The Little Demonic Cultivator in the Courtyard: Borrowing 100,000 Japanese Pirates to Heal

After settling the accounts, Xu Jiande closed the ledger, then, as if suddenly remembering something, looked up at Aji and asked, "Have you eaten?"

Aji said he had already eaten.

When he didn't come back at noon, he bought a cornbread and ate it.

Xu Jiande immediately apologized, saying, "Alright then. I was just too busy today. The Japanese just entered the city, and things are very chaotic. Once things settle down, you won't have to be the only one running the shop anymore, and we'll try to eat better."

His tone carried a hint of a boss's concern for his employee, sounding very sincere. He continued, "These are chaotic times; you never know when you'll die. You have to be good to yourself."

Aji agreed.

As they were talking, someone walked in through the door.

He was a middle-aged man, wearing a faded blue cotton short jacket.

He was a regular customer I knew somewhat, named Ah Zhong.

Ah Zhong glanced at the price tag by the door as soon as he entered, and his expression immediately changed.

"Boss Xu, why has the price of these whole grains gone up again? Wasn't it the same price yesterday?"

He pointed to the old numbers on the price tag, half of which had been erased, his voice filled with barely suppressed displeasure.

Xu Jiande leaned against the counter, a similarly distressed expression on his face, and shrugged: "Brother Zhong, I can't help it. I went to the main store to buy goods today, and the purchase price went up by 50%. Selling at this price, I only make a little extra profit, just enough to make ends meet."

"Fifty percent?" Brother Zhong was not very convinced.

Xu Jiande seemed to have a clear conscience and said, "Why don't you go outside and take a look, Brother Zhong? Grain stores all over the city are raising prices, it's not just me. I'm only getting a discount because I do business with the locals."

Zhong Ge's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words back down.

He glanced at Xu Jiande, then at the price tag, and finally fixed his gaze on Aji.

Aji thought to himself, "This Xu Jiande is a real bastard. The purchase price has clearly increased by 30%, but he's now saying it's increased by 50%."

However, this has nothing to do with me. I am just a lowly rice shop assistant and a special agent who is used to monitor the rice shop.

That's it.

From any perspective, one should remain silent.

After a while, Zhong Ge couldn't help but ask, "Could you make it a little cheaper?"

Then, with a helpless expression, she said, "There are five people in my family, and my two children are still young. We really can't afford this price..."

Xu Jiande sighed, his expression full of regret, but his tone remained unyielding: "Brother Zhong, I really have no choice. This is already the best price we can offer to our neighbors."

Zhong Ge stood still and glanced at the price tag again.

He counted the money in his pocket, then shook his head, turned around, and left.

As he walked out the door, he muttered something under his breath, "Damn it, another one profiting from the national crisis."

The sound was very soft, but Xu Jiande's hearing was now far superior to that of ordinary people, and he heard it clearly.

His face was expressionless, and the corners of his mouth even curled up slightly. He thought to himself, "Brother, I have no choice."

As Aji watched from the side, his opinion of the employer deepened; this man was exceptionally shameless and ruthless.

But in this world, the ruthless live longer, while honest people are taken advantage of long ago.

No sooner had the middle-aged man left than several more people arrived.

Some came specifically because they heard that Xu's Rice Shop had received new grain, while others had come to inquire about prices but were scared away and then returned.

Xu Jiande moved the price list closer to the door so that everyone could see the prices and purchase limits before entering.

In less than half an hour, the quota of twenty jin was sold out.

The last portion was sold to a woman wearing patched clothes. When she left with the five pounds of coarse grain, her eyes were red, whether from heartache over the money or gratitude for finally getting the grain, it was hard to tell.

Xu Jiande stood at the door, watching the woman's back turn as she disappeared into the alley. He flipped the price tag over and said in a light tone, "Today's quota is sold out. Let's close up shop."

Aji was taken aback.

"Boss, are you closing already?" He looked at the sky outside; the sun was still high in the sky, and there were still at least two or three hours until dark.

All the other shops on this street are still open, why are they already closed?

