After a while, the old farmer caught two more fish, and the three of them returned to the old farmer's house together.
As soon as he entered the house, the old farmer shouted: "Old lady, we have a guest. We will have fish stew for lunch today!"
I saw an old woman with white hair walking out of the main room with her waist hunched over and her eyes narrowed.
When Su Yixiang saw that the old woman was blind, he stepped forward, supported her and said, "Excuse me, old woman."
When the old man heard his voice, he immediately smiled and said, "Don't disturb me. We haven't entertained guests for several years. It's rare for someone to come to our house for dinner. Please sit inside."
Su Yixiang took a look and saw that the eaves of this family were low, the house was dark, and there were only two thatched houses. At first glance, they looked like a poor family.
But what about the children of this family?
Su Yixiang sat down, and the old woman poured him a cup of tea tremblingly.
Su Yixiang took the teacup and placed it gently on the table.
The old woman heard the sound and said, "Young man, where are you from?"
"Oh, I'm from Yunzhou."
"Yunzhou?" The old woman was stunned for a moment and said, "Are you talking about Yunzhou, which is next to Mizhou in the north?"
Su Yixiang said: "Exactly."
"Alas." The old woman sighed: "Eighteen years ago, there was a famine in Michigan, and I escaped from there."
"oh?"
The old man continued: "Our family has been in Mizhou for generations. I was sixteen years old that year. I had just married my father and had a son and a daughter. It's a pity, it's a pity. That year, there was a locust plague in the village, and every household rushed to go there.
Catching locusts in the field. That day, I took my son to the field and let him sit under the shade of a tree. His father and I went to the field to catch locusts. At dusk, when we came back from the field, my child..."
The old man's voice was choked: "My child was bitten to death by locusts."
Just when Su Yixiang wanted to comfort her, the old man continued.
"After a few days, the food was almost eaten by locusts, and his father and I had to go to the fields, so we put my daughter Daniu at home. We deliberately covered all the windows with cloths, basins, and dustpans.
Covered, that is, the chimney above the kitchen stove was not covered. Who would have known that when we came back, locusts would crawl all over the floor in the house. My big girl," the old man said with tears streaming down his cheeks: "My big girl was also bitten to death by them.
Already."
After saying that, I couldn't stop crying.
Su Yixiang felt uncomfortable after hearing this.
The old farmer walked into the house and when he heard his wife talking about this, he complained: "You are talking about this again! After so many years, I still say to everyone when I meet you, look at you, you are crying your eyes out, and you still haven't let go of this matter."
!”
"That's my child! How could I let it go! They were so young when they left, and Niu Niu couldn't speak yet." As he spoke, the old man shed tears again.
"The fish is good!" Lu Guangkui walked in with a large basin of fish.
Su Yixiang quickly got up and packed his things.
The old woman also wiped away her tears, regained her smile and said, "Eat, eat, we don't have such fresh fish in the north."
After a few people sat down, the old farmer asked Su Yixiang: "You two came all the way from Yunzhou to Runzhou. What do you mean?"
Su Yixiang said: "The weather in Yunzhou has been dry recently, and we want to come to Runzhou to stock up on food for emergencies."
The old man nodded and said, "It's good to collect grain. It's not like we did at that time. There was no extra grain in the whole state. When the government's relief grain arrived, most of the people in the state would starve to death."
Su Yixiang nodded.
"However, you can't be too greedy. People don't have that much money and can't afford expensive food. Don't see that there is food but the farmers starve to death. It will really become a joke in Yunzhou."
Su Yixiang blushed and shook his head: "No, no, we only sell at reasonable prices. Our Su family has always only given to the poor and has never done anything to harm the people."
The old farmer didn't answer.
After eating for a while, Lu Guangkui asked: "Uncle, how much does the new rice here cost per stone every year?"
The old farmer replied: "That's not true. In a disaster year, there are still five or six hundred cents per stone. In a good harvest year, the price of food drops, and everyone is eager to sell two to three hundred cents."
Su Yixiang was calculating in his mind. Looking at the situation in the fields just now, it is likely that this year will be a good harvest year. Two to three hundred cents. The price range is quite large. It seems that there is still room for bargaining.
"Where do we usually sell our rice? Is it a trading company?" Lu Guangkui asked.
The old farmer shook his head and said: "Every year when new rice comes, merchants come to collect it and set up a point in the village. The villagers dump the rice at the entrance of the village and sell it to them directly. I don't know which trading company it is from."
"Oh." Su Yixiang nodded.
In this case, can you set up a point here to collect grain directly? The price will definitely be cheaper.
Su Yixiang looked at Lu Guangkui and saw that he had exactly the same intention.
The old man also talked about the time of year when rice is sold, the standards for collecting grain, the methods of other merchants collecting grain, etc. Su Yixiang felt more and more that this was a good idea.
After leaving the old farmhouse, Su Yixiang had something on his mind.
Wait until the rice is ripe before setting up a harvesting point here. If local merchants run against you, that won't be easy.
If they first sign a contract with the farmers and agree on a price, but are afraid that someone will pay a higher price in the event of failure, they will sell it privately. After all, they are strangers and are not familiar with the nature of these people.
It is better to be on the safe side, with half of the total being multi-joints and half being set up to collect grain.
However, setting up a point to collect grain would be a waste of time. Is that Lu Guangkui unreliable?
Su Yixiang didn't have any confidence in his heart.
"Hey, how about it? Let's set up a shop in this village. You see, their latest rice price is only two to three hundred cents. This year is another good harvest year. It will definitely be cheaper than Duoliantou's. If we
If you collect 10,000 shi here, you can make a lot more money by transporting it back!" Lu Guangkui said excitedly.
Su Yixiang said: "It's good to set up a point here, but it's just a waste of time. I have things at home and don't have that much time."
Lu Guangkui thought for a while and said: "Brother, if you can trust me, we will do business together. I..." Lu Guangkui glanced at Su Yixiang and said: "I should be older than you, I will call myself the eldest brother from now on.
Already."
"Brother, I will set up a grain collection point here and arrange for people to send it to the ship. When the time comes, you will pick up the goods in Yunzhou. I will add you 50 Wen per stone according to the price charged. I don't care how much you sell, how about it?"
Su Yixiang thought silently, how could he know the purchase price of Lu Guangkui?
He glanced at Lu Guangkui and said: "How about this? I will collect grain from you at the price of 250 yuan per stone. I don't care what your purchase price is?"
Lu Guangkui thought for a moment, 250 yuan per stone, what if the price of food is not so low by then?
Seeing that he was silent, Su Yixiang knew that this was not a good idea. How to find a trustworthy third party as an intermediary?
The two of them had their own thoughts, and when they returned to the inn, they went back to their rooms.
"Master, we have been out for more than a week, and the silver we brought has almost been spent. How about I go to the counter to get some more silver?" Axin said.
Su Yixiang nodded and waved his hand to let him go.