Chapter 29: Yan Er's Ability

Soon, Yan the Second was given the opportunity to go to town again.

The villagers were deeply moved by the Scholar's actions and decided to pool their money from every household to see if they could buy one or two more head of livestock.

The Scholar was right: they could be used for transport and for food; it was essentially like buying grain reserves.

Village Chief Luo, carrying the collected funds of the entire village, jogged all the way to the Yan residence, followed by several young men who intended to go along.

Without a word, Yan the Second began harnessing the cart.

Luo the Eldest (the Chief's eldest son), San Tie (from the grandson generation), Physician Cui and his son Da Gouzi, Qi Si, and Wang Erlang—all of whom knew a thing or two about handling carts—followed along.

By the time they reached the livestock market in town, the market conditions had shifted again. More people were selling livestock, driving the prices even lower.

A few days ago, a mule cost seven taels of silver; today it was six taels and five mace. A donkey had dropped from three taels to two taels and sixty mace.

These were prices including the cart, which could only be described as a tearful fire sale.

Yan Huaiwen gave fifteen taels to the village, and each household contributed another six taels.

The villagers had counted on their fingers until they were nearly broken, yet they still couldn't figure out how many donkeys they could buy with the money left over after purchasing two mules.

Yan the Second: "..."

Unable to bear watching them struggle, he stepped forward to haggle with the two men selling the mules.

"These are just mules and donkeys, not horse-mules. How do you have the nerve to ask for six taels and five mace? Five taels is about right. Let me check their teeth. Lift up their hooves so I can take a look. This one won't do—this mule isn't exactly young, is it? How many more years of work can it actually do? I don't want to buy it, treat it well, and have it collapse in two years. Will you go lower? If not, I'll go look at the donkeys."

He then turned to the donkey seller and launched another assault

"Look how thin this donkey is. Hold it steady, let me feel its belly to make sure nothing's wrong inside. Teeth—yes, pull them apart so I can see. Whoa! This little cart... is it an heirloom? How many generations has it been in the family? It's too old; I'm afraid it'll fall apart. And this donkey is losing hair—is it sick? And you still dare ask for two taels and sixty mace? One tael and fifty mace, and I'll take it away to eat..."

He harassed every single mule and donkey seller in the entire market.

The sellers were furious; when someone haggles, they should haggle reasonably, not just haggle blindly like this.

Physician Cui, thinking of Yan the Second's skill in trimming hooves, suddenly realized: weren't these people being foolish by not asking the expert standing right there?

Yan the Second could even trim hooves; he certainly dealt with livestock more than any of them.

"Brother Yan, come over here and help me figure this out," he called out to Yan the Second.

Yan the Second trotted over and asked, "What are you thinking? What exactly do you want to buy?"

"I heard people say mules can pull more than donkeys, and their carts are a bit larger. We want to buy two mules," Wang Erlang said.

"After buying the mules, we want to use the remaining money to buy donkeys," Luo the Eldest added.

Yan the Second nodded. "How about this: give all the silver to me, and I'll buy them for you."

The men looked at one another.

Luo the Eldest steeled his resolve and handed the tightly wrapped bundle of silver into his hands.

To be safe, they simply followed Yan the Second; after all, the Scholar had contributed the largest share.

Then, they watched as Yan the Second wandered through the livestock market with total freedom, as if he were in his own home.

He went here and there, and soon, two mules were settled.

One for six taels and one mace, the other for five taels and eight mace.

Then came four donkeys: two taels and three mace, two taels and one mace and five fen, two taels and two mace, and one tael and five mace...

That was right—he even bought that sickly, hair-losing donkey.

The men remained silent, frantically calculating in their heads. The previous purchases were certainly a bargain; they just wondered how much meat they would get from that sick donkey.

After buying two mules and four donkeys, there was actually money left over.

Yan the Second weighed the remaining nine mace and some change in his hand and said, "Let's go."

As they led the mules and donkeys away, the men suddenly realized that if they included the child Da Gouzi, the money would barely cover everyone.

Yan the Second used the silver given by Old Yan to buy grain and saltpeter, and spent the rest of the money entirely at the meat stall.

The others just followed him, watching him buy, buy, buy, not knowing what to say.

Without Yan the Second, they wouldn't have been able to buy so smoothly, nor so cheaply.

They felt too embarrassed to nitpick over the remaining few mace.

Unexpectedly, upon reaching the village entrance, Yan the Second took the initiative to bring it up.

"Let me settle the accounts for you. Two mules cost eleven taels and nine mace, and four donkeys cost eight taels and one mace and five fen. That's twenty-one taels in total. We spent twenty taels and fifty fen, leaving us with nine mace and five fen."

"This extra nine mace is just enough to treat that hair-losing donkey; it's nothing serious. Mix saltpeter with lard to make an ointment, and apply it two or three times. The saltpeter cost five mace. As for the lard... it's hard to calculate exactly. Since we didn't buy enough fat to make enough, let's just say my family bought lean meat, and the fat counts as four mace and five fen. Does that work for you all?"

"Uncle Yan, then aren't you losing money? Fat is more expensive than lean meat," San Tie immediately chimed in, looking at Yan the Second, thinking about how well he could navigate the town and how he had saved them enough for two donkeys.

Qi Si added, "Brother Yan, that sick donkey only cost one tael and five mace. If the ointment works, it'll save at least sixty mace. We're the ones getting the bargain from you."

"We'll pool more money when we get back..." Wang Erlang said honestly.

Luo the Eldest also nodded. "Right, we'll pool more when we get back. We can't let you take a loss."

Yan the Second didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I'm not losing money; my family just loves eating lean meat. Also, the reason I'm laying out these accounts is so you can remember them yourselves. That way, if anyone asks, you can explain it clearly. This money was pooled from every household in the village, and the livestock will be used by everyone, so the books must be transparent."

Physician Cui nodded repeatedly. "We must let every household know. If it weren't for Brother Yan, we wouldn't have been able to buy them so cheaply. Also, Brother Yan, you calculate so fast! Impressive!"

The others joined in the praise, making Yan the Second feel a bit embarrassed.

*This? This is just elementary school level,* he thought.

...

With the addition of mules and donkeys to the village, the old and young alike stayed out late into the night. Carrying torches, they watched with fascination as the livestock took turns grinding the wheat.

San Tie was the most animated, telling everyone how they went to the market, what it was like, and how mighty his Uncle Yan had been—driving the prices down, down, down, and bringing back six head of livestock for only twenty-one taels!

The villagers listened in stunned silence. Was this really Yan the Second?

To have such skill?

The skilled Yan the Second was currently applying ointment to the hair-losing donkey.

"Dad! Here, try this. See if it's sweet," Yan Yu said, handing him a piece of roasted sweet potato.

"Who roasted it?" Yan the Second swallowed hard at the scent.

"Mom said just throw it in the stove, so I threw two in," Yan Yu said. "Give the rest to Uncle, Big Brother, and Big Sister. This part is for the three of us."

Yan the Second took a bite from his daughter's hand.

His eyes lit up instantly, and he praised, "It's really sweet!"

"By the way, where is that meat I brought back?"

"Mom is with Big Sister Da Ya, rubbing it with coarse salt. She said we'll hang it up to air-dry in a bit, hee hee!"

"How is your sister Da Ya doing?"

"She looks fine, but Mom said she wants me to sleep with her tonight."

"Is anyone going into our room?"

"Don't worry, Dad. We've been out all day; the door is still locked."

"I've arranged with Qi Si to have his brother help build a shed. The village wheat is being ground coarsely and very quickly; I hope we can get it done in time."