Chapter 522 – Four Tribes

Zhao Hai nodded and said, “So it’s like that. That explains why you trust Ah Tai so much and also why sister-in-law isn’t very polite to you.”

Laura smiled and said, “Actually, Uncle Ah Tai isn’t suitable for business, he’s too honest. But him being in the Prairie is good, the Beastmen like his strength. He’s also a very strict person when it comes to status, he only wanted me to call him Ah Tai, I’m not allowed to call him uncle.”

Zhao Hai smiled, then he looked at Ah Tai with appreciation. Megan looked at Ah Tai and his wife and said to Laura, “Why do I think that Ah Tai is scared of sister-in-law?”

Laura looked at the couple and smiled, “That’s true, Uncle Ah Tai is very honest, and he also liked sister-in-law very much. However, because of his appearance, he chose to not dare confess. Later on, sister-in-law took the initiative and asked uncle to marry her, which made uncle happy. Since then, sister-in-law has always been favored by Uncle Ah Tai, almost to a point where he’ll always be following her.”

Meg sighed and said, “It’s been hard for them being in the Prairie for this long of a time. It seems like their appearances had already adapted to this place.”

Laura nodded and sighed, “I initially wanted someone else to head to the Prairie, but I just cannot find an appropriate person. It was the two of them who requested me to allow them to go, I really don’t want to let them go but I had to agree in the end because of their constant requests.”

At this time, Ah Da and Ah Er came in from outside. When the two entered the tent, Ah Tai immediately scolded them, “You two rascals, you saw the Young Lady and the Young Master earlier but you didn’t greet them. Go quickly give them your greetings now.”

The two nodded and then arrived to Laura and Zhao Hai before giving their greetings. Laura looked at the two and smiled, “Ah Da, Ah Er, you grow up very quick. You two weren’t this tall when I saw you a while ago.”

Ah Da laughed foolishly and said, “Yes, Young Lady, we’ve been having good food recently, so we grew bigger and bigger.” Ah Er nodded in support. When Zhao Hai looked at the two, he couldn’t help but laugh, they were too adorable.

At this time, Sister-in-law came and said, “Young Lady, Young Master, the meal has been prepared.” Laura and Zhao Hai nodded, then they stood up before heading towards the Magic Stove.

This Magic Stove was fabricated according to the customs of the Beastmen. The middle of the furnace was heated up using a magical formation while its rims were made of wide stone that could be made into small tables.

In the middle of the stove, a large flat iron pan was placed. The iron pan seems to be lathered with lard. Around it were plates with meat and vegetables.

Zhao Hai had a feeling of being out of place. He felt like he had returned to Earth and was having barbecue with his friends.

After Ah Tai’s wife asked them to sit down, Ah Da immediately gave them glasses before pouring them some wine. At this time, the lard had already melted, so Ah Tai immediately laid the slices of meat over to the pan.

After Zhao Hai and the others finished drinking, Ah Tai had already flipped the meats over, filling the entire tent with a pleasant smell.

Ah Tai held his wine glass up this time and then looked at Zhao Hai’s group and said, “Young Master, Young Ladies, since I wasn’t able to participate in your wedding ceremony, I can only offer you a toast right now. I wish you all to be happy and to have a completely joyful life.”

Zhao Hai and the others also quickly held their glasses up. Zhao Hai smiled to Ah Tai and his wife and said, “Thank you, thank you. I also wish for your family a happy and joyful life.” Then the group simultaneously drank from their glasses.

At this time, when Ah Da was about to refill their liquor, Zhao Hai quickly stopped him. He took the bottle and then served Ah Tai and his wife as well as Laura and the others with liquor. Then he lifted his own glass and said, “Ah Tai, Sister-in-law, you’ve been working hard for all these years. Let me offer you this glass of wine.” Ah Tai and his wife didn’t dare to dally as they immediately drank their glass of wine.

Then Laura also got up and poured the group another glass of wine before giving her greetings. The group still hadn’t eaten, yet they had already drank three glasses of wine.

