Over the past two days.
The grain ships at the docks had long since returned home. However, the grain that the people of Beiping had seen unloaded with their own eyes had mysteriously vanished. Anyone who had deliberately tried to keep an eye on the situation and trail the shipments had, without exception, ended up in jail.
Their plans fell through, leaving behind a wave of sighs.
The next day.
Newspapers, both large and small, sold exceptionally well across the city. Even those who couldn't read a single word chipped in to buy a copy, asking others to read it to them for fear of missing out on the cheap grain.
"It doesn't say anything about the grain."
"What?"
"How could it not? Didn't they say before that Miss Su was going to support the government in stabilizing grain prices? I saw it with my own eyes—dozens of ships unloading grain until midnight. So much grain!"
"Yeah, look again."
They pleaded repeatedly.
The reader checked the paper carefully, terrified of missing any information. He spent nearly half an hour poring over a single newspaper, but he still shook his head. Meeting the expectant gazes of over a dozen people, his voice was bitter and strained.
"There really is nothing."
Silence, an unimaginable silence.
Suddenly, someone collapsed onto the ground, covering his face and bawling, pounding his fists against the earth. "Good heavens, why won't you give us a way to survive... So much grain, so much grain!"
His words were broken and incoherent.
The surrounding crowd was infected by his grief, their hearts filled with sorrow. The feeling of shattered hope was truly unbearable—many of their families had already run out of food, and those who hadn't were barely surviving on watery gruel, just waiting to buy Su Ning's grain to stay alive.
Similar scenes played out countless times.
"Ding, ding, ding..."
Meanwhile, even though Su Ning had turned off the reward notifications for non-plot characters, she still couldn't get any peace. Plot characters had to eat too, after all.
"Do you want to turn them all off?"
"No need."
Su Ning shook her head. She could still endure this sweet little torment. Glancing at her system balance, she saw that, sure enough, the power of the masses could not be ignored—it was nearly at fifty million.
Just today alone.
Not counting the plot characters, over five million in rewards had been generated.
Normally, not selling grain for just one day wouldn't have caused such an exaggerated reaction. But unfortunately for them, Su Ning had helpers who couldn't wait to guide public opinion in the market, claiming that the cheap grain was just a hoax set up by Su Ning and the government to fool people!
This was what had triggered the massive rewards.
"Where should I even begin my thanks?"
Su Ning sat up straight and said earnestly, "First, I'd like to thank this chaotic world. Second, I thank those inhumane elites. Then, I thank the grain merchants. But of course, the one I should thank the most—"
Her eyes curved into a bright, radiant smile:
"Is my past self, who never missed an opportunity to be a heartless profiteer!"
That was what allowed her to reap such abundant rewards today.
The system: "..."
Outsiders didn't know the secret, but they could tell that Su Ning, despite being universally condemned, was in a good mood. Veterans like Lin Sen were used to it, but when Huang Yu came by that day for military rations, he sought out Chen Huaiqian with a look of disbelief:
"How can someone in this world be happy while being cursed at?"
He added:
"Anyway, she's happier than any other time I've seen her before." Besides, Su Ning rarely showed emotional fluctuations. When she occasionally did, it was usually a sneer, mockery, or sarcasm—at most, the amusement of watching a good show.
So this was even more terrifying, okay?
"You saw wrong."
Chen Huaiqian replied perfunctorily, but his gaze drifted toward a certain direction in the void, as if sensing that joy... It wasn't happiness from being reviled by the world, but rather the thrill of toying with people's emotions at will, wasn't it?
Retracting his gaze, he said to Huang Yu:
"None of this matters. You know the current situation. They've already fought their way to Wuhan, and who knows when it will spread to Beiping. Now that the military rations have been delivered in full, don't drop the ball."
"Don't worry."
Huang Yu's expression turned solemn. Actually, Beiping was still fine; it was the outside world that was truly engulfed in the flames of war. The southern government was retreating step by step, showing a worrying trend of decline.
"Actually, I should apologize to Miss Su."
He said suddenly.
This sentence made even Chen Huaiqian look up in surprise, thinking he had misheard. Huang Yu was a tough man with a tough mouth; he would rather die than say a soft word.
"Don't look at me like that."
