Two or Three Hundred Sacks of Coarse Grain

Liu Xiuyuan looked at the people from Jiang Family Village and said, "What are you trying to do, Jiang Family Village? Do you intend to attack us?"

The Jiang Family Village looked at him and shouted:

"Liu Xiuyuan, I know you must have received the news, and you can't just worry about your own lives."

There are 186 people in our Jiang Family Village. Please give us a way to survive!

Liu Xiuyuan looked at them and said:

"You were the ones who contacted me after hearing the news; it wasn't really my fault."

If it weren't for the locust plague, you would have made a fortune this time.

We were at our wits' end; the village was starving, so we had no choice but to sell our land.

Old Liu whispered, "The people of Jiang Family Village are known as wealthy households for miles around. Every family is in business, so they must have plenty of grain."

The people of Jiang Family Village are known for their business acumen; when Liu Family Village was selling its land, they were the ones who came to their door themselves.

The land in Liu Family Village was 30% cheaper than in other areas, so they bought all the land in Liu Family Village.

Now that there's a locust plague, these people are deliberately causing trouble.

The Jiang Family Village looked at Liu Xiuyuan:

"You don't need to tell me anything more. Your village must have known there was going to be a locust plague, which is why they sold our land to us so cheaply."

If you don't return our money today, our Jiang Family Village will be your sworn enemy forever.

Zhou Wanwan finally understood that Jiang Family Village had come to cause trouble.

Liu Xiuyuan looked at him and said, "We settled the transaction on the spot; your Jiang Family Village shouldn't go too far."

"Alright, alright, we Jiang Family Village are not afraid of trouble. Since your Liu Family Village is doing this, then don't blame us Jiang Family Village for going all out."

"From now on, Jiang Family Village will no longer do business with Liu Family Village." The Jiang Family Village then left with his men.

After returning home, he became increasingly uneasy and went directly to a few people to say:

"Go and spread all these medicines at the entrance of the water source in Jiang Family Village."

I refuse to believe it. Let's just poison them all, then their village's grain will be ours."

"Isn't this... isn't this too harsh?"

"Survival of the fittest, we business people have to be ruthless, especially since Liu Family Village isn't exactly a good place either."

They knew a locust plague was coming, yet they still tricked us. Humph... I won't let them get away with this.

The water source for Jiang Family Village is upstream of Liu Family Village. In the evening, Zhou Wanwan led a few people to fish in the river. Before she even started fishing, she saw the river surface teeming with fish.

Zhou Qingchen said happily, "That's great! We'll have fish to eat today, and the best part is we didn't have to fish for any of them. It's so convenient!"

Zhou Wanwan sniffed the water and said, "Something's wrong. This smells off. The water's poisoned. Quickly notify the villagers and tell them not to drink this water."

Zhou Qingyan led a group of people on a frantic run, thankfully the villagers hadn't gone to fetch water today.

Zhou Wanwan looked at the river and said, "The water in this river is undrinkable. The people of Jiang Family Village are too vicious; they actually want to kill us."

Liu Xiuyuan trembled with anger. "How could it come to this? How could it come to this?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at him and said, "Have someone stand by the river to prevent people from other villages from accidentally drinking this water. I'll go check on Jiang Family Village now."

Liu Xiuyuan nodded and did it. Zhou Wanwan took her uncles and brothers to Jiang Family Village.

Liu Sanlang said softly, "That's Jiang Family Village."

Looking around, there wasn't a single mud-brick house; they were all uniformly built with blue bricks and tiled roofs.

Liu Silang pointed to the largest house with blue bricks and tiles and said, "This is the village chief's house. What do we do now?"

Zhou Wanwan pointed to the big tree behind their house and said, "I'll go listen to what they're saying."

Zhou Wanwan was very fast, Zhou Qingyan, Zhou Qinghe, and Zhou Qingchen followed behind her, quickly climbing up the big tree.

Then the village chief of Jiang Family Village asked, "Has the medicine been put in?"

"Don't worry! You can trust me to handle things. Tonight, everyone in Liu Family Village will surely die."

The village chief of Jiang Family Village nodded and said, "Let's wait a bit longer. We'll make our move after the people of Liu Family Village have finished their dinner."

"Okay, I understand."

The people of Jiang Family Village are truly terrifying, Zhou Wanwan said as she walked into the woods:

"Go and call everyone from Liu Family Village over. I'll go and find out where the grain from Jiang Family Village is stored."

Since they like to play, let's play with them.

Liu Sanlang went back to get reinforcements, since they had hidden all their grain and the people of Jiang Family Village couldn't find it anyway.

Liu Xiuyuan led a group of people from Liu Family Village and hid in the woods.

Zhou Wanwan kept listening to the sounds of the village grass:

"Oh dear, it must be the village chief of Jiang Family Village stirring up trouble again!"

Yesterday I saw him storm back to the village, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. Someone's definitely going to be in trouble again this time!

A small blade of grass with yellowing leaves lowered its voice, filled with fear:

"This Jiang Family Village is the real tyrant of the area! A ruthless killer who doesn't blink an eye."

They wiped out several small villages in the surrounding area, leaving not a single survivor!

The other, stronger blade of grass nodded repeatedly, its leaves trembling even more violently.

"That's right! Last time they brought back a lot of little girls and quite a few young women, all of whom they kidnapped from other villages!"

They also trafficked children, kidnapping kids from other villages and secretly selling them outside the mountains. I heard it was quite lucrative!

A dandelion suddenly interjected:

"The money he earns in a year can pile up into a mountain! I saw it with my own eyes the other day, several people carrying heavy wooden boxes to his house."

That box must be full of gleaming silver, so bright it'll blind you!

Zhou Wanwan squatted down and asked, "Since you saw it so clearly, did you see where they hid the stolen grain?"

These few weeds were so frightened they didn't dare move. Zhou Wanwan comforted them:

"Don't worry! I mean you no harm. I can hear your conversation."

I just want to ask them where they hid the grain?

A lamb's quarters shook its head and said, "I... I know..."

Zhou Wanwan and all the wild vegetables looked at it, and it continued to speak:

A few nights ago, I heard several strong men carrying heavy sacks in that direction.

Someone whispered, "Unload the grain into the threshing ground warehouse at the west end."

Suddenly, Ma Chijian spoke up, "My brother told me there's a hidden cave in the ravine behind Jiang Family Village! You can go check it out."

Zhou Wanwan led the people from Liu Family Village directly to the cave behind Jiang Family Village.

The ravine behind the village is hidden in the bushes, and the entrance is completely covered by vines and weeds, so it is impossible to find without careful searching.

Zhou Wanwan parted the cave walls and saw two or three hundred bags of grain inside.

It's all whole grains...