Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

The waiter quietly told Zhang Xixi about the rooms where the grain collectors would be staying, and then went to attend to his own business.

Having found out who was buying the grain, Zhang Xixi and Zhang Wenbo decided to wait and see what happened today. If they couldn't reach an agreement, they would look for other buyers tomorrow.

In the evening, a middle-aged man dressed in blue walked in with a worried look on his face.

The waiter quickly winked at Zhang Wenbo, indicating that he was the one.

Zhang Wenbo immediately understood and stood up, walking towards the man. "May I ask if this shopkeeper is here to collect grain?"

Zhang Xixi covered her face. Wasn't her older brother afraid of being deceived because he was so honest?

The middle-aged man looked up at Zhang Wenbo and exclaimed with delight, "You have grain to sell!"

"Yes!" Zhang Wenbo nodded.

The middle-aged man hurriedly said, "Where is the grain? Can you take me to see it now? I want as much as I want, and the price is negotiable."

"No rush, let's sit down and talk slowly."

Zhang Wenbo gestured for the man to sit down.

The man probably realized he had been somewhat rude, so he sat down and calmed himself before saying, "I was too hasty, please forgive me, young man!"

"fine!"

After they introduced themselves, Zhang Xixi and the others learned that the man's name was Li Kuiqi, and that he had come to buy grain to transport to the Northwest.

Li Kuiqi cupped his hands and asked, "Brother Zhang, sister, now you can tell me where your grain is!"

"Our grain is in a deserted village in Yun'an Town, which is more than three hours away by car. It's mostly sweet potatoes, and there's quite a lot of it. If Mr. Li wants it, you can come with us tomorrow morning to see it and we can discuss the price again."

Li Kuiqi thought to himself, "They're so far away, they can't be lying to me, can they?"

But these two siblings were elegant in demeanor, spoke with grace, and had clear eyes; they didn't seem like the kind of people who would do such despicable things!

After several days, we've only received 20,000 jin of grain. This is far too slow. The Northwest is desperately waiting for this grain to save their lives!

Sigh! I have no choice but to take a gamble!

"Okay, I'll go with you tomorrow morning."

Zhang Dacheng and his family worked overtime to dig a cellar. After dark, they even used oil lamps to dig for an hour before finally finishing.

"We'll go fetch some more sand tomorrow and spread it on the ground so we can use it," Zhang Dacheng and the others said with smiles as they looked at the cellar. "This is a very gratifying result!"

After finishing their meal by the light of an oil lamp, Zhang Dacheng and the others went home.

Wang Daniu, along with a few of his brothers, took their bedding and went to guard the sweet potato field. Although there were no dishonest people in the village at the moment, it was better to keep watch just in case.

The next day, Li Kuiqi knocked on Zhang Wenbo's door early in the morning.

Zhang Wenbo opened the door and saw Li Kuiqi. He asked in surprise, "Mr. Li, so early?"

"I'm sorry, Brother Zhang, I'm really in a hurry about the grain, so..."

This is a life-or-death matter; I couldn't sleep a wink last night.

"It's okay, I've got it all done. Wait downstairs for a moment, I'll go call my little sister."

Zhang Wenbo called Zhang Xixi, and the group went to a street stall outside and ate a bowl of plain noodles.

After breakfast, Zhang Wenbo and Zhang Xixi drove ahead in their car, while Li Kuiqi and his servant followed behind in their car.

They arrived at the deserted village around noon. Li Kuiqi got off the carriage as soon as he reached the village entrance and looked around at the village, which was obviously newly built.

Zhang Xixi and Zhang Wenbo had no choice but to get off the carriage and lead their horses slowly, greeting the people they met along the way.

At first glance, most of the houses are earthen-walled and tiled, while at the foot of the mountain are blue-brick and tiled houses. It's clear that these houses were built not long ago.

As you continue walking, the most eye-catching sights are the vast grasslands and sweet potato fields, with piles of sweet potatoes in the fields, guarded by a burly man.

Zhang Xixi saw Li Kuiqi run into the sweet potato field like a madman, looking around, and finally burst into laughter.

This guy's excited expression is really an eyesore!

Wang Erniu in the sweet potato field also looked at Li Kuiqi as if he were a fool. Could this man be a madman?

Li Kuiqi ignored what others thought and continued to smile, saying, "With so much food, we are finally saved."

Seeing that Li Kuiqi was probably going to be excited for a long time, Zhang Xixi took the reins from Zhang Wenbo and said, "Big brother, I'll go back first and have Sister Xiu prepare lunch. You can bring Boss Li and the others over later."

"Ok!"

Zhang Wenbo nodded and walked down the ridge.

When Zhou Fu and the others saw Zhang Xixi and her companion enter, they quickly came over and took the reins from Zhang Xixi's hands. "Master, the matter is settled!"

Zhang Xixi nodded, "Have you had lunch yet?"

"have eaten!"

Zhang Xixi walked into the kitchen, where Sun Xiuxiu was washing dishes. "Sister Xiu, wash the dishes together later. Let's cook some good food; we have guests coming."

"Okay, the landlord has some glutinous rice cakes that were made this morning. Please have some to tide you over."

Sun Xiuxiu washed her hands, stood up, took a plate from the cupboard, and handed it to Zhang Xixi.

"I'm actually a little hungry!"

Zhang Xixi took the glutinous rice cake and sat behind the stove to watch the fire. The children should be taking their afternoon nap now, so she decided not to disturb them outside.

Sun Xiuxiu quickly washed and steamed the rice, while Zhang Xixi ate a few pieces of pastry before going to the vegetable garden to pick bok choy and garlic sprouts to wash by the well.

After a while, Zhang Wenbo returned with Li Kuiqi and his servant.

Seeing Li Kuiqi's bright smile, Zhang Xixi knew that he must be very satisfied with the sweet potatoes in her field. That was good, so they could talk about the price next.

Because of the food shortage in various places, the price of grain is generally more than ten coins per kilogram, which is much more expensive than usual. However, Zhang Xixi did not plan to ask for that much, and she had her own considerations.

Since the food wasn't ready yet, everyone sat in the courtyard to cool off and chat about buying and selling grain.

Li Kuiqi smiled and praised, "Young lady, the yield of your sweet potatoes is amazing! You're really skilled at farming!"

Zhang Xixi smiled modestly, "Not at all, not at all. I hired people to plant the land. I didn't really do much myself."

Li Kuiqi smiled. This girl was really modest. Such high-yield sweet potatoes are not something that ordinary people can grow. He had heard that the highest grain yield was only 3,000 catties per mu, and that was in the fertile south.

"Hey girl, what's the price for these sweet potatoes? Just tell me, as long as you can sell me all of them."

Zhang Xixi pondered for a moment and said, "Six copper coins per pound. You can come to the village to pick it up yourselves. We won't be responsible for anything after that."

Li Kuiqi exclaimed in surprise, "Six coins! Sister, you're not kidding me, are you?!"

Zhang Xixi raised an eyebrow. "Doing business is all about integrity. My sweet potatoes aren't worth six coins a pound."

Li Kuiqi quickly waved his hand, "No, it's too good to pass up. Six coins it is. You can keep it for me first. I'll go back to the prefectural city to report and then find someone to come and pick it up."

Zhang Xixi nodded, "Then let's go eat first!"