When the Abacus Bead acquisition flags at Qingniu Valley dropped by thirty percent, the farmers' hands trembled as they clutched their contracts—Rhodiola in the Chang'an medicine market had plummeted to three guan and five wen, falling one guan and five wen below the guaranteed price. Instantly, the abacus beads clattered into an array of silver ingots, projecting golden characters across the acquisition platform: "Abacus Contract honored in gold, we'll smash our pots and sell our iron to pay!" "According to the contract!" an old farmer wept, "the guaranteed price is five guan per catty, and we're exchanging them for silver before sunset!" "The abacus beads are more reliable than my own son!"
"Open the granaries and exchange for silver!" The doors of Xiaoxiu's Abacus Bead accounting room swung wide open, the abacus beads bouncing among the silver chests to form the character for "steadfast"—thirty chests of silver had long been prepared, each ingot embroidered with "Abacus Contract guaranteed to be redeemed," while the beads on top of the chests arranged themselves into a formation reading "five full strings." A farmer stared at the bite mark he had left on a silver ingot and smiled: "You can actually bite this silver, the abacus beads are more trustworthy than a money house!" The beads bounced into the character for "bite," displaying next to his tooth mark a carved image by Huwa of an abacus bead covering its mouth and laughing.
"Start the deep processing of medicinal her…
Chapter 269