The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 220 - 209: Influence (Happy Dragon Boat Festival)

Chapter 220: Chapter 209: Influence (Happy Dragon Boat Festival)

Zhou Erlang’s eyeballs were popping out, Manbao let out a gasp, and finally unable to feign honesty, poked her head out from behind Second Brother and asked, "Did the price of beans go up?"

"Beans? They did, but not outrageously so; it’s about twelve wen per dou," the stall owner glanced at the crowd pouring in to make purchases and lowered his voice, "But I reckon they’ll rise even further, so if your family has grain, don’t sell it to the grain merchants too soon. Hold on a bit longer, and you might get a much higher price."

Joy lit up Zhou Erlang’s eyes, but he also felt heartache. After last fall’s harvest, their family had sold some grain. If they had kept it, by now they could have made more than double the money...

Joy also lit up Manbao’s eyes. Glancing at their tofu, she tugged on Second Brother’s shoulder and whispered into his ear, "Second Brother, we need to raise the price of our tofu."

Zhou Erlang quickly regained his senses, glanced at their tofu, then took in the increasingly busy street.

He carefully observed the faces, dress, and expressions of the people around, and quickly noticed many unfamiliar ones.

For the same reason, Luojiang County was only so big, and there were only so many nearby villages; Zhou Erlang was familiar with most who visited this street.

He had a knack for remembering people, not as impeccable as Manbao’s photographic memory, but after seeing them a few times, he could remember or at least find them familiar.

Yet now, he did not recognize a significant portion of the customers sifting through goods on the street.

He coughed lightly, pulled Manbao behind the stand to stand properly, and whispered, "Don’t move, Sixth, you watch over the stand with them; I’m going to have a look around."

Raising prices couldn’t be done on a whim; it was essential to check others’ prices first.

Zhou Erlang often scoped out competitors’ pricing. With another light cough, hands behind his back, he strolled off down the street.

Zhou Liulang crouched behind the stand, telling Daya to start tying flowers to the small bamboo baskets, while Manbao was responsible for taking out sugar from the cloth bag to fill them.

He watched Second Brother’s figure and asked Manbao, "What’s Second Brother doing?"

"Checking prices, of course," Manbao replied nonchalantly, "I think there’s no need to ask. After all, we’re the only ones selling tofu on this street; there won’t be a price difference."

However, Zhou Erlang still went from one end of the street to the other, enquiring about most of the stand owners’ prices and also observing their business conditions.

He came back looking excited.

"The price of bamboo products hasn’t risen, but all the food has, including vegetables," he said, "Their business seems to be doing well. I’ll try selling at these rates today; if it goes well, we won’t bring bamboo products tomorrow and will just focus on vegetables."

"We don’t have much in the way of vegetables left at home," Manbao responded.

Although the vegetable garden hadn’t been flooded, many vegetables had rotted at the root due to too much rain.

Zhou Erlang comforted her, "It’s alright, we’ll just take out the pickled vegetables at home."

Manbao: ...I don’t want pickles, I want fresh vegetables.

Zhou Liulang, Datou, and Daya couldn’t help but look at Zhou Erlang.

Zhou Erlang directly straightened their heads and said, "Don’t look at me. We need money at home, so we have to seize the opportunity to save more."

Manbao felt that nothing was bigger than eating, so she said, "Sister isn’t in a hurry for money."

"It’s not about your sister; it’s about the fall taxes," Zhou Erlang lowered his voice, "Dad calculated the other day, even if we have perfect weather until the fall harvest, our grain might not even be enough for our own food, let alone the taxes. What then?"

Manbao, being literate, understood these matters, which is why Zhou Erlang explained to her. If it were any other child, he wouldn’t have bothered, opting for force instead.

Look, Datou and Daya appeared confused, obviously not completely understanding, while Zhou Liulang, who did understand, let out a mournful sigh and asked, "Then Second Brother, are you still going to the County Governmental Office?"

Zhou Erlang hesitated.

Daya quietly nudged Manbao.

Manbao immediately dropped the messy business of fall taxes and looked intently at Zhou Erlang, "Second Brother, why don’t you wait here for us? Look, the street is just a bit crowded, but not chaotic. We can manage on our own."

Zhou Erlang, seeing the spark in her eyes, looked a little sad, "Manbao, do you dislike your Second Brother that much?"

"No, no, I don’t dislike Second Brother; I just think we shouldn’t hinder you from making more money."

Zhou Liulang, Datou, and Daya all nodded fiercely, saying, "Yes!"

Zhou Erlang glanced at the street and made up his mind after a moment’s hesitation, "Alright, Sixth, take good care of them. Hold hands; don’t get lost. Also, avoid arguing with others. If you run into trouble, yield when possible. Suppress your anger, and don’t try to fight. If things get too difficult, call for the officials, got it?"

"Understood!"

Zhou Liulang immediately put on the back basket that held the small bamboo baskets, Datou rushed to take the one with the flowers, Daya held the newly made flower basket, and Manbao grabbed two as well, then the four happily waved goodbye to Zhou Erlang.

Zhou Erlang watched them disappear like fish released from a net into a river, their tails flicking joyfully.

He couldn’t help shaking his head. The neighboring stall owner, who had watched the scene and was also quite familiar with the children, especially Zhou Liulang, chuckled, "Your kids are pretty clever."

Zhou Erlang modestly laughed off, "Clever? They’re just playful. But with so many strangers in town, I wouldn’t dare to let them wander. I won’t bring them next time."

"As long as they don’t carry money, they’ll be fine," the stall owner reassured, "The city has thieves and grain robbers, but nobody’s kidnapping children."

He added, "These days a child isn’t worth much. I’ve heard that elsewhere, a sixty-pound bag of grain is enough to buy a girl of seven or eight, and for younger ones, they would sell for just twenty pounds."

Zhou Erlang was dumbfounded, "It’s that serious?"

He looked around and whispered, "Indeed, I have an uncle who sells food along the official roads. He says the entire Yizhou region has been washed away by floods; not just the grain but also the roofs over their heads, and many people were swept away without a trace. Think about it, with their homes gone, let alone grain, some survivors have nothing but the clothes on their backs, not even shoes."

Zhou Erlang turned pale.

The stall owner sighed, "This reminds me of the great drought in the eleventh year of Da De. Thankfully, the floods here weren’t as bad; although the crops won’t yield well, we still have a harvest, unlike back in the eleventh year of Da De..."

Zhou Erlang felt dizzy, the vendor’s voice fading away, but he still heard him, "That time was terrible for us. My brother and sister starved to death. I was the only survivor in my family... Zhou Er, what’s wrong, why do you look pale?"

Zhou Erlang leaned against the wall to steady himself and forced a smile, "It’s nothing, probably just the sun."