132 Chapter 132: Her Husband Was Not Normal
As the weather became hotter, there were fewer people in the market compared to before.
In addition, the market also dispersed early.
This was understandable.
After all, the weather was hot, so everyone got up early. They quickly bought or sold all their things and rushed home.
When the two set up their stall now, they started early in the morning but had to close it at around 10 am.
In the past, the Big Girl Li could still rush back to Brook Falls Village before the sun had reached its highest point.
However, today Big Girl Li came to Qin Xiaoyao’s house to settle the accounts, and they inadvertently lingered until it was late.
She was really worried that something would happen to Big Girl Li on the way in this weather.
Big Girl Li was squinting her eyes under the blazing sun, and she was going to endure the discomfort and reject Qin Xiaoyao’s invitation.
However, Madam Liu leaned out of the kitchen.
“Lunch is almost ready. Big Girl, it’s rare for you to visit us. Do stay for lunch!” she called out to Big Girl Li.
Seeing this, Qin Xiaoyao pulled hard and dragged Big Girl Li back under the roof eave.
With the tiles on the roof eave sheltering her, Big Girl Li’s body instantly felt much more comfortable.
Qin Xiaoyao then dragged her back into the hall and said as she walked, “You don’t have to stand on ceremony with my family. Rest for a while after lunch. It’s still not too late to go back when the weather is not so hot.”
Big Girl Li had no choice but to agree.
Then, she started chatting with Qin Xiaoyao about the weather.
“I wonder when it’s going to rain?” she said as she looked at the blinding sunlight outside.
If it didn’t rain, not only was it bad for their stall’s business, but they would also lose a lot of income if they couldn’t get any harvest from their fields.
Qin Xiaoyao also looked outside.
“Who knows? The entire Zhao County and even Hua An Prefecture are suffering from a drought.”
Qin Xiaoyao’s expression suddenly changed. She thought of something and looked at Big Girl Li.
“If this dry spell continues, and the grains in the field can’t be harvested, do you have enough grain at home?” she asked Big Girl Li.
It hadn’t rained for months. Now it wasn’t just their stall’s business that had been affected, but all other industries were suffering as well.
Her father’s meat stall used to be able to slaughter at least two pigs a day to cater to the market and Fortune Mansion’s business.
However, now he said that he could only slaughter two every other day, and occasionally, he could only slaughter one for several days in a row.
As such, her big brother and second brother did not have to go to the countryside to collect pigs every day, and they were much more idle. However, the income for the family dropped.
Now that the market was dispersing early, she occasionally saw that there was still a lot of meat left in her father’s meat stall.
The weather was hot, so the meat naturally couldn’t be left there.
In the end, her father would either send the remaining meat to Fortune Mansion or sell it to the neighbors at a cheap price.
Her family had also helped him buy a fair amount.
In any case, she saw that her father had been frowning a lot recently.
Big Girl Li was taken aback.
“Stocking up on food?”
A look of disbelief flashed across her face.
“I think it should be enough.”
Ever since she started working with Sister Sanya, she had never cared about household matters back home.
Before she married Daniu, the Liu family was considered relatively well-off in Brook Falls Village.
A farming family also took food grain seriously. Surely her family shouldn’t run out of food, right?
Seeing Big Girl Li’s uncertainty, Qin Xiaoyao reminded her, “Then you’d better go back and check, just to be sure.”
“Yesterday, Aunt Sun came over to chat with my mother and said she had a relative working in the grain store. They said that the grain prices in the grain stores have been increasing recently.”
“If the dry spell continues and the grains for this year’s autumn harvest can’t be harvested, the price of grain will definitely rise.”
And it was probably not just the grain price.
The change in the grain price had a huge impact. At that point, the price of many resources might also increase.
At the thought of this, Qin Xiaoyao couldn’t help but look in the direction of the room she shared with Song Que.
At the moment, she was sitting in the hall, so she naturally couldn’t see the situation on the other side.
However, she could imagine that her attractive husband should still be copying books.
She had previously thought that her attractive husband had a hamster-like personality and liked to store things.
Now, it seemed that this matter was not so simple.
When she proposed building a house in the village, he wanted to buy a courtyard dwelling in town.
And it had to be one with a well, and the well must not be too shallow.
It would be best if the house came with a cellar.
Later, after they bought the courtyard dwelling, he urged her to dig a cellar.
After that, he asked her to stock up on a large amount of food inside.
Following that, there was lard, pork, seasonings, dried food, and so on.
...
Now, her small attic in the storeroom was already filled with these things.
To put it bluntly, if Mountain Spring Town were to suffer from a drought, or even a famine, with the things that they had stored up thus far, it would not be a problem for their family to survive for two or three years. Moreover, they would probably be able to live a better life than most.
Suddenly, Qin Xiaoyao’s heart skipped a beat.
Famine?
After coming to this era, she had been living such a smooth and comfortable life that she had almost forgotten that this was ancient times.
In ancient times, productivity was severely lagging behind, and farmers could only rely on the heavens to survive.
A drought could really lead to a famine…
Qin Xiaoyao’s heart shuddered at the thought of this.
So, her attractive husband had been planning ahead? Did he know that there might be a drought in Mountain Spring Town?
No, no. When her attractive husband proposed to buy a courtyard dwelling in town, it was still spring.
And it had rained during that period.
...
He wasn’t a satellite, so how did he know there would be a drought after summer?
However… What happened after that was too much of a coincidence.
Could it be that…
“The price of food is going to increase?” Big Girl Li asked in surprise.
The grain price in Mountain Spring Town had always been relatively stable. The last time the grain price had risen on a large scale was a few years ago.
At that time, there was also a drought. It was said that during the autumn harvest, there were varying degrees of decreased production in the fields.
“Mm-hmm,” Qin Xiaoyao replied in the affirmative.
“Better prepare in advance.” She looked at Big Girl Li.
If she had only been guessing earlier, she suddenly had a premonition after thinking about what her attractive husband did.
It seemed like she would need to have a chat with her attractive husband.
“Alright!” Big Girl Li’s heart was filled with a sense of panic as she replied.
Before long, the food was ready in the kitchen.
After everyone had lunch in the hall, Qin Xiaoyao arranged for Big Girl Li to rest in Song Yun’s room.
She also returned to her room and prepared to take a nap to cool off.
Song Que was in the outer room.
When he saw Qin Xiaoyao enter, he raised his head and glanced at her.
He then lowered his head and continued writing.
Qin Xiaoyao had wanted to say hello before going into the inner room to rest.
However, she recalled some of her speculations and stopped in her tracks.
“Hubby…”
Song Que raised his head again.
When he saw Qin Xiaoyao looking at him, he responded, “Yes?”
“You’ve been writing all morning. Why not take a break?” Qin Xiaoyao said with a smile.
Song Que was a little puzzled.
When he saw Qin Xiaoyao walking towards him, he put down the brush in his hand.
“You want to discuss something?” he asked immediately.
Qin Xiaoyao hesitated for a while.
However, it was only for a moment before she smiled again.
“Yes.”
“What’s the matter?” Song Que’s eyes were filled with curiosity.
“Why don’t we talk inside?” Qin Xiaoyao glanced at the door and then at the inner room.
Song Que followed Qin Xiaoyao’s gaze and saw the big bed in the inner room. His expression became awkward for a moment.
“I want to ask you something, Hubby,” Qin Xiaoyao added when Song Que didn’t reply.