Of course, when the trading team went to this tribe, they wouldn’t say, “We’ve been mining your land near your tribe, so here’s some compensation.”
At this time, people didn’t have such a strong concept. In their understanding, as long as you didn’t break into other tribes’ caves to rob or kill their prey and steal it, there was no real problem.
Stones were different from things like fruit or animal offspring, which could be eaten or worn.
Fruit or animal offspring, once exchanged within the tribe and found useful, would still require some exchange, like salt, to get more from other tribes. But stones didn’t need this at all.
Regardless of whether the stones were helpful in the tribe or not, after the initial exchange, they wouldn’t trade goods for them again.
This was because the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe would come personally to mine, rather than exchanging stones through other tribes as they had before.
At this time, the trading team visited this tribe solely to conduct regular trade and foster better relations with the tribe’s minors by distributing canned food and similar items.
After all, this tribe hadn’t been visited for a long time, and coming now to mine stones nearby and handle some social matters was very necessary.
Those minors ate happily, and Shang, Mao, and others laughed just as happily, looking at the minors with smiles, as if watching their silly children.
Not too far from the stream, Mao and part of the trading team were swinging their copper axes, cutting down trees with great effort.
With copper axes, their speed in felling trees was much faster.
One by one, trees were cut down and trimmed into lengths of about three meters.
The trunks and some sturdy branches were bundled tightly together using relatively flexible branches to make rafts.
These rafts were meant to carry stones.
Han Cheng thought up this idea.
Before proper roads were built and two-wheeled or four-wheeled carts or other strong-load vehicles were constructed, transporting stones by land was a very laborious and time-consuming process.
Han Cheng had already experienced this firsthand when he led people to transport ore back from Copper Mountain.
The limestone deposits were located near a stream with a strong flow, which connected downstream to a smaller river in front of the tribe. It would be pretty foolish not to use the water route.
Building rafts here was an excellent plan. First, the trading team wouldn’t have to drag numerous rafts upstream all the way here, saving lots of effort.
Second, these rafts would be helpful when transporting the stones back.
Some trees that were straight and appropriately thick could be used as beams or other construction materials.
Some inferior ones could be used to make charcoal. Even if not suitable for charcoal, they could be burned for cooking, and the resulting ashes used as fertilizer for fields.
The phrase “calculate precisely, even if you fall, grab some dirt and get back up” fit Han Cheng perfectly at this moment.
Before joining the trading team, Shang had mainly been involved in mining stones at the Green Sparrow Tribe, so returning to this task was very smooth for him.
After moving the smaller, easier-to-carry stones to the creek’s edge, under his lead, others began heating the stones with fire until they were scorching hot, then splashing cold water on them.
While doing this, many minors ran around here and there.
Some helped Mao and others gather branches.
Some carried ceramic pots to fetch water from the creek to pour onto the stones.
Others carried smaller stones back to the creek.
Not only minors, but many of the tribe’s women who stayed behind to gather wild vegetables or fish also came nearby to forage.
During breaks, they would watch the trading team doing these strange but organized tasks.
Some lively young women even joined in like the minors.
Men, women, and active children — it looked exactly like a tribe.
These minors enjoyed this life and liked spending time with these friendly people.
They loved watching the rapid felling of thick trees and seeing these once very difficult-to-break trees bundled tightly and placed in the creek.
These rafts didn’t sink in the water and could even hold people standing on them.
Standing on the water’s surface without sinking amazed them greatly.
What amazed them wasn’t just that, but also the exceptionally sharp and beautiful tools that could cut down a tree with remarkable speed.
Most amazing of all, however, was the sight of stones cracking open amid swirling smoke and heat!
Such tough stones could be broken — it was truly astonishing!
Many of them had participated in this work, but every time they saw this spectacular scene, they still felt a thrill and amazement.
Through these interactions, they gained a deeper understanding of the Green Sparrow Tribe.
This tribe was not only wealthy and friendly but also possessed many wondrous things.
The more they learned, the more they yearned for the Green Sparrow Tribe.
After participating in labor and experiencing life in the Green Sparrow Tribe, these minors, as well as many adult women, couldn’t help but compare this new life with their own tribe’s.
The result was that their own tribe’s monotonous, repetitive life was far less appealing than the novel lifestyle of the Green Sparrow Tribe.
Though they didn’t know why the tribe cut trees or gathered so many stones.
At noon, the trading team began their lunch, which was non-existent in this era. The tribe’s minors and women were given some portions.
Shang, Mao, and others didn’t feel any regret about distributing food because once these people returned to their tribe, they would grow more crops…