Chapter 255: Many hands make light work

Chapter 255: Many hands make light work

Chapter 255: Many hands make light work (Please subscribe!)

After Li Kailang delivered the wine to Mr. Hua, he returned to the courtyard leisurely.

As evening approached, more and more people began to appear in the courtyard, but there were far fewer people than usual.

"It's weird. It's been almost a whole day and I've only seen so few people. What have they been doing?"

Besides that, Li Kailang was also surprised that a group of women went out with lunch boxes, obviously sending food out.

It was not until after dark, when pedestrians on the street returned home, that Li Kailang's doubts were finally answered.

"Everyone, push quickly and keep your voice down. Don't make any noise!"

Yi Zhonghai was seen standing next to a group of people who were carefully pushing two carts loaded with grain.

The cart was piled high with bags of grain. A rough estimate was that there were at least one or two thousand kilograms of grain on the two carts.

The dozen or so people pushing the carts had sweat on their foreheads and looked extremely exhausted.

But they gritted their teeth and pushed silently, and almost no other sound could be heard except their heavy breathing.

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui were in the front, middle and back, observing their surroundings carefully.

"Everyone, work harder, we are almost at the yard! Work harder!" Yi Zhonghai encouraged in a low voice.

Hearing Yi Zhonghai's words, the people pushing the cart increased their strength and accelerated the movement.

Ever since they learned that Li Kailang could no longer help them buy food, they no longer had any hope in Li Kailang and began to purchase food on their own.

But individual power is always small, and everyone cannot buy much food.

At this time, Yi Zhonghai discussed with Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui and decided that the three of them would take the lead and work together to purchase food.

Naturally, some people didn't believe it at the beginning. After all, food was in such short supply, how could Yi Zhonghai buy it?

But Yi Zhonghai said to everyone with full confidence: "Whether I can buy food is my problem. You don't have to worry about it. I will find a way."

"If you guys trust me, I will naturally help you buy food. If you don't, forget it."

"When we get back from buying food, don't blame me for not telling you in advance if you don't get any."

Seeing Yi Zhonghai's confident expression, everyone started whispering to each other, half believing and half doubting what Yi Zhonghai said.

But now is not the time to doubt. No one can buy food. Since Yi Zhonghai has a solution, everyone can only give it a try.

Anyway, Yi Zhonghai’s home is here, and he can’t run away anywhere.

Uncle, I trust you, what do you think we should do? "The first person who expressed trust stood up and said.

With the first person taking the lead, the second and third people soon stood up to express their support.

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai nodded with satisfaction.

"Okay, since everyone trusts me, I will certainly not let you down. Let's go to the Third Master and pay first."

"I will buy as much food as I have money, and then distribute the food according to the money everyone has paid. Remember, those who pay first will get the food first!!"

When everyone heard that they had to pay, they hesitated again.

But when they thought that it was money to buy food and Yi Zhonghai's home was here, they agreed and went home to get the money and give it to Yan Bugui.

Yi Zhonghai did not disappoint everyone's expectations and purchased about 2 kilograms of grain using his own methods.

Early this morning, Yi Zhonghai asked everyone to go out of the city to transport food and then hide it.

When it was dark and there were not many people around, Yi Zhonghai led everyone to push the cart back to the courtyard, doing his best to avoid the crowd along the way.

In order to conceal his identity, Yi Zhonghai also made some camouflage on the cart so that people could not tell at a glance that it was loaded with grain.

After a lot of hard work carrying the food along the way, everyone finally arrived at the gate of the courtyard. Yi Zhonghai went into the yard and called for people to come out and move the food.

"Everyone, hurry up and move the food to the middle courtyard."

Everyone was overjoyed when they saw the two carts full of food, their faces filled with joy that could not be concealed.
If Yi Zhonghai hadn't urged them, they would have celebrated outside.

Li Kailang watched them move the food. After a while, when everything was moved, everyone hurried to the central courtyard.

Li Kailang curiously followed to the middle yard and looked at the grain that had been piled up into a small mountain.

"With so much food, I wonder how much will be allocated to my family?"

"I don't know how the old man got it. During this period, food is hard to buy on the market. I don't know how the old man used so much food."

"Yes, the uncle is the uncle, he is amazing. We can't buy food, but the uncle can get so much in a short time."

