Fortunately, the price of grain in the mall was less than a third of what it was on the market, and Jiang Ling breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the price.
First, she bought two bamboo baskets, some basic food and daily necessities. Then, after thinking about it, Jiang Ling bought two large water buckets. Finally, after hesitating for a while, she gritted her teeth and bought a piece of pork the size of her palm.
In just a short while, Jiang Ling's once heavy pockets were almost empty. Touching the few remaining copper coins, Jiang Ling sighed helplessly. It seemed that she would have to work harder to dig for medicinal herbs in the future.
After quickly stuffing all the items into her basket, Jiang Ling carried another basket out of the alley to meet up with Jiang Yaojie.
When Jiang Ling saw Jiang Yaojie, he looked a little unwell. She thought he had gotten into an argument with someone and quickly asked, "What's wrong, Yaojie? Who bullied you?"
Jiang Yaojie shook his head and handed a small package to Jiang Ling, saying, "The price of salt at the general store has gone up. You can buy this much for ten copper coins."
Jiang Ling secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She tossed the paper packet, which was no bigger than her palm, into her basket and comforted her, "It's okay, as long as there's something to eat! Don't worry, I won't let you and your sisters go hungry!"
Jiang Ling, having returned laden with her loot, once again rode in Uncle Lu's oxcart.
By this time, the oxcart was already filled with people returning to Lujia Village.
As soon as Jiang Ling got on the bus, Uncle Lu noticed the pot on her back and asked curiously, "Aunt Jiang, where did you buy this pot? The craftsmanship seems to be much better than the blacksmith's in town!"
"Really? Maybe it's a new pot. I think they're all the same," Jiang Ling replied vaguely.
After hearing this, Uncle Lu glanced at Jiang Ling with some dissatisfaction and couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "As expected, women can't live a good life without a man. Who knows how much money this new pot will cost."
Before long, Uncle Lu's oxcart was full of people again. Uncle Lu slowly drove the oxcart towards Lu Family Village, while the women on the cart, who were bored, started chatting.
"Aunt Wangde, have you heard? The Li family in town was robbed last night!"
Jiang Ling, who had been dozing off, suddenly opened her eyes upon hearing the news. She subtly moved to the side and listened intently to the conversation among the women.
"I heard about it. It's terrifying. They say the thief who stole the grain even killed a servant! He stole over a hundred catties of grain."
"And it's because of this that the town's grain prices have doubled again! Ugh, it makes me angry just thinking about it! Look, thirty or forty copper coins only bought this little bit of brown rice!" Aunt Wangde said, waving the bag in her hand at Baozhu's wife next to her.
Hearing this, Jiang Ling's heart tightened. She understood even more clearly that in this year of famine, not only could wealth not be leaked, but even the food could not be known to others, otherwise it would inevitably arouse envy.
She discreetly glanced back at her basket, thankfully she had bought a pot and placed it on top of the basket, so that no one on the oxcart knew what she had bought.
As Jiang Ling was deep in thought, something suddenly flew onto her face. If Jiang Ling hadn't been afraid before, the sudden appearance of the creature still startled her.
She froze, too stiff to move, and said to Jiang Yaojie beside her, "Yaojie! Quick! Quickly remove it for me!"
Seeing this, Jiang Yaojie skillfully removed the insects from Jiang Ling's face. Suddenly, Aunt Wangde, who had sharp eyes, cried out, "My God! These! These are locusts!!"
"Locusts?" Everyone on the oxcart gasped when they heard Aunt Wangde's scream. Even Uncle Lu, who had been driving the cart, immediately stopped.
He rushed to Jiang Yaojie's side in a panic, grabbed Jiang Yaojie's hand that was holding the locust, stared at it closely, and finally saw that Lu Bo's face turned pale, his body trembled, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Oh my god! They really are locusts!! Is God really going to destroy our Lu Family Village?" Uncle Lu said in despair.
"I'm so angry! These locusts! Ugh! They deserve to die!" Aunt Wangde had a fiery temper, and she snatched the locusts from Jiang Yaojie's hand.
He crushed the locust to death with a "poof" sound, then threw it on the ground and stomped on it several times to vent his anger.
Looking at the chaotic crowd, Jiang Ling couldn't help but worry. She knew the saying that locusts would leave nothing but desolation, especially for these farmers who depended on the weather for their livelihood. The drought was already deadly enough, and if locusts really came, Jiang Ling didn't dare to think about the consequences.
After sitting slumped on the ground for a while, Uncle Lu returned to the oxcart with a look of despair and continued on his way. The locusts had also made everyone lose their desire to chat, and they all sat on the cart with gloomy faces, sighing and complaining.
After a long while, Jiang Ling finally saw the familiar Lu Family Village. Uncle Lu's car was parked at the entrance of the village, and everyone got out of the car. Jiang Ling led Jiang Yaojie back to the old house quickly.
"mother!"
"mother!"
As soon as Jiang Ling pushed open the door of the old house, two thin, small figures rushed into her arms. Jiang Ling smiled and patted her two daughters' heads.
Jiang Ling carried the basket on her back and walked into the house alone. After confirming that no one was around, she quietly put everything she had bought into the two inconspicuous jars inside the house.
Then she carefully moved the jar to the side of the bed, so that even if a thief came in to steal the grain, Jiang Ling could notice it as soon as possible and minimize the loss.
After finishing all that, Jiang Ling took the rice and the piece of lean meat she had bought earlier and came out.
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