Chapter 158 Suspected traces of Wei
Gu Tang could think of this, and Gu Lianshan could also think of this. After pondering for a moment, he finally agreed to Gu Tang's proposal and continued driving to the horse market.
As the temperature drops in winter, the horse market is no longer bustling. There are only a few people on the whole street, and the number of people buying animals is less than half of the number selling them.
Most people who choose to sell livestock at this time of year are those whose families do not have enough food, bedding and clothing to survive the winter.
In order to prevent their entire family from starving or freezing to death in the winter, many people had no choice but to sell their livestock.
There is no way, they are the most valuable, more valuable than humans!
Especially for those who raise cattle at home, a cow costs at least nine taels of silver, and human traffickers only give four or five taels of silver for one. If it is a young and beautiful girl, they would probably give six or seven taels of silver, but none of them are as valuable as a cow.
The father and daughter looked from the beginning of the street to the end and found three shops selling cattle.
Two families sold cows and one family bought a bull.
The price of a cow and a bull is the same, but cows are gentle, have great endurance, and are easy to tame. They are very obedient whether they are pulling carts or plowing the fields.
But bulls are different. They have a more aggressive temperament, lack stamina, and often disobey orders. Their only advantage is that they are stronger than cows.
But for farmers, strength alone is not enough. When all is said and done, it is best to raise cows.
Gu Tang also preferred the cow. She pointed to the cow she liked and asked her father to take a look and see if it was good.
Gu Lianshan looked at it from a distance for a few times, but did not go forward. After seeing the cow clearly, he tutted his tongue twice and turned to ask Gu Tang: "Did you really see the cow?"
"What? Is that cow not good?" Gu Tang became nervous when she noticed that her father's tone was not right.
"Who said it's not good? It has a straight head, a strong frame, tight and firm flesh, and shiny fur. It's at least two times bigger than the cow your Uncle Gu raised! You can tell at a glance that it was well-bred and carefully fed."
Gu Tang breathed a sigh of relief: "If it's fine, then why did you ask that just now? I thought there was something wrong with this cow."
"There is a problem." Gu Lianshan sighed, "You can't buy a cow of this quality for nine taels of silver. And it's a female cow, so you can't bargain for it."
"If nine taels of silver can't buy it, then add more silver. You also said that this cow is of good quality and it's a female cow. Let's buy it and feed it well. Then we can choose a good bull to breed it with. In less than two years, we can get another good cow. If you do the math, we'll make a profit."
As long as the cows are well fed, they will only make money, not lose money.
The more Gu Tang thought about it, the more excited she became. She urged her father again to go over and ask how much it cost.
Gu Lianshan was also very tempted. It was indeed difficult to find a cow with good appearance. As long as the family could make ends meet and not starve to death, the owner would not think of selling the cow.
In this cold winter when there are few people around, if someone takes the cow out to sell it, it must be because the cow is in trouble and needs to be sold urgently.
Gu Lianshan's eyes flickered slightly. If that was the case, he could try to bargain.
Driving the ox cart towards the cattle-selling place, the father and daughter soon arrived in front of the cattle seller.
The cattle seller was a middle-aged man wearing a tattered robe with patches on patches. His face was dark, his brows were furrowed, and he looked miserable.
At this time, he ignored the raging cold wind, put his hands in his sleeves, shivered all over and looked at the people passing by. Whenever someone's eyes fell on his cow, he would smile and shout to people to come closer and take a look, praising his own cow with a slightly pleading tone.
Seeing that Gu Lianshan and Gu Tang, father and daughter, did the same, the middle-aged man immediately took two steps forward to greet them.
Seeing the father and daughter dressed respectably, their clothes were clean and without patches, the ox cart was luxuriously covered with new bedding, and Gu Lianshan was even covered with a rabbit skin blanket, the middle-aged man who had been freezing for half a day felt excited, knowing that this was a customer who could afford to sell his cow, and the smile on his face became more cautious.
"Sir, please take a look at my cow. It is strong and gentle. It is a rare good cow! If you like it, I will never ask you for a high price!"
The man was not a talkative person. After he said this in a dry voice, he did not even mention moving the cows over. He just smiled and bowed, saying only these two sentences over and over again, praising his own cows.
Gu Tang smiled. This kind of person certainly wouldn't ask for a high price.
Gu Lianshan also felt that this man was honest, so he wanted to ask him to bring the cow over.
But before he could open his mouth, the man next to him who was also selling cattle suddenly came over with a fawning look on his face.
