Natural disasters in books: I stockpiled goods to escape famine in ancient times

The three people sitting at the table diagonally opposite the master and servant were discussing in a low voice the matter of the various families in the city collecting food and distributing porridge today.

"I believe that the Zhou family is giving out porridge. Only the Zhou family is truly thinking about us ordinary people. But the Li family and the others have always been so high and mighty that they never treat us as human beings. How can I not believe that they are giving out porridge?"

"The Li family is in the grain business, so it's not so hard to understand that they provide porridge. The only thing I don't believe is the Wang and Liu families. Their businesses have nothing to do with grain. If they are asked to bleed, I'm afraid the sun will rise in the west."

"What you said makes sense. Isn't it the same for the Chen family who does charcoal business? The families in our capital city are not easy to deal with. I don't know who has the ability to make them bleed."

The person sitting between the two of them didn't say anything at first, but when he heard this, he sneered, "Who else could it be, except Young Master Zhou, who could make those noble families bow their heads?"

The two people next to him suddenly realized and agreed.

Song Shiwei and Zhang Wu looked at each other when they heard this.

"Oh, by the way, have you heard that the Li family seems to be getting married to the Zhou family? The Li family has been going to the Zhou family a lot recently because of this matter."

Not only Song Shiwei and Zhang Wu couldn't help but prick up their ears, but other people in the hall also stopped drinking tea and looked particularly attentive.

"Are you kidding? Miss Li? Marrying into the Zhou family? She wouldn't even dare to do that in her dreams."

The man who was questioned had a sharp face and blushed immediately: "When has my Sixth Brother ever lied? Yesterday I saw with my own eyes that the Master of the Li family went to the Zhou family and brought a lot of gifts. My relative also works for the Zhou family, and he told me so himself. If you don't believe me, I won't bother to tell you."

"No, no, no, we are shocked by the news. We all know what kind of personality Miss Li has. No one would dare to believe it. You should tell us more quickly. It's just right for drinking."

The sharp-nosed and monkey-faced Old Six was stingy now, raising his chin and adjusting his collar: "I'm really not talking nonsense, my relatives heard it with their own ears, and the Zhou Mansion has spread it all. As for whether it is to marry the eldest son of Zhou or the second son, I don't know."

The others shook their heads and sighed.

"No matter which young master of the Zhou family you marry, it's not a good thing," one person couldn't help but speak out his true feelings.

Song Shiwei listened with great interest. Although he had never seen Miss Li, based on what these people said, Miss Li must be an unpleasant person. Song Shiwei was now very curious about what Miss Li looked like.

There are four noble families in the North, namely Chen, Wang, Liu and Li. Among them, the Li family is the most hated by the people, especially the Li family's grain. Every time the grain is harvested cheaply, but sold at a much higher price than other places, and they do not allow other families to sell their grain. They act very overbearingly.

These are what Zhang Wu said in a low voice just now. Song Shiwei curled his lips after listening and said, "No wonder the people are full of disdain when talking about the Li family."

Zhang Wu chuckled: "Families like this are not uncommon in the capital."

Song Shiwei picked up the teacup and took a sip, then gently shook the cup with a nonchalant look in his eyes: "Greed will never be satisfied."

"So the final result is the same, it's just self-destruction, but most people know about it but don't know how to restrain themselves. Master, I think there may be something fishy about the marriage between the Li family and the Zhou family. Do you want me to investigate it?"

Song Shi frowned slightly: "Why are you checking these? You might as well use this time to cook a few more delicious dishes for your master."

Song Shiwei put down the teacup and said calmly: "We should not care about the affairs of the noble families. Let them fight among themselves. Zhou Huai is not a simple man. He will handle it himself."

Zhang Wu lowered his head and responded.

The two listened to many stories about the noble families in the teahouse and were extremely satisfied, especially Song Shiwei, who was in a very good mood when he left the teahouse.

I kept my good mood until I almost reached the city gate, where I saw beggars on the roadside.

Even though most people made adequate preparations before the extreme cold, there were still a small number of people who were not prepared. Half of them did not take it seriously, and the other half were those who could not afford to pay.

Those who had no money to buy food and whose families were almost frozen to death could not bear to watch their families starve to death, so they had to go out to beg.

The beggars were dressed very thinly, and the exposed skin on their faces and hands was red and black. In serious cases, pus was even oozing from their faces and hands.

This was the scene that Song Shiwei saw when he opened the car window and looked out. His eyes fell on a mother and daughter. The little girl was no more than seven or eight years old. She was holding a broken bowl in her frostbitten hands. She carefully held a bowl of porridge and walked to the disheveled woman.

"Mom, there are kind people giving out porridge at the city gate. I brought back a bowl. You should drink it quickly. You will feel better after drinking it," he said as he put the bowl to the woman's mouth.

The woman was wearing a thin autumn coat, with scattered straw under her body. Her clothes were not only dirty but also had large patches. At this moment, she looked at the porridge in the bowl and swallowed unconsciously, but still stretched out her hands and trembled to hold the bowl, her voice weak: "Rur, be good, mother is not hungry, drink the porridge while it is hot, and you won't be cold after drinking it."

Before the little girl called Ru'er could say anything, the broken bowl in her hand was snatched away by a boy who was about ten years old. He gulped down the porridge in the bowl in a few mouthfuls, wiped his mouth after drinking it, and said smugly: "Give it to me, if you don't want to eat it, give it all to me."

"What are you doing! This is the porridge from my home, you have to compensate me," the little girl stood up with the help of the wall, and rushed towards the little boy. After knocking him down, she pressed him under her body and covered his mouth with her hands, saying, "Spit it out, this is the porridge from my home."

The little boy burst into tears.

Just then, an elder in the family came back from the city gate with porridge. When he saw the child being bullied by others, he didn't care about the cause and effect, and stepped forward, picked up the little girl from Nanhai, and threw her directly into the corner.

The little girl's body hit the wall. It hurt just by looking at it, but she still gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound.

"Ruer, what happened to you?" The woman wanted to get up, but she had no strength to do so. She could only stand on the ground and worry about her daughter. Then she pulled herself together and said to the boy's family, "The porridge my son brought was eaten up by your child. She just asked him to vomit it out. Why did you hurt her like this?"

The boy's parents didn't look embarrassed or regretful when they heard this. Instead, they said as a matter of course, "It's okay if he's hurt. Can you really beat me up? It's an honor for my son to drink your porridge. He wouldn't even want to drink other people's porridge."

The little boy had his parents by his side, so he became bolder. He made a face at the little girl and said confidently, "That's right, it's just a bowl of porridge, drink it, and you can go and fight again."