Zhang Fangyuan had dinner at night. Although he had dinner early, it was almost mid-winter, the days were short and the nights were long, and it got dark earlier and earlier.
He came out of his fourth uncle's house and after walking a few steps, he heard a rustling sound, like snowflakes falling. The little snowball bounced from his shoulder to the ground. He couldn't help but shrink his shoulders. He glanced sideways and saw a warm yellow light coming from the window of Xu's house in the distance. Suddenly, he felt a little warm in his heart.
Within two days, the villagers discovered that Zhang Fangyuan had become elusive again. The courtyard door was often kept tightly closed, and no one knew where he had gone.
The villagers said that his marriage proposal was probably unsuccessful and he was too embarrassed to walk around the village. Some said that he was stimulated and went to the city to fool around. In short, there were many different opinions and no one knew what the butcher was doing.
Anyway, his role was not that big, he was just slaughtering animals for others. But after what happened to the Guang family, who would want to care about him? Even if they went to other places to hire a butcher, they would not want to have anything to do with him.
Little did they know that Zhang Fangyuan, carrying a set of pig-slaughtering tools on his back, had already been walking on the path along the ridges of the fields in the outer village.
He used a meat knife and a whetstone to hit each other. The iron knife made a cold sound that could be heard far away with the wind.
This is the unique voice of the butcher. Once the villagers hear it, they know that the butcher has come to slaughter the animals.
He worked tirelessly, going from village to village, all the way down to the official road.
The people in his village didn't want him to slaughter animals, so he went to other villages. It was already midwinter, and many families were slaughtering animals for sale or to celebrate the New Year. Many butchers in the village were too busy to handle the situation, so Zhang Fangyuan took advantage of the opportunity. Someone actually heard a voice calling him to slaughter animals.
"I go from village to village to slaughter animals. Let me make it clear first that I don't take the meat, only the money."
"How much do you pay for an animal?"
"market price."
The cost of slaughtering a pig ranges from twenty-five to forty cents, depending on how generous the owner is. Zhang Fangyuan believes that it is more economical to slaughter more pigs, so he even helps slaughter livestock such as sheep.
Zhang Fangyuan spoke fluently. The villagers saw that he had all the necessary tools and was of a strong build, so they thought he must be a skilled hand. Besides, there was nothing wrong with taking the money. The meat and the internal organs were all money after all, so there was no question of whether it was a loss or not. So he called the people back and quickly asked his brothers and neighbors to slaughter the pig.
People from other villages didn't know Zhang Fangyuan, and few knew what reputation he had in his own village. But when they saw him skillfully slaughtering the pig, scraping the hair and dividing the meat, and his skills flowing like water, and the owner gave him the lowest market price of twenty-five cents without saying much, everyone thought he was very straightforward. He was not like some butchers who were fussy and wanted money after eating the meat, and those who didn't want money also wanted more meat. There were not many butchers in this business, and the villagers could only rely on him, so they had to suffer in silence.
As soon as the family's livestock was slaughtered, Zhang Fangyuan was invited to the next house. He was good at work and had good physical strength. He could slaughter more than ten animals in a day without feeling tired and would go whenever anyone asked him to.
The villagers are very happy. They all gather together to slaughter pigs on one or two days, and the people who help are still the same. If each family contributes a little, it can save much more money than if each family slaughters pigs on different days. It not only makes the host family lively, but also saves some meat consumption. Why not do it?
For a while, the butchers in the village did not have much business, but they could not catch up with Zhang Fangyuan's ability.
Zhang Fangyuan had been traveling outside for quite some time, doing his work in silence, and carefully taking note of which village had the most livestock and which family had the most livestock.
Whenever it was time for dinner at a certain family's house, I would eat pork soup. The food was good and I could earn money. I felt that life was much happier than listening to gossip in the village.
He went from village to village slaughtering pigs for more than half a month. He visited many villages and walked far, so the money in his pocket became more and more. After counting the money, he found that he had more than a thousand coins. The copper coins were heavy, so he stopped working and went to the money shop in the city to exchange them for silver.
He exchanged a large bag of copper coins for a small amount of silver, which made him feel much more relaxed when he put it in his pocket. The feeling of making money was so secure that he didn't want to go home.
He also figured it out. He was reborn because he didn't want to repeat the fate of being alone and dying old, so he was eager to start a family. Little did he know that it would be difficult to start a family without establishing a career. He was hit hard by this blow, and he became much more sober.
Instead of listening to gossip in the village and failing to get a husband, it is better to focus on making money.
After leaving the money shop, he went straight to the cattle and horse shop, hoping to pick out some animals to make a cart.
"You can choose whatever animals you want. We have them both young and tender, strong and old."
The cattle and horse farm consists of several long rows of covered sheds, which are divided into compartments. The cattle and horses are kept in separate pens, and there are gaps in the pens, which makes it convenient for people to check the quality of the animals.
As soon as you enter the bank, you can smell the stench of cows and horses mixed with feces and urine. It smells really bad. But there were quite a few people inside, many of whom came to see the livestock.
Cattle and horses are extremely important means of farming and transportation. Only the upper class families in a village can afford to buy these animals. Of course, those who make a living by driving ox-drawn carts and horse-drawn carts to carry people are another matter.
Zhang Fangyuan was also very hesitant as to whether to pick up an ox or a horse. His plan was to use a cart, not to carry people, but to transport things.
I couldn't make up my mind and wanted to call the cattle and horse dealers to introduce themselves to the market, but these lazy guys just sat under the greenhouse with their legs crossed and didn't even come to greet customers.
Zhang Fangyuan shouted twice at the top of his lungs.
"It looks strange. It seems like this is your first time here."
