Chapter 40: All Squared Up
Chapter 40: All Squared Up
Shan Guoer bent down.
Her head hung only one meter above Gao Jing.
Her big, dark, glistening eyes stared at Gao Jing, filled with boundless hope.
Pure, innocent, untainted.
It made Gao Jing feel like breaking his promise to this little girl would be the worst crime!
Luckily, this time he hadn’t just brought sugar.
He’d brought a whole two thousand jin of it!
“Here, it’s here!”
Gao Jing quickly pointed at the vine basket on the right. “This entire basket holds your peanut brittle!”
Shan Guoer immediately followed his finger, excitement blazing in her eyes.
“Wow!”
She snatched up one big piece of peanut brittle—ten jin heavy—grinning from ear to ear.
Shoved it straight toward her mouth!
“Wait!”
Gao Jing stopped her urgently. “You have to take… um, take that outer wrapping off first.”
Great Wilderness Script had no word for “plastic.”
Shan Guoer blinked, fumbling with the cling wrap around the peanut brittle.
Rrrrip!
She tore it away.
Suddenly unhurried, she studied the candy in her hand.
She brought it under her nose, sniffing. Then poked it with the tip of her tongue.
Her eyes instantly lit up!
Crunch!
The very next moment, half the ten-jin candy vanished into her mouth.
Munch! Munch! Munch!
With the fragrant, crispy peanut brittle filling her mouth, the little girl’s face beamed brighter than spring blossoms.
It was a rich, sweet flavor she’d never tasted in her life.
Flooding her mouth, clinging to her teeth, exploding on her tongue, even warming her soul!
Soooo delicious!
If the tiny bit of chocolate Gao Jing gave her before had shown her a beautiful paradise…
…this peanut brittle flung its doors wide open.
Happiness nearly lifted her off her feet.
And Shan Guoer’s pure, glowing joy and contentment warmed Gao Jing’s heart too.
He felt deeply satisfied.
Munch! Munch! Munch!
Soon, the remaining half of the candy followed into her mouth.
Then she grabbed a second piece, barely pausing to chew.
Tear the wrapper, pop it in—she just couldn’t stop!
“Shan Guoer, eat more at home later?”
Gao Jing, sensing disaster, piped up fast. “I brought salt for your grandpa too.”
At this rate, two thousand jin of peanut brittle wouldn’t last long.
Gao Jing planned to stay in Shan Yue Village a while this trip.
What if the kiddo ate it all, got hooked, and demanded he bring more?
That meant trouble!
Plus, what would happen if she devoured that much and got cavities?
Do Giant little girls even get cavities?
Gao Jing really wanted to jump on Zhihu Forum right now—every user there graduated schools super smart—and ask.
ONLINE ANSWERS NEEDED! URGENT!
“Mhmm.”
Surprisingly put-together, Shan Guoer mumbled through a full mouth. “Hao! I take you to YeYe!”
She crammed the candy in her hand into her cheek, then stretched her palm out to Gao Jing. “Come.”
Gao Jing knew this move well.
He hopped right onto her palm.
The little girl placed him inside the back basket hanging behind her, then heaved up the loaded vine baskets.
Two vine baskets connected by a thick vine root rested like a yoke across her shoulder.
With absurd ease, she leaped down from the Giant Rhinoceros Beast’s back.
Landing so steadily it deserved a perfect ten!
Gao Jing felt his eyes bug out.
Those vine baskets held eighty or ninety tons!
He truly couldn’t grasp just how much strength lived inside this “little” girl’s frame!
“Let’s go!”
Once down, Shan Guoer charged full-speed toward the village fort!
Giant Rhinoceros Beast: Huh???
Arf!
At that moment, a Little Yellow Dog scampered out the gate.
Rushed straight past Shan Guoer.
Arf! Arf!
It spun in panic, trying to catch its small master.
Only to catch a vine trailing on the ground…
…and faceplant spectacularly into the mud!
Yelp!
Tears welling, it yelped, utterly flustered and wronged.
“Dumb doggie!”
Shan Guoer paused, letting the pup catch up.
Scooped it up and stuffed it into the back basket.
Gao Jing, in the back basket: “…”
The next moment, the Little Yellow Dog’s wet tongue licked over.
Covered in dog slobber, Gao Jing: “!!!”
Small, forced, helpless.
“Grandfather!”
Shan Guoer dashed up the mountain path, running along the long stone steps.
“Gao Jing is here! He brought salt back!”
The little girl’s clear voice echoed through the valley, making many villagers peek out.
