Chapter 75 What's the plan?
The middle-aged man was not stupid enough to ask why they went to the Lu family to get it. He just thought it was a way for the Lu family to please the higher-ups.
He put away the contract, and thinking that the cow could not move, he kindly asked if he needed the cow and the cart to be sent to his house.
Shang Wan thought for a moment and said, "Send it to the city gate. I'll make my own arrangements after that."
The middle-aged man spontaneously understood that Shang Wan planned to transport the cattle out of the city, kill them, and then transport them back. He immediately smiled knowingly and told his servant to call two people to transport the cattle.
At the city gate.
"You guys go back first." Shang Wan waved to the two laborers from the carriage and horse company. Xiaohuan stepped forward and gave them three taels of silver as a reward.
The two of them happily took the reward and left.
After the two men walked away, Shang Wan took out a small porcelain bottle and poured the liquid into the cow's mouth under the cover of the wheelchair.
The ox wanted to resist, but was no match for Shang Wan's strength and was forced to swallow the spiritual spring water.
"Alright." Shang Wan patted the ox's head and said to Xiao Huan, "It'll take a while for the medicine to take effect. Go find Shi Tou and drive the ox cart over here."
In order to make his identity look more realistic, Shang Wan didn't want to waste money renting a carriage, so he asked the carriage shop's servants to transport the oxen and the carriage frame and leave first.
They used the excuse of buying something and waited until they had walked a long way to the stone wall before running to the old man who had left the ox cart. They drove the cart to pick up Shang Wan and the others, then got off the cart in advance and walked to the city gate.
The two laborers had been reminded by their boss to keep a low profile, and they thought Shang Wan and his companions were walking to keep a low profile, so they didn't suspect anything.
Shang Wan observed Niu's condition for a while, then stood up and waved the seal in front of Lu Chengjing. "Tell me, how come there is Lu Chengyuan's private seal in your study?"
"It's fake." Lu Chengjing said, "I once saw his private seal, and when I had nothing better to do, I carved one based on it."
Shang Wan raised an eyebrow, "Don't tell me you're just carving it for fun."
Lu Chengjing stared at the red clay at the bottom of the seal, his long eyelashes drooping, and whispered, "Originally, I just carved it for fun."
"The scholar is quite capable. He can both read and carve seals."
Shang Wan put the seal away, reached out and rubbed his fox's head, making the hair frizzy, and then smoothed it out again.
"After we get home and have dinner, I'll ask you what's been distracting you. If you're bored right now, you can think about it and decide whether to tell me about it."
Lu Chengjing suddenly raised his eyes and looked directly at Shang Wan.
Shang Wan shrugged, "You don't think you've covered it up well, do you?"
Lu Chengjing pursed his lips slightly. Shang Wan said nothing more and reached out to brush all his hair that was messed up by the wind back.
"Moo~" The yellow cow behind him suddenly let out a cry and slowly stood up.
"Good cow." Shang Wan smiled and patted the cow's back, put the cart frame next to it on the ox, turned over and sat in the driver's seat, tried to use the commands taught by the stone, and drove the ox around twice while holding the reins.
The cows in the carriage and horse business are good. Not only are they docile, but they also respond quickly to commands. Even a novice like Shang Wan can drive the carriage with them.
"What a good cow." Shang Wan praised it again, and came down to feed the yellow cow with grass, while muttering to it, "From now on, the job of going to the city will fall on you. Be good, and if you dare to act like a bull, I will kill you and eat your meat."
The ox mooed, and I didn't know if it understood or if it simply recovered from its illness and wanted to moo a few more times.
Shitou drove the ox cart over, and Shang Wan waved his hand to let them go ahead.
She carried Lu Chengjing and Yuanyuan onto the ox cart, then moved the wheelchair onto it, and then drove the ox cart to follow.
Two ox carts were running parallel on the yellow mud road. Shang Wan pulled the reins loosely, and from time to time he uttered "oh" and "eh" to direct the oxen to turn left and right.
Yuanyuan sat in Shang Wan's arms, her two black eyes wide open, her little mouth pouting, and she learned the commands very well, which made everyone laugh.
Shitou said happily, "To buy an ox and a cart in the East Market would cost at least ten taels of silver. And the ox would have to be trained from scratch, so how could it be as good as it is now? I'm really good. We just put on a show and got a great deal."
"That was because he was caught off guard. I guess he won't be so easy to fool in the future." Shang Wan reached out and patted the cow's back, asking it to slow down. The Zhang family's cow could hardly keep up.
Shitou didn't take it seriously, "We won't buy from him anymore in the future."
Shang Wan smiled, but was thinking about the private seal in his mind.
When he simply went out, his fox actually brought Lu Chengyuan's fake private seal with him. He must have been planning to trick Lu Chengyuan.
But for the Lu family, the money for renting a car is really not enough.
Given the importance Mr. and Mrs. Lu placed on their eldest son, they never imposed strict controls on money matters. When the steward saw the contract, he probably assumed it was debt from Lu Chengyuan's social gatherings and simply paid the money without drawing Lu Chengyuan's attention.
How can it be considered a trap if it doesn't make Lu Chengyuan feel bad?
Shang Wan turned his head and glanced at Lu Chengjing who was resting with his eyes closed. What on earth was this guy up to?
Perhaps feeling Shang Wan's gaze, Lu Chengjing opened his eyes, tilted his head slightly to look over, with a questioning look in his eyes.
Shang Wan said, "It's still a long way from the village. If you feel sleepy, there's a cloak on the Zhang family's ox cart. You can take it and cover yourself with it to take a nap."
Lu Chengjing shook his head, "No need."
"So, after we get to the village, should we go straight home or tell the villagers about the relief grain first?"
Lu Chengjing thought for a moment and said, "The villagers are definitely looking forward to the disaster relief food. I should go to the Wu family first, invite everyone over, inform them of the situation, and then discuss it."
Shang Wan nodded: "Okay."
The two ox carts returned to the village one after the other. Shitou moved all the things he bought onto his own ox cart, and then drove the cart to Zhang's house to return them.
The crack at the entrance of the village has been filled up. Shang Wan saw that wooden sheds had been built in many places, and young and strong men were busy carrying wood everywhere with their bare chests.
When the villagers saw Shang Wan and his group, they all waved and greeted them.
"Mrs. Scholar, have you bought an ox cart?"
"Oh, this cow looks really good. It must have cost a lot of money."
"Yuanyuan, what are you holding?"
"Mrs. Scholar, how's the situation in the city? Is it chaotic?"
Shang Wan knew that this was a way for the villagers to express their goodwill. He chose to answer a few of the various questions that came his way, and just smiled away the rest.
The roads in the village are narrow and the ox carts move slowly. When passing by other people's fields, the enthusiastic aunties will stuff two bunches of young Chinese cabbages into the cart. They have just been pulled out of the ground and the roots are covered with mud.
A young daughter-in-law came to talk to Xiaohuan, but Shang Wan didn't stop to wait for her, letting her go home by herself later.
“Ouch~”
The ox cart stopped in front of the Wu family's door. Shang Wan first moved the wheelchair down, and then carried Lu Chengjing down.
Yuanyuan waited obediently for her mother to hold her father before holding her. She held the refilled milk bottle in her little hands and took a sip from time to time.
Aunt Yao heard the noise and came out to see what was happening. Seeing that it was Shang Wan and his family of three, she quickly invited them in.
Shang Wan lifted the wheelchair over the threshold and asked, "Aunt, is Uncle Wu home?"
(End of this chapter)
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