"Sir, please come over here and look at the cow. My cow is bigger than his! It's also stronger than his cow! Whether you buy it and use it to plow the fields or to carry goods and pull carts, it's definitely stronger than his cow!"
"Wang Er!" The middle-aged man frowned and glared at the man angrily: "You are so dishonest! This gentleman is parked at my side, why are you trying to intercept him?!"
The man, who was called Wang Er by the other man, said with a face full of shamelessness: "Brother Qian, if this sir doesn't stop in front of you, then the sir is yours. There are several cow sellers on this street, so you should look at a few more and compare them carefully. You should choose the one that is strong and can do the work. What's the point of buying a cow that can't do heavy work?"
"You!" The middle-aged man was so angry that he wanted to refute him, but he was tongue-tied and couldn't speak when he was angry.
Wang Er ignored him and led his own cow over here, nodding and bowing to show it to Gu Lianshan.
Gu Lianshan took a casual glance and saw that it was a bull, but his daughter didn't like it.
His gaze fell back on the middle-aged man: "Do your two families know each other?"
The middle-aged man nodded with a frustrated look on his face. He was about to speak, but Wang Er interrupted him: "We are neighbors from the same village and have known each other since childhood."
"We are from the same village. Which village are you from?"
"From the village on the north side of the mountain."
"Oh! Shanyao Village is not close to Bei'an City! It must be about sixty or seventy miles away?" Gu Lianshan was very surprised. It turned out to be from Shanyao Village.
Gu Tang also knew that this mountainside village was originally a village where mountain dwellers without household registration gathered. It was located halfway up the mountain in the north, and their village name came from this.
About a few years ago, the newly appointed prefect of Bei'an City requested an imperial decree to transfer soldiers from the Bei'an camp and captured all the mountain dwellers hiding in the mountains and at the foot of the mountains.
These mountain people have no household registration and are all hidden households. They do not have to pay taxes, but they are also not allowed to enter the city to do business.
The government required them to pay money to register their household registration, and released every household they registered. Later, the government divided the places where they gathered into villages, adding to the various tax revenues of Bei'an City in the future.
Shanyao Village is such a village. Because the village is on the mountainside, fields cannot be cultivated nearby and people can only reclaim land at the foot of the mountain. Over time, many villagers moved to the foot of the mountain to live.
However, there are still many villagers who are unwilling to reclaim wasteland and still stay on the mountainside, relying on the mountains for their livelihood.
Seeing that Gu Lianshan knew about Shanyao Village, Wang Er's smile deepened. "Our village is exactly seventy miles away from Bei'an City. I started my journey here yesterday and was frozen all night! Sir, please be kind and buy my cow for only fifteen taels of silver. Please take pity on me and buy it!"
Hearing this, the middle-aged man got anxious and imitated Wang Er to lead the cow over, pleading in a voice: "Master, please look at my cow. This is a female cow. Female cows are the best for plowing the fields. This cow is almost one and a half years old, and it is at the peak of its strength. I only want thirteen... no, twelve taels of silver for this cow! I only want twelve taels of silver, and you can take this cow away immediately!"
Twelve taels of silver?
This price is really honest!
Gu Lianshan glanced at Gu Tang, wanting to see if his daughter agreed with what she said.
This price was within Gu Tang's expectation, and she secretly blinked, meaning it was okay.
After getting the answer from his daughter, Gu Lianshan walked forward and touched the cow's horns, body, hooves, etc., and looked at the cow carefully, checking every part of it.
On the surface, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it, and its temper was just as the middle-aged man described. As an outsider, he touched it casually, and it didn't seem to get restless. It was indeed docile.
Seeing that Gu Lianshan really touched the cow, the middle-aged man was delighted and kept praising how obedient the cow was. If the old man in his family had not been sick, he would never have sold the cow.
"You are a filial son. This cow is really excellent." The more Gu Lianshan looked at the cow, the more he liked it. He felt that his daughter had excellent taste and picked out such a good cow at first sight.
The middle-aged man grinned, feeling relieved. His parents were saved, but it was a pity for the cow. It was the only valuable thing in the family. If he sold it, the family would be left with nothing.
Thinking of this, the middle-aged man felt a pang in his heart and his happiness was reduced by half.
Seeing that the two were about to make a deal, Wang Er, who was standing nearby, became so jealous that his eyes turned red. He drove his bull towards the cow without caring about anything, intending to let the two cows stand together to compare.
