I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 922: A Hand-Chopping Kind of Deal (Combined Chapter)
When they saw the considerable number of pottery vessels being carried on people’s backs, these people felt relatively reassured.
Experience told them that those who came carrying pottery to trade would not do anything to harm their tribe.
However, when the people carrying the pottery drew closer and finally stopped not far from their cave, they began to feel far less calm.
That was because they realized that the people bearing these precious pottery vessels were not the same traders as before, and they were not strangers to them either.
In the past, members of their tribe had once gathered together with people from this arriving tribe, as well as several nearby tribes, and together they had carried out some very sacred rites.
They knew quite a bit about this tribe and these people: like themselves, they relied on gathering and hunting to obtain food, and they, too, used food to barter with a mysterious tribe that appeared from time to time, exchanging it for precious pottery and a delicious white substance.
But now, their established understanding was overturned entirely. This tribe, which in memory was much like their own, was suddenly carrying so many precious pottery vessels. It looked as though they, too, had come to trade.
“#￥WW3……”
The older female primitive smiled as she spoke to them, adding a few gestures at the same time.
After some communication, the older woman successfully conveyed her meaning. She had her people set down the precious pottery they were carrying, then opened a gourd filled with salt and carefully poured some into a pottery bowl.
The people stared at the pottery the older woman’s group had brought, and at the bowl containing the very white salt—salt with no trace of dirt. One by one, their eyes widened, faces filled with shock and awe.
They were even more astonished than when they had learned that this familiar tribe had also begun trading precious pottery and salt for food.
The pottery and the white salt before them were far more exquisite than anything they had seen before.
They circled the pottery and the half bowl of salt, examining them again and again. Some wanted to reach out and touch them, but halfway through, they pulled back their hands.
They were afraid of damaging such delicate items, and also worried about offending the people of this tribe.
Seeing their reaction, the older female primitive and her companions smiled broadly, a sense of pride rising unbidden in their hearts.
“@#4WE……”
The older woman smiled as she reached out and grasped the hand of the tallest person standing near the cave—likely the most prominent among them—and placed it on one of the exquisite pottery jars.
Only then did the male primitive dare to carefully stroke the fine pottery, his eyes full of amazement.
Scenes like this were nothing new to the older woman and her companions.
After returning to their original tribe from the mysterious and wealthy Green Sparrow Tribe with these precious items obtained in exchange for tasty little fruits, she had told the tribal leaders of the wondrous experiences she encountered. After staying in the tribe for several days and leaving behind two exquisite pottery vessels and a gourd of even tastier salt for everyone to use, the older woman set out again with her companions. Carrying these precious goods, just as the people of the mysterious Green Sparrow Tribe had instructed, they embarked on a glorious and grand journey as middlemen.
This was already the fourth tribe they had visited. They had seen scenes like this several times now, so it no longer surprised them much.
Still, seeing people react this way because of what they brought gave them a deep sense of satisfaction.
This kind of psychological fulfillment was something they had never obtained from hunting or gathering fruit in the past.
It made them even more willing to embrace and love this new way of obtaining food.
After stroking the pottery for a long while, the male primitive finally pulled his hand back reluctantly and excitedly told the older woman that his tribe was willing to exchange food for these exquisite and precious items.
He then brought out three people from the tribe and had them all stretch out their hands to count.
This was the method used by the previous trading tribe.
Naturally, the older woman refused such an exchange ratio.
They had acquired these items from the mysterious Green Sparrow Tribe at exactly that price. How could these people expect to trade the same amount of food for such precious goods now?
Without much hesitation, the older woman pulled out six people from her own group, lined them up, and had them extend their fingers.
“Hiss—!”
Even as primitives, once they understood the price the older woman was asking, they could not help but suck in a sharp breath.
It was simply too shocking.
The amount of food required earlier to trade for pottery and salt from the other tribe had already been astonishing. Who would have thought that this familiar tribe—one that had once carried out sacred rituals together with them in the grass—would show no sentiment at all and demand so much food at once?
The male primitive looked at the painfully large number of fingers extended by the older woman’s group, then at the exquisite pottery and the salt that looked so white and tasted free of any strange flavor. In the end, he could not bring himself to drive them away.
“#￥5QW……”
He told the older woman that he could not make this decision himself and would need to wait until the tribal leader returned.
After a period of waiting, as the sun gradually slanted westward, the tribal leader returned with the others who had gone out, along with food.
