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

Aji thought about it more and more and felt that the plan was feasible.

After get off work, I need to go to the Special Higher Police Division to report this idea to Mr. Suzuki.

His Excellency Suzuki had been having him infiltrate the rice shop to observe Xu Jiande, but now it seems there's no need to observe him anymore. Xu Jiande is a thoroughly unscrupulous businessman, greedy, cowardly, and profiting from the national crisis. He has absolutely nothing to do with the resistance fighters.

But this person is useful.

He secretly instructed the Special Higher Police to push for a price increase in all rice shops in the city, just like Xu Jiande, driving grain prices sky-high and inciting public outrage.

Once public anger has accumulated enough, arrest and kill these rice shop owners, and then confiscate the grain for unified distribution by the Imperial Army.

This strategy killed two birds with one stone: it secured both grain and popular support.

Thinking about this, Aji's mindset changed.

I no longer think of Xu Jiande as a scoundrel; instead, I think he's a treasure that I should protect.

He walked up to Xu Jiande, lowered his voice, and spoke in a heartfelt tone.

"Boss, how about we raise the price a bit? Look at the crowd today, there are bound to be a lot of buyers, and we definitely won't have enough rice to sell. Raising the price a little will reduce our losses from the theft."

Xu Jiande looked at Aji and hesitated for a moment.

The kid said he was thinking of him, but he always felt something was off.

The price increase is indeed beneficial to him; he can earn more money, sell less grain, and further reinforce his image as a cunning merchant.

But he always felt that Aji's attitude changed too quickly.

This is an instinct, the instinct of a master.

Forget it, whatever this kid's up to, I'll just go with my own pace.

He waved his hand and said, "Forget it, let's keep the price for today, and we'll raise it tomorrow."

Aji immediately gave a thumbs up, his face full of sincere admiration: "The boss is kind-hearted. These days, you can't find a businessman with such a conscience as the boss even with a lantern."

Xu Jiande laughed heartily, creating an eerie contrast with the chaotic state of the shop: "Yes, I've always been a good person."

Aji continued to flatter, saying aloud, "Yes, yes, the boss is the most honest," but inwardly he sneered. A good person? Good people don't survive long in this chaotic world.

But that's alright. It's precisely because you're a greedy and unscrupulous businessman that you'll survive until the day I need you.

At this time, more people came to buy rice.

It's Brother Zhong.

The middle-aged man who came to buy rice yesterday but left because he thought it was too expensive.

Wearing the same blue cotton jacket as yesterday, and carrying an empty flour bag, he walked to the entrance of the rice shop.

Just like yesterday, I glanced at the price list as soon as I entered, and my expression immediately changed.

This time it was even worse than yesterday. Pointing at the price tag, his fingers were trembling: "Boss Xu, why is the price of rice higher than yesterday? Didn't it go up yesterday? Why is it up again today? You're sucking our blood!"

Xu Jiande looked up, about to repeat the reasons for the price increase, when he suddenly stopped.

A strange feeling welled up inside him, as if someone had gently plucked a string in his mind.

Xu Jiande realized that, in some mysterious way, he discovered a karmic connection between himself and Brother Zhong. He immediately tried to sense it and vaguely felt that this person was the one who smashed up the door of his rice shop.

I thought to myself, "You bastard, you smashed up my front door and then deliberately came to watch the show."

This is to mock oneself.

I recalled some videos I had seen online before I traveled through time, saying that some murderers liked to return to the crime scene after committing a crime and watch the victim clean up the mess.

Especially murder cases and rape cases; looking back at them can give you a twisted sense of satisfaction.

That old bastard probably felt the same way: he smashed your shop, and then came to watch you squatting on the ground picking up broken pottery shards—how satisfying!

Xu Jiande's fingers curled slightly at his side, and the demonic energy in his dantian was already automatically gathering in his meridians, ready to be unleashed, as if it were about to strike on its own.

With his current strength, if he slapped Brother Zhong, Brother Zhong's head could turn 180 degrees.

Xu Jiande was taken aback. This demonic art had gone mad; could it even act on its own?!

They immediately and forcefully stopped moving.

The important thing is that I remembered what Brother Zhong said yesterday in front of the rice shop: his family has five members, and his two children are still young, so they can't afford the high-priced grain.

Perhaps people smashed his shop because they were starving, or because they hated him for raising prices and profiting from the national crisis. This kind of hatred is wrong, but in this kind of world, no one can claim to be noble.

They were all pitiful compatriots, rats trapped in the city by the Japanese devils.

Thinking this, Xu Jiande suppressed the demonic energy back into his dantian, loosened his fingers again, and asked in a casual tone.

