Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 153 Price Increase

Before the house was officially built, Song Daha had a long talk with Grandpa Song and Grandma Song. Outsiders did not know the content of the conversation, but since then, Song Daha has been in a good mood. While busy building the house, he also had time to go to the capital, picked out a lot of jewelry and brought it back, planning to give one to Chen Yuer every now and then.

Fearing that Chen Yuer would feel burdened, he bought her delicate but inexpensive wooden hairpins and cypress flowers, which were elegant and compact in style and very suitable for Chen Yuer.

I have to say that when it comes to pursuing girls, Song Dahe is far better than Song Dazhuang.

Not only Chen Yuer received a gift, but Li Gensheng also received one. Song Dahe looted a set of new literacy cards from Song Chunlin and gave them to Li Gensheng as a gift.

Li Gensheng took the brightly colored card and his eyes widened in shock.

"These, these are all for me?" Li Gensheng couldn't believe it.

Song Dahe nodded: "Take it and learn to read well. When you have learned all the words on these cards, I will buy you a set of writing paper and pen. Last time I saw you, you were watching Chunming and the others writing. Do you want to learn it yourself?"

Li Gensheng felt a little embarrassed and hummed softly.

Song Dahe patted his shoulder gently and said, "If you want to learn, just say so. It's just learning to read. It's not a big deal. Look at this family, young and old, who can't read? Oh, except for your sister-in-law. She was illiterate like you, but now your brother Chunsheng is teaching her step by step, so she can recognize most of the characters, right? If you don't understand something, go ask Chunming and the others."

Li Gensheng looked up at Song Daha. Song Daha was taller than Li Ergou, so when Song Daha stood in front of him, he had to hold his head high to see his face.

Song Daha didn't wait for his answer, nor did he get angry. He rubbed his head randomly and turned back.

Li Gensheng touched his head and watched Song Dahao's back disappear at the door before he slowly put down his hand and hugged the card in his arms tightly with care.

In the evening, Chen Yuer saw her son looking at the cards and couldn't help asking him where the cards came from. Li Gensheng defended himself with some grievance.

When Chen Yuer learned that this was sent by Song Dahao, she fell silent.

These days, Song Dahe came to give gifts every now and then, sometimes it was women's jewelry, sometimes it was some fresh food, and now he even gave Li Gensheng a literacy card. The card was colorful, and even if Chen Yuer couldn't read a single word, she could tell that it was a valuable item.

Li Gensheng looked at his mother nervously. He knew that the card was precious, so he was afraid that his mother would take it back.

Chen Yuer looked at her son with a nervous face, and seemed to know what he was worried about, so she smiled and returned the cards.

"Take it. This is a gift from your uncle Dahe. Have you thanked him?"

Li Gensheng knew that all the cards were safe, and when he heard his mother's question, he suddenly froze and smiled awkwardly at Chen Yuer.

Chen Yuer knew at a glance that he didn't have it, poked his head unhappily, and told him: "Remember to thank your Uncle Dahe tomorrow, okay?"

Li Gensheng nodded vigorously: "My son knows."

The next morning, Chen Yuer deliberately waited at the door, waiting for Song Dahao to come out. Then she saw Chen Yuer standing aside, obviously having been waiting for a while.

"Why are you standing at the door and not going in? Have you had breakfast?"

Chen Yuer nodded: "Yes, I have used it. Yesterday you gave Gensheng a set of literacy cards. I came here to thank you on his behalf."

Song Dahe had sent a lot of gifts to the mother and son, but this was the first time that Chen Yuer came to thank him so formally, which made him feel a little embarrassed.

"Hehe, aren't all the kids at home learning characters from this? I was thinking that Gensheng is also a child, and everyone knows how to read. If he can't, wouldn't he be sad? Oh, if Gensheng can't understand that thing, let him come find Chunming and the others."

Chen Yuer smiled at Song Daha, who was a little incoherent. The smile was not very pretty, but it seemed very relaxed and relieved. This was the first time Song Daha saw her smile like this, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Chen Yuer: "I thought about what you said last time carefully. You know, I am a widow. If I remarry, I must bring Gensheng with me. This will not change. If you can accept it, I will marry you. If not..."