Shan Guoer ran straight to the wooden house.
She kicked open the door with her foot.
Inside, the Elder Shaman was teaching a group of village kids.
The sudden intrusion startled everyone.
“Grandfather!”
Not caring about anything, Shan Guoer excitedly called to the Elder Shaman: “Gao Jing is back!”
“I heard.”
The Elder Shaman put down his charcoal pencil and smiled kindly.
Gao Jing stepped on the edge of the Back Basket and leaped onto the wooden table.
He bowed respectfully to the Elder Shaman: “Hello, Shaman Chief. I have returned.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
The Elder Shaman slightly bowed back.
He told the curious kids: “Go home now. We’ll continue lessons tomorrow.”
The little ones really wanted to stay and see what would happen.
But they didn’t dare disobey the Elder Shaman. Reluctantly, they left the wooden house.
Glancing back as they walked away.
Shan Guoer secretly stuck her tongue out at them.
Then she closed the door.
She moved goods from the Vine Basket onto the table: “Grandfather, Gao Jing brought me candy! Super tasty!”
“Have a piece!”
Shan Guoer skillfully unwrapped a Peanut Brittle and handed it to her grandfather like treasure.
“You eat it.”
The Elder Shaman patted her head, saying lovingly: “Grandfather won’t.”
He could see how much the little girl loved the candy.
Why would he take it from her?
Gao Jing smiled: “Shan Guoer, could you bring me a jar?”
The Elder Shaman nodded to his granddaughter.
“Okay!”
Shan Guoer replied brightly.
She stuffed the whole unwrapped Peanut Brittle into her mouth, puffing her cheek like a squirrel.
She quickly found an empty Clay Pot for Gao Jing.
The Shan Yue Tribe was rather primitive. Giants mainly used stone, bone, and wooden tools.
But they also knew how to make pottery from clay.
For cooking food.
Gao Jing pulled out his Machete and cut open the salt bag.
He had Shan Guoer help pour the Coarse Salt from the bag into the jar.
The Elder Shaman’s expression changed dramatically.
The old Giant dipped his bony finger into the jar, tasted a grain of salt, and froze.
Gao Jing had studied the Great Wilderness Script with the Elder Shaman daily during his stay.
He’d never seen him so shaken!
Gao Jing worried: “Shaman Chief, is something wrong?”
“No.”
The Elder Shaman snapped back, smiling bitterly: “Nothing’s wrong. These salt…it’s far too good!”
“Truly too good…”
His old face filled with memory: “I’ve never tasted salt this good, not even in the City of Ten Thousand Kings.”
Gao Jing sighed in relief.
No problem was good.
He felt glad he bought Coarse Salt, not fine. Who knew how the Elder Shaman would react otherwise?
Still, Gao Jing wondered:
Didn’t Shamans with magic know how to refine salt?
It shouldn’t be hard.
But this wasn’t the time to think. He kept opening salt bags.
After emptying all bags, the salt still didn’t fill the jar Shan Guoer brought!
Gao Jing almost doubted reality.
80 tons. Exactly 80,000 kilograms. Nearly 200,000 yuan worth of edible Coarse Salt.
Couldn’t even fill one jar!
And the Shan Yue Tribe had over seven hundred Giants.
This was just a drop in the bucket! Fine quality salt wouldn’t help if it wasn’t nearly enough!
He apologized: “Shaman Chief, I’m so sorry. I could only bring this much…”
The Copper Anchor Storage Space was just too small.
“No no no!”
The Elder Shaman immediately waved away Gao Jing’s apology: “Sir Gao Jing, you are far too courteous!”
Gao Jing was stunned.
The chief of the Shan Yue Tribe had just called him sir.
In the Great Wilderness Script, that title is solely used to address shi—
the nobles and strong warriors of the Great Wilderness Humans.
Gao Jing didn’t expect that this coarse salt would raise his status so much in the other’s eyes!
He quickly said, “I don’t deserve such praise.”
The Elder Shaman shook his head.
This old Giant reached into his waist pouch and pulled out a grayish-black stone, placing it beside the clay pot: “Do you know what price our people must pay to obtain a single salt stone?”
Of course Gao Jing remembered this bitter and pungent-tasting thing.
He also shook his head.
The Elder Shaman held up one finger, sighing: “One hunting leather! One Sabertooth Tiger hunting leather!”
Gao Jing had never seen a Sabertooth Tiger.
However, from the Elder Shaman’s expression, obtaining such a pelt was clearly no easy task.
“The firewood we gave you? It’s worth almost nothing.”