"Brother Zhong, you say rice is expensive, so how much do you think it should cost?"

Zhong Ge didn't intend to buy rice; he just came over to vent his anger and curse a few words.

Seeing that Xu Jiande didn't retort but instead asked him this question in a calm tone, he became even more energized.

His voice rose a beat, carrying a hint of inflammatory: "Boss Xu, if you don't sell your rice, are you just going to let people steal it? It got smashed once yesterday, and it might get smashed a second time tonight."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jiande almost couldn't hold back.

They vandalized my shop and then came to make sarcastic remarks in front of me? He felt his right hand clench involuntarily, his knuckles cracking.

Zhong Ge was less than three steps away from him. At that distance, he didn't even need to move; he could just raise his hand and slap him until his skin was swollen.

Xu Jiande took a deep breath and suppressed his anger once again.

We can't fight; if we do, we'll be completely exposed.

A cunning merchant can curse and raise prices, but he can't kill someone with a single slap.

If you kill him, he's not a dishonest merchant, he's a murderer.

He forced a faint smile: "Brother Zhong is right. I'm just trying to sell the rice. If you want to buy rice, we still have some today. If not, please make way, there are other people in line behind us."

Zhong Ge wanted to say a few more words, but seeing several more people enter the store to buy rice, he feared incurring public wrath, so he snorted, turned around, and left.

As he walked out the door, he muttered something like "scoundrel."

Xu Jiande's lips curled up slightly, thinking to himself, "Good for you. If you curse me again, I'll beat you to death without any psychological pressure."

At this time, several more people rushed into the store to buy rice. They were all neighbors from the surrounding area. Seeing that the rice store was still open, they quickly ran over to buy rice.

Thirteen or fourteen pounds of the twenty pounds of coarse grains I brought this morning were sold.

Xu Jiande looked at the small amount of stock and was worried. He told Aji to watch the shop and then pushed the cart toward the main store of Dafu Rice Shop in the upper district to prepare to buy some more rice.

Upon arriving at the main store, the clerk behind the counter recognized him and, before he could speak, said directly, "Manager Jiande, we're out of rice. We're really out of rice."

"Not a single bit left?"

The shopkeeper sighed and lowered his voice, saying, "The whole city is under martial law, and grain carts can't enter. There's a little stock left in the warehouse, but that's for emergencies. I can only give you a hundred catties at most; that's all I have."

Xu Jiande was silent for a moment, then nodded: "One hundred jin it is then."

He paid the money, loaded 100 jin of coarse grains onto a cart, and pushed it back home.

The cart is much lighter than yesterday. Yesterday it weighed 300 jin (150 kg), but today it only weighs 100 jin (50 kg). The sound of the wheels rolling over the bluestone slabs is also much lighter than yesterday.

But Xu Jiande's mood was even more somber than yesterday.

The main store's inventory is almost gone, and the Japanese grain trucks can't enter the city. At most, the rice shops in the whole city will run out of food in two or three days.

By then, those who had stockpiled grain could last for a while, but those who hadn't...

He dared not think any further.

Something terrible is about to happen.

When I arrived at the rice shop, I could hear arguing coming from inside before I even went in.

The two argued heatedly, pushing and shoving each other, while Aji, caught in the middle, tried to mediate from both sides, sweating profusely with anxiety.

Xu Jiande parked the cart and went into the shop to ask what was going on.

Only after asking did I find out that the store had only three kilograms of rice left, and both of them wanted to buy it. Neither of them was willing to give way, so they started bidding against each other.

They kept raising their prices, one by one, and the other by two, their voices growing louder and louder, creating an atmosphere of tension that suggested they were about to start a fight.

This ultimately turned into acting on impulse.

After understanding the situation, Xu Jiande smiled wryly and said, "No need to raise the price. The rice price will be as shown on the price list, and each person is limited to three jin."

The two were stunned at the same time, thinking that Xu Jiande was a really good guy, but also a real idiot.

The two exchanged a glance, each bought three jin (1.5 kg) and left.

As Aji watched from the side, his opinion of Xu Jiande became even more complex.

If you say he's ruthless, he's surprisingly soft-hearted at this moment; if you say he's soft-hearted, he's the one who raised 50% of the grain prices.

This person acts without any rhyme or reason, entirely according to their own mood, making them even more unpredictable.

Xu Jiande unloaded the newly delivered 100 jin of coarse grain from the cart, stacked it in the corner, and was about to close the door.

One of the men who had just bought rice returned, looked at Xu Jiande, lowered his voice, and said, "Boss Xu, I'll take all 100 jin of your newly delivered coarse grains, even with a 20% premium. Is that alright?"