Chapter 6 Raising Cattle

Qi Sui carried back a basket of watermelons, which she picked out a few of the best ones to sent them to Aunt Zhang's house. It was not yet noon, and Aunt Zhang's family was still working in the fields, leaving only Zhang Yuerou at home to prepare meals. Hearing Qi Sui's voice outside the yard, Zhang Yuerou immediately put down the things she's holding, wiped her hands carefully before going out to greet her, "Sister Sui!"

Zhang Yuerou's almond eyes were bright and she looked very beautiful when she smiled. Qi Sui watched her trotting towards her and felt that she looked very much like a rabbit she had raised in the past. Qi Sui asked, "Are you home alone?"

Zhang Yuerou opened the gate, nodded and said, "Dad, mom and two brothers are in the fields, Sister Sui, please come in and talk."

Qi Sui knew that her two brothers worked as helpers in the town on weekdays, and would come back to share the farm work when the crops were harvested. Following Zhang Yuerou's guidance, Qi Sui put the backpack on the ground and took out the watermelon. "This is the watermelon that i planted. It has sweet juice. The sun has been getting stronger recently. Aunt Zhang and the others have to work for a long time every day. This watermelon is the best for quenching thirst."

Zhang Yuerou squatted obediently aside and listened carefully. She saw Qi Sui split the melon with a knife. The flesh was bright red. She took a petal and heard Qi Sui's voice in her ears: "Sanniang, try it first." She ate it obediently, her round eyes widened instantly, and she looked at Qi Sui in surprise. Qi Sui saw her reaction and thought it was cute, just like Shen Yu. The system made two quiet sounds, Qi Sui touch her nose as if to cover it up.

Zhang Yuerou is a half-grown child after all, with delicious food in her hands, she would naturally forget her a little. She took several pieces of Qi Sui's feeding before coming to her senses when Qi Sui and was about to cut the second watermelon. She gently wiped the juice from the corner of her mouth and whispered, "Sister Sui, I don't want to eat it anymore." Qi Sui looked at her, who was lowering her head, and joked, "Sanniang is young and has a small appetite, but I can eat several on a normal day."

Zhang Yuerou raised her face and said seriously, "I will be fourteen in autumn, fifteen in a year, and I will be a marriageable girl in another year." At the end, her voice became very light, "I am not young."

Qi Sui nodded blankly, thinking that children in ancient times attached so much importance to age.

The system, however, made a sarcastic remark: "You stepped on a landmine."

Qi Sui: "You also stepped on a landmine, and it was me!"

The system did not want to continue to tangle with this childish guy, so it just pouted and stopped talking. Zhang Yuerou wanted to keep Qi Sui for dinner, but she insisted on leaving, so she had to give up. She stood blankly at the door for a long time, and only turned around when she could no longer see Qi Sui.

The next day, Qi Sui carried the watermelons into town before dawn, planning to sell them early and return home early so that she could harvest more rice. There were other farmers on the road. She heard a mooing sound and the rubbing sound of wheels rolling on the ground behind her, Qi Sui looked back and her eyes lit up. It's an ox cart!

The driver was a young boy who looked quite young. Qi Sui stepped forward and asked politely, "Brother, are you going to Luoshui Town too? Can you give me a ride?" The boy ignored her and continued to drive the cattle. Qu Sui naturally understood what he meant, but she didn't just want to take the ride for free, so she took out a few copper coins from her purse and handed them to him: "Brother, you have traveled hard, and I won't take a ride for nothing. I will buy you a cup of tea."

After receiving the money, he stopped the cow and said only a few words: "Cheng An, the person behind is my sister. What's your name?"

"Qi Sui." Qi Sui sat on the cow's back. In front of her was a five or six-year-old girl sitting on the back seat of the car, looking at her timidly. She wanted to find something on her body to get closer to her, but she had nothing, so she grabbed some weeds from the side and made up a grass katydid.

The girl was very cute, She's full of curiosity when she saw the katydid and wanted to reach out to grab it. But after looking at Cheng An's back, she withdrew her hand. Qi Sui could see that the girl listened to Cheng An very much, so she picked up all the weeds from the car and continued to weave katydids, while deliberately trying to talk to Cheng An.

