The moment the thought crossed Hu Sanye's mind, he felt a restless urge to act.

It seems... it's not impossible to come to Shawan County, it's close to Guangcheng.

Lin Jinyue then asked about the situation outside: "We're in Shawan County, and we don't know what's going on outside Lingnan. I have a feeling that things aren't looking good."

Master Hu was shocked as soon as he saw Lin Jinyue.

Now that she even knows what's going on outside, she's even more surprised.

In Yunsong County, apart from wealthy merchants like the Hu family, very few people knew what was happening outside.

Uncle Hu didn't say anything, but only asked, "How do you know the situation outside is bad?"

Lin Jinyue's heart sank slightly, but she still replied, "I guessed. Grain prices are changing every day, and there's also conscription... so I guessed the situation wasn't good."

Master Hu sighed, "That's certainly true."

He admired Lin Jinyue even more. How could such a young girl be so amazing?

Uncle Hu continued, "Grain prices are high these days, and the Red Turban Army has started to make moves. I wonder when they'll attack."

Lin Jinyue had a guess: "Prince Jing should not attack in the short term. Lingnan is still easy to defend and difficult to attack. It's just that the Red Turban Army is not so sure. As long as the Red Turban Army leader has a brain, he may come to Lingnan."

They definitely wouldn't dare come from Guangcheng or Shawan County, but for places like Yunsong County, which are quite far away, it's a different story.

The moment Lin Jinyue mentioned the Red Turban Army, Master Hu jumped.

He had been hesitant before, but it seems he needs to get rid of those businesses quickly, and it would be best to move them to Yunhe Village.

Master Hu didn't mention it; he still needed to go back and discuss it with his brothers.

After all, this was a major matter that would shake the foundation of the Hu family, and he couldn't make the decision alone.

Lin Jinyue sighed, "It seems we need to stockpile more grain; we'll have to wait to open the new shop."

She muttered this to herself, but Uncle Hu said, "A shop? A teahouse, are you willing to rent it? I have a teahouse in Shawan County, but it's losing money every month. The location isn't very good, and nowadays not many people are willing to spend money to go to a teahouse... If you want to rent it, it'll be ten taels of silver a month, and it even comes with a small courtyard in the back."

Lin Jinyue never expected that someone would bring her a pillow just when she was feeling sleepy.

Having a small courtyard would be much more convenient.

It wasn't that Lin Jinyue was unwilling to spend money to rent a house, but rather that no one in the village was willing to spend the money.

Lin Jinyue plans to go with him to take a look tomorrow.

Lin Jinyue's snail stall lease is about to expire, and she doesn't want to renew it. Ideally, she would like to move it into a teahouse.

However, the next morning, Lin Jinyue noticed something was wrong.

Every morning for the past few days, people from different villages have come to deliver snails.

Fearing they wouldn't make it in time, they delivered it every day without fail, before dawn.

But today, the Liu family stood at the dock and waited for a long time without receiving anything. Only the Chen family brought them half a basket of snails and some fresh octopus.

Lin Jinyue frowned and asked Chen Pang, "Where are the rest of your village?"

Chen Pang hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "I'll go fishing for you. My family bought another small fishing boat. I'll have my son come along too, and we'll bring back lots of sea crabs."

Upon hearing what Chen Pang said, Lin Jinyue guessed that something was wrong.

Lin Jinyue told Liu to take half a basket of snails over there and sell as many as she could. Once she sold them all, she could come back and take a break.

Liu sensed something was wrong, but without asking any further questions, she quickly went to Shawan County.

The snails that are left today will probably be sold out by the end of the morning.

The villagers were extremely anxious. Li the blacksmith came over and asked, "Can we still do the snail business in the future?"

Lin Jinyue did not answer.

I had a very bad feeling about it.

Although she has many ways to make money and is not afraid of anyone tripping her up behind her back, she is still somewhat unhappy.

Master Hu was also a bit troubled. He said to Lin Jinyue, "If you have a big shortage of snails here, otherwise... I'll go to the prefectural city to help you collect them?"

Lin Jinyue shook her head: "There's no need for that."

She was thinking of other solutions.

They were also wondering who was behind it all.

Could it be that Xie Hong, having been transferred to Yunsong County, can also cause trouble for her in their Shawan County?

Lin Jinyue had a headache.

Not long after, Chen Dawei arrived.

Upon seeing him approach, the few people remaining in the village all became alert. Li the blacksmith and the Wang family all grabbed their tools, while the women each held a rolling pin, ready to take action at any moment.

This is quite a frightening sight.

Chen Dawei was startled and took several steps back. "What, what are you going to do?"

He spat, "A bunch of brutes! I'm here today to talk about buying and selling snails. Do you think I wanted to come to this unlucky place?"

Lin Jinyue then asked, "Are you going to sell us snails?"

Chen Dawei nodded: "Yes, that's right, I have quite a few snails here, but the price..."

Finally, he quoted an exorbitant price: "I won't charge you much, fifty coins per catty."

It should be noted that when Lin Jinyue bought it before, it was only seven coins per catty.

It increased sevenfold in one go.

During this period, Chen Dawei used both threats and inducements to buy up all the snails in the vicinity at double the price, and no one dared to sell them to Lin Jinyue anymore.

Lin Jinyue's attitude was firm: "I won't buy it."

Chen Dawei sneered: "If you buy them back, you can still make a profit. If you don't buy them, you can forget about doing this snail business in the future."

Chen Dawei didn't believe that Lin Jinyue would give up such a profitable business.

Otherwise, he had asked someone to buy the secret recipe a few days ago, and the price offered was not low, so Lin Jinyue was unwilling to sell it.

Not to mention Lin Jinyue, even the people in her shop are unwilling to sell.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!