Linxia

Chapter 117, Stocking Food

Xuan Mo Zhai.

That day, Fang Lin saw Shopkeeper Liu and his wife coming back from buying vegetables and carrying a bag of rice.

"Boss, didn't you just buy rice yesterday?" he asked.

"Stock up on grain. Yesterday it was six coins of silver per stone, but today it has risen to six coins and one cent of silver."

Seeing that Fang Lin really didn't know, Shopkeeper Liu explained, "The government has said that the weather this spring is strange. It may be a sign of disaster... We ordinary people must store food."

"Oh my goodness, this matter is related to me?"

Fang Lin understood.

Because of him and Dong Zugao, Prefect Pu was determined to punish Master Zhuo Sanye. Like a lion fighting a rabbit, it must use all its strength. Prefect Pu followed Fang Lin's advice and after arresting Master Zhuo Sanye, he made an example of him and publicized the hidden dangers of Master Zhuo Sanye's bullying and monopolizing the market: the extreme climate this spring might be a sign of disaster, and because of Master Zhuo Sanye, people dumped feces into the ditches, which might cause a plague... This put the entire city in danger.

With such propaganda, the people felt that Master Zhuo Sanye deserved his punishment, which also subtly influenced the attitudes of high-ranking officials and united more forces. As the saying goes, 'the righteous will have many supporters, while the unrighteous will have few'. The dismissal of Master Zhuo Sanye's brother Zhuo Yanxiu from office may not have been without the help of these people.

Having said that, this tactic was very effective and achieved the intended purpose, but it also had subsequent consequences because the government reported that the climate this spring was abnormal and might be a sign of disaster, causing people to start hoarding food.

"All I can say is that human power is limited. It is impossible to foresee all the consequences of a decision you make and be absolutely sure of everything," Fang Lin thought to himself.

"I think we should stock up."

Shopkeeper Liu sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and said as he drank, "I heard from merchants who do business in the north that there is drought in many parts of the country this year. Many places in central Hebei, Henan, Shandong, and Qin have not seen a drop of rain for two or three months. In the early morning over there, the sun hangs high in the sky like a big fireball. As time goes by, it gradually rises higher, becoming hotter and brighter, and you can't look at it directly... From this point of view, this year is likely to be a year of great disaster!"

"Disaster year? Wasn't last year a disaster year? The Yangtze River burst its banks, and Linzi's family was..." Huang Di said this, and suddenly realized that something was wrong. He apologized to the other party: "I'm sorry, Linzi, I was just giving an example."

"I know, it's okay." Fang Lin was not petty enough to care about these things.

"Hey, what kind of disaster year was last year?"

Shopkeeper Liu took over the conversation and said, "I heard from my father that our Liu family came from Luoyi in Henan. That was my great-grandfather. There was a severe drought in Henan that year. According to my great-grandfather's description, 'the sun seemed to ignite the earth, the hills were almost smoking, the mud in the fields was bleached, and there were cracks about an inch long in all directions, like a turtle's back. The crops also died, and the people were pale and thin, and their clothes were tattered'... Can you imagine that scene?"

As Fang Lin, Huang Di and Chai Yiwei listened to the description, a scene seemed to appear before their eyes: no roosters crowing for thousands of miles, and bones exposed in the wild.

"This sounds really scary. We're still better off in Huai'an, where we won't be short of water." Chai Yiwei stopped sweeping his broom and said after hearing this.

"Isn't it? Our Jianghuai area is good, with plenty of water. Even if there is a disaster, it is mostly floods. When there is a flood, if people really die, that's fine; if they survive, at least they have grass roots, grass seeds, and wild vegetables to eat. It's not like Henan and Shandong. If there is a severe drought, it's really... cannibalism..."

Shopkeeper Liu lowered his voice to the end, almost whispering.

At the counter, Fang Lin looked up at Manager Liu and thought to himself, "Manager Liu's great-grandfather must have a story."

Huang Di and Chai Yiwei didn't hear it clearly, but they both took it seriously and decided to go back and tell them in the next two days so that their family could stock up some food.