"Cheng An, how much did you pay for this cow?"

The boy sitting in front of them didn't even turn his head: "Why are you asking this?"

Qi Sui kept moving her hands, "I also want to buy a cow, but there is no one in my village selling it."

Cheng An was silent for a moment, then answered: "I don't know, I had this cow when I was born."

Qi Sui said "oh" and continued to ask: "What about the cart?"

His voice was neither salty nor bland: "My father made it himself."

Qi Sui nodded and said with a smile: "Then I will come to your house to make ox cart in the future."

Cheng An did not agree, but said: "You don't know where my home is."

"Tell me Since we are all going to Luoshui Town, maybe our village is not far away."

Cheng An did not speak until he got off the car. Qi Sui thought he was cautious and did not ask any more questions. She just left all the ten woven grass katydids to the girl. The girl saw that she had been chatting with her brother for a while, so she thought that she's someone he knew, and happily took it and said in a soft voice, "Thank you."

Qi Sui gently pinched the girl's face and said goodbye to Cheng An: "Thanks for the ride, brother. See you again if possible."

"My father is a famous carpenter in town. You can ask him to make something for you."

Qi Sui bowed, indicating that she had taken note of it. As soon as she arrived at the restaurant, she found Liu Quanzhi who was familiar with the place and briefly introduced the watermelons she brought. After Liu Quanzhi tasted them, he bought 30 kilograms of watermelons without saying a word. Qi Sui put three hundred coins into her money bag, and thinking of the ox cart, she asked Liu Guanyuan: "Does boss know where I can buy a cow in town? I want to buy a cow to take home." Liu thought for a moment and said, "Cows are extremely precious and rare, but you can go to the downtown area in the east and see if you can find one."

Qi Sui thanked him and hurried to the downtown area. She saw a strong man pulling his own cow And hawk to people around. When the strong man heard the customer's offer, he refused without hesitation: "You want to buy my cow for only two hundred coins? You're taking advantage of me!" People around him nodded one after another. The customer trembled and raised the price with his finger: "Then it's five hundred coins, no more."

The strong man still shook his head, and the guest could only leave disappointed.

Qi Sui looked at it for a long time and raised her hand to signal: "May I ask how much the seller wants?"

The strong man heard her and looked at her: "One thousand coins."

Everyone tilted their heads and whispered, "This Sun Erlang is really brave. The cow is so skinny, it might be dying soon."

Sun Erlang spat at them and said, "My cow is short and strong, it's fine!"

Qi Sui saw that his cow is panting, its eyelids drooping, The cow is so thin that its spine is visible. You can tell at a glance that it works in the fields a lot. However, the system told her that she might be able to feed it, so she thought she might as well take advantage of the opportunity.

"Three hundred coins." Qi Sui only gave this number.

Sun Erlang thought it was ridiculous and tried to drive her away: "You are ruining the business! The customer just offered 500 coins, but I didn't agree. Why don't you just lower the price?"

Qi Sui seemed not to hear him and offered another price: "Two hundred coins. One hundred and fifty coins."

The familiar bargaining shocked the system, "Host, you are not going to use the same old trick again!"

Qi Sui curled her lips and smiled, seeming to be sure of victory.

Sun Erlang was a little annoyed. Business was already difficult today, and now he encountered a person who didn't know the limits and came to mess things up. He shouted, "I don't want to do business with you! Get out of here!"

Qi Sui could only shrug and looked helpless: "Okay, I'm afraid that I'm the only one who's willing to buy your cow right now."

After saying that, she turned and left, went to the stall at the corner, ordered a bowl of noodles and a pot of tea, and sat there until noon. The number of people on the street gradually thinned out. Qi Sui thought it's about time, so she got up and went to look for Sun Erlang again.

Seeing that Sun Erlang's cows were not sold, he angrily cursed: "You beast! You want to die in my hands!"

Qi Sui walked behind him and said coldly: "Three hundred coins, I will take it away."

Sun Erlang saw that it's her again and snorted coldly, "Do you know how much I have spent to raise him over the years? Just three hundred coins..."