Once he understood the purpose of the older woman’s visit and saw the delicious salt and exquisite pottery, the leader was equally astonished.
When he learned the prices of these items, he, too, could not help but draw in a sharp breath and hesitate.
The older woman was not worried at all. She waited there, smiling.
Experience had taught her that no tribe could resist such precious items.
After struggling with the decision for a while, they would ultimately agree to trade on her terms.
Sure enough, after some inner conflict, the tribal leader finally gave in. He agreed to continue trading according to the older woman’s conditions and brought out the food his tribe had stored…
Early the next morning, the older woman left the tribe with the exchanged food, as well as the remaining precious pottery and salt, and headed toward another tribe.
There were now several extra people in her group—members of this tribe.
This tribe was the last one the older woman knew of, yet the precious pottery and salt they had obtained from the Green Sparrow Tribe had not all been traded away.
The older woman wanted to keep doing this for the long term. She hoped to live like the mysterious Green Sparrow Tribe—eating three meals a day, every meal filling and satisfying.
She naturally did not want this plan to fail.
So she came up with a solution: have people from this tribe lead them to another tribe they had never visited before.
The people of this tribe were initially unwilling.
Why not stay in the tribe and gather food instead? Why follow these people around for no reason?
Faced with this, aside from feeling some pain at the cost, the older woman was not at all flustered.
Because when they left the mysterious Green Sparrow Tribe, the person known there as the “Divine Son”—a leader-like figure—had already told them how to handle such situations.
Gritting her teeth, she took out a smaller pottery jar from their remaining goods and said that if they were willing to guide them, this pottery would belong to the tribe.
The once resolute tribal leader had no resistance at all in the face of such exquisite pottery. Once he understood her meaning, he nodded in agreement almost without hesitation.
That was how the extra people joined the older woman’s group.
After seeing them off, the tribal leader led the remaining members back into their cave.
Seeing how much of their stored food had suddenly disappeared, the pain and regret in his heart were indescribable.
After suffering for a while, he went to one side of the cave, picked up a bone knife used for cutting meat, placed one hand on a wooden block below, and raised the knife a few times—yet in the end, it did not fall.
Chopping it off would hurt far too much.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally put the bone knife back and went to sit by the fire.
Two pottery jars sat by the fire—these were the ones they had just traded for.
After a while, the food was ready. Using the new, wonderful pottery jar, they added some of the brand-new salt to the cooked food.
After taking one bite, the tribal leader’s eyes lit up.
Paying so much food was indeed worth it.
Of course, after finishing the entire breakfast, that feeling quickly faded.
Looking at the significantly reduced supply of hard-earned stored food, the urge to grab a knife and chop off his hand surged up again…
And he was not the only one with such an impulse. The leaders or decision-makers of the tribes that had been “swept through” by the older woman’s group with pottery and salt all experienced similar thoughts…
Amid constant busyness, time flowed on quietly. It seemed to take a very long while, yet also felt as though, in the blink of an eye, many days had already passed and would never return.
Stepping on grass that had begun to turn yellow, the older woman led those who had traveled with her, carrying most of the food gained from this journey, once again toward the mysterious Green Sparrow Tribe.
Compared with before, their spirits were exceptionally high. Though they carried heavy loads of food, it did nothing to dampen their excellent mood.
This round of trade had let them taste sweetness.
Through such trading, they obtained more food than they ever had through hard gathering, and accordingly, they ate better than before.
It allowed them to see hope—hope that life could become better through this means.
However, some things also troubled the older woman and her companions.
Their carrying capacity was limited. Often, after trading with just two tribes, they had to return home because they could not carry any more food.
Then they would load up the precious pottery and salt once more and set out once more.
If the remaining tribes were close by, it was manageable. But if they were far away, it became troublesome and wasted a great deal of time.
When people encounter matters closely tied to their own interests, they often become smarter. The older woman and her companions were no exception. After this journey as middlemen, they had already begun to think about time costs.
Though they did not know the term “time cost,” there was no denying that this was precisely what they were considering.
Yet even after realizing this, they had little way to change it. Even taking off the beautiful ornaments they wore on their heads—items obtained from the caves built by the mysterious Green Sparrow Tribe—and padding them with animal skins to use as containers still did not solve the problem.
Perhaps they needed to ask the “Divine Son” of the mysterious Green Sparrow Tribe. He seemed so wise. Before they had even begun trading with other tribes, he had already predicted the problems they might encounter and provided solutions in advance. Surely, he would have a way to deal with this as well…
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