Seeing that everyone was still deferring to each other, Village Chief Yao gestured for Xiao Lie's parents to go back first, and then pulled Si Cheng aside.
"Sicheng, our village would like to go with you to Pinghe Village tomorrow to exchange some commonly used medicinal herbs. We would like to know what your village is lacking so that we can prepare some."
"I just don't know what kind of medicine you want to exchange for? You'll have to talk to our Uncle Nanyao about the specifics. Once he's agreed on the exact amount and herbs the village can exchange with you, then we'll discuss it with our village accountant."
Upon hearing this, Village Chief Yao nodded in understanding. "Then you all eat first. I'll go back and do the statistics. We'll come back and discuss it with Dr. Yun after you've finished eating."
After saying that, he decided not to stay any longer and become a nuisance. He waved goodbye to Dr. Yun and the others and then returned to the village.
"Acheng, what do you think we should do with this pot of meat?" If Yunnan Yao's eyes weren't so fixed on the pot, Sicheng would have thought he didn't care about the braised pork in front of him.
“Stay here. They’ll need to discuss the medicinal herbs with you later,” Si Cheng said, then looked at Yun Hailang. “Uncle Hailang, Yao Village will be coming to discuss what supplies we need to exchange. You can keep track of the details then. But I suggest we exchange them for their ironware.”
"Yes, let's see if we can exchange some of those animal traps they buried in the village. Those things look incredibly effective." Yun Mingwei had been eyeing those animal traps for a long time. Lately, he had been thinking about them frequently. If these traps could be buried along the main roads of his village, the village's safety would be much better guaranteed.
When it came to his job, Yun Hailang forgot about the braised pork in front of him and turned to run to his backpack to look through his notebook. You see, the village usually keeps a list of necessities and items that can be exchanged.
"I didn't realize our village had such a plentiful supply of medicinal herbs." As he was looking through them, Yun Tao also leaned over for a look.
But just as he finished speaking, Yun Hailang tapped him on the head. "Keep your mouth shut for now. Although our village has a lot of medicinal herbs, we can't exchange them cheaply. You know, scarcity makes things valuable. All of you kids, stand back and don't interrupt."
Yun Hailang didn't want these kids to ruin things when they were talking later, so he gave them a heads-up beforehand.
"Don't worry, Uncle, we're not stupid. Besides, we're busy. We're thinking of making a fish trap to make some fish soup later. We've been eating dry rations every day for the past few days, and I feel like my face has turned into a pancake." Yun Tao realized he had misspoke earlier and quickly changed the subject.
"Then hurry up and finish your meal so you can get busy. The fish soup is up to you today." Seeing how cooperative he was, Yun Hailang gently kicked him, signaling him to quickly lead his friends to catch fish.
After Si Cheng finished eating, he pulled Yun Sanman aside and asked, "Uncle Sanman, I saw that you made furniture quite well before. Do you know how to make crossbows?"
"I've never done this before, so I really didn't know you had the blueprints?" Yun Sanman hadn't seen the blueprints, so he didn't dare give a definite answer.
"Wait a moment, I'll go find it for you."
Sicheng found Yunqi and asked him to find the crossbow design drawings that he had previously drawn and hidden in the space. These drawings were based on ancient crossbow structural diagrams.
"Take a look at this." Si Cheng placed the blueprints in front of Yun Sanman.
"This is worth a try, but I don't know if it will be successful." Yun Sanman didn't dare to make any promises before he had finished making it, after all, there were still a few small details that needed to be studied.
"Take a look at this arrowhead. Can we mark the size and specifications? I'd like to order a batch from Yao Village first." Although Si Cheng had collected some crossbows before the apocalypse, it was even better now that he could openly manufacture them.
"Let me take a look and I'll give you an answer in a bit." Yun Sanman was incredibly grateful that he had found that craftsman who would explain the basic structure of these pulleys to him in his spare time; otherwise, he would have really been stumped by this crossbow.
Yun Sanman was quite efficient; after they finished cleaning up the dishes, she called Si Cheng over.
He pointed to several parts on the blueprint that required iron tools, "These all need iron tools to assemble. Even if you make the arrowheads, these will definitely need to be custom-made. I just don't know if they can make them?"
"I'd like to prepare ten for the village to try out first. Could you also provide the specifications and quantity?"
"No problem." After saying that, he turned back to his work, knowing that Yaojia Village would be coming over to negotiate terms soon.
Seeing that he was somewhat confident, Si Cheng called Yun Hailang aside and told him about his plan to manufacture crossbows, asking him to negotiate the terms with Yao Village later.
He thought Yun Hailang would criticize him, but to his surprise, he just glanced at the design paper at Yun Sanman's place and nodded in agreement.
"Uncle Hailang, don't you have any other opinions?" Si Cheng didn't know why he suddenly asked this question.
Yun Hailang laughed directly, "Do you think I've been too cold-hearted towards you all the time? Is this time different again? Actually, I'm just used to working for the benefit of the village, it's not just targeting you. As long as it's good for the village, I won't have any objections."
Si Cheng understood the gist of his words: you used to be a fat sheep, so if they didn't fleece you, who would they fleece?
Fortunately, the skilled craftsmen in Yao Village were able to build it according to the blueprints, so the subsequent negotiations went smoothly. Both villages were very satisfied because they got what they needed in return.
“But this ironware will take some time to forge, so we might not be able to take it with us tomorrow. Why don’t you exchange it for something else first, and we can exchange these next time?” It was only after being reminded by the village cadres that Village Chief Yao realized he had just made a mistake.
"Could you make two sets for us tonight? We can come and pick up the rest later." Because the blueprints were drawn separately, the village chief and the others were not told what the iron blocks were specifically for. However, Yao Shu, standing to the side looking at the iron arrowheads, had a rough idea, but he didn't say anything more.
"I told them to work overtime tonight and see how much they can produce." This time, Village Chief Yao didn't dare to make any grand promises. He first glanced at the craftsmen who had come out to look at the blueprints, and only after seeing them nod did he dare to speak.
"Thank you so much." Si Cheng sincerely thanked them, after all, they had to work through the night to make it for them.
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