Chapter 968
A Person Who Has Seen the World
The two men didn't say much, just drank from their bowls of wine. Friendships between northern men often don't need words—being able to sit together and drink is an attitude in itself.
When Helian was drinking his third bowl, he suddenly spoke.
"You're from the Black Anvil Tribe, and the Black Anvil Tribe lets that southerner be in charge. Aren't you afraid?"
Wu Chen put down the bowl and thought for a moment.
"I'm afraid of passing by."
"and after?"
"Later I went to Beining City," Wu Chen said. "After seeing those trades, those people, and those rules, I was no longer afraid."
Helian looked at him: "Why?"
“Because everything he says comes true,” Wu Chen said. “It’s not just talk; he really achieved it step by step.”
Helian remained silent for a long time before drinking the rest of the wine in his bowl in one gulp.
“Let me take another look,” he said.
But this "Let me think about it again" is much softer than the "Why should I believe you?" that came before.
As night deepened, the fire burned ever brighter.
Tie Gu, holding a wine bowl, walked up to Zheng Yi.
He stood there, looking down at Zheng Yi who was sitting on the ground.
"Ever since Yan'ao came back, he's been talking about you."
Zheng Yi looked up at him but did not stand up.
"what did he say?"
“He said you’re not loud, but every word you say is to the point.” Tie Gu’s brows furrowed, as if he were relaying something that made him uncomfortable. “He said you’re the kind of person… who can bring people together.”
Zheng Yi paused for a moment, then said, "Yan'ao, you flatter me."
"Whether he's overpraising me or not, I'll judge for myself." Tie Gu squatted down to look Zheng Yi in the eye. "I'm not like Yan Ao. He's young and easily persuaded. I've lived in the North for fifty years and have seen more southerners than you've ever tasted salt. Most of them come, say a lot of nice things, exchange their goods, and leave, never to return."
“I’m not leaving,” Zheng Yi said.
"You think you can just say you won't leave and then you won't?"
“I live in the Black Anvil area, and I eat and drink the same things as you. We travel together, and we sell our goods together. If I leave, the road will be cut off.” Zheng Yi’s voice wasn’t loud, but it could be heard clearly by the fire. “It won’t do me any good either.”
Tiegu stared at him for a long time.
In the end, he didn't say anything else, but simply held out his wine bowl and touched it to Zheng Yi's bowl.
The sound wasn't loud, but it carried far on the night wind.
The Firemane Tribe members saw this and exchanged glances.
The people from the Black Anvil Division also saw it, and Wu Chen's lips twitched slightly.
Helian saw it too, but he didn't say anything. He just poured himself another bowl of wine.
It was almost midnight when we had drunk most of the wine and eaten all the meat. The three bonfires had burned down to three piles of dark red embers.
The people didn't leave, not because there were still things to discuss, but because none of them really wanted to go.
The nights in the North are so long that it's a rare treat to have a night like this, with three fires, three groups of people, sitting together drinking and eating meat.
Chiya's face was flushed from drinking. He had somehow become acquainted with the young hunter from the Hanling tribe. The two sat side by side, each holding a clean bone, competing to see whose bone was cleaner.
“You still have shredded meat in this one!” The young hunter pointed at the bone in Red Fang’s hand.
"That's not shredded meat, that's tendon!" Chi Ya retorted.
"Tendons are also flesh!"
"Tendons are not meat! You can't chew tendons!"
The two argued for a long time about whether tendons count as meat, but neither could convince the other, so they each drank a bowl of wine in silence.
Yan'ao sat by the fire, hugging his knees, staring blankly at the flames.
Wu Chen walked over and sat down next to him.
"Aren't you going to talk to Tiegu?"
"There's nothing to say," Yan Ao said in a muffled voice. "He believes it, and that's it. If he doesn't believe it, there's no point in me saying anything more."
Wu Chen glanced at him: "Your uncle just clinked bowls with Zheng Yi."
Flame Hound suddenly turned its head and looked in the direction of Iron Bone.
Tiegu was leaning against a large rock next to the fire, his eyes half-closed, it was hard to tell whether he was asleep or deep in thought.
"Did you clink bowls together?" Yan Ao's voice sounded a little off.
"It was touched."
Yan'ao remained silent for a long time, then suddenly stood up, walked to Tiegu's side, took off his fur robe and draped it over Tiegu's body.
Tiegu didn't open his eyes, but the corner of his mouth twitched.
Yan'ao sat next to him for a while, then stood up and walked back to his own seat.
Wu Chen noticed that his eyes were slightly red, but he didn't point it out.
Northern men are not used to having their eyes red.
Bone Woman was the last to leave the fire.
She sat by the fire, adding the last few pieces of firewood, and watched the flames leap up again.
Zheng Yi walked over and sat down next to her.
