The four-wheeled flatbed carriage laden with grain slowly drove away from the Ponte grain store, the bell hanging on the outside of the driver's seat swayed and swayed with the slight undulation of the road, and a series of crisp brass chimes reminded nearby pedestrians to avoid innocent collisions, and the fat and sturdy horses fed with carrots and variegated beans effortlessly dragged nearly a ton and a half of cargo.

Aldrich Triss, who went with the car after saying goodbye to the manager of the grain bank, saw from experience that this big guy was just an ordinary horse, and it was also a hybrid that was bred by combining different regions and characteristics of horse breeds that could adapt to the cold climate of the western soil.

The coachman of the Ponte Grain Company, who was both a porter and a stevedore, was a man of the prime of life, and perhaps the long life of the farmer had left a deep mark on his life, so that after learning of Aldrich Triss's formidable wealth and knightly status, he kept a terrible silence, except for a few commands to steer his horse if necessary, and only looked blankly ahead, and on several occasions thanks to Aldrich's kind reminders he avoided the scraping and collision of the private carriage that rushed out of the alley.

In order not to embarrass the more and more cramped coachman, the Knight of Tris had to abandon the idea of using the opportunity of conversation and small talk to find out the bottom of the daily sales of the Ponte Grain Store, anyway, Rosin Avenue was not very far from the Shiying Neighborhood, and he simply glanced left and right to watch the characters on the street.

When the knight's attention was taken away from the coachman, the strong man, who had been very cheerful, secretly exhaled a long breath, clenched the reins of the horse mixed with unknown animal skins and sisal fibers with both hands, shivered all over, and gradually relaxed and returned to normal.

According to Aldrich's observations, there were not many ways to leave the country estate and enter Eastwood City after the decline of the family, most of the people who had no skills were recruited by the factory owners as hired laborers, blood and sweat were used as moisturizing oil to keep them running, and the longing and expectation of a better life in the future slowly faded in the face of the cruel reality, and the enthusiasm that had been burning and eager to enter the city was soon exhausted by the whip of the overseer and the long work of squeezing the rest time into the near none。

On the way, from time to time, I met people who went to work in the workshop area, and their heavy steps were like carrying their own coffins to the cemetery, with only indifferent numbness in their eyes, and the burden of life continued to fade the brilliance of hope, as if they were almost suffocated by a gloomy haze. Occasionally, a few people who stayed up late to rush to work went their own way, and there were some living people in their bloodshot eyes, but that was all there was to it.

As if perceiving that the knight's eyes were always fixed on the hired man with a tragic fate, the coachman, who was quite touched, suddenly had a surge of enthusiasm and mustered up the courage to say a cynical word, but when it came to his mouth, he swallowed it back inexplicably.

Fortunately, this road is only an inconspicuous episode, and soon a new page is turned like a musical score played, and the new Shiying district is not far away, and the multi-tasking coachman is ready to cope with the rather heavy work ahead.

Aldrich retracted his chaotic thoughts, and guided the coachman not to go to the whole wheat bakery, but directly to the warehouse where the liquor factory was to be founded, and the very obedient coachman, who was "tamed" by the foreman of the Ponte Grain Company, did as Trice instructed, and instructed him to go east and never dare to go west, and would not take the so-called shortcut to embarrass the knight by relying on his familiar geographical environment.

After the carriage full of grain arrived at its destination and stopped, Aldrich got up and got out of the car to the locked door of the warehouse, took out the configured key to open the lock, and the coachman then got out of the car and fixed the wheels with a wooden stake, and put a clean coarse cloth apron over his head and covered his shoulders, which looked like a hooded cloak, but in order to avoid dirt and gossip when the flour bag was resisting, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to start, and Tris immediately reached out to stop it.

"Leave this kind of careless work to me. Aldrich came to the back of the flatbed carriage, and without refusing, he picked up a grain bag with a standard fifty pounds of wheat with one hand, turned and walked briskly into the warehouse. It seemed to feel easy, the second time he grabbed four, the third time he felt like he could add a little more weight, and two more on his left and right shoulders. After a few back and forth, the truck load of a ton and a half of grain was carried into the warehouse, and the coachman was dumbfounded, wiped his eyes vigorously, and went back and forth several times between the idle Knight Tris and the empty flat carriage, and finally admitted that what had just happened was not a dream, and sighed helplessly.

"Lord Knight, I have an income from loading trucks in the warehouse of the Ponte Grain Store, I also have an income from driving horse-drawn carts to deliver goods, and I have a final income from unloading and transporting, and it is very difficult for me to do this. ”

Thinking about the deal with the highland warrior Baruch, Aldrich didn't expect that his hurry up would help the coachman, he thought about it carefully, and then explained: "You don't have to worry about this, those grain bags will be treated as if you moved in, and you can get the three incomes before and after." Even if the manager of Ponte Grain asks me about after-sales service, I will provide you with evidence, which is the reward you deserve, and no one will be surprised. ”

The coachman complained a little after he regretted it, he didn't expect the knight to talk so well, he was a little glad in his heart, nodded quickly, and took out a voucher receipt from the drawer under the driver's seat.

After seeing him leave, Aldrich turned around and walked into the warehouse, closed the door with his hand, looked around and didn't find anyone peeping, he took out the space bag, and unhurriedly stuffed all the grain into it. He kept the red socks close to him, stayed for a while, and estimated that the time was almost noon, and then left the warehouse where he was going to be used as an ale factory, and went alone to the liquor river outside the city.

