On the grasslands of Moon Town, at the end of every month, a swap festival is held.
Last month’s swap festival saw Mama Cat trading a bright red apple with Granny Fox for a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers. Mama Cat placed the flowers in a vase, and Duobao Cat eagerly ran over to smell them, exclaiming, “These flowers smell so nice!”
Papa Cat traded a fancy hat with Grandpa Cat for a bamboo fishing rod. Now, Papa Cat could happily take his bucket and fishing rod to the river to fish.
Grandma Cat traded a lovely scarf with Auntie Goose for a pair of goose feather socks. This way, Grandma Cat could wear the warm goose feather socks during the winter.
Soon, it was time for another swap festival. Duobao Cat woke up early, carrying a picture book he had read over a hundred times, and went to the grasslands. He saw a small, exquisite, colorful shell. So, he walked over to Little Pig Dudu and said, “How about trading my picture book for your shell?”
Little Pig Dudu reluctantly replied, “I don’t like your picture book.”
Just then, Little Duck Gaga arrived, and Little Pig Dudu stared at the big pancake in Little Duck Gaga’s hand, drooling. It turned out that Little Pig Dudu wanted to trade with Little Duck Gaga.
Little Duck Gaga said reluctantly, “I don’t like your shell.” Her eyes lit up as she said, “Duobao Cat, how about trading my big pancake for your picture book?” It turned out that Little Duck Gaga was a bookworm!
Duobao Cat was a bit hesitant and said, “Is that okay? You trade your shell with Little Pig Dudu, and then you trade the shell with me for my picture book.”
And so, they happily made the deal. Duobao Cat, holding the shell, was especially happy and ran off to tell Grandpa Cat that he had traded for a beautiful treasure.
“Oh, a shell! In ancient times, it was the raw material for money, later replaced by various metals, and eventually by paper currency,” Grandpa Cat said, smiling as he narrated.
“Grandpa, how did people buy things before shell money existed?” Duobao Cat asked thoughtfully.
“People used barter to get what they needed,” Grandpa Cat replied with a smile.
“Oh, I didn’t realize there were swap festivals in ancient times too!” Duobao Cat exclaimed in surprise.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
