During famine years, I had a divination slip in hand, and my whole family ate chicken, duck, fish, a

The man looked at the copper coins in his hand, gritted his teeth, and

"Alright, I'll make another trip... but if it doesn't work out, you can't blame me!"

"Okay, thank you."

Ye Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief without making a sound.

Ye Dazhuang frowned slightly.

Although she had a smile on her face, there was a hint of anxiety hidden in her almond-shaped eyes, as if she was worried about something.

Buying food wasn't an urgent matter, but he could tell that the urgent matter must be related to food.

"Ding ding ding ding..."

How could Ye Qingqing not be worried? Just a few minutes after that person turned and went back to the house, the indicator arrow above his head suddenly flashed a few times and disappeared from sight.

"over!"

Ye Qingqing's heart jumped into her throat.

"Girl, great news, great news!"

Just then, the man rushed out of the house, his face beaming with joy, and waved repeatedly to Ye Qingqing.

"Our master has agreed that as long as he doesn't open the shop, you can order as much grain as you want!"

That's why the master sent Manager Qiu to talk to you.

Behind him followed a middle-aged man dressed in a brocade cotton robe and a leather hat, looking very well-dressed.

"Okay... thank you, sir."

Ye Qingqing immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Shopkeeper Qiu greeted her with a polite smile, "Miss, is your family going to buy over a thousand catties of grain?"

Ye Qingqing nodded politely, "Yes, thank you for your trouble, Manager Qiu."

"Excuse my intrusion, young lady, why are you in such a hurry to buy food?"

Manager Qiu's eyes subtly scrutinized him, and he said with a half-smile,

"Today is my grandfather's 80th birthday. The young lady should have seen it. She has come to buy it several times. My grandfather was curious and asked me to ask her about it."

The shop will open tomorrow, young lady, can't you even wait a day longer?

Ye Qingqing scratched her nose: You're being quite presumptuous.

Were they able to see through us?

No, if she were seen through, the grain shop owner couldn't send a manager to talk to her.

Ken acted too eagerly, making people suspicious of her motives. After all, being too eager isn't a good deal.

It's time for her to perform!

"Hey, don't even mention it, like trying to tie tofu with a rope!"

Ye Qingqing clapped her hands and said with a worried expression, "Our village is in trouble with wolves. More than a dozen wolves have come down from the mountain and are watching our village day and night."

The village head said the wolves had nothing to eat on the mountain and were going to eat the people in our village, so he ordered horse-stopping posts to be installed at both ends of the village, making it difficult for anyone to leave.

Manager Qiu nodded slowly, surprised.

"A wolf plague? That's terrible, absolutely terrible!"

Ye Qingqing sighed helplessly, "That's right! The people in the village are almost worried to death. It's about to snow, and when the heavy snow closes the mountains, they won't even be able to leave their homes. What will happen to everyone's food supply?"

Manager Qiu nodded, "Yes, that's right..."

"So, my brother and I happened to be in town on business, and the village headman assigned us to buy grain for the whole village. With grain at home, we don't have to worry."

Ye Qingqing frowned and said in a serious tone,

"Who knew your boss would be having a wedding banquet and the shop wouldn't be open? If we don't do the things the village head asked us to do, my brother and I will get scolded. When we get back, the whole village will be criticizing us."

"I'll secure the grain first, so I can give the villagers an explanation when I get back, right?"

"I see... We should buy the food as soon as possible."

Shopkeeper Qiu nodded empathetically, the slight wariness and doubt in his eyes instantly disappearing. He politely raised his hand to Ye Qingqing.

"In that case, please come with me to the backyard. We'll discuss how much and what to buy, agree on the price, and sign a contract. Then you can just take it away when the shop opens tomorrow."

The northern region is mountainous, and many villages are built on the mountainsides. Once heavy snow blocks the mountains, it becomes impossible to get out.

Those poor families who buy ten or twenty kilograms of grain at a time will have to tighten their belts to their necks when the time comes.

In previous years, many of the wealthier villages would pool their money and send a family with a mule cart or horse cart to buy winter rations for the entire village in advance.

This is nothing unusual.

Ye Qingqing's eyes lit up. "Thank you! Thank you, Manager Qiu."

……

Ye Qingqing ordered 500 jin each of rice and wheat flour, figuring they wouldn't spoil in winter and could store them at home to eat slowly.

She also ordered five or six hundred catties of a mixture of sorghum, buckwheat, beans, millet, and black beans used for feeding horses.

It wasn't for their own consumption, but rather to prepare for people in the village to borrow grain.

When grain prices rise, most families in the village can no longer afford to eat grain. Only his family eats rice and wheat flour every day. No wonder people are eyeing them!

People will definitely flock to borrow grain then. If they lend it to her family, they will suffer a loss; if they don't lend it, they will offend a lot of people.

When people are starving, they're capable of anything; it's not impossible that they could swarm in and rob her house.

So Ye Qingqing bought mixed grains to guard against this possibility.

She would only sell grain to anyone who came to her house, and she would charge them whatever price they paid, without making a single penny.

Not only can it prevent starving people from stealing food, but it can also earn you a good reputation.

As soon as the weather gets cold, grain prices rise. Currently, rice has risen to 55 wen per jin, refined white flour to 60 wen per jin, and mixed grain flour to 30 wen per jin.

Even so, Ye Qingqing felt as if she had gotten it for free.

Once grain prices skyrocket, rice that costs 55 yuan might rise to 100 or 200 yuan!

Once the price was agreed upon, Manager Qiu wrote a detailed contract, clearly outlining the agreed-upon price and everything else.

After stamping the grain shop's seal and her own personal seal, Ye Qingqing grabbed a pen, wrote her name, and pressed her red handprint on the paper.

Looking at the bright red handprint, she felt reassured.

Ye Qingqing carefully folded the sales documents and tucked them into a hidden pocket in her breast pocket before gently patting her chest and saying,

"That was close... so close!"

Ye Dazhuang suddenly asked a question,

Do you think food prices will rise?

"Prices haven't just increased, they've skyrocketed!"

Ye Qingqing blurted out, "Brother Dazhuang, just you wait and see! The people who come to buy grain tomorrow will be dumbfounded. The money that would normally buy a pound of rice will only get them half a pound, and that'll be considered a bargain!"

Ye Dazhuang gave her a strange look and said indifferently,

How did you know?

"Um……"

Ye Qingqing scratched her nose. She had blurted it out in her excitement, and now she couldn't back out.

However, she had a sudden inspiration, raised her slender finger, pointed to the sky, and gave Ye Dazhuang a mysterious smile.

"Would you believe me if I told you it was something God told me in a dream, Big Zhuang?"

Ye Dazhuang couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips slightly. "Mm."

Trust me and you'll be right!

Trust Qingqing, and whether you can gain eternal life is uncertain, but Qingqing can guarantee that no matter how bad the famine is outside, our family will be able to eat and drink our fill and have a good winter.

Ye Qingqing winked playfully at him, raised an eyebrow, and said,

"Trust me! Let's go, let's meet up with your older brother and sister-in-law."