Chapter 464: There are also people with conscience
Tang Li and Fan Yuexi walked out of the Jin Mansion. As soon as they left, the door of the Jin Mansion was slammed shut with a very bad attitude.
Fan Yuexi stared at the tightly closed door, her chest heaving with anger.
She has been working with the Jin family for so long and they have an old relationship, but she never expected the Jin family to be so ruthless. For the sake of money, they even threw away their conscience!
You are not a human being at all!
Tang Li's dark eyes glanced at the Jin family, then looked at Fan Yuexi: "Yuexi, are there any other grain merchants in Hegu County?"
"There are five more." Fan Yuexi said, "Shall we go and have a look at the others?"
It was already dark, but she couldn't sleep at night until the rice problem was solved.
"Okay." Tang Li said.
The two men wasted no time and got on a carriage to visit the homes of other grain merchants one by one.
"Miss Fan, I know you're a good person who has helped so many disaster victims, and I want to do my part, too. But there's really nothing I can do. Yizhou is suffering, and the people there haven't had good harvests. We can't even get any food."
"I really can't help you with the rice issue. Here are ten taels of silver, a small token of my appreciation. Miss Fan, please take it."
"Miss Fan, aren't you working with Shopkeeper Jin? He's the largest grain merchant in Hegu County and one of the major grain merchants in Yizhou. Shopkeeper Jin must have grain."
"What? Five hundred coins per bushel? This price is indeed too high compared to previous years, but it's actually not expensive now. It's so difficult to collect grain now."
"Here? I don't have any food left. The rice shops are all closed. I've been starving lately."
Fan Yuexi and Tang Li went to several houses and heard the same thing.
In short, it can be summed up in two words - no food.
Fan Yuexi's expression became more and more uneasy.
Tangli held her hand and said, "There is always a way out."
Fan Yuexi nodded: "There is still one family left. I hope this last family has food."
In fact, these people were speaking for Shopkeeper Jin. She probably guessed what was going on. It was very unlikely that this last family had food.
They came to the door of the last grain merchant and knocked on it.
The owner of this last grain merchant was a young woman named Shen. The Shen family was once the largest grain merchant in Hegu County, but later, the Shen's Rice Shop ran into trouble and its business plummeted. With Miss Shen taking over, the Shen's Rice Shop gradually recovered. While not as strong as before, it still maintained a strong presence in Hegu County.
Fan Yuexi and Tang Li were led into the Shen Mansion.
Compared with the luxury of the previous families, the Shen family was much simpler, with a courtyard with two entrances and two exits and not many servants.
When they entered the living room, they saw a woman in her mid-twenties waiting for them.
The woman was serious and seemed to have a cold temper, and seemed difficult to get along with.
"Shopkeeper Shen." Fan Yuexi called out.
Tangli also greeted him.
Shopkeeper Shen's eyes swept over them: "Sit down."
Fan Yuexi and Tang Li sat down.
"Shopkeeper Shen, I'm here today to discuss rice. I'd like to ask if you have any..."
"No."
Before Fan Yuexi could finish her words, she was interrupted by Shopkeeper Shen.
"Jin'an bought up all the grain in Hegu County, and even in several neighboring counties," said Shopkeeper Shen. "When Jin'an bought the grain, he directly offered two hundred coins per bushel. This purchase price was so high that all the millet grain merchants who had grain sold it to him. Jin'an spent most of his wealth on it."
Fan Yuexi's face turned pale. This was the worst result she could imagine, and it actually happened.
"Jin'an is not alone, right? The grain from more than just these counties has been collected, right?" Tang Li said.
Shopkeeper Shen glanced at Tang Li. From the beginning, she greeted him and didn't speak again.
What she said was to the point and her mind was very clear.
"Yes, he joined forces with several grain merchants, and the price of grain in the entire Yizhou has increased."
Yizhou is suffering from floods, but these people are raising food prices...
However, this kind of thing happened, and there are many unscrupulous businessmen like this.
"You can go all over Yizhou and still not buy food at a normal price."
That's why Shopkeeper Jin treated them like that, determined that they had to buy it.
Fan Yuexi supported her head and felt dizzy.
What will happen to the disaster victims if they can’t buy food?
Do I really have to buy it at a high price?
This would allow those unscrupulous grain merchants to succeed. It would be fine for the sake of the victims, but it would be like drinking poison to quench thirst. The money she had would be quickly spent and would not last for many days.
"Shopkeeper Chen, you are in the rice business, so you should have some grain stored in your rice shop, right?" Tang Li asked.
Shopkeeper Shen looked at Tang Li and said, "Why shouldn't I sell it to Jin An? Two hundred coins a dou, that's an exorbitant price."
"Because you and Jin An are not the same kind of people." Tang Li said.
She could sense the disdain for Jin An from Shopkeeper Shen’s words.
The grain merchants they had met before were all opportunists who were only interested in profit and had no bottom line.
But this Shopkeeper Shen is different.
Shopkeeper Shen said, "I do have some food in my rice shop, but even if I give it all to you, it won't last for a few days. What will you do after a few days?"
"Shopkeeper Shen, how about we make a bet? Will five days be enough for me to buy food at a reasonable price?" Tang Li asked, "If so, you can sell the food to us at the usual price. If not, I'll buy it for 500 per bushel. How's that?"
Shopkeeper Shen found it very interesting to see her confident look.
Is this true confidence or just bragging?
"Who are you……"
"My name is Tang Li, and I come from the capital. My husband is the imperial envoy who came here to control the flood, so what I say must be trustworthy." Tang Li said.
"Okay, in five days, if you can buy food at a fair price, I won't charge you a penny," said Shopkeeper Shen.
Although this shopkeeper Shen is a businessman, he is also a man of temperament.
"Then could you please ask Manager Shen to advance us the food first?" Tang Li asked.
"Okay, Fugui, take these two to the rice shop to move the grain!" Shopkeeper Shen said generously.
Tang Li and Fan Yuexi both breathed a sigh of relief.
There were a total of 500 bags of grain in Shen’s Rice Shop, all of which were delivered to Chunmian Villa.
This food is enough for the victims to eat for five days.
This problem has been temporarily solved.
Tangli returned to the county government office.
Fan Yuexi also returned to the Fan family.
As soon as Fan Yuexi entered the yard, she heard a cough.
"Dad, why aren't you sleeping so late at night?" Fan Yuexi asked, pulling her father into the room.
I entered the room and closed the door to block out the wind.
"Why didn't you come back so late? Did something happen?" Mr. Fan was in poor health. He was in his forties and his hair was already half white.
"Your brother has been going around raising money and hasn't come back yet. Could it be that he has run out of money? If that doesn't work, just sell this house." said Mr. Fan.
"Dad, it's not time to sell the house yet." Fan Yuexi said, "It's not about the money."
"What's that?"
"It was Jin An who was driving up the food prices." Fan Yuexi said.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com