Chapter 135 A Majestic Red-Maned Horse
This time when we went to the town, we didn't see any horse-drawn carriages or ox-drawn carts, so our family of three walked to the town.
Xiaoxia walked less than two kilometers and stopped, sticking to people.
Lin Heng put her in a backpack and carried her on his back. After carrying her for one kilometer, Xiulan took her over. After carrying her for another kilometer, they took her over again.
There was no sun today, it was a gloomy and stuffy day. The two of them didn't talk much as they walked side by side, sweat dripping down from time to time.
When they reached the river, Xiulan washed her handkerchief and the three of them took turns wiping their sweat.
There is only the gurgling of the river and the gusts of hot wind. No words are needed, the actions convey the emotions.
When they were almost reaching Huangtan Town, they met an elderly couple in their sixties.
They seemed to be having an argument, one walking in front and the other walking behind, one was outside the road and the other was inside the road.
Not long after they walked, the old man deliberately slowed down his pace and moved closer to the old woman.
The old woman didn't want to pay attention to him at first, but after he approached her twice, the two of them walked and talked side by side again.
Lin Heng glanced at Xiulan, she blinked and said nothing.
Lin Heng remembered Xiulan's angry look. She was the type who would sulk, not saying a word and just doing her own thing.
In his life, he had never made Xiulan really angry. She was a gentle and considerate woman, and it was difficult to make her really angry.
In his previous life, Lin Heng had offended Xiulan many times, but later on, he couldn't offend her anymore, so he changed all the bad habits that Xiulan hated.
After years of baptism, he has understood some things and realized some things, and now he rarely makes his wife angry.
When we arrived in town, it was almost eight o'clock and the streets were bustling with people everywhere and the sounds of shouting.
"Brother Lin, sister-in-law!" Seeing Lin Heng entering the store, Wang Zhou hurriedly greeted him with a smile.
Putting Xiaoxia on the bench, Lin Heng pointed at the herbs in Xiulan's backpack and said, "I'll buy them at the normal price and give the money to your sister-in-law."
"I'll sell it according to the price in the city." Xiulan raised her chin slightly and said playfully to Lin Heng.
Wang Zhou was stunned: "This..."
He looked at Lin Heng, not knowing what to do.
Lin Heng looked at him and said, "She is the boss lady and she is the boss. You must do what she says."
"Okay!" Wang Zhou nodded, feeling envious that the boss and the boss's wife had such a good relationship.
Xiulan counted the 7.5 yuan she got from selling medicinal herbs, glanced at Lin Heng, and put the money in her own pocket.
Wang Zhou poured a cup of tea for Lin Heng and Xiulan, and then said, "By the way, Brother Lin, Uncle Li said yesterday that Li Gui was willing to lower the price of that horse and sell it for 450 yuan."
"I understand. Let's talk about it in the afternoon." Lin Heng nodded.
He is not in a hurry, as he still has time to buy it before August 15th.
The two of them rested for a while, and Lin Heng took his wife to visit the store. Then people came one after another to sell mountain products.
Xiulan and her daughter watched Lin Heng receive the goods curiously, and people who came would often be a little amazed by the two of them.
After being busy for a while, around ten o'clock, Lin Heng handed the work over to Wang Zhou alone, and he took Xiulan and Xiaoxia shopping.
"Dad, what is this!!" Xiaoxia asked, pointing at a straw pole full of candied haws.
"These are candied haws. Would you like a string, little kid?" The old man selling candied haws answered the question for Lin Heng.
"Give me a string!" Xiaoxia said crisply. She didn't know what candied haws were, but she knew what sugar was. Her big eyes were shining.
"Three cents a string." The old man looked at Lin Heng and said with a smile.
The price was a bit expensive, but Lin Heng still bought one for Xiulan.
Xiulan took one and fed it to Xiaoxia. Xiaoxia took a bite and ate it with her cheeks puffed up for a while, then took another bite.
After Xiaoxia finished one, Xiulan opened her red lips and ate three of the remaining four, leaving one for her.
Xiaoxia looked at her mother with her eyes wide open, but dared not say anything. She took her only remaining candied haws and licked it carefully. She licked the sugar coating off before taking a bite of the hawthorn.
Lin Heng took Xiulan, and Xiulan took Xiaoxia, and the three of them walked around the street twice and bought two kilograms of pears and two kilograms of apples.
"The clothes in this store are better."
After choosing and choosing, Lin Heng took Xiulan into the clothing store to pick out clothes for his father-in-law and mother-in-law.
This place sells clothes ranging from one dollar to eight dollars, but the prices are high and the quality of the most expensive ones is far inferior to what Lin Heng buys in the big shopping malls in the city.
