"..." Long Rui pouted. How could he, being young, possibly defeat Da Bao gege!
Long Ye tried to argue for his grandson, "Xiao Rui is still young, but in the future, he will become an even more powerful beastman than Da Bao!"
Da Bao was displeased by this statement, "Impossible. When Xiao Rui grows up, I will also grow up, so he can't possibly defeat me."
Long Rui: "..."
Long Ye: "..."
"Haha! Da Bao is right, that's exactly how it is!" Leite laughed heartily.
Wente was a step behind Leite, but he thought the same thing.
A'man snorted. They were all bullying his son. Just wait and see, one of Wente's two little females would definitely be his son's mate!
The commotion in the courtyard could be heard from the kitchen. Ya watched her son's dejected expression without any intention of helping. Instead, she withdrew her gaze and said to Shu Yue, "Yue, Xiao Rui likes Xiao Bei."
Shu Yue had no objection to discussing children's mates and said with a light smile, "They are all still young. When they grow up and become adults, if they truly fall for each other, I won't stop them."
With these words, Ya was relieved. She had confidence in her son.
In the afternoon, A Shui, Da Jin, and Da Jiang came carrying gifts to offer New Year's blessings. It was somewhat like visiting relatives and friends, bringing small gifts to acquaintances' homes to chat. At first, everyone found it novel.
After a few years, they increasingly felt that this custom was good, bringing liveliness and strengthening relationships. Now, Warrior City had developed to nearly a hundred thousand people. They had always been harmonious, with unity and friendship among people. Warrior City would surely prosper in the future.
Wente accepted the gifts and asked with a smile, "Are only the three of you here? Why didn't you bring your mates and children?"
A Shui explained, "Jiao Jiao is busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner at home, and my four sons are nowhere to be found. I couldn't be bothered to bring them."
Yes, A Shui had another pair of twins. The four young males were causing Jiao Jiao quite a headache. Finding wives for them in the future would be a problem!
Even counting Guoguo's and Yaya's children, there wouldn't be enough mates!
Guoguo's womb was fertile, giving birth to two little females in five years. The elder was four years old, and the younger was only a few days old. She was currently recuperating at home.
Shu Yue would also have to bring some gifts to visit later.
Yaya was also doing well, with one daughter and one son, completing a perfect pair.
Da Jiang handed over the gifts, "Wente, we won't stay long. Guoguo can't be left alone."
Wente understood, "I know you've been busy these past few days. Hurry back."
Da Jin offered a few blessings, and after delivering the gifts, the three of them left.
Now everyone had their own families, and it was the festival season. Homes were busy. When things calmed down, they would surely gather, whether at home or for a picnic outdoors.
Occasionally taking their mates and children for picnics outdoors had become a kind of romantic pursuit, which beastmen greatly enjoyed.
Shu Yue, having been busy all morning, took gifts in the afternoon and visited friends with Wente. Winter had just passed, so there weren't many rare items to give. Most were eggs, large roosters, and some cured meat and preserved fish.
The animal husbandry industry had developed quite well. The city had expanded with dozens of chicken farms, managed by elderly beastmen and females. Tens of thousands of chickens produced over a hundred thousand eggs daily. To increase survival rates, they had consulted with the Little Horn tribe to dig underground burrows to shelter the chickens from the cold. Production had been increasing year by year.
The chicken farms were originally public, but due to various reasons, management was poor. Shu Yue took over. She only needed to pay the elderly beastmen who managed the farms a salary daily and purchase some chicken feed. If others wanted eggs, they had to buy them with currency, forming a supply chain.
Wente buying eggs was merely a formality. She didn't intend to make money here; it was useless. Her goal was to develop everyone's trading and currency awareness. However, their family's genes were so good that even without earning, they could achieve in a year what ordinary beastman families worked for over a decade.
The previous public ownership system had been changed to private ownership. Taxes were paid to the city based on family size, either in meat or currency. Whatever remained after paying taxes was their own.
This system had its pros and cons. The stronger the individual, the wealthier the family. Those weaker could barely maintain a basic livelihood. Even so, the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks. Competition always existed, and the weak had no one to blame.
Moreover, hunting wasn't the only path. Now with trade, even cutting grass for a day could earn enough food to fill one's stomach. For instance, Shu Yue's family constantly purchased fodder and various plants, being a major trading partner for the tribe.
Shu Yue's family had an excessive amount of money. There were no banks here, so piles of silver coins took up space in warehouses. They spent money very freely.
Everyone understood that Shu Xin was wealthy. So many people in the city, and people were constantly giving them money (charging for medical treatment). But others truly didn't understand why Shu Yue's family was so rich. Was it because Shu Xin spent money on her sister?
That was probably the case. Wente was powerful, but he never sold anything, nor was he seen accepting money. However, everyone knew they both spent money lavishly, so they could only envy Shu Yue for having such a good sister.
The simple-minded beastmen only knew that they exchanged labor for money, and then used money to buy eggs and chicken meat. This was a fair transaction, but they didn't realize that Shu Yue made enough profit from the price difference.
It was just that their math was poor, and they couldn't calculate accounts.
...
After visiting friends, it was getting late, and they returned to eat the New Year's Eve dinner.
In fact, they could eat at any time of the day, but Shu Yue and her sister felt that eating in the evening had more significance.
Shu Yue and her sister did it out of habit, while other beastmen imitated them, subconsciously believing that eating in the evening was the correct way.
On New Year's Eve, Warrior City was illuminated everywhere with various colored small night-shining pearls hung in every household. These things were truly not valuable.
Small ones were thrown on the ground and no one picked them up. Larger ones were rarer, and the extra-large ones were only possessed by the Warrior City management.
For example, Shu Yue's family had three super-large white night-shining pearls. The combined brightness of the three was similar to modern white lights. Hung on the courtyard walls, they were very bright.
Ba Lun exclaimed, "Yueyue's night-shining pearls are so bright! I'll try to trade for a few more at the next trade fair." They had large ones at home, but not of this color. Now, it seemed this color was more comfortable for the eyes.
Lan Hua smiled upon hearing this, "Forget it, Ba Lun. I looked around twice at the last trade fair and couldn't find this color. Shu Yue was lucky enough to trade for them all."
Shu Yue chuckled, "Water beastmen just love eating all sorts of eggs. My eggs are readily available. If Ama wants to trade next time, tell me, and I'll prepare eggs for you."
"Then it's settled. You won't charge Uncle for them, right?" Ba Lun teased.
Shu Yue twitched her mouth, "Uncle, what are you saying? It's like you've ever paid for eggs before!"
Wente thought to himself: Never once. Every time he came, it was charged to his account.