……

In the evening, Grandma Liu reduced the amount of food she cooked. In the past, people could eat until they were 70% to 80% full, full but not bloated, just enough. But today, people were only 50% to 60% full. They were not hungry, but their appetite was aroused. There was a feeling of wanting more, which made people feel uneasy, as if something was missing.

In fact, this is a bit outrageous. It's not even the summer harvest time yet, but it's like a disaster or famine.

After dinner, Fang Lin went out for a stroll and walked along the teahouse route. On the way, he bought some food and brought it back.

As soon as he came in, Huang Di sniffed twice and raised his head like a cat: "Linzi, what delicious food did you bring back?"

"Dizi, you have a very sharp nose! Here, fried rice with diced bacon and a roast chicken. Come on, come and have some." Fang Lin said with a smile.

“Oh my god!” Huang Di swallowed hard, dropped the chess piece, and jumped over. He almost cried when he saw and smelled the smell. “Linzi, you… are closer to me than my dad!”

No wonder he was so excited and spoke without thinking, it was really because his appetite was aroused - the food they ate at night would not make people of their age feel hungry, but as soon as something delicious was put in front of them, their saliva would immediately start to water, their stomach seemed to start growling, and their body controlled their brain, sending them the urge of hunger and thirst.

Perhaps it was because they were familiar with each other now, or perhaps it was because he was really greedy, this time, Chai Yiwei was not as shy as usual. He came over immediately after Fang Lin called out.

Fang Lin smiled and started eating together. None of them had very elegant table manners. They ate and chatted, from the manure incident in the city a few days ago, to the things in the store, to the disaster, and then to Madam Qiu. It was unknown where the topic went.

The moon shone through the window. It was still a little chilly at night, but the atmosphere in the house was warm. We were having a great time eating and chatting.

Fang Lin felt quite comfortable, thinking to himself: "If I really want to be stingy and eat alone, it won't be very enjoyable, but just for this atmosphere, the money spent is worth it." But then again, the profit of the feces business has soared again, and he really doesn't need this. By the way, Huang Di was also a hero in defeating Master Zhuo San.

"To be honest, Huang Di and Chai Yiwei are both worth dating, and even Cheng Shiliang who left is actually not bad," he thought to himself.

It has to be said that Manager Liu has a stubborn personality and is picky about people's character, but the people he chooses are indeed not bad people. At least, they all have conscience and bottom line, and won't do anything too bad.

……

Time passed quickly, and a wave of hoarding grain swept through Huai'an City. Grain prices rose a lot. It was said that the government later mobilized the Changping Warehouse to stabilize the price, and also summoned grain merchants in the city to purchase and allocate grain from other places.

That day, Fang Lin came back from his day off.

Under the osmanthus tree, Master Ou was lying on a rattan chair. Fang Lin looked at Fang's mother and Tian Xuan who were picking vegetables at the door of the house, and did not go back, but sat down next to them.

He looked around and saw the kitten moving among a group of hens from the Xin family with an air of pride, but he did not see the big rooster from the Xin family coming to teach this guy a lesson.

"Master, where is the big rooster of the Xin family? The big general?"

"Stolen."

Master Ou put down the bamboo tube that he had raised to his mouth and sighed, "That 'General' was so good. It's a pity that it was stolen and eaten. The thief was so cruel. Even if he had stolen a hen, it would have been fine. If he could have left the 'General' for the Xin family to breed, it would have been considered that they had some conscience."

These were some of the harsh words Fang Lin rarely heard from Master Ou, but he could understand it. Master Ou had watched the Xin family's rooster named 'General' grow up, so it was natural for him to have feelings for him.

Not to mention Master Ou, even he felt that the chicken thief was inhumane!

The big rooster named 'General' was the only rooster among the ten chicks of the Xin family. As it grew up, its feathers turned dark yellow, with a few dark green feathers on its tail. Its body was shiny and glossy, with a purple-red serrated comb on its head, like a crown. It had long and thick yellow legs, and walked with a swagger. It looked very majestic, just like a general among chickens.

There is only one rooster in the Xin family, and there is no jealousy among other roosters. The 'General' dominates the crowd. The former big devil cat Guaiguai has become his defeated opponent, and he is very arrogant every day.

