Chapter 208: Buying Grain

Chapter 208: Buying Grain

The families joyfully divided the grain and medicine. Lin Zhaodi then brought up Lin Yushu and Zhang Zongyao.

“I’d initially forgotten about the village chief’s grandson. My only thought was that Yu Shu was still studying in town, and I needed to get him back. So, I sent your Uncle Zhao San to inquire. At Yu Shu’s school, one student had injured his arm—it’s uncertain if he’ll ever write again—but thankfully, everyone else was fine. Later, Yu Shu reminded me that the village chief’s grandson attended another school in town. I slapped my forehead, remembering, and then went to find Zhang Zongyao. Alas, I heard that in his school, one student was crushed to death by a collapsing beam, and another caught a chill during the flood, developed a fever, and tragically burned to death because no medicine was available…”

With classmates dying at his school, Zhang Zongyao’s expression was extremely grim. Yet, when he met Lin Zhaodi and the others who had come to collect him, he politely thanked them without delay, quickly gathered his books from his quarters, and left.

After such a devastating flood, the schools would certainly be closed for some time. Neither Lin Yushu nor Zhang Zongyao hesitated; worried about their families, they rode Old Man Liao’s ox cart back to Sweetwater Village together.

At first, Lin Zhaodi felt a quiet satisfaction at having bought grain early. But as she recounted the events in town, her mood grew heavy.

The rainstorm had been fierce; even in town, many old, poorly maintained houses couldn’t withstand it—deaths were inevitable.

This was only what Lin Zhaodi and the others had witnessed; countless more tragedies surely occurred in unseen places. Still, the town was far better off than the village.

Lin Shu broke the somber atmosphere. “It’s no use dwelling on it. Those of us still alive must look forward. Right now, all the thatched houses are uninhabitable and need rebuilding. We can start preparing today. Aunt Lin, the village chief will likely organize villagers to rebuild in batches, but who knows when it’ll be our turn? Zhou Ye and I plan to do it ourselves. This time, we’ll use double-layered bamboo frames, plastered inside with yellow mud and straw, to make them sturdier. How about we all work together? We’ll build our house first. Since it’s larger, you can all stay with us once it’s done. Then we’ll build houses for you and Old Man Liao. If my third uncle and aunt are willing, we can include them too.”

With so many people helping—plus her and Zhou Ye, who are both as capable as several people—rebuilding a house should be manageable.

Lin Zhaodi, Zhao Laosan, and Old Man Liao had no objections. They were more than happy to work alongside the strong Zhou Ye and the clever Lin Shu.

As they spoke, the rice porridge in the pot finished cooking. Knowing that Old Man Liao’s ox cart had returned, He Guixiang had prepared extra breakfast, enough for all the families to share.

While the porridge cooled, He Guixiang mixed enough batter for three large bowls of flatbreads. Lin Zhaodi helped, and just as they were nearly done, Lin Xiaopu ran to her third uncle and aunt’s house to invite them if they hadn’t eaten yet. There was plenty for a few more mouths. If they had already eaten, that was fine.

Lin Xiaopu returned to report that her third aunt had already prepared food, so Lin Shu let it be.

Eating just flatbread seemed a bit plain, so Lin Shu quickly prepared a few wild vegetable dishes. With plenty of dried goods at home, she simply stir-fried some dried bamboo shoots and mushrooms, which tasted delicious rolled inside the flatbreads.

After breakfast, Lin Zhaodi, Zhao Laosan, and Old Man Liao were thoroughly satisfied.

Although they had benefited from staying with Landlord Zhao’s family these past few days, the initial days had been difficult. While villagers could take refuge in the mountains, townspeople had nowhere to go and had to wait for the floodwaters to recede before they could use their stoves.

With the stoves unusable, the Zhao family had even considered eating raw rice. It was only because Lin Zhaodi and Zhao Laosan moved stone tables and stools from the yard to construct a makeshift stove, and because the Zhao family’s firewood was stacked high enough that the top logs were still dry, that they managed to light a fire and cook. But conditions were poor, and none of them had eaten their fill during those days.

