blogombal Chapter 24 Pigs and Dogs
Chapter 24 Pigs and Dogs
There are quite a lot of livestock in the livestock market: cows, donkeys, horses, sheep, pigs, dogs, rabbits... you name it, they have it. But it's pretty dirty. Livestock defecate and urinate all the time, and they don't care if you're in a public place or not. The smell of excrement and urine hits you right in the nose.
Yang Ming found a small stall selling piglets next to a stall selling dogs.
The man selling piglets was a middle-aged man in his forties. He looked honest and simple, wearing a straw hat on his head. His dark face was covered in sweat. Behind him was a dilapidated bicycle with an illegible brand. In front of him was a small basket filled with piglets.
"Uncle, selling piglets?" Yang Ming squatted in front of the stall, fiddling with the basket. Inside, there were four piglets, all round and plump, with soft and delicate fur, white with a pinkish tinge.
"Yes!" The middle-aged man nodded.
"Your piglet looks quite robust. How much is it?" Yang Ming asked.
"Two hundred each, one male and three females. I'm not a dealer. These piglets are all from my own sows. You can definitely raise them if you buy them," the middle-aged man said in a simple and honest manner.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? So what if you're a dog dealer? Are all dog dealers heartless? I am a dog dealer, and I guarantee that the dogs I sell, as long as they haven't been poisoned with rat poison, will grow up to be big and healthy." The dog dealer next to him found the middle-aged man's words very awkward and couldn't help but chime in.
The middle-aged man smiled and remained silent.
"I see your piglets are all quite robust, so I won't haggle with you. It'll be two hundred each, I'll take them all." Yang Ming said, taking out a wad of cash from his pocket, counting out eight 100-yuan bills, and handing them to the middle-aged man.
"Alright! Here, take the basket!" The middle-aged man nodded after checking the money, then put the money in his bag, got on his bicycle, and rode away.
"Hey! Brother, want a dog? Greyhounds, Soviet Reds, German Shepherds, Tibetan Mastiffs, all kinds..." The dog dealer saw that Yang Ming was quite generous, and that the wad of cash was quite thick, so he quickly stopped him and started introducing his business.
"Let me see?" Yang Ming was intimidated by his gimmick and actually went to look. "Where are those dogs you mentioned?"
"Isn't this it? This is a greyhound..." the dog dealer said, pointing to a small, thin dog as black as satin.
"Is this a greyhound? Isn't this a tiny dog?" Yang Ming had seen greyhounds before. Although this dog was indeed quite thin, it wasn't as thin as a greyhound.
"Look at what you're saying! How much is a greyhound? Aren't my mixed breed cheap? A purebred greyhound costs several thousand or even tens of thousands, but mine is only fifty. Don't underestimate this mixed breed; it's more useful than a greyhound. Greyhounds are fast, but they're not good for hunting. But look at this one; it's a cross between our country dog and a greyhound. It's good for guarding the house and hunting, and it's easy to raise. It doesn't have the bad temper of those aristocratic dogs." The dog dealer was quite eloquent, then pointed to a puppy with a black back and crimson limbs. "And look at this one; it's a Soviet Red."
"This Soviet red isn't even the right color, is it?"
"Look at what you're saying! How is the color wrong? Look at its eyes, aren't they red? This Soviet Red, its father is a German Shepherd, its mother is a Soviet Red, they can't be bad, if you want it, fifty yuan will do." The dog dealer then pointed to a puppy with a bluish back and yellow limbs, "This is a German Shepherd. Seeing that you're an expert on dogs, I'll be frank with you, this German Shepherd is a cross between a purebred German Shepherd and a blue wolf from the mountains, it has wolf-like traits, one hundred yuan will do..."
"Hmm! Not bad, this dog looks pretty good." Yang Ming nodded.
"Take a look at this one, this dog is a cross between a Tibetan Mastiff and a bear..." the dog dealer said, pointing to a chubby black puppy.
"Are you kidding me? Dogs can hybridize with bears?" Yang Ming's eyes widened.
"Don't you believe me? It's true! When I bought this dog, the seller explained it clearly: their Tibetan Mastiff went into the mountains and got into a fight with a big bear. They fought, and somehow the Mastiff ended up befriending the bear, and it had puppies after returning home. Look..." The dog dealer lifted the 'Tibetan Mastiff's' front legs, revealing a V-shaped patch of white fur on its chest. "Doesn't this tuft of white fur say something?"
(The story of a bear and a dog interbreeding is indeed true. It happened in the Tangshan area of Hebei Province. Of course, the locals have never witnessed a bear and a dog interbreeding, but the puppies that were born looked very much like bears. Moreover, bears are frequently seen in that area. It is said that this dog was later sold for several hundred thousand yuan, or even a million, I don't know. Here, regardless of whether it is true or not, and regardless of how low the probability of a bear and a dog interbreeding is, I have presented it as a fact. Please don't take it too seriously.)
"It really is..." Yang Ming looked at the puppy and thought it was quite a rare sight.
"Take another look at its tail..." The dog dealer grabbed the dog's short tail and said, "Check it yourself, it definitely hasn't been cut off at all."
"It is indeed quite rare. Name your price, and if it's reasonable, I'll take it!" Yang Ming said.
