Chapter 211 Large Purchase
Facts have proved that Liu Ji, after returning from the border, is worth looking forward to.
Before dawn the next day, he took the thirty taels of silver given by Qin Yao for food, two taels of silver for travel expenses, and three taels of silver from the old house, a total of thirty-five taels of silver, and set off with Liu Fei, each driving a cart.
After all, Liu Fei had no experience in going out. After leaving Jinshi Town, no matter how dissatisfied he was with Liu Ji as his companion, he had no choice but to listen to him.
Because he realized after he left the town that he couldn't tell the directions.
But in this regard, Liu Ji, who was able to walk out of the grass, was already able to skillfully identify directions.
The two first arrived at Kaiyang County. Liu Ji parked his car outside the city and asked Liu Fei to watch it. In this way, he could save the entrance fee and only had to pay his own penny. Liu Fei's share and the parking fee were "reasonably" put into his pocket.
There are three rice shops in the county town. Liu Ji looked at them all and was surprised to find that the price of rice, which he thought was not expensive, had suddenly increased a lot.
The price of brown rice, which used to be three cents per pound, rose to four cents, and the price of fine rice rose to thirteen cents per pound.
Even so, there are still many people queuing at the door to buy food.
If people don't care about these details of life, they won't feel the slight changes at all, because it doesn't rise suddenly, but grows slowly day by day.
The women in the family are responsible for daily life. They queue up to buy food and complain constantly.
However, compared to rice, the price of noodles has skyrocketed, directly doubling.
Liu Ji visited all three rice shops and found that the prices were exactly the same, as if they had agreed on it, thus avoiding vicious competition.
Right now, we only need rice and flour for daily needs, which the rice shop can easily cope with.
Liu Ji tentatively asked the rice shop whether the shop had much stock, but the owner ignored him and obviously didn't want to do bulk business.
Yes, the price of grain goes up every day, and I will be at a loss if I sell it to him at this price today.
However, the shopkeeper is so confident, which means they have low-cost purchasing channels to provide them with a steady supply of food.
Liu Ji stayed in the county town from morning until noon before leaving.
When I left, I went to the academy again and asked for a few more days off.
He decided to go to the south of Zijing Prefecture, where the grain production was greater than that in the north, and the two places were far apart, so there might be no insect pests.
This decision was very risky. Firstly, everything was unknown and he had to ask for directions as he walked.
Secondly, if the food was bought at normal prices, he and Liu Fei would not have enough vehicles with only two of them. The round trip was far and additional transportation costs would be required.
But Liu Ji had his own way, and he didn't have to spend a penny more.
Handing Liu Fei two steamed buns made of whole grains, Liu Ji jumped on the carriage and said, "Let's go to the neighboring county."
"What?" Liu Fei was shocked, but the steamed bun in his hand smelled really good, so he quickly took a few bites to satisfy his craving, and then he drove the ox cart to catch up and asked curiously:
"Don't we sell it in the county?"
Liu Ji only replied: "It's too expensive. I can't afford it."
Liu Fei said "oh" and didn't say anything else. He munched on the fragrant steamed bun and was looking forward to what the outside would look like.
The two men arrived at the neighboring county in the evening. Liu Ji still did not go into the city. They spent five cents for hot water at an inn five miles away from the county town to wash up, exchanged for two pots of hot water, and continued to eat the multi-grain steamed buns that Liu Ji bought during the day and spent the night.
Sleeping in the carriage at night, the two brothers faced each other, staring at each other, and it took a long time for them to fall asleep.
In the morning, the two had dinner in the lobby of the inn.
Without blinking an eye, Liu Ji paid twenty cents for two bowls of noodles with braised pork, squeezed forward to eat at the same table with other businessmen and chatted animatedly.
Liu Fei tasted the bowl of meat sauce noodles carefully, eating not a drop of soup left.
Listening to Liu Ji and those merchants bragging to the sky, Liu Fei snorted secretly, thinking that a dog will always eat shit.
But soon he was slapped in the face.
After leaving the posthouse, Liu Ji smiled and said to him, "I have found a way. Go 200 miles south and there are two large farms that have not been infested by insects. The owners have just harvested the wheat and are ready to sell it."
Liu Fei looked at him in disbelief. He found out just like that?
Not only did they find out, they also bought wheat at normal prices.
Because it costs a lot, salmon in shells cost one pound.
Knowing that someone in his family liked to eat fine rice, Liu Ji hesitated for a while.
But then he thought again, there would be no such store after this village, so he bought it quickly. It was tiring to be away from home, and he wanted to go home to eat meat and have a good sleep.
He paid thirty-three taels of silver and bought eleven thousand kilograms.
The return journey was 280 miles, and the two men's car could only carry 2,000 kilograms at most, so they had to find ten cars to help transport the rest.
But even taking into account the transportation costs, it is still more than half cheaper than the price sold at rice shops in Kaiyang County.
By the way, you have to buy rice bags to put it in, which is another expense.
Liu Ji glanced at his purse and saw only less than one or two taels of silver left in it.
If he uses it to rent a car, this "hardship fee" will not go into his hands.
So Liu Ji spent fifty cents to buy two bags of cakes in the nearest county town and took them to the owner of the grain store, and quickly solved the problem.
"Master Yu is he willing to find ox carts to transport grain for us?" Liu Fei was surprised again.
Liu Ji nodded proudly, "I can buy it on credit first. When the time comes, I'll send it to Kaiyang County and ask your third sister-in-law to bring the money to pay for the fare."
"Why not send it directly to our village?" Liu Fei asked puzzledly.
Liu Ji raised his hand and knocked on his head, "Are you stupid? Shouldn't the fare be higher for one more section of the journey?"
There are long official roads all the way from this county to Kaiyang County, and there is little insect damage here, so there is no need to worry about being robbed on the road, so the transportation cost is naturally cost-effective.
But if we pass Kaiyang County, who can guarantee that there won't be trouble?
It's better to let the evil woman at home pick him up with a knife. It's a waste to not use this free escort.
Liu Fei rubbed the back of his head. He rarely yelled at Liu Ji. He just asked with a guilty conscience, "Won't the third sister-in-law be angry?"
"Why are you so angry? I don't have a penny in my pocket now. It's good enough to have achieved this."
Liu Ji waved his hand in disdain, "Get out of the way. I'll write a letter and ask someone to take it back."
Liu Fei glanced suspiciously into his arms, then made way for him to write the letter.
Jinbao was studying at home, and Si Niang would occasionally come to teach Jinhua how to write. Following these children around, Liu Fei also learned to recognize a few simple words.
But what he knew was not enough compared to Liu Ji's ability to write an entire article with great eloquence.
He didn't recognize the first two characters on the letter, but guessed that it might be the name of the third sister-in-law. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "Third brother, is this the name of the third sister-in-law?"
Liu Ji seemed not to hear the voice of "Third Brother" which he had never heard before, or even if he heard it he did not care. This boy should call him that, it was only natural.
He put away his pen and nodded, "Qin Yao, Qin is the Qin in Qinguan, Yao is the Wang. Remember that, right?"
Liu Fei scratched his head uncomfortably and looked at it a few more times. Maybe, probably, or perhaps, he remembered it.