Zhao Hai and the others had always greeted other Beastmen this way, so they had already formed a habit. At the same time, Ah Tai’s group had also dealt with Beastmen before, so this custom wasn’t strange for them.

After drinking three glasses of liquor, the group stopped, then Ah Tai quickly said, “Young Lady, Young Master, have a taste of this barbecue. I’ve just chopped this meat this morning, and they had now finished cooking. They are definitely delicious.”

Laura smiled and said, “Alright, I’ve been hungry for sister-in-law’s barbecue. They’re very delicious.” Then she grabbed a two-pronged fork next to the pan and got herself some few slices of meat. Then she sliced it with her knife before placing a morsel into her mouth.

Zhao Hai and the others followed her example, they forked some meat into their own plates then ate it. Not to mention the fragrance of the barbecue, the pieces of meat were also very large and thick. Even if they were cooked, they weren’t fully done. The meat was slightly red but it was very tender and delicious.

When Zhao Hai ate a piece of the meat, he nodded and said, “Delicious, this so delicious. Sister-in-law’s cooking is very good. If you open a shop selling these barbecue, it would certainly do very well.”

As soon as Ah Tai’s wife heard Zhao Hai, a smile blossomed on her mouth as she said, “If Young Master likes it very much, then you should eat more.”

The group continued to eat and chat. Before long, they had unconsciously ate until they are full. The only ones left eating were Ah Da and Ah Er. Zhao Hai and the others were now just drinking and chatting.

Ah Tai turned to Zhao Hai and Laura then said, “Young Lady, Young Master, there has been rumors going around Beast God City saying that the Beastmen may declare war with the Humans. They might expel Human Merchants. What do you think about this matter?”

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “We already know about this, rest assured. Even if they do drive the other Merchants away, that doesn’t apply to us. We have the Herculean Bulls’ King’s Flag as well as the Black Bear Tribe’s friendship flag.”

Ah Tai nodded and said, “Since we have those flags, the Beastmen wouldn’t touch us. But Young Master, I’ve sold the grain that you’ve given me at normal price. Are you angry?”

Zhao Hai laughed and said, “Of course not, why would I be angry? That’s what you decided to do, so it’s no problem. Right, I’ve brought a new type of crop, you’ll be selling these later.” Then he showed Ah Tai a Bread Fruit.

The food that Zhao Hai gave Ah Tai in the past weren’t Bread Fruits, but instead Bamboo Rice. At this time, Zhao Hai took out the Bread Fruits.

When the Bread Fruit was opened and exhibited its pulp, the eyes of Ah Tai and his wife lit up. They dealt with the Beastmen for a long time, so they knew what they needed. This Bread Fruit would definitely be a favorite among the Beastmen.

Zhao Hai gave them the Bread Fruit and then had them taste it, then he said, “Only our Buda Clan has this Bread Fruit. No other people have this in hand. We shall mainly sell these fruits in the future, we have a lot of them. Moreover, we should also sell some daily necessities. The price of the Bread Fruit is half of Bamboo Rice. The price of the necessities shouldn’t be very high, maybe a bit higher than its price back on the Human territories.”

Ah Tai then said, “Young Master, isn’t this too low? This Bread Fruit is much more convenient than Bamboo Rice, it is cost-effective as well. It would still be popular even if we sell it at a high price. Also, those daily necessities, they still needed to be transported to the Prairie, that would cost us. If we do it just like what you said, we would be losing so much money.”

Ah Tai was an honest person, but it didn’t mean that he was stupid. He knew that when one travels to the Prairie, one would need to go through a lot of checkpoints. Delivering things to the Prairie would generally make the price of the items double. If one doesn’t increase the price of the item, they would generally lose out on profits.”

Zhao Hai smiled and said, “That’s not an issue. I’ve already calculated the sums, we won’t be losing money. Also, if we make a name for ourselves this time, when the Beastmen is done waging war with the Humans, we would become the largest merchant in the Prairie.”

