Chapter 46 Chapter 46 Stock up on food.
At the foot of Niupi Mountain, Manager Li and his group came down the mountain as usual and headed back to the county.
Cartloads of charcoal were shipped to the county day after day. No one family could use such a large amount, but the Qiao family had the means to sell it to the county government and wealthy families in the county, making a profit from it. Therefore, they occupied the mountain to make charcoal and temporarily did not allow other villagers to enter.
Ji Fu was the Qiao family's rickshaw driver. He was also used to transporting coal. He stopped the ox cart and gestured to Li Guanshi:
"Someone's playing dirty with Li Guanshi's men, aren't you aware? That Tian Shaofu actually let people into the mountains at night to cut firewood!
My family has seen it all. Lately, several families in Bengu Village have been heading up the mountain at dusk, taking advantage of our absence at night and chopping down countless trees."
Ji Fu wanted to show off his courtesy. He heard Jin's grumbling at home, so he took advantage of the fact that Tian Sefu was staying in the mountains and was not around, so he brought the money over to talk about it.
After Li Guanshi finished directing the servants to move the coal, he said, "I know about this. He was just doing a favor to earn some money for the wine."
It was actually the Qiao family's private matter that Mr. Tian came here to guard the mountain. Manager Li was not an unkind person. When he heard Mr. Tian talk about it before, he just laughed and thought: such a taciturn person like him actually had such worldly greed.
Ji Fu said, "Manager Li doesn't care?"
"Why bother with such trivial matters?" Manager Li glanced at him, got on the front ox cart, and directed the cart back to the county town.
This matter was not as Ji Fu had expected. He didn't even get a good word from the other party. It was a waste of words. He had no choice but to shrink his neck and drive the car.
Speaking of the wood piled in front of the second house, Ji Xu borrowed the iron saw from the Chen family and sawed it in three and a half days. Because he was afraid of rain, he piled it under the eaves first and then chopped it slowly when he had time.
At first glance, the wood was piled into a concave shape. She left an opening for the window, which did not affect the lighting of the west room. The wood grain in the cross section also added a touch of simple beauty to the house.
On the east side of the room, there were bundles of branches piled up. She counted them and found that there were twenty large bundles, five of which were sent by the Chen family. After a struggle, they insisted that she keep them.
At that time, Lu Mu said: "The family relies on your craftsmanship to make money every day. Making coins consumes firewood. It is not easy for a weak girl like you to chop firewood. These are worthless if you burn them..."
The firewood at home can be used at least until the end of the first month of the year. After cleaning it up, the area in front of the house became empty again. Ji Xu came to the west room with satisfaction.
"Sister, what are you doing?"
She was seen counting her steps along the wall of the west room. Ji Feng came in and asked curiously.
"There is enough firewood at home. I want to save some food for the winter," said Ji Xu.
I still remember selling steamed buns in the public fields during the busy farming season. I chatted with the jailer and heard that the grain price stabilization office came to collect grain because of the drought in Guandong, and the grain was transported to that place to stabilize the price.
It was just because I was busy saving money for taxes at that time, and later I had to build a tile house, so I didn't have any extra money to make plans for her, so this matter was always on my mind.
I don't know what the current wheat price is in that place. The rice, soup, fish, wheat and flour in Chu and Yue are all imported from other places.
I met Mr. Tian a few days ago and thought of this matter again, so I decided to stock up on grain.
The first thing to stock up on is naturally flour, which is related to the family's livelihood.
"Sister Feng, come and see, how about putting a grain rack here?"
The rice and flour at home are only added when they are almost gone. They are put in a sack for each and simply hung on the beam. Now that we are planning to store food, we still have to build a grain rack.
When Ji Feng heard this, he praised it repeatedly. Who doesn't want to have more food stored at home so that they can have enough to eat every day? Just thinking about it makes him feel at ease.
"This is not difficult. It can be made in half a day." Chen Da said when he heard that she wanted to make a grain rack.
He just refused to accept the craftsman's fee given by Ji Xu. In the eyes of the Chen family, the family's losses were offset by an income from Ji Xu, which was much easier than the hard work in the kiln. If they could help in any way, they would do so. There was no reason to accept any money.
"Uncle Chen has done so much carpentry work for my family, from beams, doors, windows, and dining tables to wooden rulers and even a wooden hook. He's put so much effort into it. Even if I have a thick skin, I can't bear to see him go. I'll take this money."
Chen Gou'er happened to be playing in the mud nearby, so she stuffed the twenty coins into Gou'er's pocket. This was the amount she had inquired about from the carpenter in the city.
“Just think of it as buying food for the kids.”
After saying that, she walked away. If she didn't hurry up, Lu Ai would chase her out and fight with her.
The dog had mud in one hand and money in the other, and looked at the adults at home with blank eyes.
