plumnovel Chapter 38 Stockpiling Grain
Chapter 38 Stockpiling Grain
Her father stayed behind to look after the house, while Shen Wan went to the new house to receive the rice ordered from the rice shop.
Zhou Qiuyuan didn't want to waste two precious hours of cultivation time, so he went to Huixianzhai first and spent nearly five taels of gold to purchase the Red Lizard Molting Pills needed for eight days.
This is a unique elixir from Huixianzhai. Although he has no good feelings towards Huixianzhai, he will not let personal grudges interfere with his cultivation.
The owner of Huixianzhai and Song Ming, who was guarding the back room, treated Zhou Qiuyuan as an ordinary customer and did not pay him any attention.
Zhou Qiuyuan did not sell the Nine Dragons Golden Pot in reality, and the two had no interaction, so naturally no grudges arose because of the Nine Dragons Golden Pot.
The double-crossing incident of "Yesterday" is still fresh in people's minds. If Zhou Qiuyuan hadn't possessed the dream of the future, he would definitely have been killed by the manager of Huixianzhai and Song Ming.
He'll remember this grudge!
The enemy is in the open while we are in the dark.
Unaware that they were being targeted by Zhou Qiuyuan, the roles of hunter and prey were quietly reversed.
……
The Wei family residence.
Seeing that Zhou Qiuyuan arrived late, close to noon, Lu Chengping smiled and asked, "Junior Brother, you're unusually late today!"
"The courtyard house I was renting before was leaking when it rained, so I just went to the brokerage to change places, which wasted some time."
Lu Chengping didn't ask any further questions and handed over the Thunder Blade.
Zhou Qiuyuan hurriedly applied the Vajra Oil, swallowed a Red Lizard Shedding Pill, and then closed his eyes to begin his cultivation.
Lu Chengping stood not far away, his eyes sinister.
The price of the Red Lizard Molting Pill is not cheap for ordinary people. Zhou Qiuyuan took this pill for two consecutive days and still had money left over to rent a house. Where did he get the money?
In the past, Lu Chengping wouldn't have cared; how could Zhou Qiuyuan compare to his wealth?
But now, Lu Chengping still wants to make Zhou Qiuyuan return to abject poverty. He not only starts with the drinking parties, but also wants to find out and cut off his source of income to ensure that things develop in the expected direction.
After a day of cultivation, Lu Chengping extended an invitation as usual, but Zhou Qiuyuan declined, citing moving as the reason.
Zhou Qiuyuan returned to his new home in Liuye Lane. Passing through the hanging flower gate, he saw Shen Wan sitting in front of the main house, with sacks piled high in the east and west side rooms.
Half of the burlap sack was filled with autumn wheat, and the other half with japonica rice. Upon closer inspection, one could smell the rich aroma of the grains.
Zhou Qiuyuan visited five rice shops in the morning and ordered twenty shi of grain from each shop. The total amount of rice he stockpiled, calculated using modern units, was a full twelve tons.
The price of autumn wheat was 1,800 cash per shi (a unit of dry measure), while the price of japonica rice was slightly higher at 2,000 cash per shi. The deliveryman spent another sum of money to bring the total cost to nearly 20 taels of gold.
Black Swamp City has no freezers or ice cellars, so it is impossible to stockpile large quantities of raw meat. Zhou Qiuyuan visited several chicken stalls and bought about fifty live chickens, which he then threw into the west wing.
Besides serving as reserve meat, providing eggs, and breeding for turkeys, another purpose of raising ordinary chickens is to deceive and hide the real turkeys.
We need to prepare firewood, rice, oil, salt, cured meat, wild vegetables, and winter clothes. It's getting late outside, so we have to postpone this until tomorrow.
"I always feel like something's missing."
Looking at the extremely spacious courtyard, Zhou Qiuyuan finally remembered something and laughed, "Dog."
Because of the fact that he was raising fire-feathered chickens, the risks of hiring servants far outweighed the benefits. Unless he found someone trustworthy, Zhou Qiuyuan did not plan to hire servants.
Empty courtyards are easy targets for thieves, and dogs can serve as a warning at night and help guard the house.
Black Swamp City experienced a dark period of food and meat shortages, and most of the guard dogs ended up as meat dogs.
