Chapter 244: The Conflict Among the Grain Stores (V)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Not including the three grain stores that belong to the Liu’s, the rest of the twenty-eight grain stores in Hejian County, regardless of size, are all on the lookout after the price declined yesterday. It indicates that they already suspected us storing grain. If it is so, why don’t we take measures to lure them into purchasing from us?”

Several thousand dans of grain was clearly a vital number for one grain store, but it would be just some small potatoes for twenty-eight stores to share.

Jiang Pengji had made a budget detail by detail: She would save some for limited purchase and the rest would be sold at a high price to those suckers.

Xu Ke felt a sense of loneliness because he was not playing an important role. His master was too capable for him to qualify as the master’s assistant.

“But… Will they do it?” Xu Ke was a bit anxious about business, considering that it was still an unknown field for him.

Jiang Pengji was not much better than him, either. She was a gene warrior in her last life and her life was filled with war relevant skills and knowledge that she had acquired. It was mostly about practical combat. Thankfully, she lived in an era with a high amount of information, so it wasn’t hard for her to be imperceptibly influenced by what she constantly saw and heard.

She was not an expert, but she could at least stick to the pattern of business she had seen––not to mention how easily she could suppress her competitors. The ancient era was a piece of cake for her.

“Of course they will. They are already investigating secretly even though we haven’t spread the rumor that we are short on stock.”

She was a layman about business, but she was definitely the top one in her field of setting up others for the maximum amount of profit.

No matter if it was the ancient era or the era she was originally born into, she had never been a brainless and ruthless person as a general.

On the contrary, she seemed dumb and sloppy, but she actually had a crystal clear mind just like most of her people.

That was also why Jiang Pengji was chosen to be the head of the corps by her old boss. She was extraordinarily excellent compared to the rest of the candidates and she was naturally competent to be the leader.

“Ask the manager in the store to pay extra attention to every single purchaser’s face and features and the amount of grain they go for,” she said. “As I expected, the grain stores will send their own people to place an order from our store in order to test our storage. What you need to do is to spread the word with our shills we hired while our managers and clerks of the stores put on a show.”

Put on a show? What show?

It would be a show where they secretly complained about the shortage of grain and the manager would inquire about what they should do next in their current situation.

As long as the spies “accidentally” eavesdropped and delivered it to their boss, Jiang Pengji’s goal would be achieved.

Xu Ke sighed and said, “Okay, I’m on it.”

“Okay, go.”

Xu Ke was fairly young still, but the methods in which he dealt with affairs was mostly reliable. That was why Jiang Pengji never worried much about assigning him missions.

Just like what Jiang Pengji had expected, there were several citizens who came in to purchase a large quantity of grain after noon time. One of them even bought one dan.

In any other circumstance, one dan would be affordable for anyone who had a bit of savings… But one dan was a completely different concept now when the price of grain was increasing so rapidly.

At dusk, a clerk who worked in the Lius’ grain store rushed into the store from the side door. He was too anxious to wipe the sweat off his face. He glanced at the manager with a worried face. It seemed that he had something he needed to report to the manager but he wouldn’t cut straight to it considering there were other people around.

The manager spotted him. He left his guest behind and whispered with his clerk in a corner. There was something that involved 1,900 dans and something about something was not enough. It was rather noisy in the store and the citizens were everywhere. It was not noticeable unless one paid extra attention.

There happened to be some spies from the other stores that blended into the crowd.

“Are you sure about that?”

The spy responded, “I am. I heard that their storage of the grain was less than 1,900 and it will not last much longer if they keep doing it like this.”

The spy’s manager heard the report, went silent for a bit, and made a decision.

Except for the three grain stores, the rest of the twenty-eight stores were all depending on the opportunity in order to rake in a profit. They were so disturbed by the situation that all the customers went to their competitor’s store. Two stores were already ready to decrease their prices the next day.

They were all thrilled about the news as soon as they heard it.

1,900 dans wouldn’t be much for twenty-eight stores to split, but if they bought off the current grain storage that the Lius’ had, no one would get in their way for raising the price and it would still be profitable for them.

The news of chaos in Cang Prefecture had become a popular topic. There was also the impact of refugees in Zisang County even Hejian County. It was the perfect chance for them to get rich and there were no second chances for them to do it again. It was definitely not acceptable that the Liu’s spoiled it.

Just one word was needed at the moment: Buy.

The third day, there was a mass of citizens who came for grain and swarmed the store. The purchasers who had a genuine intention but hadn’t acted on it had made up their minds as well… Rumor had it that the cheap grain from the Liu’s was almost sold out.

If they didn’t do it now, they would only be able to go for the unbelievable expensive one. It was very likely that they would starve themselves to death due to the ridiculous price.

The third day was finally their peak day.

The fourth day, the store closed before noon, even though they were doing great with the transactions. That verified the rumor that the Liu’s were short of grain.

“Liu County Chief is for sure a capable meritorious statesman, but he is clueless at doing business. It was just penny wise and pound foolish.”

A large group of people were laughing behind their backs. The Liu’s did make quite a bit of money in the last couple days, but that would be it. If they could have held out for a bit longer, they could have made five times more than they had made.

The fifth day, all the stores seemed to come to a consensus: They increased their prices again.

The price was what we made; it was your choice to buy our product or wait to die from starvation.

However, they didn’t see anyone they had expected. Instead, some managers almost died from heart attacks after they asked around.

They were all expecting that the Liu’s would keep their stores shut from then on, but somehow, some citizens had found that they opened even earlier the past few days.

“What is this?” The citizens stared at the board the store posted outside of the door and they were in deep confusion about it.

“This is limited purchase.” A young man in a green outfit was standing in the middle of the mass, holding his fan in his hands. It was Qiguan Rang.

“What is limited purchase?” There were ninety-nine illiterate people in one hundred; naturally they didn’t have an idea about limited purchase.

Average people still looked up to those people who had received an education. They got out of his way for him to see the board easily.

He came forward and enunciated the content on the board, and he explained it in a comprehensive way for the citizens.

“The store is still open with one condition: Everyday, each person can only buy a certain amount of grain for four people for two days. They won’t sell more than that in a day.”

Limited purchase? Nobody had ever heard or seen that sale’s method. Most citizens found it hard for them to understand.

Didn’t that mean that they had to come to the store every few days? Why didn’t they sell it all at once? Why all the trouble?