Liao Dunzi giggled quietly beside Old Man Liao. “Dad, these past few days with Sister A Shu, I’ve eaten until I’m full at every meal. Oh, and I brought the savings jar too. Let’s buy some grain. Sister A Shu says prices will keep rising—we should buy with her.”

“No need for you to remind me, boy. We’ll keep a few hundred coins as backup and use the rest to buy grain,” Old Man Liao said affectionately, patting his son’s head. He thought to himself, *sometimes fools have the best luck.*

Over the years, Old Man Liao had saved a considerable amount from driving his ox cart—enough to buy a good quantity of grain. With few mouths to feed, even if government relief efforts faltered, they had enough to last until next year.

After a short rest, Old Man Liao drove his ox cart away. He still had to collect money from other families for grain purchases; he wasn’t about to pay upfront for others.

“Old Man Liao, meet us at the village entrance later. I’m buying a lot of grain, so I’ll need to make the trip myself,” Lin Shu said.

“Alright, I’ll wait for you at the village entrance. Dunzi, you stay at your Uncle Lin’s place and don’t run off.”

Liao Dunzi nodded. Even without his father’s reminder, he knew. Their thatched house, long in disrepair, had completely collapsed, even crushing the bed planks. There was nowhere to sleep, so they’d been staying at Uncle Lin’s house these past few days. Uncle Lin’s beds were still in good condition, already dried in the sun, and ready to use tonight—no need to go back to the mountain.

The bowls and utensils on the table hadn’t been cleared yet. Lin Zhaodi helped He Guixiang clean up, working quickly and efficiently.

The fish pond behind the vegetable patch was flooded, the bamboo water pipe in the yard had been washed away, and the large water jar in the kitchen was shattered, making it impossible to store water in advance. The family had only collected clean mountain spring water in wooden buckets. Lin Zhaodi didn’t use the drinking water from the buckets; instead, she picked up a wooden tray and headed outside, intending to wash it in the stream.

Lin Shu called out to stop her. “Aunt Lin, your thatched house was newly built. Only one beam collapsed, so the wooden beds and cabinets inside probably aren’t too damaged. I’ll have Zhou Ye go over later to move the beam aside. We can take out anything usable, especially the wooden beds, and dry them in the sun. After a day in the sun, they should be dry enough to use by evening.”

Lin Zhaodi quickly agreed. “Yes, yes! I was just wondering how to bring it up.”

Zhou Ye frowned at her. “A Shu, are you going to town alone to buy grain?”

“Why alone? Old Man Liao will be with me.”

Zhou Ye’s expression turned serious. “The grain shops are probably in chaos right now. Townspeople are even more desperate for grain than villagers, and they’ll be scrambling to buy. Let me handle buying the grain.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhaodi remembered something and immediately said to Lin Shu, “A Shu, Zhou Ye is right. The grain shops in town are packed. Don’t think that just because prices have risen so much, the townspeople can’t afford it—even ordinary townsfolk have more money than us farmers who work the land. They’re all rushing to buy grain now!”

Usually, it was townspeople who bought grain from the shops. Villagers were mostly self-sufficient and rarely needed to buy extra grain. But townspeople typically bought a month’s supply at a time, replenishing only when they ran out. This flood had ruined their stored grain. While rice and coarse grains could be washed and dried, wheat flour mixed with rainwater became inedible and could cause illness if consumed.

So townspeople were now desperately short on grain. Plus, they weren’t foolish—they knew the flood likely meant crop failures and wanted to stock up while they could. Although the government would provide disaster relief, having actual grain in hand was far more reassuring.

Lin Shu’s heart sank. “With so many people rushing to buy, grain prices will probably surge again soon.”

This was exactly why she was even more determined to go.

“We need you here at home, Zhou Ye. Old Man Liao and I will buy the grain and come back straight away, no delays.”

Zhou Ye fell silent. He usually obeyed Lin Shu without question, but when it came to her safety, his silence meant he disagreed.

“It’s not that I don’t want to bring you, but you’re so big and heavy. If you come along, I’ll have to buy less grain.”

