Lin Guan's family smiled and said: "You haven't been here before, have you? This stone is from the mountain behind. Suddenly, a dream appeared."

  He felt around for a moment, then pushed away the stone slab and led Fang Dasuo down.

  It was a very wide path and could accommodate four people walking abreast without any problem. There were two wheel tracks on the ground.

  Following Lin Guan's family for more than a hundred steps, the front suddenly opened up, and the rock wall was pried open. The space inside was as big as the threshing ground of a villa.

  To ask him why he can see so clearly, of course it's because the rock wall is sealed with glass and has a lot of lamps on it. Although it's not very bright inside, it's not that dark either.

  However, looking up, he still couldn't see how high the hole was, because it was dark above.

  He stared blankly at the grain piled up like a small mountain inside and swallowed his saliva, asking, "Is all this ours?"

  Lin Guan's family smiled and nodded, "This cave is not a secret, the guards all know it, you villagers must have guessed that there are other mechanisms in the granary?"

  He patted the rock wall with his hand and said: "This cave is natural!"

  At first, the old master of his family took a fancy to the cold spring on the mountain, so he bought this surrounding area as a villa, but actually the house designed for the first time was built on the other side.

  It wasn't until they stumbled upon this cave that they built the house here, which just so happened to block the entrance. With a bit of renovation, what was originally only a narrow opening for one person to crawl through became like this.

  In order not to be discovered, the old master also had the craftsmen in the house install a mechanism and build a row of houses along that piece of land, which was originally used for storing miscellaneous items, until Lin Qingyuan returned, it was changed into a granary.

  This cave is actually for escaping, Lin Guan's family didn't tell Fang Datong this point, only told him: "Most of the grain in Lin's house comes in here every year, what you see now is last year's grain. When this batch of wheat is harvested and brought back, the grain inside will be sold out, and new grain will be transported in. You are going to be the general manager of the farm, so these things will naturally become your responsibility later."

  "Can I bring the villagers in?" Fang Datong swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked.

  Lin Guan's family smiled and nodded, "The servants at home, the guards, and you batch of tenants are all trustworthy."

  This was a place for them to store grain, the real secret place they would not know, and when the old man discovered this cave it wasn't a secret.

  At that time, there were several masters of the house who followed the old man. Their families may not have known about it, but later generations might have forgotten for a while.

  The real secret is behind these walls.

  "Our Lin family has three households that have joined together to form a grain business. At the beginning of spring and in March or April, we had already sold two batches. The remaining batch is to be sold after the summer harvest. Remember, the price can be lower than that of new grain, but not too low. Although our grain is from last year, it's all very good."

  Fang Datong nodded.

  Lin Guan took him to see the grain piles inside, stretched out his hand and touched them. The grains were indeed very dry, and not far away on the ground there were several footprints, apparently this place was once full of grain.

  "Now grain prices are still high, why don't sell now?" Fang Dasong asked in puzzlement: "Although the wheat has not been harvested, it can be seen that this year is a bumper harvest."

  "The grain has not yet been stored, so don't rush to conclusions. Although selling after the summer harvest will result in a small loss, this small loss is something our Lin family can afford." Lin's steward taught him: "Since the old master's time, the Lin family has had the habit of storing grain. In the past, it was not necessary here, but the Lin family has granaries in Suzhou, Yangzhou, Jiangdu, and Hangzhou."

  "Except for the year of disaster, in other years, they would sell a batch after harvesting, another batch at the beginning of spring, and another batch in March or April when the old and new grains were not yet available. The remaining batch would be sold after the summer harvest, following the new grain."

  "Fang Datong couldn't help but mutter, 'No wonder there's a bumper harvest every year, yet the market is always short of grain.'"

  Lin Guanjia listened and smiled, shaking his head: "As soon as the grain enters the market, it is the worst for the common people. The price of grain in the granary may not drop, but the purchasing price of the grain merchants will definitely be low."

  Lin Guanjia, who had been in charge of the Lin family's granary for over a decade, shook his head and sighed: "The imperial court has weak control over grain prices, so it's up to a few big families like ours to take care of it, or else...".

  He shook his head, as long as one of them changed their minds, the grain prices on the market would collapse.

  After Lin's family sold those large farms, they originally lost this status, but now that Lin Qingwen has operated the estate, although each family did not explicitly state it, in fact, they have quietly accepted the Lin family again.

  This year, the Lin family received a 30% increase in their New Year's gifts.

  Since the alliance still exists, Lin Guan and his family must follow the rules of the game, so he reminded Fang Datong, "Remember, you can't dump grain after Xia Shou and Autumn Harvest."

  Fang Datong was somewhat bewildered, but still nodded.

  Lin Guanjia patted his shoulder and laughed: "You'll understand when you've dealt with a few more families."

  Lin Guan took him to circle the cave, only then did they exit. "I'll teach you about the mechanisms, it's good that you know this. Although the matter of the cave isn't a secret, don't spread it around either."

  Fang Datong is no fool and naturally understands.

  Lin Guan's family fell down the mechanism and sighed: "The Lin family used to have five grain warehouses, but now there is only this one left."

  "In the future, the Lin family's grain stores will become more and more abundant." Fang Dasong said with great ambition: "Don't worry, Housekeeper, the Lin family's sold-out fields can always be earned back."

  Lin Guan's family nodded with satisfaction, "It's great that you have this goal."

  Lin Guan returned home and reported to Lin Qingyuan, who nodded in satisfaction. "Once it's decided, we'll start harvesting the day after tomorrow. Notify everyone and have someone bring back a few pigs from the orchard for everyone to have a good meal."

  Lin Guan's family should go down and make arrangements.

  Some wheat fields have already ripened, a yellowish orange expanse, but some are not yet ready for harvest. Fortunately, the sun has been good these past two days and the wheat is almost a different sight each day.

  Everyone first collects what they can, and after the wheat that has been cut on this side is dried and moved to the threshing ground, the wheat on the other side can be harvested again.

  Although Lin Qingyan didn't have to go down personally, she still had to keep a close eye on things.

  Although the farm didn't make much money in the end, it was always what Lin Qingyuan valued most.

  The Lin family started harvesting wheat just a few days ago, and other places have also begun to harvest wheat. Suzhou has officially entered the summer harvest season.

  Watching truck after truck of wheat being pulled into the threshing ground, Lin Qingyuan couldn't help but reveal a smile.

  Long gong and short gong were also very happy. Every time it was a busy farming season, their food would be especially good. Not only did they have meat soup to drink every meal, but if they were lucky, they even got to eat big chunks of meat.

  On this side, there was jubilation and excitement, with a fiery enthusiasm, yet no one knew that several hundred miles away, four swift horses were galloping towards Suzhou as if for their lives.

  And behind them, tens of miles away, another group of people were desperately chasing after them.