"Old man, I can only give you ten taels of silver for this horse. If you want to sell it, sell it. If not, leave now and don't delay my business. What kind of behavior is it to be kneeling and kowtowing at my gate? I'm not your father. Don't you think it's bad luck for you to kneel and kowtow to me? Bah!"
The shopkeeper of the horse trading company spoke very rudely, and after he finished speaking, he spat a wad of phlegm in Zhang's direction.
Old Zhang was quite old, and after being humiliated like that, he staggered and almost fell over.
Pei Dalang was furious at his words and rolled up his sleeves, ready to beat up the shopkeeper.
Fortunately, Pei Yao rushed back and grabbed him, saying, "Uncle, don't be impulsive. This is the street. It's not good to hit people."
Pei Dalang was not a reckless person, so he would not fight in the street. Upon hearing Pei Yao's words, he immediately calmed down.
However, he still glared fiercely at the shopkeeper, wishing he could punch him in the face right away.
Old Zhang, standing to the side, glanced at Pei Dalang and felt extremely grateful.
But seeing the two men's clothes, he figured they were probably poor like himself and wouldn't buy his horse. But he was still waiting to use the money to take his child to the doctor after selling the horse.
The waiter who had served Pei Yao earlier came out and called the manager of the horse shop to come in, saying that a customer was looking for him.
The horse shopkeeper glanced at the old man and the poorly dressed Pei Dalang, who clearly couldn't afford a horse, and then went inside without worry.
Let's leave them hanging for a while. This old man is desperate for money to save his life, so he'll definitely come back to me.
Seeing the horse shopkeeper leave, Old Man Zhang panicked and tried to pull him up, kowtow to him, and beg him to add five more taels to buy his horse.
But when he saw those fierce eyes, Old Zhang trembled and dared not step forward, afraid that if he angered them, they would refuse to buy his horse.
This was his son's only hope.
"Heavens above! What am I going to do! What am I going to do with my son!" Old Zhang collapsed to the ground, looking helplessly at the sky and crying out.
Passersby who saw this scene silently moved aside.
There are no endless poor people to help, nor are they capable of helping them all...
Pei Dalang went over to help Old Man Zhang, who was utterly despondent and looked up at the horse.
Pei Dalang asked with concern, "Old man, are you alright?"
Old Zhang looked at Pei Dalang with vacant eyes and spoke in a voice barely audible: "Young man, thank you for what you did earlier, I'm fine."
Seeing that the old man was in such a hurry to sell his horse, Pei Dalang, who had only caught the gist of his conversation with the horse dealer, asked, "Old man, why are you in such a hurry to sell your horse?"
Because if you want to sell a horse, you should go to the livestock market; you'll get a better price there.
Old Zhang wiped away tears from the corners of his eyes: "Young man, to tell you the truth, I bought this horse because my child is waiting for this money to save his life..."
Old Zhang was really at his wit's end. A while ago, when his son was returning from doing business, he and his horse fell off a cliff. Fortunately, there were many trees at the bottom of the cliff and the slope was not too steep, so the man and the horse were saved.
But although he survived, he was crippled...
The child had been unconscious since the fall.
Old Zhang was a farmer who toiled in the fields, with little knowledge of the ways of the world. He took his child to the town's clinic, but after a while, not only did they spend a lot of money, the child remained unconscious.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhang only had this one child, whom they doted on like a treasure since he was little. Now that this has happened, Mrs. Zhang couldn't bear it and fell ill as well.
When Old Zhang was at his wit's end, other villagers took pity on him and suggested he go to Tongrentang in town to see Doctor Lin, who might still be able to save him.
In order not to delay the child's treatment, Old Zhang took the child to Tongrentang overnight.
After examining the child, Dr. Lin said that the child could be treated, but it would require twenty taels of silver.
Previously, in order to save his child, he had sold everything he could in his house. Now, he needed another twenty taels of silver, and even after borrowing from everywhere, it still wasn't enough. Old Zhang had no choice but to sell the only horse in his house.
This horse was bought by his son last year after his son made some money doing business in another place. His son had always cherished it. But this time, when his son went on a business trip, it was this very horse that he and his son fell off.
Pei Yao asked him curiously why he didn't sell the horse at the horse market. Old Zhang said that the horse market was slow to sell, and the price of a horse with an injured leg wouldn't go up.
He initially went to the horse market, where there were so many horses. Although they thought Old Zhang's horse was well-bred, it had injured its leg.
Pei Dalang and Pei Yao exchanged a glance, then got up and went to look at the horse behind the old man.
The horse wasn't very old, probably only about two years old, just the right age for working. It was also very strong and healthy, with a glossy sheen, clearly indicating that its owner had taken good care of it.
However, the horse's foreleg was injured, with a large gash seemingly cut open by something sharp, and it was simply bandaged.
If this horse hadn't been injured, it would probably have sold for over twenty taels of silver in the market.
Pei Yao glanced at the old man, then at the horse, and then looked at Pei Dalang.
"Uncle, can this horse be cured?" Pei Yao asked, seeing Pei Dalang go over to examine the horse's wounds, thinking that he should know how to treat it.
Pei Dalang really knew a thing or two. Before he got married in his youth, his favorite thing was riding horses, so he had learned a bit about horse care.
He had just examined the horse's wound; it must have been from a fall. Although the wound looked exaggerated, it wasn't actually that serious. He would find a veterinarian who specialized in livestock to take a look, get some herbal poultices, and let it rest for a while; it should be fine.
Pei Dalang said, "It can be cured, but it will be a bit troublesome."
That's why the horse shopkeeper was unwilling to spend fifteen taels of silver to buy the horse—it was too much trouble.
Pei Dalang looked at his niece, sighed after a long while, and asked in a low voice, "Yao'er, our family is actually short of a horse-drawn carriage for hauling goods. I think this horse looks good, and it will definitely be excellent once it's properly cared for. Otherwise, we..."
Pei Dalang didn't say what he was going to say directly, after all, he wasn't entirely sure the horse's wound would heal. If it didn't, then he would have spent a lot of money to buy a horse that couldn't pull cargo.
He knew that all the money the family was earning was actually earned by Yao'er through hard work.
He didn't know how to bring it up, but the old man was really pitiful.
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