America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 381 Horse Riding and Archery

Soon, the Beggars' Sect disciples drove the pickup truck to the ranch area of ​​the manor. They parked the truck nearby, and Zhang Ailun and the others got out of the car. In the distance, they could see a herd of cattle and sheep leisurely grazing on grass, and a horse trainer was riding a tall horse leisurely on the plains of the ranch.

Several members of the Beggars' Sect were responsible for caring for the ranch animals. Each of them was dressed in a Western-style cowboy outfit: a high-brimmed cowboy hat, leather boots, a belt, a t-shirt, a trench coat, and a lasso at their waist. Several Labrador puppies were running and playing happily on the grass nearby.

But they are still very small, not even as tall as the burgeoning grasslands in spring, and can hardly be seen when lying deep in the grass.

With a gentle breeze and bright sunshine, coupled with this picturesque pasture scene, Zhang Ailun couldn't help but marvel at the breathtaking beauty of nature.

At this moment, the Grand Master even wanted to compose a poem.

The sky is green and the fields are vast.

Ahem... I'm making a fool of myself. Well, the Grand Master isn't a professional poet; he left all the useless knowledge in school long ago. This is the only one he remembered because it's catchy.

Jennifer and Erin took out their phones and captured the beautiful moment on the spot.

Clearly, the horse trainer that Old Karl had invited was quite skilled. Even a stallion as hot-tempered as Torch Boy became much more docile under his tutelage. However, it seemed that he could only touch Torch Boy up close, but not ride him.

Comparatively speaking, the Clippers girls are much more docile, and their personalities have remained very stable.

After the Beggars' Sect disciple got off the vehicle, he waved to the horse trainer, whistled, and called him over. Upon receiving the message, the horse trainer immediately rode over on his speedboat, while Torch trotted leisurely behind.

Several Labradors behind them heard the whistle and saw the racehorse run off, so they ran over excitedly as well.

"Long time no see, Clippers! Sweet girl, come here, come to Daddy, let Daddy pat you."

As the horse trainer approached on his speedboat, Zhang Ailun flashed a friendly smile and extended his hand.

The Clippers clearly remembered that there was such a person as the Chief of Staff, and obediently moved closer, lowered their heads and let him reach out and touch them.

"What a good girl."

The leader stroked the Clippers' smooth, shiny neck hair and revealed a satisfied smile.

Several Labrador puppies nearby circled around the leader, wagging their tails frantically to show their affection, but the leader looked down at them, seeing their dirty appearance and covered in dirt, and completely ignored them.

The Labrador puppy was howling anxiously nearby.

What does that mean? You're touching it but not me? Are you showing favoritism?

Zhang Ailun turned to the horse trainer and praised, "You've taken good care of them. They're in much better spirits than before and have adapted to the environment here. They're no longer shy."

"It's my duty, sir," the horse trainer replied somewhat reservedly as he dismounted.

Upon seeing Zhang Ailun pull two carrots from a basket carried by a beggar's disciple to reward the Clippers, horse trainer Henry immediately offered professional advice: "Sir, retired racehorses like these require strict control over their daily feeding. Fruit also needs to be provided in limited quantities and can only be given to them as snacks. Their main diet consists of soybeans, corn, and a mixture of soybeans, corn, and vitamin compound additives. The food intake cannot exceed the recommended amount, otherwise it will affect their health to some extent. They have already eaten a lot this morning."

"Ensuring the horses' health is a concern for you breeders and nutritionists, not for me. As their boss and owner, I only care about whether they can understand me and whether they can run fast when I need them."

The leader replied rather casually, then added encouragingly, "I believe you won't let me down, right?"

"You're right..." Henry was somewhat speechless. After all, he was the one who paid the salary, so he could only let this rich and willful boss disrupt the nutrition plan and figure out how to reduce the nutrition allocation in the future.

I must skip dinner! No late-night snacks for now.

Then he asked the head of the sect for instructions, and Zhang Ailun agreed without hesitation. He also took the iPad from the horse trainer and glanced at the list.

I don’t know, I’m scared.

I only glanced at the daily nutrition lists for the two racehorses, and the detailed and well-organized plans were even more rigorous than those for gym meals.

What fish oil, what nutritional supplements, what feed from Texas ranches, what sterile eggs?

It's cleaner and more hygienic than what people eat.

Zhang Ailun never imagined that raising a horse would cost more than supporting a homeless person, and couldn't help but gasp, "Goodness, is this raising a horse or raising an ancestor?"

For the same price, a retired racehorse could support a hundred homeless people.

"But they're your babies, and they deserve it, don't they?" the horse trainer said.

