Chapter 95

They were Zhuo Yun, Xu Ran and the shopkeeper who were going to buy the carriage. The shopkeeper was familiar with horses. And Zhuo Yun had been a businessman for so many years who also knew a little about this field. Anyway, he would be better than Xu Ran, a layman who knew nothing about buying a carriage.

A strong tall black horse caught Zhuo Yun’s fancy. According to the trader who owned the horse, it was a horse that had retired from the army. Because the horse was injured, it couldn’t fight on the battlefield again, and they didn’t have the heart to kill it. So they just sold the horse to ordinary families, and now it belonged to him.

Xu Ran liked this horse a lot too. Besides it was imposing, he thought that it would definitely be strong enough for long-distance riding since it had been to the battlefield. Xu Ran stroked its head and asked the trader, “Sir, how much is your horse?”

“You have also viewed the horse, sir. Although it is a retired old horse, it is better than all the others in my stable. I’ll give it to you for this price,” the trader stretched out his hand and made a gesture.

It was fifty taels of silver, which could be enough to buy a superior horse. After all, this horse certainly couldn’t justify the price because it had been wounded that it couldn’t be loaded with heavy weights or used for long-distance riding.

Before Xu Ran could say anything, Zhuo Yun stepped forward and said to the trader, “You are extorting from us and taking advantage of us for we haven’t bought a horse, aren’t you? I’ve met innumerable good horses when doing business, and I’ve never heard of someone who charged such a price for a horse like you. Tell me, exactly how much is the horse?”

Zhuo Yun acted as if they were determined to buy this horse and the trader should be careful of being beaten if he quoted the price casually, which could be compared to a bully.

Zhuo Yun really frightened the trader. The trader just didn’t think they had any experience of buying or breeding horses, so he dared to quote such a price.

Who would have thought that they had run business and were experienced?

The trader immediately put a finger down, “Then how about this price?”

Zhuo Yun didn’t answer; he just glared at him silently.

The trader shivered for no apparent reason before putting his another finger down. “That’s my rock bottom price.”

Zhuo Yun shook his head, “It’s not on. Unless you give another cart to us, or I won’t buy this horse anymore or let my friends buy anything from you if they want horses. Now you have to think it over.”

It was really a threat, and Zhuo Yun exuded an air of fearing no-one, which frightened the trader.

In theory, the person who dared to sell horses should have some wealth that he wouldn’t be afraid of Zhuo Yun’s words, but there just had been some unexpected things happened to the trader’s family a few days ago. Therefore, he had been keeping a low profile these days. And when he heard Zhuo Yun’s words, he agreed without thinking, being afraid that Zhuo Yun would really proclaim his sharp practice .

Xu Ran really picked up a good bargain. And he asked the trader to harness the horse to a cart. After paying the cash, he tapped the trader on the shoulder, wishing him a prosperous business.

The trader breathed a full sigh of relief after he saw the three of them off. He was having a really bad day. If there hadn’t been anything happened at home, he could have dared to say he could sell the horse at what price he wanted.

Thinking about his family’s wretched business, he was suddenly taken down a peg. How miserable he was!

…

Xu Ran hadn’t driven the carriage by himself yet, so Zhuo Yun let Xu Ran try it first. After all, a horse was not as easy to control as a cow, which was even a docile one.

Xu Ran also wanted to try it himself. He had never ridden a horse in modern times that he could only watched enviously as others galloped fine horses forward. At this time, he could finally drive a carriage. Although there was a difference between the reality and his imagination, it was still a horse after all. He had to make do with it.

Xu Ran sat in the position of the carriage taking the reins and he let the horse trot slowly. The shopkeeper sat next to Xu Ran and taught him how to ride the horse.

After walking slowly for a while, Xu Ran started to master the skills and the carriage also started to speed up. After all, he had the experience of driving the ox cart and therefore learned quickly.

Xu Ran safely drove the carriage to the entrance of Zhuo Yun’s mansion, and then he was going to help Mr. Hu get in the carriage. Xu Ran patted the horse’s head and proudly said to Mr. Hu, “Mr. Hu, we also have a carriage. In the future, I can take you wherever you like. Whoopee, are you happy?.”

“Yes, of course.” Mr. Hu was also a little excited. It was not because of the carriage, but because Xu Ran completely treated him as a family member when saying the words.

Xu Ran giggled, then helped Mr. Hu get into the carriage. He sat in the driver’s seat and waved goodbye to Zhuo Yun and the others. Then he waved the whip in his hand. “Hia!‘’

Xu Ran successfully drove the carriage back to Xu Village.

When he reached the edge of the village, Xu Ran saw Tangtanga and Guoguo as well as four dogs stood in a line waiting for him. Since these dogs were taken back before the New Year, they had been grown up until March now. They looked quite mighty from a distance, but as soon as their owner approached, they would start to wag their tails that Xu Ran didn’t know where they learnt from.

