It wasn’t strange that his actions yesterday had drawn some attention; however, no matter how many people came, they were destined to be disappointed.
Lu Xuan silently offered a candle of sympathy for the idiots who had returned empty-handed. He spent the day hitting the remaining ironmongers he hadn’t visited the day before, spent fifty taels on the last of the ironware, and then began shopping randomly without a specific target.
When passing by pastry shops, he bought everything in sight, regardless of taste or price, whether savory or sweet. When he encountered vendors selling steamed buns with thin wrappers and generous fillings, or stalls selling eggs and fruit, he bought out their entire stock. As he walked along, he cleared the shops like a locust, buying whatever was available.
The shopkeepers and street vendors, while happy to have made a profit, couldn’t help but mutter to themselves: Was this man planning to buy enough food to last his entire lifetime?
Halfway through, he coincidentally met a merchant who had come from a coastal city and spent thirty taels to buy up the several carts of dried sea fish, dried kelp, and dried shrimp that the man had been hoarding.
Near noon, he was quite lucky to encounter a vendor selling sweet potatoes.
The sweet potatoes had likely been dug up in the mountains; there weren’t many of them, they were still covered in mud, and they weren’t very large—many were quite misshapen.
Lu Xuan broke one open and took a bite. The texture lacked the clear, sweet taste of modern sweet potatoes; instead, it was dry and astringent.
Tastes terrible.
Even so, he bought all ten jin of wild sweet potatoes the vendor had.
Because his itinerary for the day wasn’t rushed, and he had unexpectedly acquired sweet potatoes, Lu Xuan took the rare opportunity to find a second-floor restaurant with a good view and ordered a lavish feast to let his viewers “quench their thirst by gazing at plums.”
Live Stream Audience: Is this something a human would do? Slurp.
While the audience drooled over the dishes, Lu Xuan enjoyed the food while looking through the window at the bustling, peaceful, and prosperous scenery outside.
After the catastrophe, everything before his eyes would cease to exist. Countless people in the city would die in the initial upheaval.
Even those lucky enough to survive would face a long and endless life of displacement and struggle, just like he and countless others who had lived through the apocalypse.
The rational viewers shifted their gaze from the appetizing food back to Lu Xuan.
【Is the streamer really not going to warn the people in the city?】
【Didn’t we say before? Even if the streamer said something, no one would believe him, and it would only cause trouble for the streamer.】
【But no matter what, those are hundreds of thousands of lives.】
【What do you mean by that upstairs? Does that mean if these people die, it’s the live streamer’s responsibility?】
【Without the streamer, things would still happen as they are meant to. It’s a favor if the streamer mentions it, but not an obligation. Besides, the favor might not even be accepted; wouldn’t it be more frustrating to have good intentions treated like garbage?】
The audience held different opinions, and for a moment, it seemed like an argument was brewing.
Lu Xuan, however, acted as if he saw nothing, continuing to eat and drink. He neither comforted them nor showed any intention of explaining himself.
After his meal, he headed straight to the teahouse next door.
Not to drink tea, but to buy tea leaves.
After all, the ancients drank tea as if it were water; raw water or plain boiled water was only for livestock.
Live Stream Audience: ?? Who are you insulting?
At the teahouse, Lu Xuan asked what kind of tea they sold and at what prices, ultimately choosing both standard and mid-grade varieties, buying one hundred jin for eighty taels.
“What a coincidence to see you again.” As Lu Xuan waited for the shopkeeper to fetch the goods, a surprised voice came from behind him.
Lu Xuan turned around to see Bai Xuefeng.
He nodded in greeting, “Young Master Bai.”
Over the past two days, he had occasionally chatted with shopkeepers during his procurements, and he had even heard discussions from people around him while grabbing lunch on the street, so he naturally learned about the Bai family’s background.
The Bai family’s aunt was married into a marquis’s household in the capital, and they had close relatives who were officials there. Locally, they were one of the premier high-ranking, wealthy families with a good reputation.
Lu Xuan didn’t care how remarkable Bai Xuefeng’s background was. What he cared about was that since the Bai family had many connections in the capital, perhaps they had some rare items not found elsewhere?
Like corn, corn, and more corn.
Seeing that he was leaving the prefectural city tomorrow, Lu Xuan didn’t want to let the opportunity slip by, so he asked straight to the point: “Young Master Bai, does your family have a plant from overseas called corn? The fruit is yellow, consisting of individual kernels on a long, cylindrical cob.”
Bai Xuefeng was stunned for a moment, but out of gratitude for the three-hundred-year-old ginseng, he replied honestly: “I don’t know if the name is ‘corn,’ but my family does indeed have a few of those plants you speak of; they were a gift from our relatives in the capital.”
Lu Xuan’s spirits lifted, “I wonder if Young Master Bai would be willing to sell the corn to me? If you can’t sell it all, selling one plant would be fine too. I am willing to pay a high price!”
Bai Xuefeng waved his hand, “The ginseng you sold to the Baiyao Hall was of great use to my grandfather. It’s just a few rare fruits, no high price is needed. If you need them, you can come to the Bai mansion and take them whenever you have time.”
