Chapter 16
Buying Grain
Father Jian’s hands were faster than his brain. With a flash, he covered the silver and snatched it into his arms.
He opened his mouth, unable to speak for a long time. After a long while, he finally closed his mouth, which was wide open from shock.
“Oh, my God!”
He felt his heart almost jump out of his throat, and his brain stopped thinking. He could only hold the silver in his arms in a daze, not daring to move at all.
After a while, he quietly opened a gap in his clothes and immediately closed it again. After repeating it a few times, Jian Qingqing reassured him, “Dad, this is real silver, it’s ours!”
He finally came back to his senses and asked his daughter in a daze, “Big Sister, how did you get so much? Isn’t there only two catties of salt?”
“Your daughter is smart and resourceful!” Jian Qingqing raised her chin proudly.
Father Jian laughed foolishly. “Yes, my daughter is very smart!”
“Let’s go, Dad. Let’s go in and buy some grain. Have you seen it?”
Speaking of this, Father Jian’s face was full of worry. “Sigh, the price of grain has risen again. Coarse grains have risen to 20 wen per catty, refined grains 35 wen, and the rest are even more expensive.
Before the disaster, coarse grains were only 7 cents a catty, and refined grains were 16 cents. “We’re still doing well here. I heard from the shop’s staff that in some serious places, even the grass in the mountains is gone. Coarse grains have been sold for 50 cents a catty. How can we afford to eat at such an expensive price?”
Old Man Jian was not willing to spend so much money to buy expensive grains. In his opinion, the wild vegetables on the mountain were enough to eat until the summer harvest. If he saved the money, he would not be cornered in the event of an emergency.
Jian Qingqing did not agree. Eating wild vegetables without any oil or water all day would lead to bad health.
The labor of daily work was already so heavy. If he did not eat something good, no matter how much money he had, he would not be able to cure his illness.
“No matter how expensive it is, you have to buy it. How can a person not eat? Wild vegetables are not filling. After eating for four or two hours, you would be hungry again. It is the season of work now. How can you not eat until you are full? In the past, there was no other way. Now that we have some money, we naturally have to eat more.”
Father Jian hesitated and said, “Then, then let’s buy 50 catties of coarse grains first.”
Jian Qingqing shook her head. “Let’s buy 100 catties of coarse grains and 50 catties of fine grains first.”
Father Jian was shocked. “Why buy so much!”
“Is it too much? There are seven people in our family. We can only eat for two months. In two months, we will not be able to harvest grain. When that time comes, we will have to buy more.”
“Are we eating so much? Mom and Dad don’t need to eat so much food. You kids and Grandpa can just eat. With so much food, we’ll be able to eat until summer harvest.”
Jian Qingqing had to change his mindset of thinking that he had to suffer for his children, “Xiao Hu, Xiao Lang, and I are filial children. If you don’t eat, how can we eat? You’re also Grandpa’s son. How can Grandpa let you suffer?”
“Dad, listen to me. The family must be together. We must all eat well and drink well.”
Father Jian stammered, “That… that doesn’t mean we have to buy so much fine grains? How good would it be if we changed them all into coarse grains? It would save us a lot of money!”
“How can Xiao Lang eat coarse grains at such a young age? He is already three years old and can not walk steadily. How can he grow up without eating something good?”
In fact, she had planned to buy all the fine grains, but she was afraid that Father Jian would make a fuss.
This time, he finally stopped talking and agreed to her daughter’s plan.
“Alright then, we’ll go back as soon as we finish buying the grains. We still have to go to the fields in the afternoon.”
Jian Qingqing took the silver and handed him an ingot. “Dad, you go and buy the grains. I’ll go and buy the rest.”
“Hey! What else do you want to buy? Don’t spend money recklessly! Just buy those things!”
Before she finished, Jian Qingqing had already disappeared.