Eavesdropping on Fu Bao's inner thoughts, emptying the stored grain and fleeing the famine

"Why? Sales were great yesterday," Lian Rongrong asked, looking puzzled.

Ruan Nianzhi wiped her hands with a handkerchief, sat upright opposite Lian Rongrong, and explained:

"Although this is a town, it's not much bigger than a small village on the border."

The people you saw by the rice paddy that day were all the townspeople.

Most people here rely on rice for a living, and their lives are not prosperous.

This year's rice harvest suffered severe losses, although your help has reduced the losses considerably.

Ultimately, no one knows what this year will bring.

As for your good business yesterday, it's partly because the spicy crayfish were indeed fresh.

Secondly, it's also the gratitude of the townspeople towards you.

But in a town like this, expecting the people to pay for food is not a sustainable solution.

Lian Rongrong nodded belatedly, only then realizing that business wasn't easy.

Seeing Lian Rongrong's dejected look, Ruan Nianzhi couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth slightly and tease her:

"What? You've lost confidence already? Didn't you seem determined to become the richest man in the Shang Kingdom yesterday?"

Lian Rongrong sighed, looked up and said, "Brother Ruan, please don't make fun of me. What are we going to do with all these crayfish?"

"What can we do? Eat. There are so many of us."

Ruan Nianzhi "unceremoniously" served a plate of crayfish and ate it with great relish.

Wang Yang had been craving it for a while, so he took the opportunity to get one for himself.

The gloomy atmosphere seemed to ease considerably with the sound of the two slurping crayfish, and Lian Rongrong, who had been frowning, finally looked somewhat better.

Lian Rongrong called her mother to come out with her. The group sat around the stone table in the courtyard, chatting and laughing. Before long, the table was piled high with crayfish shells.

After dinner, Lian's mother took the two children back to their room to rest. Wang Yang complained that he was exhausted, so Lian Rongrong took pity on him and let him go back first.

But Lin Chuyue and Ruan Nianzhi stayed outside to help Lian Rongrong clean up the dishes.

"Rongrong, actually, there is a market for these crayfish. It's just that you might have to work a little harder."

As Ruan Nianzhi tidied up, she spoke to Lian Rongrong.

"Really? I'm not afraid of hard work, as long as I can earn money." Lian Rongrong stopped what she was doing and looked at Ruan Nianzhi.

"I didn't realize you were such a little money-grubber."

Ruan Nianzhi's tone was somewhat ambiguous, but at that moment, Lian Rongrong's mind was completely focused on making money, and she didn't notice at all. It was Lin Chuyue, who was standing to the side, who noticed it keenly.

Lin Chuyue glanced at Lian Rongrong out of the corner of her eye, but saw that the silly girl didn't react at all, and continued to worry about how to make money.

"The largest city on the border of the Shang Kingdom is Liangye City, and all our towns belong to Liangye City."

Before Ruan Nianzhi could finish speaking, Lian Rongrong interrupted anxiously, "Brother Ruan means I can go to Liangye City to sell crayfish."

Ruan Nianzhi glanced helplessly at Lian Rongrong, then continued:

"What are you thinking? Do you think you can just go to Liangye City like that?"

"What does Brother Ruan mean by mentioning Liangye City?"

"I wanted to tell you about the basic structure of the border, and then we might be able to analyze from that which area would be more suitable for your crayfish business."

Lian Rongrong gave a listless "Oh," clearly having lost all her earlier excitement.

Ruan Nianzhi secretly found Lian Rongrong's childishness amusing. He shook his head with a smile as he picked up a small stick and started scribbling something on the ground.

After Ruan Nianzhi finished drawing, Lian Rongrong realized that the map on the ground was actually a rough map.

"Is this Liangye City?" Lian Rongrong asked.

"Smart." Ruan Nianzhi gave Lian Rongrong an approving look, then pointed to the largest part and said:

"This is the city of Liangye, and these smaller areas nearby are the villages and towns that belong to Liangye."

"Then where are we?" Lian Rongrong asked again.

“Here.” Ruan Nianzhi pointed her wooden stick at the smallest, most peripheral area on the map.

"So small?"

“Yes, otherwise your business would be difficult.” Ruan Nianzhi remained calm and composed.

Lian Rongrong didn't pay much attention to Ruan Nianzhi's expression, because her attention was already drawn to the map on the ground.

Lian Rongrong picked up a stick from the ground, pointed to a relatively large area on the map, and asked:

"This is where?"

Ruan Nianzhi smiled slightly and replied, "Feishui Town!"

"Do you have money?"

"Very wealthy. This is the only way for all towns to enter the city, so commerce here is the most prosperous."

Although it can't compare to Liangye City, you can still see all sorts of people there.

Feishui Town is the most tolerant place for trade, and people from surrounding towns often bring goods there to sell.

Ruan Nianzhi gave a concise introduction to Feishui Town, and Lian Rongrong's eyes immediately lit up.

"Let's do it here!" Lian Rongrong planted the wooden stick in her hand where Feishui Town was located, then quickly got up and went into the kitchen.

Lin Chuyue and Ruan Nianzhi couldn't help but shake their heads indulgently as they watched Lian Rongrong's retreating figure.

"Has she always been this impulsive and energetic?" Ruan Nianzhi's gaze remained fixed on Lian Rongrong.

Lin Chuyue glanced at Ruan Nianzhi and saw that the affection in Doctor Ruan's eyes was almost overflowing.

In that instant, Lin Chuyue suddenly wanted to test the man beside her, so she answered directly:

"It wasn't always like this, but ever since she got divorced and went home, my little sister seems like a completely different person."

"Divorce?" Ruan Nianzhi was indeed drawn to Lin Chuyue's words, but his excitement masked his surprise.

What does this mean? Lin Chuyue wondered to herself, then asked, half-jokingly and half-seriously:

"Why does Dr. Ruan seem a bit agitated after hearing about your younger sister's divorce?"

Ruan Nianzhi's face immediately turned bright red with embarrassment. He denied it as he strode back into the house.

In fact, Lin Chuyue's guess was not wrong at all. For Ruan Nianzhi, the news of Lian Rongrong's divorce was extremely exciting.

Over the past few days, Ruan Nianzhi had already discovered that she had developed feelings for that quirky and clever girl.

However, Fu Bao's existence also made Ruan Nianzhi realize that Lian Rongrong had been married before.

However, when they found everyone, there were only two men in the Lian family, including Fu Bao.

She thought Wang Yue was one of the women's husbands, but in the end she found out that he was just a cousin whom Rongrong didn't like at all.

Later, Ruan Nianzhi felt that Lian Rongrong's husband might have died in the poisonous forest, but after spending many days together, she never mentioned it.

Therefore, Ruan Nianzhi often secretly wondered if the other woman's husband was still alive and well, but for some reason he was not with his wife and children.

Ruan Nianzhi had been suppressing her emotions, but Lin Chuyue's words today have finally resolved Ruan Nianzhi's inner conflict.

That night, Ruan Nianzhi couldn't sleep a wink, and Lian Rongrong tossed and turned as well. However, the two were thinking about completely different things.