Bai Ziqian looked at Shui Qing with a blank expression.

Although Shuiqing didn't know how to teach children, she was considered wealthy in China. The way the wealthy do things and think is different from that of a laborer. She looked at the boy and asked, "You work for others and earn at most twenty or thirty coins a day. It's already difficult to support your family. If you encounter a disaster and your family has no extra food and you don't have much money in your pocket, what can you do besides wait for others to help you?"

If, at this moment, the grain merchants in the city band together, hoarding large quantities of grain and refusing to sell, waiting for grain prices to skyrocket, and even when the government arrests them, they still insist they have no grain to sell, what can you do?”

Bai Ziqian thought for a long time and realized that this was a dead end. He had no money, no food, and no manpower, so he had no way to solve the problem.

He shook his head in frustration.

"If you are a merchant with a large amount of grain in your warehouse and a lot of money in your storeroom, supporting many workers, and you encounter a disaster, the government's relief grain is already on its way. Other grain merchants band together to sell their grain at exorbitant prices. When the government comes to you, you sell the grain at the fair price or slightly higher price according to the official's request. Other grain merchants are afraid that they will not be able to sell their own grain when the relief grain arrives, so they rush to dump their grain."

Do you think the people of the city have been saved? Are there many people who haven't starved to death?

Even assuming, in a year of famine, you have food, money, and manpower, while other families are starving and forced to sell their children or neglect their elderly relatives. But you can protect your wife, children, and elderly parents, ensuring they have enough to eat and wear even in chaotic times of disaster. Wouldn't that eliminate that sense of defeat and helplessness?

Bai Ziqian raised his head in astonishment, his eyes filled with a sense of awe and disbelief as he looked at Shui Qing.

Shui Qing patted the boy on the shoulder and said with satisfaction, "You see, money isn't a bad thing, is it?"

Don't be misled by those with ulterior motives; only by standing tall can you see far.

She is a businesswoman and a common person; she loves money, but she also has a bottom line, which is not to profit from national disasters.

"Only by standing tall can one see far," Fan Jin murmured to himself.

Shouldn't he first stand high enough before he can realize his ideas...?

Bai Ziqian stood there for a long time, until his legs went numb, and then looked at Shui Qing and said calmly, "I'm going home tomorrow."

He then bowed deeply to the two of them, saying, "Thank you. I now realize that my previous thoughts were narrow-minded and biased."

What he should learn is the way of doing business, not how to be a physically capable helper.

He has indeed received favors from his family, but that's not a bad thing; he should repay them in return.

As for others, why bother with their opinions?

Whether it's a prosperous era or a chaotic, disaster-stricken year, all he needs to do is have the ability to protect his own people, and they are his own people!

He'll protect them all from now on!

Shuiqing initially agreed when she heard the words "I'll go home tomorrow," but then realized that no one had dug the pit on the back mountain.

She had really dug herself a hole. She sighed deeply. “Let’s go all the way and do a good deed. Here, this is your jade pendant. Take it. I’ll have Uncle Fan drive you back in an oxcart tomorrow.”

Bai Ziqian never expected that the jade pendant he had worn since childhood would return, nor did he expect that Aunt Shuiqing, who was reluctant to spend even a few coins on her work, would be willing to return his jade pendant, which was worth a hundred gold coins.

His eyes were filled with tears, but he held them back after hearing Aunt Shuiqing's next words.

"Your clothes are really tattered. But you're unlucky. Your clothes were made by Sister Guifen. They weren't among the ones Aunt Li brought today. Otherwise, you would have looked better wearing new clothes, and you wouldn't look so shabby, would you?"

"I was too young to know how dangerous the outside world was. Look, I've lost all my clothes. It's just that I was kind-hearted enough to run into them. I'm actually pretty good, aren't I?"

Bai Ziqian: .....Who praises themselves like that!