HLnovel Chapter 960 Purchasing
Chapter 960 Purchasing
On the other side, Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang drove towards Manager Wang's house as the old man had instructed.
When they arrived, after making several turns, they found a large number of government officials gathered at the entrance of the house.
Not far away, there were quite a few people pointing and whispering.
"Oh dear, Manager Wang has been arrested. Where are we going to buy grain now?"
"That's right, they're not letting us ordinary people make a living!"
"This must have been done by the Zhou family through the government. The grain shop in the west of the city is now run by the Zhou family."
They must have been jealous of Manager Wang selling grain at low prices, which blocked their path to wealth, and that's why they reported it to the authorities to have him arrested.
"Aren't they afraid of retribution for acting so ruthlessly?"
"..."
Lu Qingqing stopped and listened for a while before she understood what had happened.
It turns out that Manager Wang had been reported by someone.
Not only would their grain be confiscated, but they would also be imprisoned.
According to the speculations of those around them, many said it was done by the Zhou family.
It seems highly likely that this Zhou family is the same Zhou family that Steward Zhou works for.
As Lu Qingqing was thinking, she saw a group of officials escorting out a man with a defeated look on his face.
Behind the man was a woman, who was crying and begging not to take the man away.
The officers ignored her, shoving her to the ground and coldly shouting:
“Your husband disobeyed the magistrate’s orders and hoarded a large amount of grain.”
He's definitely going to jail for good!"
With that, he forced the person away.
Even after the officials and their men had gone far away, some people nearby still looked worried.
"What are we going to do? We can't buy grain from Manager Wang, where else can we buy it!"
"Yes, that Qianfeng Grain Shop that's always open has ridiculously expensive grain, and they even mix in pebbles. It's a total rip-off!"
"..."
After listening to them talk for a while, Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang exchanged a glance and turned to leave.
The two headed straight for the commercial street in the west of the city.
When I arrived, I found that there weren't many pedestrians on the street.
I walked along the street from east to west, and indeed, only this one grain shop was open.
After making a turn, the carriage turned around and headed straight for Qianfeng Grain Shop.
When I rushed over, I found that there wasn't a single customer in the shop.
The shop assistants didn't seem very enthusiastic.
Qin Lang told Lu Qingqing to wait in the car, then jumped out and went into the grain shop.
They came out shortly afterward.
Seeing Lu Qingqing looking over, he shook his head at her.
"Grain prices are outrageously high; a bushel of the worst coarse rice costs two taels of silver."
Other grains are even more expensive.
Lu Qingqing shook her head and drove away.
We can't buy this grain now; we'll go ask Wang Daniu again later.
If that doesn't work either, then move some of the food stored in the space out.
Today, there are still five rows of shelves of grain in the space.
She hadn't calculated the exact amount, but producing several thousand kilograms of grain shouldn't be a problem.
After passing the grain shop, we came across a general store after walking a few steps.
The two stopped the car and went into the grocery store.
Putting everything else aside, we need to add more salt.
In addition, consumables such as water bladders also need to be replenished.
Lu Qingqing originally thought there wouldn't be much inside.
Unexpectedly, although the items here were not as complete as those in the prefectural city, they were still much more numerous than those in ordinary cities.
Looking at the jar of bright red candied plums, Lu Qingqing swallowed hard, her mouth watering at the sour taste.
Remembering that Qin Lang used to like to eat this, she subconsciously turned to look at him.
Sure enough, his eyes sparkled as he stared at the candied plums.
Lu Qingqing found it amusing; sure enough, even if a person becomes smarter, their preferences remain the same.
She said to the shopkeeper who was waiting nearby:
"Shopkeeper, how many candied plums do you have left in your shop? Pack them all up for me!"
Hearing how generous she was, the shopkeeper happily agreed.
Qin Lang, on the contrary, felt a little embarrassed.
Isn't it a bit strange that a grown man likes to eat sweets?
But then I thought, Qingqing knows everything I did when I wasn't sober.
Oh, never mind.
There's a saying these days: lovers need to be honest with each other!
Thinking about it that way, I felt a bit more at ease.
"Shopkeeper, wrap up all the red date rice dumplings in that bamboo tube over there for me too!"
After the shopkeeper agreed, his men worked even faster.
He was overjoyed; a big client had come today!
Since the disaster, his general store has only sold small items like needles and thread.
My wife and kids at home are so hungry they've grown long teeth.
No, he needs to explain it further and try to sell as many as possible.
And so, the shopkeeper picked out the things the two might like and introduced them one by one.
Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang accepted most of them.
After a shopping spree, the purchased items piled up in a large area.
Moving all these things down the stairs left the shopkeeper breathless with exhaustion.
However, his hand holding the abacus remained very steady.
After fiddling with the abacus for a while, he calculated the total cost of all the items he had bought.
Two hundred and thirty-three taels and two mace!
When quoting the price, he thoughtfully rounded down the amount.
Lu Qingqing took out her money pouch and readily paid the money.
Seeing that she wasn't haggling anymore, the shopkeeper started showering her with compliments.
He called his eldest son, who was watching the cars outside, over to help him pack up.
After working for a while, we finally got everything loaded onto the car.
Amidst the enthusiastic farewell from the grocery store owners, Lu Qingqing drove away in her fully loaded carriage.
On the way, she climbed into the carriage and put everything into her storage space one by one.
Among them, Qin Lang's favorite snacks were placed directly on his special snack shelf.
Daily consumables such as water bags are also neatly arranged on the shelves.
When Qin Lang arrived at the agreed meeting place with Wang Daniu, there were already people waiting there.
Upon hearing the sound of wheels, Wang Daniu's face lit up with joy.
He arrived early and had been waiting here for quite a while.
With the time fast approaching, the person from last night still hadn't arrived.
He thought he had been deceived.
I never expected it to actually happen.
He hurried to the carriage and greeted it warmly:
"Heroes, you've finally arrived."
I've found out about the grain you asked me to inquire about last night.
Lu Qingqing jumped out of the car and chatted with him for a while.
It was discovered that the price of grain quoted by this person, although higher than that of Manager Wang, was much cheaper than that of the grain shop.
However, Wang Daniu hesitated when it came to the required quantity.
"Good sir, with my methods, that's all the grain they have left."
Can we eat this first?
I'll continue to explore other avenues for you later.
In fact, the person Wang Daniu contacted only had a little over three thousand catties of grain.
This number sounds like a lot at first glance, but Lu Qingqing's team actually has a lot of people.
Even if each person gets 100 catties of grain, that would still amount to 15,000 catties.
Moreover, this 100 jin of grain is only enough for one person to eat for two months.
This is even though they are eating frugally.
Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang exchanged a glance, and then Lu Qingqing agreed.
At this point, it's unknown how much food the others in the team have found.
If even with the food from other people, it's still not enough.
The missing amount will be replenished from her space.
After agreeing on the time and place for delivering the grain with Wang Daniu, Lu Qingqing returned to the inn.
When the two returned, many people had not yet come back.
Lu Qingqing asked around and found that only one group had found the way.
All that was left were the two grain shops that were still open.
The price of grain in the shop also successfully deterred them.
Even Wu, the wealthiest man in the village, was reluctant to buy the grain there, even though he was counting his money carefully.