When Tris locked and left, the rats that smelled the smell of flour sprang out of the dark corners, but this time they were disappointed, and the residual smell in the air quickly diluted away, and as for the place where the grain had been piled up, only some old wheat overflowing sacks, and a little flour remained.

For the sake of this little ration, which was not enough to fill the gaps, rats from different communities still broke up the conflict caused by the scramble one after another, but unfortunately except for the natural enemies that attracted them, the wild cats and rat wolves rushed to take the opportunity to hunt and kill, they did not get any benefit, but suffered heavy losses after a bloody battle.

If Aldrich had been to travel in a public carriage one after another, the "eyes" that were watching his every move would have become suspicious, and Tristan walked out of the city along the straight road, but several groups of watchers from different forces were overwhelmed, and they could only stay away and not dare to get too close.

After leaving the city, there is only one main road leading straight to the Spirits River, and the cobweb-like path further after crossing the river, and the desolation of the nearby vegetation without vegetation makes the eyeliner have to stop and watch.

Aldrich arrived at the Liquor River as promised, just in time for a few Highland warriors, led by Baruch Stoneaxe, to stay on the stone embankment, and when they saw the famous President Triss enter, they all got up to meet him. But the knight, who had come alone, was not followed by a freight cart laden with grain, a discovery that made the brain-tensed savage snort in displeasure.

"Isn't it really possible? I still have to deal with smugglers and spend a lot of money to buy food for my people for the winter. Baruch Stoneaxe muttered to himself in discouragement, but he stepped forward to hand over Aldrich Triss.

But for the first transaction, I am not sure if you will be able to eat it, so I only offer a ton and a half from the familiar grain store, most of which is wheat, and the rest is coarsely ground flour. ”

Baruch Stoneaxe, the leader of the highland mercenaries, glanced back and forth at Aldrich in surprise, feeling that he didn't look like he was lying, but a ton and a half of food, President Triss wouldn't stuff it.

Seeing the confusion and incomprehension in his eyes, Aldrich did not make a fool of himself, he did not pat his chest and promise, but simply asked: "You should prepare the means of transport for the grain, with the convenience of the deep-water port of Eastwood City, there are countless cargo ships on the Liquor River, you should always get one in hand." ”

Baruch Stone Axe nodded slightly, from the beginning to the present, the rhythm has been carried away by Aldrich, and he feels that the matter of the grain trade must be settled, and he is a little impatient.

"It's much easier to have a ship, so I'll play a trick on you, but for now, call that cargo ship over. Aldrich came to the embankment by the river, and then Baruch, who followed him, put his finger in his mouth and whistled loudly. It wasn't long before a flat-bottomed ship came rushing upstream, and as soon as it docked on the shore, sailors lowered its angular stone anchors, which were only used by caravans.

Aldrich saw that the ship had a sloop with eight holes on both sides, and when the oars were lowered, they could indeed advance and retreat freely in the inland river where the speed of the river was not fast, and of course the speed of the ship would be faster when the wind was downwind.

Triss boarded the ship, and the Highland warriors followed with them, looking at each other, and the group had seen the old captain and the sailors of the same age, and perhaps for the sake of their livelihood, these old men did not have the contempt they had for the Highland barbarians, but only the silver delle in the mercenary purse.

After nodding his head, Aldrich led the way to the storage compartment below deck, bypassing the mast attached to the keel at the bottom of the ship, two empty compartments, estimated that the volume should be sufficient. Tris immediately retired from all the Highlanders, including the friendly Baruch Stoneaxe.

Closing the hatch and pulling out the close-fitting storage bag and taking out the food one after another, the weight of about half a ton tilting the punt slightly, this discovery made the Highlanders look forward to Aldrich's alleged trick.

It didn't take long for the hull to regain its general equilibrium, and then Chairman Triss clapped his hands and asked them to come over for acceptance.

"Incredible!" Baruch Stoneaxe was tempted to ask the origin of the sacks of grain that filled the two chambers, but the wisdom of keeping his promise not to ask for details kept his mouth shut.

"Twenty bags of flour, fifteen catties of weight, twenty sacks of wheat, the standard of fifty catties, there is no short catty and two gram buckles, and the price is fifty percent higher than the market price because of a little risk?"

The highland warriors couldn't help but exclaim: "It's only fifty percent high, it's too cheap, the smuggler asks for at least twice as much, and sometimes even counts the people on the way to eat horses and chew horses, which is more than twice as high." ”

"They have to unblock a lot of joints, and I'm just providing you with a batch of food, without taking a big risk, so it's not comparable. ”

Baruch shook his head vigorously, "It's a little different, but thank you, my friend." It's a pity that a few of us don't have much money, so I'm afraid we won't be able to eat so much food. However, I have a treasure on me that can pay off debts, and it is said to be a very valuable opal. ”

Aldrich took the gem into his hand without care, glanced at it hurriedly, and then stuffed it into his arms and kept it close to him: "I believe in you, I will not covet your treasure, and the money can be paid for in the next transaction." ”

The Highland Warrior was a little moved, and he stepped forward and hugged Triss hard: "Thank you very much, my friend, you chose to believe in me, and I believe in you too." In the future, the wintering food of the Stone Axe tribe will depend on you!"

The deal was settled, and both sides took what they needed, and the Aldrich delivery ship sailed upstream, Baruch and his friends waving at the stern of the ship, until the distance was out of sight, and President Triss returned with a full load.

After a quick glance at the gemstone that exuded its golden brilliance, Aldrich couldn't help but be moved by its mysterious origin, although it was not the first time he had seen it.