Tangtang and Guoguo shouted and ran over after they saw the carriage. Xu Ran was afraid that the horse would hurt them for being unfamiliar to them, and therefore hurriedly stopped it.

Xu Ran jumped off the carriage and placed Tangtang and Guoguo into it. “Sit still and I will give you a ride home.”

“Okay, let’s go home!” Tangtang and Guoguo clapped their little hands in delight and then went into the carriage to talk with Mr. Hu like the birds chirping.

Xu Ran smiled happily and sped up the carriage. And the four dogs ran behind the horse.

When they came home, the people of the construction team saw that they had changed a new carriage, which was driven by Xu Ran. They couldn’t help coming over to look on. Foreman Li didn’t say anything but let them walk around the carriage and watch it for a while before asking them to get back to work. Then he sidled up to Xu Ran.

“Xu Ran, did you buy this carriage?”

Xu Ran looked at Foreman Li for a while before nodding.

Even though Foreman Li had guessed it, he was shocked when Xu Ran told it to him. He also wanted to know where Xu Ran got the money! He just saw that Xu Ran had spent a lot of money without any incomes! Now he still could afford a carriage, which really staggered Foreman Li.

Xu Ran looked at his reaction and smiled. Now only he knew the difficulty of his family that they were really strapped for cash.

He didn’t know if Tongtong would say he was a big spender.

Xu Ran ignored Foreman Li’s expression of surprise and carried Tangtang and Guoguo off the carriage. Then he helped Mr. Hu get out and let Tangtang and Guoguo help the old man come into the house. After having been sitting in the carriage for a long time, it was time to have a good rest; after all, he was an old man.

When Foreman Li saw Mr. Hu, he immediately recovered his composure and greeted Mr. Hu.

Mr. Hu smiled, waving a friendly greeting and followed Tangtang and Guoguo into the house.

On the other side, Xu Ran started to unload the carriage. Because he was not so skilled at it for the first time, he spent a lot of time on it. So Foreman Li just looked at the horse so enviously that he wished to take it home.

After Xu Ran unloaded the carriage, he saw Foreman Li’s greedy expression. (Hm, this was just his thought) Then he showed great mercy to let Foreman Li touch his horse. Xu Ran looked at the black horse in front of him and named it ‘Big Black’ in his mind.

Xu Ran said to Foreman Li, “Mr. Li, you can touch Big Black’s head. He won’t kick you.”

The black horse suddenly snorted when he heard Xu Ran call him ‘Big Black’, being disgusted with the name, which sounded really unpleasant. Xu Ran ignored his resistance and called him ‘Big Black’ repeatedly. He even threatened not to feed him if it didn’t agree with the name. This kind of behavior was really unashamed. Even a horse would be bullied by him that Foreman Li also couldn’t stand his behavior.

After unloading the carriage, Xu Ran just found that the cart was outside the yard. The horse could be led in, but how about the cart? Could it walk by itself?

Xu Ran felt it was wrong, and then he was about to harness the horse to the cart. Foreman Li hurriedly stopped him, “Well, you needn’t to harness him. I’ll carry the cart into the yard with you. It’s only a short distance. By the way, I’m wondering if you become silly after taking the exam. Why are you acting a little strangely?”

Xu Ran strongly approved of Foreman Li’s words. He also felt that he needed to reflect on himself.

Xu Ran and Foreman Li carried the cart into the yard. Liu Tong was not at home who probably was busy with other things. After Xu Ran led Big Black near the pigsty behind and tied him, he went into the house to find a large piece of oiled paper and covered the cart with it to protect it from the rain.

Guoguo and Tangtang were sitting by the side of the fire pit, talking with Mr. Hu. Mr. Hu was in a good mood. The two little guys also liked Mr. Hu and kept jabbering away.

Xu Ran went over and asked Tangtang and Guoguo, “Tangtang, Guoguo, where has your Daddy gone?”

Tangtang turned back and said to Xu Ran, “Dad, Daddy went to cut the grass for pigs. He said that he would cut more because he was afraid of the rain. He told me to wait for you at home with Guoguo. He also told that you just need to prepare the meal at home instead of looking for him.”

Alright, he just assigned all the tasks. Xu Ran also wasn’t going to look for Liu Tong. He added a bundle of firewood into the fire and went to rinse the rice and cook the meal.

Xu Ran did it so quickly that he didn’t become rusty although he hadn’t cooked for a long time. Their family had also not eaten the meal alone for a long time that they always ate with the construction team.

Xu Ran went to the kitchen to look at the cutting board. There was lean meat, two turnips and a bundle of turnip leaves on it.

Last year, they hadn’t planted many vegetables, and now there wasn’t much to eat that they could only cook a few kinds of dishes repeatedly.

Xu Ran thought that the vegetable seedlings at home had probably been planted by Liu Tong. He didn’t know about the corn seeds, it was also time for him to take a look.

Thinking of it, Xu Ran increased his speed.