Before he could finish his words, he was hit by Qi Sui. "It has been plowing the land for you day and night, and you have tortured it to the point where it's skinny and dying. Even if you sell it to a butcher, no one will want it." the cow lying on the ground seemed to understand human words, raised its eyes with effort and made a dull and tired cry.

Sun Erlang was obviously hesitant, he tried to sell it in the town every day, and there were always many onlookers but no on ereally wanted to buy it. Qu Sui could offer three hundred coins... but he still refuse to give in: "Add another hundred coins and the cow will be yours."

Finally, Qi Sui led the cow back to the village slowly, and unlocked the new function of the system. "Congratulations to the host, you have triggered the livestock breeding task and earned 100 points." Qi Sui browsed the new page in her mind. Various types of grass and feed were cheap and available in large quantities, and there were also free breeding instructions. She was immediately moved to tears.

Bag after bag of ears of grain were filled, and in the blink of an eye it's August. The sound of cicadas chirping one after another flooded into Qi Sui's home. The news that she was the first person in the village to raise cattle had been spread for a month. At first, many people came to her house to see the cow, but when they saw that the cow would not live long, they left in disappointment. Qi Sui didn't care and even named the cow Changsheng. She put grass and feed in the groove, added some nutrients, and shouted, "Changsheng, come and eat. I'll take you out to play later."

Changsheng didn't understand, so he chewed grass in his mouth and snorted at her. Now, under Qi Sui's careful care, Changsheng's flesh is slowly growing back. Although he is not strong yet, he no longer pant for air, and his legs are so strong that sometimes even Qi Sui can't pull him back.

Qi Sui touched Changsheng's head. These days, she saved five taels of silver by selling watermelons and vegetables from her fields. The dilapidated house behind her had been repaired, but it could only accommodate on person. There were dozens of bags of grain inside. In addition, the family raised chickens and cow, so they have a place to live, so she have to rebuild the house. But building a house cannot be completed in a day or two, and the problem is where to live during this period.

Qi Sui was leading the cow, wandering aimlessly in the field, absent-minded. When Shen Yu arrived, she saw a woman and a cow circling in place. Not knowing why, she called Qi Sui twice, but Qi Sui didn't hear her, so she had to change her words and call Changsheng. After hearing this, Changsheng stopped, turned around, and brought Qi Sui back to her senses. Qi Sui followed Changsheng's eyes and saw Shen Yu, and walked towards her unconsciously.

Since eating the watermelon, Shen Yu came to see Qi Sui every day. Seeing Changsheng gradually regain his former spirit, she gently patted Changsheng's head and said, "He has grown a lot stronger than the day he first came." Qi Sui nodded, She also stroked Changsheng's head. Shen Yu was thoughtful and noticed that Qi Sui wasn't in a good mood, so she asked her softly, "Miss Qi, have you encountered any difficulties?" "It's not difficult, but it's also difficult."

Qi Sui explained what's in her mind. Shen Yu pondered for a moment and said, "There are only Ruo Wei and I in the mansion now, and there are a few empty rooms. If Miss Qi doesn't mind, why don't you stay with me temporarily, and Changsheng can be taken care of by the farmers in the village."

Qi Sui declined: "How can I do this? How can I trouble Miss Shen to worry about my personal affairs?"

Shen Yu also guessed that she would refuse, so she took the opportunity to talk about the wasteland in the village. "There are many wastelands in the village. I have hired many people but it still can't grow crops, but I know that when Miss Qi bought the wasteland, she was able to harvest in just one month, so I want to ask Miss Qi to help me solve a problem. In this way, Miss Qi doesn't have to feel guilty when she lives in the house, not to mention that when I first met Miss Qi, you also invited me and Ruo Wei to take shelter from the rain."

Qi Sui was gradually convinced by her words, and if the house wasn't repaired, it would be hard to say whether it would survive the winter, so she thanked her again and again and took over Shen Yu words. "Then thank you, Miss Shen."

Shen Yu lowered her eyes. Changsheng was gently rubbing her and Qi Sui's hands, so she smiled quietly in her heart: "You're welcome."