“Let’s buy it. I’ve been wanting to buy a horse for a while, but I haven’t found a suitable one until today.”
Pei Yao couldn't bear to see the old man continue kowtowing to the shopkeeper, since they did indeed need a horse.
Upon hearing Pei Yao's words, Pei Dalang's eyes lit up immediately.
After the two decided to buy the horse, Pei Dalang went directly to Old Man Zhang and asked, "Old man, how much silver do you plan to sell this horse for?"
Old Zhang choked up and said, "Fifteen taels of silver will do, just enough for the child's medical treatment."
Pei Yao touched the purse in her pocket. When she went to the county today, she learned that several young ladies had only paid a deposit for the lychee wine yesterday and had only paid the balance today. In addition, the deposit that the horse shop had just refunded came to her, which amounted to about twenty-one taels of silver.
Pei Yao handed the silver to Pei Dalang: "Give it all to this old uncle."
Pei Dalang nodded and handed the counted silver to the old man: "Old man, sell this horse to us. Our family just wanted to buy a horse."
When Old Man Zhang heard what Pei Dalang said, he was then given a money bag.
He was immediately incredulous, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time: "Young man, you...?"
Pei Dalang didn't say much, but gestured for the old man to count the silver to see if it was enough.
Old Zhang stared at the money bag in his hand, then opened it somewhat absentmindedly.
silver!
Wow, that's a lot of money!
Old Zhang looked at Pei Dalang in disbelief, then counted the money; there were a total of twenty-one taels of silver.
Old Zhang hurriedly tried to return the extra silver to Pei Dalang.
"Young man, you've given too much. Fifteen taels would have been enough."
In fact, Old Zhang was puzzled, because she looked at the two people in front of her and saw that their clothes were no different except that they had no patches. They were also wearing coarse linen clothes, so how could they spend so much money to buy their own horse?
However, he was currently in dire need of those fifteen taels of silver, so he naturally didn't have the mind to think about anything else.
However, he insisted on returning the extra silver to Pei Dalang.
In the end, Pei Dalang insisted: "Old man, just take it. It's more important to get the child medical treatment first."
Pei Dalang thought for a moment and then said, "The doctor in the county, Dr. Lin, is indeed a very skilled physician."
Finally, Old Man Zhang couldn't persuade Pei Dalang otherwise, and with tears in his eyes, he was about to kowtow to Pei Dalang and Pei Yao.
Pei Dalang and Pei Yao quickly pulled him up, and then told the old man to hide the silver well so that no one would see it and try to steal it.
However, Pei Yao and the others didn't know where the veterinary clinic in town was, so they had to ask Old Man Zhang, who was still immersed in shock and joy.
Upon hearing this, Old Zhang wiped away his tears and led the horse behind him, saying, "I know a place where they are. I'll take you there."
Old Zhang led them toward the town's only veterinary clinic.
Right next to the livestock market, Old Zhang had brought his horse to see the place before. The veterinarian had told him that the horse's leg injury looked exaggerated, but with the herbal medicine he prescribed, it would heal after a period of rest.
It was only because Old Man Zhang was in a hurry to get money that he was in such a rush to sell the horse.
Pei Yao had just entered the market when it was past noon and there were hardly any people there, except for a few scattered people standing by the roadside.
When the wind blows, the stench of animal droppings can be smelled everywhere in the air.
When the people saw someone come in, they greeted them warmly: "Sir, would you like to see the horses?"
Pei Yao waved her hand and continued walking forward with Old Man Zhang.
The veterinarian re-examined the horse's wounds. Although the old man was in a hurry to sell the horse, he did not mistreat it or make it walk too much.
The herbs previously applied to the horse's legs have also had some effect, and the condition is not as serious as it was at the beginning.
The veterinarian prescribed some more herbal medicine for the horse and then gave Pei Yao and the others some more instructions.
After listening, Pei Yao and Pei Dalang paid for the herbs, then said goodbye to Old Man Zhang and returned to Liangshui Well Village.
......
After Pei Yao and Old Man Zhang left, Manager Ma finally finished his work and came out.
He thought that Old Zhang was in a hurry to sell the horse and would definitely still be waiting for him at the door, but when he came out, he found that the door was already empty, and there was no sign of Old Zhang or the horse.
He pulled over the waiter standing at the door and asked, "Where are the old man and the sick horse?"
The waiter had only been out for a short while and didn't know, so he shook his head.
The horse shopkeeper often dealt with cattle and horses, and he could tell at a glance whether a horse was good or bad. He could tell at a glance that Old Zhang's horse was a good horse, and even if it was injured, it wouldn't be a loss to spend twenty taels of silver to buy it.
He said that earlier only because he saw that the horse was injured and that Old Man Zhang was in a hurry for money, so he deliberately said that to try to lower the old man's price.
Unexpectedly, the old man disappeared. Boss Ma, unwilling to give up, waited at the door for a while, hoping to see if Old Man Zhang would come back.
Pei Yao and Pei Dalang walked back to Liangshui Well Town. Because their horse had an injured leg, it walked slowly, so it was dark when they got home.
...
The people in the Pei family courtyard became anxious as it grew dark and the two had not returned. Pei Erlang even lit a lantern and went out to search for them.
"Yunniang, sister-in-law, I'm going out to look for my elder brother and Yao'er. You two wait at home." Pei Erlang took a lantern and was about to go out.
Seeing this, Yunniang and Chen Fang also wanted to go out and search together.
"Second brother, I'll go with you." Chen Fang clapped her hands and stood up.
"I want to go too. It's good to have someone with me on the road at night."
Pei Erlang initially didn't want them to come along, but Chen Fang and Yunniang insisted on going.
"Husband, let me and my sister-in-law go with us to look for them. Otherwise, we won't be able to rest easy waiting at home." Yunniang glanced at Chen Fang, both of them looking anxious.
Pei Erlang said no more and had no choice but to take the two of them with him.
Pei Yichen was left at home to look after Pei Xuan.
It was just getting dark, so most of the villagers had just finished eating. Some were sitting at their doorways enjoying the evening breeze, while others gathered in twos and threes under the big banyan tree at the village entrance, chatting about gossip and local matters.
Seeing the three members of the Pei family come out, she greeted them and asked, "Miss Yun, where are you going?"
Yunniang glanced over and saw that the person speaking was Aunt Fang.
"Madam Fang, my Yao'er and elder brother haven't returned yet, it's so late. Let's go check on them on the road." Yunniang's voice was full of worry.
When the people chatting next to Aunt Fang heard that Pei Yao and the others hadn't returned so late and that the Pei family was going to search for them on the road, they all came over to join them in the search.
"Miss Yun, wait for us a moment. I'll go and get my husband. The roads are dangerous at night, and it'll be safer with more people."
After Aunt Fang finished speaking, she hurried home to call her husband. The other aunties also went home to call their husbands to come along.
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