Everyone was talking about it, and all of them were praising Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai felt very satisfied listening to everyone's praises.

After this incident, his prestige in the hearts of the people increased even more.

As the main force in taking the lead in buying grain this time, he made a lot of money from it without having to pay for the grain.

Liu Hai, who was standing beside him, felt a little uncomfortable.

He also contributed to the purchase of grain, but everyone's praise seemed to be focused on Yi Zhonghai.

He curled his lips, muttered to himself, and his face fell into a dark state.

As for Yan Bugui, he didn't care whether anyone praised him or not.

At this moment, his eyes were fixed on the mountain of grain.

"Ahem!" Yi Zhonghai attracted everyone's attention.

"The food that our courtyard purchased is all here. Everyone go home and bring out the receipts. We can use the receipts to collect the food."

When everyone heard that they could get food, their eyes lit up and they immediately went home to get the notes.

But some people had already brought the notes with them and took them out immediately.

"Uncle, I have a note and I want to get food!"

"And me, an old man, I brought it too."

These words made those residents who didn't bring their badges with them immediately act quickly, hating themselves for not having any brains and for not bringing their badges with them.

Yi Zhonghai did not take the note, but said calmly: "Don't worry, let's go one by one in order. We agreed yesterday that those who pay first will receive first."

One resident said: "You are such a senior, can't you be more flexible?"

Yi Zhonghai shook his head firmly: "We agreed yesterday that those who pay first will get their money first. If I give in to you, wouldn't I be breaking my promise?"

Hearing that Yi Zhonghai really kept his promise, those who didn't get the note were immediately happy and praised:

"What the uncle said is right. Do you want me to become a dishonest person?"

After that, they were no longer in a hurry and walked slowly back home to get the slip. "Fortunately, I paid the money early and got the slip. I didn't have to queue up and was right in front."

This made those who were at the back even more anxious. "If we had known, we would have paid earlier. If we waited until the back, all the good stuff would have been picked up."

Looking at everyone's various expressions, Yi Zhonghai smiled slightly. This was exactly the effect he wanted, indirectly demonstrating his prestige.

"Don't worry if you're in the back. We've bought a lot of food, and there's a share for everyone. You can take a look at the prices and think about what you want."

As he spoke, Yi Zhonghai announced the prices of various types of grain and asked everyone to think about it slowly.

Li Kailang listened and went to see what the grain looked like.

"Haha!" After looking at the food, Li Kailang laughed.

The grain purchased under Yi Zhonghai's leadership was not only slightly more expensive, but was also old goods from previous years.

But if you calculate carefully, it is at least half as expensive as at the grain station and half as cheap as on the black market.

All in all, they got a huge bargain. After all, food on the black market is now so scarce that it is impossible to buy it even if you want to.

"Lao Yi, this is my family's note. I'm here to get food."

Lieutenant General Liu Hai handed the note to Yi Zhonghai, on which were the signatures of the two people, the money paid, and the queue number.

Yi Zhonghai took the note, checked it carefully, and nodded: "Second uncle, the note is fine. Take a look, what kind of food do you need?"

"I want 100 kilograms of whole grains, including sweet potatoes"

As Liu Haizhong was speaking, Yan Bugui was recording and calculating all the prices.

After confirming that the money paid by Liu Haizhong matched the price, Yi Zhonghai asked people to start weighing.

Before Liu Haizhong finished weighing, someone asked, "Uncle No. 1 and Uncle No. 2 all want coarse grains, so when it's our turn later, will there be enough coarse grains to go around?"

"Yes, uncle, we all want coarse grains."

The person who asked the question looked worried, and others echoed him.

It’s not that they don’t want to eat good food, but the Chinese New Year has just passed, and they have spent a lot of money on the black market and paid other fees, so there is not much money left at home.

If you use the money to buy coarse grains, you can buy more, but if you buy fine grains, they will be eaten up soon.

Compared with eating well, eating enough is the most important thing for them.

Yi Zhonghai nodded: "You are right. If everyone wants coarse grains, it is indeed not fair to the people behind."

"There isn't much refined grain anyway, so I think everyone should buy at least 10 kilograms of refined grain. You can't eat coarse grains every day, it's not good for your health."

