It has been eight days since the flood. The people of Jiangnan are living in misery and grief is everywhere. The only people who are happy are probably the grain merchants of all sizes in Jiangnan. Grain prices have been soaring since the flood. As of today, in just eight days, the price of one stone of rice has soared to 1,330 wen.
Although they lost more than half of their stored food in the flood, they not only made back their capital in just a few days, but also made a huge profit. The profit in these eight days caught up with the profit of the past six months.
In Jingnan County, the sun was high in the morning. Tai, the shopkeeper of Fengtai Grain Store, walked slowly from his mansion to the grain store, hands folded in his arms, wearing a brand new robe, picking his teeth with a toothpick as he walked.
While most of Jiangnan was crying out for hunger and cold, he was living a very comfortable life these days. He ate like it was Chinese New Year every day. There was nothing he could do. He made too much money these days. He could easily spend more than the limit if he was not careful. He ate chicken, duck, fish, meat, delicacies from land and sea, and so on. He ate like it was Chinese New Year every meal. As long as he had money, he could eat whatever he wanted, no matter when. Today's roast duck tasted good, but it was a little sticky. I'll tell Lao Zhang later that his cooking skills need to be improved...
Everyone calls floods a monster, but I, Tai, think it’s cute and even want to come more often… This is not a flood, this is clearly a wealth of water. When the flood came, I was scared to death. I really didn’t recognize the real thing…
"Hey, isn't this Shopkeeper Tai?"
Shopkeeper Tai was walking when he heard a greeting from behind. He stopped and turned around to see the person greeting him with a fist. The person had a round head and a big face, and looked very festive. He had a big belly, a grin, and a fist like a Maitreya Buddha.
He was very familiar with this person. He was the shopkeeper Lu of Yongfeng Grain Shop, which was diagonally opposite his Fengtai Grain Shop. In the same industry, they were enemies. They often fought each other openly and secretly, but they were all okay on the surface.
His Fengtai Grain Store has made a lot of money these days, and the same is true for Yongfeng Grain Store.
When you make more money, you will naturally feel better. Shopkeeper Tai also smiled and clasped his fists in return, and greeted him familiarly, "Haha, Shopkeeper Lu, good morning, congratulations on your prosperity."
"Hahahaha, congratulations, congratulations." Shopkeeper Lu squinted his eyes, and his eyes were almost invisible from laughing.
Hehe, it’s not just a coincidence. Shopkeeper Tai couldn’t help but join in the laughter.
Business has been very good recently. As long as there is grain, people in the county town are rushing to buy it like crazy. There is no competition between the two of them at all, and their relationship is many times better than usual.
"Haha, Lao Tai, no, you're gaining weight."
Shopkeeper Lu looked at Shopkeeper Tai and thought that he had gained some weight, so he couldn't help but joked with a smile.
"Haha, Old Lu, I'm just learning from you."
Shopkeeper Tai patted Shopkeeper Lu's belly and said with a smile.
"Haha, when it comes to learning, I have to learn from you. I heard that you took a concubine again. How did your tigress agree to it? Tell me quickly, so I can learn a few things from you..." Shopkeeper Lu hooked his hands around Shopkeeper Tai's shoulders, squinted his eyes, and said in a lewd way.
"Hahaha, let me tell you, the secret is very simple, I guarantee you will benefit from it for the rest of your life..."
The two men chatted arm in arm as they walked slowly towards the grain shop. They even addressed each other as Lao Lu and Lao Tai, and they laughed from time to time along the way.
"How come they are so close like brothers? Don't they usually fight fiercely?"
The owner of the cloth shop on the street saw Shopkeeper Tai and Shopkeeper Lu walking by arm in arm, as close as if they were wearing a pair of pants. He could not help but open his mouth in surprise and rubbed his eyes in disbelief, as if he saw a sow climbing a tree or the sun rising in the west.
"Hehe, if cloth is like food and there is always a shortage of supply no matter how much the price increases, believe it or not, you and Manager Liu will be able to wear the same pair of pants." The owner of the grocery store next door first spat at the backs of Manager Tai and Manager Lu, and then said to the owner of the cloth shop.
The Shopkeeper Liu he mentioned was from another cloth shop on this street, not far away. As the saying goes, competitors are enemies, the shopkeepers of the two cloth shops had been fighting openly and secretly and were not getting along with each other.
"Bah, who would wear the same pants as him!" The cloth shop owner couldn't help but spit when he thought of that scene. He also understood what the grocery store owner meant. He looked at the backs of Shopkeeper Tai and Shopkeeper Lu with envy and hatred, complaining with mixed emotions, "The damn grain prices are rising too fast, and the two of them don't even think the money is hot!"
"Would you think the silver was too hot?" the grocery store owner asked.
The cloth shop owner kept silent. Who would complain that silver is hot? It's the same as taking silver out of the fire.
Shopkeeper Tai and Shopkeeper Lu walked arm in arm to the street where the grain shops were located. As expected, they saw that the two grain shops were crowded with people waiting for them to open. They couldn't help but smile at each other.
"Haha, I have to go pick up money again. Shopkeeper Tai, please."
"Please come in, Shopkeeper Lu."
Shopkeeper Tai and Shopkeeper Lu clasped their fists and went to their respective grain shops with smiles on their faces.
"The shopkeeper is coming, the shopkeeper is coming..."
Seeing the two people coming, the people who were waiting in front of the store shouted excitedly. The two people were like two drops of water dropped into a boiling oil pan, and it instantly boiled.
"Shopkeeper Tai, it's me. Do you remember that we drank together? Please give me two more kilograms of rice today. I could only buy three kilograms yesterday, which was not enough."
"Uncle Tai, I weigh five kilograms. My mother said you used to hold me in your arms. She asked me to buy some rice. Uncle Tai, you must sell me more. Otherwise, my mother will not let me in when I go back."
"Xiao Tai, I'm your uncle. You're not going to have a limited sale today, are you? Let me tell you, even if you want to give limited sales to anyone else, you can't give limited sales to me, your uncle."
…
The people waiting in front of Fengtai Grain Shop crowded around excitedly like sharks smelling fishy food, trying to get close to Shopkeeper Tai and strive for the right to buy a few more kilograms of rice.
If we only look at it from the surface, Shopkeeper Tai and his people are definitely the most popular group of people in Jingnan. How should we describe their popularity? It's like a popular star who just got off the plane at a modern airport and was welcomed by fans.
Of course, in reality, everyone who gathered around to greet Shopkeeper Tai was cursing him in their hearts for being so heartless. The price of grain had risen three times a day, and he had no shame at all.
"I have no choice but to limit the sales. The store has limited food. We are all from the same village and our families are short of food. If I sell to you but not to others, wouldn't that make people stab me? I limit the sales so that everyone can buy some food. Today is the same. I will only sell 600 kilograms in the morning, and each person can only buy 3 kilograms."
Shopkeeper Tai arrived at the door amidst the crowd's welcome. Amidst the crowd's enthusiastic gazes, he took out the key and handed it to the two servants who had been waiting at the door. He asked them to open the door of the shop while he clenched his fist and spoke to the crowd with a righteous and high-sounding face.
As for the actual reason, not only did everyone else not believe it, even Manager Tai himself didn't believe it.