To everyone’s shock, when coming to the last target, Li Chengru fired an arrow casually and only got 6 points. Ye Xiaoxian thought he did so to show respect for the tribe, otherwise he could have hit above 8. As for Tarico, he hit the target fair and square. As such, he won the contest.
Guri cheered in excitement while resolving to let her father match her and Tarico. She was desperate to marry Tarico.
The award for the winner was two goats. It struck the Xiaos that Tarico was willing to sell his goat for one silver tael because he had confidence in winning the contest! But Tarico seemed uninterested in the prizes. He seemed rather absentminded when he took the rope tied to the two goats and looked at Ye Xiaoxian.
After the competition, Li Chengru and Fengsheng gathered with the Xiaos and the Lius. They chatted and laughed very cheerfully. The others all praised the two for saving face for the Central Plains through their amazing performances.
…
After the Festival of Sacrifice, the people in the tribe continued with their normal lives. Every family was again striving for a living. After a month, Li Chengru came back with 500 silver taels. He gave the money to Ye Xiaoxian and let her start the business as soon as possible. It was obvious that he trusted her implicitly. Besides, he had helped them find a trading agent in Beihui city. He had made the acquaintance of the agency boss in his travel. That man was trustworthy and had a wide network of relationships. With his help, they could sell their goods much faster than doing retail. The premise was that they gave him a share of the profits.
Ye Xiaoxian agreed without hesitation. With Li Chengru’s support, she felt she could do it boldly.
Li Chengru also brought his two palace guards to help her. One of them was called Wong Wen and the other Wong Wu. Since Li Chengru stayed in Baoning city, they had been idle in the big house in the capital. But in this tribe, there would be ample scope for their abilities.
With the money and even guards, Ye Xiaoxian suddenly felt tremendous pressure. She must be careful and do well in her business, or she would be ridiculed by those who knew about this.
…
Ye Xiaoxian soon informed Tarico that they had collected enough capital. After all, this was his idea. That day, Tarico, Wong Wen, Wong Wu, the Xiaos and the Lius gathered in a yurt to discuss what to do next.
This meeting would set a general direction for their business. They would select a leader and two managers and determine the division of labor for the others.
Ye Xiaoxian said, “Since Mr. Li has invested the most money, he is a shareholder.”
Then she explained that a “shareholder” was an investor. If a business was unprofitable, the shareholder would lose money. Running a high risk, the shareholder should in return obtain a big share. Since Li Chengru had invested 500 silver taels among the total sum of 700, he should hold the biggest share.
The others nodded in approval.
Then, she said, “Next, we’ll select a leader, that is a decision-maker or director. Here, I’d like to recommend Tarico. He’s not only experienced in this regard, but he’s also a local with a wide circle of friends. If he’s the leader, we should all listen to his arrangements. Since his workload is heavy and the risk he takes is high, he is supposed to get an extra share apart from his investment income.”
The others nodded again.
She continued, “Next are the two managers; Squire Liu and me. Since I can’t keep up with men in terms of strength, and Squire Liu is old, we won’t follow the camel team every time. But we’ll be responsible for the purchasing of local goods, which is also difficult work. In this sense, we’re rather high-level in this team and should get the same share.”
Squire Liu declined politely, “Oh no, my contribution is not as big as yours. You’re clever and have many ideas. Although our positions are the same, you should get a bigger share.”
But she didn’t care much about that. “You’re so modest. I’m young and lack experience. There will be many things about which I have to ask you for advice.”
Squire Liu could only accept.
She then looked at the others and said, “Qianqian, Baozhu, you’ll help me and Squire Liu with the purchase. Uncles, you may have to follow the camel team. Dawu and Erwu, you’re still responsible for fishing and cutting firewood. Aunts, you’re in charge of housework. The others’ work remains the same as usual, that is logistics.” Speaking of “logistics”, she then added, “Don’t underestimate the logistics. As is said, food and fodder should go ahead of troops and horses. You’re making tremendous contributions when you ensure our basic needs.”
Hearing that, Wong Mudan, Chen Ju and Old Mrs. Jia cocked their heads proudly.
…
After the work was divided among them, they began performing their respective duties. Ye Xiaoxian, Squire Liu and Tarico went to purchase camels. Since Tarico had been surveying where there were good camels, they soon brought 20 back after visiting several farms.
Although the camels were different sizes and species, they were strong and capable of carrying heavy things.
The large camel team came as a great shock to the locals. If a horse was compared to a small Japanese car, a camel was equal to a big truck. How amazing to have 20 trucks at a time! The curious people kept inquiring about what happened. Soon, they knew Tarico had united the Seventh King and the two families to form a camel team. The news stunned the locals greatly.
These years, Tarico had been mobilizing them to set up a camel team, but no one believed it was a reliable means of making a living. Being an orphan, Tarico had shown his best side to the locals. He was good at fishing and archery and sometimes sold things out with the camels. But anyhow, the camel team was not a safe way to earn money. For them, the desert was just like a monster which might swallow them at any moment. If caught by it, what they stood to lose was not only money but also their lives. So it was a great surprise to them that the Seventh King would invest so much in something which they had shrugged off.
…
In the evening, Mahal had noodles for dinner with his wife and daughter under an oil lamp.
Dati told him about the camel team and asked, “Can they really earn money with the camel team?”