In rural towns, many shops make money from farmers by taking advantage of this cognitive gap.
Xiulan picked out two sets of good quality, negotiated the price and spent twenty yuan.
When I was about to buy shoes for my father-in-law and mother-in-law, Wang Zhou came.
Seeing Lin Heng, Wang Zhou quickly said, "Brother Lin, someone brought a red-maned horse to sell. It's right in front of the store."
"Red-maned horse?" Lin Heng became interested and nodded, saying, "Let's go and take a look first."
"The man selling the horse is a uncle in his forties. He said the horse was carefully raised by an elderly man in his family. Recently, the elderly man was diagnosed with cancer and was hospitalized. The family has no money, so they need to buy a new horse urgently." Wang Zhou said as he walked.
Lin Heng nodded and said nothing. This kind of thing needs to be understood on the spot to know whether it is true or not.
There are people who try to gain sympathy by pretending to be pitiful.
When you arrive at the store door, you can see a middle-aged man with dark skin and wrinkles on his forehead leading a horse with chestnut fur.
This horse looks good from a distance, with a well-proportioned and strong body. It looks much taller than the yellow horse, and its shoulder height is estimated to be about 1.3 meters.
Judging from its soft, reflective fur, it is no exaggeration to say that it has been carefully raised.
It also comes with a leather saddle, and it looks like they really want to sell it.
"Uncle, do you want to sell the horse?" Lin Heng walked over and asked with a smile.
The middle-aged man nodded, with an anxious and bitter look on his face: "Yes, boss, the old man has brain cancer and needs money for treatment. We have sold everything we can at home, but no one has bought this horse. I heard that you are buying horses, so I hurriedly brought it here from Dahe Town."
Lin Heng nodded, looked at him and asked, "How much do you plan to sell this horse for?"
Cancer is an incurable disease in the future. This is brain cancer, and there is no hope if you go to the hospital. But Lin Heng would not say it out loud. If he said it without any relatives or friends, he would only be hated.
Moreover, if a relative is sick, he will treat him even if there is no hope. This is the long-lasting love of human beings. If it is his parents, he will do the same.
Although he sympathizes, he won't buy it if it's too expensive.
"Boss, what do you think of 450?"
The middle-aged man looked at Lin Heng and spoke in a rough voice, revealing fatigue and anxiety.
Lin Heng was a little surprised by the price. He was really planning to sell it, so it seemed like the story was true.
"Let me take a look at the horse first." Lin Heng said with a smile.
He felt around and although the horse was a stallion, it was not very aggressive. He looked at its eyes, ears, hooves and tail.
I also took the saddle off to check to make sure there was nothing wrong.
"Uncle, can you ride it around twice for me to see?" Lin Heng asked again.
Although the uncle was miserable, he didn't want to spend so much money to buy a problematic horse.
"Okay." The middle-aged man tied the saddle, climbed on the horse and ran back and forth three times on this deserted road.
There were already quite a few people watching nearby, and they had all heard about the tragedy in this uncle's family. They felt that it was a bit inappropriate for Lin Heng to be so strict in watching the horses.
When the horse came over, Lin Heng listened to his breathing for a while and was very satisfied.
The horse performed very well during the riding process just now, and its breathing was even and there was no problem.
Lin Heng turned around and went into the house to discuss with Xiulan for a while, and came out with five hundred yuan.
After looking at the onlookers and then at the middle-aged man, Lin Heng smiled and said, “Uncle, your horse is very good, I’ll buy it.
I discussed it with my wife and decided to give you an extra fifty yuan, 500 yuan. Your horse is worth so much money, and I hope the old man can recover soon. "
The middle-aged man was stunned, and then he was about to kneel down and kowtow to Lin Heng. After being stopped by Lin Heng, he couldn't help nodding: "Thank you, thank you, you two are really good people, thank you..."
He originally thought that Lin Heng would lower the price, but he didn't expect that not only did Lin Heng not lower the price, but he also helped him in his time of need. How could he not be grateful?
During the days that his old father was in the hospital, he saw through the fickleness of human nature. He never expected that a young man he met for the first time would treat him like this.
"You're welcome. It's my duty." Lin Heng said with a smile.
He did this with the intention of doing good deeds to gain a good reputation. But everyone gave him a thumbs up, after all, he really helped people.
With this good reputation, even if Liu Qicheng moves to the main street later, I don’t have to engage in any price war. As long as I maintain the same price as Liu Qicheng, I believe that a large number of people will still choose to come to my place.
The uncle kept thanking Lin Heng many times before he took the money and left. Lin Heng reminded him to be careful and keep the money safe before leaving.
After the uncle left, Lin Heng looked at the chestnut horse again and again, loving it very much.
