To be honest, if a single horse had been priced at 600 yuan from the start, Wang An would have paid without a second thought.
After all, these six horses were not only the ones he had taken a liking to, but were also selected with Uncle Anba's help; spending a bit more was simply spending a bit more.
The key issue was that whether one was entering the mountains to pan for gold or dig for ginseng, the goal was "smoothness."
Although Wang An was not a superstitious person, and whether entering the mountains went smoothly had very little to do with the horses, it had to be admitted that before anyone does something, they silently pray in their heart for everything to go well.
If things were clumsy and unlucky before even starting a task, it would be a massive psychological hindrance to the person doing it.
As the old saying goes, "A good beginning is half the battle."
If even buying a horse wasn't smooth, then for Wang An, it was truly better not to buy them at all.
Otherwise, riding these horses into the mountains would feel damn awkward, and he'd feel incredibly uncomfortable in his heart.
Some might say that good things come to those who wait, and that without experiencing a few twists and turns, success feels meaningless.
To that, Wang An wanted to say: get the fuck away from me, and while you're at it, I wish you
Soup splashing all over your clothes, piss spraying on your shoes,
Tearing the paper while wiping your ass, and shitting yourself when you fart!
To put it bluntly, people who say "good things come to those who wait" are just forcing themselves to find comfort.
Hearing Wang An's unquestionable tone, the accountant clearly couldn't hold his ground.
Suppressing his anger, the accountant spoke in a sarcastic, passive-aggressive tone
"Then you'd better think it through. We have no trouble selling these horses; once you pass this village, you won't find another shop like this."
Hearing this, Wang An let out a laugh and said
"You're the one who calls the shots in the Heishan Brigade? Fine, if you're the one in charge, we aren't buying these horses."
Having said that, Wang An turned to Mu Xueli and Wang Li
"Xueli, Lao Wu, give the reins back to Uncle Anba. We're leaving."
At this moment, Wang An truly no longer wanted to buy the horses—or more accurately, he didn't want to buy them *here*.
It was evident that because of the coordinated act between the captain and the accountant, Grandpa Kuma and Uncle Anba were also very angry.
But for some reason, Grandpa Kuma and Uncle Anba remained silent, letting Wang An handle the negotiations with those two.
After speaking, the three of them handed the reins back to Uncle Anba. Uncle Anba's expression was quite unsightly.
As he took the reins from them, Uncle Anba forced a small, apologetic smile, but he still didn't say a word.
Once the reins were handed over, the three of them turned and walked back toward Grandpa Kuma's house. Since the purchase failed, Wang An wanted to leave and make other arrangements.
In Heilongjiang Province, villages populated entirely by Oroqen people were actually quite common; there were several in DJ County alone.
However, without an acquaintance, they were very exclusionary.
To be fair, you couldn't entirely blame them for being exclusionary, as many people who thought they were clever had caused them to suffer losses in the past, leading them to distrust outsiders.
When the three of them returned to Grandpa Kuma's house and hitched up the carriage to leave, Grandpa Kuma returned as well.
Seeing that they were leaving, the old man climbed onto the carriage without a word.
The three of them were instantly bewildered; they simply had no idea what Grandpa Kuma was planning.
Seeing their confusion, Grandpa Kuma said with a mix of helplessness and anger
"Today's matter is on this old man. I didn't think that old beast would be so inconsiderate. But it's fine, we'll go to Qingshangou Village to buy. They have more horses than they can handle too."
Hearing this, Wang An immediately said with a smile
"It's alright, Grandpa Kuma. I'm the one buying the horses and I'm not even angry, so what do you have to be angry about?"
Although Grandpa Kuma remained silent, Wang An truly felt no resentment; after all, everyone has their own difficulties.
Furthermore, strictly speaking, Wang An and his companions were the outsiders to the Heishan Brigade. If Grandpa Kuma and Uncle Anba had spoken up for Wang An, they would have been ostracized.
Moreover, while the accountant was irritating, if one looked at it from the accountant's perspective, his act of asking for an exorbitant price wasn't actually "wrong."
The man just wanted to sell the horses for a high price; was there something wrong with that?
Grandpa Kuma said, "You don't need to persuade me, I know how it is. Turn east up ahead."
Wang An stopped persuading him and said cheerfully
"Alright, Grandpa Kuma."
With that, Wang An followed Grandpa Kuma's directions and headed east.
Along the way, Grandpa Kuma's mood was clearly poor, but Wang An didn't ask further.
Mainly because this was an internal matter of the Heishan Brigade; saying too much could be seen as sowing discord.
However, while Wang An didn't mention the horse purchase, he kept changing the subject, trying to pull Grandpa Kuma out of his anger.
Truthfully, Grandpa Kuma was a very decent man. Whether it was hosting the three of them or taking Wang An to pick the horses, he had done everything perfectly.
Even though things were ruined by the captain and the accountant, Grandpa Kuma still wanted to help Wang An complete the purchase.
The distance between the Qingshangou Brigade and the Heishan Brigade wasn't far, only about five or six li.
Thus, twenty minutes later, the four of them arrived in the carriage.
While the Heishan Brigade didn't have many households—about forty or fifty—the Qingshangou Brigade had even fewer.
Looking from a distance, there seemed to be fewer than twenty households.
But it had to be said that the name "Qingshangou" (Green Mountain Gully) was absolutely literal.
This brigade was located entirely within a gully between two mountains; the gully ran north to south, and one could see the end of it at a glance.
Under Grandpa Kuma's direction, Wang An drove the carriage directly into a courtyard.
It was only then that Wang An noticed that the households in Qingshangou didn't have houses.
However, there were plenty of huts and *xierenzhu* (traditional Oroqen poles/shelters), with each family having four or five, or even six or seven.
One look was enough to feel that the people of the Qingshangou Brigade were very authentic Oroqen.
After the carriage entered the yard, the barking of dogs brought a middle-aged man out of a hut.
The moment the man saw Grandpa Kuma, he performed a solemn bow by bending his knee.
This was a unique etiquette of the Oroqen people.
For men, the general form was: the left knee forward, the right leg back and slightly bent, with the right hand extended slightly forward.
For women, the general form was: legs together, the right hand or both hands resting on the knees, then slightly bending both knees downward.
This greeting was used by juniors to elders, or between peers.
But it was important to note that between peers, one must return the gesture with the exact same movement.
Otherwise, you'd likely get beaten up!
(End of Chapter)