Qin Zifeng raised his head, thought for a moment, and then slowly spoke.
"It's probably to prevent some people from taking shortcuts and to ensure there's no problem with the food supply."
Qin Qing smiled and nodded, feeling increasingly pleasantly surprised by this twelve-year-old boy.
"Yes, you're very smart! But there's one more important point! Because this is business between us and the military camp, we need to be more careful. Even if the middleman is your second uncle, we still need to be cautious. We must keep a good record of every grain we receive. We can give them some benefits occasionally, but we can't give them every time, lest we become enemies if we don't give them enough!"
Qin Zifeng listened attentively, his eyes shining brightly as he carefully pondered Qin Qing's words. He clutched the ledger tightly in his arms, suddenly understanding many things and feeling a surge of happiness in his heart.
Seeing that he was lost in thought, Qin Qing knew he was pondering something and couldn't help but pat the boy's head.
"Good boy, get ready, we're going home~"
Upon hearing this, Qin Zifeng looked up, and a bright smile immediately appeared on his face, exuding a youthful vigor!
The carriage made a "clattering" sound as it traveled along the road!
The family, bathed in the gentle breeze of the setting sun, slowly drove towards their cozy home in the distance…
Meanwhile, at the Princess's residence!
Princess Fuqu, the only elder sister of His Majesty, was taking a nap in a reclining chair…
"Your Highness, dinner is ready! Please proceed to the dining hall."
The middle-aged woman lying down opened her eyes, softly hummed in agreement, and listened to the cicadas chirping outside, feeling a slight sense of irritation.
"Forget it! Let's take this away! I don't want to eat anymore!"
Upon hearing this, the maidservant beside her became anxious and immediately knelt down.
"Your Highness, you didn't eat much at noon today. If you don't eat anything tonight, your health might not be able to take it!"
Upon hearing this, Princess Fuqu frowned slightly. A hot breeze blew by, and she felt extremely uncomfortable. However, since it was her personal maid Hongluan who had spoken, she still got up.
"Alright... I understand!"
When the group arrived at the dining hall, a sweet and delicate aroma wafted over, and Princess Fuqu, who had not had much of an appetite, suddenly became somewhat interested.
What is this smell?
Upon hearing this, Hongluan immediately smiled and said...
"It's all because those girls went out shopping this afternoon. They said they were going to buy some jewelry or something, so I let them go. But when they came back, they brought back a small bag of rice. They said it was a new kind of rice that was fragrant and soft, so I made it for Your Highness to try."
Princess Fuqu immediately became interested upon hearing this, as she had never smelled such a fragrant aroma of rice before!
A moment later, seeing the white, tender rice in the bowl, with an even richer aroma, she couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, even though she was used to eating delicacies.
"It smells so good! It's really sweet! Where did you buy this? It has such a white exterior and tastes so delicious!"
Upon hearing this, Hongluan immediately beckoned the two maids serving outside to come in…
When the princess finally heard that it was bought from a newly opened rice shop, she became even more curious.
At that moment... one of the women subconsciously added a comment.
"Of course! The proprietress is said to be around forty, and quite pretty. She even gave us a 20% discount. The original price was much higher than imperial grain! Three taels of silver per pound! That's why I bought less..."
The princess grew increasingly curious, since she had nothing else to do anyway.
"Oh? It's so expensive? Then I must go and take a look!"
A few days later, at noon, the sun was scorching hot, and people seemed to stay indoors because of it. The once bustling streets were now deserted except for a few vendors sitting in the shade of trees...
There were also few people at the entrance of Qin's Rice Shop, but occasionally a few people would come and go.
Qin Qing sat in the chair, lost in thought, looking at the hot wind outside. Calculating the time, it should be almost autumn by July or August!
I guess the heat will only last for these few days.
"Forget it, it looks like there won't be any business today! Kids, let's close up shop early."
The two little ones, who were just about to fall asleep, perked up immediately upon hearing this and hurriedly began packing their books, while Qin Zifeng started packing his little ledger.
"Dongzi, you can go back now. Consider this afternoon a day off! You'll still get your wages!"
Upon hearing this, Dongzi couldn't help but twitch his lips. He looked at the family, who seemed to have no energy at all. He had hardly done any physical labor since he entered the rice shop, and now, after only three or four days of operation, they were taking a break.
And, will he still get paid? He hesitated for a moment, then spoke to Qin Qing.
"Boss lady, not to be nosy, but if the weather is better this afternoon, we'll definitely have a lot of customers. If we take a break, won't we lose a lot of money?"
Qin Qing simply smiled upon hearing this.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!"
Dongzi opened his mouth, but didn't continue to persuade him. After all, it wasn't his own shop, and if the proprietress didn't care, why should a laborer like him worry?
Just as the group finished packing their things and were about to leave by carriage from the backyard, a group of people dressed as constables rushed over and surrounded their rice shop without saying a word!
"Men, seal off this rice shop! Don't let anyone out."
Upon hearing the sound, Qin Qing frowned instantly, startling the two little girls beside her, and Qin Zifeng also became flustered.
Meanwhile, the laborer Dongzi's face tightened, completely unaware of what was happening.
Qin Qing looked at the group of people around her, her expression gradually becoming serious. After pursing her lips, she still walked towards the head constable.
"May I ask why this is happening, sir? My Qin's Rice Shop has only been open for a few days, and I have never done anything illegal or wrong. Why are you making such a fuss?"
Upon hearing this, the laborer Dongzi quickly echoed.
"Yes! I'm just an ordinary laborer, I don't know anything! Please, sir, let's talk this out!"
Upon hearing this, the head constable turned his gaze to Qin Qing, frowned, and said seriously.
"You're the proprietress? Someone reported that your rice is unclean; people who ate it experienced vomiting and diarrhea. They suspect you've mixed in some other substances, and we need to investigate thoroughly!"
Upon hearing this, Qin Qing stopped asking questions and her expression became very serious. This kind of nonsense was obviously a frame-up, and even if she explained, it wouldn't make a difference!
“Since you want to search my shop, that’s fine, but since it’s a report, there must be witnesses and physical evidence, right? Otherwise, if everyone reports something out of thin air, wouldn’t all the government offices in the Tianlong Kingdom be overwhelmed? Wouldn’t that be an undeserved disaster for a small shop like mine!”
The constable was taken aback, then looked at Qin Qing with surprise. He hadn't expected that a seemingly frail rice shop owner would remain calm in the face of such a situation, and that what she said was quite reasonable and well-founded.
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