"Master, the price of rice in the city has risen again."
In the afternoon at the end of May, Ye Yu came to the study and complained to Wang Chen who was practicing calligraphy, "The price of rice used to be three cents per pound, but now it has risen to five cents. According to the owner of the rice shop, the price will rise again in the future."
"Huh?"
Wang Chen was slightly surprised and put down the brush in his hand. "Did it rise so much?"
After marrying Ye Dai, although he didn't care about the household's daily necessities, he still had some knowledge of local prices.
The price of rice has always been very stable, usually fluctuating between two and three cents per pound, and there are rare ups and downs.
Because it involves the stability of people's livelihood, the government has also been severely cracking down on hoarding and speculation.
Now the price of rice has risen from three cents to five cents. The increase is really astonishing.
Because the prices of rice and miscellaneous grains are linked, if the price of rice increases, the price of miscellaneous grains will inevitably rise. However, the daily staple food of the people in the county basically consists of a mixture of the two, and they are very sensitive to prices.
Such a sharp rise in rice prices will definitely have a huge impact - many people will not have enough to eat!
"Yeah."
Xiao Yu said with a sad look on his face, "Master, our school consumes hundreds of kilograms of food every day. If the price continues like this..."
Last year, Wang Chen paid a high price to buy several adjacent houses in Tongluo Alley, and then demolished and rebuilt them all together with his own house, expanding the size of the school two or three times.
After the new school was built, not only all students could attend classes and study in the spacious and bright classrooms, but more civilian disciples were also recruited.
The number of students increased several times, and Wang Chen hired two more experienced scholars to serve as teachers, and also added several handymen and cooks.
Expenses have risen significantly.
Since Wang Clan School has always provided lunch for students, rice consumption is the largest. Now that rice prices have risen sharply, daily expenses are bound to rise.
This makes Ye Yu, who plays the role of butler, worried.
Ye Yu is the maid of Ye Dai. Three years ago, she married Wang Clan along with her own lady, and was later promoted as a concubine.
Unlike the gentle and elegant Ye Dai, Ye Yu is smart and shrewd, helping the former to keep things at home in order.
She is basically in charge of the firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea.
"It's okay."
Wang Chen stretched out his hand to rub Ye Yu's frown, and said with a smile, "If it goes up, it will go up. Master, I'm not short of money."
Although Wang Clan School founded Wang Clan School, Wang Chen had to invest a large amount of money out of his own pocket every year, but he had no apparent income and was 100% unable to make ends meet.
Everyone said that Mister Wang was a good man who set up a private school to cultivate virtue and do good deeds, but many people secretly laughed at him for being kicked in the head by a donkey for doing such stupid things for so long.
And after Wang Chen and Ye Dai got married, even more people ridiculed him.
Some people think that Wang Chen took Ye Dai's dowry to support the operation of the school, which is a shame.
Belittle Wang Chen and eat soft rice!
Ye Yu said angrily, "But master, you can't spend it like this even if you have money. There are times when gold and silver are all gone."
In her opinion, her young lady and uncle are really not family members and don't know how expensive firewood and rice are.
It would have been fine if one of them was an unworldly person, but when the two came together, it really broke her heart!
Wang Chen smiled and pinched his concubine's face - it was very cute.
"Forget it."
Ye Yu knew that it would not make sense to Wang Chen: "Speak to the madam!"
She is not afraid of Wang Chen being angry, because her master is really a very nice person, and he is always kind to himself and his servants.
He is even more gentle and considerate towards his own lady!
Ye Yu has always felt that if he could marry Wang Chen with the lady, Previous Life must have broken through eighteen wooden fish.
She ran to complain to Ye Dai.
Wang Chen laughed dumbly, put away the pen and paper and came to the window sill.
The weather has been very hot recently, and the sky is still clear and the sun is shining brightly in the afternoon. On the big tree outside the door, a few summer cicadas are neighing feebly, as if they are crying out for their hunger and thirst.
How long has it been since it rained?
Wang Chen suddenly thought of a problem that he had neglected.
If I think about it carefully, it seems that it has not rained a few times since the beginning of spring, and the few rains it has are just drizzle, which is not the weather at all.
Thinking of the skyrocketing price of rice in the city, Wang Chen had a bad feeling.
"Husband."
While Wang Chen was thinking about it, Ye Dai came to the study room.
Wang Chen turned around and hugged his wife into his arms, smiling, "Xiao Yu really complained to you?"
Although they have been married for three years, her husband's affectionate behavior still made Ye Dai's pretty face turn red, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, "Xiao Yu cares about you too."
Wang Chen lowered his head and kissed the beautiful woman in his arms. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Compared with three years ago, Ye Dai's figure is more rounded, not only more beautiful, but also has a bit more mature charm.
Regarding her husband's "frivolousness", Ye Dai could only fight back with a small fist, and then said, "Master, my dowry has never been touched. If you need it..."
When she married Wang Chen, she brought a large dowry with her.
In addition to a house in Dongcheng, there is also a shop, gold and silver jewelry, etc.
Part of the dowry was left by Ye Dai's mother, and the other part was given by Ye Xiangming. The annual rent of the shop is not a small amount.
So Ye Dai can be regarded as a little rich woman.
But Wang Chen has never borrowed any money from her, and it will be given to the family every month.
Ye Dai asked about it occasionally, and Wang Chen only said that she had brought a lot of silver here, so she didn't have to worry about it.
However, Ye Dai can't ignore everything!
"No need really."
Wang Chen interrupted his wife dumbfounded, "You have to believe me, your master is very capable!"
When he first came to Qing'an County, he did not have much money, and after buying the Tongluo Alley house, he was even more stretched.
But this problem cannot stump Wang Chen.
Two years ago, the Cangshui Gang helm of the rampant Qing'an County was breached. The gang leader Cao Xiong and a group of his henchmen died tragically at the Azure Dragon Hall. The gang's secret vault was looted, and the case remains unsolved to this day.
And who would have thought that the person who committed this earth-shattering case was Mister Wang who was teaching and educating people in Tongluo Alley?
From this harvest alone, Wang Chen earned no less than ten thousand taels, so he was not short of money at all.
Of course, Wang Chen will not show off his wealth to avoid unnecessary trouble.
He smiled evilly and picked up Ye Dai: "Now let me show you what I can do!"
Ye Dai was startled, embarrassed and anxious. "It's broad daylight, you..."
However, her protests were of no use as Wang Chen took her to the bedroom, pinned her down on the bed and did whatever he wanted with her!
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