Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 41 Let's put on a show!
Five or six miles isn't a short distance, especially at night. But what did that mean to Lu Jia, who was overjoyed after the unexpected turn of events?

After leaving the village, Li Chang and Xie Yi drove the oxcart, carrying Lu Jia and the old man, first going around to the town to buy food for everyone, and then eating as they continued on their way.

Shen Qingzhou and the other two, all on horseback, quickly caught up.

Shen Qingzhou and Guo Yi originally planned to go to Luokou the next day to observe the local conditions. However, they thought that Lu Jia and the others had not returned home by nightfall, so they probably had an accident and came over instead.

Unexpectedly, this unexpected trip brought them into contact with these starving people ahead of time.

The presence of starving people, along with their testimonies, indicates a serious problem in Shawan County. It appears that the Chamber of Commerce has acted improperly, leading to the grain merchants' unbridled behavior.

But this situation has been going on for several years. Does the local government really know nothing about it?

Were the magistrate of Shawan County and the prefect of Tanzhou truly deceived, or, as Lu Jia said, were they so easily swayed by the grain merchants' money that they lost all sense of direction?
……

It took half an hour to get to the Zhou family's house, but they had already gone to bed.

When a business comes knocking on your door, the process is never entirely smooth, but given the price, what else can you say?
That night, Lu Jia rushed back to the city, carefully calculated the accounts under the lamp, and handed them to Liu Xiyu early the next morning.

Liu Xiyu was greatly surprised: "So, you didn't go to the He family?"

Lu Jia shook her head vigorously: "The He family has already given up in order to complete the mission. Anyway, they don't have enough food."

Liu Xiyu pondered for a moment: "That works too."

I never imagined that my connection with the He family would be so weak.

It took several days for the He family to transport several thousand shi of grain to the dock. Meanwhile, Li Chang had also learned that the Zhang family had almost finished dismantling their shops and was just waiting for his third uncle to free up some time to oversee the distribution of profits.

Lu Jia also took the time to visit the He family. Skipping the details, she said, "In short, it was my mistake. I broke my promise to Madam. Please forgive me."

Madam He had been waiting for her for two or three days, so how could she be happy to hear this?

"I never knew you were so unreliable. You were the one begging me to buy grain, but now that I've agreed, you're backing out. Are you kidding me?!"

Lu Jia thought for a moment, turned his back to count the silver notes he had brought, and then said, "I'll buy five hundred shi from you at the market price."

Before Madam He could speak, she pushed the silver over: "This is all I have. What do you think? If it's okay, I'll call someone to move it right away."

Madam He was quite unhappy, but she didn't expect her to actually pay out of her own pocket. She sat there sulking for a while, then had no choice but to quickly take back the silver notes: "Hurry up!"

Lu Jia immediately went outside and gestured to Li Chang, who was sitting in the carriage. A short while later, Li Chang led a group of more than a dozen ragged farmers in.

Madam He was startled: "What are you going to do? Why did you bring these people in?!"

Lu Jia said, "They've come to move rice. Madam He, please open the granary."

After saying that, she called to the dozen or so people: "There are a total of five hundred bushels of rice. After the madam's people weigh it, you can take it away. Don't take a single grain more than necessary!"
"After they are moved out, they will be placed on the ground and distributed according to the number of people who have no land or farmland."

The group of people who led the way were the ones who had stopped the road that night. After hearing Lu Jia's words, they immediately took the initiative to arrange the people into two rows, standing ramrod straight.

Madam He stared in disbelief: "What do you mean by this? You're not going to sell these five hundred bushels of rice to them, are you?!"

Lu Jia said, "Don't worry about that. Open the granaries and distribute the grain."

What's there to say to a landlord or rich man?

Madam He looked at her with a bewildered expression for a moment, then took the key from her waist and went to open the warehouse.

Throughout the entire process of weighing and transporting the rice, Lu Jia's side proceeded in an orderly manner without causing the slightest disturbance. Madam He's expression, however, was quite remarkable, shifting from wariness to astonishment, then to inquiry, before finally fixing her gaze on Lu Jia and remaining motionless.

Back then, for the extra hundred coins offered by the Zhang family, she didn't hesitate to abandon Hongtai Company, with which she had cooperated for many years. In the end, not only did she end up with nothing, but she also shot herself in the foot.

This seemingly frail little girl actually had such courage, using her own money to help these poor people. Madam He had lived half her life, and had never seen such a foolish girl before!

"Alright, the weighing is complete, let's close the warehouse."

After delivering the last bag of rice, Lu Jia clapped her hands, ready to call it a day.

Madam He, who had been clasping her hands together, suddenly took a deep breath and waved her hand: "Weigh out another five hundred catties for her!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jia quickly said, "Stop! I don't have that much money!"

"What are you panicking about?" Madam He slapped away the hand that was grabbing her and raised her chin high. "I didn't say I was going to charge you. Consider this 500 catties of rice a gift from me!"

It only amounted to four or five taels of silver in total!
Lu Jia paused: "You're not joking, are you?"

"Who's joking with you?" Madam He glanced at her irritably. "I've never seen such a fool before, since people in business don't do business for money!"
"Anyway, we won't make much money from this batch of grain, so I'll give you 500 catties of rice. Consider it an eye-opener for myself!"

After saying that, she turned around, swaying her plump buttocks as she went to the front hall.

Lu Jiale jumped up and chased after her, taking her arm: "No wonder you had such a bodhisattva-like face, madam! Turns out you have a bodhisattva-like heart too!"

The spring breeze of April swept through the hall, filling the room with the fragrance of ripening grain.

Madam He seems to have forgotten that she is a "wicked" landlord, and she didn't even charge for the 500 catties of rice. She doesn't seem very smart!
……

The two-week period has passed, and the agreed-upon batch of grain has been delivered to the ship as scheduled.

Liu Xiyu gave everyone on the Hongtai ship a reward of one tael of silver, but Lu Jia received a hefty ten taels.

After Lu Jia thanked Liu Xiyu, Liu invited her to stay for tea.

It's still Lu'an Melon Seed Tea.

Liu Xiyu held the teacup, looked her up and down again, and finally said, "I didn't realize you were such a capable girl."

Lu Jia stepped back and bowed, saying, "Thanks to the great leader, I was fortunate enough to complete this task."

Liu Xiyu smiled, then said seriously, "I heard that the Zhang brothers' shop is going to be demolished in the next couple of days. Tell me the truth, does this have anything to do with you?"

Lu Jiasui laughed and said, "Flies don't land on eggs without cracks. If they don't do bad things, it's none of my business."

Liu Xiyu nodded: "If your Xie family had been as tough as you, things wouldn't have come to this."

"Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

After working on it for almost half a month, we've finally gotten to the main point.

Lu Jia straightened up, her expression stern: "I need to ask the head of the gang to help me put on a show."

"Singing opera?"

……

(End of this chapter)