Chapter 182: Return Goods
"Someone! Someone!"
The shouts and the banging sound of a gong echoed again, startling the Green Sparrow Tribe, which had just finished trading with the Sheep Tribe and hadn't calmed down for long.
The people of the Green Sparrow Tribe gathered together, peeling sheepskins and salting them as they went, first froze for a moment. Then, quickly but without panic, they started to act.
Without the need for reminders from the adults, the children ran towards the cave. The adults ran towards the front wall of the courtyard while paying attention to the movements on the left and right sides of the surrounding walls, checking if anyone was approaching from both sides.
When the commotion started, Han Cheng was in the deer pen, watching three little sheep graze and drink salt water. Hearing the disturbance, he couldn't help but pause.
What day was it today? Why were people coming consecutively?
Thinking like this in his heart, some understanding suddenly emerged.
No one had come to trade during this long period when the joyous exchange had ended. But now, tribes came one after another. Han Cheng had been puzzled by this before, but now he suddenly understood.
Compared to other seasons, food was more easily obtainable in autumn. These tribes had a certain surplus, so they came to trade.
With the rabbit snares, the Green Sparrow Tribe no longer had as much demand for meat. The Sheep Tribe had even sent fifteen sheep, further reducing the need.
Because the rabbit snares caught only small wild animals or birds, large pieces of fur became something the Green Sparrow Tribe lacked.
The ultimate goal of trade was to satisfy their own needs. To address this change, Han Cheng had instructed the Eldest Senior Brother to convey that they could exchange pottery for fur.
For example, the Green Tribe and the Sheep Tribe, which had left not long ago.
Of course, for future considerations, Han Cheng didn't make the message absolute.
He only said that fur could be used for exchange, not that it must be used. After all, Han Cheng still wanted to continue receiving live sheep from the Sheep Tribe.
However, it could be anticipated that, after this message spreads, the amount of fur in the Green Sparrow Tribe will rapidly increase in the coming days.
Because over the years, these tribes relying on hunting for their livelihood had accumulated a lot of fur. Relative to precious food, they were more willing to trade with the Green Sparrow Tribe using fur.
Han Cheng didn't go to the main gate. Instead, he left the deer pen and looked in that direction, waiting with Shaman for Eldest Senior Brother to come and report the news.
Eldest Senior Brother quickly descended from the wooden ladder, running over with a strange and suspicious expression.
If he were to become enemies with this powerful tribe because of this, it would not be good.
However, the leader of the Green Tribe felt some regret. He felt that he shouldn't have trusted the words of the leader of the Green Tribe so easily and returned with the pottery.
Just because of this?
Upon Han Cheng's signal, the Eldest Senior Brother communicated with the leader of the Green Tribe again to inquire about the reasons behind their actions.
Only by understanding the situation could it be resolved.
After hearing the reasons from the Eldest Senior Brother, Han Cheng sighed, feeling helpless. He couldn't help but smile wryly.
The reasons were far less complicated than he had thought. Upon hearing the cause, he didn't feel any urgency and even found it somewhat amusing.
The people of the Green Tribe brought back the pottery they had just carried away because the meat soup brewed with the pottery was far less delicious than what was brewed in the Green Sparrow Tribe.
At this point, Han Cheng finally understood why the leader of the Green Tribe had insisted on taking the old pot used by the Green Sparrow Tribe for a long time during the previous exchange rather than accepting a new one. It turned out that he had planned it this way.
He was still being somewhat tactful. The people of the Green Sparrow Tribe, who now understood what was going on, burst into laughter.
How could the soup be exceptionally delicious without adding salt?
They hadn't expected that these people from nearby tribes would go to such lengths just because of something so obvious to even children in the Green Sparrow Tribe.
Many of them laughed for a while, but some suddenly stopped laughing. They remembered the scene when they first encountered salt and drank the soup with added salt.
If it weren't for the presence of the Divine Child, they would have been just as confused as the people outside about what they considered a very ordinary thing in the Green Sparrow Tribe.
The outside atmosphere puzzled the leader of the Green Tribe, the leader of the Sheep Tribe, and the people of both tribes.
What were these people laughing about? What happy event had occurred?
However, amidst the confusion, many of them also felt relieved. Most of them were worried that this action would anger the rich and powerful neighboring tribe and lead to a conflict.
Seeing them laughing, they knew that their worries would not come true.
Some people from the two tribes, who were unclear about the situation, watched for a while and then joined in the laughter, albeit cluelessly.