Top-notch Little Horseman

The old man was severely hunched over, wearing a patched-up gray short brown shirt with a straw rope tied around his waist.

His face was weathered by wind and sand, resembling cracked tree bark, but his eyes still held a certain brightness.

He stood at the doorway, looking Ye Chen up and down.

"Sir!" the old man said, his voice hoarse and dry.

"What brings you here?"

Ye Chen stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Old man, I was sent from Yanmen Pass to Huangchen Pass..."

He paused for a moment, cleared his throat, and said, "We're stationed at Huangchen Pass, establishing cavalry squads... We're new here, could you perhaps provide us with some food...?"

Before he could finish speaking, the old man's expression immediately changed.

It wasn't anger, it was fear.

His knees buckled, and he knelt directly before Ye Chen, crying out, "Sir...Sir, please have mercy!"

As the old man knelt on the ground, all the tightly closed doors behind him opened.

Men, women, the elderly, and children came out one after another and knelt down behind the old man.

Although they did not speak, their eyes were filled with fear and despair, and a clear sense of numb obedience.

"Sir!" The old man knelt on the ground, his voice trembling, "It's not that I'm unwilling to give, it's just that I have none left..."

"Last month, Magistrate Qian of Dingyuan County sent men to collect five dou of wheat as rent from each household. The month before last, the constables of Dingyuan County came to collect one dou of grain as wages..."

"A few days ago, the soldiers of Zhenbeibao collected another dou of grain from each household..."

"Please, please give us a break! We really can't afford any more food. We've only had one meal of thin porridge in three days..."

As he spoke, he pulled over a little boy, lifted his shirt, and revealed his protruding ribs.

Landlords, government officials, and the army—one wave after another of exploitation—how are ordinary people supposed to survive?

Therefore, when these villagers heard that Ye Chen came from Yanmen Pass, their first thought was that he was there to exploit them.

The people of Qin are now suffering terribly; if this exploitation continues, they will truly have no way to survive.

Moved, Ye Chen knelt down and helped the old man up, saying, "Grandpa, I will not collect grain or taxes, and I will never force anyone to buy or sell."

"I just want to buy grain. You can sell it to me if you're willing, or I'll leave if you're not."

The old man looked up, tears still on his face, his gaze shifting from fear to confusion.

"Sir, you're not here to ask for grain, are you telling the truth?"

"Really!" Ye Chen nodded affirmatively.

The old man slowly stood up, and the villagers behind him also stood up.

"Sir, we really don't have any extra grain. Why don't you go another twenty li to the north? There's a village called Tianjia Village there. It's a big village with a large population; perhaps someone there will be willing to sell to us," the old man said hesitantly.

Seeing this, Ye Chen didn't ask any more questions and was about to take his leave when suddenly hurried footsteps came from behind the crowd.

"Village Chief Chen, no, something terrible has happened... the ewes in our village are sick..."

A man squeezed out of the crowd and shouted in a tearful voice.

"It hasn't eaten any grass since this morning, just lying on the ground without moving, and... it's even foaming at the mouth, it's probably not going to make it!"

Upon hearing this, the old man turned pale, and all the surrounding villagers panicked.

One of the women burst into tears: "Oh my god! Waaah, that was the last sheep in our village!"

Village Chief Chen said in a trembling voice, "Every household's sheep were taken away because of the taxes. Now, there's only one sheep left in the family."

"The whole village is counting on it to produce offspring to exchange for food to get through the winter. If something happens to it, then..."

He stood up and shouted urgently, "Quickly, go to Dingyuan County and find a veterinarian! We absolutely must find a veterinarian!"

One of the middle-aged men sighed and said, "Village officials, but... but where are we going to get the money to hire a veterinarian?"

"Everyone, chip in! Take whatever you have! This ewe absolutely cannot be harmed!" Village Chief Chen shouted.

The villagers dared not delay any longer and began to rummage through their homes for copper coins, silver coins, silver earrings, silver hairpins, and so on.

Village Chief Chen wrapped it in a rag and handed it to one of the men, who was nearly two meters tall.

"Dazhu, run fast, you must get the veterinarian here."

Dazhu took the cloth bag, carefully placed it close to his body as if it were a priceless treasure, and then turned and ran out of the village.

"Wait a moment!"

Just then, Ye Chen called out to Da Zhu.

"Don't rush off, there might not be enough time for a round trip. Perhaps I can cure it."

The villagers were stunned for a moment upon hearing this, and then they all looked at Village Chief Chen.

Village Chief Chen hesitated for a moment, looked at Ye Chen, and asked cautiously, "Sir, I didn't hear you wrong, did I? You...you said you can treat sheep?"

"I've trained horses in the horse camp. Sheep are even smaller than horses, so the principle should be the same," Ye Fan nodded affirmatively.

Village Chief Chen frowned in thought, then gritted his teeth and said, "If you can cure him, all these things are yours, and the whole village will chip in a bag of wheat as a token of our gratitude!"

Ye Chen didn't look at those things, and said softly, "Let's go check on the sheep first, then we'll talk."

The sheepfold is at the very back of the village; it's a cave dwelling dug into a cliff.

In the corner lay a grayish-white ewe, its belly visibly large, its eyes half-closed, white foam at the corner of its mouth, and its breathing shallow and rapid.

Ye Chen squatted down in front of the sheep, glanced at it, and turned to Village Chief Chen, saying, "It's not sick, it's about to give birth."

What?

The villagers were stunned upon hearing this, and their tense expressions immediately relaxed.

Dazhu scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Is...it's about to give birth? But it's not eating grass and it's foaming at the mouth!"

Ye Chen smiled and said, "That's a reaction before labor. When a woman is about to give birth, she also can't eat anything."

As Ye Chen spoke, he got up and walked into the sheep pen. He reached out and pressed his hand on the ewe's belly, and could feel lambs moving inside, and there was more than one.

The main problem is that the ewe is too thin; you can clearly feel the bones in her spine through her fur.

Just then, the ewe's body tensed, her belly contracted violently, and liquid gushed out from beneath her, and a lamb wrapped in its placenta slid out.

The ewe turned her head to lick the lamb, and the lamb stirred and bleated.

"He's alive! He's alive!" the villagers whispered.

However, at that moment, the ewe's belly contracted again, and then it stopped.

"Why... is there no movement?" a villager asked anxiously.

A stick of incense burned quickly, but the second one still hadn't appeared.

The ewe lay panting, her belly still bulging.

This is a difficult birth!

"This ewe is not getting enough nutrition, she lacks strength, and she's expending too much energy," Ye Chen said, shaking his head.

"She was so skinny. She used up all her strength after giving birth to the first one, and the rest got stuck inside."

Village Chief Chen looked anxious and asked Ye Chen, "Sir, what... what should we do?"

This last ewe is practically the lifeblood of the village; it absolutely cannot have any problems with her!