pjbooks Chapter 62 Buying Sheep
Chapter 62 Buying Sheep
This ranch is quite far from Shan Yaowen's Baixi Ranch.
When the three of them arrived, the man was greeting other people who had come to see the sheep.
Since he had decided to sell sheep, he couldn't possibly only approach Shan Yaowen.
Although people are more conservative and won't buy sheep because of the blizzard, there are always some daring and skilled individuals who insist on going against the grain and trying to buy them at low prices.
Or people with plenty of hay on their own ranches will come and take a look, and if there are any suitable cattle, horses or sheep, they might buy them.
Upon hearing Shan Yaowen's voice, the man greeted him with a smile:
"Yaowen is here. Go have some hot tea first."
Shan Yaowen waved his hand, "Let's check on the sheep first."
"The sheep are all in the sheepfold and haven't been let out. There are big ones and small ones. Hey, slippers, take some people to the sheepfold and take a look."
After the man shouted, a little boy of about seven or eight years old ran over, but he couldn't stop in time and fell on his bottom in front of the group of people.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he stood up, shook off the snow, and said, "Let's go!"
Watching "Slippers" wave his hand with an air of dominance, leading the way like a little adult, Shan Yaowen smiled and followed behind, leading his horse.
"Slippers, how old are you?"
"Eight years old, but I'll be nine after the New Year, ten by the traditional Chinese age reckoning, and soon I'll be eleven."
Ok?
Dog Egg was taken aback, then couldn't help but laugh, "Is that how you calculate your age?"
"That's what my mom said, so I'm the older brother, and my older brother is my younger brother." Slippers clenched his fist and waved it proudly.
"What's your older brother's name?"
"Leather shoes, and I also have a younger brother who wears cloth shoes."
"I bet you have a brother named Rain Boots?"
"Huh? How did you know?" Slippers looked at Shan Yaowen with a puzzled expression. "But she's not a brother, she's a sister."
"Just guessing. Your dad's naming style is pretty simple; it's all about shoes."
"..."
Wearing slippers, Shan Yaowen and his two companions arrived at the sheep pen. Once there, they discovered that the ranch not only raised sheep, but also had a number of cattle and horses.
Moreover, there were quite a few people looking at the cattle and horses, and it seemed they were there to buy them.
No wonder the owner here is in a hurry to sell. Although the grassland of thousands of acres is large, that is relative to the small number of sheep. There are also herds of cattle and horses, and in considerable numbers. To be honest, this amount of grassland is simply not enough to support them.
They were probably released into public ranches.
An experienced herder can roughly tell the carrying capacity of a pasture by glancing at its area.
The pasture looks pretty good now; at least the areas without snow don't appear desertified, which shows that the rancher has managed the pasture quite well.
However, given the sheer number of cattle, horses, and sheep, which far exceeds the carrying capacity of the grasslands, there is only one solution left. Moreover, in those days, it was an unspoken agreement among herders to release their own cattle, horses, and sheep onto public pastures.
Ignoring the rancher's affairs, Shan Yaowen and his two companions focused on watching the sheep in the pen.
The sheepfold was enclosed by thick wooden planks, with several bundles of hay piled up in the sheltered area. Dozens of sheep were huddled together, and some lambs were bleating.
There aren't many large sheep in the sheepfold right now; most are sheep weighing ten or twenty pounds. The large sheep were either sold before winter or because of the recent blizzard.
Not long after, the rancher rode over on horseback. "I'm sorry, I've been a bit busy at home today, so I haven't been able to entertain you properly. How was the visit?"
He pointed to the flock of sheep in the middle, "Those are of medium age, less than a year old, not yet fully grown, but not quite lambs anymore."
Shan Yaowen nodded, first warming his frozen hands inside his cotton-padded coat pockets. "Can I come in and take a look?"
"No problem." The rancher opened the sheep pen door for them.
When Shan Yaowen entered the pen, the sheep stirred and moved aside.
