Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

Soon people came down from the boat carrying bags of grain. Zhou Guo directed them to load the bags of grain onto carts one by one, one by one, and only started loading the next cart after one was loaded.

There were so many of them that all the remaining food, one bag each, was carried down.

There was no more of their belongings on the ship, and the food had been loaded onto the carts.

Just as Zhou Guo was about to ask everyone to leave, the young man from the boat came down with a rectangular box in his hand. He walked up to Zhou Guo, bowed and said, "Miss Zhou, this is a parting gift from our master to make up for the shortage of 20 shi of grain. He said you would definitely need it."

Everyone couldn't help but look sideways.

Zhou Guo looked at the simple and unadorned red lacquered box in front of her, and she actually felt a little bit of anticipation. She didn't hesitate. The man said it was to make up for her shortage of 20 shi of grain. She accepted it happily and said to the man with a smile: "I'll take it. Just say I thank him."

The young man smiled and retreated, turned around and got on the boat without looking back, folded the planks, and sailed back to the other side.

The Zhou family and Mr. Zhao all came over.

"Sister, sister, please open it and see what's inside?" Zhou Su jumped up and down.

Huang was worried and said, "It's not a good idea to accept such a valuable gift for nothing. I don't know what the other party is thinking."

Mrs. Li looked at her daughter. She believed in this child and always knew what to do. Besides, Mr. Zhao went with her and he didn't say anything, which meant that the gift could be accepted.

Zhou Dacang said, "It's okay, mother. This gift is for Guoguo's supplies. You can accept it." Then he said to Zhou Guo, "Guoguo, come on, open it and take a look. The things in such a big box must be extraordinary. Let me, your uncle, open my eyes."

Zhou Mai and the others nodded when they heard this. They had no idea what the gift from the rich man would be like.

Zhou Guo slowly opened the lid of the box as everyone expected.

A big knife suddenly appeared in front of her, and she was stunned. This person gave her a knife?

A few gasps rang in my ears.

"Oh my god, this is actually a knife? What kind of knife is it? It's so big and long, I've never seen one before!"

"It looks so majestic and powerful!"

When everyone heard this, they all gathered around, wanting to see what kind of knife it was.

Zhou Guo slowly took out the knife. It was about three feet and five inches long, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. A hint of cold light could be seen on the blade. There was no carving on the blade. It felt a little light in her hand, but with her strength, ordinary weapons were not suitable for her.

The old man looked at the knife and nodded, "Although it's not the best knife, it's good enough. It's better than your little hoe."

Zhou Guo nodded and shook it. It was better than the small hoe. The small hoe was like a piece of paper in the hand. This one was heavier than that one.

She liked the gift very much. Having a knife for self-defense is more important than anything else these days.

Zhou Mai and the others were eager to try it out. "Guo Guo, can you lend me this knife to have a look?"

Zhou Dacang spoke first: "What do you want to see? Is it your turn? There is someone in front of you, so I will see it first. You all go to the back. Hey, Guoguo, can you show your uncle this knife?"

Everyone said, "Then show it to us all. This is something new. Not to mention me, even my grandfather has probably never seen it before."

They all clamored to see it.

The head of the village couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "What are you looking at? This is a gift for Zhou Guo. Why are you joining in the fun? I'll show you again. Do you understand? It's already this late. Why don't you get on the road? What are you waiting for here? Get on the road!"

There is so much food here, and so many people are watching around, you really don't know the seriousness of the matter!

Everyone had to suppress their excitement and left in full view of everyone, pushing carts full of food.

After walking for a long time and getting away from the crowd, everyone looked at the cart full of food and slowly came to their senses.

Someone shouted, "Ah, head of the village, we stole other people's food!"

The village head was angry and hadn't even opened his mouth when someone slapped him in the face. "Why are you screaming? Are you afraid that others can't hear you? Keep your voice down. You did something like this and you covered your face and shouted about it. The whole world knows about it. Are you stupid?"

Zhou Guo almost laughed out loud.

The other members of the Zhou family also came back to their senses from Zhou Guo's sword.

Huang looked at Zhou Guo and subconsciously asked, "Did you buy so much food from others?"

Xu, "How much will this cost?"

Li said, "The money has not just been divided, it is still in her bag."

Everyone in the family was looking at her.

Zhou Guo briefly explained the matter.

Huang frowned and said, "So much food, this person must be a bit stupid, giving you so much food for free and also giving you a big knife."

Yes, people around couldn't help but come over when they heard it.

Zhou Guo spread his hands and said, "It's unfortunate that he is a good person..."

"Zhou Guo, Zhou Guo! What are you doing at the back? Come forward and lead the way!" Li Zheng was annoyed by the noise in the front and shouted at Zhou Guo.

She also breathed a sigh of relief and went forward with the big knife in hand. She really didn't want to say that they might have sold the fruit too cheaply, and that the man might have gotten a great bargain, and was in a good mood and felt guilty, so he gave them so much compensation out of pity. If she said that, she was afraid that her family would be very angry.

Zhou Dacang was also whispering to the old man, "Uncle, I think we sold this fruit too cheaply. Look at how much he gave us. I'm afraid he's just feeling guilty."

The old man patted his shoulder and said, "It's not that bad actually. Think about it. There are wars everywhere these days. It's chaotic and the price of grain is rising. How much grain can we buy even if we have money? Besides, where can we buy grain now? We are so grateful that he gave us so much without any hesitation. At least he didn't even chop the grain. He gave us all 180 stones. He also gave Zhou Guo a knife for the rest. If you calculate it carefully, we didn't lose much. Young man, you have to learn this from your niece. People should not always get entangled in these small details. Relax your mind."

Zhou Dacang felt a little ashamed when he heard this and lowered his head in thought.

After the old man gave some advice, he picked up Li Lai, the child who was picked up and couldn't even walk well.

The older one’s surname was Li, and his name was Li Wang. Zhou Guo thought that since they were both adopted, they were brothers, so he might as well give them both the surname Li. The name was also random, because they were adopted, so he was called Li Lai.

There was no room left on the cart, so Mr. Zhao held Li Lai in his arms or carried him on his back, and Li Wang followed him obediently.

His young apprentice didn't take care of the two children he picked up and just threw them to him. Sometimes he felt like he was just nursing the children.

But when he thought that his apprentice was only eight years old, and they were all children, he felt that he was asking for trouble. He had to find such a young apprentice. Not only would he have to teach her martial arts, but he would also have to take care of her child.