Chapter 173 - 173 Chapter 173: Would The Price of Grain Rise Again?
173 Chapter 173: Would The Price of Grain Rise Again?
Qin Xiaoyao was the only person that mattered in Song Que’s beautiful, almond-shaped eyes.
Qin Xiaoyao felt as sweet as honey in her heart.
“Hubby…” The woman couldn’t help calling out.
“Hmm?” Song Que replied with a smile.
“In the future, don’t let anyone see you act this way.” After saying this, the woman pounced on him.
An hour later, the woman walked out of the room feeling refreshed.
Then, she fetched some water and brought it to Song Que’s room.
When the people in the alley saw Qin Xiaoyao, they simply assumed that she had just taken her afternoon nap and didn’t think much about it.
After tidying herself up and helping Song Que to clean up, Qin Xiaoyao went out again to make the century eggs.
She had work, which could earn her money. She had good food and an attractive and considerate husband.
At this moment, Qin Xiaoyao felt that life could be considered perfect if it was like this.
When she reached the alley, Big Girl Li and the others immediately started chatting with Qin Xiaoyao.
“The morning market is ending earlier and earlier. The woven bamboo products and straw sandals business has dropped quite a bit. Only the bean sprouts are selling better!”
“In addition, the crops in the countryside have almost all dried up. It’s getting harder and harder for Daniu and company to receive the goods.” As she spoke of this, Big Girl Li even sighed.
Her family’s income was decreasing every day.
It was fine if they earned less, but the critical work was not easy.
Daniu and Erniu practically worked themselves to death every day, but they didn’t earn much money.
During this period, she saw Daniu had become thinner, and his skin had become more tanned.
She heard from them that the water coming out of the well in the village had decreased, and the water each household was allocated was even less.
Most of the water for domestic uses could only be taken from River Ringwaters.
The elders in the village were even saying that if the drought continued, River Ringwaters might even stop flowing.
At that point, some people might die of thirst.
Compared to her family, she and Xiaomei were really blessed.
Notwithstanding other things, as they were staying next to the Song family and Sister Sanya didn’t charge them for the water, it was much more convenient for them to get water compared to the rest of their family.
However, when she saw Daniu delivering goods every morning, her heart would ache. She wanted Daniu to just move into town and stay there.
Unfortunately, she still didn’t have enough money to buy a courtyard dwelling.
Qin Xiaoyao glanced at Big Girl Li with a smile.
“At this juncture, every family is having a hard time.”
“It’s fine if we earn less. It’s better than staring at each other all day and not earning a single coin,” she said.
This was the truth.
Although the Liu family’s current situation was not good, the other families in Brook Falls Village would only be worse off.
The crops in the fields could not be harvested, and most of the families’ hard work and investment for more than half a year was in vain.
It was still okay if there were other jobs and ways of making a living, as they could still find some other places to make up for the loss in income.
Those who only relied on farming for a living had almost no way to earn money.
It wasn’t just the people in the village. The people in the town were also affected.
When the weather got hot, business was bad, and there was less work available.
On the one hand, everyone was earning less, but on the other hand, the prices of some necessities were rising.
The water that was free in the past now had to be paid for by the bucket.
The prices of rice, flour, and other foodstuff had also risen by a large margin.
The price of brown rice and coarse flour had increased from two copper coins per catty to five and a half copper coins.
Many people who had been hoping for the price to drop and didn’t stock up on food regretted it now when the price rose again.
This included the Liu family and the Wang family from Brook Falls Village.
Of course, as Big Girl Li and Wang Xiaomei were present and they knew that Qin Xiaoyao had stocked up on a lot of food, they also followed suit and bought some in advance to store it. Those two families’ lives weren’t too hard now.
This was particularly so for the Wang family.
Wang Dashan was still bringing Wang Laoshuan with him to chop firewood to sell.
Whenever he came to the Song family to deliver firewood, he would also bring back some food from Wang Xiaomei.
At first, Wang Dashan was unwilling to accept his sister’s help, but he couldn’t afford the high price of the grain in the grain store. After thinking about it, he accepted the grain.
However, even so, the amount of food that Wang Xiaomei could give Wang Dashan was limited.
Furthermore, the two siblings had already agreed upfront that when Wang Dashan returned, he should tell Wang Laoshuan that the grain was bought from the grain store and had nothing to do with Wang Xiaomei.
As a result, this long-term help and relief operation went smoothly.
“Sigh!” Big Girl Li gave another sigh.
“I wonder when it’ll rain again…”
As soon as she said that, everyone instinctively looked at the ground not far away, reflecting the sun’s rays until it was blinding.
Their hearts felt somewhat heavy.
Qin Xiaoyao also looked into the distance and shook her head with a smile.
She knew the great drought had already begun and would not end before winter.
No matter how much people prayed and wished for better conditions, things would not change.
Thus, Qin Xiaoyao said, “Just carry out your own tasks well and prepare for the worst in advance. Life still has to go on, right?”
Everyone was stunned momentarily.
Then, they all nodded.
They had to learn from Sister Sanya/Mrs. Song’s mentality.
Wang Xiaomei thought for a moment and looked at Qin Xiaoyao.
“Mrs. Song, do you think the price of the grain will still increase?” she asked.
She ate and lived in the Song family, so she didn’t have to worry about food.
Moreover, Mrs. Song had already stocked up enough food in advance, so it was impossible for the Song family to be short of food.
Though the Song family did not lack food, the Wang family did. She had to think for her big brother and father.
In the current situation, Big Brother didn’t have much money on his hands, and he was even more reluctant to go to the grain store to buy grain.
She did have some savings, but if the food prices didn’t come down, she would feel a lot of heartache buying them.
However, if she didn’t buy them, the lesson of the precedent was right in front of her.
If she didn’t buy now, she would have to spend more money on food if the price of food continued to rise. It would be even more less value for money then.
She was very regretful now. If she had known that the price of food would rise so much, she would have spent all her money on food when she saw Mrs. Song stock up on food for the first time.
After hearing Wang Xiaomei’s words, Big Girl Li and Liu Xiaomei also turned to look at Qin Xiaoyao.
They were all hoping to hear Qin Xiaoyao say that the grain price would fall.
After all, they had started stocking up on food a little later than Qin Xiaoyao.
At that time, they didn’t dare to stock up too much because the price of food had already risen quite substantially.
However, given the current situation, the price of grain would probably increase further. If they stocked up on grain now, they faced even greater risks.
They were also regretting it now. If they had known this would be the case, they would have followed Qin Xiaoyao’s lead and hoarded grain on a large scale, even if it meant emptying their family’s coffers.
Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret in this world.
“I guess so. It’s going to be autumn in a few days, and you know what the crops back in the farms are like. If the crops can’t be harvested, the grain price won’t drop.”
“Now, most of the grain in Mountain Spring Town, Zhao County, and even the entire Hua An Prefecture is transported from outside. If the drought continues, the transportation costs will increase.”
The transportation system in ancient times was not as developed as it was before the apocalypse. They mainly relied on boats, as well as oxen and horses to pull carriages.
If there was a drought, the water level of the river would drop, and it was even possible that the river would stop flowing.