Chapter 144 - 136: Flood in the South

Chapter 144: Chapter 136: Flood in the South

The stall owner was a man in his early thirties, burly and stout with a fleshy, intimidating face. Seeing that it was a little girl asking, he said, "It’s no special day."

Bai Zhi asked again, "Then why are there so many people in the market? I’ve never seen so many people here before."

The stall owner looked around and sighed. "I heard there were big floods down south. The disaster victims are fleeing their homes, and a lot of refugees are heading for our Qingyuan Town. Think about it, when the refugees get here, doesn’t the government have to take care of them? They have to provide food and shelter, right? If it’s just a few people, that’s one thing, but what if a lot of them come? Won’t the price of rice, flour, and vegetables in our town start to shoot up?"

Bai Zhi came to a sudden realization. "Oh, so everyone’s busy hoarding grain!"

The stall owner sighed. "I can’t talk anymore, I need to go buy grain too. It’s like I’ve sold all this meat for nothing today. I heard the price of rice has already doubled. If I wait any longer, I’m afraid I won’t be able to buy any at all."

Seeing the stall owner grab his things and leave, Hu Feng quickly tugged on Bai Zhi’s sleeve. "Should we buy some?"

Bai Zhi nodded. "Of course. At this rate, it won’t be long before the price of rice goes up again. We’re lucky to be here today."

A long line snaked out from the grain and oil shop, and a constant stream of complaints could be heard. Normally, one tael of silver could buy five bushels of rice, but today it only got you three.

The rice seller shouted, "You can all stop complaining! Come back tomorrow and see if one tael of silver will still get you three bushels of rice."

Grumble as they might, they still had to buy. It wasn’t the first or second time there had been floods down south. Every time refugees arrived, the grain prices here would multiply, changing daily. Everyone knew this in their hearts.

Those who were well-off and farsighted had already stocked up on grain long ago. The ones rushing to buy rice now were those who usually got by on wishful thinking, hoping that there wouldn’t be floods this year.

But the biggest reason was that money was tight, and they had no spare silver to stock up on grain.

When it was Bai Zhi’s turn, the owner asked, "How much?" He had already picked up a measuring scoop, figuring a little girl like her would buy a measure or two at most, nothing more.

Bai Zhi said with a wide smile, "Sir, I’d like ten bushels of rice. Could you give me a small discount?"

The owner paused, momentarily stunned, and finally took a proper look at the girl before him. She was small, thin, and frail, with dry, yellowish hair—a typical country girl. Although her clothes were brand new, she didn’t look like a child from a wealthy family.

"Do you know how much ten bushels costs?" the owner asked.

Bai Zhi nodded. "Of course I know. At one tael of silver for three bushels, ten bushels comes to three taels and three maces. Why don’t we round it down and call it three taels for the ten bushels? How about it?"

The owner had been selling rice for half the day and had only sold six or seven bushels in total. Her order of ten bushels would empty nearly half his granary. It would save him a lot of trouble, so a little less profit didn’t matter. He smiled and said, "Of course you can. But I don’t do credit here. Did you bring the money?"

Bai Zhi took out her coin purse, pulled out four taels of silver, and placed them in the owner’s palm. "Here. Three taels of silver for the rice, and one tael for flour. Please have it all loaded onto that ox-cart." She pointed to the cart across the street, where Hu Feng was standing by the ox, watching her.

The owner was overjoyed. He quickly called for his assistant to weigh out the rice and flour and deliver it to Bai Zhi’s ox-cart.

Looking at the ox-cart piled high with rice and flour, Hu Feng frowned and asked, "Why did you buy so much? Can you even eat all this?"

Bai Zhi turned and looked back at the grain and oil shop owner, whose grin nearly reached his ears. Her voice was cold as she said, "Just you wait. These unscrupulous merchants who profit from national disasters will get the lesson they deserve sooner or later."