Itâs no exaggeration, she saw with her own eyes how Liu Xiuxian kneaded the dough and let it rise.
After putting in the yeast, a small lump of dough filled the entire basin!
The dumpling skins were rolled thin and packed with fish meat, making them perfect dumplings with thin skins and lots of filling.
Trading one dumpling for three or four fish, Song Wen thought, if it were her, she would be willing to trade.
Still within her newbie protection period, she could catch more than a dozen fish in a day and was already feeling a bit smug.
However, Liu Danianâs pricing wasnât random, it was well-considered.
In the entire building, the only edible things now were fish, shells, and sea shells recovered from the water.
Carbohydrates were basically non-existent, so flour, rice, vegetables, and such were extremely precious.
On the contrary, there were too many fish. Everyone had eaten so much fish, they were sick of it.
If they could trade for dumplings, those with extra fish would certainly be willing to trade.
Each person ate one dumpling and then quickly stopped, not wanting to eat more.
Liu Xiuxian said, "This flour made a total of thirty-four dumplings. Each of us ate one, so twenty-eight are left. Who knows how many fish these can be traded for."
"If we trade one dumpling for four fish, then twenty-eight dumplings can get us at least 112 fish. We can then trade the fish for flour with Mr. Liang, five fish per cup, that gets us 22 cups, and we can make a lot more dumplings!"
Hu Weimin rubbed his hands in delight, his face full of excitement.
The others also showed excitement, feeling like they were about to strike it rich.
"By the way, Old Hu, is your yeast powder and leavening agent sufficient?" Liu Danian asked impatiently.
Those items were crucial for making those thin-skinned, heavily filled dumplings. Without them, theyâd be in trouble.
Hu Weimin laughed, "Thereâs nothing else in our house, but we have plenty of yeast powder and leavening agents."
Liu Xiuxian also laughed and said, "Old Liu, youâre talking like an amateur. Dough can rise without yeast powder."
"It can rise without yeast powder? How does that work?" Liu Danian asked in surprise.
Liu Xiuxian laughed, "You clearly havenât made dumplings before. In the old days of collective farming, we didnât have yeast powder; we used old dough for fermentation."
"Weâll keep some old dough each time. When we need to make dumplings, weâll ferment the dough ahead of time."
Song Wen suddenly remembered how her bread went bad overnight.
She quickly reminded, "We canât keep food overnight. Yesterday I left half a piece of bread thinking Iâd eat it today, but eating it made me sick."
"If Brother Liang and Granny Li hadnât found medicine for me, Iâm afraid I wouldnât have survived this time."
"What? It went bad overnight?" Hu Weimin asked, worried.
Liu Xiuxianâs face also changed, quickly asking for more details.
After Song Wen described what had happened, she added, "Brother Liang and the others said that now animals, fish, and humans can all mutate, so microbes might be mutating too. Food that could be kept for one or two days now goes bad overnight due to microbial rot."
"So all our food must be eaten quickly once opened, donât keep it overnight, or it will be wasted."
Hu Weimin suddenly asked, "So how does Mr. Liang preserve all the fish he has?"
This stumped everyone; how did Liang Yuan preserve his food?
He even had meat and vegetables!
Song Wen didnât know the details either, so she shook her head.
Hu Weimin rubbed his chin and said, "Does Mr. Liang have a refrigerator at home?"
"I think I saw a large freezer in his kitchen, like those used for storing ice cream." Song Wen recalled and said immediately.
"A freezer? Isnât the power out? Where does his electricity come from?" Liu Danian asked, puzzled.
After discussing for a while, they guessed Liang Yuan might have a way to generate power, and paused their discussion.
They urgently needed to trade these dumplings for fish, then go to Liang Yuan to exchange for flour.
Time was short; they had to act quickly before word got out that Liang Yuan was trading food for fish.
Once everyone knew, theyâd go directly to Liang Yuan.
Of course, Liu Xiuxianâs dumplings would still have a market as Liang Yuan only had flour, not hot dumplings.
Making dumplings also required yeast powder, leavening agents, and some skill.
So they didnât need to worry about being replaced.
But Song Wenâs business of making profit with snacks would be gone.
Thus, she was the most anxious.
After they agreed, Liu Danian and Hu Weimin each packed four dumplings, Song Wen packed five bags of snacks, and they carried waterproof bags to the thirty-second floor.
It was their first time going to the second unit, so they didnât bring too much food to avoid being robbed.
On the thirty-second floor, they knocked on Liang Yuanâs door, asking him to open the corridor passage.
Liang Yuan didnât ask what they were doing going to the second unit, he opened the corridor directly, and then summoned Zhao Kai.
"Brother Liang, you called me?" Zhao Kai came over, glanced at the others, then asked Liang Yuan.
Liang Yuan nodded, "Zhao Kai, youâve been free lately. Youâre in charge of watching the corridor door. If anyone wants to enter or leave, or causes trouble, notify us immediately."
"You wonât do it for nothing, Iâll have Sister Yang Mei bring you food."
Zhao Kai showed a look of gratitude and nodded quickly, "Brother Liang, donât worry, this job is mine."
He knew Liang Yuan was looking after him. With his injured hand, he couldnât do much.
This task didnât require physical effort; he only needed to watch the door.