Chapter 105: Secret Purchase of Grain
The exchange of glances between the two only lasted a moment, and only they themselves knew the truth.
When Chef Yu heard what Shen Lie said, he laughed out loud: "You are a family, Shen Xiaolang is so lucky! Madam Sang is really amazing!"
Chef Yu wanted to ask, hasn't he been conscripted for so many years, how come he still married such a wife across the world? Fortunately, seeing Sang Luo was there, he controlled his gossip and didn't ask. He called an apprentice to prepare a small plate of snacks for the two children, Shen An and Shen Ning, and then went to check the goods.
Pheasants are rare and much more expensive than domestic chickens. Chef Yu charged more than four hundred and fifty coins for four pheasants and half a basket of winter bamboo shoots. He also accepted the twelve pounds of vegetarian tripe that Qin Fangniang and Sang Luo had ordered the day before. After weighing Chen Dashan's four pheasants, he led a few people to the accounting office in the front to get the money.
Shen An and Shen Ning were familiar with the place, so they stayed in the kitchen to eat and wait for their elder brother and sister-in-law.
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Shopkeeper Xu was usually around at this time. When he saw Sang Luo coming, he greeted her with a smile. He also noticed that there were two young men traveling with her. They looked familiar to him, but he couldn't remember when he had seen them before. He was a little confused and looked at them a few more times.
It was Chef Yu who introduced them as they walked, saying that they were young men who had delivered game to the restaurant a few years ago. Only then did Shopkeeper Xu realize why he felt familiar with them. He thought that he might have seen them several times before. When he heard that one of them was Sang Luo's husband, Shopkeeper Xu's eyes widened.
After dealing with them for so long, he knew that Sang Luo's man had gone to the battlefield and had never returned. They all said he was dead. He never thought that after such a long time, he would actually come back?
He was obviously much more enthusiastic towards Chen Lie and Chen Dashan. Firstly, he knew that one of them was Sang Luo's husband and the other was a familiar fellow villager. Secondly, he wanted to ask about the situation outside.
Chen Lie saw that Sang Luo seemed to have a good relationship with this Shopkeeper Xu, and guessed that they must have asked him to buy food today. When he heard Shopkeeper Xu asking about the situation outside, he did not hide it. Considering that there were already guests eating breakfast in the restaurant, he lowered his voice and shook his head, saying: "The situation is very bad, it's all messed up."
The smile on Shopkeeper Xu's face froze after hearing this, and his expression became a little solemn. He also knew that this was a sensitive topic, so he didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he looked at the three people and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to host you in the private room. Let's talk about this in detail inside."
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan both looked at Sang Luo. After all, this was the place Sang Luo and Shopkeeper Xu were most familiar with.
Shopkeeper Xu said to Sang Luo, "Madam Sang, this is not the place to talk."
Sang Luo nodded: "Let's go to the private room to talk. There's no need to eat. There's no need to be so polite. Besides, I came here today to ask Shopkeeper Xu for help with something."
Shopkeeper Xu actually didn't have the mood to eat anything right now, so he nodded: "Okay, I'll have someone bring a pot of tea."
He called the waiter and gave him a few instructions, then led Sang Luo and the other two to a private room where there were no other guests. Seeing this, Chef Yu hurriedly followed.
The breakfast in the restaurant is mostly plain dim sum, which are all prepared before dawn. There are also other chefs, so it’s okay for him to walk around now.
When Manager Xu saw him coming, he didn't say anything. Only the accountant wanted to hear about the situation, but he couldn't leave his position, so he could only wait a while and ask Manager Xu for news.
After entering the private room, the waiter served tea and closed the door. Then Shopkeeper Xu said, "Brother Shen, Brother Chen, please tell me the situation outside in detail."
Chen Lie did not hide anything and described the situation outside as concisely and clearly as possible. Finally, he said, "We don't know about other places, but on our way back, Hebei and Hedong were already in chaos. It was not uncommon for county towns to be attacked and massacred and looted. The rebels broke into the city, looted and ran away, and the court had no way to deal with them. It was relatively peaceful when we arrived in Henan and all the way to our Huainan area."
Chen Dashan: "It's only relative. There are quite a few small gangs of bandits hiding in the mountains in Henan Province, but they are not a big deal yet."
After hearing this, Manager Xu groaned for a moment and said, "Henan Road is where our great dry grain warehouse is located. I believe the imperial court cannot afford to lose this place. With Henan Road in front, our Huainan Road will be much safer. Moreover, our Shezhou is close to Jiangnan Road, so chaos should not spread here, right?"
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan were both silent. If Manager Xu had seen how miserable the people in Hebei and Hedong were, he probably wouldn't have dared to hold such hopes. It was true that Henan was the place where the granaries were, but there were starving people everywhere in Hebei and Hedong, just across the river, and the court and the government were not willing to donate a single grain of rice to help the victims.
Not to mention Henan Province, there are naturally granaries in Hebei and Hedong Provinces, but without orders from above, no officials opened the granaries to release the grain. The people could not survive and would naturally rebel.
Chen Lie could only shake his head: "It's hard to say. If this kind of thing can be settled quickly, it's good. If it can't be settled quickly, the four parties will respond quickly. It's better to make some preparations early."
Shopkeeper Xu and Chef Yu both looked a little unhappy. They felt uneasy when the grain price went up, but they always thought it was just due to the court's two tax increases and the disasters in the northern states. They didn't expect the situation to be much more chaotic than they imagined.
Shopkeeper Xu knocked his knuckles on the table several times before looking up at Sang Luo: "Madam Sang, do you want me to buy you some more food?"