When Ah Tai heard Zhao Hai, his eyes couldn’t help but lighten up, then he laughed and said, “Alright. Young Master’s words made me feel relieved. I certainly wouldn’t disappoint the Young Master.”

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “I’ll tell you the truth, since the Buda Clan and the Markey Family have been combined, there aren’t a lot of people who would dare offend us. However, Ah Tai, you shouldn’t presumably think that we can monopolize the business of the Prairie. It’s impossible for that to happen.”

Ah Tai smiled and said, “Young Master can rest assured, I fully understand.”

Zhao Hai nodded and said, “Since the Markey Family has been here for quite some time, we should have some tribes that we directly supply, right? Do we have a deep relationship with them?”

Ah Tai nodded and said, “Before the takeover, the Markey Family supplies four large tribes with food and daily necessities. The four tribes are the Fire Fox tribe, Black Panther tribe, Gibbon tribe, and the Gold-ringed Eagle tribe. These four tribes are all branches of Warring Races. Each year, their food and necessities consumption are quite large. However, the Markey Family’s business only accounts for 20 percent of their food supply and 10% of their daily necessity supply.”

When he heard Ah Tai, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but frown and said, “What’s the problem? Why is it like that?”

Ah Tai sighed and said, “This isn’t really a mystery. Even if the goods of the Markey Family are of high quality, their prices were also significantly higher than the other merchants. If not for the fear of having their supply monopolized, those four tribes wouldn’t be buying from the Markey Family. This year, even if the Prairie was having a food shortage, those four tribes didn’t buy any food from the family. The amount of daily necessities that they bought didn’t increase either.”

Zhao Hai couldn’t help but sigh, he really cannot understand why the Markey Family acted this way. Not only did they offend everyone on the continent, they were also quite overbearing in doing their business. They really think that they were soaring in the heavens and thus became conceited. If Zhao Hai didn’t deal with the family, other people would attack them sooner or later.

Zhao Hai nodded and said, “Alright, I understand. Do you know the addresses of these tribes? I plan on visiting them when I have time.”

Ah Tai nodded and said, “I know, these four tribes are quite famous in the Prairie. It’s very easy to look for them. The Fire Foxes are well-known prophets among the Beastmen. Their abilities are also special. It was said that their spirit technique can summon fire attributed beasts and their attacking abilities are very strong. The Black Panther tribe are one of the very few assassin tribes among the Beastmen. Their stealth techniques are very formidable. The Black Panthers were the people who clashed with Human assassins during wars. The Gibbon Tribe are one of the main forces of the Beastmen. They dual wield scimitars, and their movements are very flexible. They are the ones who generally attack the walls of Human cities. The Gold-ringed Eagle tribe are also one of the main battle force of the Beastman Race. Their bodies aren’t’ very huge, but they are very skilled in archery. And because of their unique mount, they were also one of the most famous aerial scouts in the Prairie.”

Zhao Hai nodded, “That’s good. It seems like now is not the right time to visit them. The war between the Beastmen and Humans are inevitable. It would be impossible to sell food at this time since the Beastmen are going to pillage them from the humans. You don’t need to get busy at this time, just stay here in Beast God City. I don’t think that this war would go on for too long. As soon as the war is over, we should try to be the first to establish new connections to the Beastmen. It’ll be the opportune time to form partnerships with the tribes.”

Ah Tai nodded and said, “Young Master can rest assured, I know what to do. I originally have a cooperation with the Pig-headed Race. But they are just too far and is only a commoner race. Recently, I’ve been planning on getting in touch with the Tiger-headed race. If we can get a partnership with them, we won’t be worrying about where to sell our goods later.”

Zhao Hai nodded, the Tiger-headed Race and the Lion-headed Race are considered to be the Royal Races of the Beastmen. These two races have innumerable amounts of subordinate and slave races under them. Because of how much excess manpower they have, they can fully devote themselves into improving their fighting strength. Because of this, they have become leagues stronger than the other Beastman races. Adding on to the fact that these two races were very rich, Zhao Hai wouldn’t worry about not selling his goods anymore.