Dogs are considered rare; you can hardly find anyone selling them in the market. Only wealthy families keep some dogs, and whether you can buy one depends entirely on luck.
……
"Zhou Qiuyuan is moving? Where did he get the money?!"
When Zhou Chengwu went to the landlord to cancel the lease, Cao San unexpectedly overheard the news that Zhou Qiuyuan was moving.
This result shocked Cao San and was quite difficult to accept.
Cao's father's eyes were full of envy as he said, "Qiu Yuan became a body cultivator, and even if he were to guard the homes of wealthy families, he could earn several thousand coins a month. Making money is much easier for him than for us..."
Water flows to lower place, man goes to higher position.
As long as the body cultivators in the tenement had money, they all moved out of the tenement without exception, so it was not surprising that Zhou Qiuyuan moved.
"Father, I won't let you down! I will definitely become a Body Refiner!"
Cao San frequented gambling dens, recruiting people to gamble and lending money to collect debts. If people couldn't repay their debts, he would force them to sell their daughters into prostitution and coerce them into trying drugs. He would take a cut from the profits and earned more than seven thousand coins in a month.
This made him quite annoyed that he hadn't quit his paper horse making skills earlier and joined the Green Snake Gang.
Ironically, Zhou Qiuyuan even advised himself to stay away from the Green Snake Gang.
If he hadn't joined the Green Snake Gang, how could he have accumulated so much money?
I really look forward to the day I become a body cultivator and slap him in the face.
……
Zhou Chengwu cupped his hands in greeting to those who had received word of the news, and amidst their congratulations, he pulled a cart and took away the things he couldn't bear to throw away from his home.
The remaining items were distributed among the old neighbors, and the family began a new life.
"Wow, this house is so spacious!"
As soon as Zhou Chengwu entered the courtyard, he toured the entire place, focusing on the east and west wing rooms filled with grain and the west wing room where chickens were kept.
With a larger house, the whole family no longer needs to squeeze into one room.
The parents lived in the main room, while Zhou Qiuyuan lived in the east wing.
After finishing his work, Zhou Qiuyuan went to Tianxiang Tower.
Just like yesterday, Gong Lei explained the Qi family's stockpiling of grain and the slight increase in grain prices.
"You did a good job. The higher-ups won't be stingy with rewards." Zhou Qiuyuan was very satisfied with Gong Lei's timely reminder and valued him even more.
……
Zhou Qiuyuan woke up from his dream of the future in the middle of the night. He lit an oil lamp and began to study the sounds of tiger roars and thunder.
Lei Huyin has just started learning; next, he needs to quickly learn the Evil-Suppressing Sound and the Soul-Suppressing Sound.
In his dream of the future yesterday, he encountered an unknown evil spirit outside the city, and he became increasingly concerned about this secret technique for dealing with demons and evil spirits.
As dawn broke, Zhou Qiuyuan drank rice porridge while his parents had boiled eggs in their bowls and pickled vegetables on the table.
With a large stockpile of rice and grain at home, Shen Wan no longer needed to be frugal, and her life was getting better and better.
"Mother, please don't go to the pulp mill anymore."
"Taking good care of the chickens and rice at home is the most important thing."
Shen Wan nodded in agreement and picked up the rice husks to feed the chickens.
After having breakfast, Zhou Qiuyuan stopped by the rice shop. The price of rice had been affected; the price of japonica rice had risen from 2,000 wen per shi to 2,400 wen, and the price of autumn wheat had risen by a similar rate.
In just one night, the cost of 100 shi of rice increased by nearly 40,000 wen.
Zhou Qiuyuan had a premonition that the rise in rice prices was just the beginning, and that the price of grain would become increasingly expensive in the future.
Clever people with a keen sense of smell began to buy large quantities of rice and grain in preparation for unforeseen circumstances.
Zhou Qiuyuan returned to his sect's residence and devoted all his energy to cultivating the Tiger Roar Thunder Sound. Finally, before the end of his cultivation, he barely managed to master the Shocking Evil Sound.
As usual, Lu Chengping extended an invitation, "Junior Brother Zhou, would you do me the honor of joining us for a get-together today?"
Zhou Qiuyuan wanted to know what this guy was up to, so he smiled brightly and said, "Elder brother, please, I dare not refuse."