I was divorced because I got pregnant during the lean years, so I went back to my parents’ home and

"Who told you that? There's nothing happening in our town. It's normal for grain prices to fluctuate by one or two cents during lean times. You're making a fuss about nothing. Who are you trying to scare?"

……

Cishui Town is still too remote, and people don’t realize that food prices are going to increase.

Buy some grain now and store it, then sell it when the price goes up and make a profit from the difference, just like the wealthy families in the county.

I’m short of money now!

She shook her head and walked in.

"I want to buy some soybean seeds!" Ji Xiaobei said to a boy.

"Girl, if you have money, you should buy some food and save it. The price of food has gone up..." said a middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper.

A woman standing nearby sneered, "Boss, you can't sell your grain, right? Everyone comes and asks people to stock up on grain. You brought back so much grain yesterday, aren't you afraid of getting a lot of it..."

The shopkeeper said coldly: "When the grain price goes up, don't come to me and beg me for a discount, humph..."

He went into the house with a grunt.

The old woman came over and said with a smile, "Young lady, don't listen to his nonsense. He brought back a lot of grain from the capital yesterday, but no one came to buy it. Just wait for the price of grain to drop!"

Seeing her gloating expression, Ji Xiaobei ignored her and thought to himself, you will start crying in a few days.

People in the county have started to stockpile food, but there is still no news in the isolated Cishui Town.

She thought for a moment and said to the boy, "I want to have a word with your boss."

When the shopkeeper heard someone was looking for him, he came out of the house with a frown on his face.

"People in our Cishui Town are really annoying. The grain storage in Anzhou Prefecture and the county is almost finished, but we haven't seen any movement here at all." The shopkeeper complained.

When Ji Xiaobei heard this, his eyes lit up brightly and he rolled up his sleeves happily. If they don't buy it, I will.

The shopkeeper took a few steps back and asked in horror, "What are you going to do?"

He had just returned from Anzhou Prefecture. The people who had not managed to snatch any food had such greedy looks in their eyes. It was so scary, so he rushed back with the food overnight.

"I have plenty of food here, I'll have as much as you want!" said the shopkeeper, supporting himself with his hands on the counter.

"My purchase price is 13 wen per pound of rice, 8 wen per pound of corn, and 7 wen per pound of soybeans..." The shopkeeper took the initiative to quote the price.

Ji Xiaobei was puzzled. He didn't say anything, so why was he so scared?

Ji Xiaobei thought about it. When he came back from Anzhou Prefecture, there was chaos there, with murders and robberies. He is still frightened until now.

"Since the boss is honest, I won't bargain. I want 1000 catties of rice, 1000 catties of corn, and 500 catties of soybeans..."

The shopkeeper held on to the counter to steady himself. He only added two cents per pound. If he had known she was so happy, he would have added more money.

But it’s okay. If the county government opens a low-price warehouse to release grain, the grain we have stored will be wasted.

"I didn't bring that much money today, only a deposit. I will come to get the food early tomorrow morning!" Ji Xiaobei took out a handful of silver beads from his pocket without any hesitation.

The boss wrote the documents, collected the deposit, and sold several thousand kilograms of grain in a daze.

Ji Xiaobei took the documents and asked the shopkeeper to weigh a few kilograms of soybean seeds before he left.

She still hasn’t found the money to buy food tomorrow, and she doesn’t know where to get it.

When water reaches the bridge, it will naturally flow straight. There is always a solution.

If it really doesn't work out, then forget about the deposit, it's not that much.

But if you can solve the money problem, you will make a lot of money. This is a small investment for a big gain.

Coming out of the grain shop, she looked up and saw a brand new plaque hanging on the shop: "Qin's Grain Shop".

No wonder the boss didn’t dare to stock up grain. It turned out he was a novice and had only been in charge of this grain shop for long.

There is a small shop not far from the grain shop. There are many pots and pans at the door, as if someone is moving.

"Old woman, I'll clean up. You go call the people from the pawnbroker over and ask them to look after the shop. We'll rent it to them at a lower price today." said an old man with a hunched back.

A woman who was packing up sighed helplessly and said, "Why don't we wait a little longer? Their rent is too low."

Ji Xiaobei walked over and asked, "Uncle, are you looking to rent out your shop?"

The old man nodded and ignored her.

The shop has been idle for a month and has not been rented out. There are very few people looking at it. People can't even get enough food to eat, so who has the money to rent a shop?

"Uncle, how much is this shop? Can I take a look?" Ji Xiaobei asked.

"Just take a look, 12 taels of silver a year." The old man said without raising his head.

Ji Xiaobei went in and took a look around. There was a large open space outside and a small kitchen inside. It seemed that it used to be a catering business, and there were tables, chairs and benches stacked inside.

"Is there a yard behind uncle?" Ji Xiaobei asked.

"Girl, there is no yard at the back. There used to be one, but it was sold and then the back door of the shop was sealed." The old woman stood up and pointed towards the back wall.

Sure enough, there are signs of repairs.

"Without a backyard, the price is a bit expensive. If I were to run a catering business, I would have to go home at night!" said Ji Xiaobei.

She didn't deliberately lower the price, she really thought so in her heart.

"Girl, if you are not too particular, you can just remove the benches, spread the straw mat, draw the curtain, and sleep in this room," said the old woman.

This is how she slept after she and the old man sold the backyard.

Ji Xiaobei chatted with the old woman for a while and found out that they had only one daughter, who was married in the provincial capital. She wrote to them a few days ago and asked them to come over.

Only then did they think of renting out the shop and living with the girl.

"The capital city is so far from home, do you still want to come back? Why don't you think about selling the shop and renting one over there?" Ji Xiaobei said as he looked at the small shop.

The old woman didn't hide it and said directly: "It's hard to rent it, let alone sell it. There was a flood last year. What if there is a flood again this year and the house is washed away..."

The old man coughed and glared at the old woman.

The old woman realized that she had said too much, and said with a smile: "Miss, I'm going to be busy now."

The old couple thought that the young daughter-in-law from a wealthy family was just out to relax and chat.

"Uncle, if you want to sell it, I will buy it. If you don't want to sell it, I will rent it for a long term, five or three years is fine." Ji Xiaobei said.

She thought to herself that the child was still young for the next three to five years, so she would probably live in Jijia Bay. With a shop, she could start some business with the child in the future.

The old couple looked at each other, and the old man said, "Girl, go back and discuss it with your family. You have to write a document to rent a house and you can't regret it."

Ji Xiaobei smiled and said, "I can make the decision."

The old woman looked at this rather tough-looking woman and thought she looked pretty when she smiled.

She pulled the old man aside and the two of them whispered to each other.

The old man came over and said through gritted teeth: "Then we will sell it, including the things inside, for a total of 50 taels of silver."