Chapter 285: Chapter 284: Villagers Coming to Seek Help

The new factory building was successfully completed and put into production according to Qin Yao’s initial plan.

This large factory, like a production machine assembled from various components, once started, was unstoppable, continuously churning out the perfect products demanded by customers.

The first batch of wood transported from the Prefecture has been received, and now the factory needs to organize its own fleet to go to the Prefecture and bring back the subsequent wood.

Liu Zhong took the driver information sheet prepared by Liu Ji, spent two days visiting and negotiating with each one, and has confirmed that ten drivers can sign a long-term cooperation agreement with the stationery factory.

In addition to the Liu Family Village chief’s cart, two carts from Lower River Village, and the seven carts purchased by the stationery factory itself, the fleet now has a total transportation capacity of twenty carts.

The factory’s own carts had six hired drivers, all experienced. On their first day, they were taken by Qin Yao to sell grain.

There’s no reason not to use one’s own resources.

The rice shop outside the city has been rebuilt, with listed prices for coarse grain at forty coins per jin, medium grain at eighty coins per jin, and fine grain sold out.

In just one day, the grain prices dropped significantly.

The reason being, the refugees still had some grain previously looted from the rice shop and could not sell it, forcing them to lower the prices.

Wang Mawu was so angry he gnashed his teeth all day. Suddenly, one night he woke up with a swollen face, looking more like a risen bun.

When Qin Yao led her grain-selling fleet over again, no one stopped them.

They parked at the same spot, in front of that pavilion. The refugees around saw immediately that the low-priced grain sellers had come again and curiously watched Ah Wang put up the price board.

Medium grain, thirty cents per jin!

Seeing this price, everyone gasped, and Qin Yao didn’t have to shout; the crowd surged forward.

One handed over a large pottery jar: “Fill it up for me!”

Another pushed in a bamboo basket, “Fill it, fill it!”

Those who couldn’t squeeze in from the back cursed, “Hurry up in the front, don’t delay others!”

The scene almost got out of control. Luckily, there were more people this time, and Qin Yao immediately instructed the drivers to form the carts into a circle, leaving only one entrance, and told the refugees to line up. It took a while for order to be restored.

Thirty coins per jin for medium grain, which in the past would earn a spit and a cursing for being overpriced from the people.

But now, this price only made people feel incredibly cordial.

The rice shop’s people watched enviously, jealously, and hatefully as the bags of grain on Qin Yao’s carts deflated one by one.

A full eight carts of grain were snatched up in less than half a morning. Qin Yao hurriedly sent Ah Wang to take the empty carts back and bring all the remaining grain from home.

Thus they toiled until the sun set in the afternoon, selling a total of six thousand jin of grain.

If it weren’t for the long journey, they could have sold another round before sundown because the nearby refugees, having gotten the news, were all lining up to buy.

Qin Yao helplessly said, “Come back tomorrow morning, everyone disperse for now!”

After she finished speaking, the crowd still didn’t want to leave. Qin Yao and the others had to drive the empty carts through the crowd, repeatedly promising to return early the next day, before the refugees gave way.

With the grain sold smoothly, Qin Yao was in an excellent mood, and though Ah Wang was exhausted, upon glancing back at the boxes of copper coins in the cart, he felt his fatigue vanished.

Qin Yao generously said, “I’ll give you your monthly wages later.”

Ah Wang looked at her with surprise. If he wasn’t driving the cart, he would have bowed down to her, “Thank you, Madam!”

“No thanks, from now on we’re like family, weathering difficulties together.” Qin Yao patted his shoulder, offering comfort like a warm pie.

When Ah Wang was so happy he could hardly contain himself, she added, “You’ll handle all the household chores from now on, and also take care of Da Lang’s martial arts training.”

Once things stabilized at the factory, she planned to personally lead a team to the Prefecture to transport wood; by then, Liu Ji would likely have returned to the academy as well, leaving only Ah Wang as the adult at home.

Ah Wang nodded while feeling amazed inside, not expecting Qin Yao to trust him like this.

Of course, Qin Yao was not blindly trusting. Before leaving for the Prefecture, she would continue to assess Ah Wang. If he didn’t perform well, then…

“Madam!”

Before Qin Yao continued thinking, Ah Wang’s soft call interrupted her.

The convoy stopped in front of the stationery factory, and Qin Yao, seeing the Liu Family Village folks on the road, waved her hand to let the convoy return to the factory, while she got off and walked forward, puzzled:

“Granny Wang, what are you all doing?”

Granny Wang, somewhat embarrassed, smiled at Qin Yao, glanced back at the dozen or so Liu Family Village residents behind her, and under their awkward laughter, tentatively asked:

“Yao Niang, did you go to town to sell grain today? Was the grain selling well?”

This was an inquiry with a known answer; if it wasn’t selling well, how could the convoy have gone back to load up more grain?

Qin Yao glanced at the dozen or so present, all households in the village that had followed her to stockpile some grain. Seeing their eager eyes, she understood what they wanted.

Nodding to Granny Wang, she directly asked, “Do you also want to sell grain?”

Granny Wang responded with an ’ah,’ despite being known in the village for her hard bones. The villagers had sent her to ask Qin Yao, which wasn’t easy for her.

The villagers were getting anxious, and Granny Wang finally said they wanted to give their surplus grain to Qin Yao to help sell it.

After saying this, Granny Wang quickly added, “If it’s inconvenient, forget it. There’s not much, keeping it for ourselves to eat is no problem.”

Qin Yao gave a light smile, “Let me first see how much you have. And let me be upfront, the grain prices might differ on the same day at different times, some higher, some lower. I can’t promise you’ll always get a high price.”

Just like today, unable to withstand her pressure, the rice shop lowered the grain price by five cents.

Her reference is the rice shop. If it plays a hard game tomorrow, she definitely can’t sell at today’s price, so the villagers must bear some risk themselves, and must not be greedy when dealing with her.

The villagers acknowledged and indicated they understood. Seeing Qin Yao relent, they immediately went home to fetch the surplus grain they wanted to sell.

Today, the adults weren’t home, and there was a bedridden father at home. The Da Lang brothers and sisters were all at home and hadn’t gone out to play.

Jinhua and Jinbao came over to see them, holding Da Mao. Seeing the villagers coming, Da Lang and Second Lang immediately sent the Jinhua and Jinbao siblings off.

With so many people making a commotion, Da Mao being small, any bump or bruise would be bad, and their Second Uncle would surely blame them.

Qin Yao instructed, “Sanlang and Sin Niang, go get your writing tools.”

Seeing Da Lang and Second Lang return, she also had them bring over the scale and baskets.

Ah Wang instructed the villagers to line up, registering one by one.

This kind of liveliness was just what Second Lang loved. After Ah Wang weighed the grain, he would immediately report the numbers to Qin Yao.

Each household didn’t bring much surplus grain, some had ten or eight jin, some had one or two jin.

But the grain bought for seven or eight coins then sold for double, earning seven or eight coins per jin, which could allow the family to buy two taels of oil or half a jin of salt.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep