But Li Ping'an didn't dare to move forward anymore, and he would forget about it normally. If the government officials found him here at this critical moment, he wouldn't know how to explain it, or whether the explanation would be useful.
After living in this era for thirteen years, he deeply realized that this era was completely different from the previous life. Those who were on officialdom were considered good people if they could not show off their power and bully the people. The life of an ordinary person is not worth as much as a cow.
In the end, fear prevailed, and Li Ping'an quietly retreated, returning to the grain store depressed. When he saw his father's questioning look, he shook his head slightly.
Li Erlin nodded understandingly and asked Li Ping'an to take over the queue for him. He handed Little Ruyi back to Li Ping'an's care. He strode forward, covered his mouth and muttered in Chen Song's ear.
Then Li Ping'an saw Chen Song take out the money from his pocket and stuff it into Li Erlin's hands, and then left in a hurry. Li Erlin stood in Chen Song's place and took his place in line.
"Ping'an, what did you say to your father? What did your father say to the village chief? Why did the village chief leave?" A villager behind Li Ping'an asked curiously, his tone full of worry.
Hereditary succession involves more than just the succession of noble titles. These days, sons inherit their father's legacy. Chen Song, as the eldest son of the late village chief Chen An, has long been determined to succeed Chen An as the village chief of Xiaochen Village. . Now that Chen An is dead, Chen Song is now the village chief of Xiaochen Village, and the villagers' name for him has also changed accordingly.
Just now, Li Ping'an first whispered to Li Erlin, then walked away and came back. Now Li Erlin also whispered to the village chief, and the village chief immediately left in a hurry with a wrong look on his face. Everyone was neither blind nor stupid. They guessed that something happened, maybe it was related to the strict interrogation when they entered the city gate just now.
But how could Li Ping'an say it at this time? Although he believed that Dr. Zhu would not lie to him about this matter, and it was probably true, but he had just failed to verify it in person, so he did not dare to speak nonsense.
There seemed to be more than 200 people queuing up to buy grain at the Chenji Grain Store. They were all strong men who had been doing manual labor for many years. The rise in grain prices and limited purchases had already made them dissatisfied. , and then telling them that the granary was burned down and all the food in the granary was burned, wouldn’t this add fuel to the fire?
In addition to making everyone panic, can it reduce the price of food, or can we buy more food? Don't the grain stores know that the granary was burned? But if they still do it, they will definitely not change a little bit because of the dissatisfaction of the people. On the contrary, it was precisely because the granary was burned that most of the farmland in the county suffered a loss of harvest. In a short period of time, the people of Qingfeng County could only buy food in grain stores. How could they not take the opportunity to make a lot of money for the sake of the life and death of the people? Where's the pen?
If a few hot-tempered people take the lead in making trouble, Li Ping'an can guarantee that regardless of whether they participate or not, they will immediately be implicated as a rioter, and their death will be in vain.
Ordinary people are the fish on the chopping board, always have been.
Now Chen Song has gone to inquire about the situation. His younger brother Chen Bai is on duty at the county government and should be able to find out something. He can then inform the villagers later.
As for what to do next, Li Pingan has no other ideas. He can only follow what everyone does. There is strength in numbers. Although they are all unarmed civilians, hundreds of people unite to form an intolerable force. The power of underestimation should be enough for self-protection.
In order to prevent the villagers from asking further questions, Li Ping'an started talking to Xiao Ruyi. He touched Xiao Ruyi's still hot forehead and asked, "Are you still feeling uncomfortable?"
Xiao Ruyi hugged Li Ping'an's neck tightly, rested her head on his shoulder, and said "hmm" weakly. The little guy was in low spirits and was much quieter than usual. At first glance, he looked like he was in a daze.
"Eat a piece of candy, Tiantian's mouth will not feel uncomfortable." Li Pingan took out the candy he bought yesterday, broke off a small piece the size of a fingernail and stuffed it into Xiao Ruyi's mouth.
Feeling the sweet taste in her mouth, little Ruyi's dull eyes gained a hint of color. She pressed her cheek against the side of Li Pingan's face and then rested her head on Li Pingan's shoulder.
Time passed little by little and the team advanced little by little, but Chen Song did not come back.
Li Erlin successfully bought the grain, but he bought it for Chen Song. However, when it was Li Ping'an's turn, the clerk refused to sell him the grain. "I recognize you. You are from Xiaochen Village. Is he your father?"
The waiter pointed at Li Erlin. They came to buy grain yesterday. It had only been one night, so he would not forget it so quickly. "Daddy has already bought grain. You can't buy any more."
Li Erlin hurriedly explained: "Little brother, I bought it for our village chief's family. The village chief has something to do..."
"You said you bought it for others, right?" The waiter interrupted Li Erlin impatiently, "Our boss has ordered that one household can only buy five buckets of grain. Anyway, if you buy it, your son will not be able to buy it anymore." purchase!"
"Didn't it say that each person can only buy five dou at most? Why did it become one household again?" Li Ping'an said anxiously.
"Who told you that it's per person? If you count it by head, do you also need to include this little girl? There is only so much food. If you buy more when there are more people coming to your family, do others still need to buy it? "The waiter pointed at Xiao Ruyi, with a playful and sarcastic look in his eyes, "Go quickly, go quickly, don't delay the people behind you buying food, if you don't understand, I'll call them!"
The people lined up behind Li Pingan were not only the villagers of Xiaochen Village, but also people from other villages. When the waiter said these words, he not only did not lower his voice, but also raised his voice. The people in Xiaochen Village were okay and even helped explain. and testify, though to no avail. But when people in other villages heard this, they started to curse.
Seeing the public outrage, Li Ping'an could only curse in his mind, and pulled Li Erlin, who was still about to say something to the waiter, out of the grain store. The waiter spat at their backs, and then went on to weigh the grain for the next person.
"Dad, just keep an eye on my little sister here. I'll go to the other two grain stores to check out." After that, he left.
Chen Ji Liang Store is in the east of the county, and the other two are in the west and south of the county. They are not as big as Chen Ji Liang Store. Li Pingan went to the southern grain store first. The queues were not as big as those at Chen Ji Liang Store. The queue was short, so he inquired with someone and found out that the price of grain in this grain store had also risen to 80 cents per dou. It was also limited, but it was almost half less than that in Chen Ji Grain Store. Each household could only buy three dou.
So he ran to the west as quickly as possible. Just like the grain store in the south, the grain store in the west cost eighty cents for a dou of brown rice, and each household was limited to three dou.
Come on, there’s no need to run around anymore, just queue up here and buy as much as you can, it’s better than leaving empty-handed.
After queuing for a long time, he finally arrived. This time without any trouble, he successfully bought three measures of brown rice. When he met the villagers at the city gate, he found that Chen Song had also returned.
Beside Chen Song, there was a young woman and two children who were crying.
