Chapter 8 Food Prices
"Shopkeeper, are the prices of food already so high now?"
a woman asked.
The shopkeeper looked at the sky outside and said in a helpless tone, "Who says it's not the case? It hasn't rained in more than half a year. Without new grain production, grain prices will naturally rise."
Even though the Zhou family's grain store down the street is cheaper than our own, they mix mud and stones into the grain.
Several women looked embarrassed. They originally wanted to buy more food, but now the price of food is too high.
Maybe if we wait a little longer, food prices will come down.
After hesitating for a while, the group of them left.
The shopkeeper sighed.
In this current year, I am afraid that food prices will go up again, but where will they go down?
Just as he was about to turn around and enter the store, he saw the mother and son in the corner.
The shopkeeper asked, "Does this lady want to buy grain?"
Nanzhi nodded. She asked Manager Wang whether this grain store was the most cost-effective in the town.
After looking at Nanzhi for a long time, he finally bought forty kilograms of black noodles, half a kilogram of salt, one kilogram of oil, ten kilograms of old rice, and four kilograms of white flour.
In the end, the combined possessions of the two of them were only one hundred and fifty-seven cents.
The shopkeeper looked at the clothes of Nanzhi and his wife and knew that their family background must not be very good. He looked around quietly before whispering.
"Madam, let me just say something more. If you can stock up on food, stock up on more food. The price of food will continue to rise. This is just the beginning."
After hearing what the shopkeeper said, Nanzhi was stunned. Is it just starting now?
After buying another ten kilograms each of sweet potatoes and potatoes, Nanzhi thanked him and drove off in the donkey cart.
Before leaving, she didn't forget to hide the fine grains she bought in her backpack. She also covered the top layer with granola cubes and sweet potatoes, and finally covered it with a rag.
Anyone who saw it would just think that Nanzhi and Gou'er Niang had bought a basket of sweet potatoes.
Before leaving town, Nanzhi also went to the butcher shop.
Now the sky has begun to glow a little blue, and everything in the butcher shop has been sold out, leaving only a few clean shaved bones lying around.
Nanzhi's eyes lit up when he saw the stick bones, and he finally bought the bones for five cents.
After buying things, Nanzhi quickly drove the donkey cart out of the town.
She wanted to return to Lihua Village before it got dark.
The owner of the grain shop told her that there had been several cases of people being snatched for grain and hurting people in the past few days, and asked her to be careful with her dog.
As a result, Nanzhi was worried all the way, for fear of being robbed.
It was already dark when we finally returned to the village, and we didn't meet many people along the way.
After returning home and putting away the east and west branches, I went to Aunt Liu's house to return the donkey cart.
The two made an appointment to meet early the next morning, and Nanzhi took the dog out of Aunt Liu's yard.
"Auntie, are we going home?"
The dog rubbed his eyes and asked sleepily.
"Let's go to Grandpa Lizheng's house." Nanzhi said softly, rubbing the dog's little head.
The dog was following her around all afternoon and had not eaten yet. She felt distressed and wanted to hold him and walk, but now when she walked, the material on her shoulder rubbed against the wound and it still hurt a lot.
"Gouzi, can you wait for grandma at home? Grandma will be back soon."
Gou'er shook his head, "No, I want to go with Aniang."
The big one and the small one walked faster, and Li Zheng's house was not far away, because they walked slower in the dark than in the daytime.
There was still some light in the courtyard of Li Zheng's house. Nanzhi knocked on the door and stood aside with the dog.
"Who?"
The person who opened the door was Li Zheng's eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Zhou.
I was a little surprised when I saw the person standing outside the door. I didn't know why Nanzhi and Gou'er came from home.
Zhou was a few years older than Nanzhi. Nanzhi smiled and said, "Sister Zhou, I have something to do with Aunt Qin."
Mrs. Zhou was stunned for a moment but turned sideways to let them enter the courtyard.
