ushernet Chapter 51 Buying Grain in Town
Chapter 51 Buying Grain in Town
Seven days later, Xiao Siyue went to town with the large group that was buying grain.
She went to town mainly to check out the toy shops, and given the current situation, the toy shops are probably also greatly affected.
By this time, the town's streets had become extremely desolate, appearing exceptionally quiet compared to the past. The once bustling street vendors had almost vanished, replaced by groups of two or three beggars, ragged and haggard, struggling to make their way through the streets.
Xiao Siyue stared intently at the several staggering figures ahead, a wave of indescribable sorrow washing over her. Those people wore only thin clothes, their faces expressionless, as if crushed by life, left only with numbness.
She kept repeating, "Please, give me some food..." Among the group were several children of similar age to her, their faces pale and their eyes vacant, seemingly having lost all interest in the world around them.
Seeing all this, Xiao Siyue couldn't help but want to cry. In just a few days, life seemed to have bent their backs. She wondered how they had gotten here, and how they had managed to get through the nights.
"Father, are all these people who fled here?" Xiao Siyu asked, looking into the distance.
Xiao Qinian nodded heavily: "Yes, they all came here as refugees."
Xiao Siyue wanted to help these poor people deep down, but she knew she didn't have the ability to change the situation.
If she acted rashly now, she feared it would not only fail to solve the problem but also bring her enormous trouble. So, helplessly, she buried her head in her father's neck, trying to escape the horrific scene before her.
"Yue'er, what's wrong?" Xiao Qinian noticed that something was wrong with Xiao Siyue and asked worriedly.
"It's alright, Dad, let's go." Xiao Siyue raised her head and gave Xiao Qinian a smile.
She secretly vowed that next year she would start planting potatoes and that she would make sure the people of the Great Zhou would never go hungry again. She would also work hard on her missions to obtain cotton seeds.
When the group arrived at the grain shop, they saw the crowded people and could only join the long queue.
However, when she turned her head, she saw Liu Damei. Wasn't it said that Liu Damei didn't have money to buy grain? Why was she still in front of them in line, and it seemed that she had bought quite a lot? Did the village chief give her some money, or did she borrow it from someone? Xiao Siyue was a little curious.
Soon it was their turn. The price of grain had risen a little more than before, and the grain store seemed to be running out of food. Without further hesitation, the Xiao family quickly bought some.
After they finished buying the toys, Xiao Qili and the others took them back, while Xiao Qinian was dragged to the toy shop by Xiao Siyue.
"Big brother, sister-in-law," Xiao Siyue greeted as she entered the room.
"Third Uncle, Yue'er, what brings you here?" Xiao Siqi quickly came out from behind the counter to greet them.
"Brother, we came here today to buy grain, and we just happened to be looking around," Xiao Siyue explained.
“Oh, I see. My dad said he was going to go back and tell you about the grain price increase in town before,” Xiao Siqi said.
"Yes, the roads are a bit better today, so we came as soon as possible."
"By the way, brother, how's business at the shop these days?" Xiao Siyue glanced around the shop.
"Sigh, there's hardly anyone in the shop these past few days." Xiao Siqi sighed. In the past few months, the shop had been earning a few dozen taels a day, but these past two days they haven't even earned a single tael.
"Big brother, it's alright, this is normal." Xiao Siyue had already guessed it. Due to the disaster, people's lives were difficult, so who would be in the mood to buy these entertainment items? She was even more certain after taking a look at the shop just now.
"Yes, what my little sister says is true." Xiao Siqi didn't dwell on it for long; this was a situation he couldn't stop anyway.
"Brother, why don't you and sister-in-law come home with us? We can close the shop for a while and reopen it when things get better." Xiao Siyue thought that there wasn't much business anyway, and besides, the town would probably be very chaotic and unsafe in a few days when the refugees arrived. She was a little worried, so she thought it would be better to go back and rest for a while.
"But what about the shop?" Xiao Siqi still felt it was not a good idea. If the shop was not opened, there would be a lot of losses, and rent still had to be paid every month.
“Siqi, Yue’er is right. You haven’t been back for a long time. Take advantage of this time to go back and stay for a while,” Xiao Qinian also advised from the side.
"Alright, Third Uncle, Yue'er, please wait a moment. Yin'er and I will go pack our things and come right away." Xiao Siqi didn't insist any further and went to the backyard after saying that.
The group went out, bought some meat and snacks from the butcher shop, and then went home.
After returning home, Xiao Qili and the others had already put the grain into the room. As the saying goes, "With grain in hand, one is not afraid." Looking at the neatly stacked grain in the room, the fear and anxiety brought about by the previous snow disaster were greatly relieved.
When Xiao Siyue saw Lin Qin, she suddenly remembered what she had seen in town before.
"Mother, I saw Liu Damei in town today. She bought a lot of grain. Did she manage to borrow money?" Xiao Siyue asked curiously.
"Oh, no, sigh!" Lin Qin stopped what she was doing and sighed.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Xiao Siyue was even more curious when she saw her mother like this. Could it be that something happened to Liu Damei's family?
"Liu Damei sold Da Ni'er," Lin Qin said helplessly.
"What? Da Ni'er has been sold? Where was she sold to?" Xiao Siyue was shocked. Could she have been sold to a place like that? Thinking of this, Xiao Siyue felt a chill run down her spine.
"She was sold to a passing merchant as a maid." Upon hearing this, Xiao Siyue thought it was good that it wasn't that kind of place. However, being a maid wasn't good either. In ancient times, maids had no human rights. Their indentures were in the hands of their masters, and they had no freedom whatsoever. Moreover, if they encountered a bad master, beatings and scoldings were common occurrences.
She is a modern person and still finds it difficult to adapt to the fact that human trafficking was possible in ancient times.
"Mother, when did this happen?" Xiao Siyue thought it had only been two or three days before Da Ni'er was sold.
"Just the day before yesterday, Liu Damei couldn't get any grain, so she came up with this idea. Today, she took Dani'er to town and sold her." Lin Qin said through gritted teeth. How could Liu Damei be so cruel? Dani'er is only a few years old. She sold her daughter before, and now she's selling her granddaughter.
"Sigh, I hope that Da Ni'er has met a good master who can treat her well." Xiao Siyue said helplessly, and could only hope that Da Ni'er could have a smooth life in the future and not be like she is now, with endless work and constant beatings.
"Yes, I hope so," Lin Qin echoed.
Xiao Siyue couldn't help but feel fortunate that the family she had met loved her very much. If she had met a family like Liu Damei's, she didn't know what she would have done.