Shopkeeper was afraid they would drive down the prices and added, "This price is already very cheap. Our Jianghuai region, close to Jiangnan, has not suffered disaster, so we can have these prices. If we were in Central State and other areas, the price of cotton and cloth would be exorbitantly expensive. It's said that in Central State, old cotton is already selling for three hundred cents a pound—goodness, three times more expensive than new cotton. Further east, money can't even buy cotton."
"About the food prices, I heard that in Central State, rice and flour are already selling for one hundred cents a pound, and one has to rush to buy them or they'll run out."
Third Grandpa quickly asked, "Hasn't the government already provided disaster relief? Why are the prices in Central State still so high? Surely the prices in He'an Prefecture won't soar to such outrageous levels like in Central State?"
