Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The carriage swayed along the road, turning into Chong Yuanfang Street.
As dusk settled, many small vendors on both sides of the street were still hawking their wares.
Passing by Chen’s Rice Shop, a commotion mixed with crying erupted from the street.
A woman collapsed to the ground, clutching an empty rice sack, and wailed, “This life is unbearable! The price of rice went from seven coins a liter to nine or twelve, and now it’s jumped to fifteen! It’s forcing the living to die!”
“I only earn thirty coins a day working at the docks. Five mouths to feed at home, how are we supposed to survive with rice prices like this?”
“Yes, is Boss Chen here? Prices can’t go up like this! The price has doubled compared to three months ago! How can you make life so unbearable?”
“Boss Chen, we want to see Boss Chen! “
“When will the boss have time to see you?” The shop assistant pulled out a bamboo stick with “Fifteen Coins/Liter” written on it, stuck it into the rice bucket, and looked at the crowd with narrowed eyes. “Buy it or don’t, it’s up to you. But let me make this clear: our boss said the price of rice will go up again in ten days!”
“There’s nothing we can do. Qizhou and Qingzhou are flooded, and starving people are still waiting outside our Weizhou Prefecture! There’s been no harvest in that area, and this is all the rice we have on the market! We’ll sell as little as we can until it’s all gone! Today we’re only selling three shi of rice! If you’re not buying, get out of the way.”
“You won’t find rice anywhere else. Only our Chen’s Rice Shop, an old brand in Weizhou City, has this much rice in stock for you to choose from.”
Yu Linlang lifted the curtain and looked out, seeing a large group of people crying and shouting in front of Chen’s Rice Shop, a truly pitiful sight.
Jiu Jin came over and gritted his teeth, cursing, “Profiteering merchants, profiting from the national crisis.”
“Let’s go.” Yu Linlang lowered her eyes and lowered the carriage curtain.
Chen Xinlian, the young lady of Chen’s Rice Shop, walked over through the crowd.
She waved the handkerchief in her hand, walking with a graceful sway, “What are you doing at the entrance? Everyone’s stinking and crowding here, can’t anyone get in?”
The shop assistant’s expression immediately changed 180 degrees, he immediately smiled obsequiously and rushed forward, bowing and scraping, “Miss is here! Miss, please come in. Move along, don’t block the way, can’t you see our young lady is here?”
“Hmph, a bunch of bumpkins, broke and still crowding here, getting in the way.” Chen Xinlian glanced disdainfully at the surrounding commoners, her eyes practically slanting upwards.
“Attendant, I only have thirteen coins. My child is dying, I just want a hot bowl of rice. Can you sell me a liter, just one liter!” At this moment, a dirty-looking beggar rushed out from the crowd and bumped into Chen Xinlian’s arm.
Chen Xinlian let out a sharp scream, as if someone had grabbed her by the neck…
The maid beside her also screamed, and stepped forward to pat and rub her mistress with a clean handkerchief, cursing viciously, “Damn it! Are you blind? Are you trying to die?!”
The beggar man’s eyes were red and he apologized repeatedly, but he refused to back down and still stubbornly wanted to go forward to buy rice.
“Get out! Get out! Get out!” the shop assistant shouted angrily, his eyebrows raised. “Blind dog, how dare you bump into our precious young lady! Don’t tell me you don’t have enough money; even if you brought a fortune, Chen’s Rice Shop wouldn’t sell you a single grain of rice! Get out!”
The man, his eyes red, knelt on the rough, hard stone floor with a thud, gritting his teeth and kowtowing three times with tears in his eyes. “Young lady, I’m just a roughneck; I didn’t mean to offend you. Please forgive me. My child is dying; please sell me a liter of rice so I can cook some hot rice for him.”
Chen Xinlian lightly flicked the handkerchief in her hand, a sarcastic smile blooming on her beautiful face. “We’re a rice shop, not a charity. You want to buy rice but don’t have enough money? Go away! A bunch of bumpkins, stinking and disgusting.”
Seeing this dignified man kneeling in the street, not only failing to gain sympathy but also provoking such ridicule from Miss Chen, the surrounding crowd couldn’t help but point and whisper angrily.
Miss Chen was furious at the sight and scolded, “What are you all standing there for? Get them all out of here! We’re not selling rice today or tomorrow! Close down! Close down!”
“Yes, Miss!” The rice shop clerks rushed forward viciously to drive away the crying crowd, shoving and kicking the beggar to the ground, then beating him mercilessly.
….
Jiu Jin was still angry about Chen’s Rice Shop raising prices when she returned home.
“So what if they have a monopoly? Our Su’s Rice Shop should be everywhere, let’s see if Chen’s Rice Shop can still be so arrogant.”
“Weren’t you going to the south warehouse to check on the medicinal porridge? Why are you back so angry?” Ba Liang finished tidying up the bed in the inner room and came out smiling.
“Don’t even mention it! That Chen’s Rice Shop is infuriating! The price of rice has jumped from seven coins to fifteen, and they say it’ll go up again in ten days. They’re making it impossible for anyone to live!”
Ba Liang exclaimed in surprise, “That high?”
“Yes! Tell me, isn’t that Chen’s Rice Shop ripping people off? I think they should just change their name to ‘The Number One Black-Hearted Rice Shop in Weizhou City’!”
“If it goes up again in ten days, won’t it be sixteen or seventeen coins?” Ba Liang brought over a copper basin for Yu Linlang to wash her hands. “Miss, even with transportation costs, the price of rice brought from the south doesn’t have to be this high.”
Yu Linlang washed her hands, took the towel and wiped them, nodding. “Yes, a black-hearted rice shop, hoarding and speculating.”
“It’s alright, I’ve already sent a message to my elder brother, asking him to send a few more batches of rice.” Yu Linlang narrowed her eyes and smiled. “Let Chen’s Rice Shop have all that rice stuck in their hands, they won’t be able to sell it later! Wouldn’t that be interesting?”
“You’re so naughty, girl…”
The three were chatting and laughing when Mama Hu knocked on the door again. “Miss, Third Miss.”
Ba Liang, his face stern, yanked open the door to the side room. “What is it now?”
Mama Hu squeezed in with a fawning smile, clasped her hands together, and bowed. “Oh, Miss Linlang, good news, very good news. Today, Master finally had some free time to come home for a meal, and Madam said everyone should get together. It’s also the last family reunion meal before the eldest young lady’s wedding.”
Counting the days, it was indeed getting closer and closer to Yu Qiuping’s wedding day.
Yu Linlang frowned.
Mama Hu was quite shrewd; she immediately noticed Miss Yu’s reluctance to go and quickly tried to persuade her, “Master is especially busy this year. Normally, by this time, the yamen would be closed for the holidays. But as you know, Miss, the case of the demon killing people hasn’t been resolved yet. It’s said the yamen has been searching for the families of the victims. Master is also waiting for an urgent report from the court to see how to proceed.”
“Sigh, this year has been quite unpleasant,” Mama Hu said, glancing furtively at Miss Yu. “Master has finally found some free time to come home; how can a family reunion dinner be complete without you, Miss?”
Yu Linlang’s eyes darkened.
Every time she went, it ended badly; for Yu Linlang, whether she ate or not was irrelevant.
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