At the beginning of the famine, I became famous all over the world with my useless system

So Lin Qing decided to go out with the whole family.

The remaining two sons finally persuaded Gu Damao to go out with them, and the four of them, mother and sons, headed towards the foot of the mountain together.

They heard deafening quarrels from afar, and when they saw the dense crowds of people in front of them, several people suddenly wanted to retreat.

Gu Ermiao carefully identified it, his eyes shining as he said, "Mom, it really seems to be Senior Brother Jiang's voice. Is he in trouble? Let's go check it out!"

Lin Qing hurriedly told Gu Damao to keep an eye on Gu Sihe, and then let Gu Ermiao, like a wild dog, drag her into the crowd.

The person surrounded in the middle of the open space was indeed Manager Qian's apprentice Jiang Yi.

He was standing on the ox cart in a panic, tightly holding onto two rickety wooden barrels, his legs trembling, and shouting orders to the "guards" around him:

"Don't forget that today's mission is to protect these sour dates! If anything goes wrong, you won't get a penny of your wages!"

Lin Qing clearly noticed that the eyes of these burly men were instantly filled with dissatisfaction and resentment.

After exchanging glances, the leader nodded, and the others obediently stretched out their arms to block the villagers who were about to surround them, shouting fiercely:

"Hey, do you know who this young man is? Did you hear what he said? Get away from me! My fists don't recognize anyone!"

The leader of the villagers was the headman's wife, Liu.

She pinched her waist, held her head high and said proudly, "I don't care where you are from, and I don't care who you are, but these sour dates belong to us in Songsi Village. Even if they fall to the ground and rot, they are still ours. Don't even think about taking a single one!"

Seeing that the excited crowd was pushing harder and harder, the oxcart, which was already overloaded, began to creak, and the ox also made some frightened neighing sounds. Coupled with the condemnation that rose one after another like waves, Jiang Yi's face turned even paler.

Just when Jiang Yi thought he was really going to be trapped to death in Songsi Village today, and was shivering, not knowing what to do, he looked around and suddenly saw Lin Qing.

At that moment, he felt like he saw the savior and tears almost fell.

Gu Ermiao received Lin Qing's instructions and quickly walked to the side of the ox cart. Jiang Yi said anxiously, "Make way, make way, let him get on!"

The people in Songsi Village were very surprised that a traitor suddenly appeared among them, and looked at Lin Qing in confusion.

Liu asked, "Gu's daughter-in-law, what do you mean by this? Shouldn't you avoid people if you are so rude?"

Lin Qing forced a smile but did not answer. Gu Ermiao took advantage of the chaos to quickly climb onto the ox cart and whispered a few words into Jiang Yi's ear. The latter's frown gradually relaxed, and the light in his eyes became more and more obvious.

"Okay, okay, Madam, you are truly amazing! I will do as you say!"

Jiang Yi cleared his throat, clapped his hands to stop the noise, and said loudly: "Dear fellow villagers, I am really sorry. It's my fault that I was ignorant and forgot to introduce myself.

I'm an apprentice at Qian's Preserved Fruit Shop in town. You can just call me Xiao Jiang. This time I came to Guibaodi because my master bought a recipe for sour jujube cake from Madam Lin. We searched all over town and only Songsi Village had it, so he wanted to buy it from us.

Everyone was almost unable to react for a moment.

When did Mrs. Gu get involved in the candied fruit shop in town?

How could she have a recipe for sour jujube cake?

Jiang Yi’s next words surprised everyone even more.

"We come here every ten days to collect sour dates. The price is two cents per pound. Of course, if someone stops by town to sell to us, we won't let them work in vain. We will subsidize their travel expenses by two cents, which means they will earn four cents per pound."

No one expected that the sour dates thrown on the roadside and no one wanted them could be sold at such a high price!

Then they looked down at the many sour dates that had been trampled when they gathered around just now. The pain was so severe that it almost felt like several pieces of flesh had been torn off their bodies. They reminded each other not to move around. Those who were quick-eyed and quick-handed had already lowered their heads and used the hems of their clothes as pockets, and began to pick up the fruits in a hurry.

Seeing that everyone had collapsed like loose sand over a small profit, Liu was so angry that she beat her feet and stamped her chest, shouting anxiously:

"You're talking about the price we'll charge you later! Don't pretend I didn't see it. Your bucket is full. Do you think you're going to take it away for free? We're not bullying outsiders. You're just trying to fool us with your nice words..."

