Chapter Eighteen: The Market Expedition

  The next day, Yang Wei led the little partners to hunt for the second time. Today's harvest was not much, but the quality was much better. This time they encountered a pack of wolves. After a long standoff, they finally got eight intact wolf corpses.

  "Wei Zi, we've hunted so many prey, how are we going to deal with them?" The natural companions' doubts arose, and in their hearts, they naturally thought of freezing all the meat and eating it slowly.

  Ke Yangwei's idea was not like this, you can't eat meat every day, and still need some grain.

  "I've inquired and found out that tomorrow, which is the 22nd of the twelfth lunar month, is the first day of the Little New Year. There's a big market at the nearby Xiaoshan Village, where we can go to sell some of our hunted goods and exchange them for grain and other necessities. We must make sure to have a good celebration for the upcoming year."

  "Wow, it's a market day! Brother Yang Wei, take me with you too!" At first, Yingzi was so excited that she jumped up, but then she worried, what if Yang Wei doesn't take her to the market?

  "Hehe, let's go, all of our little friends are going." "Wei Zi, I think I won't go after all, there's no one at home anyway." Little Lian chimed in, "No need to look after the house, I reckon not many people will come here, and nobody in the village knows we've hunted so much. But from now on, it won't be possible, if we go out, someone has to stay behind to watch the house."

  No way, after this trip to the fair, someone in the village will definitely find out that they went to sell their hunting spoils. Once the news spreads, all of these little buddies' aunts and uncles will come to make some extra money. If no one is home, they won't hesitate to break in and take whatever they want. That's why Yang Wei said what he did - you have to know that these little buddies' relatives are all extreme cases.

  Although it's not necessary to have someone watch the house, Yang Wei still made some preparations. He planned to leave a wild boar and an old tiger to celebrate the New Year, while selling off all the others. However, these things can't be directly placed inside the house, or they would quickly spoil. Even if they didn't spoil, if someone passing by discovered them, they would still be stolen.

  So, during the dark sky, Yang Wei and his companions dug a hole in one corner of the yard, then set up some wood inside, which formed an ice cellar. They put the old tiger, the wild boar, some fish, birds, and pheasants inside, covered it with snow, so even if thieves came, they couldn't steal anything. Of course, the wild grass roots in the room were not stolen by anyone, and some valuable things were placed directly under the wooden boards in the west house.

  "Weizi, going to the market, how are we going? Are we supposed to carry all these things on our backs?" "Hehe, no need, I seem to remember that someone's house has a big cart."

  "Ah, Wei Gege, I know, I know, it's the village chief's house, they have a big truck." "Then let's go to the village chief's house and borrow that big truck."

  "What are you little guys doing with the big cart?" "Ha, Village Chief, we want to pull some wood to the market to sell. You see, we little buddies have cut a lot of firewood in the forest during this time, preparing to sell it at the market and buy some grain back for the New Year." This is also what Yang Wei remembered, it seems that in recent years his mother would go to the market to sell some firewood too. Maybe at that time there were still some big households, but later on, such households that bought firewood disappeared quickly.

  "Haha, okay, okay, you kids, being able to earn your own food makes me feel at ease. I'm not a qualified village chief, I know that all of you kids are struggling, but I don't have the ability to help you. Just take the big cart and use it, I'm useless anyway."

  Naturally, these little friends all live together. The village chief knows about it but he is also helpless and has no way to support these little friends, especially now that it's still winter.

  The big cart was borrowed quickly, and the little friends began to load the bodies of wild boars and wolves onto the cart, putting them in the middle, and then filling the edges with firewood. A haycart was thus prepared, but since there were no animals to pull it, the little friends had to pull it themselves.

  At dawn, the little friends got up early, ate their fill, and set off on time. From Kao Shan Tun to Hsiao Shan Tun is over 20 li of mountain road, which is not easy to walk. So, two little friends had to pull the cart in front, while several others pushed it from behind.

  At this time, the little friends set off very early, and the villagers who went to the fair had not come out yet.

  The young companions' speed is not to be mentioned, and in less than two hours, the fair arrived. At this time, the fair was already crowded with people, and from time to time, there were firecracker sounds coming from the fair. These were all merchants selling firecrackers advertising their wares. Look, our family's firecrackers are the loudest, you buy them back, and you will definitely have a great year, and next year will also be prosperous. Of course, these auspicious words are everywhere in the market.

  "Wei Zi, where are we going to sell these things?" "We'll be done right at the crossroads, partners, unload the cart." With Yang Wei's order, his partners immediately moved the firewood down from the cart and then laid out the wolves and wild boars.

  Thanks to the improvement of their diet during this period, the little friends have collectively grown up and gained a lot of weight. They look like they are mostly 17 or 18 years old. This is because they have been tempered by the wind and sun outside, so when they come out to sell game, people won't feel that these children shouldn't be selling things.

  "Little brother, how much is this wolf?" A middle-aged man with a rich tone walked over. "Hehe, sir, you name the price." Indeed, Yang Wei couldn't name a price, he only knew that inflation was severe during this time period and currency devaluation was also severe, so naturally he couldn't name a price.

  "Two million for one wolf, how is that?" "Sir, this is a bit low, or else you can add some more." "Young man, this is not low, you should know that at this time rice is only 100,000 per ton and flour is only 80,000 per bag. If I didn't take a liking to these wolf skins, I wouldn't have offered such a high price either. In short, I'll buy five wolves from you for 10 million, what do you think?"

  "Alright, sold to you! This is a good start for our business, so I'll give you a discount, sir."

  "Hmm, little brother is pleased, otherwise, I'll take these five wild boars too, also for 10 million. How about it?" Perhaps this middle-aged man found that these young men still had a hint of murderous aura on them, naturally, the price was quoted very hastily.

  However, Yang Wei calculated in his heart that this money might be used as one thousand yuan per piece in the future, so selling it for two thousand yuan now is also acceptable.