After saying that, Yi Zhonghai turned to Liu Haizhong and said with a hint of request:

"Second uncle, you are the first one to come and collect food, and you are also the uncle of our yard. Could you please set an example for everyone?"

When Liu Haizhong heard this, he was overjoyed and immediately agreed:
"Okay, it's not a big deal. How about this, Old Yan, change it for me, I want 20 kilograms of fine grain."

Yan Bugui converted it again on paper and then read out the new weight. Yi Zhonghai then signaled to continue weighing the grain.

Those with earlier serial numbers saw that Liu Haizhong had done this, so no matter how reluctant they were, they had no choice but to agree.

This made the people behind him very happy, and they all praised Liu Haizhong for his righteousness. Buying 1 catty of fine grains could save at least 2 catties of coarse grains, so the people behind him were naturally happy to see this, and the people in front bought more fine grains.

After all, there are only about 2 kilograms of grain, which means that each household has an average of to kilograms of grain. With the sharing of fine grains, less coarse grains will be needed.

After a while, Liu Haizhong was weighed and taken away by Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu.

"Next!" Yi Zhonghai shouted.

"It's my turn!" Yan Bugui responded from the side. He had already calculated how much he wanted.

"I just want 10 jin of fine grains, and the rest."

As soon as Yan Bugui finished speaking, he was criticized by the people behind him.

"Uncle San, you are also the elder in the courtyard. Why can you only ask for 10 kilograms of fine grain? You should at least buy 20 kilograms of fine grain. This is not fair to us."

Yan Bugui spread his hands and acted helpless: "Everyone needs to understand me! There are six people in my Yan family, and we eat a lot of food every day."

"If we lose 10 kilograms of fine grains, we can exchange them for at least 20 kilograms of coarse grains. This will allow us Yan Jie to survive for a few more days. Who has more people than my Yan family?"

After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent. There were more than a dozen households in the yard, and none of them had more people than the Yan family.

Yan Bugui said humbly at the right moment, cupping his hands and saying, "Thank you for your patience."

Seeing this, everyone had no choice but to agree.

But this also set a bad precedent for everyone. Originally, Liu Haizhong had pulled up 20 kilograms of fine grain, and everyone had a share.

But now that Yan Bugui has done this, everyone only needs 10 kilograms of fine grains.

Although it was 10 kilograms of fine grain at the beginning, people with later numbers didn't care about that.

As a result of this increase and decrease, there are much less coarse grains left.

This made the last few households in line unhappy and they immediately stopped the weighing.

"Hey, hey, hey, stop calling me that for now!"

Then he looked at Yi Zhonghai and said, "Uncle, look at all this food. There are so many fine grains left. How can we get so much?"

"Everyone doesn't want fine grains, and we don't want fine grains either. Why do we all get fine grains when it's our turn? This is so unfair!"

When it was their turn to weigh the grain, the 10 kilograms of fine grain that were originally needed turned into 30 kilograms of fine grain.

This would mean they would lose at least 40 kilograms of coarse grains, which was why they were unwilling to do so.

"Uncle, please talk to the others and ask them to exchange for more fine grains. We don't need so much."

Yi Zhonghai looked at the others and found that they all looked reluctant. He didn't know how to persuade them and felt awkward.

Yi Zhonghai tentatively suggested: "Why don't you discuss it with others and switch?"

As soon as the words fell, someone shook his head and said, "I won't change. 10 kilograms of fine grains are enough for my family to eat for a while."

"Me too, I won't change either!" Others also refused.

This made their faces turn pale, and they looked at Yi Zhonghai and complained:

"Uncle, you know our family's situation. We can't afford to eat so much fine grains!"

"There are only a few hundred kilograms of coarse grains for us to share. It's not enough for us."

"We don't agree to this kind of division!"

"Yes, we don't agree!" The other companies protested together.

When other people heard this, they became unhappy.

"Why, you don't agree? We have to do as you say. Can't we redistribute the money? It's your fault that you paid the last and are the last in line."

"That's right. You are at the end of the list. That's your own problem. It's good enough that you have food to share. You are so picky. You are really taking advantage of others!"

After saying that, he rolled his eyes at them.

"Do you know how precious fine grains are? I spent a lot of effort to get them, and you still don't know how to appreciate it."

For a moment, the yard was filled with quarrels.

"If you like fine grains, why don't you ask for more? We still have so much fine grains here, why don't you exchange any of them!"