Later, Chen Dazi put in all his effort. It was the first time he made money since he started studying carpentry after he became ill. He did go to the market to look for work, but he was unfamiliar with the job and had a limp, so no one was interested in him all day. It was obvious that Ji Xu was taking care of his craft, so he worked very hard, as if he had regained the strength he had when he worked in the kiln.
I saw that the grain rack had four legs and a horizontal frame, with mortise and tenon joints at the joints and a horizontal bar between the two legs for reinforcement.
I made two of these, placed them firmly on the ground, put a wooden stick in the middle, and then I could put food on them. The legs of the shelf were polished smooth and high to prevent mice from stealing food.
Ji Xu looked at it and said happily, "Uncle Chen, this is a really detailed work."
After setting up the grain rack in the west room, Ji Xu came back the next day and went to the country market to buy flour. He had not neglected his business during these days of cutting firewood and storing firewood, and had saved some money.
She first bought two hu of grain, which cost a total of 120 coins. She asked the shopkeeper to put them in a sack, put them in a basket and carry them back. She went back every day to buy grain like an ant moving its nest.
She couldn't buy too much at one time. First, it would be difficult to transport it back home without a car; second, it would attract attention. If people on the road saw her, they would make fun of how much money she had earned and ask her to bring back a dish of preserved eggs. She had heard these words many times since she built the tile-roofed house at home.
Just carry it in the basket like this, no one can see it, which saves trouble.
The weather was getting colder, but Ji Xu still carried two hu of flour back every day. Now the windows were covered with linen, so passers-by could no longer see into the house. The flour bags on the grain shelf in the west room were piled up more and more, but outsiders were completely unaware.
On a snowy day, Cui Da of Benguli returned from the town. His wife, Liao, was mending his clothes while she asked:
"What's the price of rice now?"
Cui Da had rushed out early this morning to push a wheelbarrow loaded with autumn harvest rice to sell to the grain store. Now he took off his headscarf and rubbed his frozen hands, saying:
"It's still the same price. The grain store charges us thirty coins for a dou and sells it for forty coins."
Liao curled her lips. "The price hasn't increased all year round. A few more bucks would be good for food for New Year's Eve. Guangzong will be back from the county at the end of December and he has to visit other families. Getting married is another expense. I wonder how much his iron shop can earn."
Speaking of price increases, Cui Da came forward and said, "Flour has gone up significantly. I heard from the grain store owner that it's because of the severe drought in Guandong this year. The wheat fields there have yielded no harvest, and as a result, the price of flour has gone up from 60 coins per dou to 80 coins now!
Tsk tsk, it’s a pity that our fields here can’t grow wheat from the north, otherwise we would plant wheat next year.”
When Liao heard this, she sipped her needle and thread and said with joy:
"Hey! It's deserved! The price of flour has gone up. Let's see if that girl will still make that dime. Go ahead and raise it, even higher! Let her lose money!"
Jin knew about the increase in flour prices, and she felt mixed emotions.
The good news is that the price of flour has risen. In this case, the first person to bear the brunt is Ji Xu, who has the largest wheaten food business. It would be best if she could no longer make wheaten food. She is also building houses and making cotton clothes. Let's see how arrogant she will be in the future.
What worries her is that her own Ji Zhike is also selling dimes. Although the profit is not much, at least she can earn six or seven cents a day, which is enough to buy a pound of meat. It is better than selling preserved fruits at the beginning.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but look sad and went home with an empty bag. She had originally gone out to the grain store to buy flour.
Ji Zhi, who was stoking the fire, saw this and asked, "Why didn't you buy the flour, mother? I'm still waiting to make some coins."
Those overnight coins turned yellow and smelled sour. Jin instigated her to sell them, but she secretly poured them out and coaxed her into believing that she had fallen and got her hands dirty with roadside shit. She couldn't sell them, so she had to make new ones. Jin went to buy flour cursing.
"What are you doing? The price of flour has risen to 80 coins per hu."
Jin pointed with her fingers.
"It's enough to buy two hu of rice, and you still buy it back home? Isn't that a big rip-off?"
"The price has gone up?" Ji Yuan, who had gone into the kitchen to look for something to eat, couldn't help but applaud upon hearing this. "Let's see what that girl will do! It's her due!"
Ji Zhi immediately lost heart and sat down under the stove in sorrow. "What should I do? I still have to sell coins. Why raise the price of flour when there are so many other things to raise the price of?"
Ji Yuan said, "I think you shouldn't sell it. You won't even get the money back. You might as well stay at home and help with the work."
Recently, because Ji Zhi was doing some business and earning some money, she was idle at home and was often ordered by Jin to light the fire and pound rice, which was very tiring.
"Just be at ease. When I marry and move to the county town, why worry about not having a good life for our family?
"You're still young, so follow me and serve me for a few years. When you reach marriage age, I'll introduce you to a wealthy family," said Ji Yuan.