Although it is not a pedigree horse, it is indeed very majestic and is definitely worth the five hundred dollars.
The horses raised by the original owner were much better than Li Gui’s three horses, which could be seen from their fur.
After feeling it, Lin Heng rode on it to try it out. He gently shook the reins and the horse moved forward.
After patting its butt, it started running. Lin Heng only felt the whistling of the wind around him, and he felt like an ancient general galloping on the battlefield.
After riding two laps, Lin Heng jumped off the horse, looked at Grandpa Gao and asked, "Grandpa, isn't this horse good?"
Mr. Gao, who was drinking tea in the room, smiled and gave a thumbs up: "The horse is very good, and Xiaolin, you are even better."
"Haha, thank you for the compliment, sir." Lin Heng laughed.
"Dad, I want to ride a horse too!" Xiaoxia ran over and said in a baby voice.
Her eyes lit up when she saw her father riding a horse.
"Then I'll carry you up, but don't move."
Lin Heng carried her onto the horse and led the horse to the backyard to tie it up.
Wang Zhou couldn't understand Lin Heng. He was so shrewd and calculating before. But now he heard that he was in trouble and took the initiative to give him an extra fifty yuan. It was really strange.
But he felt that following such a boss, the future would be good.
"Let's call you Red Date." Lin Heng touched the horse and gave it a name.
I just asked, it is four years old and didn’t have a name before.
After letting Xiaoxia sit for a while, Lin Heng picked her up and took her and Xiulan to buy the shoes they had not just bought.
When he came back, Lin Heng also took two kilograms of crushed corn flour, poured it into a basin, added water, stirred it into a paste, and brought it to the red dates.
“Sizzle~”
Hongzao lowered his head and drank the wine with a sizzling sound. Lin Heng touched his head and he felt very relaxed.
"Dad, I want to ride a horse!!"
Xiaoxia looked at the tall horse and waved her hands excitedly. She fell in love with it after just riding it for a while.
"Wait a moment."
Lin Heng pulled her away, because it would be terrible if she was kicked by the horse.
After the horse finished drinking the corn porridge, Lin Heng put Xiaoxia on the saddle, led the horse and walked out with Xiulan.
"Are you going back now?" Grandpa Gao asked curiously.
"No, let's go to the blacksmith shop and see if we can make horseshoes for the horses." Lin Heng shook his head.
This horse has no horseshoes because the original owner rarely rode it, and horseshoes need to be replaced frequently, which costs a lot.
If you ride your horse often, it would be better to get horseshoes to avoid hurting its hooves.
"Then we really need one." Grandpa Gao nodded.
"Xiu Lan, go up and hold Xiao Xia." After they went out, Lin Heng said to his wife while holding the horse.
Xiulan had never ridden before and was a little scared. She looked at him and said, "How about you come?"
"Don't be afraid, it's easy to ride with a saddle." Lin Heng comforted with a smile.
He carried Xiaoxia down first, then helped his wife onto the horse, and after she sat down, he carried Xiaoxia back up.
Hongzao had just eaten a bowl of corn paste, and was very well behaved at this moment, not moving from beginning to end. It was not until Lin Heng led it forward that it slowly took a step.
"How does it feel?" Lin Heng asked with a smile. As long as the horse doesn't run, just walking slowly like this will not be dangerous for beginners.
“It’s quite novel.”
Xiulan had a smile on her face as she rode the horse, while Xiaoxia was cheering with excitement, her short legs shaking from side to side.
Lin Heng walked slowly, leading the horse. It was only one o'clock and there were still many people on the street. Everyone looked at Hongzao with a sidelong glance. Not only the horse was good-looking, but the man was good-looking too.
Arriving at the Li family blacksmith shop, the family was having dinner. When they saw Lin Heng, the old man came out to greet them and said with a smile, "Boss Lin, what are you going to make this time?"
"Uncle Li, can you make a pair of horseshoes for my horse?" Lin Heng looked at him and asked.
When the middle-aged uncle Li Tie heard this, he smiled and patted his chest and said, "You have found the right person. Not only can I play, but I can also repair horse hooves.
Come down and take a rest. Horseshoes can be made very quickly. It will be ready in two or three hours. I guarantee you will be satisfied."
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded. It would be best if he could make horseshoes.
He took his wife and children with him and tied Hongzao to a shady place in the yard. It hissed and shook its head.
Li Tie brought tea to Lin Heng, and sugar water to Xiulan and Xiaoxia, which showed that he still valued Lin Heng very much.
"Please sit down for a while. I will start working after I finish my meal." Li Tie said with a smile.
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded and sat here with his wife waiting.
After Li Tie and his son finished their meal, Li Tie came over with tools and said, "Boss Lin, come over and help control the horse and measure the size of its horseshoe."
