In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 287 Grocery Store

In fact, it wasn't just the villagers of Chenjia Village who were waiting for the grocery store to open; many villagers from Xiahe Village also came.

Although the villagers of Xiahe Village do not enjoy the half-price discount on grain purchases as the villagers of Chenjia Village, it would certainly be much more convenient to buy grain in Chenjia Village than to go to the county town.

"Sheng Ge'er".

Chen Hou moved closer to Chen Gou's father, Chen Sheng, and asked, "When does this general store open?"

"I don't know either."

Chen Sheng shook his head and said, "Brother Dao only said that we'll open today, but as for when, I don't know!"

"Make way, make way!"

As soon as Chen Sheng finished speaking, a clear voice rang out.

But the crowd spontaneously parted to make way for Ding Xiaohua, Zhao Xiaomei, and Zhao Xiaoyun to reach the front of the grocery store.

"Sister Xiaohua is here! Open the door quickly, Sister Xiaohua!"

"Is this grocery store managed by Ding Yatou? Ding Yatou, open the door quickly."

"Hurry, hurry, I can't wait!"

"..."

Amid the anxious gazes of the villagers, Ding Xiaohua took out her key from her pocket, opened the door of the general store, and entered the store with Zhao Xiaoyun and Zhao Xiaomei.

After them, the villagers also flocked in.

"Don't push, don't push, let me in first."

"Fuck you, what are you pushing for! My pants are all twisted out of shape!"

"Make way, make way, let me go in and buy some food!"

"..."

The grocery store was small and obviously couldn't accommodate all the villagers; to get in, you had to squeeze in.

Relying on his strength, Chen Hou managed to squeeze through the crowd and was among the first to enter the store.

However, the small general store had everything one needed.

At this time, the shop was filled with wooden shelves, on which were placed items such as salt, flour, soy sauce, and cloth.

only……

Looking at the small amount of flour on the shelf, Chen Hou couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Hua, isn't this enough food?"

The amount of flour on the shelf looked to be less than ten kilograms, not even enough for a family, let alone the whole village.

"Yes, Xiaohua, there's not enough grain; it's not enough for us to buy any more!"

"There was very little cloth, just one bolt."

"There's not much salt either!"

"..."

The other villagers who squeezed in at the beginning also frowned. The variety of items in the general store was quite good, but the quantity was too small. Not to mention anything else, the grain alone was not even 10 jin. How could it be enough for them to buy?

"Everyone listen to me!"

Ding Xiaohua gestured with her hands to quiet everyone down, then explained, "These things are just displayed here for you to see. If you want to buy them, we will get them from the warehouse, so you don't need to worry about not having enough to sell!"

"I see!"

Everyone understood; they realized that the store's limited space was definitely not enough to hold that much grain. If they really needed to buy grain, they would have to get it from the warehouse.

As for where the warehouse is located...

It's in the village, of course!

Next to the threshing ground in Chenjia Village was a warehouse that was built for paying taxes. The wheat that had been harvested was ground into flour and stored there. In addition, salt, cloth and other supplies transported by the caravans of Wu Han and Chen Gou were also stored there.

Furthermore, that warehouse is still under expansion, and it will be able to store more and more supplies in the future.

"Xiaohua, give me 20 jin of flour!"

After understanding the situation, Chen Hou spoke first, saying, "My family is tired of eating bran flour every day lately, we need to change things up!"

Since Chen Dao stopped providing meals for the whole village, most of the villagers have returned to their old lives, eating bran every day, or at most some sorghum flour. Now they especially miss the taste of steamed buns.

"20 jin of flour, right? Xiaomei, make a note of that for Uncle Hou!"

Ding Xiaohua gestured for Zhao Xiaomei to write it down, then said to Chen Hou, "Brother Dao said that villagers in Chenjia Village can get a 50% discount on grain. The current price of wheat flour is 14 wen per jin, so a 50% discount would be 7 wen per jin, and 20 jin would be 140 wen. Is that right, Uncle Hou?"

"That's right!"

Chen Hou hurriedly counted out 140 copper coins from his money bag and handed them to Ding Xiaohua.

Ding Xiaohua took the money and said, "Uncle Hou, you should go home and wait. Someone will deliver the flour to your house before sunset."

"okay!"

Chen Hou, who had bought 20 jin of flour first, left with a smile.

Meanwhile, other villagers also took out money to buy flour.

"Xiaohua, I also want 20 jin of flour."

"I want 30 jin."

"I want 10 jin."

"..."

Soon, the first group of villagers who entered the grocery store decided on the quantity they wanted to buy and left chatting and laughing.

"Xiaomei, have you written it all down?"

Ding Xiaohua asked Zhao Xiaomei.

"I've written it all down! Sister Xiaohua, please check if there are any mistakes."

Zhao Xiaomei handed the paper in her hand to Ding Xiaohua. During her free time, she often went to the school with her sister Zhao Xiaoyun to audit classes, so she learned some characters and got this job at the grocery store. Now, both she and her sister Zhao Xiaoyun's salaries have increased, and they can earn 1 tael of silver per month.

Of course, this is on the premise that they can do a good job in the grocery store; otherwise, they could be fired by Chen Dao at any time and assigned to farming or weaving.

Ding Xiaohua took the paper from Zhao Xiaomei, glanced at it, and nodded approvingly: "The names and numbers are correct. Xiaomei did a great job!"

As they were talking, the second group of villagers came in. Ding Xiaohua hurriedly returned the papers to Zhao Xiaomei and continued to receive the villagers who came in.

"Xiaohua, give me 20 jin of flour and 1 jin of salt."

"I want half a pound of salt and ten pounds of wheat flour."

"I want 5 jin of wheat flour."

"..."

Most villagers opted to buy necessities such as grain and salt, while other items like soy sauce and cloth were not considered for the time being.

Chen Gou, who was in the second group to enter the store, looked at the items on display and pondered for a moment before asking Ding Xiaohua, "Sister Xiaohua, can I buy meat in this store?"

Upon hearing this, Ding Xiaohua paused for a moment, then quickly realized, "Brother Gou, you want to buy chickens?"

"Correct!"

Chen Gou nodded: "I'd like to know if I can buy the chickens and ducks from Dao Ge'er's family here?"

"OK."

Ding Xiaohua nodded without hesitation and said, "Brother Dao told me that if the villagers want to buy chickens and ducks, they can place an order at the store and register, and then the store will send someone to deliver them to them."

Chen Dao had long considered the villagers' need for meat. Although most families in the village were reluctant to buy meat, this "most" did not include villagers like Chen Gou who had become rich by selling yellow-feathered chickens.

Therefore, this grocery store must sell chickens and ducks, but it doesn't display them because it's inconvenient to display live animals in the store.