"How did you feel about today's discussion?" Zheng Yi asked.
The Bone Woman didn't answer, but instead asked, "What do you think?"
"All three departments have softened their stance, but none of them have made a final decision."
“It’s enough that they’ve agreed,” said the Bone Woman. “The people of the North don’t easily agree to things, but once they do, they won’t go back on their word. The fact that you’ve gotten them to agree today is already a great achievement.”
Zheng Yi nodded, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke again.
"Bone Granny, I want to ask you something."
"explain."
Why did you help me in the first place?
The Bone Woman did not answer immediately.
She looked at the fire, and the firelight illuminated her face, which was etched with the lines of time and hardship, like an ancient mask.
“Because when you first came, you knelt down and talked to that feverish child,” the Bone Granny said slowly. “You didn’t touch his head, you didn’t give him food, and you didn’t say ‘poor thing.’ You knelt down, looked into his eyes, and asked him, ‘Where does it hurt?’”
“Many people came from the south. Some gave medicine, some gave food, and some gave cloth. But no one squatted down and asked the child, ‘Where does it hurt?’”
"So I'm helping you, not because you think you can get a lot in return, but because you know what a human being is."
The fire crackled with a "pop," and one of the firewood broke in two.
Zheng Yi remained silent.
The bone woman didn't say anything more.
The two sat by the fire, watching the embers gradually dim, like two old trees growing in the wilderness, knowing what the other was thinking without saying a word.
The next morning, before leaving, Helian spoke with Zheng Yi alone.
"I'll go back and discuss the matter of the three departments shipping together with my department. I'll give you an answer within ten days."
"it is good."
Helian turned to leave, but then stopped.
"Could I take that bracelet back with me?" Zheng Yi took out the bracelet made of animal teeth from his leather bag and handed it to him.
He took it, clenched it in his hand, and then put it in his pocket.
“I’ll show it to the people in the ministry,” he said. “Let them know that the bones we’re throwing away can be traded for something in the south.”
Zheng Yi nodded.
Helian mounted his horse and led the Hanling tribe northward along the snow line.
When Tiegu left, he didn't say anything, but just patted Zheng Yi on the shoulder.
The blows were very heavy, as if testing whether he could withstand them.
Zheng Yi held on; he didn't sway.
Tie Gu glanced at him, nodded, and left.
Yan'ao didn't leave with the Firemane tribe; he stayed behind.
Wu Chen asked him, "Aren't you going back?"
"Go back in a couple of days." Yan Ao watched Tie Gu's departing figure, his voice a little hoarse. "Let him go back and tell the people in the department first. If I go back, they'll say I've been bribed by the people from the south."
Wu Chen couldn't help but chuckle.
Yan'ao glared at him, but then laughed at himself.
After they finished laughing, the two walked back to their camp together.
Chi Ya was still asleep. He had been drinking with that young hunter from the Han Ling tribe all night and had fallen asleep right next to the fire. When Wu Chen passed by, he hesitated for a moment, but then took off his fur robe and covered Chi Ya with it.
Zheng Yi stood outside the tent, watching all of this.
The Bone Woman appeared beside him without him noticing.
What are you going to do next?
"Wait," Zheng Yi said. "Wait for the three ministries' reply. Regardless of whether they agree or not, the goods must be prepared. The next batch of goods cannot be worse than the last one."
"anything else?"
Zheng Yi thought for a moment and said, "And those bone ornaments. Have someone with skillful hands make a few more, and we'll try to make them next time we go to Beining City."
The old woman nodded, turned around and took two steps, then turned back.
“The wine we had yesterday was the best in the tribe. I had Wu keep two jars of it.”
Zheng Yi was taken aback.
"For whom?"
The bone-wielding woman didn't answer and left.
Zheng Yi stood in the morning breeze, the northern wind carrying snowflakes stinging his face, chilling him to the bone.
But then he suddenly realized that it wasn't so cold after all.
Seven days later, the people from the Hanling tribe arrived.
It wasn't Helian himself who came; it was one of his most trusted old hunters, who rode a lean horse all day and night from the north and brought back a message.
"Chief Helian said: The Hanling tribe is willing to give it a try."
Three days later, news also came from the Firemane Tribe.
It wasn't iron bones, nor was it anyone; it was just a bundle of leather goods.
The bundle of leather goods was neatly tied and placed on a large rock at the junction of the Firebrist and Black Anvil divisions. Next to it was a sharpened wooden stick, engraved with the Firebrist division's mark.
This is the oldest form of "consent" in the North.
You don't need to write a single word or send a single message; you just need to leave the goods there.
The arrival of the goods means the arrival of the people.
Zheng Yi stood in front of that big rock, looking at the bundle of leather goods, for a long time.