In the morning, Xin Jiasha Xiaoyun was feeding the chickens. The chickens, which had been hungry all night, were in a terrible state. They ignored their manners and ran to the chicken feed. Only the 'General' endured the hunger and stood by like a gentleman, giving priority to the ladies. After the hens had eaten their fill and slowly left, he slowly pecked at the food scattered around the basin, and only ate from the basin after he had eaten.

In the alley of West Lane, there was a family raising chickens in front, which would sometimes wander over. Once the 'General' spotted them, he would open his wings and fly over to peck at them without hesitation. The chickens would be frightened and cluck, running around in panic, but would come back soon. The 'General' would chase them again, but after a few attempts, they no longer dared to come over.

The Xin family members all liked this chicken very much. Xin Laoguan and Xin You praised it highly and nicknamed it "General". Master Ou also liked it very much. Sometimes when he saw it in the morning, he would joke and say, "General, take your wives to eat quickly. After eating, go travel around the countries and fight on the battlefield instead of staying in the court."

Sometimes, when Master Ou was resting under the osmanthus tree, he would praise the 'general' for winning a fight with another family's rooster: "General, you have won the battle. I will find some vegetable leaves for you tonight as a reward for you and your wives."

But this rooster was stolen and eaten.

"...On the day the general was robbed, Xiaoyun was so angry that her legs went weak and her face turned pale. She sat in a chair and didn't even eat lunch." Master Ou said.

"Master, who did this? It's so immoral." Fang Lin asked.

"At first I didn't know. I just knew they were from outside. Later Man Gensheng said they might be his former friends... Those people came to him to play, but he refused. When they saw the Xin family's chickens, they had bad intentions. They were stopped at that time, but they came again later... The general was also loyal. Those people originally wanted to catch a hen, but it pounced on them and pecked at them. One of the trouser legs was pecked to pieces. But no matter how powerful a chicken is, how can it defeat a person? In the end, it was caught and eaten. The day before yesterday, the Xin family and I found out and went to their house. Those people paid compensation, but the general didn't survive."

Master Ou sighed and said, "When he mentioned those people who stole the 'Great General' and ate it, he sighed angrily; when he mentioned Man Gensheng, there was a sense of relief in his tone."

It can be seen that no matter what happened to Man Gensheng, he did not give up, which touched Fang Lin's heart and gave him a deeper understanding of the word "teacher".

"By the way, has the Master's family stockpiled food?"

“I stocked up.”

Master Ou nodded and said, "Our prefect is a good official. He didn't say anything like 'there is enough food and there won't be any disasters'. He knows what he is doing. He allowed the people to hoard food, and the Changping Warehouse took out some food to stabilize the price. He also talked to the grain merchants in the city and asked them to transport food from other places. You will see. If nothing goes wrong this year, it will be good. If something goes wrong, Huai'an City, which is close to the provincial capital, will definitely have the least number of people starving to death."

"Yes, Prefect Pu is a good official." Fang Lin nodded in agreement.

Take the case of Master Zhuo Sanye for example. Prefect Pu did have his own interests in mind, but he did get things done. If he and Dong Zugao were to find them and force an interpretation, it would have seemed like they were forcing the emperor to abdicate and taking advantage of him. But because they had pointed out the hidden dangers of the plague and had done a great service to the people, Prefect Pu did not care and even invited the two of them to dinner afterwards, which shows his broad mind.

——In fact, at the beginning Fang Lin had some petty thoughts and thought that it was because of the relationship between the Dong family and the Censor that Prefect Pu did not make any threats. However, when they had a dinner party afterwards, Prefect Pu invited Fang Lin along. After hearing Dong Zugao say that these things were thought up by Fang Lin, he stood up and toasted Fang Lin with a glass of wine, saying that he was toasting on behalf of the people of the city. Fang Lin felt the sincerity in his words and changed his mind.

He chatted casually with Master Ou. As time passed, the last ray of light in the sky faded away, and Fang's father came back and called him back for dinner.

……

(End of this chapter)