Huang Yu lowered his head and lit a cigarette. The swirling smoke cloaked his brows, obscuring his expression, but his voice was low and clear:
"I received secret intelligence. Those warlords were originally planning to form a separate central government in Beiping and declare war on the south. I believe in your abilities, but without her help... you wouldn't have been able to handle it as well as you have now."
He probably wouldn't have been able to hold out and would have yielded to them, right?
He had seen it long ago.
Compared to his future and official position, deep down, Chen Huaiqian cared more about Beiping, the place that had raised him.
After a long time.
"If you want to apologize, you can go right now."
He made a gesture to call for a car.
Cough, cough, cough—
Huang Yu choked on his smoke, coughing as if he were going to hack up his lungs. He waved his hand guiltily. "Don't, don't do it yet. Wait, wait a bit longer and I'll definitely say it. Oh, right, I have things to do back at the camp, so I'll head back first."
He ran off in a flash.
That night.
Chen Huaiqian had a dream. In the dream, Su Ning did not appear. He fought a very difficult battle against that guy He. Although he eventually won, his position was unstable, and numerous hidden dangers were planted.
The war began.
External pressure and internal hidden dangers erupted simultaneously. He made a prompt decision to submit to them. Beiping was occupied and became the center of the storm. Even though he was still the mayor, it was in name only.
The grain merchants' hoarding and profiteering still occurred.
This time, no one stopped them.
Including himself.
So, many people in Beiping starved to death. Then came the refugees entering the city, conflicts, fights... People died every single day. All he could do was pay out of his own pocket to have the corpse collection teams gather the bodies for cremation and burning... The weather was hot, otherwise there would be a plague.
At this point, he woke up.
"It was a dream."
He murmured, looking like a survivor of a disaster.
"Thank goodness it was a dream. Thank goodness... Su Ning exists."
The dream was actually very long. Chen Huaiqian looked out the window; the horizon was already showing the white belly of a fish. Calculating the time, the cheap grain would officially go on sale in a few minutes.
There wouldn't be so many people starving to death anymore.
That was great.
............
It wasn't great at all!
The sky had just brightened.
Elder Sun was sleeping soundly. Old people usually sleep less, and he hadn't slept this deeply in a long time. So when he was woken up, he erupted in anger, his face gloomy:
"You'd better have something important to say, otherwise..."
The servant lowered his head in fear:
"Answering the master, it is, it is very important. The shops outside just reported that large grain stores have opened simultaneously in the east, west, north, and south of the city, all bearing the character Su on their signboards! Our family's shops and all the others are completely empty of customers."
"What?"
Hearing this, Elder Sun lost all his drowsiness. Eyes wide, he pressed for the price Su Ning was selling at, only to be given a shockingly low price that made him tremble.
He sneered relentlessly.
"Master, what should we do? With her selling it so low, definitely no one will come to buy our grain."
The servant was deeply worried.
You sing the song of the mountain you're on; naturally, he hoped his master's business would be good—Su Ning's price was almost the same as before the grain shortage!
"Don't worry."
Elder Sun had calmed down by now. He said composedly, "It seems Su Ning really paid a heavy price to trick us. Let those peasants be happy for a while. Once she realizes she can't fool us, she will naturally raise the grain price."
"When that time comes, business will be as good as ever."
Seeing the master so calm, the servant finally set his mind at ease.
The next day.
Su Ning's shop was still selling grain at low prices. A bustling crowd gathered in front of the doors, forming a constant, long line, while the shops of the other grain merchants were completely deserted.
But the merchants still managed to keep their composure.
The fifth day.
The prices still hadn't gone up.
Elder Sun organized a gathering, emphasizing the need to hold steady. He reminded them that the last leg of a journey is always the hardest, and absolutely forbade anyone from secretly lowering their prices.
The tenth day.
"Quick, go check, what is the price today?"
"It hasn't changed."
The fifteenth day, the sixteenth day, the seventeenth day... The common people were overjoyed. Even though purchases were limited, they finally no longer had to worry about starving to death. Whenever they walked past the other grain merchants' shops and were beckoned inside, they would run away faster than rabbits, never forgetting to spit in disgust and say:
"Treacherous merchants! Only an idiot would buy your grain."
Now, the merchants were in a complete panic.
