The village head looked at the grain on the cart and sighed again, shaking his head. “The price of grain has gone up again. Yesterday in town, brown rice was only ten wen per jin, but today it’s already risen to thirteen wen. Coarse flour has gone up to fifteen wen per jin. Although it’s expensive, I worry the price will rise even more in the future, so I gritted my teeth and bought three carts. Even so, it won’t be enough for every household in the village to get much.”

Since they had walked the whole way back, their speed was much slower.

Adding in the long journey, by the time they finally returned to the village, it was already dark.

Despite hurrying as much as possible, the trip had taken more than an hour—about two to three hours in total.

By the time Shen Qingwan arrived home, her feet were covered in blisters.

Even though she had put her basket on the mule cart, the long walk had still taken a toll on her feet.

Although it was late, the villagers were still waiting for them.

Shen Qingwan had originally planned to go home first, but seeing so many people gathered, she hesitated.

Leaving now might be inappropriate, so she gritted her teeth and stayed a while longer.

When the village head announced the new grain prices, wails of distress echoed throughout the crowd.

Grain was getting more expensive, and soon, they wouldn’t be able to afford it at all.

Auntie Zhao rushed forward in frustration, questioning the village head. “Why is the price of grain changing every day? Yesterday, brown rice was only ten wen per jin in town, so why is it thirteen wen in the county? You should have just bought it in town! That’s three extra wen per jin—thirty wen for ten jin! How could you buy it at the county?”

The village head sighed. “Auntie Zhao, ten wen was yesterday’s price. Who knows if the town still sells it at that price today? Besides, the town limits purchases. Even if we went, we might not have been able to buy enough. I believe grain prices will continue to rise. If any of you have spare money, I suggest buying more now, or it’ll only get more expensive later.”

He tried to persuade everyone, but the villagers just lowered their heads in silence.

When grain was cheap, they had been reluctant to buy more.

Now that it was expensive, they were even more unwilling.

Thirteen wen per jin for brown rice was simply too much for them.

Unless their families were truly running out of food, they didn’t want to spend so much money on such expensive grain.

“Village head, yesterday you said it was ten wen per jin, so I asked you to bring back thirty jin of brown rice. Now that the price is different, our family only has 300 wen left—we can’t afford to pay more. Just charge me ten wen per jin, alright?”

Auntie Zhao pouted, acting as if she had been wronged, making the other villagers speechless.

“Auntie Zhao, the village head doesn’t control grain prices. You’re just being unreasonable,” her neighbor, Aunt Chen, finally spoke up, unable to hold back.

Auntie Zhao spat at her feet in anger. “Pah! Easy for you to say when it’s not your money! That’s an extra thirty wen—enough to buy more than a jin of pork! Do you take us for fools?”

Aunt Chen stepped back in disgust, but before she could react, Dabao, a stocky nine-year-old, clenched his fists and charged at her. “You wretched woman, don’t bully my mother!”

“Ow—”

Like a little calf, he rammed into Aunt Chen, knocking her back a step.

She lost her balance and fell to the ground.

If Shen Qingwan hadn’t caught her in time, she would have landed hard enough to be sore for days.

“You brat! Who are you calling wretched?” Aunt Chen snapped, furious.

She turned to Dabao’s mother, Zhao Caihua(Auntie Zhao’s real name), with a glare. “What exactly are you trying to do? Spreading rumors behind my back?”

Calling her “wretched” was no small insult.

A few years ago, Aunt Chen’s husband had died from overwork, which was unfortunately common in the village.

But she never expected that Auntie Zhao had been gossiping behind her back, blaming her for being “cursed.”

That was a truly vicious thing to say.

Zhao Caihua just snorted coldly. “He’s just a child. Are you really going to argue with a kid?”

Aunt Chen wanted to say more, but Shen Qinwang quickly stopped her.

There was no point in arguing with unreasonable people—it was better to make them regret it instead.

“Auntie, it’s pointless to argue with people like this. Since she thinks it’s too expensive, I’ll take her share. Village head, it’s getting late. Why don’t we divide the grain now? If anyone else wants to buy more later, they can go themselves.”

After an exhausting day of helping buy grain, they hadn’t even had a meal or a sip of water yet, and now they were being harassed over the price.

Anyone would feel wronged in this situation.

The village head couldn’t say much, but the other men who had gone on the trip finally spoke up.

“Sister Shen Qinwang is right. From now on, whoever wants grain can buy it themselves. That way, no one will complain about the price.”

“Exactly. If she doesn’t want it, she can go buy it herself.”

With the villagers speaking up, the village head could only nod. “Alright, if that’s how everyone feels, then we’ll leave future purchases up to individuals. Auntie Zhao, I’ll ask you one more time—are you sure you don’t want this grain?”

Zhao Caihua’s eyes darted around, and she quickly waved her hands. “Only a fool would buy it at this price! The town isn’t far, so I’ll go buy it myself tomorrow.”

With that, she turned and left.

The village head looked around and asked, “Is there anyone else who doesn’t want their share?”

A voice piped up. “Uh… village head, my family is really poor. We can’t afford such expensive grain, so we won’t take our twenty jin either.”

Another man, Zhao Erleng, grinned sheepishly and stepped forward.

The village head nodded without comment.

One after another, more families hesitated and stepped forward, saying they wouldn’t take their share.

Zhang Qiao’er tugged at her father’s sleeve. “Dad, let’s not take ours either. Tomorrow, Mom and I can go buy it in town. We’ll save three wen per jin.”

Zhang Laogen hesitated but eventually listened to his daughter.

Their family also gave up their share.

In total, five families refused the grain.

Shen Qingwan immediately stepped forward. “I’ll take all of it.”

Since the village head knew she had money, he didn’t object.

Ever since she had hit her head, this eldest daughter-in-law had become quite likable.

Shen Qingwan’s head injury still hadn’t fully healed, but since the wound was small, she had changed the dressing and covered it with a modern surgical patch.

With her hair hiding it, it wasn’t noticeable unless one looked closely.