The road to wealth of a peasant widow

The skinny dentist's surname is Jin. According to him, he has been working as a dentist for four or five years and there is nothing in this business that he doesn't know.

Along the way, no matter what they saw, the man with the golden tooth could explain it, which also helped Chen Cui, who was a first-time visitor, to clear up some confusion.

Generally speaking, most livestock businesses sell pigs, cows, and sheep, which are the most in demand, followed by mules, donkeys, cats, and dogs.

There were horses, but there were not many of them, and they were all slow horses for pulling carts. Even if they were slow horses, not many people in the small county could afford to buy them.

Chen Cui watched her father look at the cows eagerly and was almost dazzled. She thought it would be better to let the broker help her choose a cow first, and she could choose her mule later.

"Dad, let's do it one by one. Let's look at the cows first, and then buy the mule after we've selected the cows!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Shangen rubbed his hands embarrassedly, but did not say anything to object.

He had thought about buying a cow countless times and asked many people about the ins and outs of it. He already had his own ideas about how to look at a cow.

However, the Gold Tooth Man's presence was not in vain, as he provided a lot of useful advice.

After looking through the entire cattle market, Chen Shangen chose a four-year-old cow.

The lifespan of a cow is generally around twenty years. A cow this big is in its prime and can be used for work or pulling a cart. After it is tamed, it can be bred and give birth to a calf. No wonder Chen Shangen chose it.

The man with the golden tooth also said that the cow was good, and he enthusiastically helped to bargain, and finally bought it for fifteen taels.

Holding the newly bought cow, Chen Shangen and his son realized their long-cherished wish and were so happy that they could hardly stop smiling.

Fortunately, he had not forgotten to buy a mule for his daughter's reference, so he left the cow at the dental shop and went back to look at the mule.

The Gold Tooth Man had just closed a deal and was very concerned about this other one.

He asked Chen Cui about her requirements and learned that the vehicle was mainly used to pull a cart to pick up and drop off the children at school, and also to transport goods in winter. He couldn't help but look up to her.

I didn't expect that this ordinary-dressed family could afford to support three children at once. It really shows that you can't judge a person by his appearance.

There were a few shops selling mules in the market, but Chen Cui felt that none of them were suitable. Either the mules were too old, or the prices were too high, which was beyond her budget.

Finally, the man with the golden tooth quietly pointed to a place and said, "Sister Liu, although this mule is a little old, it has been tamed. It pulls the cart steadily and has a gentle personality. It will not give up halfway. If you like it, I will help you negotiate the price."

In fact, although this mule is old, it is only eight years old.

According to the Golden Tooth Man, the lifespan of a mule is generally longer than that of a cow, and they can live for 20 to 30 years. This seven-year-old mule is actually not even middle-aged.

Chen Cui didn't really understand. She turned around and looked at Chen Shangen, but saw that he was also a little embarrassed: "Dad is more familiar with cows, and he can only check the teeth of mules."

In other words, his knowledge was limited, and the most he could do was to tell how old the mule was, nothing more.

At this time, the Golden Tooth Man began to teach them the tips for choosing a mule: "For this mule, you need to choose one with a long neck, narrow hooves, strong waist and legs, and short teeth. As long as these points are met, you can't go wrong."

Chen Cui looked at the mule carefully. Except that she didn't open its mouth to look at its teeth, everything else met the standards of a good mule as described by the Gold Tooth Man.

"That's it. Thanks for troubling the Gold Tooth Man again."

Chen Cui decided to listen to the advice of professionals and chose this one.

Hearing that his opinion was adopted, the man with the golden tooth became even happier. He took Chen Cui and the others and walked a few quick steps to the mule's owner and started a conversation with him.

This mule was brought here years ago, but it was not sold because many people disliked its age.

Mules are the offspring of a horse and a donkey. Most of them are infertile. Once you buy them, they can neither mate nor give birth. The only purpose of buying them is to have a long service life.

Although this mule is in its prime, buying livestock is a big deal for people nowadays. They would like one animal to be able to serve two generations, so when they buy one, they mostly choose one with small teeth, and this one was rejected.

Chen Cui didn’t think so far into the future. She felt that it was enough to meet the current usage needs in the next few years and she was pursuing comprehensive cost-effectiveness.

Finally, with the strong efforts of the Gold Tooth Man, Chen Cui bought the mule for nine taels of silver.

In her opinion, mules have many advantages and should actually be more expensive than cows.

However, because cows are good at plowing the land and farmers like them, and because the imperial court prohibited the slaughter of working oxen, the price of cows remained high, and beef was a luxury that only wealthy families could enjoy.

There are not so many restrictions on livestock such as mules and donkeys, and their meat is not as rare and popular as beef, which is why their prices are slightly lower than those of cattle.

However, it is a good thing that the mule is cheap, at least it allows Chen Cui to save some money.

We have the cows and mules, but we haven’t bought the matching vehicles yet.

The man with the golden tooth said that at the end of the street where the livestock was sold were all kinds of cars, both new and old, and he enthusiastically led the group over there.

The children followed closely along the way, and according to Chen Cui's instructions, they watched more and spoke less. Suisui was held in turns by several people, and was very well behaved.

At this time, Changping tugged at Chen Cui's clothes and whispered, "Mom, look!"

Following the direction of his finger, Chen Cui only saw a skinny cow standing there in a sickly manner. There was nothing surprising about it.

"What's wrong?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Mom, that's the cow in the old house. Can't you see it?" Changping said anxiously.

He had noticed it when he passed by here before and thought that this cow was very similar, but it was too thin, so thin that he could hardly recognize it. He just looked at it carefully again and was able to confirm it.

Chen Cui looked at it carefully for a few more times and found that it seemed to be the case. She remembered what Chen Meihua had told her, that the old house had sold the sick cow.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, the cow at the old house was sick and refused to eat. The doctor couldn't cure it, so they sold it."

In fact, Chen Cui deliberately did not tell the child. After all, he had taken care of this cow for several years and had deep feelings for it. She did not want him to be sad because of this news.

Sure enough, Changping almost cried when he saw the cow that was so skinny that its legs were shaking just from standing.

When this cow was under his care, it was always clean and healthy, able to eat, sleep and work. How could it become so sick in just a short time?

Moreover, he heard the cattle seller shouting: "This cattle is still alive. It's worth buying it. It can produce a lot of meat!"

It is obvious that this cow is being sold as beef, and they are just waiting for it to die.

This was because the imperial court did not allow the slaughter of working oxen without reason, but if the ox died of old age or illness, that was fine; this was how the beef in many restaurants came from.