Chapter 138: Already Have a Plan?
Chapter 138: Already Have a Plan?
Chapter 138: Already Have a Plan?
At noon, the sun hung high, its reflected light too intense to look at directly.
Su Bai had returned to his Teepee after teaching the young ones to read and write in the morning. The paper they had made over the past two days had piled up quite a bit inside the Teepee.
“Shaman, this thing called paper is really useful!” Yu Ying’s pink eyes were still full of wonder. Ever since the second successful paper-making attempt, the fox eared girl had been examining these sheets of paper.
She even took out an Animal Hide Scroll to compare. The comparison only made her more amazed.
She realised that paper was lighter and thinner than Animal Hide Scroll, and it felt better to touch. These two were simply incomparable.
Although the Wolf Tail Grass Paper was not as white as paper from Earth, its flexibility was quite good. It was just yellowish in colour and felt a bit rough to touch.
“Once the quill pen is ready, you’ll be able to properly practise your writing.” Su Bai softly said.
For the past two days, the fox eared girl had been practising on paper with charcoal. Although her writing was still crooked, she practised with great enjoyment.
“En!” Yu Ying was looking forward to it.
“Shaman, Uncle Mai Mang and the others are back.” Yan Hua called from outside the Teepee.The cow horned girl had been sent by Yan Jiao to inform Su Bai after her training, saying that the lookout in the tree had spotted Mai Mang and his group.
The Chieftain had the cow horned girl report first, and when Mai Mang’s group arrived, they would directly go to the Shaman.
“Come in.” Su Bai waved his hand and continued, “Next time, just come in directly. You don’t need to ask me for permission every time.”
Yan Hua lifted the door flap and entered, hesitating for a moment before nodding and responding. “Okay!”
“Did Mai Mang bring a lot of things back this time?” Su Bai asked.
“According to what the lookout saw, they brought back quite a few things, more than last time.” Yan Hua said.
“Good.” Su Bai nodded.
About ten minutes later, Mai Mang and his group returned to the Tribe. As instructed, they brought back dried meat, materials for making Shaman Bone Tablets, Black Stone Nut Juice, and other items.
After putting down the dried meat and salt, Mai Mang brought all the other things into the Main Teepee.
He set down the items in his hands and respectfully greeted, “Shaman, we’ve brought back everything you asked for.”
“En. Well done.” Su Bai began examining the Black Stone Nut Juice, wanting to confirm if it could indeed be used to make quill pens.
He dipped a small tree branch into the Black Stone Nut Juice, then wrote a character on both the Animal Hide Scroll and the Wolf Tail Grass Paper, wanting to determine which one the juice was more suited for.
The Black Stone Nut Juice on the Animal Hide Scroll remained suspended on the surface, with only a tiny bit seeping into the hide. If he moved the Animal Hide Scroll even so slightly, the Black Stone Nut Juice would slide off, unable to stay in place for long. After it slid off, the remaining writing was barely visible; impossible to make any character.
[It can’t stay on at all. Even if I write on it, it’ll easily disappear.] Su Bai thought, turning his gaze towards the Wolf Tail Grass Paper.As soon as the Black Stone Nut Juice fell on the yellow Wolf Tail Grass Paper, it was immediately absorbed. It did not spread out like on the Animal Hide Scroll, and it did not bleed out. It formed a stable, clear character.
“Perfect!” Su Bai’s mouth curved into a slight smile. The Black Stone Nut Juice and Wolf Tail Grass Paper were a perfect match!
Yu Ying, watching from the side, also noticed the difference between the two and curiously asked. “Shaman, does this mean we can make quill pens now?”
“Yes, we can make them now.” Su Bai finally felt relieved. It was great that they could now produce both pen and paper.
“Shaman, I have something to tell you,” Mai Mang suddenly became serious.
Su Bai looked up, blinking his black eyes, and guessed. “Is it about the Spotted Deer Tribe?”
“Yes, the salt we brought back this time is less than half of last time.” Mai Mang reported.
“Less than half? What happened?” Su Bai’s brows furrowed. [Salt is a vital living resource. Salt is an essential substance for normal Human development. It regulates the balance of water distribution in our bodies. It also maintains osmotic pressure inside and outside of our cells. It participates in the formation of gastric acid, promotes the secretion of digestive juices, and can increase appetite. The list of benefits go on but in short, we can’t go without salt. Without it, the sodium content in our body becomes too low, leading to a loss of appetite, weakness in limbs, dizziness, and other issues…].
Since Su Bai knew the importance of salt, when got a pack of refined salt from the System, he naturally got very excited.
“They didn’t give a specific reason, just said that they also exchange salt from other Tribes.” Mai Mang rubbed his round belly and continued, “They might have encountered some problems and don’t have much salt left.”
Su Bai thoughtfully nodded. [So, it is as I had suspected. The Spotted Deer Tribe is really just an Intermediary Tribe. It’s likely that other Tribes got unhappy with their rapid development, or perhaps just want to suppress them. This might have led to a refusal to exchange salt with the Spotted Deer Tribe.]
“I see. We’ll have to use the salt sparingly then. At least the amount of dried meat had not decreased.” Su Bai nodded.
“Shaman, there’s one more important thing. The Chieftain of the Spotted Deer Tribe wants to meet you.” Mai Mang continued to report.
“The Chieftain of the Spotted Deer Tribe wants to meet me?” Su Bai was taken aback. He had not expected this day to come so soon. When he developed linen, he had anticipated that because of it, people from the other Tribes would want to come and discuss cooperation.
Especially the Spotted Deer Tribe, which develops through its marketplace. When they learned that Su Bai had a large quantity of linen, they would certainly want to discuss cooperation.
“Yes, the Chieftain of the Spotted Deer Tribe said they need a large amount of linen, and we need a lot of dried meat so…” Mai Mang tried his best to recall what the other party had said, and continued, “Oh right, they said they want to personally discuss cooperation with you to show sincerity.”
“Alright, then next time you go to trade, have him come back with you.” Su Bai directly said. He already had a small plan in mind. He just needed to wait for the Spotted Deer Tribe to arrive to implement it.
“Understood,” Mai Mang nodded.
[noscript][/noscript]