"I just bought this horse and I may not be able to control it." Lin Heng said and stood up to help.
"It's okay, it shouldn't be too difficult." Li Tie waved his hand.
Lin Heng walked over and grabbed its front hoof and lifted it up, shouting, "Lift the hoof."
Hongzao didn't understand, and Lin Heng bent it several times before it lifted its hoof. Carpenter Liang took a bamboo stick, bent it and measured the length, looked at the shape, and printed it on paper.
After a while, the shapes of the four hooves were measured. Li Tie touched the red dates and said with a smile: "Your horse is quite majestic. It looks as mighty as Red Hare."
Lin Heng grinned: "Haha, it's impressive enough. I don't want it to be that difficult to ride."
The horseshoe was of good quality, so they quickly found an iron bar, heated it red, and started forging. Lin Heng and Xiulan were there to watch so it wasn't too boring.
They used long iron bars to forge the horseshoe quickly, and it took only a dozen minutes to shape it. Then they used tools to make grooves on the horseshoe and six holes for the horseshoe nails.
Two horseshoes were made in less than forty minutes. The eldest son polished them, while Li Tie and the second son continued to forge the horseshoes for the hind hooves.
Lin Heng held his daughter and watched with great interest, just like he was watching a sword-forging competition.
"Let's go and see if the shape is suitable. If not, we can adjust it." Li Tie said with a smile after the game.
"Okay." Lin Heng and Li Tie walked to Hongzao together. With the experience from last time, it raised its hoof quickly this time.
After Li Tie confirmed that the size was ok, he began to install it. He first used a small curved knife to trim the feet of the red date, and then used a red-hot iron to burn grooves on the horseshoe. Thick smoke immediately rolled out.
"Don't be afraid, I have horseshoeed many horses." Li Tie said with a smile.
After taking the horseshoe and quenching it, Li Tie came over with an iron nail made of lead, clamped the horse's hoof with his legs, and began to nail the horseshoe.
Lin Heng stroked and comforted Hongzao. Hongzao struggled for a while and then gave up, letting the blacksmith do whatever he wanted.
"alright!"
After a while, Li Tie had nailed all four horseshoes.
"How much is it?"
Lin Heng watched the whole process and was very satisfied. The uncle's work was very meticulous. It made sense that the Li family's blacksmith shop was doing so well.
Li Tie grinned and said, "Just give me two yuan. Generally, if you don't do heavy work, you can change it once a month. If you do heavy work, you may have to change it once every two weeks. Next time, just give me one and a half yuan."
This is also a long-term business for him.
Xiulan took out two dollars and gave them to Li Tie, who smiled and sent the three of them out of the yard.
"Let's try and see if it can carry three people." Lin Heng found a suitable position and let Xiulan hold the reins, and he tried to ride on it.
A horse can usually carry 500 to 600 kilograms of load without any problem, but the three of them combined could carry less than 300 kilograms.
"hiss!!"
With a neigh from Hongzao, Lin Heng stepped on the stirrup and sat on it.
"drive!"
Lin Heng took the reins and loosened them, then patted the horse's butt gently, and Hongzao slowly started walking.
"Not bad!" Lin Heng smiled. It feels really good to ride a horse with his wife and children.
He was not in a hurry and just let the horse go slowly at its own pace. If the horse went faster, Xiulan, her daughter who had never ridden a horse before, would not be able to bear the bumps.
"Ride a horse, ride a horse!" Xiaoxia waved her hands excitedly and wanted to pat the horse but was held down by Xiulan.
Lin Heng stretched out his hands from his wife's waist to hold the reins, his head close to his wife's head, and he could smell the fragrance of her hair while walking.
Xiulan leaned into Lin Heng's arms, her head just on his shoulder. She felt very comfortable and said with a smile, "Hongzao is a really good horse!"
There were no people on the streets of Huangtan Town. Lin Heng rode his horse back to the store to pick up the things he bought. He said something to Wang Zhou and Grandpa Gao, then got on his horse and rode back.
They didn't walk fast along the way, and Hongzao didn't sweat much, so he walked slowly.
It was already past six o'clock when we got back to Hongfeng Village. We were not much faster than normal people walking, but it was tiring and we were very happy.
"Brother Lin, is this the new horse you bought? It's really majestic."
Down the road, Lin Hai, who had just finished turning over the straw, ran over and looked at the horse that Lin Heng was sitting on with envy.
PS: I'm taking a leave today. This is the only picture I have. From the time it was put on the shelves until now, it has been 47 days with daily sales of 10,000. I feel a little uncomfortable today. I feel a little uncomfortable today. I hope you can forgive me.
(End of this chapter)
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