Yang Ruoqing knew exactly what the people in the village were talking about.

Now outside, not only the prices of rice and food, but also all food-related materials are rising steadily.

But compared to snacks, rice and grains are the basis of maintenance and the rigid needs of ordinary people, so the prices have risen the fastest and most outrageously.

Several rice and grain shops throughout Qingshui Town have closed down. Now the rice and grain shops in the town's market are basically controlled by two or three shopkeepers.

They hoard goods in a strange way. There is obviously a lot of food in the warehouse, but they insist on pretending that food is in short supply and open a warehouse every day to sell some.

Let the hungry people stand in long queues from morning to night to buy.

Moreover, after opening the position, it was sold for half a day, and then closed, saying that today's share was sold out, and asking everyone to hurry up tomorrow if they wanted to buy.

This is just like in modern times, when real estate projects are launched in some cities, reservations, rush purchases, and lotteries are required to keep everyone crowded...

The difference is that the real estate market is often in short supply because of the illusion created by the sellers, but now rice and grain are really in short supply and are urgently needed.

Of course, people such as the wealthy families in the town, the officials who have retired and returned to their hometowns, the pampered squires, and the small landowners in the villages are not affected.

Those who are really affected are the vast number of poor people.

…

"Now everyone is hungry, many families are starting to think about selling their fields, and some are planning to sell their sons and daughters,"

"As Li Zheng of Changping Village, I really don't have the shame to go see the villagers. I don't have the heart to eat this food. Take it over!"

When having breakfast the next day, Yang Huazhong looked at the bowl of sweet potato porridge that Sun placed in front of him and the two large white flour buns on the plate. He sighed and pushed the bowl aside.

As the head of the family, Yang Huazhong had no intention of eating, so how could Mrs. Sun have the intention to eat?

In the same way, if both parents don't eat it, it is even less likely that Yang Ruoqing and Xiaohua Xiaoduo will eat it.

Everyone put down their chopsticks, and the table fell into a brief silence.

Mrs. Sun sighed and said: "It's a natural disaster. There's nothing we can do about it. It has nothing to do with your position."

"What's more, our family has so many fields and no harvest this year. Our family is the most severely affected. The food we have is all sent by Qing'er and is not from our own warehouse. There is nothing we can do...

"Sun said.

Yang Huazhong frowned, and the man said: "I know this is the truth, but looking at each house in this house, the old ones are so hungry that they can't get out of bed, and the young ones are so hungry that they cry."

"Many families originally did not have three to five acres of land, but now they are selling it off,"

"The price of farmland in today's market is pitifully low. Second-class land used to cost four taels of silver per acre, but now you can buy it for just two taels of silver."

"And in the rice and grain shops in town, a pound of the lowest-end rice costs fifty cents a pound,"

"A little less than half of that kind of rice is made of sand. The slightly better rice costs one hundred yuan per catty."

"Selling an acre of land for twenty taels of silver means selling twenty kilograms of rice with a little less sand. For twenty kilograms of rice, the whole family counts the grains of rice and puts them into the pot, which lasts for two months at most."

"Those who have relatives in the village have gone to join their relatives. Those who have no other means are thinking about selling their fields. After selling the fields, they will sell their daughters to save their sons. A few days ago, a widower went to Lijia Village and took him with him.

Four or five girls left..."

After hearing Yang Huazhong's words, Sun's eyes turned red.

"These things sound very worrying. Qing'er, I see there is still some rice left in the rice vat in the backyard. How about I cook sweet potato porridge from tomorrow and give it to the village entrance every day? What do you think?

?”

During the flood that year, the Sun family and Da Sun family were also like this. Every day they cooked porridge at home and rowed a boat to send it to the villagers who were trapped on the "isolated island" in the south of the village.

But this time, Yang Ruoqing simply shook her head and rejected Sun's proposal.

"I don't agree with giving, mainly for two reasons." Yang Ruoqing said.

"First, our current stock of rice is limited. In the face of this disaster, I must first ensure that our family does not go hungry."

"Secondly, there is the restaurant. The guys work for me. The restaurant cannot fail. That is the foundation for our livelihood."

"Secondly, the reason why I don't want to give is because I don't want to encourage the dependence of most villagers."

"There is a saying that rice's kindness rises to its hatred. During the flood that year, I still clearly remember that you and your aunt went back and forth to the isolated island twice a day to deliver porridge and steamed buns to the villagers who were trapped by the disaster."

"Of all the people who are trapped, how many of them truly know how to be grateful?"

"Most people sleep until they wake up naturally every day, waiting for you to bring food and drinks. In the end, they think that white flour steamed buns are not delicious, so they ask you to change them to meat buns. They also say that drinking too much millet porridge tastes bad, so they ask you to change them to meat buns."

Either Japonica rice or glutinous rice will do, and you can get a few handfuls of red dates in the glutinous rice..."

Hearing Yang Ruoqing talk about what happened at that time, Sun also smiled bitterly.

"Some people are like this, they like to be picky," said Sun.

Yang Ruoqing said: "So, after that incident, I don't agree with giving alms. When the time comes, you will give alms today, but what about tomorrow?"

"I gave alms this month, but what about next month?"

"I don't know when the relief grain from the imperial court will arrive. Even if we get the relief grain and rice seeds, it will take June next year for the new rice to mature and be put into warehouses. There will still be more than half a year in between,"

"We can't keep raising them for more than half a year, right? We can't afford it. The government doesn't support them, and we don't have the ability or obligation to support them!"

After hearing what Yang Ruoqing said, Mrs. Sun also nodded silently.

"That's indeed the truth..." she murmured.

Yang Huazhong's face didn't look good either, because this was the first time he heard these things.

During the flood that year, he was busy digging canals to drain water, and he couldn't care about matters at home.

"Why didn't you tell me these things before?" Yang Huazhong asked Sun and Yang Ruoqing.

Sun said: "At that time, you were too busy and couldn't even go home. I didn't want to talk about these things, so as not to upset you."

Yang Huazhong was a little unhappy.

Xiaohua said: "Father, mother, sister, there is something I don't know whether to say or not, but if I don't say it, I won't be happy in my heart!"

"If you don't like it, you have to talk about it even more!" Yang Ruoqing said.

Xiaohua said: "I can't remember the first wave of people who asked me about it, asking when our family will give alms?"

"What?" Yang Huazhong frowned.

"You even took the initiative to ask?" he asked again.

Xiaohua nodded, "Not just asking me, but also asking Xiaoduo."

"They are all the lazy men and women in the village, just waiting with their necks stretched out!"

Yang Huazhong frowned even more tightly, and Sun was also speechless.

Yang Ruoqing sneered.

"What's going on? This is the human heart!" Yang Ruoqing said.

"We don't want to be the bad guys who take advantage of the situation, but we don't want to be the good guys either. Don't mention the alms anymore. But dad, you can go to the village and tell everyone who wants to sell their fields.
Chapter completed!