Lu Xuan didn’t want to accept a handout, but the Bai family wasn’t lacking money. Even if he gave them the remaining thousand or eight hundred taels he had on him, it likely wouldn’t mean much to Bai Xuefeng.
Lu Xuan pondered for a moment, and an idea formed in his mind.
Bai Xuefeng had no urgent business at the teahouse. Seeing that Lu Xuan seemed quite urgent, he simply suggested they go to the Bai mansion right now to get the items.
Once they arrived at the Bai mansion, Bai Xuefeng invited him in to sit, but Lu Xuan didn’t want to waste time being a guest. He waited outside and said before Bai Xuefeng went in, “I have some things I’d like to tell Young Master Bai later, so please come back out.”
Hearing this, Bai Xuefeng simply dispatched his butler to retrieve the corn while he stayed behind.
“What do you want to say?”
The audience in the live stream had a vague premonition and pricked up their ears.
Lu Xuan said, “In ten days, a massive disaster will break out in this prefectural city, and even further regions. Moreover, the disaster will last for many years. My visit to the city was precisely to purchase as many supplies as possible to cope with the coming catastrophe.”
Bai Xuefeng: “…”
Bai Xuefeng: “???”
Lu Xuan: “If Young Master Bai trusts me, for the sake of your and your family’s safety, you had best collect a batch of supplies as soon as possible while there is still time.”
Bai Xuefeng: “…”
Bai Xuefeng’s expression was completely stunned.
A massive disaster that would last for many years?
Was this person before him some kind of divine fortune-teller? Otherwise, how could he know such things?
Lu Xuan did not try to persuade him further to make him believe. Once the butler brought out the two potted plants and confirmed they were indeed corn that hadn’t yet matured, he prepared to leave.
Before leaving, he offered a final reminder: “Preparing a batch of supplies is no great loss for the Bai family, but at a critical moment, it could save the lives of your entire household. Why not do it? Oh, and Young Master Bai, you could also share this news with the rest of the city. Who knows, it might save other lives in the city ten days from now.”
With that, he really left.
Bai Xuefeng stood dazed, looking at Lu Xuan’s departing back.
Reason told him that Lu Xuan’s words were baseless and not worth worrying about, but deep down, a voice was telling him, ‘Believe him!’
His eyelids twitched inexplicably, and a strong sense of unease welled up within him. He frowned, hurried back into his house, and immediately summoned his guards, telling them to investigate Lu Xuan’s movements since arriving in the city, while simultaneously heading to the study to inform his father.
On the way back to the inn, the live stream audience remarked that Lu Xuan was too cunning.
【The streamer didn’t go to the officials himself, instead dumping the burden on the ‘Bai’ guy. Too cunning!】
【What cunning? That’s wisdom! This way, regardless of whether the ‘Bai’ guy says anything or not, it’s his problem, and he can’t blame the streamer.】
Lu Xuan didn’t deny that he intended to deflect the burden, but if Bai Xuefeng really did pass the news to the yamen, whether the latter believed it or not, at least it would mean the Bai family itself would prepare in advance. It was also a way to repay the favor of receiving the corn.
As for the rest, it was up to fate.
By the end of the day, Lu Xuan had toured around but ultimately failed to spend the remaining hundred-plus taels.
He figured he could continue hoarding goods at Baishong Town upon returning, so he didn’t force himself.
On the morning of the fifth day, after settling his account at the inn, he went to the agency to return the small courtyard, then went to the carriage rental station in a relaxed mood to hire a new carriage and set out on his return journey.
This time, he was much smarter than when he arrived. Once inside, he took a pile of cotton from his space bracelet to pad his seat and used several bolts of cloth on either side to secure his position and prevent shaking, finally avoiding another miserable experience…
The steadily moving carriage suddenly came to a screeching halt. The coachman outside said in a panic, “Young Master, someone is blocking the road!”
Lu Xuan stepped out of the carriage looking displeased, only to find a group of people blocking the road ahead, among whom several with bruised faces looked particularly familiar.
The live stream audience also recognized them: weren’t these the robbers the streamer had beaten up earlier?
Were they unwilling to give up and had rounded up even more people?
There were twenty of them in total, all carrying weapons. They were clearly up to no good!
The coachman was terrified, his face pale and his legs weak. Just as he was considering whether to run away, Lu Xuan jumped off the carriage and said, “Go hide inside the cabin. Don’t come out unless I tell you to, and don’t look outside.”
Upon hearing this, the coachman scrambled into the cabin, huddled in the corner, and shivered.
The leader of the thugs, holding a thick wooden club, swung it hard through the air and pointed at Lu Xuan with a vicious glare: “You bastard, how dare you play me! Tell me, where did you hide the grain and the meat!”
Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow, thinking of the strange footprints in the small courtyard, and seemed to understand something.
A henchman beside him followed his boss and added: “And the silver!”
“Don’t think you can run away today!”
Lu Xuan: ?
Live Stream Audience: ??
Why don’t you guys listen to yourselves?
Anyone who didn’t know better would think it was the streamer who had been beaten up last time.
The robbers continued to boast, “Hurry up and hand over the grain and the silver, or swords have no eyes! Don’t blame us for being ruthless and taking your life!”