Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 113: Collecting Beans

Third Grandpa said, "During the New Year it snowed heavily, somewhat alleviating the drought. Recently, the prices of rice, flour, and cotton have all been falling, so why are the soybeans suddenly going up?"

Gu Jinli, understanding the situation, said to Manager Tao, "Shopkeeper, the farmers sell their soybeans to your grain shop, and the highest price is only five cents for two pounds. When it’s cheap, it’s even one cent per pound or three cents for two pounds. You are asking five cents per pound from us, which is truly an exorbitant price, and that’s not how you should raise prices."

She laughed, her laughter laced with disdain, and said: "Could it be that you see us buying soybeans here every day, and since this town only has your grain shop, you want to take a bite out of us?"

It’s certain that seeing them buy soybeans every day, he figured out that tofu is made from soybeans, and seeing their tofu business thrive, he decided to raise the prices.

Gu Jinli guessed right, Manager Tao had indeed figured out that their tofu was made from soybeans, and seeing their flourishing business, he wanted to hike the prices to make a hefty profit for himself.

The Gu Family comes to buy soybeans every day at the grain shop, always purchasing three hundred pounds. By raising the price by two cents per pound, he could earn an extra six hundred cents a day, more than half a tael of silver.

But Manager Tao cared about his reputation; he could raise the prices, but Gu Jinli exposing him made him uncomfortable.

Manager Tao glared at Gu Jinli unfavorably and turned to Third Grandpa, saying: "Elder Gu, you come to us every day to buy soybeans. I wouldn’t cheat you. The price of soybeans really has gone up. If you don’t believe me, you can ask at other grain shops in neighboring towns."

Third Grandpa looked quite displeased. The latter part of Manager Tao’s words was crystal clear: he was relying on being the only grain shop in Qingfu Town to take a bite out of them.

But if they didn’t buy the soybeans here, where else could they go?

Seeing that Third Grandpa didn’t speak, knowing he was in a tough spot, Manager Tao immediately pressured him further, saying: "Elder Gu, your family has been setting up a stall in town for more than a day or two, you should know there’s only one grain shop here. If you can’t buy the beans, can your stall continue to operate tomorrow?"

Manager Tao’s originally decent-looking face now appeared utterly repugnant, even his curled mustache seemed to exude pettiness.

Third Grandpa was infuriated by Manager Tao’s words, which were clearly a threat.

Father Luo was also quite angry and pointed at Manager Tao, saying: "Shopkeeper, doing business should be about long-term relationships. By acting this way, you’re ruining your reputation."

But Manager Tao wasn’t afraid. The Gu Family were merely refugees who had fled from famine; what harm could bullying them do?

Besides, Manager Zeng had said that the Gu Family had offended the County Governor. If he could make them suffer, the County Governor would surely be pleased.

"Now, this is the price for soybeans. If you want to buy them, then buy; if not, then leave." Manager Tao knew the Gu Family needed to make tofu, and he had them cornered.

Regrettably, his response was met by Gu Jinli’s retort: "Keep the soybeans to let them mold, we are not buying!"

"Third Grandpa, let’s go," Gu Jinli led the way out of the grain shop.

Seeing that she had already spoken, Third Grandpa and the others could only follow her out.

When the group returned to the tofu stall, Ms. Chu, seeing their grim expressions and that they hadn’t brought any soybeans back, hurriedly asked, "What happened? Where are the soybeans? Why didn’t you buy any?"

Father Luo said, "That grain shop’s Manager Tao raised the price of soybeans to five cents per pound, clearly intending to rip us off, so we didn’t buy them."

"Five cents per pound, has Manager Tao gone mad?" Ms. Chu exclaimed, shocked. Soybeans are the most common commodity, easily grown anywhere. Besides, they have always been cheap due to their coarse nature and difficulty to cook; even at their most expensive, they were only four cents per pound. These soybeans at five cents per pound truly are exorbitantly priced.

Aunt Tian looked worried: "What will we do the day after tomorrow if we don’t manage to buy any soybeans?"

Nowadays, with the cold weather, they usually prepare their tofu a day ahead. However, the tofu they had at home would only be enough for one day’s sale, and then they would be out.

Gu Jinli said, "Let’s go home and start buying soybeans. Every household has these coarse grains, and we’ll pay three cents per pound. Surely, many would want to sell."

She didn’t believe that without Manager Tao’s grain store, she couldn’t buy soybeans.

Third Grandpa nodded, "That’s a good idea, let’s go home and buy soybeans."

Before leaving, Gu Jinli also shouted in the market: "Ladies and gentlemen, Gu Family’s tofu stall is buying soybeans, three cents per pound. If you have soybeans, bring them tomorrow. We will buy any amount."

There were many farmers selling agricultural goods in the market where they set up their stall. Hearing her, they gathered around and asked, "Miss Gu, are you really buying soybeans? Three cents per pound?"

Gu Jinli nodded, "Yes, three cents per pound. Our stall is right here; if you want to sell, bring them tomorrow."

A man who was selling soybeans eagerly said, "Why wait until tomorrow? I have two bags of soybeans right here, totaling sixty pounds. If you’re paying three cents per pound, I’ll sell them to you right now."

His wife had just given birth to a son, but being poor, they couldn’t afford eggs. He wanted to sell the family’s soybeans to buy a basket of eggs for his wife’s postnatal care. The grain store’s price was too low—two pounds for three cents—so he couldn’t bear to sell it. Instead, he brought it here hoping to get a good price. Unexpectedly, the good price really came.

The man carried his soybeans to Gu Family’s tofu stall, opened the burlap sack, and let them check the soybeans: "All good soybeans, dried well, not moldy."

Father Luo grabbed a handful of soybeans, examined them, and then chewed a few to taste them. After tasting, he said to Third Grandpa, "Third Uncle, his soybeans are good, let’s buy them."

Third Grandpa also examined the two bags of soybeans and nodded, "Okay, let’s buy them."

Sixty pounds of soybeans, at three cents per pound, Third Grandpa counted out one hundred and eighty large money coins for him.

The man carefully put the money into his money bag, smiling and thanking Third Grandpa, "Thank you, Elder. You have really helped my family a lot."

Father Luo poured the two sacks of soybeans into a basket, returned the sacks to the man, who then left with his bags.

After this transaction, people around knew they were truly buying soybeans and started saying, "Elder Gu, I also have soybeans at home, I’ll bring them tomorrow."

"Elder Gu, my family also has soybeans. I’ll bring them tomorrow, three cents per pound, right?"

Third Grandpa replied, "Yes, three cents per pound, rest assured, we won’t undersell you."

After a while, the group left the town and headed towards Da Feng Village.

They walked very slowly today; every time they passed a village, Father Luo and Ms. Chu would go inside to talk about buying soybeans.

By the time they got back to Da Feng Village, they had collected four hundred pounds of soybeans, and the dozen villages they passed all knew that the Gu Family was looking to buy soybeans.