"I hate this kind of thing the most. No matter how hard I try to introduce it to you, you won't buy it. Whoever has free time can go and watch it with me."
A few old hands were passing the buck to each other and were unwilling to move. Cattle and horses were not like pork, they could still be afforded if they squeezed together. If an animal worth several thousand dollars could be afforded by just one person, then the business of the carriage and horse shop would be easy.
The vast majority of people who come here just look and don’t buy. It takes skill to make a decision after going back several times. Even for renting only, many people have to go back three or five times before paying a deposit.
It’s the first time for someone to come here, and even the experienced ones don’t bother to talk to him.
"Why don't I go and watch it with you?"
A few people looked at the person who volunteered and laughed, "Okay, Yuan Quan'er has only been here for a short time, so go and keep him company and get to know our carriage and horse business better."
After a while, Zhang Fangyuan saw a young cattle and horse dealer running over. He was a little dissatisfied, but didn't say much.
"What are the prices of your cattle and horses?"
"Brother, we have many kinds of cattle and horses here, and the prices are not fixed. Cattle are generally priced between 8,000 and 20,000 wen, and horses are even more expensive, starting from 10,000 wen with no upper limit."
Zhang Fangyuan knew that the price of a BMW was outrageous, but he was not a nobleman and had no need to come into contact with that kind of horse.
The horse and cart dealer asked politely, "Brother, what do you want the animals to do? If you have a lot of land, you can consider buying cows. They can plow the fields, and you can also use them as carts to transport things. You can also lend them to your neighbors to collect money or fodder. If you go out to do business more often, horses are better. First, they run fast, unlike cows that are slow. Second, they are smaller. When you go out to do business, horses produce less shit and urine than cows, so they are easier to deal with."
Zhang Fangyuan felt that what the dealer said was true, and he had some ideas in his mind: "What is the price of that strong horse?"
"A healthy horse would cost at least 12,000 coins, but the horses we have are of good quality, and even the worst ones are very durable."
Zhang Fangyuan thought about it and realized that the price of this animal was several times higher than the gift price for a wife, so he really couldn't afford it.
He said bluntly: "It's expensive."
This is what many people think in their hearts, but they don't say it out loud. Usually they express this meaning in a roundabout way. Yuan Quan'er thought this deal was hopeless, but then he heard someone ask, "Is there anyone who can get eight thousand coins?"
"Most of the 8,000 or so are young horses. They don't have strong load-bearing capacity and need to be raised."
Zhang Fangyuan couldn't help but sigh. In that case, he had no choice but to save up some money and come over to see the place.
The dealer suddenly remembered and said quickly, "Brother, if you really want to buy it, why not take a look at this one? It's a grown horse, but one of its legs was injured when it was bought. You can't use it right away after you buy it. You need to take care of it for a while. You can get it for 8,000 coins."
Zhang Fangyuan followed the dealer to a stable in the corner. The dealer said it was a black horse that looked good, tall and strong. It was obvious that it could pull things, but the only flaw was that its left hind leg was injured.
"If it's good, it can be sold for 10,000 coins or more, but it's only sold at a low price because it's damaged."
"Are the bones injured? Can they be healed?"
The dealer said, "If you take good care of yourself, you will recover naturally. If you can't recover, you will be useless and our cattle and horse dealer won't accept you."
Zhang Fangyuan moved closer to look at the horse's injured leg and then started to work on it again.
"Brother, don't worry. If you really have problems with your bones and muscles, come and I'll refund you the money."
Zhang Fangyuan said, "Seven thousand five hundred coins. If you can do it, pay the money today and take it away."
"Oh, this..." Yuan Quan'er had never sold any livestock since he came here. He didn't expect that the ball kicked by the old man could actually be traded. However, the price was so low that he couldn't make any profit. "Brother, 7,500 yuan is even more expensive than mine."
Zhang Fangyuan was not in a hurry. If he could succeed, he would take the horse back and raise it, and use it after the New Year. If not, he would go back and save some money. In any case, it would take some time to make the small business successful.
Yuan Quanle was willing to accept the purchase, so he said, "Brother, you are an honest man. You can take the horse away for 7,800 yuan. I won't get anything from this order. That's why I came to this livestock business. If I don't sell something, the boss will not keep me."
Zhang Fangyuan hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay."
He couldn't help rubbing his hands and patting the horse's back.
Frugal living starts with bargaining.
After the dealer pays the money and makes the handover, the horse can be obtained.
The dealer at the carriage and horse shop looked at the man and horse going away, then turned his head to look at Yuan Quaner: "You really have one, are you selling it now?"
Yuan Quaner said without further ado: "I didn't make any money."
"Tsk, even if I don't make money, it's still nice to have a sale. If I had known that person was planning to buy it, I would have taken it."
The New Year was approaching, and Zhang Fangyuan had no plans to visit the villages again after being away for so long. Instead, he led his horse back to Jijiu Village. This time, not only did he spend all the money from slaughtering the animals, but he also spent all his wife's money. The silver bracelet was also pawned, but he was acquainted with the owner of the pawnshop, so he gave the owner some money and asked him to keep the silver bracelet for him. He would redeem it as soon as he could after the money was turned around.
The silver bracelet was not a rare treasure, and there were mostly silver jewelry in the pawnshop. He was not in a hurry to sell his things, and the boss agreed.
It was already late when he returned to the village. When he reached the valley, he saw a man digging the ground from afar. The figure looked very familiar.
Zhang Fangyuan walked briskly, and was about to lead his horse to say hello, but a young man passed by first, calling out enthusiastically, "He Ge'er."
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Zhang Fangyuan: A successful man starts with owning a car.
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