Dream Delivery System: My Delivery Jobs Keep Changing History – CH128

Chapter 128

The 4,450 yuan of shopping money, combined with the funds given as a gift, totaled 20,450 yuan.

This money was mainly used to buy daily necessities and clothing and jewelry—no weapons, production tools, or advanced technology would appear in the options, so that the tribe where Feng lived wouldn’t get any wild ideas of taking them and then, after the wedding, use the gifts to dominate neighboring small tribes, including Feng’s own small tribe.

Wow, just thinking about it felt darkly humorous.

“I worry more than his father.” Feng’s father was the tribal chief, so he naturally hoped his son would have a good life—but he definitely didn’t want the in-laws to have too good a life.

As for the dowry, it needed to show sincerity but couldn’t be foolishly generous with everything good.

Putting himself in that position, Jiang Jitang knew exactly what he should prepare.

He first went to the previous alloy store, but it only had bronze items and small flesh-cutting knives. He bought ten knives, then asked the shopkeeper where else he could find bronze items.

The shopkeeper said there was a specialty store for antique-style bronze artifacts, with more exquisite items, mostly copper-tin alloy. It was located on a certain floor and number of the building.

He went there, and indeed it was a shop specializing in bronze items. Not everything was copper-tin alloy, though—some were just zinc alloy with a colored coating. After walking around the shop, he carried away a basket of items: A pair of miniature bronze tripods for incense; Ten small antique-style bronze wine cups; One bronze mirror.

That was enough. Buying more might make the big tribe suspicious: how could such a small tribe be given so many bronze items as dowry?

Even with just these items and the small knives, he had spent 740 yuan. Zinc alloy equivalents would have cost only a dozen yuan, while copper-tin alloy added a zero.

The notes specifically required tools for polishing bone artifacts. After some thought, he bought a set of whetstones—coarse and fine—and a small set of polishing heads with wooden handles, the polishing heads made from natural stone rather than diamond. That cost him only 86 yuan.

Next, he bought three thick cotton quilts, each weighing ten jin, for a total of 520 yuan, and four cotton pillows.

These quilts came with cotton covers, all in uniform indigo, very plain. He had wanted patterned ones, but before 1000 BCE, dyeing technology was limited. Only a few colors were available: red (hematite powder, madder root), yellow (gray poplar), blue (indigo, woad).

If he wanted patterned fabric, it required embroidery or weaving dyed threads, a technique used six or seven thousand years ago. Both methods were costly, maybe feasible for a very rich future order.

Cotton cultivation and weaving appeared late in Xia history, making people assume that pre-1000 BCE people wore hemp or silk. In fact, cotton cultivation and weaving existed in 3000 BCE, just not in Xia.

Since cotton was being used, fabric for clothes had to be prepared.

He chose: Three pieces of fine cotton for close-fitting garments; Three pieces of densely woven cotton, durable for general use; Three pieces of thin linen for summer clothing; Three pieces of coarse linen for outer garments; Three pieces of sheer linen for curtains, as many families used it for that.

All fabrics were only off-white and indigo.

Each piece of fabric was about 33.33 meters long and 1.6 meters wide. At roughly 15 yuan per meter, fifteen pieces cost 7,800 yuan.

Seeing his large purchase, the shopkeeper gifted four embroidered linen pillowcases and an embroidered linen tablecloth—embroidery dating back to 2000 BCE.

Fabric sorted, Jiang Jitang drove to buy furs and hides at the wholesale market’s sixth floor. A shiny mink coat hung at the entrance. He ignored it and went to the corner for slow-moving goods.

Even with plenty of money, he wanted to spend wisely.

The corner had mostly rabbit skins, intact and mostly pure white, some brownish or grayish. Wholesale only sold in batches of ten, at 8.6 yuan each. Jiang Jitang paid 8 yuan per skin and bought all 300+ rabbit skins, totaling 2,600 yuan.

The shop also sold cowhide, mostly dyed. He found two undyed hides, each four square meters, costing 880 yuan together.

Finally, the shopkeeper gave him a bundle of natural-colored leather cord.

At the market, he also bought semi-precious gemstones: a strand of heart-shaped agate beads, several crystal beads, some quality loose beads, a lapis lazuli necklace, a pair of water buffalo horn combs, a pair of small white jade vases, a white cat sculpture, and a green bull sculpture—all roughly the size of an egg.

He remembered Feng’s totem was the lynx, and the bride’s tribe totem was the bull.

These items were good quality, totaling 1,660 yuan.

Then he went to a nearby pottery factory, choosing tall, narrow clay jars for pickling vegetables—65 cm high, 45 cm diameter, thickened, 140 jin each. Twenty jars cost 3,000 yuan, including bamboo dust covers.

These jars were to be delivered to the kindergarten. Not all would be taken; most would remain for storage.

According to the task, Feng’s tribe had been exposed to pottery but hadn’t mastered it, so these jars were still expensive and considered luxurious.

Feng’s tribe had a small territory with only one stream. Shared with other animals, they didn’t live next to it and had to fetch water daily. Large jars would allow them to store freshwater and survive a little better.

Remaining 3,164 yuan went entirely to pottery: jars, pots, bowls, spoons, and decorative vases. Unglazed, coarse, cheap—3,000 yuan bought a whole cart. Seeing all the items he had chosen, Jiang Jitang joked it looked less like a dowry and more like moving house.

Over the next day, the items were delivered to the kindergarten: cows, sheep, fabric, pottery—piled everywhere, astonishing onlookers.

Everything went smoothly, until the three wooden carts arrived for inspection.

At first, Jiang Jitang worried the carts had glue or nails. The problem, however, was not that.

