I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 915: Are Our Pottery and Goods Not Good Enough?
The elder woman of the tribe thought this to themselves, but quickly dismissed the idea. How could that be possible?
Now, they were completely surrounded by these people. If they wanted, they could kill them on the spot and take away all the food they had painstakingly gathered.
Under such circumstances, how could they possibly obtain such precious items?
Moreover, the others had every reason to kill them—after all, they were occupying their cave.
At first, the elder woman stubbornly believed that the strange cave had simply grown out of the ground, like a giant tree.
When the others claimed they had built it, the elder woman refused to believe it. How could humans possibly construct such a thing?
But now, they had come to believe them—believe that this strange cave had indeed been built by these people.
Not just because the people themselves looked strange, but more importantly, because they were capable of producing so many precious items!
They were wealthier than the tribe that had come to trade with them before!
Faced with dazzling weapons, exquisite pottery, and the delicious white substance, they could not help but accept that the strange cave had indeed been built by these people.
“Do you want to have such things?”
While the elder woman was still stunned, Mao, following Han Cheng’s instructions, conveyed this question to them, pointing to the pottery on the ground and the salt stored within.
Mao’s entire demeanor was smiling and gentle, giving the impression of offering candy to children.
He was skilled at trading, after all—besides his talents in translation and map-making, this was another area of expertise.
Upon understanding Mao’s meaning, the elder woman was initially stunned, then their faces lit up with joy.
Of course, they wanted these things—they had dreamed of them!
With faces full of smiles, they nodded eagerly, pecking like little chicks to convey their agreement.
At the same time, their excitement was mingled with disbelief.
This strange tribe was willing to give such precious items to a tribe they had just met…
“You can trade food, furs, and other goods with us in exchange…”
Mao continued, smiling gently as he conveyed the offer.
The elder woman, expecting the items to be given freely, froze.
Wait a minute—didn’t you ask if we wanted it?
How come now that we said we did, you’re not just giving it to us, but making us trade food instead?
Seeing the look of shock on the elder woman’s face, Han Cheng chuckled inwardly.
What are you thinking?
Do you really believe that in the future, when people shout, “Who wants cabbage? Who wants red dates?” it’s all free?
Can anyone just take it?
Try taking it without paying and see what happens.
Even a hero like Guan Er Ye, selling dates, could bring out his Green Dragon Crescent Blade!
Fortunately, the elder woman was not naive. They had seen past trade exchanges between their tribe and the other tribe and could accept this arrangement.
It didn’t take long for them to recover from their disappointment.
They looked at the two pottery pieces and the gourd of white substance that belonged to their tribe, then at the items from this new tribe.
The items that had once been treasured and a source of pride now seemed ugly in comparison.
In such contrast, she quickly thought of trading her tribe’s items for the new tribe’s treasures.
But almost immediately, she suppressed the thought.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want the exquisite items—it was that her tribe couldn’t afford the trade.
In the past, trading with the other tribe required a large amount of food, which had already felt burdensome.
Now, the items were even more exquisite, meaning even more food would be required.
Her tribe simply couldn’t spare that much.
If they did, her people could starve—or worse, someone might die of hunger.
Reluctantly, she tore her gaze away from the Green Sparrow Tribe’s pottery and salt, then shook her head slowly at Mao, conveying her decision.
“Tell them they can trade for our items at the original price.”
Han Cheng smiled and instructed Mao to convey this.
The elder woman was stunned once again. After confirming Mao’s words and seeing his sincerity, they became extremely excited.
Not only her, but the others who understood Mao’s message were also overjoyed; some even cheered aloud.
Trading at the original price for far more exquisite and delicious items—anyone could see this was a bargain.
Immediately, their impression of the Green Sparrow Tribe improved significantly.
Once the terms were agreed upon, the Green Sparrow Tribe members dispersed, freeing the women.
After a brief discussion, the exchanges began.
The elder woman and their tribe examined every piece of pottery brought by Han Cheng, hoping to pick the ones they liked.
The pottery was so exquisite that they wanted every piece.
After much deliberation, the elder woman selected a jar.
This jar was much larger than the one her tribe previously owned, with little tadpoles and frogs painted on one side—beautiful and elegant.
