Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Way Out
After leaving the weapons workshop, Hua Kai came to the livestock shed.
After the failure of Huajiabao's business trip, there were few livestock left in the family, 3 strong horses, 4 weak horses, and the number of horses was less than half of the previous number.
There were only two oxen left in the cowshed, and the family must replenish 5 by the beginning of next spring, otherwise it would be a problem to sow seeds.
"Uncle San..." Hua Kai saw Uncle San and several villagers cleaning the huge cowshed, and several stables were all cleaned up. When my father was here, the family also sold cattle every year, and at most they could sell hundreds of cattle.
"Kai'er, why are you here? This is a livestock shed, it smells bad, don't come in!" Uncle San put down his work when he saw Hua Kai coming.
"It's okay, I'll see how the cowshed and stable are cleaned?" Hua Kai had already entered the cowshed. It hadn't been cleaned for more than a year, and many weeds, waste wood and other debris were almost flooding the place.
"Uncle San, we have raised this cow for almost ten years! I remember she came to our house when I was very young."
There are only two cows and a calf in the cowshed now. Hua Kai walked to the cow in front of him and suddenly felt something. He looked at the cow and used the [Eye of Truth].
Plowing cattle: Level 2 54%
Physical fitness: 22
Speed: 14
Spirituality: 26
It is really possible to see the attributes. Hua Kai took another look at the other one, and the attributes were almost the same as the second level.
"Your grandfather is a good hand at judging cattle and horses. In the past, our family earned tens of thousands of bone coins every year from selling cattle. I don't know if we can sell livestock without your grandfather!" Uncle San said unconfidently. The reason why he didn't mention the sale of cattle and horses yesterday was because there was no one in the family who knew about livestock.
"So what do you think of these two cows in our family, Uncle San?" Hua Kai wanted to see how different [Eye of Truth] was from the traditional method of judging cattle.
"Our two cows are carefully selected by cattle dealers in recent years. Both of them have reached the level of strong cattle. Each one is worth about 20 taels of silver. The reason why our family kept them is that they are spiritual and easy to raise at home." Uncle San said casually. Hua Kai compared them and it was true.
"How are cattle generally classified into grades?" Only real cattle dealers classify cattle so that they can make money.
"It is relatively simple for us to classify cattle. Poor cattle are basically difficult to work. One can be bought for 500 bone coins. Strong cattle start at 1,000 bone coins. Fine cattle are at least 6,000 bone coins, which is the price of a batch of horses. One can work as three strong cattle. There is also the cattle king, which is difficult to see here. You have to go to the grassland to find it." Hua Zijie patiently explained to his nephew. As the head of the family, Hua Kai must slowly know these things from now on.
Hua Kai estimated that the poor cattle, strong cattle, and fine cattle mentioned by Uncle San were the first, second, and third levels. So can he make money for the family by relying on the [Eye of Truth]?
"Uncle San, let's take a look at the stable!" Hua Kai pointed to the stable in the distance and said to Hua Zijie.
"Good! This horse is similar to a cow, but it is much more expensive and must be fed with fine feed every day. We generally divide horses into five levels: poor horses, strong horses, fine horses, fine horses, and divine horses. The three horses in our family are strong horses, and there is no problem riding them at ordinary times. The four poor horses can only be used to pull goods or women to ride."
Hua Zijie introduced Hua Kai attentively and used the [Eye of Truth] to check the attributes of the tall and strong horse in front of him.
Donghu Horse: Level 2 99%
Physical fitness: 19
Speed: 25
Spirituality: 27
Hua Kai knew that most of the horses in Qi State came from Donghu. The characteristics of Donghu horses are fast speed, average endurance, and average explosive power. The horse at home is on the verge of upgrading.
"Uncle San, how do horses usually get promoted, or are horses of different qualities similar when they grow up?" Hua Kai asked.
"Of course not. Horses need to be fed carefully and properly exercised to be promoted. There are many tribes in the grasslands that are good at raising horses. They often train war horses of divine horses. War horses of that level can no longer be measured by money. Legend has it that in order to buy a divine horse from Wuzhong State, Yan State actually exchanged five cities with him." Uncle San said with a look of yearning.
Metals are precious in this world. A divine weapon plus a divine horse can greatly improve the combat power of a general. Moreover, the divine horse should have at least reached the level of ordinary people in the Qi training realm. That is to say, the combat power of a horse is about the same as that of the county magistrate of Guang County. With this in mind, it is not too absurd to exchange it with five cities.
Hua Zijie took Hua Kai to the entire north of the village. He carefully explained to Hua Kai from the feeding of cattle and horses of different levels to the sowing and storage of grain every year. It is obvious that he has regarded him as the backbone of the family.
