Back in the 1980s, hiking in the mountains was also a way of life

Chapter 1111 Just What I Want

The art of playing piàji definitely requires a certain level of technical skill. It would be useless to just rely on sheer strength.

The main thing is that no matter how strong you are, what you hold in your hand is just a thin piece of paper.

In this way, under Wang An's command, this child defeated the child who did not listen to Wang An's command one after another, and one piece of paper after another fell into this kid's hands.

After playing for a while, the boy who didn't listen to the instructions became angry and pointed at his opponent and said:
"You're playing dirty. If you listen to him again, I won't play with you anymore."

His opponent would naturally not admit that he won because of Wang An's guidance, so he immediately retorted:
"I can still beat you even if I don't listen to him. If you can't beat me, just say you can't beat me."

Turning around, the boy said to Wang An:
"Brother, don't give me any advice, just see if I can beat him."

The child who didn't listen to the instructions and lost several games also shouted to Wang An:
"If you dare to mess with me again, do you believe I will ask my big brother to come out and cut you?"

It can be seen that if Wang An was not tall and strong, and this kid thought he was no match for Wang An, he would have taken action long ago.

It must be said that Wang An was really an asshole, because the kids were obviously having fun, but he had to come up to them and talk nonsense.

However, the reason why Wang An did this was because he wanted to get close to these kids.

You have to know that rural children of this era would run around all day long as they had free time. There was no place in the village that they could not reach.

Even if the parents asked them to work, they would usually go to the meadow in front of the village to graze cattle, horses, or donkeys.

Several or even a dozen children gathered together, letting the cows and horses eat grass on their own, and then the children continued to play.

For example, they would climb up trees to take out bird nests, go to rivers to catch frogs and fish, or look for the nests of big-eyed thieves to catch them. Most of the time, they would just try to find something edible.

And the way to eat it is also very simple, just one word, that is "burn". That's right, just burn it. Everything can be burned and you can eat it once it's cooked.

There was no way. The children were hungry at that time, so they took the initiative to find snacks.

The reason why Wang An wanted to get close to these teenagers was that the older children had to work in the fields with their parents, and those who were too young were still ignorant and it would be useless to ask them any questions.

So if anyone in the village has a sick cow or horse, these teenagers will definitely know better than anyone else, and there will be nothing wrong if you ask them.

Wang An obviously didn't take the boy's verbal threat seriously, and asked the two children with a smile:
"Why don't you two play later? A few days ago, the horse of Old Sun's family in our village got angry and ran away. I came here to look for the horse. Did you see a horse running into your village?"

It's definitely a little early to ask about the cow now, but after playing for such a long time and making the other person's child angry, Wang An felt that it was about time, so he thought of testing the waters first.

After Wang An asked, he saw the two children look at each other, and then said almost in unison:
"No, no horses have come to our village, not even this year."

"I've never heard of anyone having an extra horse. That horse probably didn't run to our village."

Then, Wang An continued to ask:

"Have you heard that in recent days, who in your village wants to sell horses and mules?"

The two children were stunned at first, and then they heard the child who won the prize say, "Ruan Xiaobing's two-year-old mule is for sale, but the mule is not very obedient and kicks a lot."

Wang An pretended to ponder, nodded, and asked:

"Is his mule ready to be driven?"

In this era, the main purpose of buying livestock is to use them for work. If a mule or horse cannot even pull a cart, it needs to be trained. And teaching a mule or horse to pull a cart is almost the same as training it to ride, which requires a lot of time and energy.

The kid who won the prize immediately said:

"That's definitely not the case. Ruan Xiaobing's father supported letting the mule pull the cart and got smacked with a hoof."

Wang An immediately changed the subject and asked:

"No, I have to tame the whole thing after it's born. I'm busy pulling the fields now, how can I have the time to tame it?"

Wang An pretended to stand with his thighs and said again:

"What about cattle? Cows will do. Does your village have any cattle for sale? Let's make it clear in advance. No calves or babies. At least they must be able to drive a cart. We need them to work on the land when we go back. Seven or eight years old or older is best."

"Shenggezi" is a local dialect, referring to animals and people who have never worked or engaged in a job since birth.

However, if it is used to refer to people, it has a derogatory connotation.

Noticing the thoughtful expressions of the two children, Wang An continued:
"Well, if you two can find me a suitable cow, I'll give you two one dollar each, no, how about two dollars each?"

As he spoke, Wang An took out a stack of Great Unity banknotes from his pocket, but after looking at it, he put it back and took out a small stack of change from his other pocket.

To be honest, the reason why Wang An took out a stack of Great Unity banknotes was not because he forgot which pocket he put the change and the whole money in, but because he wanted to show off and prove that he was really selling something and not just bragging.

A teenager absolutely cannot resist the temptation of money. Don’t ask how Wang An knew this. The answer is that Wang An never takes money seriously.

When the two children saw the big group of people united, they were naturally shocked. In those days, it was definitely a very difficult thing to see the big group of people united in the countryside. Not to mention children, even adults had few opportunities to see it.

The kid who lost the money stared at the change in Wang An's hand and said:
"If we help you buy a good cow, will you really give us two dollars each?"

Wang An said with certainty:
"Of course. A man's word is as good as his spit. So, I'll give each of you 5 cents first. If the deal is successful, I'll give you both the 1 yuan. If not, I won't give it to you."

As he spoke, Wang An happily handed 5 cents to each of the two children.

In fact, the main purpose of the 5 cents given by Wang An was to screen out those families who did not raise cattle.

The main thing is that there are more than 300 households in this village. If Wang An and Wang Li were to ask every household, it would take them forever. The key point is that many families do not raise cattle, but mules, horses and donkeys.

The child who lost a few coins looked at the money with joy, then carefully put it into his pocket and said:
"Let us take you to ask those families who have cows, so that you won't doubt us."

What this child said was exactly what Wang An thought!
(End of this chapter)