Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 21 Selling Salted Fish and Giving Away Salt

In the following days, Zhou Ye went to the vicinity. Following his memory, he picked a lot of herbs. Regardless of their value, he picked them and took them home first.

Meanwhile, Zhou Ye had also finished reading the illustrated guide, even reading it carefully a second time. Unfortunately, it contained very little information, ultimately only reaching the level of—Elementary Poison Skill (Mortal): Proficient (81/100)

This gave Zhou Ye something to consider. Could he buy a few more medical books on his next trip to the town?

As for the bamboo vipers, Zhou Ye had already slaughtered and cleaned them all, and cured them into snake meat as well. Now that autumn winds are blowing, the bamboo vipers have lost much of their vitality and will probably hibernate soon. So, he decided to get rid of them all…

The time had finally come to set off for the town.

Zhou Ye prepared quite a lot of things this time.

There were two large bags of herbs picked in the past few days. There was a bag full of salted fish, more than 30 of them. There were two salted chickens and two salted ducks, as well as two live geese. In the same days, Zhou Ye also used fishing nets to catch birds, and caught some geese and swans.

There were also over 100 bamboo rat skins. And over 30 snake skins.

Finally, there were three machetes and three axes. These were all unnecessary tools. Back when they were logging and making charcoal, Zhou Ye and his fellow laborers had plenty of these kinds of tools.

The reason I brought so many different kinds of items was simply to try them out. Only by comparing them can I know which items sell better. If I plan to trade again in the future, I can leave the lower-value items behind and focus on selling the higher-value ones. After all, it takes several days to travel back and forth.

And so, after Zhou Ye set off carrying his things, he arrived at the campsite he had reserved along the way, a sheltered little mountain valley, after a whole day of travel.

However, after lighting the campfire, Zhou Ye did not rush to eat and rest. Instead, he went to the vicinity to cut down a lot of trees and built a pavilion with only four pillars and a thatched roof. He also left a lot of wood on the side.

This is a preliminary preparation. When we stop here again in the future, we will build a small wooden cabin here, the kind of very simple hunter's hut. But no matter how simple it is, at least we will have a place to stay where we can shelter from the wind and rain.

The next day, they arrived at a spot half an hour from the mountain pass. They found a secluded rock face, where they built a shelter and prepared a lot of felled trees.

This is actually normal walking, so it will take another two days. In case of an emergency, Zhou Ye's high agility and mastery of basic movement techniques would allow him to arrive here within a day.

However, we can rest here tonight. Tomorrow morning, we can head to the town's market and trade with the merchants…

……

At dawn, wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys of the small town.

When the store door opened, the shopkeeper, Mr. Ding, was pleasantly surprised to find a young man waiting at the door.

"Manager Ding, do you still buy furs here?"

"Come on in! Brother Zhou, come in quickly and have a cup of hot tea first."

"..."

Unsurprisingly, after counting all the furs, Manager Ding took all the bamboo rat and snake skins, and Zhou Ye received another 24 taels of silver.

However, seeing several other full sacks, Manager Ding asked curiously, "Little Zhou, what's in these?"

"Oh! There are herbs. And salted fish and salted chicken."

"I knew it! Buying that book was definitely a good deal. But I don't buy herbs here. See those big carts at the market entrance over there? They're from a pharmacy in the county town. They're here to buy herbs. They're established businesses, and they're very honest in their business dealings."

Thanks.

However, before he could finish speaking, Manager Ding suddenly asked, "Wait, Xiao Zhou, why do you still have salted fish here? Can I take a look?"

Zhou Ye smiled slightly. He was indifferent, and said, "Manager Ding, if you like them, I'll give you two."

But when the bag was opened, Manager Ding's eyes widened immediately: "Wait, why did you use so much salt? This bag of salted fish is almost half full of salt, isn't it?"

Zhou Ye didn't care at all. To him, these things were worthless, just a matter of labor. So when bagging them, he simply added a lot more salt to prevent the salted fish from spoiling on the way: "If you want, I'll give you another half a pound of salt?"

"How could I possibly accept that?" Manager Ding said with a broad smile, but he accepted the salted fish and salt that were offered to him with some hesitation.

In fact, Zhou Ye, observing the situation, had already noticed something was amiss. It seemed... salt was more popular than salted fish? Apparently, in the original owner's memories, salt was a very precious commodity.

"Manager Ding, this is my first time visiting this market. In your opinion, how much should I sell my salted fish for?"

Shopkeeper Ding understood immediately. He raised an eyebrow: "Little Zhou, you can decide what to do. If you give away half a pound of salt with every salted fish, you can sell it for 150 coins."

The two chuckled, their unspoken understanding unspoken.

He subtly changed the subject. Zhou Ye continued, "Shopkeeper Zhou, I need some medical books here. Do you sell them?"

"Medical books? You'll have to try asking at the bookstores in the prefectural city. It seems even the bookstores in the county town have a hard time finding them. Only doctors need these kinds of books; ordinary bookstores simply don't stock them. I'm sorry, this is a general store. We really don't have any. Not even the other shops in town do."

"It's nothing. Sorry to bother you."

You're welcome. See you later!

After saying goodbye to Manager Ding, Zhou Ye headed towards the direction of the large carts.

"Wait! Young man. What do you need?" Several burly men guarding the carts blocked his way.

"Excuse me! Do you buy medicinal herbs here? I just picked some from the mountains."

"Okay, okay. Wait a moment. I'll go find our Steward Wang."

"..."

When business came knocking, Manager Wang and his team became very enthusiastic. They became even more enthusiastic upon seeing two large bags full of herbs.

After taking stock, the three most abundant herbs were not very valuable, and together they sold for only a little over one tael of silver.

But the others are sold individually, depending on the quality of the herbs. The prices also vary among different herbs.

Zhou Ye listened quietly to the introduction, noting down all the prices mentioned by Steward Wang for future reference. In the end, the herbs sold for a little over 10 taels of silver.

However, noticing a burlap sack nearby, Manager Wang asked, "Young man, do you have any other herbs here?"

"This bag isn't. It's full of salted fish."

"Oh? How much?" Manager Wang asked casually.

"A salted fish weighs nearly two pounds. Add half a pound of salt. Sell it for 140 coins?" Zhou Ye proactively reduced the price by 10 coins, thinking of making small profits but increasing sales volume.

Unexpectedly, Manager Wang and his colleagues exchanged a furtive glance, their expressions immediately revealing excitement...