On its first day of operation, Pinduoduo's grocery store sold nearly half of its grains, and other goods were also in short supply.

Because apart from the price of grain, everything else is much cheaper than the market price.

Diesel fuel, eggs, quilts, coal, and all sorts of other items were displayed on both sides of the shop.

All items are being sold at the prices they were at before the price increase.

In Beijing, where prices are skyrocketing, these affordable goods are truly a testament to the industry's conscience.

In order to receive free food, the people spread the word quickly, and within a day, the news had spread throughout the entire capital.

Before the store even opened the next day, at the crack of dawn, people were already lining up at the door to buy food.

Bai Zhantang thought he had arrived early enough, but he was still a step too late.

At the entrance of Liminfang, dozens of neat lines stretched all the way to the market entrance, and the end of the lines was still in sight.

Bai Zhantang had no choice but to walk to the back of the line.

The further he walked, the more uneasy he felt.

These people are all young, and judging from their appearance, they don't look like ordinary people, but rather like guards protecting a house.

It wasn't until he reached the very end that he saw a group of elderly people and children huddled together, supporting themselves on lotus leaves, waiting in line for the grocery store to open.

When Huang Huifeng saw him coming, he gestured that there was a seat behind him and let him join the queue.

"Old Bai, have you noticed that there's something wrong with the people at the front of the line, and the number of them is also off?"

Bai Zhantang stared sharply at the front of the group and said in an unfriendly tone, "I can tell that these people are all shop assistants from major rice shops in the capital, and some are guards from the caravan."

"They must have come in an organized and premeditated manner to buy things."

Upon hearing this, Huang Huifeng asked, "Have you figured anything out? Tell me."

"The Marquis said yesterday that he only has 10,000 dan of rice and 10,000 dan of coarse grains. These rice merchants must have heard this and want to buy the grain from the Marquis at a low price, then hoard it and take the opportunity to raise the price of rice."

“Once the Hou family’s low-priced grain is bought up by them, anyone else who wants to buy grain will have to sell their grain.”

"At that time, they can raise the price of grain however they want."

Bai Zhantang, having spent many years in the underworld, could understand the thoughts of these grain merchants with just a few glances.

The reason why the Marquis sold grain at a low price was to control the rising grain prices and let them gradually fall.

But these unscrupulous rice merchants refused.

If the Marquis doesn't sell all his low-priced grain, their grain prices won't rise.

Therefore, they sent people to buy up grain so that they could hoard it and sell it at a higher price.

The capital city is not actually experiencing a significant food shortage.

Food shortages only occur after floods.

The reason for the price increase now is that someone is spreading rumors and creating the impression of a food shortage behind the scenes.

This caused a buying frenzy among the public, ultimately driving up prices.

After all, food is the most important thing for people. If people don't have food, they will panic.

Upon hearing Bai Zhantang's words, Huang Huifeng also frowned.

They were well aware of the rice merchant's scheme, but they couldn't very well refuse to buy things from a normal customer.

Unless a large amount of food suddenly appears, there's nothing anyone can do.

They only hoped that the Marquis could produce another 10,000 dan of grain today, so that the price of grain could be lowered.

The sun had just risen when the doors of Pinduoduo's general store opened.

Standing at the door today is Marquis Anping, Li Chang'an, with a gloomy expression.

"Today, grain is still half price, with a limit of ten catties per person. In addition, we will also be distributing porridge at the entrance. If people do not have grain at home, they can come and take a bowl of porridge home."

Li Chang'an ordered someone to bring out a water vat, set up a fire to boil water, and prepare to cook porridge.

Then he had the others prepare to begin today's trading.

The burly man at the head of the group took out six taels of silver from his pocket and said, "Ten catties of coarse grains, ten catties of rice, nothing else."

The pangolin weighed out ten jin of rice and ten jin of coarse grains for him and handed them over.

The burly man picked it up, weighed it in his hand, smiled, and then turned to leave.

Each person thereafter typically purchased their goods for six taels of silver, ten catties of rice, and ten catties of coarse grains.

They didn't even glance at the other things.

The queue formed quickly, and in no time, the remaining 80,000 dan of rice and 50,000 dan of coarse grains from yesterday were sold out.

Li Chang'an did not order more stock, but instead had someone put up the "sold out" sign.

This drew cries of despair from countless people, and one burly man even cursed, "We've been queuing for so long, and you're telling us there's no more food? You've made us come all this way for nothing!"

Among the crowd, the other people arranged by the rice merchants chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, you said you had low-priced grain, but then you stopped selling it halfway through. Isn't that a lie?"

The people of Lantian County remained silent. After all, this Marquis had treated them relatively well. Although they harbored some resentment, they understood who was good and who was bad.

Only some commoners in the capital joined in the commotion, demanding that the shopkeeper come out and explain why the grain had disappeared.

They shouted and yelled, and when no one came out to stop them, their shouts grew louder and louder.

At that moment, they seemed to be the embodiment of justice, standing at the highest moral ground.

Everything they did and said was for the benefit of the people.

Li Chang'an looked at the indignant crowd with a cold gaze.

"Fellow citizens, the capital's grain supply is not that scarce at all. The grain I have provided is already enough to alleviate your immediate crisis. The remaining grain will take a few more days to arrive. You can come and buy it then, shall we?"

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