After they left, Yun Xun threw the order form on the table. "Have they gone mad from living in the mountains? A thousand catties of salt? Why didn't they order ten tons?"
Si Cheng said, "They don't understand the current situation down the mountain. These things could be exchanged in the city before, but I guess it would be difficult even if they went to exchange them now. Not to mention that these things are becoming more and more valuable, it would be difficult for them to bring them back."
Yun Xun cautiously approached him and said, "Brother Cheng, I saw that A Meng looked at you a few times with a hint of something in his eyes. He probably wants you to take them into the city."
Si Cheng shook his head. "Even if I personally lead the team, I might not be able to bring anything back. If we go out now, we won't even be enough for them to make dumplings."
Sicheng didn't have the confidence to face a group of starving refugees, especially since these were both cattle and horses. Wasn't this just blatantly telling them that he was a flock of fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered?
Yun Xun couldn't help but shudder at the thought of that scene. "What can we do? Judging from their behavior, they won't leave unless we exchange them for something."
Si Cheng rubbed his temples in distress. "Some people in the village still have enough supplies. Let them negotiate with the villagers privately. But you also need to inform the village that you must ensure you have enough supplies for the next few years before you can exchange them. Otherwise, the village won't help you."
Yun Xun nodded in understanding. The village did have a batch of salt and other supplies, but these were for collective use as a precaution and would not be easily exchanged.
While eating, Yunqi looked at her husband and said, "Should we get a different horse? It would be much more convenient to travel with a horse in the future."
"It's better to get an ox than a horse. At least it can help plow the fields, and it's the same for carrying things when you travel. Oxen are more practical," Yun Zhiming interjected while eating.
Yunqi said, "But horses run fast, while oxen are relatively clumsy."
Yun Zhiming said, "Even when a cow gets old, you can still eat its meat, and beef tastes much better than horse meat."
“…”, Clouds rise.
"You're only looking at food, don't get involved in this, let the young couple decide for themselves." Mother Yun put a large chicken foot in his bowl, which Yun Qi had found in a corner of the space yesterday.
Si Cheng knew that Yun Qi had taken a liking to those horses last time, so he nodded in agreement, "I'll talk to them later and get a more docile mare instead, so Jun Jun and Le Le can learn from her."
The first sentence seemed normal, but when it came to the idea of letting Junjun and Lele learn to ride horses, Yun's mother exploded, "The children are so young, why are they learning to ride horses? What if they fall and get hurt?"
Junjun and Lele, who were initially very happy, quickly stepped forward and each grabbed one of her arms, acting coquettishly when they saw their grandmother's strong opposition.
They were afraid that their parents would listen to their grandmother's advice and cancel their eligibility to learn horseback riding.
Seeing his mother both embarrassed and enjoying herself, Yunqi couldn't help but laugh.
Seeing her expression, Yun's mother immediately shifted the blame to the two little ones, saying, "As long as your mother agrees, I have no objections."
After hearing this, the two babies immediately moved on to another spot and started twisting and turning next to Yunqi.
While they were singing and laughing, Amon and his companions were frowning, worried that they would return empty-handed this time.
"If only I had brought more salt last time I went up the mountain. Everything else is fine, but how will we survive without salt?" A-Kuan paced back and forth in the prefab house, feeling anxious. His mother had specifically told him to bring more salt when she came down the mountain, as the family's salt supply was almost gone.
“Pinghe Village should still have a lot of salt. They exchanged some for salt in the salt village and brought it back. In addition, there was also salt among the supplies they dug up in the mountains last time, but they refused to exchange it with us.” Adong said what everyone already knew, but there was no way to force them to exchange it with us.
Amon, however, was more optimistic than them. "If it were us, we wouldn't be able to exchange such precious resources either. After all, we don't know when things will return to normal. Salt is the most precious commodity right now."
Ah Kuan said, "What should we do? Our family is waiting for us. If we don't get salt and medicine, we don't know how much longer we can hold on."
Amon said, "If all else fails, we'll have to make the trip ourselves, but we can't guarantee what the outcome will be."
Amon had already prepared for the worst, but he had to give it a try, otherwise the whole village would be in crisis.
Just when they were struggling with this decision, Yunxun brought them some relatively good news.
"Find villagers to do the deal privately?"
Yun Xun said, "Yes, some people in the village may have enough salt reserves and can squeeze out some, but you'll have to negotiate it yourselves. Our village isn't responsible for that."
Amon rubbed his hands excitedly, "No problem, we definitely won't let the villagers suffer."
Yun Xun sneered inwardly. He had notified the villagers in advance before coming over, and as long as they weren't stupid, they wouldn't let them gain any advantage.
Amon, unaware of all this, thanked Yunxun profusely before gathering everyone together to discuss how to negotiate the price. The goal was to exchange as much salt as possible from the villagers, otherwise, such a good opportunity wouldn't come again.
"These people are quite cunning, always trying to exchange with the families in the back mountains. They're afraid that we locals will gang up on them," Yun Xun said to his grandfather beside him, knowing that Amon and the others had arrived at the back mountains first.
Grandpa took a sip of tea before slowly saying to his grandson, "If you were in his shoes, you would have done the same. It's just that you two are in different positions now, which is why you think the other is cunning."
Yun Xun thought for a moment, "If it were me, I would definitely go directly to the village chief first. Only if the village chief lowers the conditions will it be easier to talk to the other villagers."
Second Grandfather shook his head. "That's because you know your brother Cheng too well. If you were in an unfamiliar village, would you still have the confidence to say such things?"
"......"
Second Grandfather continued to belittle him, "You people still lack experience. The fact that a large family like Amon could bring so many cattle and horses to us shows that they are not simple. Don't underestimate them."
Yun Xun thought of A Meng's honest face, and couldn't possibly associate it with "not simple".
Second Grandfather shook his head, "You'll see, they definitely won't suffer any losses later on."
Yunxun opened his mouth, wanting to tell his grandfather that he had notified the village in advance, and everyone was already prepared and wouldn't suffer any losses.
Seeing his grandfather's confident expression, he swallowed his words again.
The first family Amon visited was surprisingly Dr. Xia's house, where Huang Suicheng received them.
Huang Suicheng poured a glass of water for each of them. "I know why you came here, but unfortunately you've come to the wrong place. We moved here after the disaster, and we don't have much stock left."
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