Chapter 70: Barter
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Hearing Jiang Chuan’s words, the village chief was slightly comforted. Although Jiang Chuan did not guarantee it, he was willing to give it a try, right?
“Jiang Chuan! I thank you on behalf of the villagers.”
“Chief, you’re being too polite,” Jiang Chuan said. “The villagers have helped my family so much. It’s only right for them to repay us.”
“However, Chief, you also know that wild vegetables do not grow in a fixed place. Our family will try our best to find them, but whether we can find them or not depends on heaven’s will.”
Jiang Chuan didn’t dare to make any promises. If he did, the village chief would find it strange.
The village chief nodded. “I know about this, I’m just grateful you are willing to look for it. If you can find it, you’ll be a great hero in our village. If you can’t find it, you don’t have to feel too guilty.”
…..
How could the village chief not know that it was lucky to encounter wild vegetables? However, since Jiang Chuan’s family had found them before, the village chief wanted them to try again.
After that, Jiang Chuan chatted with the village chief for quite a while, mostly about what to do if there really wasn’t any grain in autumn.
The village chief’s intention was to let everyone try their best to save food before the autumn harvest. If the autumn harvest was not good this year, the food in the city and town would also decrease. It was uncertain whether they could exchange for food again.
Jiang Chuan agreed with the village chief. If they really couldn’t exchange for food, the villagers would have to store the wild vegetables and other food in the cellar. They would have to wait for a year to eat them every day.
After sending off the village chief, Jiang Chuan sat in the courtyard and sighed. Jiang Xia and Jiang Gu stuck their heads out to look.
“Father, the village chief left?” Jiang Xia asked.
“Yeah, he left.” Jiang Chuan waved at the two girls.
Jiang Xia and Jiang Gu ran over to Jiang Chuan and sat down.
“Father, why is Grandpa Chief looking for you?” Jiang Gu asked.
Jiang Chuan patted Jiang Gu’s head. Jiang Gu was young and had never eaten anything good, causing her hair to be yellow and brittle. Jiang Chuan felt heartache when he saw her.
“The village chief said that it hasn’t rained for a long time. It’ll be very difficult to harvest this autumn!” Jiang Chuan said solemnly.
He didn’t know if it was because the village chief had specially come to find him, but he suddenly felt a strange sense of integration with this era.
When he heard about the famine from Jiang Xia that day, he was still a bystander.
Because they didn’t have to worry about starving to death, they imagined the scene that their daughter had described. It was mostly sympathy, but now it was a little different.
“Then why did the village chief come to look for you?” Jiang Xia asked tentatively.
Jiang Chuan sighed. “The village chief was hoping that we can bring the villagers to find more wild vegetables and exchange them for as much food as we can. If the harvest is really bad, some food can still last for a while.”
Jiang Xia nodded. That was all the village chief could do. However, she could ‘find’ the location of the wild vegetables once, twice, or even thrice, but any more would arouse suspicion.
Therefore, other than wild vegetables, she had to think of other ways to ensure the lives of the villagers.
After pondering for a moment, Jiang Xia said, “Father, why don’t we go a step further?”
“What?” Jiang Chuan couldn’t keep up with Jiang Xia’s train of thought.
“Father, digging wild vegetables isn’t a long-term solution. Sooner or later, the wild vegetables will be dug up. When that time comes, we really won’t have any other methods.”
Hearing Jiang Xia’s words, Jiang Chuan reacted.
“It’s fine, but we don’t have any foundation or connections now. If we really exchange our items, won’t we be reported?”
Jiang Chuan’s worries were not without reason. Bartering was also a form of trading. In this era, it was a big deal to be caught doing private trading.
Jiang Xia smiled. “Father, have you forgotten about that little guy?”
From the food they exchanged these few times, it could be seen that the little guy was interested in interacting with them. They could try to talk to him.
Now, the items on the table were wild vegetables, and they could take out wild animals whenever they wanted. Moreover, apart from these, they still had many good things brought from the modern era. There would definitely be people who would be tempted to cooperate with them, right?
Jiang Chuan slapped his thigh. If they could make a foundation in town, it would be much more convenient to trade in the future.
When they were completely familiar with the rules of this era, they could think of other ways to help the villagers tide over the difficulties..