They also gave them two extra pieces of used adult clothing, saying they would take as much food as they could get.
The village chief and his group brought over 100 kilograms of cacti, including some from the team and others that everyone else brought out to trade.
The news of such a large grain transaction spread quickly, attracting a large crowd of onlookers.
"I didn't realize this savage group was so wealthy, bringing out so much food to trade all at once."
“I saw it coming a long time ago. Look at them, they’re all wearing wolfskin coats and have weapons. With all that, they’re sure to have plenty of food.”
"How come these savages live better than us?"
"This is really a blow. I used to hear a lot about how wild people were."
Now, the drought and famine have driven the savages out of the mountains, and unexpectedly, they are richer than us.
"What the older generation says is all lies!"
The group was exasperated. Why did everyone treat them like savages? All they did was use a few more stone tools.
Village Chief Bai, unable to bear it any longer, said: "We are not some savage group, we are the Anping Village Alliance!"
Also, we've run out of food and are looking for other ways to survive, so you'd better not mess with us.
After saying that, the group went to the office to take a look.
The office was located in a small stall, which was very lively with long queues.
This place not only handles recruitment and stall fees, but also provides information.
Village Chief Bai and his group wanted to find out where they could stay nearby, but when they arrived, the villages and towns within a few miles had all been occupied.
If you want to find a place to stay quickly, you can only turn to these local bigwigs.
They need to rest and spend the winter; they can't travel any further because it's too cold.
Although there are uncertainties here, the most dangerous place is also the safest place.
Whatever their schemes may be, let's wait until winter is over before making any moves. They can just run away then.
Moreover, trade is possible here, and goods can circulate. They need to purchase a batch of donkeys before the spring so that they can travel smoothly next year.
"So you're the Anping Village Alliance? I heard your ancestor was very accurate; he predicted it would rain on the Laba Festival." The man in charge didn't answer their question.
Old Man Chen said proudly, "Of course, our ancestors were very effective."
Seeing that everyone was pointing and whispering around them again, in order to amplify their influence, Old Man Chen continued, "Last night, our ancestor appeared in a dream and predicted that it would rain on New Year's Eve."
"Oh? Really? I hope it really rains." The person in charge didn't burst into laughter like the others.
Another person in charge said, "There is a village where you can stay."
As you may have heard, the new magistrate works here, and these areas are all under his jurisdiction.
To be frank, if you want to settle down there, you'll have to pay a fee.
These funds are reserved for agricultural use in Xingzhen Town next year.
That village is big enough for all of you to live in, but it's a day's walk from here.
They harvest 500 jin of charcoal, 200 jin of grain, and 300 jin of water per month.
The manager, who had seemed easy to talk to just moments before, suddenly said, "Old Cai, have you forgotten? The price of that piece of land has gone up, by a hundred catties each."
Several other teams were vying for it.
The person in charge paused slightly before smiling and saying, "Oh, right, I almost forgot."
If we don't have enough supplies right now, we can buy them on credit.
The goods must be delivered within ten days; of course, an additional fifty kilograms of each item will be required.
Another manager laughed and said, "If you can't pay on time, you'll have to hand over the laborers in your team to work for us to pay off the debt."
"Of course, you can call people to work and pay off your debts now; they can at least get a full stomach working for us, it's a good deal."
Manager Cai said, "Moreover, you don't need to worry about your village being robbed or occupied by others."
"We've got your back; you can ask us for help if you need anything."
He then added, "I heard you have stone tools. If you can hand over three hundred stone spears, two hundred stone axes, and one hundred stone hoes, it can cover a month's expenses."
Living in this area is very convenient. We're hiring a lot of people here. As long as you can come in, we can introduce you to work. Making ends meet won't be a problem.
Hearing the exorbitant price, Village Chief Bai's expression darkened. "Let's see how it goes, we'll consider it."
Manager Cai gave him a map, saying, "You can come back when you've made up your mind."
After the group left, Old Man Chen said, completely bewildered, "How could that seemingly easy-going person suddenly stab us in the back?"
It was clearly a deliberate attack on them, but they had no choice but to endure it.
I heard that the Dragon Tiger Alliance and the Celestial Masters Sect together have more than 20,000 members.
They are not people they can afford to mess with right now.
After pondering for a while, Village Chief Bai said, "I guess he might be a member of the Celestial Masters Sect. He's unhappy with us because he sees that we're also showing signs of developing followers."
Old Man Chen scoffed, "We'll surpass them sooner or later, even with their wild religion."
Afterwards, they went to a herbal shop to buy some first-aid kits and traded bandages and herbs for the medicine they wanted. The transaction went smoothly.
After leaving and completing the remaining transactions, the team set off for a mountain that the patrol team had scouted out.
We had planned it beforehand: either find a village to stay in or go into the mountains to rest.
The team will stay here for a while and leave when spring arrives.
Seeing that they were taking the last road, everyone discussed what kind of thatched huts they should build to get through the winter, and some even discussed what traps they should make to protect everyone's safety.
They had no money or supplies, and couldn't stay in a village where someone was protecting them, so they had to settle in the wilderness where no one cared.
No one complained; handing over their labor was impossible, and they wouldn't separate.
Zhou, breathing out hot air, said happily, "Old man, while you were going in, I sold a lot of stone pots."
Ten stone pots yielded two and a half jin of water, and fifty were sold.
Old Man Chen laughed and said, "That's really impressive."
Zhou whispered, "On New Year's Eve, when Daya receives the fireworks, we'll give the kids a nice hot bath."
Just then, the village chief came over and told Old Man Chen about the search for the cave.
"Why look for caves or build thatched huts? It's so inconvenient. This time, let's take over the mountain ourselves and build infrastructure so we can live in better places," Old Man Chen said after hearing this.
Village Chief Xu couldn't help but say, "But where are we going to get building materials? Without materials, we can't build it."
Old Man Chen laughed and said, "Who said we didn't have any? My ancestors bestowed a huge pile of stones upon us, and we were just wondering what to do with them. Now they'll come in handy."
"Stones? Are there enough for us to build a house?" Village Chief Bai asked.
Old Man Chen: "It's enough. It's a very large stone, square in shape, just as big as the ice block from before."
The items that Daya has been receiving lately are a bit useless. She used to be able to get cherries, but now she can only get some broken stones, as well as stone stairs, stone steps, and broken stone walls.
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