Siheyuan: The Era of Struggle

Chapter 392 Buying Grain

He Yuanchao understood what Zhang Daya meant, and without further ado, he took out a stack of brand-new ten-yuan bills from his pocket and waved them in front of him.

Zhang Daya's eyes gleamed as he stared intently at the money, greedily swallowing hard.

He had seen money before while dealing in grain on the black market, but he had mostly handled small change and had never seen stacks or bundles of ten-yuan notes.

He Yuanchao ignored the expression on Zhang Daya's face and simply stuffed the money into his pocket, saying:
"You've seen my sincerity, now can I see the grain?"

Hearing He Yuanchao speak, Zhang Daya finally came to his senses, his face flushed as he nodded repeatedly:

"Yes, yes."

After saying that, he turned around and called into the door, "Brother Fang, it's me, Da Ya. Open the door, we have a guest!"

He Yuanchao looked at Zhang Daya's actions, then glanced at the lock on the gate, and after a moment's thought, he understood the reasoning behind it.

Not long after Zhang Daya finished speaking, the sound of a door opening came from the courtyard, followed by footsteps. In the blink of an eye, a man's head appeared on the wall to the left of the gate.

This is only happening in broad daylight; if this were to happen at night, it could scare someone half to death.

He Yuanchao had already guessed, so he wasn't surprised and took a few glances at it with interest.

The man was in his forties, with a buzz cut that revealed his scalp, and a face full of menacing features. Judging from his appearance, he didn't seem like someone easy to deal with.

When Zhang Daya saw this man, a smug look flashed across his face. He swaggered over to the left wall and said:
"Brother Fang, the people who said they were going to provide food yesterday are here. Hurry up and give me the key to open the door, or they'll laugh at us for not knowing manners."

The man called Brother Fang ignored Zhang Daya, stared at He Yuanchao from head to toe for a while, then turned his head to look in the direction the two had come from a few times before silently handing the key over to the outside of the wall with a stern face.

Upon entering the courtyard, He Yuanchao was somewhat surprised to see Brother Fang, as the man's height did not match his appearance; he was at most 1.55 meters tall.

Fang Ge closed the door and locked it. When he turned around, he saw He Yuanchao looking him up and down. His expression turned ugly, and he looked back at him with an unfriendly gaze.

The two men locked eyes, and He Yuanchao, without flinching, nodded and asked Zhang Daya to lead him to check on the grain.

"and many more."

Seeing Zhang Daya lift his foot and walk towards the west wing, Fang Ge, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly spoke up.

Zhang Daya stopped, turned around and looked at Brother Fang with a puzzled expression, then said in a somewhat impatient tone:

"What's wrong? Didn't we agree last night that I would bring people to buy grain today?"

Fang Ge wasn't tall, but he had a strong presence. He didn't look at Zhang Daya who was speaking; his gaze remained fixed on He Yuanchao.

"Friend, judging from your accent, you're not from around here! Could you tell me where you're from and what company you work for?"

According to the rules of the black market, it was clearly taboo for Brother Fang to ask such a question.

He Yuanchao had no worries about food and clothing since he transmigrated here. This was his first time in the black market, but he had heard about its ins and outs from others, so he knew a little about it.

Although this wasn't Kyoto, the rules should be similar. To avoid appearing weak, he remained silent, staring coldly at Zhang Daya, his eyes clearly demanding an explanation.

Zhang Daya was clearly afraid of Brother Fang, but since he had brought the man, he had to step forward, whether for the sake of the black market rules or for his own face.

"Brother Fang, you've been in this business for a while now, you know what you should and shouldn't ask, right?"

Fang Ge's face flashed with displeasure as Zhang Daya lectured him on the rules, and a fierce glint appeared in his eyes as he pointed at He Yuanchao and said:

"Don't give me that nonsense. I suspect he's a spy sent by Lei Zi." "Impossible."

Zhang Daya was startled. After glancing at He Yuanchao, he quickly explained, "This person was introduced by Sister Liu from the Second Restaurant. He can't possibly be a thug."

Upon hearing this, Brother Fang glanced at Zhang Daya with disdain and said in a contemptuous tone:

"You've only been out in the world for a few days, what can you possibly know? If this guy isn't a government official wearing a tiger skin, I'll gouge out my eyes and throw them on the ground for you to stomp on."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Daya glanced at Brother Fang, then turned to look at He Yuanchao, his face clearly showing fear.

Seeing this, He Yuanchao had no choice but to say in order to buy grain: "I come from the capital and I am also a government official, but there is no rule in your business that prohibits government officials from buying grain from you, is there?"

These words sounded sincere and matched He Yuanchao's accent.

Fang was stunned and didn't know how to refute it for a moment.

Zhang Daya breathed a sigh of relief, as long as it wasn't local thugs from Yangqu who came to arrest them.

As for Kyoto, that's too far away. What kind of Lord Guan would bother to travel all that way to this godforsaken place for such a trivial matter?

With this thought in mind, Zhang Daya's expression softened a bit, and he pulled Brother Fang aside to whisper to him.

Seeing that there was a way out, He Yuanchao was not in a hurry. He walked to a stone stool in the courtyard, sat down, took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and slowly smoked it, glancing at Zhang Daya and Brother Fang from time to time.

Before they had even finished their cigarette, the two of them, who had been whispering to each other, made a decision.

Fang Ge glanced in He Yuanchao's direction, gritted his teeth, and said, "We haven't heard of Lei Zi's side making any moves lately, so let's trust this kid this time."

Zhang Daya knew that Brother Fang was talking about inside information about the behind-the-scenes boss, so he felt more confident. After saying a few words of flattery to the behind-the-scenes boss and Brother Fang, he went to He Yuanchao's side.

"Brother, I told you you're a man of principle. I trust you won't cheat me. Come on, I'll take you to see the grain."

Hearing this, He Yuanchao didn't waste any words. He got up, threw away his cigarette butt, and stomped it out before following Zhang Daya toward the house on the west side of the courtyard.

Upon entering the house, He Yuanchao was somewhat shocked to see bags of grain piled up, filling half the room. He wanted to ask about the source of the grain, but he changed his mind before he could finish speaking.

"I didn't expect you to actually have so much food. I underestimated you before."

Everyone loves to hear compliments, especially praise for someone's proudest achievement.

Zhang Daya smirked, a smug look on his face, and said, "This is nothing, we have much more in other places..."

Ahem~~
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Fang Ge's cough as he entered the room from behind.

Fang Ge gave Zhang Daya a cold glance, then walked up to He Yuanchao and said:

"Stop talking nonsense. You've seen the grain, and Jia Daya has already told you. It's 1,000 jin of cornmeal and 200 jin of wheat flour, totaling 290 yuan. When are you going to pay?"

He Yuanchao had a total of five hundred yuan in his pocket, in one stack of three hundred and one stack of two hundred.

He pulled out three hundred yuan from his right trouser pocket and waved it in front of Brother Fang, saying, "In business, it's all about cash on delivery. I'll find a truck, and you'll get paid when we pick up the grain. Don't worry, you won't be shortchanged a penny."

Seeing the money gave Brother Fang some reassurance, but he was still uneasy and said:
"Okay, but you have to have Daya come with you when you find a car."

He Yuanchao had already planned where to find a truck to transport the grain, and he didn't object to Fang Ge's words. He nodded in agreement and left the courtyard with Zhang Daya.

(End of this chapter)