" Lu Lin asked.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "It should be good."

Some ladies in the capital city had nothing to do all day, they beguiled time by shopping, playing chess and going to banquets...

Mai, on the other hand, was not interested in these things at all. He loved spending time cooking and brewing.

Lu Lin had taught Mai everything he knew about brewing, and Mai had excelled his master. It was said that Highness Cheng was a big fan of Mai's wine.

Chen Xiao Mi looked a little worried, He seems to have made a good friend."

Lu Lin was a little surprised, "Good friend? Really? That's great news!"

Chen Xiao Mi nodded. "An official's wife who is a Bio with a good family background."

There were few officials in the capital city who married Bio as main madam in the house, Bios wives found it hard to fit in the ladies circle, so they would usually have their own circle.

"I'm so happy for Mai, he's already made a good friend all by himself!" Lu Lin beamed.

Since Ji Yun An was busy with work and socializing, it was impossible for him to spend a lot of time with Mai. Mai needed to have his own circle and his own friends.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and said, "He said that this new friend of his is learning cooking from him."

......

In the kitchen of Ji Yun An's residence.

Chen Xiao Mai was showing his new friend Song Yufei how to cook spicy crab. "Put these all in the pot, then you..."

"What is in this jar?" Song Yufei looked at the jar in Chen Xiao Mai's hand curiously and asked.

Song Yufei and Chen Xiao Mai met each other at a gathering held by the Bio wives, Chen Xiao Mai felt so reserved in the presence of other elegant and refined Bio wives, Song Yufei felt the same way. They became fast friends.

Song Yufei's parents had a pastries shop and he was very good at making pastries.

Chen Xiao Mai enjoyed cooking, Song Yufei enjoyed making pastries, and both of them liked to eat new food, so they always invited each other over after that gathering.

"This is spicy sauce. My brother-in-law Lin Ge made this. I can give you a jar."

Song Yufei's eyes lit up and he asked, "Really? How nice! I've heard of it from Highness Cheng! I'll bring you some cake next time."

Chen Xiao Mai licked his lips and said, "Thank you!"

The pastries shop owned by Song Yufei's parents was very famous in the capital city. Chen Xiao Mai liked the pastries in the shop, but because the price was too high, a small piece would cost hundreds of cents, Chen Xiao Mai would only treat himself to one or two for special occasions.

......

In the fisherman's dormitory, several fishers were busy.

"Zhou An, how's it going now?"

Zhou An nodded, "Pretty good, it's almost settled."

About a month ago, Zhou An saved a Bio boy who almost drowned himself. The Bio boy wanted to marry Zhou An to repay his kindness, so Zhou An reported this to Qin Ming and applied for accommodation for that Bio boy.

During the past month, Zhou An and the Bio boy grew more feelings for each other and they decided to get married soon.

Originally, Zhou An had a wife. Back then, he had spent a considerable amount of betrothal money to get married. After they got married, however, the woman felt that the life on the boat was too hard, so she made off with the little bit of money that Zhou An had saved.

In the next few years, Zhou An no longer wanted to get married or have a family, he always stayed at a respectful distance from women. And he was thrilled that this Bio boy he had saved didn't ask any betrothal money from him, he knew they had something real.

Zhou An was not young anymore, so he wanted to get married quickly. The two of them planned to keep everything simple.

Zhou An had been sharing a dormitory room with a few fishermen, but considering that he was going to get married, Zhou An felt that he couldn't continue like this.

Zhou An told Qin Lang that he wanted a private dormitory for the two of them. Qin Lang nodded and agreed. However, if he wanted a private dormitory, he would need to pay three taels of silver. The fish Zhou An had handed in was worth 500 cents, so he only needed to pay 2 taels and 500 cents.

Zhou An wasn't rich, but he had some savings, he paid the money without hesitation.

"Captain Qin said that I can choose from the newly built dormitory building." Zhou An beamed,

A fisherman patted Zhou An's shoulder and said, "Old An, I didn't expect you to get married so soon, congratulations."

Zhou An smiled, "Yeah, thank you!"

"Old An, do you know the background of your soon-to-be-wife?" A fisherman asked.

Zhou An smiled and said, "No, not really, but I don't care."

Zhou An lowered his head. He actually knew the identity of the Bio boy he has saved, his name was Li Xiaoyu. When he was 13 years old, his parents sold him to an old man as a concubine. Li Xiaoyu was treated as a servant in the old man's house and lived a very hard life.

The old man died a few days ago and Li Xiaoyu was thrown out of the house.

Li Xiaoyu, who was chased out, had no other option but return home. He accidentally heard his parents were planning to sell him to a dying man for money.

Li Xiaoyu was desperate. He was devastated that his parents were planning to sell him once more, it looked like his parents didn't care for his happiness at all. Li Xiaoyu fled his parents' house in a flurry, but his parents found that out and chased him by a lake, Li Xiaoyu was cornered, so he jumped into the lake out of grief and indignation.

The news of the Li Xiaoyu's parents cornering their son to death had spread in the village. The parents were afraid of causing a ruckus, so they had to report Li Xiaoyu's death to the government.

"It's not a big deal, Magistrate Lu has helped me to register Xiaoyu under my household. There won't be any problems," Zhou An said.

Zhou An moved into the dormitory with Li Xiaoyu soon.

Even though it was just a small room, Zhou An was very happy and so was Li Xiaoyu, they were excited to start the new chapter in life.

Zhou An and Li Xiaoyu didn't have many belongings, soon they had settled down in the room. The two of them didn't care for the formalities, Zhou An just took Li Xiaoyu to the buffee restaurant as a celebration, and that was it.

Li Xiaoyu was very excited, that was the first time he tried buffet. When Li Xiaoyu was at the old man's house, he was treated like a servant and he had little food to eat. Later, after he returned to his parents' house, his parents didn't offer him enough food on the excuse of their financial circumstances.

Li Xiaoyu didn't expect that there would be such a good place where you could eat all you want for only 10 cents Unfortunately, he wasn't a big eater and he had to call it a day after eating three buns. Li Xiaoyu sighed when he thought about all the yummy food he had missed.

Zhou An looked at Li Xiaoyu and smiled, "If there's anything you want to try, we can always come back."

Li Xiaoyu quickly shook his head and said, "No, it's too wasteful."

Zhou An smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. There are often tickets as rewards in the fleet. I can take you here as long as I work hard."

Li Xiaoyu said happily, "That's great, thank you! This fleet sounds amazing!"

Zhou An nodded and said smugly, "Yeah! The benefits of the fleet are good, and it seems to be getting better. I am one of the first people who have joined the fleet, I'm so lucky. It is not easy to join the fleet now."