The Elder Shaman continued: “To hunt one Sabertooth Tiger, we might lose one brave warrior.”
Gao Jing fully grasped what he meant.
This was essentially a case of vast material disparity between their two worlds.
How could the other party know that the coarse salt Gao Jing brought was worth barely one piece of firewood on his side!
“You have brought hope to our tribe.”
The Elder Shaman said meaningfully: “Without salt, our warriors will slowly lose their strength, grow weak, and our tribe will perish.”
“So now, do you still think your salt is too little?”
Gao Jing was speechless.
The Elder Shaman’s honesty and breadth of mind filled him with deep admiration.
The Elder Shaman didn’t actually need to tell him any of this.
Yet he had spoken so plainly.
This was trust!
After a moment’s thought, Gao Jing asked: “Shaman Chief, does this mean your salt stone was also gained through trade?”
“Indeed.”
The Elder Shaman nodded: “About every ninety days, a merchant caravan comes to our village fort.”
Ruthless merchants!
Gao Jing understood: “So that’s how it is.”
He had almost said they didn’t need to trade with those greedy merchants anymore.
I’ll bring you salt regularly!
But then he thought, if he couldn’t find a way to recharge the Bronze Anchor, such a promise would be useless.
So the words just about to leave his mouth were forcibly swallowed back.
“Oh yes,”
He said: “I actually brought a gift for you.”
The Elder Shaman asked with interest: “What gift?”
Gao Jing cut open a sack with his machete.
The packed, yellowish-brown dried leaves inside spilled out: “Pipe tobacco!”
The Elder Shaman greatly enjoyed smoking his pipe.
His walking stick hid a pipe bowl, which he liked to pull out for a smoke, often taking a few puffs.
But the quality of the tobacco he used, from what Gao Jing could smell, was very poor.
So during his big shopping trip in the Primary World, Gao Jing specifically bought several hundred pounds of pipe tobacco for the Elder Shaman.
Obtaining that much tobacco wasn’t easy; he had to find a special supplier.
He only bought a few hundred pounds because he worried tobacco from the Primary World might not suit the Elder Shaman’s taste.
If the old Giant disliked it, it would be a total waste.
“Huh?”
The Elder Shaman looked surprised.
He pulled out his pipe, pinched a wad of tobacco, and stuffed it into the bowl.
The tobacco Gao Jing brought was whole leaf, but for a Giant, it was like finely cut tobacco.
He lit it and took a few puffs.
His cloudy old eyes suddenly brightened.
That look of unexpected delight looked at least eighty percent similar to Shan Guoer’s expression when she first ate the Peanut Sesame Candy!
“Excellent tobacco!”
The Elder Shaman couldn’t contain his joy: “Thank you, I truly like this gift.”
Gao Jing smiled: “I’m just glad you like it.”
At least he hadn’t bought the wrong stuff.
“Shan Guoer…”
The Elder Shaman blissfully puffed a few more times before reluctantly setting the pipe down: “Go tell Shan Tai to light the bonfire tonight. We feast our friend!”
“Mmm!”
Beside them, Shan Guoer covered her mouth, trying hard to swallow the Peanut Brittle.
But her cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk stuffed full of chestnuts.
She couldn’t hide it at all!
While Gao Jing spoke with the Elder Shaman, the little girl had clearly sneaked more pieces of that sesame candy.
The Elder Shaman was both exasperated and amused. He ruffled his granddaughter’s hair: “Don’t eat it all at once. These things aren’t easy for Gao Jing to bring. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Blushing red, Shan Guoer nodded, then scooted out of the wooden house like an arrow, her Little Yellow Dog at her heels.
The Elder Shaman chuckled.
After a couple more satisfied puffs on his pipe, he asked gravely: “Sir Gao Jing, how can I begin to thank you?”
Gao Jing’s heart skipped a beat.
After carefully reading the “Chronicles of the Great Wilderness”, Gao Jing had quietly changed his primary goal within the Great World.
Making money had moved to a secondary place.
He had a loftier aspiration!
That this new goal might now suddenly be within reach—how could he not be thrilled?
But Gao Jing swiftly calmed himself: “Shaman Chief, you need not thank me. Our trade was fair and balanced.”
“And if the people of your tribe hadn’t rescued me, I likely would have perished in the Wilderness.”
“So it is I who should be thanking you!”
The Elder Shaman chuckled warmly.
Tapping his pipe gently on the clay pot holding the coarse salt, he said meaningfully: “Well then now…”
“We are even.”