"Uncle San, let's go and find out when the county market will open today, as well as the situation of the Ju State market. We must prepare early." Hua Kai said.
"I will go to the county town in person this afternoon to find out when the market will open. This year, we may not get much from going to Ju State." Hua Zijie thought for a while and said.
Every year, when the Guangxian caravan returns from the northern lands such as Linhu, Donghu, Dai State, and Zhongshan State, they will open a unified market outside the county town. At that time, all the villages near Guangxian will go to buy and sell livestock. This is the busiest time of the year in Guangxian.
Ju State, which is adjacent to Qi State, is the trade center of various countries in the northeast region. There are countless merchants from various countries here. The horses, animal skins, and herbs sold by Guangxian from the Linhu grassland are basically from Ju State.
"Let's prepare first! If the Hua family does not take action at this time and the whole village just waits, it will really be over soon!" Hua Kai said to his uncle.
Guang County is located between Linzi City and Buqi City of Ju State. Commercial trade accounts for nearly half of the income of Guang County. Business has become the largest industry in the entire county. Every year from September to October, when the caravans return, many families and businesses in Qi State will come to pick goods and try their luck. This has become an important festival in Guang County.
Every year, the villages outside Guang County will basically buy some livestock. Big families buy horses, small families buy cattle, and families can even buy sheep. This time of year has become a competition of strength among the villages outside Guang County.
Hua Zijie sighed and walked away. The family can only raise more than 20,000 bone coins at most. Even if the Huang family and the Geng family can provide some support, it is definitely not enough to buy winter food. Where can they get money to buy livestock?
After returning home, Hua Kai has been thinking about how to ease the family's financial pressure at the county market next year. He has the [True Eye] and can see the livestock level and upgrade percentage. He will participate in this county market no matter what. If the harvest is good this time, he also plans to go to Ju State. The big market in Ju State usually opens for a month. Although it is dangerous to go there, there are more opportunities.
At noon, Hua Kai and the housekeeper had lunch in the main courtyard. They were discussing how to raise more money after the Guangxian market opened, and how to solve the family's food crisis.
At this time, grandma screamed in the inner room. Hua Kai's first reaction was that grandpa woke up. He just started to see housekeeper Fu enter the inner room before him.
"Master... Master!"
Housekeeper Fu looked at the old man who slowly opened his eyes and whispered beside him.
"Haha! My old man is not dead after all? Where is Kai'er?" The first thing the old man thought of when he woke up was Hua Kai.
"Grandpa, I'm here." Hua Kai walked from the side to the old man and came back.
"Well, how long have I slept? Is everything okay at home?" Hua Xing asked Hua Kai, and everyone else listened silently.
"The family is fine. It will be even better when you recover!" Hua Kai replied.
Hearing Hua Kai say this, Hua Xing, who had just woken up, was relieved. In his coma, he vaguely heard someone talking about Huajiabao. When he woke up and saw everyone around him, he felt relieved.
"Huajiabao has suffered losses in this disaster. How many people are left in the village? Are there any other villages to pull people... The rest of you go out first." Hua Xing said to the others beside him.
Only Hua Kai and Hua Xing, the grandfather and grandson, were left in the room, and Hua Xing's expression quickly became depressed.
"My meridians are seriously injured now, and my strength is less than 30%. Even if I recover well in the future, I will not be able to practice Qi. Can you tell me about the situation at home? Has anyone put pressure on us these days? Has the Shen family targeted us?" Hua Xing asked in a low voice.
"Everything is fine in the village, you don't have to worry about healing well..." Hua Kai told his grandfather everything that happened at home in the past few days.
Hua Kai secretly checked his grandfather's attributes, and his physical fitness had recovered 32 points. With his superb artistic conception attribute and perfect spear skills, I believe that ordinary people in the middle stage of Qidong Realm are not his opponents.
"Grandpa's body is already like this, and this family will be handed over to you in the future. To be honest, you have done very well in the past few days. Although most of the family business has been lost, the family's living environment seems to be more spacious. Grandpa wants to remind you that you can't be complacent in the future and don't make enemies with the aristocratic family."
After Hua Xing finished speaking, he knew that he was worrying about nothing. Hua Kai led people to make wine and fire porcelain a few years ago. He didn't take it seriously at first, but Hua Kai actually succeeded. When he planned to sell the wine he brewed to the grassland in exchange for a large number of cattle and sheep to develop the Hua family, it was Hua Kai who stopped him.
"Grandpa, don't worry. I will be careful. Don't show up recently. Recover your health. Wait until my father's funeral before you come out. You will be able to deter some villains by then." Hua Kai said.