Before Liu could finish, Jiang Yi jumped out of the car, took out a hundred dollars from his pocket and stuffed it into her hand, smiling harmlessly.

"Auntie, you're obviously in charge. I'm confident I'll give you the money! This is the money I earned from harvesting sour dates. Please divide it among everyone! This is all I'll take today. Goodbye!"

After saying this, without waiting for Liu to refuse, he hurriedly ordered someone to drive the ox cart towards Lin Qing's house.

Hearing the noise behind him was even more intense than when they were fighting over the sour dates just now, Jiang Yi didn't dare to look back. He patted his chest, rubbed his eyes which were about to cry, and held Gu Ermiao's hand tightly, leaving several nail marks.

Gu Ermiao gasped as he was pinched, and hurriedly shook off Jiang Yi's hand, saying a little angrily, "Brother, please wait here for a moment. I have to go back to help my mother."

He had already crawled to the side of the car and was about to jump out when he suddenly heard his fourth brother's voice.

When he looked up, he saw his mother pulling his eldest brother and fourth brother not far behind the ox cart, giving him a reassuring smile.

Gu Ermiao's heart instantly fell back into his stomach, thinking to himself that he was so worried that he had forgotten that since his mother was able to give Senior Brother Jiang advice and help him escape successfully, she must have thought of a way out long ago.

When will I be able to be so thoughtful...

Gu Sihe put his hands to his mouth and shouted loudly: "Second brother, mother asked you to take the guests home first, we will be there soon!"

Gu Ermiao waved his hand and replied, "Okay!"

The brothers' loud noises didn't affect Jiang Yi at all. He was now filled with fear and relief at having escaped death. Only a few words kept repeating in his mind:

Poor mountains and rivers bring out unruly people!

Gu Ermiao turned around and noticed that his face looked a little off. He asked in a deep voice, "Brother, are you okay?"

Jiang Yi finally came to his senses and said with tears in his eyes, "Second Junior Brother Miao, I'm so lucky to have you here today, otherwise I really don't know what to do!"

Gu Ermiao looked at his expression and asked with a little confusion:

"Brother Jiang, is this your first time out on business? Didn't Master remind you before you came that this time you were here to, first, open up the market, and second, lower the price in preparation for the future supply of sour dates for the preserves shop?"

"Uh……"

After being "taught a lesson" by Er Miao, Jiang Yi finally remembered that his master seemed to have instructed him to do so.

"But what did you do, Senior Brother? You hired so many thugs. It's obvious that you don't want to end things peacefully. I don't know whether to praise you for being brave or reckless."

As soon as Gu Ermiao finished speaking, the men guarding the ox cart looked around at each other, and disdain was seen in each other's eyes. Some even shouted.

What does this beggar-like little brat know? The customers who paid him haven’t said anything yet.

Doesn't he know that cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents?

Gu Ermiao was also sensitive to the fact that the atmosphere around him was not right. He glanced at the men with gloomy faces, quickly ended the topic, and began to comfort them with all his might.

"I was just talking nonsense just now. Brother, you don't need to take it to heart. Since Master allowed you to come alone to harvest the sour dates, doesn't that prove that he has high hopes for you?"

Jiang Yi, however, felt that Gu Ermiao's lesson was reasonable and was still immersed in the cold water that was poured on him.

How could he think that everything would be fine after harvesting the sour dates? How could he forget his master's instructions?

"Brother, please come on. If the shopkeeper hadn't accepted the invitation from the Jia Mansion and couldn't come in person, how could it be my turn to do such an important task?"

Gu Ermiao asked doubtfully, "Jia Mansion? I remember that Master was very close to the Tang Mansion..."

Jiang Yi suddenly perked up and puffed out his chest proudly.

"Hey, so there's something you don't understand. I'm going to have to explain it to you! All the merchants in our town know that the two masters of the Tang and Jia families may appear to be getting along well on the surface, but they're actually fighting each other fiercely in secret!"

Gu Ermiao acted very interested: "What do you mean?"

Jiang Yi was being questioned, and he became more and more satisfied. He glanced at the men surrounding the car and said in a low voice:

"Junior Brother, I'm telling you this secret, but please don't tell anyone else! It's said that when the City God Temple gave out porridge yesterday, Master Jia bought another maid. I don't know how pretty she was. That night, Master Tang went to the Jia Mansion and made a scene, insisting on taking her away..."