Xu Jiande glanced at him and said, "Today's quota is sold out, so keeping the store open is useless. If someone comes to buy, and you don't have any grain to sell them, you'll only offend them. It's better to close the store and avoid trouble."

Aji thought about it and realized it made sense.

Leaving the door open to let people in and ask questions, only to find there's nothing to sell, can easily cause trouble.

He nodded and began helping to tidy up the shop.

As he was closing the shop, Xu Jiande suddenly remembered something and said to Aji, "Oh, right, there's one more thing. We can't leave these two hundred or so catties of coarse grains left in the shop."

Why?

"Food is precious now, and the whole city is short of food," Xu Jiande said, sighing.

"I'm worried that after dark, someone might take the risk and break down the shop to steal our food. If someone does come and we're not here, we'll just be robbed for nothing."

Aji paused for a moment, then looked down at the bags of coarse grains in the corner.

He knew Xu Jiande was right.

Those who thought the price was too high just now had eyes that looked like angry wild beasts.

Things are alright now, but in a while, some people will do anything for a bite to eat.

The two began moving the grain sacks.

They carried the sacks that had been brought in that afternoon out one by one and stacked them on the cart.

More than 200 jin of grain were piled up, filling almost half a cart.

Xu Jiande had Aji pull the cart while he held the grain sacks behind him, and the two of them pushed the cart toward Nanluoguxiang.

Half an hour later, the cart arrived at the entrance of the courtyard house, and the two spent a few more minutes unloading the grain into Xu Jiande's house.

More than 200 kilograms of coarse grains were neatly stacked in the corner.

Xu Jiande offered Aji a sip of water before saying, "Aji, push the cart back to the main store and return it. You can go home after that. Thank you for your hard work today."

Aji nodded, indicating that it was okay, and even expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you, boss."

……

After Aji left, Bai Ling came out of the bedroom and asked him why he came back so early.

Bai Ling spent most of the afternoon in the bedroom. Although Xu Jiande told her to lie down and rest, she couldn't relax while lying on a stranger's bed and listening to the occasional noises coming from the yard.

Only when I heard Xu Jiande open the door did my heart slowly settle back down.

Xu Jiande explained the situation regarding rising grain prices and sales restrictions. Bai Ling sighed, but she also knew that under these circumstances, ordinary people like herself were helpless.

This is what chaotic times are like.

"By the way, did anyone come looking for you this afternoon?"

"No," Bai Ling said. "I stayed inside all afternoon, and apart from the occasional footsteps outside, no one knocked on the door. Your courtyard is quite quiet in the afternoon; I guess people don't dare to visit each other."

Xu Jiande nodded.

Yi Zhonghai and the others went to the steel rolling mill. He Daqing and Xu Wude went to Caishikou and should have returned, but everyone was too scared to come out and visit.

The entire courtyard was so quiet it seemed empty.

"That's good," he said. "But even an ugly daughter-in-law has to meet her in-laws eventually. When they get back, I'll take you out for a walk so you can get to know them."

Bai Ling was taken aback at first, before realizing that Xu Jiande was teasing her.

She rolled her eyes at Xu Jiande, a hint of reproach in her gaze, her eyes slightly upturned, and a faint blush rose on her pale face, which was pale from her injury.

Although her clothes were old, that one glare from her head revealed a captivating charm.

Xu Jiande pretended not to see it, picked up his cup and took another sip of water.

Bai Ling quickly put away her casualness from a moment ago, and her expression became serious again.

She sat up straight, placed her hands clasped on the table, looked into Xu Jiande's eyes, and asked, "Xu...husband, how are you so skilled? And how can you heal injuries?"

She had been holding this question in for a long time.

From watching him kill two Japanese soldiers with a bayonet in the alley last night, to that roar that made me see mountains of corpses and seas of blood today, and then to dissolving the blood stasis for myself this morning.

That's absolutely amazing.

Xu Jiande had already figured out how to explain it.

He sighed and said, "My father was a disciple of Li Cunyi, a master of Xingyi Quan."

Bai Ling was stunned.