The teak carts were not entirely teak. Wheels and frames were teak, but other planks were miscellaneous wood.

“How could it all be teak? It’s too expensive. Using only teak, we’d lose money,” said the delivery clerk. Reasonable, since teak is durable but costly.

His worry: the miscellaneous wood had been overlaid with teak veneer to deceive the eye.

“System, in the Stone Age people used resin to bond stones. So this veneer technology must have existed, right?”

He shamelessly consulted the system, which didn’t respond. He took tools and removed the fake veneer himself. Other people in the kindergarten helped, unsure why. Fortunately, the veneer was thin and poorly glued, coming off easily. In just over ten minutes, all veneer and glue were gone from the three carts.

Everything then went smoothly. After receiving all items and tending to today’s players, Jiang Jitang drove to the hotel to pick up someone for the three-and-a-half-day task.

The task officially lasted half a day, but with an extension card, it became three and a half days—perfect to attend a grand wedding in the Rouge World.

A Rouge World wedding was rare—how could they miss it? Parsons, entering instances daily, needed a proper break.

“Parsons.” Jiang Jitang saw him at the hotel, wearing a black cap, black T-shirt, black boots, dark blue jeans, with long legs straight out of a comic.

Jiang Jitang opened the door and hugged him warmly: “Thanks for waiting.”

He wore sky-blue jeans, white T-shirt, and white cloth shoes. Passersby whispered as Parsons silently took off his cap and placed it on Jiang’s head.

“What’s the plan for today?”

“We’re attending a wedding, unprecedented.” Jiang Jitang patted the passenger seat. “Get in.”

A wedding? In casual clothes? No gift? Parsons, confused, got in. They returned to Jiang Jitang’s home and entered the living room.

“Wait, I need to sort the task list and unwrap some packages first.”

Before starting, he carefully checked everything: honey poured into wide-mouthed clay jars, covered with cloth; coarse salt similarly processed, two tons filling half of the large jars.

Parsons grew increasingly curious until Jiang Jitang mysteriously said: “Want to deliver parcels with me?”

“Yes.” The answer came reflexively.

“This task involves preparing a dowry for a man getting married. That world’s civilization is still in the wild stage: moving from communal to private property, beginning slavery, possibly feudal tribes. These are the items I’ve prepared, only part of them.”

He patted Parsons’ shoulder: “This is why I need you. If they dislike what I’ve prepared, and want to give a bad review, show your strength, my dear brother. But they may be so satisfied they invite us to the wedding.”

He spoke convincingly, yet Parsons detected his hidden pride: no bad reviews were possible, only good ones.

Parsons guessed correctly. Jiang Jitang had done his best to prepare for the brother’s interworld dowry, limited by “technology available in 1000 BCE.” Otherwise, he would have prepared a full-scale elaborate wedding.

He naturally held Parsons’ hand; Parsons instinctively held back.

“Order confirmed.”

In the Rouge World, Feng sat on a large tree at his home, playing a bone flute. His long hair framed honey-colored skin, white robes fluttered in the wind. Behind him lay his tribe’s land: a medium-sized rabbit tribe of 2,000+, surrounded by thorny vines.

Within the vines, besides the rabbits’ huts, grazed sheep. Feng was in charge of them; they were healthier than other tribes’ sheep.

Feng’s looks were unremarkable, but during song gatherings, countless female warriors approached him. He had a reputation as the best animal caretaker on the plains.

Harsh conditions and simple values made “diligent and capable” the top mating standard. Strong warriors and excellent logistics were highly sought.

Among the women, Feng chose Mao from the Ox Tribe as his spouse—a gentle-eyed warrior.

Having found a suitable match should have made him happy, but Feng worried.

Due to totems, the rabbit tribe’s fertility was high, but their land was small. After cultivating fertile land, they still had to forage in the nearby hills daily.

This year’s drought had dried the streams; crops failed; foraged fruits were insufficient, and there was no surplus for trading salt. The tribe might not survive the coming cold winter.

Now the tribe pinned their hopes on him.

The Ox Tribe, where he would marry, had vast farmland and uninterrupted rivers. They reportedly had stone houses and full granaries. Perhaps they’d lend grain to the rabbit tribe to help them survive.

The shaman prayed to the rabbit god for guidance on whether the marriage would succeed and whether they should seek help from the Ox Tribe.

The deity responded; the tribe searched the forest and found a tree to offer at the altar.

“Father, why not pray to the gods to help us survive winter?”

“To have a happy marriage and survive the winter would be too greedy. Even merciful gods would resent it. As long as the other side honors the agreement, we can survive.” The tribe decided collectively.

Feng knew they feared that if the tribe’s survival succeeded, they could not also pray for his happiness.

With one day to the wedding, perhaps today the deity’s messenger would bring his prepared items.

A single tree—how many precious items could it yield? Could it help him integrate into the new tribe and receive aid? Feng did not know; his heart was heavy.

He was the son of the rabbit tribe chief, marrying the Ox Tribe chief’s daughter. Their marriage was already more complicated than ordinary people’s, and the Ox Tribe chief was holding a grand feast, inviting all tribes on the plains.

It was a grand wedding, attracting the attention of all tribes. Countless eyes watched.

Feng held the bone flute, looking into the distance. Confident as he was, the road ahead remained unclear.

“Eh? What’s that?”

In the distance, two figures approached. He couldn’t make out their faces, only their strange leather clothing—a blue unlike anything he’d seen.

“Doo—” He whistled. The tribe within the vines was alerted; some grabbed weapons and approached, others hid.

“Feng, who is it? Savages?”

“Not savages, two people, wearing colorful clothing.” Feng got a clearer view—it was two men in vivid clothes, their faces almost divine.