Su Xiaoqi initially paid no mind to what Zhao Huzzi had said.
It wasn't until the Winter Solstice festival, when she and Shen Yun were delivering gifts to her maternal grandfather’s home in Zhao Family Village, that she noticed many people selling grain.
After some inquiry, Su Xiaoqi learned that the ones sending people to collect it were none other than the Su family.
Zhao Huzzi, just as he had told Su Xiaoqi, was making every effort to dissuade those carrying large bags of potatoes to sell.
“Don’t sell them. Once they’re gone, you’ll have nothing to eat later.”
A villager, who was quite short, retorted, “Nonsense. We have plenty of these at home. Getting through this winter won’t be a problem, and we can plant again next year.”
“But what if you can’t plant next year?” Zhao Huzzi listed the situations during famine years of the previous two years.
The short villager was stunned.
But then he saw his clan uncle in front of him had already sold two bags, received several hundred wen, and was tossing them in his palm.
He was immediately moved, shot Zhao Huzzi a glare, and said, “Get out of the way. You don’t want to sell, but I do.”
Zhao Huzzi looked helpless, so angry he wanted to call them all short-sighted fools.
However, his persuasion did have some effect. Some people, after hearing him, remembered the terror of hunger during last year’s famine.
Last year, heavy rain poured down, and floods inundated everything, drowning the grain they had worked hard to cultivate for several months.
Just as harvest was approaching, the flood destroyed everything.
They watched helplessly as the grain was submerged.
When the floodwaters receded, the land was left covered in silt. The crops that had grown luxuriantly were either washed away by the flood or drowned.
In short, there was no harvest for the first half of the year.
By the second half, the farmland that had been ravaged by floods lacked fertility. The few things they managed to plant were of uneven quality, and they received very little grain.
Yet, taxes had to be paid, rent had to be paid, and their families still needed to eat…
Many people had starved to death then.
Their village was fortunate enough to be near Yuanbao Mountain, a massive mountain with many treasures.
They lived off the mountain, barely managing to get by.
But they truly didn’t want to live through such a precarious existence of alternating hunger and plenty again.
However, some were indifferent.
They believed that such a coincidence wouldn’t happen again, especially since the dikes of their Yuanbao River were stable, and floods were generally rare.
Moreover, they thought that by exchanging their potatoes and corn for money now, they could use that money to buy rice if, by some bad luck, another flood occurred.
Su Xiaoqi and Shen Yun stood under a locust tree not far away, watching them.
Upon hearing everyone’s nonchalant rebuttals to Zhao Huzzi, Su Xiaoqi’s expression changed slightly.
She couldn’t help but murmur, “Don’t they consider that selling grain during a harvest and buying grain during a drought means the grain prices won’t remain unchanged?”
Shen Yun glanced at her, his gaze light, yet he understood her anxiety.
This wasn’t the first time Su Xiaoqi had hinted to him about the possibility of a drought year.
He harbored some suspicion, but knowing Su Xiaoqi’s character, she wouldn’t say such things without good reason, so he didn’t press further.
However, such a significant matter, she wouldn’t likely speak carelessly about.
Shen Yun had already decided to believe her.
He stepped forward and gave a reminder to the frantic Zhao Huzzi. A brilliant smile appeared on Zhao Huzzi’s tanned, sallow face, and he quickly shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Have you forgotten that rice cost over one string of cash per shi at the beginning of the year?”
The price of rice had fallen back to its pre-famine levels after the harvest of the two rice crops, costing over three hundred wen per shi.
The difference between the two was several times over.
Some people heard this, and their throats tightened, as if the feeling of hunger and poverty from back then had returned.
Therefore, this appeal was more effective than Zhao Huzzi’s previous words.
Many people chose to heed Zhao Huzzi’s advice and carried their potatoes back.
The line of people at the threshing ground, which had stretched for several zhang, was now drastically reduced. Two-thirds of the people left, leaving only a handful of a dozen or so.
The one collecting grain was the second manager of Su’s Grain Shop. He glared at Zhao Huzzi, who was spoiling his business, with great displeasure.
With a wave of his hand, he summoned two shop assistants and moved to surround Zhao Huzzi.
Zhao Huzzi, who feared nothing, straightened his back and met them, gruffly saying,
“What are you doing? This is Zhao Family Village, not your Su’s Grain Shop. This is not a place for you to cause trouble.”
As Zhao Huzzi spoke, he beckoned. His second brother, third brother, and his uncle’s eldest and second cousins all gathered around.
