"Now that transportation is inconvenient, how will they exchange grain in the future?" Yun Yang still didn't understand.
Yun Qi tapped him on the head. "How can you be so stupid? Right now, they're the only place in the entire inland that's still producing salt. They've got this salt well in their hands, which is like holding a gold mine before. Why would they be afraid of not getting those essential supplies?"
Yun Tao continued, picking up where Yun Qi left off, "You deserve a few more taps on the head from your sister. Have you forgotten why we came here? Besides, we brought out the best things from the village, which is their advantage."
Yunqi laughed and said, "What can you do if you can't think straight? When you go out, you must stick close to your brothers, otherwise, if someone sells you off, where will we find you?"
Yunyang was a carefree child, and he didn't care about these things. Instead, he hugged Yunqi's arm with both hands and rested his head on her shoulder. "I'm not going to follow them anymore. I only want to stay with my sister. As long as my sister is here, I don't have to worry."
"You shameless bastard, that's Cheng-ge's. If you don't let go, Cheng-ge will deal with you when he gets here," Yun Tao threatened him.
"No way, with my sister here, I'm not afraid at all," Yunyang retorted, feigning childishness.
At this moment, Yun Jianying stared behind them and shouted loudly, "Brother Cheng!"
Startled, Yun Yang immediately sat up straight and quickly let go of Yun Qi's arms. Seeing his reaction, the people around him laughed so hard they were doubled over.
Yun Qi laughed along, and Yun Yang's face suddenly turned red. "You guys went too far!"
Yunqi quickly suppressed her laughter, put her arm around his shoulder and patted him twice, "It's okay, they're just teasing you. With your sister here, you don't need to be afraid of your brother Cheng."
"Don't be afraid of me." Si Cheng happened to walk over at that moment, ready to tell Yun Qi to go and rest.
"Don't be afraid of me eating people." Yun Qi took his hand and stood up.
"Go and get some rest. You didn't sleep well last night, and you have to rush back tomorrow." Si Cheng reminded them to get some rest as they were still playing around.
"Brother, are we going to stay in Gaozhuang for another day tomorrow?" Yun Qiao also addressed Si Cheng in the same way as Yun Tao and the others. Ever since people from other villages started calling Si Cheng "Brother Cheng," the people from Pinghe Village have all started calling him "Brother" like Yun Tao and the others. In their words, this is a way to distinguish the level of intimacy.
"We'll be staying there for another two days, so you all need to conserve your energy." Si Cheng has his eye on the wild rabbits there; it's a natural hunting ground. Staying there for two days will provide everyone with meat for the return journey.
Hearing Si Cheng's affirmative answer, everyone was very excited. You see, although they had caught a lot of wild rabbits last night, they all felt that they hadn't had enough.
"That's great! I'll definitely make two more rope loops this time."
Yun Qiao looked around regretfully. "It's a pity that nothing grows here. Even wild rabbits probably won't make their home here. Otherwise, we could have set some snares around here. We've wasted a whole night."
“Don’t be so ungrateful. We’ve been to so many places along the way, but we’ve never seen an environment as suitable for wild rabbits as Gaozhuang.” Yun Xun finally spoke up tonight. He analyzed for everyone, “That’s because they used to raise cattle there, and there was a lot of pasture nearby, so the rabbits gathered there.”
"Since that's the case, let's roast all the rabbits we caught this morning. Otherwise, they'll get thinner if we keep them tied up like this." Someone suggested this, but everyone agreed, and so another barbecue party ensued.
Early the next morning, Si Cheng and his men found Village Chief Zheng and proposed exchanging salt. They didn't even ask how the salt village would deal with the bandits, assuming their fate wouldn't be good.
"I've been so busy all day that I haven't had a chance to greet you. If you're not in such a hurry to go back, please stay here for a few more days so we can take good care of you." Village Chief Zheng sincerely invited them to stay longer, knowing that there were still so many injured people in the village who were counting on their doctors for help.
"We really can't delay any longer. We've been out for a while now, and everyone in the village, young and old, must be worried," Si Cheng politely declined.
"Then I wonder what kind of treatment our village's injured will need in the future?" Village Chief Zheng actually wanted to ask the doctor to stay, but he knew that was impossible.
"We brought a lot of medicinal herbs with us this time, hoping to exchange them for salt. Before we leave, our Uncle Nan will explain the medicines we'll be using. As for the injured, they wrote down the precautions last night. They just need to follow the care instructions." Si Cheng and his team had thought of these issues last night, so the Yunnan medicine team made some records and wrote down the follow-up requirements for several seriously injured people in the village.
Upon receiving the thick stack of papers, Village Chief Zheng felt that the thank-you gift he was giving them should be even thicker, as it showed such thoughtfulness.
"Thank you so much. If it weren't for you, we don't know what our village would have gone through. We know you came here to exchange for salt, so we prepared some for you as a return gift. We will give you the same gift whenever you come to our salt village in the future."
"No need for that. In a situation like yesterday, anyone who saw it would have helped. Besides, we didn't do anything." Si Cheng refused directly. After all, he might have to deal with them for a long time in the future, so there was no need to take advantage of this small favor.
After much persuasion, Sicheng agreed that each member of the team would only accept ten catties of salt as a thank-you gift, while the rest would be exchanged for supplies.
When Village Chief Zheng saw the bags of Chinese herbal medicine, his eyes nearly closed. This was life-saving medicine! Not only was the quantity large, but there were also many different kinds. If these villagers didn't still need to rely on snake repellent medicine to get back, he would have wanted to exchange all of their self-defense medicine for it.
Of course, the villagers wouldn't want to exchange these medicines for salt, because they were eagerly waiting to use these medicine packets to catch more rabbits that night.
The subsequent exchanges went very successfully. With Village Chief Zheng's deliberate concessions, they received far more salt than they had expected this time.
Whether it's medicinal herbs brought from Pinghe Village or dried goods from other villages, dried vegetables are very popular.
This time, Gao Zhuang and his men brought all their grain to exchange for salt. Although Yan Village still had a lot of grain, they also gave it to them. Gao Daniu and the others were so moved that they didn't know what to say. With Si Cheng's permission, they told Village Chief Zheng and the others Gao Zhuang's technique of using ropes to lasso wild rabbits, so that they could also go and lasso some rabbits for a treat after so long.
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