"You're right." Zhang Ailun nodded, and then readily handed the Clippers two carrots. They were cheap, so eat more!

Jennifer, Eileen, and the other two approached and tried to pet the Clippers Girl. She remained compliant and docile, showing no resistance whatsoever.

"My goodness, it eats so elegantly! I can't believe I'm seeing the air of nobility in a horse," Eileen exclaimed in amazement.

"Its eyelashes are so long." Jennifer stroked the Clipper's mane, then glanced at its slender, streamlined body, nodding in praise. "It's in great shape too; it should be pretty fast! Can I ride it around?"

"Of course, miss. If this is your first time riding a horse, I recommend that you wear professional riding safety equipment," the horse trainer replied.

Olivia noticed the aloof and solitary Torch beside her. It had a big head and was chewing on the grass in the pasture, looking down on everyone and seemingly lost in thought.

"Hey, come here, Torch, come over to Daddy." Zhang Ailun pulled two carrots out of the basket, trying to bribe the other party to make it obey.

But to everyone's surprise, Torch just glanced at it, sneezed dismissively, and turned back to continue chewing the succulent grass, as if the natural grass growing on the ground was even sweeter than the carrot in the leader's hand.

wtf.

Olivia joked, "Your boy doesn't seem to have a very close relationship with you, his old man."

"This guy still has such a bad temper." Zhang Ailun was speechless.

"Don't worry about it. It's very ambitious now, and I hope it stays this ambitious! Let it skip a couple of meals, Henry. Consider halving its food tonight. Let it lose some weight; it's gotten so fat in just a few days! It doesn't look like a racehorse at all anymore!"

"...Okay, boss." Henry reluctantly agreed.

You're the boss, so whatever you say is right, but why are you arguing with a horse?

"If you don't want to go hungry tonight, you'd better cooperate, understand? I'm doing this for your own good." The horse trainer walked over and stroked the torch.

Torch seemed to actually understand English. He turned to look at the leader, then at the three beauties, and then decisively moved closer to Olivia, bowing his head to show his goodwill.

Olivia was somewhat surprised. She stroked the torch's large head and said with a smile, "Haha, I get it. It likes to be near pretty girls and doesn't like being ridden by men."

Zhang Ailun clicked his tongue: "This guy is definitely a womanizer among horses."

"Come on, you're really going to take this to heart," Olivia teased. "You can't ride your own horse, but you can ride ours at night."

"..." It has to be said that this reason was very appealing to the Grand Master, and he had no reason to refuse.

"Go ahead and prepare riding gear for the three of them. Safety first," Zhang Ailun immediately instructed Henry to take the three of them for a ride.

"Okay, boss." Henry readily agreed, then led the three of them to the side and took out safety equipment from his toolbox.

"Boss, the hunting rifle and bow and arrow are ready for you." The Beggar Clan disciple drove up in a pickup truck, got out and took out several Winchester lever rifles from the trunk. They were the 1873 model, which was very popular in the 19th century and was known as the gun that won the West.

It had a relatively small caliber and used smokeless gunpowder. At the time, there seemed to be a series of advanced firearms such as the Springfield rifle, but nowadays they can only be used for hunting.

Zhang Ailun also tried using it. The feel of it in his hand was completely different from that of a modern rifle. He found it quite novel and thought that the person who invented this method of loading bullets and firing must be a genius.

The most memorable gun in the lever series is probably the T800 shotgun from the Terminator movie, which can be cocked with one hand. However, it's not recommended for the average person to imitate this, as it can easily result in a headshot.

Although lever rifles are now obsolete and have been replaced by automatic rifles, they were once considered an excellent technology.

While the Qing Dynasty in the 19th century was still using fire pokers and rickshaws, trains and advanced rifles, even machine guns, were already common here, as if they were from completely different eras.

Zhang Ailun briefly tried out the live-fire gun and found the recoil to be very low, with minimal kinetic energy and power, and a very faint gunshot. He then tried using a bow and arrow. Modern hunting bows and arrows are naturally not like ancient bows and arrows that require brute force to draw; everything is designed with the user's safety and ease of use in mind. While these hunting bows and arrows are not very powerful, they are easy to draw and can be used against small animals, even by women.

The Grand Master gently fired an arrow at the distant target.

Then, two arrows, three arrows... five arrows, six arrows, seven arrows! Finally, the arrow streaked across the Red Bull can at lightning speed, piercing it directly, and the brownish-yellow liquid gushed out.

A batch of accurate ones.

"Boss, your aim is amazing!!"

The Beggars' Sect disciples also chimed in with a compliment.

