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

"Mr. Xu, please don't accuse us of taking advantage of the situation. Merchants pursue profits, which is their nature. We don't care about the lives of the people in the city, but you are different."

Shi Dafu subconsciously wanted to pick up the teacup on the table, but when he stretched out his hand he realized that in order to prevent infection, not only were their seats several feet apart, but everyone also had to wear masks soaked in medicine. How could there be any tea to drink?

Shi Dafu withdrew his hand, smacked his lips twice, and continued: "As a disciple of Grand Master Yan, your every word and action concerns the honor and disgrace of your master. If you ignore the lives of tens of thousands of people, it will be Grand Master Yan who will bear the criticism in the end."

Other wealthy businessmen from Shi Dafu's group echoed this, and it seemed that they were determined to carry out the moral kidnapping to the end.

Xu Yingtao smiled and responded calmly: "Have you forgotten that I am also a businessman? If I can be easily controlled by you like this, will I still be able to do business in the future?"

Everyone smiled but said nothing, looking as if to see what they could do to them.

Xu Yingtao continued to smile and said, "At most, I will draw a clear line between myself and the sect, and take on all the responsibilities. No matter how people abuse me, I will remain unmoved and will earn every penny. My bottom line is still to buy the rice at five times the price. Whether the deal is done or not is entirely up to you."

After several days of wrangling, both parties were willing to compromise, and Xu Yingtao's price increased from twice the initial price to five times.

A group of wealthy businessmen in Ruian County were also willing to reduce the price of the 10,000 kilograms of hot sauce they wanted to exchange for something down to 1,000 kilograms.

But even so, Xu Yingtao would still suffer a huge loss, so of course she wouldn't do it.

Shi Dafu frowned: "Xu Xiangjun, do you really think that your business can still be so smooth after leaving your master?"

Xu Yingtao shrugged: "I only said that I would draw a clear line with the sect, but I didn't say that I would sever ties with my brother-in-law. As long as he is still Master Yan's disciple, as long as he can pass the imperial examination in the future, I can still enjoy the protection of Master Yan and him."

Shi Dafu choked and sneered, "Mr. Xu, after all, the second son of the Xie family is just your brother-in-law. When he becomes successful, how could he be willing to associate with a merchant like you?"

Xu Yingtao couldn't help but cough and sneered at this.

If Xie Bairuo was really heartless, he wouldn't have come all the way to find her, and now he is still starving and freezing under the city wall.

Apparently there was no need for today's conversation, as the other party was determined to rip her off and was not willing to negotiate with her sincerely.

Xu Yingtao's patience finally ran out. She said calmly, "If you don't want to sell the grain to me, then forget it. Anyway, when the grain in the Changping Warehouse runs out, the people will be starving and they won't come to my house to steal the grain."

Just as she was about to get up and say goodbye, an officer rushed into the yard and reported loudly from a distance: "My lord! Master Xie has ordered the transport gang to bring in dozens of carts of grain. Please go and count and inspect them!"

Xu Yingtao: “?”

Rich businessmen: “!”

Xu Yingtao hurriedly walked out, and as she left, she did not forget to give Shi Dafu a mischievous smile: "Manager Shi, look, my brother-in-law is really willing to be with me. You have failed in your attempt to sow discord."

Even through the mask, one could see Shi Dafu's face turned blue with anger.

Xu Yingtao felt extremely happy. For the first time, she felt that Xie Bai had finally grown into a capable man.

As Xie Bai wished, he took the opportunity to transport grain into the city.

Xu Yingtao immediately handed him a mask and said in a friendly manner: "I misunderstood you before. You are not here to cause trouble, but our savior!"

Previously, her body and mind were restrained, and she had never thought that at this critical moment, she could ask for help from the Cao Gang as a way out.

Xie Bai suppressed his smile and whispered, "The Cao Gang is willing to help us this time because of my sister-in-law, but the maximum amount of grain they can raise is only 2,000 dan."

Xu Yingtao silently calculated in her mind that if these two thousand dan of grain were used to supply the 50,000 people in the city, and if they were eaten frugally, they should be able to last about half a month.

The duration of this epidemic is unknown, but she must do her best to get the wealthy businessmen to give up the food they are holding on to.

County Magistrate He had been avoiding Xu Yingtao for some time. When he heard that a large amount of grain was being transported into the city, he ran over to thank Xu Yingtao and Xie Bai.

He was extremely grateful that he left Xu Yingtao in the city when the epidemic broke out, otherwise the people in the city would have starved to death even if they had not been infected with the plague.

Xu Yingtao didn't seem to care about his plot against her. She smiled brightly, her eyes curved, "Master He, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to come forward and act as a lobbyist in the next few days."

It turned out that Xu Yingtao asked Magistrate He to spread the news that the Cao Gang would continue to transport food and everyone would no longer have to worry about going hungry.

When the wealthy businessmen in the city learned the news, they were worried that the grain they had stockpiled would no longer be able to be sold at a high price, so they took the initiative to find Xu Yingtao and expressed their willingness to accept Xu Yingtao's previous conditions.

Xu Yingtao smiled and said, "Obviously, the shopkeepers have not seen the current situation clearly. It is you, not me, who are in a passive position. Since there is no shortage of food now, why should I buy it from you at a high price?"

How could everyone not know this truth?

They only regretted that they had believed Shi Dafu's lies and did not sell the grain earlier, otherwise they could have made more money.

In the end, except for Shi Dafu, all the other merchants sold all the grain they had stored to Xu Yingtao at the price of ten cents per pound.

But Shi Dafu was really unwilling to accept this.

When the epidemic broke out, he was more excited than anyone else.

After all, he had more than 2,000 shi of grain stored in his warehouse, and when the city ran out of food, he could sell it at a high price.

But now, due to Xu Yingtao's intervention, his plan to make money from the epidemic has completely failed.

In a blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. Xu Yingtao bought a lot of firecrackers and fireworks from a firecracker merchant and took Xie Bai to set them off in the open space outside the county government office.

As for the firecrackers, they were distributed to several yamen runners, who were asked to set off a few in various locations in the city.

Setting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve has the meaning of warding off evil spirits and praying for good luck. Regardless of whether the wish can come true or not, the sense of ritual must be maximized.

Especially on this lonely and deserted New Year's Eve, we need this kind of liveliness and hope even more.

Xu Yingtao smiled at Xie Bai and said, "Are you ready to make a wish?"

Xie Bai smiled and nodded.

As the fuse of the firework was lit, the bamboo tube filled with gunpowder made a "whoosh" sound and instantly burst into dazzling sparks. Then, it was as if a meteor rushed out of the bamboo tube and straight into the sky.

When it reached mid-air, the meteor suddenly exploded, and colorful sparks splashed everywhere, bright and brilliant, and then quickly disappeared.

People in thousands of households heard the noise and opened their windows or went into the courtyard to watch the fireworks.

At this moment, all the sorrows of the world are briefly forgotten by everyone. Everyone is immersed in this boundless splendor and places beautiful expectations on the coming year.

Xu Yingtao looked at the dreamy fireworks in the sky and prayed that the epidemic would pass quickly.

She was homesick.