The eldest sister-in-law became rich by farming in the mountains

When Jiang learned that Xie Bai was going to look for Xu Yingtao, Xie Bai had already handed over the food entrusted by the Zheng family to Zheng Wu and his wife.

The couple insisted on going with him to Ruian County to look for Xu Yingtao, but Xie Baiwan declined their kindness, went to Caobang alone first, and then rushed to Ruian County without stopping.

At this time, it was the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Nearly a month has passed since Xu Yingtao left the village.

When Xie Bai arrived in Ruian County, as expected, the city gates were still closed, and there was no sound of human voice except the chirping of birds.

The roads outside the city were covered with fallen leaves and dead branches because no one had walked on them for a long time.

If it weren't for the guards patrolling the city walls, Xie Bai would have almost thought this was a ghost town.

The masked guard also saw him and shouted, "Who is lingering here? Leave immediately!"

Xie Bai dismounted from his horse and introduced himself.

When the guard heard that he was a relative of Xu Xiangjun, his originally harsh scolding became gentle, and he said with a smile: "Wait a moment, little brother, I will go and invite Xiangjun over!"

Hearing this, Xie Bai's hands, which were tightly gripping the reins, involuntarily relaxed.

Fortunately, my sister-in-law is still alive.

Soon, Xu Yingtao climbed up the tower, grunting, and looked at Xie Bai from a distance, asking, "Are you mentally ill? Why are you running around at this time? What if you are infected? Are your mother and the others safe now?"

Because she was wearing a homemade mask, she spoke in a muffled voice. Although her tone was full of reproach, her eyes showed real concern and nervousness.

The moment Xie Bai saw Xu Yingtao, his eyes instantly moistened, but the corners of his mouth lifted involuntarily, his heart was filled with joy and excitement. He smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, everyone in our family and the village is fine. I can't go back to the village. Can you let me go to the city?"

In five years, Xie Bai has grown from a short and fat boy into a tall and handsome young man.

The smile at this moment made the bleak winter scenery around it come alive.

Xu Yingtao refused without a second thought: "What the hell are you dreaming about? I'll drop two quilts and a tent down for you later, and you just stay outside the city!"

Xie Bai thought that after not seeing her for a month, his sister-in-law's temper had become a lot more irritable.

How could Xu Yingtao not be irritable? She was almost going crazy.

During this month, the people in the government office finally found out the cause of the epidemic - it turned out that Wu Xiucai's family bought a dead pig from the countryside at a low price, and then transported it to the county butcher shop to sell it.

At that time, nearly a hundred families in and outside the city bought diseased pork from the Wu family butcher shop, and all of them died suddenly within a few days.

People who had close contact with these families also died one after another.

As time went on, the death rate of patients slowed down, even though the invisible virus was still lurking in the city.

This is a good sign.

Thanks to County Magistrate He's decisive order to seal off the city, large-scale infection and death of the people in the city were avoided.

However, because the city was closed too suddenly, food in the city became increasingly scarce, and County Magistrate He had no choice but to order the opening of the Changping granary to release grain to solve the urgent problem.

However, as the largest county town under Nanshao Prefecture, with a population of up to 50,000, the less than 500 dan of grain in the Changping Warehouse would not be able to sustain it for long even if people tightened their belts and ate frugally.

Seeing that more and more hungry people were about to rush out of their homes, County Magistrate He approached Xu Yingtao, hoping that she could call on the wealthy businessmen in the city to donate generously and provide grain to help the emergency.

How could Xu Yingtao not know what he was planning?

There is no businessman in the world who is not dishonest. If you want businessmen to bleed willingly, you have to offer them greater benefits in exchange.

Obviously, County Magistrate He cannot come up with such bargaining chips, but Xu Yingtao can.

In the past two days, she has been haggling with the wealthy businessmen in the city. Except for Zhu Shan's family, the rest of the merchants are holding on to the food in their hands tightly.

In particular, Shi Dafu, the owner of a rice shop, made an exorbitant demand, requiring Xu Yingtao to exchange ten thousand kilograms of chili sauce for his ten thousand kilograms of rice, and to sign a contract first, which would be fulfilled immediately when peace was restored in the world.

Xu Yingtao suddenly felt as nauseous as if she had swallowed a fly.

Now with the popularization of pepper planting technology, the price of her hot sauce has dropped from the original one or two taels of silver per catty to two hundred and eighty coins per catty.

Although prices have dropped significantly, hot sauce has become affordable and sales have soared.

At the same time, because she successfully developed chemical fertilizer, the price of rice dropped from 25 cents per catty to 8 cents per catty.

The price difference between the two is thirty-five times.

This Shi Dafu was simply blackmailing her.

However, Xu Yingtao is well aware of the complexity and subtlety of human nature.

If she rejected the proposal, the people in the city would probably turn around and accuse her of being rich and unkind and disregarding the lives of tens of thousands of people.

If she agreed, she would be unwilling.

Of course, if she insisted on quitting and running away, County Magistrate He could not stop her. However, if she really did so, it would be a disgrace to her master and her own conscience.

During this period, County Magistrate He had sent people out to purchase food, but now the entire Nanshao Prefecture was in chaos.

People were not sure when the epidemic would end, so they held on to their own food and were unwilling to sell it easily. Even if someone was willing to sell, they would ask for an exorbitant price.

Especially when others learned that they were purchasing personnel from Ruian County, they were terrified as if they had seen the god of plague, and began to drive them away with stones from a distance.

Therefore, Xu Yingtao has been feeling particularly irritable these days.

Xie Bai bumped right into the muzzle of her gun.

When Xu Yingtao saw that Xie Bai was still grinning, she became furious and turned around and went down the city wall. She still had to continue negotiating with the wealthy businessmen in the city.

But he did not forget to ask someone to throw two clean quilts and a tent down to Xie Bai.

Xie Bai had no complaints and settled down obediently under the city wall.

Every noon and evening, at Xu Yingtao's instruction, the guards would bring him a bowl of porridge in a basket hung from a hemp rope.

Xie Bai also returned the favor by distributing all the dry food he brought to the guards at the city gate, which led to their gratitude.

However, in private, the guards could not help but talk about it, feeling that although Xu Xiangjun's brother-in-law was outstanding in appearance, he seemed not to be very smart.

After all, who would leave the countryside where there is plenty of food and run to suffer under the city walls?

Unexpectedly, two days later, a group of people appeared on the official road driving mule carts.

When they saw Xie Bai, they waved and said with a smile from afar, "Xie, little brother! We are here!"

Xie Bai bowed in return, then turned around and smiled at the gate guard, "Sir, please inform my sister-in-law and the county magistrate that the Cao Gang is here to deliver food."

Now he didn't believe that his sister-in-law would stop him from entering the city.

A guard excitedly rushed down the city wall and headed straight for the county government office.

They are saved! They are finally saved!

At this time, wealthy businessmen such as Shi Dafu were still bargaining fiercely with Xu Yingtao, trying to gain more benefits from this crisis.