Bai spread a route map across the market table and weighted its corners with jars of dried beans.
The road between White Orchard and the border farms could carry a medicine cart, but the old bridge needed a new plank. The market sellers did not want to extend credit to families without local guarantors. Bai had offered to hold a shared account for supplies, with a receipt for every delivery. Mera agreed only if the growers could inspect the books.
“You can inspect every page,” Bai said. He opened the ledger to the first entry. “If I list the cost, the seller, and the household that receives it, you can tell whether I’ve changed a price.”
A grower named Hala traced the route. “The bridge is narrow. If a cart turns back there, the next delivery misses the morning market.”
“Then we repair it before we promise regular shipments,” Bai said. “The plank and the wheel are part of the cost. I won’t hide them in a later price.”
The sellers wanted a guarantee that the cart would not be sent through during heavy rain. Hala said the route could be inspected from the west bank, but the bridge plank might still look sound until a wheel crossed it. Bai proposed a test with an empty cart before carrying medicine. The sellers asked who would pay if the plank broke under the test load.
