As the stone mill in Cyan Ox Village ground the corn, the old village chief's tobacco pipe tapped sparks onto the contract: "Lad Zhang, you said a thirty percent advance deposit, and regardless of the harvest, you'll buy at five hundred cash?" The abacus beads bounced into the shape of the character "doubt" amidst the wrinkles on his forehead, causing him to rub his eyes repeatedly.
Zhang Yifan shook the abacus beads as he unrolled a bamboo slip, the beads bouncing onto a simplified reading version of the *Book of Lord Shang* to spell out "trust": "Does uncle know how Shang Yang moved the wooden pole to establish trust? What we are building is 'Merchant-Farmer Mutual Trust'—" He chuckled softly, the abacus beads rolling across the stone mill into the shape of a "scale": "This contract is like a steelyard; one end holds the farmers' seeds, and the other holds the medicine cabinets of Qingniu Medical Hall."
The old village chief stroked his goatee: "That's easy to say, but what if the medicine shops slash prices again—" "Slash prices?" Moli shook the abacus beads while carrying medicinal herbs from the ox cart, the beads bouncing into the word "steady" on her medicine chest: "Nowadays, the nobles in Chang'an all recognize our abacus bead medicinal prescriptions, and 'Cyan Ox Seven' can sell for a fortune—" She suddenly lowered her voice, the beads bouncing into the word "profit" right beside the old village chief's ear: "Besides, we still have a secret weapon."
Chapter 173