When Shu saw Qiao Yu's excitement, he immediately became energetic, put aside his worries, and quickly followed him.
Yu was someone who remained calm even when she saw pottery and salt. It was rare to see her so excited. Could it be that the humble tuber before the old man was something as valuable as their yams?
Qiao Yu squatted down in front of the stall, picked up a tuber and put it to her nose and smelled it. A slightly pungent smell filled her nostrils.
The old man glanced at her but didn't stop her.
"What is this?" Qiao Yu pointed at the thing in his hand and asked the old man curiously.
"Medicine." said the old man.
"What's the treatment?"
"Go back and ask your witch."
Shu looked at Qiao Yu and said, "Do you want to find Guang?"
Logically, the shamans in the tribe should attend the fair. They can buy some herbs they haven't collected themselves, or exchange ideas with their peers.
But Wu was in poor health and could not stand the cold of sleeping on the snow. One year, he fell ill on the way here. He took medicine but it didn't help. After he returned, he was sick for a long time. He finally recovered, but his health was not as good as before. People in the tribe didn't dare to let him come to the trade fair again.
If there were no witch in the tribe, the number of deaths each year would at least double, and they would not dare to take the risk of using a witch.
Ji had been in poor health since birth, and Wu had suffered a great loss when he participated in the trade fair himself, so he naturally didn't want Ji to take the risk. So for the past few years, he had only bought medicine for them.
Although Guang didn't have a natural talent for medicine, he was still the son of a witch. Not only had he been forced by the witch to learn to identify herbs as a child, but he also had a rudimentary understanding of medicine through osmosis. When he went up the mountain with the hunting team, his main task was to collect herbs for the witch, and his teammates would always protect him if they encountered danger.
So in the past few years, he has been buying medicine for Wu.
Qiao Yu did not answer the tree's question, but asked the old man: "How do I change this?"
The old man pointed to the wooden bowl in front of him and said, "Five bowls of dried meat."
Qiao Yu glanced at the things in front of him and asked, "How much do five bowls of dried meat cost?"
The old man picked up a piece of stem that was half the size of his palm and said, "One piece."
Tree:"……"
Full:"……"
It's simply a money grab.
They only exchanged a basket of raw sweet potatoes for ten bowls of dried meat, but this old man only exchanged a small piece of tuber for five bowls of dried meat. Is he bullying them because they don't know medicine?
Shu was afraid that Qiao Yu didn't understand and would be deceived, so without waiting for her to nod, he said, "I'm going to find the light." Then he ran forward.
Guang had come out early in the morning to browse the stalls and buy medicine. They hadn't seen him along the way just now, so he must be in front.
"Then let's wait for the tree to find light." Qiao Yu stood up and said to Man, then nodded to the old man and pulled Man back the way they came.
She recognized it as ginger and knew its significance to the Valley Tribe. Ginger wasn't just a seasoning; it was also a medicinal herb that dispelled cold and dampness. The Valley Tribe, living in dark, damp caves year-round, desperately needed ginger for its nourishing properties. So, she was determined to get her hands on it. Five bowls of dried meat for a piece of ginger wasn't a bad deal.
If she planted it in the spring, she would have a harvest of countless ginger chunks in the fall. She would trade for ten bowls, if not five.
However, if she only knew about ginger and where to dig wild ginger, she wouldn't have wasted the money.
The old man didn't seem to be worried about business, and didn't care about their leaving, without even raising his eyelids.
Sure enough, after a while, two groups of people stood in front of the old man's stall. After looking at the ginger, they began to bargain with him.
Qiao Yu frowned and said to Man, "Go and change two pieces first."
Seeing her anxious expression, Man knew that this thing was important, so he stopped hesitating, squeezed forward, and without bargaining, directly exchanged it for two pieces of ginger.
"Yu." Before Man could squeeze out of the crowd, Shu found Guang over.
"Guang, do you recognize the things on that old man's stall?" Qiao Yu asked, pointing at Jiang in the distance.
Guang looked at it, thought for a moment, and then hesitated, "The people of the Sun Tribe seem to call it ginger. We haven't used it. But we heard from the witch of the Shanyin Tribe that if someone has a cough and fever, this will cure it."
Qiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he knew him.
If she didn't know the name, she wouldn't be able to explain why she insisted on changing it, let alone show that she knew how to use it. Now that she knew the name, it would be much easier for her to do things later.
"There are many people in our tribe who suffer from cough and fever every year. Have you changed to ginger?" she asked.
Guang shook his head and sighed, "It's too expensive. I can't afford it. Even if I could change it back, no one would be willing to use this medicine."
Their family collects dried meat for treating the tribe's medical needs. But they don't charge too much. After all, they can't let people starve to death during the snowy season, right? So they can't afford expensive medicine. Ginger is so expensive, and if they exchange it for it and no one is willing to use it, it will rot in their hands, and they'll lose a lot of money.
Qiao Yu thought about it and finally couldn't bear to exchange for two more pieces.
Even with the pottery and the tamarind, the tribe still didn't have much dried meat left, and she would trade any extra for salt. This winter, the tribe had to endure the cold.
When she plants ginger in the spring and harvests it in the autumn, she won't have to spend a lot of money to come here and exchange it with others.
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