sbdcsierra Chapter 33 Buying Livestock
Chapter 33 Buying Livestock
Everyone got up early in the morning, but Yun Dan was still fast asleep, so Yang Hualing started to fuss over her.
"Where did you go last night? You stayed out so late."
Yun Dan replied in a daze, "I went to rob someone last night, and I don't have enough silver on me."
"Robbery? Where did you rob us?"
Upon hearing the word "robbery," Yun Dan was startled and sat up.
"Robbery? What did you say about robbery?"
"Didn't you just say you went to rob someone last night? Why are you asking me this now?"
"Oh, it's okay."
After getting up, washing up, and having breakfast, the group went to the livestock market and entered the West Market.
A thin young man saw more than ten people and walked over enthusiastically.
"Are you here to buy livestock?"
"Yes, we're here to buy a few cows and donkeys."
"I'll take a few people to see; we have horses, cows, sheep, donkeys, and mules here."
I was lucky; besides teaching how to raise chickens and geese, it even included information on raising cattle, horses, sheep, donkeys, and mules.
A mule is the offspring of a horse and a donkey. It is larger than a donkey and stronger than a horse, but smaller than a horse.
Mules are divided into horse mules and donkey mules; those born to a female horse are called horse mules.
As we walked, the young man introduced the variety of products, saying that the place must have a good reputation and be very popular.
Lin Yundan stated her requirements:
"Young man, we'd like someone younger, preferably six or seven years old."
You need to be physically strong and agile, because we'll be going up and down the mountain frequently. Don't try to fool us with sick people.
"That's impossible. No customer who comes to our shop has ever said anything bad about our livestock. We would never cheat our customers."
"Yeah, buddy, I trust you. The fact that so many people are choosing from here proves that your stuff is pretty good."
"That's right, that's right. In the entire Fengyuan County, I'm not bragging, but I dare say I'm second to none."
The group arrived at the cattle pen, and Li the coachman also came to help look after it. Finally, Li the coachman discussed it with Uncle Lin and the others, and asked the cattle seller about the price.
In the end, four cows were selected: one smaller one weighed 22 taels, two others weighed 28 taels each, and a female cow weighed 30 taels.
Yun Dan also felt the price was fair and that she wasn't short of money.
"Yes, the price is reasonable, as long as it's healthy," Yun Dan said.
Then they went to see the donkeys and mules.
Donkeys and mules are much cheaper; a donkey costs 10 taels and a mule costs 8 taels.
"Hey sir, we bought six, don't you deliver a cart?"
"Yes, we'll send you two cartloads later."
"Only two cartloads? We bought six head of livestock, and you only delivered two cartloads."
"Little sister, it's not that I don't want to give you more, it's just that I really can't make much profit from these. How about this, you buy two more carts, and I'll give you another one for free, how about that?"
Yun Dan thought for a moment, then said, "How about this, I'll give you two more taels of silver, and you give me six buses. Then don't talk about whether you'll be giving them a ride or not."
The young man thought for a moment and said, "Okay, little sister, you're really straightforward."
Four cows, a donkey, and a mule were led out; they would need to go to the government office to get their documents stamped later.
Yun Dan originally wanted to leave, but when she saw the two horses that were almost fully grown, she went over to take a look.
Both horses were reddish-brown and, although not yet adults, looked quite majestic.
"Young man, are these two horses also for sale?"
Hearing Yun Dan's words, the young man walked to her side and said, "Yes, I'll call its owner over and ask."
A short while later, a young man ran over.
"Young ladies, are you here to buy horses?"
"Hey buddy, how much are you planning to sell these two horses for?"
The young man looked at Yun Dan, then at the adults, and saw that everyone was looking at Yun Dan.
Finally, he said to Yun Dan, "Both of these are good horses. Although they are not yet adults, their gait is steady and full of power. It's just that they are a bit more expensive than ordinary horses."
"Just tell me directly, how much do two horses cost?"
Hearing Yun Dan's straightforward words, he didn't expect to kill her.
"These two are oviparous siblings. The slightly larger one is the older sister, and the smaller one is the younger brother. The larger one costs 55 taels, and the smaller one costs 50 taels."
"Wow, horses are that expensive? The price of just these two horses is enough for a family of six in Sujia Village to live on for a lifetime."
"Could you make it cheaper? I'll take both of them."
When Uncle Lin heard that the two horses would cost over a hundred taels of silver, he immediately called out to Yun Dan.
"Little girl, these two horses cost over a hundred taels, and our money..."
He turned to look at his uncle and said, "Uncle, it's alright, I have money."
"Young lady, this is already a normal price. I didn't make much profit. If it weren't for needing money to buy medicine for my father, I wouldn't want to sell it."
"Oh, your father is sick?" Then she glanced at the young man from the livestock shop, and when he nodded, she looked away.
"Okay, then I'll take both of them."
Upon hearing that Yun Dan wanted both horses, the young man's eyes widened, but in his heart he was thinking, "Father has money to treat his illness now."
"I'm asking you, what illness does your father have, and what symptoms are he currently experiencing?"
Hearing Yun Dan's words, the young man was also confused, thinking that she was concerned about his father, so he told her directly.
Before the young man could finish describing his symptoms, Yun Dan took out a small ceramic bottle from her bosom and placed it in his hand.
"Take this bottle of medicine back and give it to your father. Take one pill a day for five days and see how it goes. If he gets better, he doesn't need to take it anymore. If he feels weak all over, he can take it for another two days."
Yun Dan and her group followed the young man. When they arrived at the livestock market, Yun Dan and several elders went to the government office to get their seals stamped, while the rest of the group waited at the livestock market.
The young man was left staring blankly at them.
After obtaining all the necessary permits, you don't need to pay taxes for the first two years, but afterwards you have to pay 500 coins per year for every 6 head of livestock.
Therefore, not every family could afford to raise livestock in ancient times.
After a series of procedures, another half hour had passed. Back at the livestock shop, they handed over four cows, one donkey, one mule, two horses, and six carts for a total of 205 taels of silver. In addition, they spent another 3 taels of silver on the documents.
A quarter of the money I robbed yesterday is gone today.
I originally planned to head back home today, but this shopping spree has taken up the whole morning. It looks like I'll have to stay in Fengyuan County for another day.
They could only set off home tomorrow, so the group led four cows, a donkey, a mule, and two horses back to the restaurant and handed them over to the waiter to take to the backyard to be cleaned up.
The elders were still in disbelief when they arrived at the restaurant; they had spent over two hundred taels of silver in just one morning, and they were still quite dizzy.
"Little girl, where did you get so much money?" Uncle Lin asked worriedly.
“Uncle, I saved a rich man in town before, and he gave me eight hundred taels of silver to thank me.”
"Don't worry, the money is from a perfectly legitimate source."
"What? Eight hundred taels? Do your parents know about this? How could they be so sure you carry so much money with you?" Lin Jiang was even more shocked when he heard this.
Let alone eight hundred taels, he had only seen eighty taels twice in the past two years. Once was the money from selling soap, and the other time was the two hundred taels for buying livestock. He had never seen so much money before. He would be overjoyed if he had eight taels of silver.
"Uncle, don't worry, I can take care of myself."
"Okay, okay, as long as you can take care of yourself, that's fine. But you can't spend money recklessly anymore. You know, making money isn't easy."
After lunch, the dishes were the most plentiful. After lunch, everyone went upstairs to rest, looking forward to exploring the county in the afternoon.