Zhang Ailun stood with his hands behind his back, remaining silent, and simply handed him the bow and arrows, saying, "Here you go."

"Alright." The honest-looking Beggar Clan disciple took the bow and arrow, skillfully nocking and shooting, unlike ordinary people. Seeing this, Zhang Ailun instantly realized that he might have been a little careless.

Sure enough, the enemy fired three arrows at once. It seemed like they didn't even aim, but the arrows hit the target precisely, sending the target and the soda can flying away.

"..."

Zhang Ailun stared blankly at the can, then turned to look at him with a bewildered expression. "What did you do before?"

"Boss, I used to be a member of a shooting club, a senior member and shooting enthusiast. I even won a gold medal, two silver medals, and five bronze medals in an archery competition held in California," the Beggar Clan disciple replied without batting an eye.

"Oh. That's all then," Zhang Ailun replied expressionlessly. So he's a big shot.

The leader's inner circle is truly full of hidden talents.

Excellent! The Beggars' Sect disciples have no arrows on their targets; the Grand Master wins this round!

"Let's put it aside for now and talk about it after they've finished riding the horses," Zhang Ailun said after putting down his bow and arrows.

These days, who still uses bows and arrows when there are guns?

I'm never using this thing again; it's completely useless.

The Beggars' Sect disciples readily agreed and put the bows and arrows away; they hadn't even been used yet and were going to gather dust in the storeroom.

Why? Because it doesn't give the Grand Master any face!

Meanwhile, the horse trainers had already helped Jennifer, Erin, and Olivia put on professional riding gear and helped the three of them mount their horses. They corrected their posture and started walking and jogging, gradually increasing the speed to help them adapt.

Although it wasn't the first time the three of them had ridden horses, it was always in the leader's room, and the feeling was quite different from galloping across the pastures and plains.

This was their first real horseback riding experience, and they felt very nervous and excited, cheering from time to time.

Zhang Ailun watched them ride horses around the ranch. He could only sit there enviously, tending to a few greyhounds.

"What are you looking at?" He looked down at a Labrador puppy, then suddenly squatted down and scolded it. The puppy was momentarily stunned, then turned and ran away, howling in fright.

Zhang Ailun couldn't help but laugh.

The Beggars' Sect disciples nearby also laughed.

A dog may not be a person, but you are a real dog.

Several tens of minutes passed quickly. Jennifer and her two companions were exhausted from riding the horse, covered in sweat, and decided to take a short rest before trying other activities.

"How does it feel?" Zhang Ailun asked, looking at the Torch Clippers being led back by the horse trainer.

The horse was perfectly fine, operating at low power without even panting – truly a purebred racehorse! But the rider was thoroughly exhausted on its back.

The three of them had flushed faces, were slightly out of breath, and were sweating.

"I feel like I'm going to split open. I probably won't be able to ride a horse tonight." Olivia dismounted and gasped as she landed.

"Who told you to ride so fast? You need to be careful the first time you ride, don't be too rough." Zhang Airun instructed, walking over with great concern, "Where are you hurt? Do you want me to take a look? It's your fault for not liking to wear protective gear."

Olivia, of course, understood the Grand Master's unspoken meaning and immediately rolled her eyes. "Stop it, it's still daytime. Jennifer and Eileen are riding the speedboat, so they're going slower. My Torch is just too fast and completely unruly; it's definitely a bad boy!"

"It's still eating too much; its food rations must be halved," Zhang Ailun agreed.

Henry was speechless for a long time after hearing this. It's over!

The horseback riding experience was temporarily over, and Zhang Ailun considered letting the group rest for a while and wait for everyone to gather. The Beggar Clan disciples also brought drinks and carpets, and the group sat on the grass, enjoying the scenery and chatting happily.

Not long after, some Beggars' Sect disciples drove up and parked a short distance away. Several acquaintances got out of the car.

"Hey, hello there! Lao Jin!!" The girl with blue hair greeted him cheerfully as soon as she got out of the car.

Upon hearing that familiar address, the Grand Master instantly lost his composure and said irritably, "Shut up! I'm not even thirty yet, what are you calling me for?"

"She's only twenty years old," Sadie said.

"You dyed your hair again? Why is it a different color every day?" Zhang Ailun couldn't help but tease, looking at her multicolored hair. "Your dad actually let you out here? Has the bank thing been sorted out already?"

"Of course, I'm free now. But my dad doesn't know I came to visit you, but it doesn't matter even if he did," Sadie said with a grin.

Then he waved to Jennifer and the others. They seemed to know each other quite well, which made Zhang Ailun a little curious. He wondered when they had become friends.

(End of this chapter)