After hearing the news brought back by Chen Lie and his companions, it was not difficult to guess Sang Luo's purpose.
Sang Luo nodded, "That's right. Not only me, but also several aunts who help me sell tofu need to prepare some grain at home. Now the grain store only sells two liters, and we can't buy much if we go to buy it ourselves. The news of the war is blocked now because of the epidemic, but since we know it, other people should also know it. This kind of news spreads the fastest. It won't be long before the news in the county is all over the place. By then, the price of grain will be even more difficult for us to afford. That's why I came to you to ask if you can help."
Shopkeeper Xu pondered. It was not so easy to use the relationship with the grain shop now. However, the grain price had risen several times in the past two months and Sang Luo had never asked him for help. This was because the generals were in chaos and she had no other choice but to ask him. She could not refuse and nodded: "I have some personal connections with the shopkeepers of several grain shops in the city. If it is not much, I can help ask."
Sang Luo and the other two were all delighted. You Luo said hurriedly, "Not much. We have limited money and we can't afford the food now. We have to stock up on various grains. As for rice, we probably have about 10 dan in total, but no more than 20 dan."
Among them, eight stones were what Sang Luo wanted herself. If the grain price did not change today, eight stones of grain would be worth a little over twenty-three taels.
She brought all the silver and money from home today, a total of more than sixteen taels of silver and copper coins. She would deliver the goods to Yongfengzhai later. She could get nearly two taels of silver from a jar of jujube candy and two jars of crystal preserved meat. With the sale of some ginseng, Sang Luo would still have enough money to buy eight stone of grain. In addition to stockpiling salt and medicine, she also planned to stockpile various coarse grains with the remaining money.
After all, no one knows how long this world will be in chaos.
She wanted eight shi, Zhou Cunzheng's family wanted four shi, and the three families of Chen, Shi and Lu reported to her yesterday a total of seven shi, but later she suggested that people should stock up more grains before the prices of various beans and grains go up, so now they are probably only half of that, so the total amount is estimated to be only about ten shi.
When Manager Xu heard that it was only a dozen stones, he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go out in person later and give you an answer when I come back."
When Sang Luo heard him agree, she immediately showed joy on her face, stood up and bowed, saying, "I don't need to thank you for your kindness. If you need us in the future, just let me know."
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan also hurriedly bowed to express their gratitude.
Shopkeeper Xu actually liked Sang Luo's personality and said with a smile, "You're being polite. Thank you for giving us the news in time. If you want to buy grains, go early. I've also privately informed the shop assistants and asked them to make some preparations in advance."
Sang Luo was indeed in a hurry, so she didn't say much. She bowed and said goodbye to Shen Lie and Chen Dashan.
After they left, Shopkeeper Xu said to Chef Yu, "Have the shop assistants come here in batches. I'll ask if anyone wants to buy food. You can also think about whether you want to stock up on some more food. If it's coarse grains, have your apprentice go back and let them know, and then you can go buy it yourself. If it's rice, come and tell me the number, and buy it all today."
Chef Yu didn't need to think about it, so he said to Shopkeeper Xu: "Yes, please buy me three stones."
His family had stockpiled a lot of grain when the price of grain just started to rise, but when they heard about the war, they became uneasy and asked for another three stones.
Shopkeeper Xu nodded and said, "Okay, go call them and tell them not to spread the news. Otherwise, we may not be able to buy food today, and the price will probably go up a lot if we do."
"I know, I know." Chef Yu responded repeatedly, then left the private room and called people in batches.
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In the alley outside the back kitchen of Dongfulou, Chen Youtian and his three companions were waiting there with their hands in their sleeves. When they saw Sang Luo, Chen Lie and the others coming out, they hurried over to them and asked, "How is it? Can I help you?"
Sang Luo smiled and nodded: "It should be possible. I will go and ask for us later. Uncle Youtian, you should buy the grains now before the news spreads. If you delay, I am afraid that it will be difficult to buy them if the news spreads in the county."
Chen Youtian and his companions responded hurriedly. They had seen that it was still early, so they waited to confirm whether rice was available for purchase so as to determine how much coarse grains to buy. Now that they had an idea, they agreed with Sang Luo and his companions that they would return to the back alley of Dongfulou after buying the coarse grains, and prepared to leave.
Sang Luo took out three taels of silver and gave it to Chen Lie, saying, "I still have to go to Yongfengzhai. You and Uncle Youtian should go buy some grains first. Buy all the grains you can. When the money is spent, you don't have to keep it. You can use Uncle Youtian's car to transport it back here later. If the car can't fit when you go back later, you can borrow a car from Dongfulou."
Three taels of silver can buy about seven or eight stone of miscellaneous grains.
Chen Lie also knew that he had to hurry now. The Zhou family knew the news, and the villagers of Shili Village knew the news. Manager Xu would probably take care of the shop assistants in Dongfulou. Most of these shop assistants had relatives around, so they would have to inform their relatives. The grain shop would realize that something was wrong by the afternoon at the earliest, or tomorrow at the latest.
He took the money and said, "Then be careful. When you come out of Yongfengzhai, go back to Dongfulou and wait for me. I'll accompany you to the pharmacy."
Sang Luo knew that he meant that she had too much money and ginseng on her. He was worried that if she went to sell the ginseng by herself, her money would be exposed and it would be unsafe. She nodded and said, "Okay, I'll wait for you to go to the medicine store together."
Seeing that she agreed, Shen Lie left with Chen Youtian and the others.
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