Some guests who had just found out were in an uproar, filled with disbelief.
"Boss Su is just too kind! He's so generous and charitable, he's practically a bodhisattva descended to earth!"
"I heard it was also Boss Su's idea that the disaster victims were relocated. Those who originally had nowhere to go outside the city were sent to the countryside to harvest rice, so they didn't starve to death!"
The praise was endless, and those who had previously thought it looked bad were dumbfounded.
Well, I got slapped hard!
Su An was unaware that his reputation was spreading far and wide.
The rice and flour stored in the shop's cellar were almost gone. After arranging the food street, she asked Zhang San and others to keep order while she took some time to go buy more grain.
But as soon as she arrived at her usual grain store, she was shocked by the prices on the sign.
"Seventy copper coins for a pound of rice?!"
"Boss, the price of your rice and flour has increased tenfold? Are you crazy?!" Su An shouted in disbelief.
The grain store owner naturally recognized his old acquaintance Su An, and he was also swatting away flies with a helpless expression.
"Boss Su, don't get angry with me. It was Ma Fu from that grain depot who raised the price of grain tenfold first. We're just a small business. If he sells it at a high price, there's no reason for us to sell it at a low price. Otherwise, who will be responsible if we lose money?"
He kindly advised, "There's nothing we can do. Food is scarce right now, and the price is the same everywhere. Just raise your price accordingly. No matter how expensive it is, there will always be people who will buy it."
Su An's anger surged, and he immediately turned around and strode towards the granary.
No matter what the times are like, food is always the most important thing. Even if the price increases tenfold, there are still many people queuing up at the entrance of the granary to grab it, for fear that if they are late, the price of food will rise again.
At this moment, Ma Fu, maintaining the demeanor of a master, stroked his mustache and watched with satisfaction as the crowd scrambled for the food.
Not long after the price increase, his treasury's silver reserves more than tripled.
Great wealth and prosperity are within your grasp!
Just as he was feeling smug, Su An rushed over at top speed, panting as he pushed through the crowd and stood before him: "So it's you, you unscrupulous merchant? What kind of gold-inlaid and jade-inlaid rice and flour are you selling at such high prices, taking advantage of the chaos to raise prices? Is there no law anymore?!"
Ma Fu had heard plenty of such insults that day, but he remained unperturbed, instead giving Su An a smug look.
"You little lady, do you know how to talk? With refugees pouring in and food shortages, it's only natural for prices to go up. If you can't afford it, get out of here and stop getting in the way of others in line."
Anyway, these people may criticize, but they will still buy what they want.
Su An almost gritted his teeth to pieces. He had never been so angry before. Profiteering from a national disaster was simply outrageous!
"You're heartless and rotten, you're a piece of trash. You'll be struck by lightning sooner or later!"
"Tch." Ma Fu wasn't afraid at all. "Whether I chop you up or not is another matter. If you're so capable, then don't eat my food. If anyone's going to die, it'll be you, you bastard, starving to death first!"
Su An coldly observed Ma Fu's arrogant demeanor, knowing he was unlikely to change.
She didn't linger to argue, and quickly went to the county government to file a complaint against Lin Yong.
"Such a thing is true!" Lin Yong exclaimed in shock, slamming his hand on the table.
He's been so busy resettling refugees lately that he's neglected this aspect.
"This is outrageous! I expected grain prices to fluctuate, but I never imagined that those merchants would be so audacious as to raise prices tenfold. This is leaving the people no way to survive!"
Su An said with even more distress, "Ordinary people can't afford it at this price now. Most of the grain has ended up in the hands of wealthy merchants and big households. If we delay any longer, the price of grain will definitely rise further. I urge the county magistrate to take action as soon as possible."
"Someone come here!"
Enraged, Lin Yong issued the order: "Immediately issue a grain decree, strictly prohibiting price gouging and hoarding! Anyone who disobeys will be arrested, fined, and caned!"
Seeing this, Su An couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the magistrate was a strict and upright official.
In this way, grain prices should recover quickly.
Su An went home first, and then went out for a walk in the afternoon.
Congratulations! All grain stores have indeed returned to normal prices.
She went to the granary again, and the sign outside had changed to seven coins per pound.
Just as Su An was secretly congratulating himself on doing a great deed, an old woman with gray hair walked over shakily and grabbed one of the people in the granary.
She opened the cloth bag in her hand with trembling hands: "Young man, this is the rice my old man just bought from you. Most of the rice is mixed with sand. How can we eat this!"
"Are you trying to fool us with sand because you think my old man's eyesight is failing...?"
The shopkeeper, who had been pulled back, didn't even glance at the food and said irritably, "Food is scarce right now, that's the rule. Seven coins can only buy this old rice and sand. It'll do, but it won't kill you!"
"If you want to eat well, buy that fine white rice, it's 100 coins a pound!"
After saying that, the waiter shook off the old woman and hurriedly invited the new customer inside.
Su An's heart suddenly turned cold.
What happened?
She followed them into the granary in disbelief, only to discover that it was divided into an inner room and an outer room.
Those queuing outside to buy grain were all ordinary people dressed in coarse linen clothes, and the sign hanging up said seven coins per pound of rice.
She pretended to be a guest and went into the inner room again. The people inside suddenly became rich and classy, and the sign clearly read one hundred coins.
Good heavens!
No wonder these grain merchants obediently obeyed government orders; they were actually doing something they didn't mean!
Moreover, the price of grain has increased by another thirty coins!
Anger flashed in Su An's eyes, and she immediately wanted to go to Lin Yong to tattle on him again.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she stepped out the door, a large group of people blocked her way.
"It's you, you meddlesome woman, who made the magistrate issue the grain restriction order, isn't it?" Sun Ming, the leader, glared at Su An.
He was the largest grain merchant in the county. After the grain rationing order was issued, he immediately sent people to investigate, and they soon found out that Su An was behind it.
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