The second manager of Su’s Grain Shop looked at these villagers, who were dark-skinned but stout and strong, and immediately felt intimidated.
He couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. They couldn’t afford to offend these people.
They gathered their tools and slipped away—to collect grain from other villages.
The young lady’s friend had said they should collect more, to hoard it during next year’s famine and drive up prices.
Only then did Zhao Huzzi approach Shen Yun and Su Xiaoqi.
“Brother Yun, you’ve come to deliver festival gifts to Scholar Grandpa.” Zhao Huzzi’s busy efforts had caused beads of sweat to appear on his glistening forehead.
But his spirits were exceptionally high, his dark eyes darting around.
Shen Yun nodded, saying he was thoughtful.
In truth, if they wanted to sell, they should be allowed to. Some people couldn’t be stopped.
Zhao Huzzi glanced discreetly at Su Xiaoqi, who stood beside Shen Yun without speaking. His eyes flickered as he said,
“Alas, they are all from the same village. We can’t just stand by and watch them make foolish decisions.
Alas, I’ve been starved enough. Until new grain is stored, I won’t sell these things for anything.”
Zhao Huzzi was an honest and straightforward person.
He did what he thought of, his mind not even capable of taking detours.
But this was also the basis of Su Xiaoqi’s trust in him.
She believed that such a person wouldn’t play tricks. As it turned out, she had not misjudged him.
At least, when she asked Zhao Huzzi to help her collect buckwheat, he did an excellent job, helping her successfully collect thirty thousand jin of buckwheat.
It had already been transported in batches to the courtyard behind the supermarket, and under Zhao Ye’s supervision, her group of beggars helped her process it into buckwheat tea.
Because of the smooth progress of this matter, Su Xiaoqi generously paid him three strings of cash.
The agreed price was one wen per jin, but Zhao Huzzi felt the price was too high and firmly refused to accept it.
He even planned to help for free.
Su Xiaoqi had no choice but to lower the price to one wen for every ten jin.
For thirty thousand jin, that amounted to three strings of cash.
Zhao Huzzi, who initially found it too much and refused to accept, only agreed after Su Xiaoqi said that if he didn’t accept, she wouldn’t dare ask for his help again.
Zhao Huzzi held the three strings of cash in his hand, feeling as if he were dreaming.
He could never have imagined that by simply going around to various villages, he could earn so much money in just over half a month.
It was ten times what he usually earned from farming and odd jobs, and this job was also particularly easy.
The people at the threshing ground all dispersed. Shen Yun and Su Xiaoqi got into the mule cart and continued towards Zhao Ci’s house, located in the center of the village.
The mule cart stopped outside the courtyard. The courtyard gate was open, and before they even entered, they could hear a commotion.
“Only when you treat someone as your nephew will they not pay you any mind. You’ve doted on him so much.
When something good happens to him, they call Zhao Huzzi but not you.”
This voice was sharp and piercing; it was undoubtedly Qian Shi.
“You stupid woman, what nonsense are you spouting? That’s my nephew, Zhao Dashan’s own flesh and blood. I’m happy to see him doing well. What do I need?” Zhao Dashan’s resonant voice carried out.
It held a bit of his usual honest and upright demeanor.
Shen Yun stood at the doorway and listened for a moment. He understood that Qian Shi was arguing with his maternal uncle about Su Xiaoqi not asking him to collect buckwheat.
As the person involved, Su Xiaoqi naturally understood as well.
She furtively glanced at Shen Yun, seeing that his expression was calm and he showed no signs of anger.
Slightly relieved, she stammered an explanation, “At that time, I asked Brother Zhao for help, but, actually…”
Before she could finish, Shen Yun raised his hand to stop her.
“You don’t need to worry. Uncle is not good at handling these things, and he won’t blame you.” Zhao Dashan was a simple and inarticulate man, unlike Zhao Huzzi, who was smooth and familiar with everyone.
“But Aunt…” Su Xiaoqi felt a bit weary.
When Shen Yun passed the imperial examination and held a banquet, she had seen Qian Shi seemingly better, and thought she had finally come to her senses.
Unexpectedly, she still enjoyed causing trouble.
Alas…
She was afraid Shen Yun would think she had deliberately not asked Zhao Dashan for help, thus damaging the relationship with his maternal grandfather’s family.
As the time for Shen Yun’s blackening drew nearer, Su Xiaoqi’s heart grew more uneasy.