Rebirth Married The Control group Fulang Chapter 96 Part 3

        Seeing that they were all familiar faces from the village, Zhang Fangyuan couldn’t help but advise them: "It’s better to play it safe. Wait and see. Don’t chase after a little profit in such uncertain times."

　　The villagers nodded in agreement, but as soon as Zhang Fangyuan drove his cart away, they immediately started whispering among themselves: "The Zhang family just wants to keep all the profits for themselves. They can’t stand to see us make money. They’re trying to suppress us villagers, telling us not to chase after a little profit! The Zhang family is already rich enough!"

       "Qiu Liu, Zhang Fangyuan does have a point. It’s better to keep the grain for now. If the disaster lasts long, selling all our grain now might leave us with nothing to eat later. That would be a huge loss."

　　"Oh, come on! Do you all lack brains? Do you really believe everything Zhang Fangyuan says? Every year, there are always a few hot days in summer every year. I don’t believe it’s enough to dry up the river at the village entrance."

　　A couple of households joined Qiu Liu in stirring up the crowd: "Yeah, if you don’t want to make money, that’s fine. I’m going to the grain store in the city this afternoon to check it out."

　　The villagers were divided, and ended up parting on bad terms.

　　Two days later, Zhang Fangyuan saw several merchants and strong laborers coming to the village. The villagers initially thought they were here to buy poultry, eggs, or fresh fish, but it turned out they were here to buy grain.

　　In previous years of good harvests, the villagers would dutifully deliver their grain to the grain stores in the city. The merchants would act high and mighty, only accepting the grain if they were in a good mood. But this time, the merchants were unusually polite. Not only did they come to the village to collect the grain themselves, but they also offered very attractive prices.

　　Those who had initially heeded Zhang Fangyuan’s advice and decided not to sell their grain were swayed by the merchants’ persuasion. Seeing the high purchase prices and the convenience of having the merchants come to their doors, they quickly changed their minds and eagerly invited the merchants to buy their grain.

　　When Zhang Fangyuan learned of this, he couldn’t help but feel angry. However, since he had already warned them, going out of his way to stop them would only cause resentment and make him the bad guy. He decided not to interfere.

　　Unable to control the entire village, Zhang Fangyuan focused on advising his relatives not to sell the grain stored in their granaries, despite the tempting prices.

　　Zhang Shixin had already sent his wife to invite the merchants, but after hearing Zhang Fangyuan’s advice, he hesitated. After some thought, he eventually called his wife back and decided not to sell.

　　Zhang Fangyuan felt a little relieved.

　　Xu He, seeing his husband running around trying to persuade their relatives and noticing their own granary filled to the brim, couldn’t help but feel puzzled: "Do you really think this drought will be that severe?"

　　Zhang Fangyuan was setting up mousetraps in the granary and replied, "A severe drought often leads to greater disasters. It’s best to be cautious."

　　He didn’t know how to explain it to Xu He, but this statement was indeed true.

　　After a severe drought, riverbeds dry up and crack, allowing insect eggs to thrive, which could easily lead to locust plagues and epidemics. This was a lesson learned from past experiences.

　　While not every drought led to such misfortunes, this year’s drought seemed to be following that pattern.

　　Zhang Fangyuan had vivid memories of past disasters. He had experienced several natural calamities in his lifetime, and while he didn’t pay much attention to minor ones, one particular severe drought stood out in his memory. It had started in Wojiang County.

　　That year, many places felt hotter than usual, but Wojiang County was hit the hardest. At the time, the people of Siyang didn’t take it seriously, as the disaster hadn’t directly affected them. They didn’t feel the heat until the spark landed on their own feet.

[火星子没落在自己脚背上 (huǒ xīng zi méi luò zài zì jǐ jiǎo bèi shàng): lit. The spark hasn’t landed on your own foot; fig. People don’t feel the urgency of a problem until it directly affects them]

　　After the summer drought, few crops survived in Wojiang County. Then came the locust plague, which wiped out the remaining crops. The people suffered greatly, and an epidemic broke out in Ningjiang Prefecture, causing widespread panic. Merchants couldn’t conduct business, and people lived in fear. The government sent officials multiple times to manage the crisis and allocated funds for disaster relief.

　　Siyang was relatively far from Ningjiang Prefecture and luckily avoided the epidemic, but it couldn’t escape the famine.

　　The summer drought didn’t heavily impact the autumn harvest, but then a snow disaster struck in winter, lasting until spring. The series of disasters affected many regions, leading to countless deaths from starvation, illness, and freezing. People were selling their children in desperation, and the situation was dire.

　　When Zhang Fangyuan heard about the drought in Wojiang County during his trip to the city, his heart sank.

　　After some inquiries, his fears were confirmed.

　　He patted Xu He’s hand: "Just trust me on this. Tell the Xu family to store their grain as well. It will only do them good, not harm."

　　The more confident Zhang Fangyuan sounded, the more uneasy Xu He felt.

　　Xu He agreed. If their relatives weren’t warned and ended up suffering from the disaster, they would come crying to them for help. It was better to warn them early, not just for the good of their relatives, but also for their own.

　　"Don’t worry too much. We’ve prepared early, so even if there’s a disaster, we’ll be fine."

　　Xu He said, "If there’s really a disaster, life will be hard for the common people, and our business will suffer too."

　　"Even in a disaster, people still need to eat. We’re running a small business, not a big restaurant. It won’t be too troublesome," Zhang Fangyuan reassured him. "Besides, there are ways to make money even in a disaster year."

　　Xu He laughed: "By hoarding grain to sell? It’s too late for that now. Or maybe we should stop the villagers from selling their grain to the city merchants and buy it ourselves to stockpile."

　　Zhang Fangyuan snorted: "Forget it. These people won’t listen. I won’t get into that business."

　　Then he said firmly, "Starting tomorrow, we’ll go up the mountain to gather firewood and make charcoal."

　　"Huh?" Xu He’s eyes widened. "Making charcoal in this scorching summer heat?!"