She couldn’t take her eyes off the design and immediately decided on this jar.
Carefully, she carried the jar to the rice-drying area, called over three people, and had them stretch out their fingers.
Once ready, she began filling the jar with rice.
When full, she pressed down, added more until it reached the top edge, then carried the jar aside and emptied the rice onto the ground.
She repeated this process until the jar was full.
The people keeping count curled one finger.
In other words, it took thirty jars of rice to trade for one pottery jar.
Han Cheng couldn’t help but exclaim internally—this unknown tribe was ruthless!
They were willing to trade such a valuable jar at that ratio.
But he didn’t insist on lowering the price; gaining more rice was still good—they wouldn’t be at a loss.
After the process, the three people counting had all curled their fingers, signaling that the transaction was complete.
The elder woman was overjoyed with their new jar, holding it lovingly.
Han Cheng, seeing the pile of rice accumulating, was also pleased. At this rate, they would soon acquire a substantial amount of rice.
After finishing one trade, the elder woman excitedly began selecting again.
They then traded for five bowls and two gourds of salt.
Each bowl required thirty jars of rice; each gourd of salt also required thirty jars.
A pottery jar, five bowls, and two gourds of salt consumed more than half of the rice the elder woman had collected.
Han Cheng couldn’t help but reflect—trading really was a great way to prosper when customers were available.
After this, the elder woman paused. Though they still desired the remaining items, poverty and high costs prevented further trades.
“Why aren’t you trading more? Are our items not exquisite or tasty enough?”
Mao conveyed Han Cheng’s words.
The elder woman quickly shook their heads.
It wasn’t that the items were bad—it was that their tribe was too poor.
“What about the remaining rice?”
Mao gestured toward the leftover rice.
The elder woman shook their heads.
That remaining rice couldn’t be traded—they needed it to eat.
“You can use your tribe’s food to trade with us, then use the pottery and salt obtained to trade with other tribes. Offer more than you gave us, and exchange with them.”
Mao carefully conveyed Han Cheng’s suggestion.
The elder woman’s eyes lit up.
She scanned the beautiful pottery and rice, her eyes shining brighter with each look.
Of course!
They could first trade with this tribe, then exchange with the other tribes!
This tribe’s pottery was exquisite, the white substance delicious—far superior to the other tribe’s goods.
Even if they asked the other tribes to pay more in food, they would agree.
Trading this way was much faster than gathering and picking the small fruits themselves—a lesson the elder woman had learned from past exchanges.
With this thought, the elder woman’s eyes sparkled, and their faces beamed with joy.
Unable to resist, they immediately put their “buy, buy, buy” thoughts into action.
Watching the elder woman happily use the newly chosen pottery to trade rice, Han Cheng also smiled broadly.
After a series of external changes, Han Cheng’s plan for handling the people living in the tribe’s slave huts shifted.
After thinking it over, he decided it would be best to develop them into middlemen under his tribe’s control.
First, this would allow his tribe to acquire significant amounts of rice and other food without sending people to gather it.
This would supplement the tribe’s food supply and lay a solid foundation for expanding rice cultivation in the coming years.
With enough rice, they could quickly develop large-scale rice planting, unlike their initial millet cultivation, which took years to yield enough seeds.
Second, these middlemen could help gather intelligence on the other bronze-using tribe.
Operating in the same region with similar goods of varying quality, they were bound to encounter the unknown tribe.
Even if not, noticing that pottery and salt from Han Cheng’s tribe were unsold would motivate them to seek out competitors.
Thus, contact was inevitable, just a matter of time.
The elder woman could serve as a perfect buffer zone.
Third, the elder woman’s movements could provide further information about the region.
People in this era were generally homebound, and interaction between tribes was limited.
Even the elder woman, despite living here a long time, had limited knowledge beyond the four neighboring tribes.
But that didn’t matter—once they tasted the benefits of being middlemen, they would actively seek out more tribes, just like Mao and the others had.
This way, Han Cheng could gradually gather more regional information.
Fourth, through the elder woman and the exchange of salt and pottery, they could exert some influence on surrounding tribes, spreading the Green Sparrow Tribe’s impact.
And all this required little effort or cost from the Green Sparrow Tribe…
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