Upon seeing the flock of sheep moving around, Shan Yaowen squatted down to observe them. Healthy sheep should be alert, with their ears perked up, eyes bright, and bleating clearly and loudly. They should be wary of people, especially strangers, and run away if approached.
I casually grabbed a bleating, half-grown sheep, gently pinched its chin, and found that the area around its nostrils was dry and clean, without any snot or scabs. I opened its lips to look at its gums, which were not pale or purplish in color; it was a healthy little guy.
The rancher outside the sheepfold was slightly surprised by Shan Yaowen's technique; this young man was definitely an expert.
It wasn't because Shan Yaowen was looking at the sheep's nose and teeth. Any old herdsman knows how to check a sheep's condition; the sheep's eyes, nose, teeth, and rump are common places to observe.
Shan Yaowen's technique in holding the sheep was very smooth. He controlled the position and the force just right, and the sheep did not struggle. It was clear that he was an experienced sheep handler.
So he took out cigarettes and handed two to the two people next to him. "Yaowen must have watched a lot of sheep's moves, right?"
"That's true, he really cherishes the sheep on his ranch."
Lin Hao and Shan Yaowu didn't know why this person suddenly started asking them about Shan Yaowen, but they didn't take it to heart. The three of them smoked and chatted about nothing in particular.
"Okay, sheep are fine." Shan Yaowen picked for a while and chose fifteen.
Seeing the sheep that Shan Yaowen had chosen, the man suddenly felt a little regretful.
What's wrong with your mom's choice of Yaowen? Why did she pick all the good ones?
Those that were slightly off were not taken.
If I had known better, I would have given him a low price and sold him the whole thing as a package. Instead, I let him choose by weight, which is a huge loss for me. Shan Yaowen only picked out the healthy sheep.
I originally wanted to take advantage of his youth and inexperience to put some bad ones in, but who would have thought that this guy was very experienced and didn't seem like a young man at all.
This was a miscalculation. The remaining sheep were mixed together before, so it wasn't noticeable, but after the good ones were picked out, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that the remaining ones were sickly and lacked energy.
"Yaowen, don't you want those anymore?" The man forced a smile, but it was a smile that was worse than no smile at all, like a bitter gourd face forced open.
"No, I can't raise that many sheep on my ranch. The sheep here are nice, Uncle. If I could, I'd really like to take them all back." After saying that, Shan Yaowen glanced at the sheep in the sheepfold with a hint of regret.
The man was internally screaming, "What are you pretending for?"
He now understands that Shan Yaowen's experience is definitely not in line with his age. What young man in his twenties has such insight?
"How about this, I'll give you an even better discount, and you can buy them all?"
"I wouldn't be able to keep it even if I bought it, what a pity."
Seeing Shan Yaowen's regretful expression, the man felt a tightness in his chest, unable to rise or fall.
"I know, your sheep pen was built to the standard of one hundred adult sheep, how could it not be able to raise them?"
"There's food available, but no place to eat."
In the end, Shan Yaowen was determined to keep his selection of the fifteen sheep, and no matter how eloquently you described the others, he simply wouldn't accept them.
The man was speechless. Since Shan Yaowen wouldn't budge, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and accept it.
He misjudged this time; he can only hope to make up for it by dealing with other people.
The fifteen sheep, most of them weighing around ten or twenty kilograms, cost a total of 123.45 yuan.
This time, instead of rushing back, they loaded the goods directly onto a horse-drawn cart and took them back.
Instead of going home, they took the sheep directly to their own sheep pen on their ranch.
Besides Lin Nian cleaning up the sheep pen, Shan's mother and father were also there.
"Dad, what brings you here? It's freezing cold outside, isn't it uncomfortable to stay home by the fire?"
"I was worried you'd get ripped off, so I sent you to the Xinma Ranch to find a more experienced tradesman to help you buy sheep. But you insisted on showing off, so I'm here to see how much you've been cheated out of."
The father, leaning on his cane, muttered to himself as he looked toward the carriage.