Ji Zhi felt depressed after listening to this, and walked into the house, saying angrily:
"You always say you want to marry a rich man, but be careful not to marry a thief with evil intentions. If you want to be beaten or scolded, just look at those small wealthy men in Shengchang. They are more or less easy to serve! If you want to marry, marry by yourself, don't drag me into this!"
"I'm the eldest sister, how dare you talk to me like that, you little bitch! You deserve a price increase on flour! You deserve it! You deserve it!"
Ji Yuan was knocking on the door outside, disturbing the peace in the main house.
"Oh, Aunt Zhuang? You didn't know yet? The price of flour has gone up! It's now eighty coins a dou!"
Zhuang Huiniang was picking cabbages in the vegetable garden when a passerby told her with a gloating look that the Chen family was helping Ji Xu sell things and many people were jealous of them behind his back.
When Zhuang Huiniang heard about it, she didn't even bother to pick the vegetables. She hurried to Ji Xu's house to tell her about it.
"Don't worry, Auntie, come here."
Zhuang Huiniang was led into the west room.
I saw cloth bags and willow baskets hanging on the wall beams, which should be filled with miscellaneous items. There were also many pottery jars at the base of the wall, but I didn't know what they were.
She remembered that the wooden rack by the north wall was a grain rack made by her husband. Now it was piled with bulging bags, which seemed to have traces of flour dust.
"One, two, three, four... nine, ten, ten hu? All flour?" Zhuang Hui Niang asked in surprise.
Ji Xu nodded. Ever since she decided to stockpile grain, she had been saving it bit by bit. She did not hide it from Zhuang Huiniang and told her the origin of the idea of stockpiling grain.
"You are so smart. Who would have thought of stockpiling all this flour? This way we can save a lot of money." Zhuang Hui Niang said.
Ji Xu pondered for a while before speaking:
"My aunt and I can sell more than fifty coins a day. At this rate, this flour can last for about a month. I can still sell eighty coins worth of flour even if I grit my teeth and earn less, but..."
"But what?" asked Zhuang Hui Niang.
Ji Xu shook his head and did not express his worries. He would just take it one step at a time. Telling Zhuang Huiniang now would only add to her worries.
Zhuang Hui Niang thought for a moment and said, "If you buy that eighty cents worth of flour in the future and the cost is higher, I can give you 10% less. I can't let you bear the burden alone."
Ji Xu said: "I will ask for less money from you, Aunt. I can afford this amount. Don't worry, it won't get that far."
The increase in flour prices sounded a wake-up call to Ji Xu. Her family hadn't had time to stock up on rice, so they usually bought as they ate. Seeing that only half a bag was left, she asked:
"Aunt, do you have winter food? I think the rising price of flour is related to the drought in Guandong. Although we only eat rice and fish soup and don't eat wheat and rice, this autumn harvest is still a good year.
But our Yangzhou rice is also shipped to various places, and Guandong is the main grain supply area for the whole country. The prices of the six grains are all rising and falling. I suspect that rice will also be affected. I want to stock up some rice for the winter. If your aunt's family is short of rice, would you like to stock up some now while the price is still low?"
Although there is a price stabilization agency to stabilize grain prices, it cannot control natural disasters and man-made disasters. The price of flour is an example. I am afraid that the price of wheat in Guandong will soar, so we still need to make more plans.
"My family was counting the cost of food, so we sold most of our grain once the busy farming season was over. Now we don't have much rice left, so we eat sparingly on weekdays. We still have plenty of beans."
Zhuang Hui Niang couldn't make up her mind, and she didn't understand much about this, so she kept this in mind and went back to discuss it with Lu Ai.
When Lady Lu heard this, she thought about it for a long time. She still remembered that one year their place was hit by a flood. She was still young at that time, and the rice in the fields was all washed away by the broken river. The price of grain soared that year, and every household suffered. Some families who could not bear it fled to the grain-rich Shu with their families to beg for food and seek refuge; some people were so brave that they robbed the rich. In short, it was a mess, and it took several years to recover.
Lu Ai nodded and said, "It's better to stock up. Our rice won't last until the Spring Festival. We have plenty of beans, but we can't eat bean porridge and bean rice every day. Besides, it won't be enough to last until next autumn harvest. Fortunately, you can earn money now, and Che Zi is also making money at the kiln. Let's buy some to be prepared. It's better than buying expensive ones when the price goes up in the future."
"Then mother, how much should we buy?" asked Zhuang Hui Niang.
Lu Ai went into the house to count the money, and when she came out she put the purse in her hand.
"Look at what Miss Xu wants to buy. We have a large family, but we still have some grain that we grow ourselves. We can mix it with beans and cook it later. So we'll buy 30% of her amount."
"Hey!" Zhuang Hui Niang responded.
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