"I know my body. The meridian problem cannot be solved in a short time. You don't have to worry about my body. Your second uncle and Fourth Master Geng are coming to our house. I have to meet them no matter what. Let's talk about the relationship between our family and the Huang and Geng families. You'd better visit them in person tomorrow. If they want to lend us money, don't refuse. I'll let Fourth Uncle go with you."
Hua Kai understood Grandpa's thoughts. If you don't accept others' help, it's not pushing the relationship away. Besides, the family really wants to sell horses, which costs much more than selling cattle, so Hua Kai nodded and agreed.
At this time, Second Uncle and others also heard the news that Grandpa woke up and rushed back. Hua Kai called Second Uncle and Fourth Master Geng over. Second Uncle and Fourth Master Geng will go back tomorrow.
Soon the whole Huajiabao knew the news that the old man had woken up. Some small villages nearby that depended on Huajiabao sent generous gifts at night. They didn't have the strength to help the Hua family when they were in trouble. Now that the old man had woken up, they had to maintain good relations with Huajiabao.
In the evening, the second uncle, the third uncle and others and the Hua Kai family had dinner at the grandfather's house in the main courtyard. The food on the table was very rich. This was a celebration for Hua Xing's awakening. As a master of the Qidong realm, the grandfather woke up at noon and ate with everyone at night like ordinary people, and drank wine. Everyone had a happy look on their faces.
"The Hua family was able to survive this disaster thanks to the help of Xihe Village and Gengjiazhuang. Tomorrow, Zihuan, you and Kai'er will go to the two families to thank them on my behalf... Since I have handed over the position of the head of the family to Kai'er, he will be the master of Huajiabao in the future. Everyone, including me, must obey Kai'er's orders. I hope everyone can understand."
The old man's statement at this time means that even if he wakes up, the position of the head of the family will still be Hua Kai, and Hua Kai's performance in the past few days has also conquered most people in Huajiabao, and no one objects.
After the dinner, Hua Kai returned to his room to rest. He habitually went into the [Family Secret Space] to take a look. Hua Kai found that the loyalty of everyone on the crystal column has increased a lot, and the last loyalty value has reached 69 points, and the grandfather's loyalty value has finally been unlocked.
Hua Xing: Qidong Realm 9th level
Qualification: B
Constitution: 27 (37)
Strength: 40
Will: 46
Mental Method: Jingxin Jue (low-level yellow-grade mental method) Great Accomplishment
Spear Method: Likong Spear (high-level yellow-grade spear method) Great Perfection
Loyalty: 100
Grandpa's physical condition has recovered by two points, and his strength value has also increased by one point, which means that as long as Grandpa's body recovers, he will enter the Qi training stage.
But it is not so easy to restore the meridians below the innate level. As Grandpa himself said, it is good enough to be able to recover in this life. Thinking of this, Hua Kai thought of the [Alchemy Room]. After searching for a long time, there are many that can restore meridians, but at least 18 points of luck value are required to refine it, and the three main medicines used are all at the level of spiritual medicine. Hua Kai can only sigh and leave.
Hua Kai originally planned to let the family space trial as soon as possible to improve the family's combat power, but he was afraid that the secret of the space would be spread to the ears of those big families, which would put him in danger. Now he planned to gradually open it to the family with the highest loyalty value first. In the afternoon, the system reminded him that his family's luck value had increased by four points. Nine points of luck value had already escaped the crisis of family extinction, and he should also use the secret realm.
Looking at his own attributes again, his physique became the worst of the three attributes, and he did not need luck to enter the [Physical Training Secret Realm]. Hua Kai clicked to enter directly.
Entering the secret realm was the same as last time. He was in the desert surrounded by yellow sand. A gust of wind blew over Hua Kai and he felt a little cold. If it went as expected, the sandstorm would come again.
Hua Kai carefully paid attention to the changes in the surrounding environment. If he found the direction of the sandstorm earlier, he could start more. The longer he persisted, the better the results would be. While waiting, he looked at the afterglow that was about to fall on the horizon and was a little dazed.
"Why am I so stupid? There is light here and the sky is gray over there. The sandstorm must be coming from behind. Hurry up and run!" Hua Kai stood up and ran towards the light. After a few steps, he heard the sound of "whoosh...whoosh" of wind and sand behind him. He couldn't help but speed up his pace. I don't know if it was an illusion. As time went by, Hua Kai felt that the spiritual energy around him was thicker. The flow of his true energy in his body became smoother and his footsteps were also faster. Finally, the familiar sandstorm was getting closer and closer to him. Hua Kai abandoned all distractions and ran hard. Not long after, he felt that the sandstorm had caught up with him. The yellow sand hit his body and it was very painful. Finally, he felt difficulty breathing again and was swept into the sky by the sandstorm.