Chapter 3 - Buying an ox

Back to the Countryside

Chapter 3 : Buying ?bull

Editor:  Jakie

After he had eaten, Qi Yue went to the backyard to get Mu Yan and saddle him up.

He was going to go to town to buy a bull. Naturally, he wouldn’t really let Mu Yan do the ploughing. He could let it pull the cart. However, if he really wanted it to pull the plough, then he wouldn’t even let it pull the cart in the future.

    It usually took two hours for the villagers to go to the town in an ox cart and four hours for the round trip, so they usually had to get up early, or it would be dark and unsafe before they got back.

But with Mu Yan’s speed, it took only half an hour.

When he arrived in the town, Qi Yue didn’t make any delay, and went straight to the livestock market. With many domestic animals there, the smell was definitely not very good. He covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and quickly searched for the location of the cattle. 

    Originally, he was going to ask Lin Sheng if anyone in the nearby village wanted to sell cattle, so he would take one back. Later, he thought since now was the farming period so he was afraid that no one would sell cattle at this time.

Even if someone was willing to sell, all they had left were the small calves, and those who could work were kept for their own use.

As for renting someone else’s, he felt that it was too much trouble. It would be better to just buy one, since he would use it in the future anyway. 

Qi Yue soon found a place where cattle were sold, both calves and mature cattle. He picked one of the healthy-looking mature cattle from it. He then paid with the silver cheerfully. 

After leading the cattle out of the livestock market, Qi Yue took a few deep breaths. The smell of various feces mixed together in the market was really uncomfortable!

He bought everything needed for the household items yesterday. Since there was no shortage for the time being, he didn’t plan on shopping any more. He planned to go back to the village directly after picking up the horse at the entrance of the town.

“Miss, be careful!” 

As soon as Qi Yue walked to the main road, he heard an exclamation. Before then a figure fell over at his side. He subconsciously turned to another side, so the person fell to the ground with a “teng” sound, issuing a cry of pain!

“Miss, are you okay?!”  A little maid hurriedly crouched down to help her get up, as she nervously checked whether the young lady was hurt or not. 

“What’s the matter with you?! Seeing this lady fall, how dare you…?” The girl who fell to the ground immediately rebuked as she was helped up by the maid. She stopped talking when she saw Qi Yue’s face, stunned by his appearance. 

Qi Yue smiled, arched his hands at her, and said, “I’m really sorry, but when I saw something fall over, I subconsciously avoided it. I didn’t expect it to be a girl.”

Seeing him smile, the girl’s face instantly blushed red, her behavior became flirtatious, “It was this little girl’s fault for stepping on the corner of the skirt. I didn’t stand firmly. It has nothing to do with this young master!”

(she called herself 小女子 which literally mean little girl but it is just another way to mention herself a humble way)

    The little maid next to her looked at her lady with surprise, then turned to look at Qi Yue’s face, she also blushed. Then she understood in her heart, her lady had a crush on this person, didn’t she?

“If that is the case, then this humble one will leave!” Seeing her behave like that, Qi Yue understood her intention clearly so he did not want to stay any longer, and intended to leave directly. 

(在下 the way of saying “I” But polite one and use in the context of ancient china times)

“Hey, this young master, just now this little girl frightened you. I wonder if this gentleman is willing to tell me your name, let this little girl invite you to the teahouse to chat as my way to apologize?” The girl stopped in front of him and stared at him with a pair of beautiful eyes full of hope.

 A hint of impatience flashed through Qi Yue’s eyes, but the smile on his face remained unchanged. “Frightened? Not at all! As for drinking tea, I think there’s no need for this. This humble one is just a farmer in the village, so I dare not delay this lady’s time.”

“Do not say it like that, there’s no delay at all. This little girl also has nothing to do!” The girl shyly twisted the veil in her hand.

Although this person was dressed in an ordinary silk robe, holding a scalper, and looked like a countryman, his face was handsome and extraordinary. His body and his grace were excellent. No need to mention the rest, she has seen those rich young masters in the big city, but those young masters did not have this kind of grace and manner that really fascinated her!

 “You have nothing to do, but this humble one has important things to do, so pardon me. Farewell” The words were already a bit rude, Qi Yue had no intention of wasting time with a young girl whose heart was in spring. 

He pulled the rope in his hand, walked around her and left quickly. 

The girl still wanted to chase him, but she was blocked by a passing carriage. When the carriage passed, there was no sign of Qi Yue’s figure so she stomped her feet unwillingly!

    When Qi Yue returned to the village, his speed was naturally much slower because of the extra cattle. It was already dusk when he arrived in the village.

Most people in the village had eaten dinner, some women sat chatting together, and seeing him riding a horse and bringing a cow, they asked him if he had gone to the town to buy cows. 

Most of them are elders, Qi Yue could not immediately reply because it was not good to reply while sitting on the horse, so he got down from the horse.

    Although he didn’t know these people, as they were all living in the same village from now on, it was not good to ignore them. “Tomorrow I need to plow the land hurriedly, so I brought a cow back.”

“You could also use horses to plow the land. You just bought the yard, even if you are wealthy, you should save some! “A woman of a certain age persuaded him, thinking that he was young and spends too much money without saving some money!

“Yo, isn’t this just ‘you can’t eat grapes so you say grapes are sour’, since he has spent it, naturally he still has it in his hands. There is no need to be so frugal!” 

Qi Yue hadn’t spoken yet but another woman already opened her mouth with her odd way of speaking. 

    “He Tian’s family!” The woman who spoke first was immediately annoyed, and she cursed back. She was persuaded by the people around her not to quarrel in front of the new boy. It was too ugly. 

“How old are you this year? It’s really rare to be so outstanding!” In order to ease the atmosphere, another woman changed the subject. 

The two of them were like that so Qi Yue could not open his mouth till now. At this time, he was able to interrupt the conversation by saying, “Twenty-two years old!

“At this age, you have not married?” The moment this question was asked, it was obvious that everyone around him was interested. They all focused on him.

Men were usually engaged at fifteen or sixteen and got married at seventeen or eighteen. Girls and gers were even earlier, and would marry at fifteen or sixteen. Like Lin Sheng who lived next door to him, he got married at the age of eighteen. This year, he was twenty-five so his son was already six years old!

Qi Yue lowered his head and smiled, “I have not met someone I like yet!”

He hasn’t married yet! The women present who had unmarried daughters and gers were overjoyed. This boy was handsome, rich and had a good temperamen. By marrying him, the other partner could definitely enjoy the blessings! 

“What a coincidence, our family’s ger is a good one, I’ll let you meet him later!” The He Tian family immediately started to smile, looking as if Qi Yue must like her ger.

“Oh, you’re talking about Ling Ge Er? He is indeed a good-looking ger with a good temperament who can do all the work at home and in the field!” The woman she had chided earlier sneered and spoke in a meaningful way. 

As soon as she said this, their expressions turned a little bit strange, especially the woman who had just spoken. The mockery on her face was very obvious!

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Translator has something to say : 

Do not get confused for the changing term of bull, sometimes cattle or ? cow. It is basically the one used for farming to plow the land. I know English have many term (bull, cow, calves,and cattle which different meaning) but in chinese is much simpler, only the same word 牛 in mandarin. 

Since English is not my first language, I am sorry for the messy grammar or the bad choice of words.

I will try my best since it is my first time translating. This chapter basically as its chapter title mentioned is about. The Male lead is He Ling or his other nickname is Ling Ge’er.