But he forgot that the bull had an unstable temper. It was a little irritable and restless when it was in a strange place. Now it was slapped and driven forward. It immediately threw its head back and refused to move, and let out a roar: "Moo——"
Wang Er, who was holding the cow rope, was thrown off balance.
Gu Lianshan's face changed drastically, thinking that the bull was in a bad mood. He hurriedly stood in front of the ox cart and blocked Gu Tang behind him.
The middle-aged man also hurriedly led his own cow away to prevent the bull from going crazy and hurting his cow.
Wang Er restrained the ox immediately, his face gloomy.
It’s over now, the business can’t be done.
Seeing the bull subdued, Gu Lianshan breathed a sigh of relief, but he also became angry: "Bulls are naturally irritable, and you drove them over here without caring about anything. This is not the way to do business."
Wang Er now understood that this man would not buy his cow. The smile on his face disappeared, and he looked gloomy and dissatisfied.
Because his daughter was around, Gu Lianshan didn't want to cause any trouble. After saying a few words to Wang Er, he ignored him and went forward to check the middle-aged man's cow to see if it was frightened.
Gu Tang didn't look towards the cow. At this moment, she was staring at Wang Er's legs without blinking, and was very surprised.
When the bull swung its head just now, the rope pulled Wang Er's arm up. The robe on his body probably didn't fit him well, so as his arm was raised, the robe became shorter, revealing the blue pants underneath.
There's nothing wrong with a man wearing blue trousers; what's wrong is the material and style of the trousers.
The material looked like fine cloth, about 50% new, without a single patch, and the color was bright. One could tell at a glance that it had not been washed many times.
At the corners of the trousers, there were three-finger-wide edges made of moon-white fine cloth, on which were embroidered a few flowers. The embroidery was very poor, and the petals were almost embroidered into a ball.
Of course, the embroidery skills are not the point. The point is that these pants are obviously women's pants!
What man would wear women's pants to work? Unless the family is so poor that all they have left is the woman's pants.
If this were true, then it would be impossible for the woman in this family to be able to afford to wear fine cloth trousers and have the leisure to embroider on them.
Putting aside the embroidery skills, embroidery thread is not cheap.
If that were all, Gu Tang wouldn't have kept staring at them. The reason she stared at them was because she felt that the pants looked very familiar. The original owner had seen them on Wei.
The color and style were exactly the same, but the original owner didn't remember clearly what the embroidered flowers were, as she just glanced at them casually at the time.
The reason I remember this is that Wei was showing off to Zhang at the time, saying that the material for making the pants was sent by her mother's family, one piece of blue and the other of moon-white.
Zhang was upset and turned to ask the original owner for money to buy fabric to make clothes. The original owner didn't give her any money, so Zhang took the fabric that her father had given to the original owner.
Therefore, in the original owner's memory, she remembered Wei's blue trousers very clearly.
Gu Tang didn’t know whether the pants Wang Er was wearing were Wei’s, but judging from the color and style of the pants, they did look a lot like Wei’s pants.
After Wei fell into the trap, he disappeared and his life or death is unknown.
She once suspected that Wei was rescued by someone, but Wei never returned home afterwards. She then suspected that the owner of the trap was afraid that Wei would die in his trap, so he pulled Wei out and threw him somewhere else. Wei must have died in an empty corner long ago.
Neither of these two suspicions has been confirmed, after all, there is no trace of the person, either alive or dead.
But Gu Tang actually believed the second possibility, that Wei had already died in some deserted corner.
But now the familiar blue pants appeared, overturning her previous speculation.
This pair of pants looks so much like Wei's blue pants, which makes Gu Tang have another suspicion.
Could it be that the owner of the trap rescued Wei and kept her at home or sold her?
After all, Wei is not too old, only in her thirties. Those men who can't find a wife are not picky and there is a high probability that they will buy Wei as their wife.
Gu Tang raised his eyebrows. If the pants worn by Wang Er in front of him were really Wei’s, he wondered if he was the one who saved Wei? Or the one who bought Wei's?
Seeing that his business was going bad, Wang Er wanted to lead the cow away from here and go to the street.
When he was about to turn around, he suddenly saw Gu Tang, who was wrapping his head with clothes to keep warm, staring at his... legs? !
I looked down at my legs. They were fine, there was nothing on them. What was there to see?
Wang Er was confused and cursed in his heart: What a problem!
Leading the cow, he walked towards the street without looking back.
After taking only two steps, Wang Er's heart skipped a beat and he suddenly remembered something.
When he came yesterday, the pants he was wearing were not his own...
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