Jack gave a bitter smile.
“The prices for our trades with Nolan’s group.”
Elias didn’t immediately see the problem.
“But we haven’t set the prices yet.”
“That’s exactly the problem,” Jack explained. “We’ll be accepting sun-dried bricks from Edith’s group and outside traders, but Nolan and the others can only trade brick blanks with us. One still needs to be dried, while the other is already finished. We can’t give them the same value.”
He used the simplest example he could think of.
“Suppose Edith and the others can buy a loaf of bread cut into ten slices for ten sun-dried bricks. How many brick blanks should Nolan’s group pay for the same loaf? Ten obviously wouldn’t make sense, but if we set the difference too high, that wouldn’t be fair to them either.”
Elias and Marlin finally understood. Marlin’s smile faded as he considered the problem.
“That is serious. If we aren’t careful, we could end up with two completely separate sets of prices.”
“That’s why I don’t want to decide too quickly,” Jack said. “Even if the prices are unreasonable, the problem might not be obvious at first. But once more people start trading here, changing them will become much harder. Then we’ll be the ones left cleaning up the mess.”
The three stood beside the trading post for a long time, trying to find a pricing method that was both simple and fair to everyone.
They considered comparing how much time it took to make brick blanks and sun-dried bricks, then using that difference to determine their value. But the longer they discussed it, the more complicated the calculations became.
While they were still struggling with the problem, Edith, Ruth, and Helen returned to the trading post. They had already agreed on a jerky price with Nolan’s group and had only come back to let Jack know. Instead, they found all three men frowning over another problem.
“What happened to the three of you?” Ruth asked.
Jack explained the pricing issue they had just discovered.
After listening, Ruth gave the three men an odd look.
“What is it?” Jack asked.
Ruth hesitated.
“This is what you’ve been worrying about?”
“That’s right.” Jack answered without thinking, then caught something in her tone. “Do you have a solution?”
“I do, and it shouldn’t be as complicated as you think.”
Jack immediately brightened.
“What’s your solution?”
Instead of answering, Ruth asked, “When we first arrived, Nolan and the others were making brick blanks every day. Why was that? Can you explain?”
Elias didn’t understand what that had to do with pricing, but he told her about the original arrangement.
“So each of them used to be required to produce three hundred sun-dried bricks a day, right?” Ruth asked.
“That’s right,” Elias said. “But that requirement no longer applies.”
“Then the solution is even simpler,” Ruth said. “Now that there’s no daily quota and you only accept brick blanks from them, there’s no reason to include the drying process in their prices.”
She continued, “Making brick blanks is basically a matter of preparing the mud, packing it into molds, and removing the finished blanks. As long as they have enough mud and molds, they can produce plenty in a single day.”
Jack began to understand what she meant.
“Why not set a price for the brick blanks by themselves?” Ruth continued. “For example, one hundred qualified brick blanks for ten potatoes. They would only need to trade part of what they make each day to get enough food.”
She glanced toward Nolan and the others.
“There are ten of them. Suppose each person makes two hundred brick blanks a day. That would give them two thousand altogether. Even if they traded only half of those with you, they could still get one hundred potatoes.”
Ruth smiled.
“No matter how much they eat, ten people couldn’t possibly finish one hundred potatoes in a day. They could leave the rest of the brick blanks to dry, then use the finished bricks to buy food from us or jerky from outside traders. They might end up living better than any of us.”
Jack, Elias, and Marlin fell silent.
After a moment, Marlin slapped a hand against his forehead.
“You went straight to the heart of it. The answer was so simple, yet the three of us stood here thinking for ages. We even started trying to calculate how long the bricks would take to dry.”
Elias shook his head helplessly.
“We were so focused on establishing a fixed exchange rate between brick blanks and sun-dried bricks that we forgot they never needed to be exchanged for each other in the first place.”
Jack gave a bitter smile.