In fact, she doesn't really like Nanzhi that much. Nanzhi's temperament is too soft, no different from kneaded dough.
Mrs. Zhou herself has a child, so she doesn't want to see her child suffer.
But Nanzhi was always unwilling to accept help from the villagers, so he kept Gou'er so thin for the sake of a little face.
"Girl Lin, why are you here so late?" Aunt Qin asked as she looked at the two people entering the room.
"Mom, I have something to ask you."
Nanzhi smiled a little shyly, making people think that she was just here to borrow something.
Zhou didn't say anything and went back to the kitchen to continue washing dishes.
Aunt Qin saw Nanzhi like this and pulled her into the main room. She also asked her eldest grandson to take the dog to play aside.
"Girl Lin, just tell me if you have anything to do. Uncle Zheng went out for a walk in the fields." Aunt Qin patted Nanzhi's hand gently, assuming that she was the one who came to collect the food from the family who couldn't open the pot.
"Auntie, I went to the town today. The price of food has doubled. The shopkeeper said that if possible, we should try to stock up on more food now. I'm afraid that the price of food will continue to rise in the future."
Aunt Qin's expression suddenly changed after hearing this.
My family doesn't have much food reserves now. Originally, my old man said that it would be enough to last until the autumn harvest, so the whole family hasn't touched much of the family's savings. They just think that after the autumn harvest, the price of food will come down, and then we can buy food.
"But, isn't it almost the autumn harvest?" Aunt Qin said.
Seeing Aunt Qin's hesitant look, Nanzhi shook her head slightly and continued, "Auntie, you and Uncle Li Zheng must have planted more crops than me. It has not rained for more than half a year. It will not rain in another month." Can we really receive much food from the autumn harvest?"
Aunt Qin had no idea for a moment. Although she was in charge of the family's savings, if she had to collect grain, it would definitely be a huge expense for her family.
Nanzhi spoke again, "Auntie, I'm not saying that the price of food will rise after we make a decision, but I just came here to tell you what I learned today. Just in case, you can discuss it with Uncle Lizheng and buy a little more. Leave it at home.”
"Okay, I'll discuss it with your uncle Zheng when he comes back."
"Mom, there is something else I want to tell you."
Aunt Qin nodded: "If there is anything else, please tell me."
"I found a large area of chestnut trees on Dongshan today." Nanzhi paused before continuing, "And the soil over there is much wetter, and there may be groundwater."
After all, it was just a guess. She couldn't guarantee that there was really water in Dongshan. What Nanzhi said was a bit uncertain.
Aunt Qin couldn't sit still after hearing this. The water for people in the village was drawn from two wells at the entrance and the end of the village. Today, her old man is still worried that the water from those two wells is getting less and less.
"Is there really going to be water?"
"There should be some, but I can't find it." Nanzhi scratched his head.
"Good boy, good boy, you can save the lives of the whole village."
Aunt Qin was about to cry when she said that, and Nanzhi was so frightened that she was at a loss what to do. This, this, is not considered to be her bullying the elderly, right?
"Auntie, I still want to tell the villagers about this matter in two days. The current situation of my family..."
Seeing Nanzhi's expression of embarrassment, Aunt Qin patted her chest and promised not to reveal the news in advance, only waiting for her to save food first.
After finishing her work, Nanzhi took the dog back home in a good mood, leaving Aunt Qin to digest these three major events alone.
When Shen Dashan returned home, he was dragged into the house by his old lady.
"You old woman, it's so bad for the kids to see."
Looking at Shen Dashan with a blush on her face, Aunt Qin rolled her eyes. How old is this old man to still be so shameless?
"Girl Lin came to the house today."
Shen Dashan knew that he would be wrong, and coughed a little embarrassedly, "Girl Lin came to borrow food? It's not easy for them, orphans and widowed mothers, so just borrow some."
"What? Lin Yatou went to town today and said that the grain store manager said that the price of grain will probably rise in the future. Do you think our family should also stock up on some grain?"
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