Sitting in Harimu's Winter Camp, Li Long sipped his milk tea and said:
"I don't need much this time. If it's convenient, each household can give me five sheep and one cow. I can pay you, or prepare supplies for your seasonal move. But you'll have to slaughter the cattle and sheep for me. I only want the carcasses. Oh, and preferably cut up and bone the meat afterward."
With Harimu and the others, Li Long could comfortably state all his requirements without feeling embarrassed.
Just as Harimu and the others could frankly ask Li Long to bring them rice, flour, oil, salt, and other supplies.
Friends didn't need to beat around the bush. I need your help buying these things, and I'll give you whatever I have to offer. I need to take some things from you; tell me what you need, and I'll bring it over to trade.
It was that simple.
"We'll get a hundred sheep together for you. Will that be enough?" Jade Mountain River said beside him. "And ten cattle. That should about do it, right?"
"That's plenty." Li Long smiled. "I might not even use it all."
"Right, give us two days. I'll notify the households today, and then we'll start slaughtering. Tomorrow... we'll slaughter them tomorrow. It should all be ready tomorrow afternoon or the morning after."
Li Long had asked each household to contribute cattle and sheep precisely because he didn't want any one household to suffer a major loss.
After all, none of the households had particularly large herds yet. This was only a small pastureland and a small tribe; it couldn't withstand too much upheaval.
Li Long had felt confident about coming to arrange this only because none of the tribe's cattle or sheep had frozen or starved to death