Chapter 95 Planning to Sell Grain
Liu Ye was puzzled after hearing this. What was going on? Why was Zhang Fang coming to her house to buy grain? Was it because they couldn't buy grain in town? Or was she also here to take advantage of the situation?
"Zhang Fang, we're running low on grain. Why don't you go to the grain store in town to buy some? I'm going to town to buy grain tomorrow too. How about we go together?"
She said that to test Zhang Fang and see if anything had happened in town.
Sure enough, Zhang Fang, who was outside the door, was furious when she heard what she said. If she could buy grain at the grain store in town, why would she have come here? It seems that Liu Ye doesn't know this: "Alright, Liu Ye, I'll tell you the truth."
“Several grain stores in our town are out of grain. The heavy snow a couple of days ago has temporarily blocked grain from the south. Two stores are still open, but the grain prices are outrageously high, and we can’t even buy any mixed grains. We do have rice and wheat flour, but they’re too expensive. Rice has gone up to two taels of silver per pound. Who can afford that? Willow Leaf, if you have any mixed grains, please sell some to me. All I have left are pickled vegetables; I have no mixed grains at all.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye realized that's how it was. She couldn't sell her to her then. Yesterday's incident had already taught her a lesson. No wonder people say that in chaotic times, the saintly mother is the first to be killed: "I'm so sorry, Zhang Fang, my family has really run out of food. Since the grain store doesn't have any mixed grains, I'll go buy rice tomorrow. Why don't you come with me?"
Zhang Fang nearly fainted from anger upon hearing this. "Go to hell! Who can afford rice? Forget it, I won't buy it. Go by yourself!"
Liu Ye heard the footsteps fading into the distance before she returned to the house with a sense of relief. The grain store in town was out of grain, which was not a good thing. The people didn't have much grain left either, and the grain distributed by the government was almost gone. Alas, the people of ancient times really faced one obstacle after another. How difficult it was to live!
Or she could open a grain store in town and sell it cheaper so that ordinary people could afford it. But no, she didn't want to stir up trouble. Yesterday's incident had taught her a big lesson. Besides, there were government officials and grain merchants who wanted to make money. The grain would definitely be delivered, maybe a few days late.
Why don't she go to town and take a look around, and check out the shops while she's at it? The next day, after Liu Ye finished breakfast, she carried her basket to town. She went to check out the shops first and found that they were still the same as before, except that there was a pile of snow in the backyard. Since she wasn't going anywhere, she decided to leave it there for now.
She locked the shop door and went to the grain store on the street in front. The store was full of people, and it took her a while to squeeze in.
"Waiter, give me a pound of rice."
Shopkeeper, give me two jin of flour.
"What! The price has gone up again! Yesterday it was 2,000 coins per catty, and today it's 2,100 coins! Shopkeeper, you're robbing me! Do you believe I'll report you to the authorities?!"
The shopkeeper said helplessly, "Oh dear, we have no choice. There isn't much grain in the warehouse, and it's expensive and almost sold out. Grain from the south can't be transported over anytime soon. Everyone, hurry up and buy, the price will go up again tomorrow."
Liu Ye quietly left the grain store and went to another grain store she knew, not far from the cloth shop. She had bought rice from this store before, but it was closed, so it seemed that there was no grain left to sell.
Just as she turned to leave, the shop door was opened from the inside, and a well-dressed gentleman, in his forties, walked out, followed by the shopkeeper of the grain store and two servants.
The well-dressed gentleman, seeing that Liu Ye was pretty, smiled and struck up a conversation: "Miss, are you here to buy grain?"
Liu Ye nodded with a faint smile: "Yes, I used to come to your store to buy grain often, but I didn't expect the store to be closed today. It seems I will have to buy from another store."
The old man's smile vanished instantly, and he sighed, "Alas, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm out of grain. The grain merchant I was working with suddenly went back on his word and sold the last batch of grain to Shuangxi Grain Store. It must be that old bastard Qian Shuangxi who raised the price on his own and stole my business!"
Manager Li gave his boss a jab, and then the boss belatedly realized that he had said too much again: "Hehehe, sorry, I've been in a bad mood these past two days, so I said a few more words when I saw you, young lady. It's fate that we met. I am Li Fugui, the owner of Shunfeng Grain Store. I see that you are not very old, so please call me Uncle Fugui."
Liu Ye didn't stand on ceremony and sweetly greeted, "Hello, Uncle Fugui. My name is Liu Ye. Please allow me to ask, if I had a large quantity of grain, would you like it?"
This was a spur-of-the-moment idea of hers. Since grain couldn't be brought in from the south, she decided to find a way to sell a batch. Whether she made money or not didn't matter. Of course, she was sure she could make money. Grain was so expensive now that even if she sold it cheaply, she probably wouldn't get much of a discount.
Upon hearing this, Li Fugui's eyes widened like saucers. After calming down, he began to doubt Liu Ye's words. Just now she had said she wanted to buy grain, and now she said she had grain on hand: "Girl, don't joke with me. I get so angry just thinking about grain. If you really have grain, I'll take as much as you have. I'm just afraid you don't have any."
Liu Ye reached into her sleeve and pulled her hand out, revealing a handful of white rice. She held it out to Li Fugui: "This is the rice I have. Take a look at the quality."
Li Fugui's eyes widened in surprise again. He quickly reached out and took the rice from Liu Ye's hand: "Oh, good rice! This white rice is crystal clear and plump."
He held it to his nose again and smelled it. The aroma of rice was rich. He had been selling grain for so many years, and he had never seen such good rice before. However, he asked, "Miss Liu, is all the white rice you have this quality?"
Liu Ye nodded with certainty: "They are all of this quality. You can check the goods."
Upon hearing this, Li Fugui quickly asked again, "How many kilograms do you have in your hand?"
Liu Ye thought for a moment and said, "There are probably six or seven hundred thousand catties, all of which have already been threshed, like the kind you are holding in your hand."
Upon hearing that there would be 500,000 to 600,000 jin of rice, Li Fugui was so excited that his legs cramped up and he almost fell to the ground. He was supported by Manager Li and his attendant behind him.
Li Fugui pushed away the shopkeeper Li who was supporting him and looked at Liu Ye excitedly, asking, "You said you still have flour on you, how many kilograms do you have?"
Liu Ye thought for a moment and said, "There are probably more than 400,000 catties. I also brought the samples. Take a look for yourself."
She reached into her sleeve and took out a handful of flour from her spatial storage, handing it to Li Fugui. Li Fugui excitedly took the flour from her hand: "Oh my, this flour is so good! It's so white and fragrant! If you really have such high-quality grain, I'll take it all. We can discuss the price; we'll go with the highest market price right now. Is that alright?"
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