"Sixty-two thousand catties of corn, thirty-eight thousand six hundred catties of soybeans, rice..."
Zhao Jia Mihang, an old shopkeeper who is over 60 years old, is fiddling with the abacus and calculating yesterday's income.
It’s not that I don’t know, it’s just that I was shocked.
In the middle of yesterday, the residents of the town and the victims of the disaster who had some spare money bought nearly 100,000 kilograms of grain from Zhaojia Rice Store in one go.
There are a total of eleven grain stores in Jiuquan Town. Except for the two grain stores of the Wang family, which are not open, the others have made a lot of money, at least 500,000 kilograms of grain have been released.
"Tonggui, how are the victims outside the town doing?"
Fiddled with the abacus, the shopkeeper asked without raising his head.
The man called Tonggui stood aside with a nod and bowed, and replied: "Shopkeeper, I have already seen it. Compared with yesterday, tens of thousands more victims came today."
"This is a good thing!"
The shopkeeper suppressed the abacus in his hand and said with a smile: "Even if you are a disaster victim, you must have a few copper coins in your hand, right? Today's business is not necessarily worse than yesterday's. By the way, I asked you to go to the town to spread the news, saying
Food prices are going to rise, have you told the villagers?"
"I've said it, I've said it, but boss, do we really want to raise the price? With the current price of food, many villagers can't afford it, let alone the disaster victims outside." Tonggui said while paying attention.
The shopkeeper's face.
The shopkeeper had a sneer on his face and said disapprovingly: "Why not increase the price? There are more people and less food. Whoever doesn't increase the amount is a fool. Besides, didn't I ask you to go out? The smart ones already know how to collect food. Silly,
It doesn't matter if we starve them to death, what are the fools doing alive?"
"Shopkeeper, shopkeeper, Butler Liu Quan of the Wang family is here. He said that the young master of his family has something to tell everyone. He asked us to send someone to the rice warehouse of the Wang family."
A waiter ran in from outside the door and said breathlessly.
"What's the meaning?"
The shopkeeper looked strange and asked: "Who did the young master of the Wang family invite?"
The clerk replied: "We invited a lot of people, including shopkeepers from various shops in the town, and some famous village elders. By the way, we also sent people to the villages below. I saw Mr. Liu from Sanwangzhuang,
I was also invited over."
"Weird, what does the Wang family want to do? In the past few days, the grain stores in the town have increased their prices. The Wang family grain store has closed its doors and stopped doing business. Now they are inviting the gentry from the town and villages with great fanfare.
Come on, what are you doing?"
The old shopkeeper couldn't think of anything, so he waved his hand and said: "Go and inform the master, and call two more guys to come with me and have a look."
At the same time, in different places, similar things happened everywhere.
The three major families were invited by the Wang family's housekeeper, while the gentry and shops below were invited by their family clerks.
An hour later, thousands of people had gathered in front of the Wangjia rice warehouse.
Everyone looked up and saw that all the prominent people in Jiuquan Town were here. In addition, there were also small landowners from various villages. It seemed that there was no shortage of them all.
"Boss Wei, I wonder why the Wang family invited us here with so much fanfare?"
"I can't say, but it looks like something big is happening."
"It's a big event? I don't think so. If it was a big event, we should be at the entrance of the ancestral temple, but you can see that the three elders didn't come at all."
"Yes, the three elders are not here, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Let's see for the time being."
The people below were talking a lot. Those standing in the front were all respectable people, and behind were the townspeople who came to watch the excitement.
After waiting for a while, when he saw that everyone was almost there, Wang Xu climbed up to the high platform and said: "Dear uncles and fellow villagers, Wang Xu is being polite here. This time, he called everyone here for no other reason than for others.
The victims of the disaster outside the town are gathering more and more, and it is not an option to continue like this. The gentlemen in the county don't want to take care of it, but I, the Wang family, can't stand it."
"What do you mean, what is the Wang family doing?"
"There's something wrong. Does this young master of the Wang family want to interfere in the affairs of the victims?"
"It's not that unwise, is it? The gentlemen in the county are helpless in the face of these victims. They are so panicked that they even closed the city gates. What can a little kid like him do?"
Listening to the discussion below, Wang Xu stood on the high platform and gently clapped his hands: "Everyone, be quiet and listen to what I have to say."
The discussion gradually subsided. Everyone was not giving face to Wang Xu, but giving face to the Wang family, and also wanted to hear what he had to say.
Wang Xu didn't talk nonsense, looked around the crowd, and said: "The victims of the disaster are also human beings. The gentlemen in the county don't care, but my Wang family can't just sit idly by and ignore it. Today, my Wang family will just pretend to be big-headed. Everyone has something in their hands."
