Cheng Hao then asked, "Why have you come?"
Su Miaomiao was also full of surprise, thinking these two were remarkably well-informed.
Cai Shi and Xi Shi, however, had rather unpleasant expressions. The two women had found them somewhat objectionable lately.
Seeing this, Cheng Fengtai could only explain, "I plan to go look for places to source goods. I want to buy some on credit and sell them, but I'm not very familiar with this area."
And so,
Knowing Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao had already explored this part of town, they decided to tag along.
The main reason was that he knew his own wife was going into business, and he felt uneasy about it. He wanted to come along and see, after all, men have always been the ones to venture out, and women have stayed in, and it was rare to see a woman constantly showing her face in public.
But such was the prevailing atmosphere in the caravan these days.
Cheng Fengtai was living under someone else's roof now, so he naturally couldn't say anything.
Yet, he vaguely felt uncomfortable, always worried that his wife would be more capable than him.
Cai Shi and Cheng Fengtai's relationship had been quite good initially, with a sense of respectful distance. But later, she found some of his actions increasingly displeasing.
Now that she realized she could earn money on her own, she had discovered a new world.
She found that without her husband constantly nagging her, raising the children was much less stressful.
Therefore, she naturally felt some annoyance towards him.
It was just that they hadn't directly fallen out yet. Especially after witnessing the young couple's affection, Cai Shi realized that this was how lovers lived their daily lives, constantly thinking of each other and genuinely loving one another.
She only regretted that her own life had to be this way, with no other choices.
But she also intended to try her best to make her current life better. She wanted to work hard and earn money too.
Cheng Kaichun, naturally, wanted to do nothing but enjoy his life. He had originally thought that by sticking with the Cheng family and flattering the head of the family, he would live a life of luxury, eating well and drinking heartily, with servants attending to him.
But he never expected this.
The head of the Cheng family was not very old, yet his abilities were completely overshadowed by his legitimate son.
And Cheng Hao was someone who detested laziness and enjoying leisure. Thus, Cheng Kaichun felt his life was truly unfortunate. He could only tag along with Cheng Fengtai, putting on a fake smile and saying, "Ah, well, I also want to help earn some money, don't I? How can I always be a freeloader?"
He claimed he wanted to learn the business with Cheng Fengtai and earn more money.
"Don't you guys know, two people are better than one? We're new here, what if we get bullied? Having one more person means one more person to look out for us! It's all for the best!"
Cheng Kaichun spoke convincingly.
However, everyone present was sharp enough to know he was talking nonsense.
They were too lazy to expose him.
As long as he was willing to work, that was enough.
Cheng Hao also had nothing more to say, nodding to indicate they should follow.
Su Miaomiao didn't pay them any mind.
She even encouraged the two of them to try their best and earn a lot of money!
Cheng Fengtai and Cheng Kaichun inexplicably felt a sense of pressure.
Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao led them directly towards the largest grain store nearby. Their early exploration of the city hadn't been in vain; they had already memorized the locations of the most important shops along the way, so it wasn't a problem.
Soon, they reached their destination.
The foot traffic here was still bustling, with a crowd shouting and jostling.
"Shop assistant, hurry up! When will you load two hundred catties of medium-grade flour and fifty catties of top-grade rice onto my cart? Hurry up!! I need to make dough with the ingredients! I have so many customers waiting in my shop, can't you hurry? Quickly help me move them onto the cart!"
"Over here! Changwang Biscuit Shop also needs fifty catties of medium-grade flour. When will it arrive?"
"Shop assistant, I need a hundred catties of rice too! Be quick about it!"
"Shopkeeper! I ordered thirty catties of soybeans and forty catties of red beans! Your shop assistant mixed them up! Are you going to do something about it? If you don't have enough staff, hire more people! There are plenty of beggars at the city gate; even calling a couple of them in to help would be better than this! You mix up my orders every day!"
...
The customers were exceedingly numerous.
And the staff were in short supply.
Therefore, the entire grain store was in a chaotic uproar.
Cai Shi and Xi Shi, having never witnessed such a scene, were both startled.
Cheng Fengtai and Cheng Kaichun, however, knew to stand at the entrance to somewhat shield the crowd.
Otherwise, once inside, it would be a crush of people.
Cheng Hao, of course, immediately ensured Su Miaomiao was safely protected in front of him.
Seeing the utter chaos, Cheng Fengtai loudly suggested, "There are too many people here! Let's go to another store? I passed many stores on the way, and there must be plenty of grain stores. Let's just switch to another one! We don't have to insist on this one!"
Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao looked back at him, their expressions akin to looking at an idiot.
It was a kind passerby who informed them,
"Don't even think about it! Thanks to you newcomers! Every single grain store in Quezhou City is packed full! You won't be able to buy grain without squeezing in for half a day! And the prices change daily! The more outsiders like you come, the higher the grain prices in the city! If you don't buy a lot, you'll be at a disadvantage! Otherwise, why do you think everyone buys dozens or hundreds of catties? If they had the money, everyone would want to buy more to save themselves from coming here every day to squeeze!"
Although the man was grumbling, he still kindly shared this information.
Cheng Fengtai, however, was stunned.
He only then realized.
That's right.
As more and more people from outside were coming in, the city's supply, no matter how plentiful, was limited.
It was no wonder the prices were getting higher and higher, and people naturally liked to hoard grain.
In this case,
Grain stores in the city would only become more popular, so how could there be any with few people?
Cheng Fengtai felt he had spoken foolishly.
He immediately felt a pang of embarrassment.
He was actually slower to react than these two young children, who had already figured it out.
Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao had indeed guessed this was the case, which was why they chose the largest one to enter directly. They had noticed that although there was some minor chaos here, it was within an acceptable range.
After all, there were so many people.
With so many people, making only one or two mistakes was quite remarkable.
Moreover, the shopkeepers were all very polite. They didn't look down on people just because they had some grain and supplies. Their attitudes were good, and they quickly resolved issues they discovered. So, what was wrong with waiting a little while?
Seeing that Cheng Fengtai and Cheng Kaichun were not completely beyond redemption and were indeed trying to shield the crowd and indirectly protect Cai Shi and Xi Shi,
Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao felt reassured and went to try to hail a shop assistant.
After a little more time,
They finally managed to grab a shop assistant who was slightly less busy.
They pulled him to a less crowded spot, allowing him to catch his breath and themselves to relax a bit. The shop assistant was somewhat taken aback by this favor.
Su Miaomiao then smiled at him and said, "Don't be scared. We're not here to cause trouble. We just need some grain. The quantity is a bit large, but it's manageable. We'll take this much for now, and you can prepare it for us. We'll pay you directly. Later, when our business is doing well, we'll discuss a larger deal with you."