Trading in Mang Village
Mang Village was considered a large village within a hundred li. Though it was called a village, it had all kinds of trades: a smithy, a textile shop, a wine shop... it had everything, much like a small city! Since Mang Village lay far from the mountains, on a plain with a winding stream not far away, most of its villagers made their living farming! The village had its own patrol team, which protected the farmland while also keeping the peace in the village!
Ye Fan and his companions had just reached the village entrance when a patrolman came forward to greet them! This was not their first time trading, so the two sides were already familiar with each other!
"Old Uncle Chen, right on time!" one of the patrolmen called out! Old Uncle Chen was the elder uncle Ye Fan had mentioned. Most people in Hundred Stars Village bore the surname Chen! The Ye and Xiao families had arrived later!
"Little Liu, you're on duty today? That's great. Let's finish trading quickly; we need to head back early! The road's hard to travel after dark!" The elder uncle recognized the man and spoke with a beaming smile!
"Come on, let's go to the street corner again! It's lively there today!"
As they spoke, the patrolmen helped push the carts and led them to the street corner! It was on one of Mang Village's main streets! People came and went in a lively bustle! The cries of vendors, the sounds of haggling, and the clanging of metal rang out without end!
Little Liu, who was on duty, took the elder uncle and us to an empty stall! He also helped unload the goods and lay them out in a row. They had just finished inspecting them when villagers from Mang Village gathered around!
"Wow, the game's big today! How long would it take to eat all that?" a villager called out!
They did not often go into the mountains, so Ye Fan's group was probably their only way to learn about them! Every pair of eyes was full of curiosity!
"Old sir, what's in this cage? Its colors are rather pretty," a young villager asked, pointing at a cage on the ground!
"Oh, this one? It's called a Hundred Treasures Chicken! This Hundred Treasures Chicken is remarkable. Even in the mountains, it's considered a spirit beast. Its song is like an oriole's, and its meat can be used as medicine. But the important thing is its eggs: they nourish the body. Eat one Hundred Treasures Chicken egg, and you'll feel warm all over, with more strength than you can use!" the elder uncle explained at length!
The young man from Mang Village clearly did not quite believe him! Still, he did not call him out! Smiling, he cupped his hands toward the elder uncle and asked, "Old sir, what are you looking to trade it for?"
"Five jin of grain for one Hundred Treasures Chicken." At the mention of trading, the elder uncle answered at once and held up five fingers! The elder uncle was always smiling, which also made him seem approachable!
"Would three jin do?"
While the haggling continued here, the uncles had already begun trading all sorts of things over there! Naturally, there was plenty of haggling there too!
Ye Fan was not idle either. He handed his goods to Xiao Feng and told him what he wanted in exchange! Then he took a few strange stones and left the stall!
He was heading for Mang Village's smithy, the only one in the village! All of Hundred Stars Village's hunting tools were forged there. Of course, they were paid for with game too!
The smithy stood on the back street, where there were few pedestrians and comparatively few shops! Only three or five were scattered about! From a distance, he could see a sign standing upright, bearing a single character: "Smith"!
Taking three steps in two, Ye Fan hurried to the smithy. Seeing a burly man forging iron, he called out, "Uncle Lin, is Third Child here?"
The burly man turned to look and slowed his work! "It's you, Little Fan. Third Child went out to make a delivery! He won't be back for a little while. Why don't you wait and have some tea first?"
"No, Uncle Lin. My uncles are still busy at the street corner! I'll leave these little stones here. When Third Child comes back, just give them to him!"
"All right, leave them here. I'll be sure to give them to him when he gets back! That boy doesn't like working iron, only playing with stones. Our Lin family has been smiths for three generations, but perhaps we'll have a stonemason in the future." With that, he swung his hammer a couple more times!
Third Child was the youngest son and had two older brothers: the eldest, Lin Youfu, and the second, Lin Youcai! Third Child's real name was Lin Youde!
By the time Ye Fan hurried back to the street corner, most of the goods had already been traded! Seeing Ye Fan return, Xiao Feng said, "All your things have been traded. Here, these are yours. This is the grain, and here are some medicinal ingredients!"
Lin Fan looked over the bundles. The amounts received in trade were reasonable, and the quality looked pretty good too! He promptly put all the bundles on the cart!
The sun was slanting westward, and it was no longer as hot as it had been at noon! Amid the continuing haggling, everything they had brought was traded away! They had gained a great deal: two whole carts full of grain, plus another cart of hunting tools and medicinal ingredients! There were also several coarse linen shirts!
The elder uncle looked over the three carts of goods with satisfaction, patting the bundles of grain from time to time. He was grinning from ear to ear!
"It's getting late. We should head home! If you're hungry, we can eat on the way!"
The five or six men nodded in agreement. Then it was time to go home! After a quick farewell to the patrol team, the group set off again, pushing their handcarts!
The afternoon sun was warm and comfortable! Facing the sun, the burly men began their journey home, talking and laughing! Today had been a good day for a haul! With these two carts of grain, they could get by for a while longer!