Wang An pretended to ponder for a moment before nodding.
"That works. It's really a pain to try and find livestock on foot. If we take the sidecar, we can get there faster; the people in your village should be heading out to the fields soon."
The two children hesitated as they looked at the sidecar nearby, glancing at each other. It was clear that they were still somewhat wary of Wang An and Wang Li.
Then, the child from the Ying-pian side asked Wang An
"Where are you guys from? I've only seen cars like that in the county seat."
Wang An naturally saw through the children's little scheme and said with a smile
"We both have the surname Wang. We're from Kaoshan Village in Xing'an Township. It's not too far from here, but not exactly close either—it takes a bit over two hours on foot."
The boy from the Shu-pian side was still a bit uneasy, but he didn't ask anything further and followed the two men toward the sidecar.
Wang An then turned to Wang Li and said
"Old Fifth, kick-start the bike. I'll sit behind you, and let these two sit in the sidecar. Drive slowly; just cruise along in first gear."
And so, under the guidance of the two children, Wang Li rode the sidecar toward the nearest household that owned cattle.
Noticing someone approaching, a man in his sixties stepped out of the house. The child from the Ying-pian side took the initiative to ask
"Third Grandpa, my brother Wang from Kaoshan Village is thinking of getting a cow. He wanted to ask if your family is selling yours?"
The old man scrutinized Wang An and Wang Li with a face full of suspicion and asked
"From Kaoshan Village? There's a man named Wang Juntang in Kaoshan Village; how are you related to him?"
That was how things were in this era; when trying to figure out someone's background, they asked like this, bringing up various names. Locally, this practice was called "pan-pan dao" (tracing the path).
It had to be admitted that this "pan-pan dao" behavior could make someone trust you or suspect you very quickly.
Wang An said with a smile
"That is indeed my grandfather. It's been three or four years—the old gentleman still remembers my grandfather? Hahaha."
As he spoke, Wang An took out some cigarettes and offered one.
The old man took the cigarette, smelled it near his nose, and continued to ask
"Ah, back in '67 when the reservoir was being built, did your DJ County and our LQ County provide voluntary laborers? We worked together. I remember you and your father's group of young lads all went. Right, how many brothers were there in your father's generation? It's been over ten years; I've forgotten completely."
These questions seemed casual, but the answers absolutely had to be correct. If a person could get a question wrong about how many siblings their own father had, then that person was definitely suspicious.
Wang An flicked his lighter to light the old man's cigarette, continuing to smile
"I'm the third son's child. I have two uncles and two aunts."
As he spoke, Wang An pointed to Wang Li and said
"That's my younger cousin from my second uncle's family, hahaha..."
To make people believe you, these questions were practically mandatory. Otherwise, you couldn't get anything done in the countryside because people simply wouldn't trust you.
Once Wang An finished speaking, the old man finally let down his guard. He took a puff of the cigarette with a smile and stopped questioning, saying with an apologetic look
"You want to buy a cow, right? Our cow still has to work in the fields; we can't sell it. If we sell it, we won't have anything to use."
Wang An said nonchalantly
"No worries. The autumn harvest has been so hectic lately that it's really hard to find a cow. Otherwise, we wouldn't have traveled this far."
The old man thought for a while and said
"That's true. I really haven't heard of anyone in our village selling their cows."
After a few more minutes of idle chatter, Wang An bid his farewell
"Alright then, Grandpa, we'll go ask some other houses."
Thus, under the guidance of the two children, the four of them visited two more houses. Feeling that a mutual trust had been established with the children, Wang An asked them as if in passing
"Lately, has anyone in your village mentioned a mule, horse, or cow that's fallen ill—the kind where no matter what you do, it just won't get better?"
The child from the Ying-pian side immediately asked
"What's up, Big Brother? You want to buy a sick animal?"
Wang An replied
"Well, there's a veterinarian in our village whose skills are actually quite impressive. I was thinking of buying a cow with some issues and taking it back for him to treat. It could make do for this autumn, and then we can get another one after the harvest."
The two children's eyes lit up instantly. The boy from the Shu-pian side jumped in
"Then let's go to the west side of the village! Old Cao's family at the far south end of the west side wants to sell their cow, but no one has bought it. Let's go take a look and see if you like it."
Wang An and Wang Li's eyes brightened upon hearing this. Damn, since arriving at Shiqiaobao, they had been circling the east side of the village; it turned out the cow that likely had bovine calculus was on the west side.
That said, in order to avoid attracting the attention of the Shiqiaobao locals, Wang An's roundabout approach was a necessity.
There was no other way; nobody was a fool. If Wang An had come and immediately said he wanted to buy a sick cow, it would definitely make the villagers suspicious. After all, who in their right mind buys a sick cow?
Even if it didn't make them suspicious, it would lead to interference from the villagers or cause the owner of the sick cow to raise the price for no reason.
Putting oneself in others' shoes, anyone would do the same; it was only natural.
Consequently, Wang Li made a U-turn on the spot and headed toward the ancient stone bridge.
The name Shiqiaobao (Stone Bridge Fortress) came from this very bridge, which showed just how many years old it must be.
Soon, guided by the two children, the four of them arrived at Old Cao's house.
As soon as they entered the yard, Wang An saw a cow in the shed.
The cow's eyes were bloodshot, its lips were scorched yellow, and its fur was matted and coarse. The entire animal was skeletal, looking purely like skin stretched over bone.
If Wang An wasn't mistaken, there was a ninety percent chance this cow had bovine calculus, as it possessed every single necessary symptom.
After a brief observation, Wang An glanced at Wang Li, and the two brothers nodded slightly to each other.
However, the meaning behind their nods was different: Wang Li's meant *this is the cow I saw*, while Wang An's meant *this cow very likely has bovine calculus*.
With the sound of a dog barking, a man with messy hair and a scruffy beard stepped out of the house. It was evident that the man's mental state was currently very poor.
The child from the Shu-pian side said to the man as if claiming credit
"Brother Cao, isn't your old cow for sale? Laibao and I found a buyer for you. You've gotta teach us your trapping skills now, right?"
The child from the Ying-pian side, Laibao, added
"Yeah, Brother Cao! If we help you sell the cow, you've gotta teach us how to set traps!"
Upon hearing that Wang An and Wang Li were there to buy the cow, the man called Brother Cao suddenly beamed with a wide smile.
(End of Chapter)