Zhou Ye said, “I won’t ride in the ox cart. I’ll follow behind on foot.”

Lin Shu laughed in exasperation. “See the ox cart’s wheels? Caked thick with mud, and that’s after Old Man Liao scraped them. The roads outside are muddy and hard to travel—even the ox cart will be slower than usual. If you walk, it’ll take even longer. Don’t fret, Zhou Ye. Have you forgotten? I’m not a delicate girl anymore—I’m strong as an ox now! I’ll definitely bring the grain back safely!”

Zhou Ye’s lips twitched at her playful words. He didn’t insist on going anymore, only added, “Be careful of the crowds when buying grain, and stay alert on the road.”

After Lin Shu repeatedly assured him, she took the seven strings of coins, met Old Man Liao at the village entrance, and left on the ox cart.

As they traveled, they chatted. Just as Lin Shu had expected, although villagers were following suit to buy grain, most were only buying a *dou* or two, some even just a few *sheng*. Others felt they had enough grain at home and didn’t want to buy at high prices, refusing to purchase even a *sheng*.

Altogether, these families only wanted about two *dan* of grain—not much. But the village chief’s family alone wanted two *dan*.

Lin Shu fell silent upon hearing this. She’d forgotten about the village chief’s family. Since Zhang Zongyao had advised villagers to buy grain early, his family naturally wanted to buy a lot. That made three *dan*. Plus, Old Man Liao mentioned he wanted to buy five *dou*, and the third aunt’s family also wanted five *dou*, adding another *dan*.

The ox cart had limited space. She wondered if there would still be room for the six *dan* she originally planned to buy.

“Old Man Liao, how much grain can your ox cart hold at most?” Lin Shu asked. Seven or eight *dan* was a conservative estimate—perhaps it could hold more.

Old Man Liao replied, “I fed the ox before we left. It’s well-fed and strong now—it can pull nine or ten *dan* of grain without a problem. If the road were better, it could even pull three or four *dan* more.”

Lin Shu was delighted. By that calculation, there should still be enough space.

However, Lin Shu’s optimism faded when they reached town and realized Aunt Lin’s description had been an understatement.

The grain shops in town were even more chaotic than Aunt Lin had described. People were swarming the shops, and even the shop assistants shouting and brandishing clubs barely kept the chaos in check.

Just as Lin Shu was worrying about how to squeeze into a grain shop, she suddenly heard an outcry from inside.

“How can the price have gone up again so soon? One hundred forty *wen* per *dou*? Why don’t you just rob us?!”

“Black-marketeers! Heartless exploiters!”

“Is there no law? You’re trying to starve us commoners to death!”

Then someone shouted, “Hurry to the other grain shops! Their rice is still one hundred twenty *wen* per *dou*!”

The crowd blocking the shop entrance immediately surged away like a tide.

Upon hearing that the price of rice had risen to 140 *wen* per *dou*, Old Man Liao's face fell. "Not even a day has passed, and the price has already increased by another 20 *wen* per *dou*!"

Old Man Liao was also planning to head to other grain shops that hadn’t raised their prices yet, but at that moment, Lin Shu stated firmly, "Buy! We’ll buy from this shop!"

The pricing of grain sales among the town’s several grain shops must have been agreed upon in advance. If one shop raised its prices, it meant the others would soon follow—it was just a difference of an hour or two at most.

By the time the people realized that the other grain shops had also raised their prices, those who needed to buy would still bite the bullet and buy it anyway.

Old Man Liao hesitated, "But... the villagers were expecting 120 *wen* per *dou*. Now that the price has gone up, they might not be willing to buy."

Lin Shu said, "Use all the money you brought to buy grain. For those villagers who are willing to accept the higher price, give them the amount of grain their money can buy at the new price. For those who refuse the price increase, return their money to them—I’ll cover the returned money. I’ll take all the grain they don’t want. Just go ahead and buy with confidence!"

With Lin Shu’s assurance, Old Man Liao’s hesitation vanished, and the two of them headed straight into the grain shop.