Chapter 231: Selling Grains

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“In that case, let’s wait for a few more days,” Qin Xiaoyao said.

Song Que reached out and placed his hand on the back of Qin Xiaoyao’s hand.

“Don’t worry. Our family will be fine,” he said gently.

For some inexplicable reason, Qin Xiaoyao’s heart calmed down.

“Mm-hmm!” she replied with a smile.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

The weather was getting colder, but it still didn’t rain.

However, Mountain Spring Town did not become prosperous again as a result of the cool weather.

On the contrary, more and more shops on the streets were closed.

Other than the morning market, there were fewer and fewer people on the streets.

The only shops that were still doing a roaring trade were the grain stores.

As long as the grain stores were open for business, there would be an endless stream of people queuing up at the entrance.

Every grain store was still selling a limited amount of grain every day, just like they did previously.

The food supply problem in the town was getting worse.

At the same time, everyone realized that there were more beggars in the town.

Many people from nearby villages couldn’t survive and ran into the town to earn a living.

After not being able to find a job and using up all their money, they turned to begging.

As the number of beggars increased, public safety in Mountain Spring Town also became worse.

The government office finally announced the news that they were planning to close the town gates.

At this point, the town entrance fee had already risen to three copper coins per person.

If they brought a lot of things, the fee could go up to nine copper coins.

When Qin Xiaoyao received the news, she couldn’t sit still anymore.

After a discussion with Song Que, she went to the store from which she had bought the most grain previously very early in the morning.

Even though she went very early, there was already a long queue of people at the entrance of the grain store.

Furthermore, there was a previous incident whereby the grain store was robbed by the people.

At the entrance of the grain store, several guards carrying sticks had appeared.

When Qin Xiaoyao saw that the shop assistant who had attended to her before was also there, her face lit up with joy and she walked over.

When one of the guards saw that Qin Xiaoyao did not queue up, he stepped forward to stop her.

As soon as the two sides started talking, they were discovered by the shop assistant.

The shop assistant quickly came forward and asked the guard to step aside.

“The new staff don’t know the rules and they are not acquainted with Madam Qin. Please forgive them, Madam Qin.” The shop assistant smiled and cupped his hands politely in greeting at Qin Xiaoyao.

This lady was his benefactor. Previously, it was because of this lady that he was regarded highly by the owner. He had now risen to become the deputy shopkeeper of this grain store.

Although he was a deputy, the shopkeeper himself didn’t really get involved in managing the shop.

Therefore, the deputy shopkeeper more or less had the final say in the shop now.

In addition, the price of grains had been soaring recently. He had a feeling that this lady Madam Qin, who had bought a large amount of grains from him previously, was not an ordinary person.

“It’s alright,” Qin Xiaoyao responded with a smile.

“I want to discuss a business deal with your shopkeeper. Can you introduce me to him?” Then, she stated her intention outright.

The shop assistant was stunned, and then his eyes lit up.

“Oh? What business deal is it?” he asked.

When he saw Qin Xiaoyao looking at him, he explained, “The shopkeeper is not here today.”

“But I’m now Link Trading’s deputy shopkeeper. I can make the decisions on all the various matters in the shop.” What he meant was, Qin Xiaoyao could also talk to him about her business deal.

Qin Xiaoyao was a little surprised.

Following that, she smiled and congratulated the shop assistant.

“Hehe! Then I must congratulate you, Shopkeeper Wei.”

“Thank you, thank you. In the future, you can just call me Deputy Shopkeeper Wei!” Deputy Shopkeeper Wei said with a smile. He even deliberately emphasized the word “Deputy.”

Of course, it wasn’t because he enjoyed hearing other people address him as “Deputy Shopkeeper”. Rather, he was hoping that the shopkeeper would see that he had no intention of overstepping his boundaries.

Qin Xiaoyao laughed and readily accepted his advice.

“Alright. Then I shall congratulate you, Deputy Shopkeeper Wei.”

“Thank you very much! Thank you very much!” Deputy Shopkeeper Wei also answered with a smile.

Then, he quickly asked Qin Xiaoyao what she wanted to talk about.

Qin Xiaoyao looked around. “There are too many people here. Can we talk somewhere else?” she said.

Deputy Shopkeeper Wei glanced at Qin Xiaoyao and felt that it made sense.

“This way, please…” Therefore he gestured invitingly to Qin Xiaoyao to proceed inside.

The two of them then went to the backyard of the grain store.

Qin Xiaoyao made sure that there was no one around before she explained her intention.

“The total is 2600 catties of coarse flour and 1800 catties of brown rice. If Link Trading is able to take it, I’m able to deliver the goods to you tonight.”

Naturally, she chose to deliver the goods herself because she wanted to prevent people from finding out her home address.

Although her house was not far from the grain store, Qin Xiaoyao believed that this man still did not know where she lived.

Seeing Deputy Shopkeeper Wei’s silence, Qin Xiaoyao continued, “Today, the price of brown rice and coarse flour in your grain store is 28 copper coins per catty.”

“I am only asking for 25 copper coins.”

Deputy Shopkeeper Wei’s eyes lit up.

Then, the glint in his eyes was quickly extinguished.

“Why are you not selling them yourself, Madam Qin?”

“With the current market, even if you sell it for 30 copper coins per catty, I’m sure there will be many people buying it.”

After all, all the grain stores in the town were limiting their supply for sale.

Many people were unable to buy more even if they wanted to.

If there were people selling grain in the market, even if the price was slightly higher than the price in the grain stores, they would definitely be able to sell it.

“Well… I have my own reasons.” Qin Xiaoyao didn’t give an answer.

“If I sell this batch of grain to Link Trading at this price, Link Trading will definitely make money.”

“If it is managed well, the profit margin might not be small.” As she spoke, a meaningful look flashed across Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes.

Deputy Shopkeeper Wei’s heart skipped a beat.

He wasn’t stupid, so he naturally understood what Madam Qin meant.

He was now Link Trading’s deputy shopkeeper and held great authority.

If he had money, he could buy this batch of goods all by himself and then find a way to mix them into Link Trading’s goods and sell them off.

Even if he did not have enough money, he could discuss it with the shopkeeper and take on this batch of goods together. They could still make a lot of money.

The worst plan would be to report it and get the owner’s approval to treat Madam Qin’s goods as regular goods.

When he thought of this, Deputy Shopkeeper Wei couldn’t suppress the impulse in his heart.

Since the drought, life for his family had not been easy.

Although he had been promoted to the position of Deputy Shopkeeper recently and his wages had increased by a large amount, the money he earned was just a drop in the bucket compared to the high price of food and goods.

As the deputy shopkeeper of the grain store, although he could buy more grain than others, it was not much more.

Moreover, the price he paid was the same as the people outside.

The pressure on his family was huge too.

However, if he take in the 4400 catties of grain, the situation would be different.

It was impossible to get grain at the price of 25 copper coins per catty in the entire Zhao County, or even the Hua An Prefecture City, not to mention Mountain Spring Town at present.

He could keep some of the grain for his own family.

As for the rest, he would sell them when the price of food was higher. He would definitely earn a lot.

Without a doubt, the deputy shopkeeper was tempted.

However, the problem was he could not afford to pay for 4400 catties of grain, even if it was only 25 copper coins per catty.

Qin Xiaoyao looked at Deputy Shopkeeper Wei’s expression and was certain that he was interested, but she was not in a hurry to press him for an answer.

Instead, she patiently waited for his reply.

After a while, Deputy Shopkeeper Wei finally made up his mind.

“Madam Qin, can you wait for me for a day?” he said..