After everything was ready, the two began to enjoy their dinner.
"I think steamed is the best," Xu Han said while eating.
With this steamed dish, Xu Han didn't eat any staple food, while Lu Chuan, who has a large appetite, got hungry quickly without staple food and ate it with steamed buns.
"Hmm! Fried eggs are good too. Each method has a different flavor, and I think they're all delicious." Lu Chuan, on the other hand, was impartial and ate a little of everything.
After dinner, the two chatted in the main room while processing the wild garlic and other wild vegetables they had dug up.
The main difficulties are with wild garlic and violets; the others don't require much processing.
Another day passed, and on the second day, Xu Han and Lu Chuan went to dig for wild vegetables again, carrying baskets on their backs.
This continued for several days. Since hunting was not allowed in the spring, Lu Chuan simply didn't go. He planned to take Xu Han into the mountains for a few days later.
That morning, after Xu Han and Lu Chuan finished breakfast, they carried baskets on their backs and went into the bamboo forest to see if there were any bamboo shoots they could dig up!
At this temperature, some bamboo shoots are already ready to sprout, but they haven't emerged from the soil yet, and they're at their most delicious.
However, when the two arrived at the bamboo forest full of expectations, they found that, perhaps because there was no spring rain this year, there were fewer bamboo shoots and they were not as easy to dig as last year.
After digging all day, I found that today's harvest was more than half less than that of a single day last year.
Even so, the two did not give up digging for bamboo shoots. After digging for several more days, bamboo shoots became even harder to find, so they finally stopped.
Let's wait until they grow larger before digging them up! They'll be easier to find then.
The days passed by at a leisurely pace, and before we knew it, it was already March. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, which was not what one would expect for this season.
The two, unable to sit still, decided to go to the county town early the next morning to check on the situation. They hadn't been to the county town since returning from the prefectural city, and they had no idea what the outside world was like during that time.
After discussing it for a while, the two decided to go to the county town to check on the situation.
"Let's go early tomorrow morning and think about whether there's anything else we need to buy," Lu Chuan asked.
“Most of the things are almost complete, but we can buy some more rock sugar and brown sugar, which we can’t make ourselves because we don’t have the raw materials,” Xu Han said after thinking for a moment.
Whether it's a year of famine or war, salt and sugar are essential supplies, and Xu Han wanted to buy as much as she could while she still could.
Later on, these things became regulated and became unavailable.
"This is fine, are there any others?" Lu Chuan asked again.
"We already have cloth, food, and medicine. The rest are things we can make do with if we don't have them. Salt and seasonings in the space can be refreshed, so we don't need to prepare those separately. What we need to buy are some things that can improve our quality of life."
"That's fine, we'll decide what to buy then!"
After agreeing on the plan, the two went to get some rest. They planned to go to the county town early the next day.
A good night's sleep...
The next morning, after locking the courtyard gate, Lu Chuan and Xu Han set off.
Because they arrived early, it was only a little past ten o'clock when the two reached the county town.
Along the way, many farmers were watering their crops in the fields beside the official road, probably in preparation for spring planting!
Upon arriving in the county town, it was immediately noticeable that there were far fewer people.
Lu Chuan and Xu Han went to the market as usual, but the market was unusually deserted today.
Lu Chuan chatted with the shop owner while buying food.
"Boss, I'm a hunter from the mountains. I haven't come down here in a long time. Why are there so few people in the market all of a sudden? Has something happened?" Lu Chuan asked, pretending not to know anything.
When the shop owner saw Lu Chuan asking, and since business was slow, he started chatting with Lu Chuan.
"So you're a hunter from the mountains! No wonder you asked that. It hasn't rained for three months, and the farmers who used to frequently come to the city to sell their produce have gradually stopped coming."
That's why there are so few people at the market. Even my noodle stall's business has become much worse.
"Oh, I see! No wonder the town felt so deserted today!" Lu Chuan replied.
"Who can argue with that! Farmers are all busy at home irrigating their fields and spring planting! Who has time to come to the county town to sell things! And who knows what the harvest will be like in the coming years!"
The county magistrate has ordered the planting of drought-resistant crops and has also manufactured a new batch of waterwheels, distributing them to various villages for rotation.
"Then our magistrate is quite good. This is all thanks to his wisdom," Lu Chuan flattered.
"Yes, I heard that grain prices in other counties have already risen quite a bit, but our county magistrate is not allowing grain prices to rise too high, and the people are not allowed to buy large quantities of grain. Even so, the price of grain is still five coins more expensive per pound than before."
These days, very few people eat out; they mostly eat at home. With rising food prices, our small stalls are struggling to stay afloat. I was even thinking of closing them down these past couple of days!
Lu Chuan expressed his understanding, chatted for a while longer, and then got up and left after finishing his meal.
To verify what the noodle stall owner said, the two went to the grain shop. The shop was unusually deserted. They went inside and found that the price of grain was indeed five coins more expensive than before, whether it was coarse or refined grain.
After looking around, they originally intended to buy a little more as a token gesture! However, the grain shop owner informed them that each person was limited to buying ten catties of grain, and no more would be sold.
After careful inquiry, it was learned that the reason for the deserted grain store was that some people had realized the weather was not right and had started to buy some grain to stock up for a rainy day.
Some people, however, thought the drought wouldn't be too severe and believed they had enough food at home to get through this period.
In addition, grain prices are high now. If it rains later, wouldn't we have wasted so much money buying grain?
Moreover, with the magistrate's policy in place, there's no longer any fear of not being able to buy grain later, so they might as well wait and see.
After buying some grain, the two left the grain shop.
As soon as they stepped out of the store, Xu Han lowered her voice and said, "Luckily we bought the grain in advance, otherwise it would be really difficult to buy grain now."
Lu Chuan chimed in, "The current grain store's purchase limit is probably due to a policy issued by the county magistrate, and also because the grain store owner wants to stockpile more grain so that he can make a profit when there is a shortage later."
"Fortunately, our county magistrate is a good official who loves the people like his own children; otherwise, with no rain for three months, the price of grain would probably be even higher," Xu Han agreed.
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