“The three of us spent all that time thinking, and a few words from Ruth solved the whole problem.”
He turned to her and spoke sincerely.
“Thank you. Your solution is much simpler, and it keeps the prices from becoming unnecessarily complicated.”
All the praise left Ruth a little embarrassed.
“You were just too focused on the difference between brick blanks and sun-dried bricks. Once you started thinking along those lines, you got stuck there.”
Elias saw that Jack was about to thank her again and brought the discussion back on track.
“All right. We have a solution. Now we just need to set the prices.” He turned to Ruth. “But you didn’t come back just to see what the three of us were worrying about, did you?”
That reminded Ruth why they had returned.
“We agreed on a jerky price with Nolan and the others, so we came back to let you know.”
“There’s no need,” Elias said, waving a hand. “That trade is between your two groups. As long as both sides agreed on the price, we won’t interfere. Prices should be decided by the buyer and seller. If we insist on setting the price of everything ourselves, it’ll only cause problems in the long run.”
Jack and Marlin agreed. After thinking it over, Ruth understood his point.
“I understand.”
Edith spoke with some hesitation.
“There’s one more thing we may need your help with.”
“What is it?” Jack asked.
“We don’t have any cookware or tableware, and neither does Nolan’s group,” Edith said. “Do you have any extra sets we could buy?”
Jack thought about it, then shook his head apologetically.
“I only have one camping set. I don’t have any extras.”
Edith couldn’t hide her disappointment.
“But you can use mine for now,” Jack quickly added. “I rarely need it anymore anyway. Later, we can search the nearby ruins and see if we can find more.”
Edith hurried to thank him, but Jack waved it off and told her not to worry about it. After briefly discussing when they would collect the equipment, the three women left the trading post to begin preparing for their stall.
Once they were gone, Jack turned back to Elias and Marlin.
“Now that we have a solution, we might as well set the prices for both sides.”
After some discussion, the three settled on the following exchange rates for qualified sun-dried bricks: ten bricks for ten potatoes, fifteen for one loaf of bread cut into ten slices, and twenty for one can of beef. A seasoning set containing salt, cooking oil, and pepper would cost thirty qualified sun-dried bricks.
These would be the wholesale prices offered to Edith and the others.
For Nolan’s group, they followed Ruth’s suggestion and set separate prices based on qualified brick blanks. Ten potatoes would cost one hundred brick blanks, one loaf of bread would cost one hundred and fifty, and one can of beef would cost two hundred.
The seasoning set was the most expensive at three hundred qualified brick blanks. Each set included one packet of salt, a one-liter bottle of cooking oil, and one packet of either black pepper or pepper powder.
“We’ll use these prices for now,” Jack said. “If necessary, we can adjust them later.”
“That works,” Elias replied. “Now that the prices are settled, we can tell Nolan and the others.”
Jack was about to head over when Nolan’s group began discussing the new rules among themselves.
Nolan gathered everyone together and repeated what Jack had announced. Some of them didn’t care about the details as long as their work could be exchanged for food. Others quickly noticed that the new rules clearly limited how they could use their sun-dried bricks.
One of the men finally asked, “Simon, why did you agree so quickly?”
Nolan, Owen, Eli, and Lyle were wondering the same thing.
Simon looked around at the group.
“What Jack and the others are really worried about is that we can make as many bricks as we want. If we could trade both brick blanks and sun-dried bricks directly with Jack, sooner or later, we’d end up controlling all the trade here.”
“That’s why he separated the two and stopped us from trading sun-dried bricks with him directly. But as far as I’m concerned, that’s actually a good thing.”
Nolan frowned.
“If they’re restricting us, how is that a good thing?”
“Because we’ve already decided to stay,” Simon said. “If we want to live here, we have to follow the rules. This is our best chance to show them that we truly intend to become part of this place.”
He looked at the others before continuing.
“Besides, we aren’t losing anything. Jack and the others have already taken our needs into account.”