Suddenly, everyone was speechless, but their eyes clearly expressed rejection.

They immediately got angry: "Okay, okay, one or two of you said so nicely that you wanted to exchange for coarse grains, but no one said anything. Don't you want it yourself?"

Only a fool would exchange coarse grains for fine grains.

"If we can't change it in our yard, then you can go to another yard to change it!" someone suggested.

He was immediately refuted: "Exchange with another yard? Then I will exchange with you, you go find another yard to exchange with!"

"I don't want to!" the man immediately retorted.

In previous years, everyone would definitely be willing to exchange fine grains, but at this time of year, no one is willing to exchange fine grains for coarse grains.

Even if it were exchanged for money, they would not be willing to do so, because food is more expensive than money now.

The main thing is that the fine grains are all old rice, which has been stored for at least a year and a half. They are not new rice, so who would change them?

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the yard became tense. Everyone held their own opinions and refused to give in.

Yi Zhonghai felt extremely helpless as he watched this scene. He thought it would take some effort to calm down this dispute.

"That's enough. Having rice is good enough. What's the point of chirping?"

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui were silent, Liu Haizhong felt that this was a good opportunity to show himself.

Yi Zhonghai just had the glory, now it's his turn to show off.

He glared at those people and said, "Since you don't want fine grains, then don't ask for coarse grains either. Uncle, take a look at how much money they paid."

"We just happened to have extra food. Let's share it among us. Who still needs food? Pay for it and I'll return the money to you later. It's really troublesome!"

As soon as these words came out, they were immediately shocked, "Who said we don't want food?"

Liu Haizhong pressed, "So do you want it or not?"

"Yes!" They gritted their teeth, clenched their fists tightly, and stared at Liu Haizhong fiercely.

Food is very precious now. Who would dare not want it? Even fine grain is better than no food. It is impossible for them to not want food.

But they held a grudge against Liu Haizhong in their hearts, they just wanted to exchange it for food.

Liu Haizhong's action made Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui very happy.

They were still thinking about how to properly solve this problem, but they didn't expect it to be solved by this young man named Liu Haizhong.

Looking at Liu Haizhong's smug look, they couldn't help but laugh in their hearts.

"Humph! So much trouble!"

Liu Haizhong cursed again, not realizing that he was being hated. But he didn't care, because he was a seventh-level blacksmith.

He was secretly pleased with himself for showing off his divine power, and couldn't help but raise his head proudly with an indomitable look.

"Cough cough!"

Everyone looked at Yi Zhonghai.

"Let me say this in advance! Anyone who reports that there is food in our yard should think carefully about the consequences!"

"If anyone reports it, not only will all the food we distributed today be lost, but even all the food in the cellar will be lost."

"There are several thousand kilograms of food in the cellar. Think carefully about whether you are doing this for the sake of your pride or for the sake of not going hungry in the future."

These words made everyone feel nervous, and suddenly everyone looked at them nakedly.

"We all live here. We see each other every day. We have parents and children to take care of. If we get upset over a small matter, it will make life difficult for everyone."

“What are the consequences?”

Yi Zhonghai pointed out the deadline, but the threat and warning were self-evident.

They originally had this idea in their minds, but now it is gone instantly.

There is a shortage of food everywhere now. Even if they go somewhere else, they will definitely go hungry. How can it be so good? After all, they have stored hundreds of kilograms of food in the cellar.

"Let's go and get some food!" they said gritting their teeth.

Seeing them lower their heads, Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but smile.

"Okay, the food has been distributed. Everyone go home and rest. It's getting late and we have to go to work tomorrow."

After saying this, Yi Zhonghai went home.

Everyone went back to their homes, leaving them alone with gnashing teeth.

"Are we just going to endure this? That bastard Liu Haizhong said this to us." said his family.

"What else can we do? We all live here. If we report it, will we get any good results? Don't forget that there is a food shortage everywhere."

Hearing this, they could only bear it and take the food back home.

They will definitely take revenge on Liu Haizhong, but now is not the time.

Liu Haizhong went back with a proud smile, he felt that he was really powerful today.

Not only did it make Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui look at him with new eyes, but it also made those who wanted to exchange for fine grains suffer a loss.

He felt like a real hero and couldn't help but hold his head high.

(End of this chapter)