Reborn in 1977

Chapter 203: Master Chen's Benevolence

It was the same location as before, with a large group of people gathered around.

As luck would have it, Secretary Yang and a few others were among them.

Seeing Chen Fan and his group approaching, Secretary Yang immediately waved, "Are you here to see the horse?"

Chen Fan nodded, greeted Captain Zhang, Xiao Liewen, and Ye Shubao, then looked at the horse tied to the willow tree, and then at the horse seller beside it, who was the same one who sold the foal last time. He then said softly, "Why hasn't anyone bought this horse? It's not sick again, is it?"

Xiao Liewen looked regretful, put his hands behind his back, and said with惋惜, "Isn't that the truth? If it were a good horse, he wouldn't be selling it, and no one would have bought it by now."

Among rural livestock, the most sought-after are water buffalo. A strong adult water buffalo costs 200 yuan, and a calf costs about 100 yuan. They are solid hard currency. As soon as the word gets out, people will be scrambling for them.

Next are horses, mules, and donkeys. Among them, horses and mules are more popular than donkeys, and the most expensive of these are breeding mares, also called "kè mǎ."

Zhao Yi, who, along with Yuan Mei and Zhang Wentao, is known as one of the three great masters of the Qing Dynasty's Xingling school, wrote a book called "Gāi yú cóng kǎo · Kè mǎ shàn mǎ zhàn mǎ," which contains a record: "Before the Tang Dynasty, mares were called 'cǎo mǎ.' After the establishment of the pastoral supervision department, they were called 'kè mǎ,' and later people changed the character to '騍 mǎ.'"

So, "kè mǎ" means mare, "shàn mǎ" is obviously a castrated horse, and "zhàn mǎ" is a riding horse without a saddle. There is also "ér mǎ," which is a stallion, the opposite of a mare, and in some places specifically refers to a horse used for breeding.

A strong adult mare costs about 120 to 150 yuan, a stallion that can breed costs about 130 yuan, a castrated horse is cheaper, about 90 to 110 yuan, and a foal is half that price.

Mules are the offspring of a horse and a donkey. Due to chromosome reduction during meiosis, male mules are basically infertile, and female mules have a very small chance of giving birth to a mule after mating with a horse or donkey.

However, a mule's load-bearing capacity exceeds that of both horses and donkeys, so the price is only slightly lower than that of a horse, about 100 to 120 yuan.

The cheapest are still donkeys and yellow cattle. A strong adult costs only 80 to 100 yuan, and older or smaller ones are discounted.

So, if this strong mare has no problems, someone should be scrambling to buy it for 150 yuan.

After all, it is a purebred Dongyang horse, not only tall and beautiful but also with a load-bearing capacity and endurance no less than a mule, and even stronger. It is normal to trade at the highest price.

But now that half the morning has passed, no one has even inquired about this horse, so there is only one possibility.

Like the foal that Chen Fan bought, this horse is sick!

While pondering, Chen Fan stepped forward and squatted down to touch the horse.

The mare lay on the ground, not even looking at him, with no vitality in her eyes.

Gan Laibao, the horse seller, had seen him long ago, his eyes filled with bitter smiles and hope. He greeted him first, "Master Chen."

Chen Fan looked up at him and asked, "Master Gan, why do you want to sell the mare?"

Gan Laibao sighed, "I don't know if it's because I sold the foal. Ever since the foal left, this mare hasn't eaten properly. She only eats a little fodder every day, and she doesn't run anymore. She just lies in the stable, motionless. She only moves when you pull her. In less than a month, she's lost a lot of weight. If this continues, even if she doesn't die, she won't be able to work anymore."

No wonder he wants to sell the horse. A horse that can't work is useless!

Chen Fan blinked and was about to speak when Xiao Liewen, who was standing aside, stepped forward and said loudly, "What you're saying is wrong. According to your meaning, are you blaming Little Chen for buying your horse? Are you going to ask him to return it to you? Or are you trying to force him to buy this sick horse?"

The people around, regardless of whether they were from Lujiawan, all chimed in.

"One thing is one thing. Which production team doesn't know that if Master Chen hadn't kindly bought your foal, it would have been slaughtered sooner or later. How can you blame Master Chen?"

"Regardless of how your mare got sick, you're putting the blame on Master Chen as soon as you open your mouth. What are you trying to do?"

"Old Gan, even though we're both from Ganjia Village and you're my distant relative, I still have to say something to you. This isn't the way to behave!"

"That's right. Master Chen kindly bought your horse. Is he wrong to buy it?"

You said one thing, and I said another, making Gan Laibao's face turn red. He quickly explained, "I didn't mean that, I really didn't mean that..."

Chen Fan looked back at the indignant people, a little confused.

It is said that one should help reason, not relatives, but that is internally. At the very least, everyone in a large team is familiar with each other and has a good relationship before there is the saying "help reason, not relatives."

But externally, the countryside in this era emphasizes "working together." Regardless of who is right or wrong, you can't take the wrong side, or you won't be able to live in this village!