As much food as I want, my Wang family wants to help the victims!"
"What, relief for the victims!" The old shopkeeper of Zhaojia Rice Shop looked at him dumbfounded.
"Crazy, this young master of the Wang family is crazy. Does he know how many victims are outside and how many are coming?" Boss Zhou of the oil shop also said to the people around him.
"What the hell is the Wang family doing? They called us here and just let a half-year-old talk nonsense out. Is he looking down on us or taking the wrong medicine?" Boss Jiang of the grocery store looked dissatisfied.
"Young Master Wang, are you telling the truth?"
Amidst all the doubts, a different voice suddenly came.
Wang Xu was stunned and said to Liu Quan beside him: "Did you invite this?"
"No, I asked Boss Wei from the cloth shop to act as my support. I don't know this person!" Liu Quan also looked confused and glanced at Boss Wei in the crowd, who also shook his head in confusion.
"Whose child is this? He looks so unfamiliar!"
"It seems to be from the Ning family. His name is Zhang Qing. He is said to be the son of the eldest son of the Ning family. His name is now Ning Qing. He has recognized his ancestor and returned to the clan."
"The boss of the Ning family, didn't he run away from home thirty years ago and come back again?"
"It seems not. The boss of the Ning family died outside, and he came back as a half-grown man with a little girl."
Listening to the villagers' discussion, Wang Xu looked at the man named Zhang Qing, no, he should be called Ning Qing.
Ning Qing looked about 17 or 18 years old, and he was accompanied by a girl of about 13 or 14. Unlike people in the countryside who would subconsciously dodge when someone else looked at them, he held his head high and looked at Wang Xu with very clear eyes.
Wang Xu is no stranger to the Ning family.
The reason why they are not unfamiliar is not that the Ning family is rich, but that the middle-aged man who borrowed money from him on the day he met the blood demon was from the Ning family.
A few decades ago, the Ning family was considered a country squire in Jiuquan Town. The family owned more than a hundred acres of land, which was more than enough.
The good times did not last long, as the second eldest son of the Ning family drowned in the river, and the eldest son who caused the death of the second brother ran away from home. The old couple of the Ning family went crazy looking for him, and their life gradually became miserable.
The family business was passed to the third son of the Ning family, leaving only ten acres of land. A serious illness occurred in the spring of this year, and the Ning family's daughter-in-law contracted a cold. The ten acres of land were also mortgaged to the Wang family. It seemed that they
You can't redeem it, otherwise your family will be ruined.
"He was not arranged by you?"
Wang Xu looked at Liu Quan again, and Liu Quan shook his head slightly and said nothing.
“Interesting, bring your own dry food for 50 cents!”
Wang Xulu was so happy that Boss Wei, whom he hired, didn't say anything. Instead, Ning Qing, who brought his own food, rushed up to him.
Judging from the opinions of the people around them, they were very interested in Ning Qing's statement and wanted to know if the Wang family was serious about it.
"What this villager said is a good question. If the Wang family wants to provide disaster relief, is it really a disaster relief? Will it be abandoned halfway? Now, on behalf of the Wang family, I, the young master of the Wang family, Wang Xu, personally tell you that we have prepared 50 million yuan.
Jin of grain, we won’t save even a grain of this grain, all of it will be given to the victims!”
Seeing that the people below all looked disbelieving, Wang Xu turned to look at Liu Quan: "Open a position!"
"Open a position!"
Under Liu Quan's shout, the granary was opened.
As soon as you see it, you can see that it is densely packed with grain. Not only is the granary full, but there are also piles on the ground. The townspeople who look at it are exclaiming in surprise.
"I ask everyone to supervise. All the food here is for the relief of the victims. Our Wang family will not sell a single load! In addition, everyone is welcome to sell food to the Wang family. As much food as there is, my Wang family will buy it."
All will be used for disaster relief, and disaster relief will start tonight."
Following Wang Xu's words, everyone present was dumbfounded.
I don't know who was the first one to start applauding. Soon, warm applause sounded from all directions.
In the crowd, several rice shop bosses gathered together, looked at Wang Xu with a smile on his face, and murmured: "The Wang family is finished. Even if the grain is not 50 million jins, there is still 20 million jins. Now.
They emptied all the Wang family’s wealth.”
"Yes, it's definitely over. Even gold and silver can't bear to be wasted like this."
"what should we do?"
"Sell grain to the Wang family. If he wants as much as he wants, sell it to him."
"No way, our families together have at least 20 million kilograms of grain. Can the Wang family afford it?"
"Why can't I afford it? The Wang family has so much land, a rice shop and a restaurant. The young master of the Wang family has a great scholar as a teacher, so he can pay off the debt."
"Isn't this too harsh? This is pushing the Wang family into a pit of fire!"