Nolan and the others thought back over the rules and began to see his point.
“We used to be required to hand over three hundred sun-dried bricks per person every day,” Simon continued. “That requirement is gone now. From now on, we can decide for ourselves how many brick blanks to exchange for food and how many to keep and dry into bricks.”
He picked up a brick blank from the ground.
“Suppose each of us makes three hundred a day. With ten people, that gives us three thousand brick blanks. Even if the final price is two hundred brick blanks for ten potatoes, trading two thousand would still get us one hundred potatoes. We could dry the remaining thousand and use them to buy other food or jerky.”
Owen began to smile.
“Looking at it that way, we really aren’t losing anything. As long as everyone works hard, we can live pretty well here. And Jack doesn’t only have potatoes. We can exchange for bread and canned beef too.”
“We could even build houses for ourselves,” Eli added. “We’re making the bricks anyway. Once we’ve saved enough, we can ask Jack if he’ll allow it.”
That immediately drew everyone’s attention to the open ground around them. Some were already imagining where they might build.
Lyle smiled.
“Unless any of you still plan to leave and establish your own settlement, there’s nothing wrong with following these rules. At least if we stay here, we won’t have to worry about suddenly running out of food.”
“I’m not Derek,” someone immediately replied. “Why would I give up a good life here and go build my own settlement? That would just be asking for trouble.”
Everyone burst out laughing. Before long, they were talking over one another about where to build their houses and how many bricks they would need. Some even began arguing over whose house should be closest to the trading post.
They were so caught up in the discussion that no one noticed Jack approaching.
Jack didn’t interrupt them. He stopped nearby and listened for a while. When he heard Eli mention building houses with their own bricks, he walked over with a smile.
“You don’t have to wait until later to ask. I can give you an answer right now.”
The conversation came to an abrupt stop, and everyone turned toward him.
“I have no problem with you building houses for yourselves,” Jack continued.
Eli hadn’t expected him to agree so readily, and his smile widened. The others immediately became excited as well. Several of them were already looking over the open ground again, seemingly eager to choose a spot.
Nolan finally realized that Jack must have been standing there for some time.
“We got so caught up in the discussion that we didn’t even notice you coming over.”
“That’s all right,” Jack said. “What were you talking about? I only heard the part about building houses.”
“Mostly the trading rules you just announced,” Simon replied. “Some of them still had questions, so I explained what I thought you were trying to accomplish.”
Jack laughed.
“What a coincidence. I came over to talk about the trades too.”
Everyone quieted down and gave him their full attention.
“Have you set the prices?” Nolan asked.
“We just finished,” Jack said. “That’s what I came to tell you.”
Everyone waited expectantly. Jack didn’t keep them in suspense and told them how many qualified brick blanks they would need for potatoes, bread, canned beef, and seasoning sets.
Once he had finished listing the prices, he asked, “That’s everything for now. If we add more supplies later, I’ll let you know. What do you think? Any problems with the prices?”
“No.”
Nolan answered without hesitation, and the others quickly said they had no objections either.
Jack had expected at least a few complaints about the prices. Instead, everyone seemed pleased.
Simon noticed his confusion and explained.
“Before you came over, we were trying to guess what the prices would be. What you decided is much lower than we expected. That’s why everyone is so happy.”
That caught Jack’s interest.
“What prices were you expecting?”
Simon seemed a little embarrassed, but he answered honestly.
“We thought two hundred brick blanks for ten potatoes would already be a very good deal.”
Jack paused.
He and Elias had settled on one hundred brick blanks for ten potatoes, exactly half of what Simon’s group had expected.
Jack quickly understood and burst out laughing.
“So that’s why. It looks like the price I set really is unreasonable. It’s only half of what you were already willing to accept.”
He deliberately rubbed his chin.
“In that case, should I raise it?”
Everyone knew he was joking and burst out laughing with him.
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