Chapter 143: Curses Rise

Meng Qinghe was dreaming of getting rich overnight, convinced she could make a fortune from this snow disaster.

"Cai Pin, go check how business is downstairs."

"Yes."

Soon, Cai Pin returned, her steps a little hurried.

"Miss! Trouble!"

Meng Qinghe furrowed her brows: "Trouble? What trouble?"

"In Jingcheng, besides us, other shops are also selling grain at prices far lower than ours."

Meng Qinghe, hearing this, slammed the table hard: "Impossible! They're all struggling to survive themselves; who could still be selling grain?"

"Just... just across from our shop, now the whole city's populace has gone to queue there; there's not a single person at our doorway."

Meng Qinghe furrowed her brows, rose quickly to the window, and looked across; the line of grain buyers stretched beyond sight.

"How could this be? How could it be? In Jingcheng, who besides me would hoard so much grain?" At that moment, a figure appeared in her mind.

Could it be the man who sold her grain a few days ago?

No, impossible!

I've already bought back all the grain; he couldn't possibly have any.

It must be that the restaurant across is selling its leftover grain.

Yes, it must be so.

"How much are they selling it for?"

"Fine rice and flour are forty wen per jin, millet thirty wen, brown rice twenty wen."

"That cheap? How could that be? Does the shopkeeper not make any silver?"

"Miss, what should we do! Right now we can't even sell a single jin of grain."

"No rush, no rush," Meng Qinghe shook her head: "It's fine. Even if their shop has hoarded grain, it won't be much; once they run out, these people will still come back to our Delicious Hall for grain."

Cai Pin's face was full of hesitation.

Is what the Miss said true?

At this moment, outside Chi Nan Yi's shop a long queue had already formed, even the neighboring street was packed.

Chi Nan Yi had someone carry bowls of hot water to the queuers; after all, standing in such cold weather would soon freeze people solid.

"Forty wen? Is it really only forty wen?" an old man asked shakily: "Does this rice and flour contain stones?"

"No," the young attendant laughed: "Rest assured, sir, our establishment is not like some who profit from national calamities. These are rice and flour we previously stored, of superior quality; you'll see when you buy them."

"Alright, alright, your establishment really are good people!"

"Indeed! Even if there were stones, they'd still be hundreds or thousands of times better than some shops!" He glared at the opposite Delicious Hall: "I will never go to that Delicious Hall again."

"We won't go either! To think a jin of fine rice is sold for 250 wen—do they think we're fools? No matter how tasty their shop is, we won't return."

"Exactly!"

"Exactly!"

In an instant, the crowd was incensed.

Chi Nan Yi, hearing the voice from upstairs, showed little expression on his face.

"Miss, you have really messed up Delicious Hall's business now."

"What do you mean?"

Ji Bai blinked: "It's obvious! Their Delicious Hall is profiteering from the disaster, selling what used to be a few dozen wen of fine rice for several hundred wen. They're clearly trying to make a big haul. The common folk aren't fools; why would they go back?"

"No, no," Chi Nan Yi shook his head: "Times change; most people are still driven by profit. They say they won't go to Delicious Hall now, but once the disaster passes, if Delicious Hall offers them a bit of benefit, they'll return. Today I'm doing this not only to disrupt Delicious Hall's business, but mainly to let them know our shop will reopen soon, and the rice they take back will be our best advertisement."

Those grains were all taken from the Space; she had tested them. As long as the food has lingered in the Space, its flavor changes, and more importantly, they each carry some health‑boosting effect—the longer the stay in the Space, the more pronounced the effect.

"The rice brought out this time is the batch that was hoarded before leaving Jingcheng; the rice she bought in Jingcheng earlier was placed into the Space."

"If you eat well later, remember to dine at our shop! The rice we use here is this very grain."

Each time the attendant sold a portion, he repeated the above words.

Everyone sold with great vigor.

After all, the newly arrived shopkeeper was extremely generous, raising their wages by one to two taels of silver each month.

Previously they couldn't even earn a single tael of silver per month.

The crowd, looking at the rice and flour in their hands, couldn't help feeling puzzled.

"It's all rice; what's different?"

Meng Qinghe kept looking across from the window, having thought the opposite side would sell out soon, but she never expected that even until nightfall the opposite shop was still selling.

It seemed as if all the citizens of Jingcheng were queuing at their door.

"How could this be?" Meng Qinghe clenched her fists.

She saw clearly that those people weren't buying a jin at a time; they were purchasing dozens of jins of rice and flour. How much grain could they possibly have stored to sustain such consumption?

Outside, dozens of lamps were lit, and hot water infused with Spiritual Spring continued to simmer; each person queued while sipping the hot water, and from start to finish no one complained, nor did anyone cut in line.

Those who drank the hot water felt stronger the longer they stood, and even in the cold wind their bodies no longer felt cold.

"What's the matter?"

Chi Nan Yi glanced at Shopkeeper Hao, who smiled: "Back at our establishment, we've already used up twenty percent of the stored grain."

"Keep selling, it's fine; even if we sell all of this, my young master still has grain."

Shopkeeper Hao, hearing this, looked at Chi Nan Yi with utmost admiration.

"I've found such a capable establishment!"

"After this, I doubt anyone in Jingcheng won't know our shop."

"That's the effect we wanted," Chi Nan Yi's lips curled slightly: "And the opposite Delicious Hall? How's it doing?"

Bringing up Delicious Hall, Shopkeeper Hao snorted: "The people of Delicious Hall never dreamed that you, Host, would have so much grain; now outside they're all cursing them."

"What's the point of commoners cursing Delicious Hall?" Chi Nan Yi said gloomily: "Only those with real weight should go curse."

Here, selling grain non-stop for twelve double-hours, opposite Delicious Hall has not a single person.

Similarly setting up stalls, Delicious Hall hasn't sold a single grain of rice.

Finally, even Delicious Hall's servant had to go back to warm up from the cold.

Meng Qinghe violently smashed the table's porcelain onto the ground.

"Damn it! Have you found out where the people opposite got their grain from?"