Wu Chen stood behind him without saying a word.
The wind blew from the north, causing the fur along the edges of the bundle of leather goods to tremble slightly.
“They agreed,” Zheng Yi said.
The voice was soft, as if he were talking to himself.
Wu Chen hummed in agreement.
"Let's begin then."
Zheng Yi bent down, hoisted the bundle of leather goods onto his shoulder, and turned to walk back.
Ten days after the agreed reply date, the people from the three departments arrived at the Black Anvil Department's headquarters one after another.
They're not the kind of people who just come to deliver a message or say a few words and then leave; they're the kind of people who come with goods, people, and equipment, and are prepared to stay for a long time.
Seventeen people from the Hanling tribe arrived, leading five pack animals, on the backs of which were neatly stacked hides, bones, and several bundles of dried cold grass. Helian walked at the front. This time, he didn't bring his best hunters, but instead brought some of the tribe's most skilled people—a middle-aged woman who could meticulously carve bones, an old man who dealt with herbs year-round, and two young boys.
As soon as the two boys entered the camp, they started looking around, their eyes darting around faster than when Chi Ya first entered Beining City.
About twenty people from the Firemane tribe arrived, led by Ironbone, with Flame Hound beside him. Their complexions were much better than last time. They carried the most cargo, with five large bundles of whole hides alone, along with several leather bags of animal sinews and a small bag of frozen ore. Ironbone personally led the caravan, checking each bundle of cargo by hand to ensure it hadn't gotten damp on the way.
The Black Anvil Tribe members weren't idle either. Wu Chen led a few hunters out on another hunt, and before everyone arrived, they had the newly skinned hides dried. Bone Granny, along with several women, took out the batch of bone ornaments they had made last time and examined them again—polishing what needed polishing, replacing the ropes that needed replacing, and since a few animal teeth weren't polished bright enough, Bone Granny herself used fine sandpaper to rub them bit by bit for almost half an hour.
Zheng Yi did not get involved in these matters.
He sat in the tent, a sheet of parchment covered with numbers spread out in front of him, a piece of charcoal in his hand, making additions and alterations. Three invoices were piled up in front of him; he needed to sort them, estimate their prices, and calculate the approximate value of each item before setting off.
This wasn't a task he could complete by himself, but he didn't ask anyone for help—not because he didn't trust them, but because he needed to have a clear understanding of the calculations in his mind before he could teach others how to do it.
When Wu Chen lifted the curtain and came in, he saw Zheng Yi frowning at a string of numbers.
"Something's not right again?"
“It’s not that it’s wrong, it’s more than I thought.” Zheng Yi turned the parchment over to show him. “The total amount of goods in all three parts is more than double what it was last time. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.”
"bad thing?"
“With more goods, we have more leverage in negotiating prices. But with more goods comes a wider variety, so we can’t sell them piecemeal like we did last time. We need to divide the goods into several major categories and negotiate with the most suitable brokers for each category.” Zheng Yi drew a few lines on the paper with a charcoal stick. “Leather goods will go to Shenghe, bone and herbs to Yaoguhang, frozen ore and general merchandise to Wanping Wharf. Bone ornaments… let’s try a new approach for bone ornaments.”
Wu Chen looked at the lines, remained silent for a while, and then suddenly said something that surprised Zheng Yi.
"I'm going to Beining City this time to negotiate a batch of goods."
Zheng Yi looked up at him.
"you sure?"
“I sat next to you and listened to the whole thing when you were talking to Manager Meng last time,” Wu Chen said. “Afterwards, I thought about it for a long time and realized that I could probably say the same things you said.”
Zheng Yi looked at him for a few moments, then handed him the charcoal stick in his hand.
"Alright. Then you can discuss the furs. As for Shenghe, I'll get things started for you, and you can talk to Steward Lu about the rest yourself."
Wu Chen took the charcoal stick and gripped it tightly.
"Row."
It was still dark when we set off.
The three groups gathered in the open space, their shadows flickering in the torchlight. The pack animals, already loaded with goods, were impatiently pawing the ground in the cold wind, puffing out plumes of white breath.
Zheng Yi counted the number of people.
There were seventeen people from the Cold Feather Tribe, twenty from the Fire Mane Tribe, twelve from the Black Anvil Tribe, plus himself and Bone Granny, making a total of fifty-two people.
Fifty-two people and nineteen pack animals formed a magnificent procession, like a long dragon emerging from the snow.
Chi Ya stood in the middle of the group, his face flushed with excitement. Beside him were the two teenage boys from the Han Ling tribe, the three of them whispering amongst themselves, occasionally letting out suppressed laughter. Chi Ya was the "veteran" this time—after all, he had been to Bei Ning City once, and in the eyes of those two boys, he was someone who had seen the world. (End of Chapter)