Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 295: Great, the long-lost taste of chili

The shopkeeper Chen knew he was in the wrong. When he described the chili pepper tree to Shen Yu, the tree did not look like this.

According to Shopkeeper Chen's description, a Chinese prickly ash tree is at least two or three feet tall, with lush branches and leaves, and is full of red prickly ash fruits that face upwards, and are very ornamental.

The two pots he brought back were indeed not very presentable, so he had to keep quiet about it.

Before Shen Yu could speak, Shopkeeper Chen took the lead and said in a straightforward manner: "You have already spoken, what else can't you do?"

"Miss Shen, this pot is worth the price of a flower tree. How about an extra five taels?"

When Shen Yu paid the deposit last month, he was already prepared that the chili peppers that Manager Chen brought back would not be the same as he had imagined.

She thought that with such a long journey, the two chili pepper plants would not be able to withstand the long-distance bumpy ride and would have died by the time she brought them back.

Or maybe the animals they bring back may not adapt to the local climate and they cannot be kept alive, so all their efforts are in vain.

But she never thought of not paying or paying less.

Although the two chili pepper plants that Manager Chen brought back were most likely not going to survive, he was able to bring back twenty or thirty dried chili peppers, which meant he had chili pepper seeds.

Shen Yu was actually satisfied with this result and was ready to pay the remaining twenty taels of silver.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the shop owner took the initiative to help her bargain. Shopkeeper Chen was not angry at all and agreed impatiently, as if he was afraid that if he hesitated, Shen Yu would not only not pay the money, but also ask for the deposit back.

Shen Yu was stunned at first when he heard this, but then he understood that in his eyes, this hot pepper was a spicy and tempting delicacy.

In the eyes of the two shopkeepers, this is just an alien plant that can bear poisonous fruits.

Although it can be used for viewing, there are so many precious flowers and trees that can be viewed, and this small foreign pepper flower cannot even be ranked.

Anyone willing to pay fifteen taels of silver to buy this is already a big fool.

Shen Yu figured this out, and couldn't help but feel secretly happy: "Not bad, not bad, I made a profit today and saved half of the money."

The abacus beads in the little money-grubber's mind were clattering, but on the surface he still had an expression of disgust and disappointment, for he was afraid that if he agreed too quickly, Manager Chen would regret lowering the price.

When Shopkeeper Chen saw that Shen Yu didn't say anything, he thought he had asked for too much.

He only spent fifty cents to bring back the two flower trees, which was almost free of charge. Even if Shen Yu stopped paying him, he had already made ten taels of silver.

Thinking of this, Shopkeeper Chen hesitated and said, "Miss Shen, it was very hard for me to bring them back here. I have to water them frequently, otherwise they would have died long ago. Another five taels is really not much."

At the end, his voice lowered and he seemed to lack confidence.

Seeing that the food was almost ready, Shen Yu smiled and said, "Shopkeeper Chen is right. It was very hard to bring it back all the way. I will pay you another five taels of silver as you said, and we will settle the deal."

Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Chen said happily, "Then it's settled. Miss, you can't go back on your word."

As Shen Yu took out some silver from his purse, he smiled and added, "I don't know if these seeds have grown or not, and whether they can be planted next year."

"If it is picked before it grows fully, my fifteen taels of silver will be wasted."

Shopkeeper Chen quickly assured him, "No, some of the peppers were already red when I picked them."

"The people on the boat said that this chili pepper is very easy to grow. It can survive with just a little water."

"Besides, look at these three, they are all red, the seeds inside must have grown."

Shen Yu smiled, nodded, and paid the money.

She thanked the two shopkeepers and carefully placed the small cloth bag of dried chilies into her cloth bag to prevent it from getting wet.

He borrowed a piece of oilcloth from the shop owner and wrapped the small bamboo basket. Then he carried the small bamboo basket wrapped in oilcloth, changed his shoes at the door, and walked towards the restaurant holding an umbrella.

When I was almost at the restaurant, I saw Li standing at the door of the store, looking over here from time to time. When he saw Shen Yu coming over with an umbrella, he went back into the store.

Shen Yu entered the shop. Li had already poured a bowl of ginger and jujube tea and brought it to the table, muttering, "Why did you take so long? Come over and have a bowl of ginger and jujube tea."

"It's raining so hard, and you refused to go. Your shoes and trousers are wet during the round trip. If you catch a cold, what will happen?"

Shen Yu put down the oilcloth bag in his hand with a smile, picked up the bowl and drank it in one breath. The ginger and jujube tea had a spicy and sweet taste and was very mellow. After drinking it, he immediately felt a lot warmer.

Seeing that Shen Yu had finished drinking, Li urged, "Go back and change your wet clothes quickly. Yutao has prepared them for you. Be careful in this weather."

After drinking the ginger and jujube tea, Shen Yu felt warm all over and thought he would not catch a cold. However, he still hurried back to the backyard room, changed his wet clothes and shoes and socks, and then returned to the store in dry clothes.

There were no customers in the shop except Li and her friends, who were discussing the pot of chili peppers that Shen Yu had brought back, with puzzled looks on their faces.

Seeing Shen Yu coming over, Li asked quickly: "Yuzhi, this is the pepper tree I bought for thirty taels of silver. Did someone cheat me? This tree is so small and dry, it must be dead."

Shen Yu hurriedly said, "Mom, Shopkeeper Chen didn't ask me for so much silver. He only took fifteen taels, and also gave me a bag of dried chili peppers, and the seeds can be planted."

As Shen Yu spoke, he took out the small cloth bag, untied the drawstring at the mouth of the bag, revealing the dried chili peppers inside.

Several people gathered around and carefully fiddled with it with their fingers, causing a rustling sound.

Shen Yu walked forward and picked up the dried chili pepper, tore off a small piece of pepper skin, rubbed it with his hands, and without thinking, put it directly into his mouth and chewed it carefully twice.

Li and the others originally thought that Shen Yu was holding it up to show them the seeds, but they didn't expect Shen Yu to eat it directly. They couldn't help but exclaimed: "You can eat the skin?"

Although there was only a small piece of chili pepper skin, Shen Yu tasted the long-lost chili flavor, which was spicy and fresh.

This kind of hot pepper is a type of chili pepper and has a very spicy taste.

Shen Yu felt that when making a stir-fried dish, just put one in it to make it taste spicy.

After Shen Yu tasted the hot pepper, although she gasped for air due to the spiciness and almost cried, she smiled as if she had found a treasure and kept saying, "It's great, it's great."

Li was frightened when she saw Shen Yu, who was usually calm, gasping for air and laughing all the time.

Thinking that her daughter was poisoned by the chili pepper, she hurried forward and patted Shen Yu on the back: "Yuzhi, what's wrong with you? Spit it out quickly."

"Sister Jiang, come and take a look, what's wrong with her?"

Jiang and the others nearby were also frightened and gathered around Shen Yu.