In addition to prohibiting the consumption of dead livestock and poultry as well as water-soaked grain, the village chief also instructed everyone that any water they drank must be boiled before consumption; otherwise, they would be expelled from the village.
The village chief's reaction stemmed from a childhood memory he had heard his father recount.
At that time, the village was also affected by a plague that broke out after the flood, which killed many people.
The source of that plague was that some people ate drowned poultry and drank untreated water, which led to the spread of germs.
According to the village chief's father, his grandparents died in that plague, which made him deeply aware of the dangers of those strange poultry and raw water.
When the village chief said this, although everyone didn't understand, they all did as he said. After all, sometimes, in the hearts of these villagers, village rules are more useful than laws. After all, a county official is not as powerful as a county magistrate!
Now that everyone has come out of the mountains and they've started building mud brick houses, food has become a problem. Those whose houses haven't collapsed are alright, and the grain stored in high places hasn't been soaked in water, so they can barely eat for a while.
The families whose houses were destroyed by the rain had no rice to cook, so they thought they would go to town to buy some. In addition, since it had just rained, there were mushrooms and wild vegetables everywhere on the mountain. They thought that eating them together would help them get by for a while.
The village chief's own family was running out of grain, and everyone was either making adobe bricks or building stoves. So the village chief decided to borrow Han Yi's mule cart to go to town and buy grain for everyone.
Han Yiyi and Yun Xiao, suppressing their urge to kill the mule and eat it, finally cleaned up the mule dung in the yard. Hearing that the village chief was going to town, Yun Xiao, feeling a little worried about Yunlai Restaurant, went with him.
The next morning, before dawn, the two set off, only to find that the entrance to the grain shop was already crowded with people.
Yun Xiao was worried about Yunlai Restaurant, so he asked the village chief to buy the food first, and he would come back to pick him up later.
The village chief struggled to squeeze in, but when he saw the price of the grain, he was stunned. The price had increased more than fivefold.
Even black noodles have risen from eight coins a pound to thirty-five coins a pound. At this price, not only can the villagers not afford it, but even their family can't afford it.
I knew when I arrived that the price of grain would definitely rise, but I never expected it to rise so ridiculously.
But thinking that some families in the village had run out of food, the village chief reluctantly spent 350 coins to buy 10 catties of dark flour, thinking that if someone wanted it, he would take it; if no one wanted it, he would keep it for his own family. He couldn't go hungry, could he?
However, as soon as the village chief finished paying, the shop assistant started to kick people out.
"Alright, alright, we're out of grain for today. We're not selling anymore. If you want to buy, please come back tomorrow..."
Hearing Xiao Er's words, the village chief looked at the pile of grain to the side with a puzzled look in his eyes. At this moment, a middle-aged man next to him sighed and spoke.
"They're planning to raise the price again tomorrow. It was the same yesterday. Yesterday, the price of black flour was only thirty coins a catty, but today it has risen to thirty-five coins. And each person can only buy ten catties. Alas! They're not letting us common people live..."
Upon hearing this man's words, the village chief sighed deeply. When disaster strikes, it is the ordinary people who suffer the most.
The village chief left the grain shop, but Yun Xiao had not yet returned. Watching the passersby, he kept glancing at his black flour bag, and he couldn't help but hug the bag even tighter.
Meanwhile, Yun Xiao frowned slightly as he looked at the closed doors of Yunlai Restaurant, but he didn't think much of it. After all, the flood had just happened, and how many people would come to the restaurant to eat? Through the crack in the door, he saw that the things inside were still intact, and worried that the village chief was getting impatient, so he turned and left.
Seeing the village chief clutching the bag tightly in his hands and looking worried, he couldn't help but ask.
"What, is there no food...?"
"Oh! No, it's just too expensive..."
Upon hearing Yun's words, the village chief hesitated to recount what had happened at the grain shop. When he heard that even Hei Mian had grown to thirty-five coins, his brows furrowed deeply. He understood that these unscrupulous grain shops were profiting from the national crisis, but he was just an ordinary citizen and there was nothing he could do.
The two returned to Zhushan Village in silence. When the villagers saw the village chief return, they rushed forward to ask him questions.
"Village chief, how's it going? Have you bought the grain? How much is it per pound...?"
Faced with the questions from the crowd, a trace of sorrow flashed in the village chief's eyes. When he heard that even black face cost thirty-five coins and the price changed every day, the crowd's faces were full of disbelief. Several women even sat down on the ground and cried out.
"Heavens above, is this some kind of omission for me...?"
In the end, the ten pounds of dark flour that the village chief brought back were inevitably bought up by the villagers, half a pound at a time.
When Han Yi heard Yun Xiao mention the current grain prices, she was shocked. "I can help them, but you have to cover for me."
While everyone was still worrying about what would happen in the future, they heard that Han Yi's family could exchange mushrooms for rice again, because the Yunlai Restaurant in Kyoto needed wild mushrooms.
No one cared who wanted the mushrooms; all they knew was that if they could exchange them for rice, it meant they would have something to eat.
Therefore, in no time at all, everyone rushed to Han Yi's house, asking all at once if the matter was true.
Upon seeing this, Han Yi gave Yun Xiao a wink. After a moment, Yun Xiao stepped forward, gestured with his hand, and then coughed lightly before speaking.
"Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me. You all know the current situation. The price of grain outside is how much per pound. You can bring mushrooms to exchange for rice with me. But there is one condition: this matter must not be spread outside the village. My Yun family is doing this to help everyone get through this difficult time. It's not that we have too much rice and nowhere to put it. If the truth is spread by one person, my Yun family will stop buying mushrooms from the entire village..."
When everyone heard that the exchange was really possible, no one dared to disagree, and they quickly offered their guarantees.
"Yun Dongjia, don't worry, we all remember what you've done for our Zhushan Village. If anyone dares to spread this news, I will definitely kick them out of the village..."
Upon hearing this, the village chief quickly assured everyone that he knew the situation in the grain shop better than anyone else. He was extremely grateful that Yun Xiao could help the villagers and hurriedly gave them further instructions.
Seeing that everyone had given their assurances, Yun Xiao continued speaking.
"As everyone knows, grain prices are high these days, so mushrooms can no longer be exchanged one pound for one pound; it takes three pounds of mushrooms to exchange for one pound of rice..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