Now, Gan Laibao had only said one sentence, and it had aroused so many people to defend him. Among them were even people from Ganjia Village, which was very strange.

At this time, Secretary Yang waved his hand to stop the others from criticizing, then pointed at Gan Laibao and asked, "Did you take her to the veterinary station? What did Station Master Zhou say?"

Gan Laibao said with a bitter face and spread his hands, "Station Master Zhou couldn't find anything wrong either. He even said that the horse shouldn't be sick, but he still prescribed some appetite-stimulating medicine, but it didn't work after she took it."

While they were talking, Chen Fan lowered his head, touched the horse's head, and asked softly, "What's wrong with you?"

The mare finally reacted when she heard his words and looked up at him.

After a few seconds, she neighed a few times, "My baby is gone."

Chen Fan was immediately speechless. It really was?!

In the countryside, there are countless cases of cows and mares being reluctant to part with their calves and foals. Even a sow will protect her piglets, let alone a more intelligent horse.

Especially a mother dog that has just given birth, even if the owner dares to touch the puppies, some dogs will bare their teeth.

The foal was taken away before it was even a month old, so it was very likely that the mare was sick with longing.

"Oh."

Chen Fan sighed and touched the mare's head. It seemed that he had to buy this horse.

Asking him to sell the foal back, not to mention that he was reluctant to part with it, Gan Laibao didn't seem like someone who could come up with dozens of yuan in cash. Moreover, Gan Laibao originally intended to sell the foal, so Chen Fan would never sell it back to him.

Seeing the mare in this state, he couldn't bear it either. The only way was to buy this horse as well.

Well, fortunately, he made a lot of money today, or else he could only watch helplessly.

Chen Fan clapped his hands, stood up, walked to Gan Laibao's side, and asked, "Master Gan, how much are you selling this horse for?"

Before Gan Laibao could speak, Xiao Liewen stared at him with wide eyes, "You're really planning to buy it? What are you going to do with it?"

Secretary Yang also persuaded, "A sick horse that Station Master Zhou can't even find a problem with, what's the use of buying it?"

"To study the illness!"

Chen Fan opened his eyes and talked nonsense, pointing to the horse lying on the ground and saying, "This is such a good case study. Station Master Zhou can't even find the cause of the illness. It must be some difficult and complicated disease. I can buy it back and study it slowly. If I can cure it, wouldn't I make a lot of money!"

Ye Shubao carefully looked at Chen Fan, then at the horse. He rolled his eyes and said, "If you ask me, we have all kinds of livestock in our team, horses, cattle, sheep, mules, donkeys. If you want to do research, we can pull any of them over for you. There's really no need to buy this one.

Besides, even if you can cure this horse, what are you going to do with it? You're a coordinator, you don't need a horse to pull a cart. If you want to ride it, this horse is already an adult, it can only be used as a packhorse. It can't carry you around, it can't run far, it can't run fast, why bother."

Listening to their words, Gan Laibao was so anxious that he was getting angry, but he didn't dare to speak again.

After what happened just now, he had figured it out. This matter really had nothing to do with Chen Fan.

If it weren't for Chen Fan, the foal would have been slaughtered in the end. Even if the foal was gone, the mare would still be like this. It really wasn't Chen Fan's fault.

But he also wanted to cut his losses.

It was almost noon, and many people had asked about it, but as soon as they heard it was a sick horse, they didn't dare to buy it.

Deceive people?

They were all villagers from nearby villages. Try to deceive them!

Only Master Chen wasn't afraid and opened his mouth to ask the price, but he was stopped by the leaders of the Lujiawan brigade. How could he not be anxious?

Chen Fan finally persuaded Secretary Yang and the others, then turned to Gan Laibao and asked, "How much are you planning to sell it for?"

Last time, Gan Laibao dared to ask for a price, but now he didn't even dare to ask, or else he would be scolded by those people again, and maybe Chen Fan wouldn't buy it in the end.

So he resigned himself to fate and said, "I bought this horse five years ago. It cost me 50 yuan back then. In these five years, I've taken care of it more diligently than I've taken care of my old mother. Green grass and radishes are nothing, but soybeans and salt have never been cut off. The feed cost is at least 5 yuan a year. Master Chen, you can just give me what you think is fair."

Saying "give me what you think is fair" was also giving a minimum cost price, which was about 75 yuan.

Chen Fan thought about it and still didn't have the heart to be too ruthless, so he said, "One price, 100 yuan."

This horse wasn't sick at all. If he took her back to see the foal and raised her for a few days, she would immediately be a good horse worth 150 yuan again. But he didn't dare to give too much, or else he would really become a fool in the eyes of others.

Even at this price, the people around all gave him a thumbs up, "Master Chen is benevolent!"

Gan Laibao was also very satisfied. After selling this horse, he would go back and find an adult mule. He couldn't afford to take care of horses!

Chen Fan took out 100 yuan from his cloth bag little by little. Secretary Yang helped write the transaction receipt, and then both parties pressed their fingerprints. The money and goods were exchanged, and the transaction was completed.