"You're an honest guy, so we won't rip you off. We got this dog the day before yesterday. The seller thought it was unlucky, so he only charged us 20 yuan. If you want it, just give us 50. This guy can eat a lot; he eats four steamed buns a day..." the dog dealer said.
"Alright, fifty it is!" Yang Ming took out two 100-yuan bills and one 50-yuan bill, and handed them to the dog dealer. "I'll take all four dogs, that'll be exactly two hundred and fifty..."
"Alright, you're really straightforward..." The dog dealer happily took the money, inspected the dog, and stuffed it into his pocket. "Would you like to pick out two more? We have all kinds of dogs here! Pekingese, Spitz..."
"Alright, alright, what would I do with that thing? It's only good for playing around, it's not very useful." Yang Ming waved his hand and stuffed the four puppies into the basket containing the four piglets.
"You mean Pekingese, Pomeranians, and the like? Those are mostly liked by women and children. For guarding the house, you need a big dog. Speaking of guarding the house, you have to talk about the clumsy dogs in our countryside. We have all kinds of colors here. Do you want to take a look?"
"No need, I've already bought five silly dogs." Yang Ming smiled, picked up the basket and left. To be honest, the basket containing four piglets and four puppies was quite heavy.
After leaving the livestock market, Wei Qingqing, Sun Fangfang, and Liu Sao and her daughter had already bought all the baby chickens, ducks, and geese, which were packed in three cardboard boxes.
"Heh, they all look quite energetic..." Yang Ming said, opening the box and taking a look.
"What's in Uncle's basket?" Zheng Bao'er, eating a candied hawthorn, ran over curiously, peeked into the basket, and exclaimed excitedly when she saw the eight little creatures inside, "Wow! They're piglets and puppies! Uncle bought four more puppies..."
Wei Qingqing also came over to take a look and complained, "Why did you buy so many dogs? There are already nine."
"They're all big dogs, they'll eat a lot when they grow up..." Sun Fangfang glanced at them and said.
"Exactly!" Wei Qingqing nodded in agreement.
"It's alright, we can afford to raise them," Yang Ming said with a smile. "You guys wait here for a bit, I'll go buy two more fish. Since Zhang Yang is here today, we'll have fish for lunch..."
"Uncle, I'll go with you too." Zheng Bao'er stepped forward and took Yang Ming's hand.
"Great! Let's go together..." Yang Ming said with a smile.
"Didn't you say you wanted to buy a pair of pigeons? The pigeon seller will be gone soon, so you go buy the pigeons, and I'll go buy the fish..." Wei Qingqing said.
"It won't delay anything, the pigeon seller is right over there, isn't it?" Yang Ming smiled, pulling Zheng Bao'er to the pigeon vendor. "Master, give me a pair of those hybrids, don't try to fool me!"
"Look at what you're saying, buddy. This isn't a one-off deal. We buy pigeons here all the time. Would I cheat anyone?" the vendor said, pulling a pair of large, brightly colored pigeons from the cage. He then tied their wings and weighed them on the scale. "This pair weighs eight jin (4 catties) in total, which is 64 yuan. You can't make me lose money, can you?"
Yang Ming paid the money and gave the pair of pigeons directly to Wei Qingqing.
"Brother, remember to clip their wings when you get home, otherwise they'll fly back to their old homes on their own," the vendor reminded him.
"Thank you, Master!" Yang Ming said, then took Zheng Bao'er's little hand and went to buy fish.
The seafood market wasn't far from the livestock market, and since the seafood smelled so bad, they were just left to rot together.
The fishmongers use large, square iron basins filled with water. Smaller fish can be seen by their dark backs, but larger fish cannot. They can only lie in the basin with their large gills moving. Even larger fish have their bellies sticking out of the water.
"Hey buddy, want some fish? They're all alive!" A middle-aged woman wearing rubber clothes and gloves, holding a net in her hand, said.
There were three large iron basins in front of her stall. In one basin was a large carp more than a foot long, lying in the iron basin with its scales shimmering with a golden light. In another basin were small miscellaneous fish about an inch long, which were obviously wild. In the third basin were crucian carp about half a foot long. All three kinds of fish were lively and jumping around.
"How much do you sell these fish for?" Yang Ming asked.
"Big fish are seven yuan, small fish are five yuan, and these crucian carp are ten yuan..."
"What kind of fish does Bao'er like to eat?" Yang Ming asked Zheng Bao'er, who was standing next to him.
"I love them all!" Zheng Bao'er whispered.
"Give me three plastic bags..." Yang Ming said to the middle-aged woman.
"Okay, okay, okay!" the middle-aged woman happily agreed. She wanted three plastic bags; wasn't that the same thing?
Yang Ming weighed everything. He ordered four carp that were over a foot long, each weighing five or six jin (2.5-3 catties), for a total of twenty-five jin (4.5 kg). He also ordered ten jin (5 kg) of small fish and ten jin (5 kg) of crucian carp. In the end, he spent more than three hundred yuan.
Yang Ming put some water in all three pockets so they wouldn't die of thirst. Then he bought some shrimp, loach, and blackfish from other stalls before joining Zheng Bao'er and the others.
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