The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 430 - 419: Qian Family

Chapter 430: Chapter 419: Qian Family

"You just don’t understand. Do you know how much grain merchants are paying for wheat per bushel in the countryside today?"

"How much?"

"Twenty-eight wen!" Old Master Bai huffed. "It was thirty wen the day before yesterday, and today it’s been driven down to twenty-eight wen, so this business of buying and selling can result in a loss, especially since they’re buying quite a large amount. They would lose even more."

Old Master Bai cushioned his hand behind his head and swung his leg, chuckling, "You haven’t thought about how old they are this year, have you? Leaving our foolish boy aside, just how old is Shanbao who is capable of making decisions? And let’s not even mention Manbao, that young girl is a year younger than Shanbao."

So even though Old Master Bai had been swindled, he was quite pleased.

"What’s even more ingenious is that they pulled a fast one this time," Old Master Bai only found out from the household manager after the three children had left, that not long after their departure, a batch of grain was brought into the village. According to the manager, the grain hadn’t even entered their property but went directly into the village for seeds exchange.

He had also joined the stir to find out that the grain came from Longzhou.

Old Master Bai wasn’t a fool, and after a moment of thought, he figured out where the grain came from.

He had thought, even if the three kids weren’t short of money, with everyone tight on grain these days, how could the villagers have sold all their wheat to them?

He had previously wondered if the three kids had offered a high price to buy up all that wheat and had even snickered to himself, thinking that their rivalry was to the villagers’ benefit.

However, these three children had done something more astounding than he had imagined; they had come up with the idea of exchanging grain for grain.

One jin for two liang, the villagers of Qili Village benefited and were grateful, while their costs weren’t high either.

To think he could earn such a good sum by flipping the grains, he admitted that not even at eight or nine years old, let alone now, could he have done better.

The idea was splendid in itself, and what was even more brilliant was that the grain they used for the exchange wasn’t even bought with cash but was credited directly from Longzhou.

Old Master Bai clasped his hands in front of his belly and sighed deeply, "This truly is the new waves pushing the old waves of the Long River forward."

Mrs. Bai hesitated, "It doesn’t count, right? Our son isn’t that clever. You always said my brother-in-law was smart; I didn’t quite believe it. But after hearing what you’ve said today, I believe it."

That brother-in-law was naturally Bai Shanbao’s biological father, Bai Qi.

Old Master Bai, who inadvertently understood the deeper meaning in his wife’s words: ...

He decided it was better to go to sleep; tomorrow morning, he still needed to go next door to check on the wheat seeds they collected.

Zhou Dalang and Zhou ErLang carried torches, trudging through Qian Family Village, one step deep and the next step shallow. By the time they entered the village, their torches had burned down to a mere flicker of flame.

They just about lighted the step in front of them.

The two groped their way to Eldest Uncle Qian’s house and gently knocked on the door.

The Qian Family had gone to bed early, and Eldest Uncle Qian had already entered his dreams, so it took several knocks before he heard anything.

Eldest Aunt Qian, who was a lighter sleeper, heard it and nudged Eldest Uncle Qian.

Eldest Uncle Qian mumbled from the inside, waking his son in the next room, telling him to check who it was while he himself got up with his eyes closed, fumbling for his clothes.

Qian Dalang grumbled as he went to open the door and was startled to see the visitors, "Cousins? What brings you here at this hour?"

Zhou Dalang spoke in a low voice, "Let’s go inside and talk."

Qian Dalang quickly ushered them inside and then rushed to find his father, "Dad, it’s the cousins."

Eldest Uncle Qian, still half-asleep and wearing his clothes with his eyes barely open, asked, "Which cousin?"

"Good heavens, which other cousin? It’s the eldest cousin from our aunt’s home, and the second cousin; they came together."

Eldest Uncle Qian jolted, nearly falling out of bed, "Is it not your aunt?"

With trembling hands, Eldest Uncle Qian asked, "That’s wrong, didn’t someone come the other day saying your aunt was perfectly healthy? What happened to her now?"

Eldest Aunt Qian was also startled and quickly got out of bed, "Did they send white cloth?"

Qian Dalang: "...No, dad, I saw the eldest and second cousins looked normal, it doesn’t look like an emergency..."

Eldest Uncle Qian still looked very solemn; in the dead of night like this, unless it was a neighbor’s visit, a late-night visit usually meant death in the family.

Eldest Uncle Qian put on his clothes and went out; Third Qian also got up and lit an oil lamp. He moved chairs over for the two visitors and, while yawning, asked, "What happened?"

Just as Eldest Uncle Qian came out, Zhou Dalang and Zhou ErLang immediately stood up, one calling "Dad" and the other "Uncle."

Eldest Uncle Qian gestured with his hands to ask, "What’s the matter?"

Zhou Dalang glanced around, relieved that no children were awake. It was all adults here, so he took a deep breath and lowered his voice to explain about the wheat seeds.

When Zhou Dalang reported that they were selling their wheat seeds for one hundred and fifty wen per bushel, not only the Qian brothers but also Eldest Uncle Qian’s eyes lit up.

Eldest Uncle Qian swallowed hard and quietly asked, "Does your dad think this will work?"

"It’ll work. My dad said so. He told you to pick out the best seeds. As long as the seeds are good, there’s no problem. As for second and third uncles, my dad will talk to them," Zhou Dalang said. "Dad means we don’t need to bring too much over, just one load each. We’ll be home before daybreak, quietly put it into our storage, and no one will know if we don’t tell."

Eldest Uncle Qian nodded, his gaze quickly sweeping over his two sons, then frowned, "Where’s Third? How can he sleep like a dead pig?"

Qian Dalang replied, "Then I’ll go wake him."

"Let’s not wake him for now," Eldest Uncle Qian said. "We only have two pairs of bamboo baskets at home. You go find a few more bags to use, and we’ll put an extra layer around the wheat seeds later. We’ll directly carry the bags over."

Eldest Uncle Qian and Zhou Dalang assured, "You can tell your dad not to worry; the seeds from your place are truly good. This spring, when we went to harvest, our wheat was the best in the village. I’d kept aside enough for our own seeds and had set aside the first batch of harvested wheat separately because people in the village had already approached me about seed exchange."

But now, Eldest Uncle Qian had no intention of using those specially good seeds for exchange; he planned to sell them directly to the Zhou Family.

Zhou Dalang nodded.

Eldest Uncle Qian was getting excited, and after glancing at the moon outside, he said, "You needn’t worry about your second uncle. He’s always meticulous in his work; all these things must be well prepared in advance. As for your third uncle..."

After a pause, Eldest Uncle Qian continued, "Fortunately, your third uncle’s wife is clear-headed, and both of your cousins are hardworking, so there shouldn’t be any problem. At worst, I’ll go find him early. Even if he hasn’t prepared, we can just sort it out on the spot."

Zhou ErLang nodded again and again; this method was smart. Otherwise, telling third uncle in advance might not be an issue if he could keep quiet, but if he made a fuss, it would cause trouble.

Zhou Dalang was also concerned about third uncle’s temperament, "What about after we get back..."

"If he’s made some money, would he dare to blab?" Eldest Uncle Qian said, "Don’t worry, I’ll be watching. If he dares say anything, I’ll thrash him to