Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 252 - 251: Her Own Convoy

As soon as the prefecture examination ended, the atmosphere in the city was noticeably different.

Everywhere in taverns and tea houses, groups of examinees were gathered, comparing answers. Some were happy, while others were worried.

Liu Li thought for a long time but still couldn’t help himself and came to find Liu Ji, hoping to call him to meet with other examinees to estimate their grades.

Unfortunately, he found the wrong person.

Qin Yao had gone out early in the morning to handle affairs, and in the mountain without a tiger, the monkey becomes king.

Liu Ji slept until he woke up naturally; it was Da Lang and his siblings who finished their morning study and called him for breakfast, which finally got him up.

With disheveled hair and a dirty face, he opened the door for Liu Li. Before Liu Li could speak, he grabbed him and arranged:

"You’ve never been to the Dragon King Temple, right? Let’s go together in a while. You call Da Zhuang to join us."

As he spoke, he waved at Sanlang and Si Niang, pushing Liu Li in front of the siblings, "You just follow Uncle Li and Uncle Dazhuang. With so many people at the temple, don’t get lost."

After giving these instructions, he went to get Da Lang and Second Lang to prepare the gourd water bottles for the trip, arranging everything clearly.

Liu Li tried to speak several times but couldn’t find the opportunity.

"Uncle Li, Uncle Li, do you know who the Dragon King is? Have you seen the Dragon King?" Sanlang came up, chattering as if he had a thousand questions to ask.

Si Niang followed closely behind, continually asking him why the Dragon King Temple was called the Dragon King Temple, and whether there was a real Dragon King in it, chattering non-stop next to his ear.

Liu Li, who had been studying at the county’s academy for many years and rarely stayed in the village, had never led children before, and he was momentarily stunned in such a scene.

Liu Ji gave him a habitual wry smile, watched Da Lang and Second Lang pack up, and waved them out, suggesting they find some good food by the Dragon King Temple for breakfast.

Before leaving, Liu Ji went back to the guest room, searched by the bed for a long time. Strange, he clearly saw Qin Yao put the money box on the bed, but couldn’t find it?

He certainly wouldn’t find it. The inn wasn’t safe, and how could Qin Yao possibly put the money box in such an obvious place?

However, if Liu Ji had looked up at the ceiling carefully, he might have seen the edge of the money box. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Yet the height of the beam was beyond his reach, so even if he saw it, he couldn’t get it.

Ultimately, Liu Ji found nothing and regretfully locked the door, taking Liu Li and Da Zhuang, two child-carrying strong men, on a grand one-day tour of the prefecture city.

Meanwhile, Qin Yao had already met with two timber merchants that morning.

Considering Jiang Wen’s face, they were quite polite to her, but when it came to money, they treated her as a pushover.

Seeing this, Qin Yao didn’t even want to negotiate the price and directly moved on to the next one.

It was also the last one today.

In the prefecture city, there were only these three lumber shops, and with unpleasant experiences from the first two, Qin Yao didn’t have high hopes for this third one.

Fortunately, this one didn’t try to treat her as a soft target, and they had a good discussion regarding the price, even guaranteeing the delivery of the needed timber to Liu Family Village within a month.

However, the full prepayment requirement proposed by the other party really gave Qin Yao a headache.

"Manager Fang, how can you do business by collecting all the money before the goods even arrive?" Qin Yao looked into his eyes and asked displeased.

Manager Fang knew she would be annoyed, but he had his difficulties too.

"With begging people everywhere in Zijing Mansion now, and the neighboring northern province just suffering a locust plague, the conditions on the road this year are tough. If I don’t pay my men more money, who would risk going out?"

"The neighboring province suffered a locust plague?" Qin Yao was startled, "When did that happen? How come there’s no news in the city?"

Manager Fang gave her a resigned look that said, "You’re still too young," "It just happened two days ago. My men came back yesterday to tell me about it. The city’s people probably won’t know for another day or two."

But the government office must have known, though the nationwide exams are of utmost importance, they certainly prioritized them first.

The officials up there must also be worried now because the local spring harvest couldn’t yield wheat, already making things look grim.

And now such a big incident has occurred in the neighboring province, with the two provinces so close, being unaffected is impossible.

The situation is as it is at the government office, let alone for an ordinary citizen like him?

The roads are unsafe, transportation costs are increasing, and the risk is high. If he doesn’t collect full payment, there’s no way to manage it.

Qin Yao believed in his difficulty, but was it really that hard?

"The prefecture city to Kaiyang County is just over three hundred miles, how could it be as difficult as you say, Manager?"

Qin Yao looked at Manager Fang helplessly, "Don’t exaggerate, Zijing Mansion has ample surplus grain, even though the current grain price is high, it hasn’t continued to soar, indicating that the government is already releasing grain from behind."

"And beyond this city wall, the green rice is already growing. The autumn harvest won’t be delayed, so it’s just a month’s food shortage that’ll soon be overcome, and by July, it’ll be all okay."

"As for the neighboring province’s issue, naturally, the court will worry about it. Sheng Country has so many prefectures, not all of them suffered from the locust plague. I heard the southern rice harvested three crops last year, and there have been no wars recently, so reserves are adequate, and the disaster will soon pass."

In Qin Yao’s eyes, as long as normal plants could grow from the land, there was no problem whatsoever.

Manager Fang was a bit surprised upon hearing Qin Yao’s analysis.

Having been in business for many years, he naturally had experienced past troubled times, but upon hearing about the locust plague in the neighboring province, he instinctively felt uneasy.

But he forgot that today’s Sheng Country was a unified and complete nation, no longer the situation of divided warlords from the past.

"Sigh~" Manager Fang sighed, "Hearing you, Miss Qin, I finally feel relieved."

"How about this, seventy percent upfront?" Manager Fang proactively conceded a portion of the prepayment.

Qin Yao shook her head, "Fifty percent!"

She originally wanted to prepay only thirty percent, but considering that the current situation outside was indeed unstable, she increased it to fifty percent to avoid affecting production.

"Fifty percent won’t do." Manager Fang’s smile vanished, "Since Miss Qin doesn’t trust us, why not have your own people transport the timber, and we’ll do cash on delivery, simpler that way!"

This was clearly said in anger, but seeing Qin Yao actually pause to think about it, Manager Fang immediately felt a headache.

"You’re not seriously considering moving the timber yourself, are you?" Manager Fang kindly reminded, "These timbers are heavy."

"I’m not afraid of weight." Qin Yao suddenly smiled, "You’re right, Manager Fang, this is a great idea, it saves a lot on transportation costs."

Manager Fang: "Ah?"

Qin Yao continued, "How about this, we’ll have you deliver the first batch of timber, and prepay according to the road’s rules with thirty percent first, and then for the remaining batches, I’ll organize my own people from the village to transport them."

The village’s carts, along with Lower River Village, could have about five vehicles. Then hiring five more from Lower River Village, organizing her own convoy to handle transportation would be fantastic.