Before Chen Yuer finished speaking, Song Dahe quickly raised his hand and swore, "I promise that I will treat Gensheng as my own son. Even if we have our own children in the future, Gensheng will always be my, Song Dahe's, eldest son."

"…What are you talking about! Really, I won't talk to you anymore, just go back to work."

Song Dahe was so happy that he didn't know what to say. He was very excited the whole morning. Song Chunsheng couldn't help but gossip with his brother: "What happened to Second Uncle? Did he pick up some gold?"

Song Chunlin listened to all the rumors and quickly came to a conclusion: "It's even better than picking up gold. Guess when Second Uncle will marry Aunt Chen back?"

Song Chunsheng pointed to the land in front where the foundation was being dug: "We have to wait until the house is built, otherwise we will have no room to sleep."

What Song Chunsheng said was right. When the house was first built, it was built bigger, but we didn't expect that the family would have more and more people. If there were two more, there really wouldn't be enough room.

Song Chunlin secretly measured the land behind his home and thought that the piece next to the mountain was quite good. When he grew up, he would build a small house there, enclose a small yard, raise chickens and dogs, and not grow vegetables. His space would be full of vegetables, and he would not be able to eat them all. Then he could lie comfortably in his own small yard, basking in the sun, grilling meat, and drinking a sip of ice-cold milk tea. Life would be even more perfect.

Of course, all this is just imagination at the moment. We have to build the house for Song Dahao and Lu Ming first.

Ever since Chen Yuer agreed to Song Daha's proposal, Song Daha has worked harder. The two old people, who learned that their son was going to get married, also started to get busy.

Chen Yuer is a widow who remarried, which is not a glorious thing in the countryside. According to the two old people's idea, they just need to invite a few familiar neighbors to come over and welcome the person from next door to worship heaven and earth. But Song Dahe doesn't think so. He thinks that this is his first time as a groom, so shouldn't he make a big fuss?

As for whether the villagers would gossip about him, Song Dahe didn't care. Let them gossip. They would just say that they were jealous of him and Chen Yuer for finally getting married, and he would make them jealous to death.

After listening to Song Dahe's reasons, Grandpa Song was silent for a long time. Afterwards, he went to find Song A-Mo and cried, "I'm afraid this brat can't be kept here. Let him move out quickly so that he won't be upset."

When Chen Yuer learned that Song Daha wanted to marry her in a grand ceremony, she was not very agreeable. She was a widow with a burden, and she wanted to be laughed at Song Daha for buying a big house and giving a small one away.

Song Dahe still said the same thing: "They are jealous of you. What's wrong with being a widow? A widow is not a human being? Why can't a widow live a good life? You can marry me because you are good enough. You are a good mother and a good daughter. You deserve the best wedding I can give you."

Chen Yuer was unable to recover for a long time after hearing this. She never thought that there was anything good about herself. If she was really good, then why did Li Ergou keep looking for that widow Huang?

But Song Daha swore with all his heart, as if to say that she was the best girl in the world, and something in Chen Yuer's heart began to loosen quietly.

Song Dahao and Lu Ming's house had just been built when the grain prices in the town began to rise. Song Dazhuang went to inquire about the situation and came back with a look of relief on his face.

"Fortunately, we haven't sold any of our food. Now the price of food in town has doubled again. It's as expensive as when we first came to the capital."

In the past few years since we moved to the capital, the harvest has been getting better and better, and the price of grain in the capital has long since fallen. However, a war has caused the price of grain to start rising again.

Song Chunlin keenly sensed that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what it was.

Two days later, the price of grain doubled again. It was even more expensive than during the drought. Song Chunlin felt that something was not good. He released his mental power and found that almost all the grain in the grain store warehouses were gone, and only the grain on the surface was left.

Not to mention the grain shops in the capital, Changping Town is a big town. Under normal circumstances, the warehouses in the grain shops should be half full. Now they are all emptied. No wonder the grain prices have risen so fast. I'm afraid if they don't raise the prices anymore, they will have nothing to sell.

But Song Chunlin clearly remembered that the past two years were years of bumper harvests, not to mention the potatoes and sweet potatoes distributed by the court, both of which can be eaten as food. Moreover, it was not long after the autumn harvest, so how could it be possible that no food could be harvested at all?

There must be something wrong when the teacher behaves abnormally. Song Chunlin hurried to the Marquis' Mansion overnight and told Gu Fengyun and others the news. Gu Fengyun looked solemn and asked Song Chunlin to check the grain shops in the capital again.

Song Chunlin realized the seriousness of the problem, and immediately increased his mental power. He discovered that only one-third of the grain was left in the warehouses of the grain shops in the capital.

"Too little. These grain shops usually supply the wealthy families. There are so many restaurants and taverns in the capital. With just this amount of food, they may not last more than half a month. The food in the capital will be in short supply."

Song Chunlin was dumbfounded: "What should we do? Without food, the people will be in chaos."

Gu Fengyue gnashed her teeth and said, "This matter is definitely related to those noble families. Only they have the ability to store large amounts of grain during the autumn harvest. This trick is probably intended to force the emperor to stop interfering in the affairs of the noble families."

Song Chunlin didn't understand: "Using food to force the emperor to surrender? Is this possible?"

Gu Fengyun kindly explained to him: "What I can guess now is that the noble families are holding the life-saving grain. If they are unwilling to let go, it means that the emperor will have to open his own treasury to help the people. Now that the grain price is so high, even if the government intervenes, it cannot be stopped. How long do you think your majesty's treasury can hold out?"

“When the people have no food to eat, they will not blame the noble families, but the emperor. They will instinctively think that it is because of the emperor’s incompetence that the capital has no food. At that time, if the noble families make a move, the money and the people’s hearts will all be theirs.”

Song Chunlin still didn't understand. He scratched his head in confusion: "So, if the imperial court sells grain at this time, wouldn't those people's conspiracy fail?"

Gu Fengyun shook his head and said, "You are still too naive. The national treasury has been in deficit because of the drought in the early years. The years have been better, so Your Majesty doesn't need to use his own treasury to fill the deficit. The good days have only lasted for two years. This year's taxes have just been collected, and there is no time to warm up before the border war begins. Everything has to be done over there. When the Grand Marshal went to war, he took away most of the food. Now the remaining food in the national treasury will not last for a few days even if all the food is opened."

Song Chunlin thought of the supplies in the space and asked Gu Fengyun curiously, "So how many kilograms of rice are consumed in the capital every day?"

Gu Fengyun thought he was just curious, so he didn't think much about it. He did a rough calculation and gave a number.

Song Chunlin's eyes lit up after hearing this. This number was not that much. He did a simple calculation and found that wheat and rice would mature in two and a half days in his space. He could harvest two hundred thousand kilograms of grain each time, which was enough to feed all the people in the capital for a day. Moreover, there were hundreds of tons of grain in his space. These were planted by Dabao when he had nothing to do in the space. Only one-third of the land in the space was planted, and two-thirds were left unplanted. If all of them were planted, the supply and demand would basically be balanced.

The more Song Chunlin thought about it, the more he felt it was feasible, so he told Gu Fengyun: "My Lord, just find someone to sell the grain. As for the source of the goods, I have it here."

Gu Fengyun vaguely guessed that Song Chunlin was extraordinary. At this moment, when he told him so casually that he could get such a huge amount of food, Gu Fengyun still felt that he was a child telling a joke.

But Gu Fengyue believed him. He looked at his brother and nodded heavily: "Brother, just listen to Chunlin this time. I believe him."

Seeing that the two children were so confident, Gu Fengyun also became a little uncertain.

"Chunlin, can you really find so much food?"

Seeing that he was still a little skeptical, Song Chunlin simply waved his hand, and several bags of vacuum-packed rice fell to the ground. It was the first time that Gu Fengyun saw Song Chunlin display such a "magic power" and he was so nervous that his breath was choked and he almost thought he was dreaming.

He pointed at the rice on the ground, his voice trembling: "These, these, this, ah this, is this rice?" Gu Fengyun was so excited that he was incoherent and it took him several times to find his voice.

Song Chunlin nodded, then took out a takeaway from the space. After talking for a long time, he felt a little hungry.

The takeaway was still a little warm, and when I opened it, the aroma was fragrant. It was a large portion of crayfish with thirteen spices flavor. The red crayfish looked particularly appetizing.