I traveled back to ancient times, but I was able to lie down and relax.

Buying a dozen or so acres of land is a big deal for the villagers, but for the county government, it's a trivial matter and it was handled very quickly.

Song Chen didn't follow; he stayed to watch over the stall.

The yamen runners, however, noticed that the land being purchased was wasteland and mountainous land, and glanced at them a few more times, but didn't say much.

The village head had nothing else to do today, but when he heard that Liu Yanxi and the others were going to buy cattle, he went along, still worried that they might be cheated.

So the group went to the brokerage firm. Buying cattle was a relatively large transaction; it wasn't something that could be simply taken to the market and sold. There were specialized agencies that handled it.

It's somewhat like the intermediaries of later generations.

The village head led Liu Nanjia and Liu Yanxi, siblings, into the livestock brokerage. A shop assistant greeted them, asking, "What are you here to buy?"

He said he was speaking to them, but he was actually looking at the village head and saying it.

You can't really blame the staff; with those guys standing there, the village head was clearly the one in charge.

Liu Nanjia didn't step forward at this time, letting the shop assistants misunderstand, lest they take advantage of their young age and be cheated, which would be a huge loss for him.

When the village head saw that Liu Yanxi didn't say anything, he understood what they meant. He had come to teach them a lesson, so he picked up on the shopkeeper's words: "We've come to buy a cow. Do you have any good ones? Don't try to fool us with old or sick ones."

"How could that be? We've always done business with integrity. Come, this way please. We just got one a few days ago, it's very healthy. Let me show you."

The village head had been in charge of the village for many years, and he had a certain air about him, making him quite different from ordinary farmers.

The clerk at the brokerage firm comes and goes every day, dealing with countless people. He has a keen eye and can naturally tell that the village head is no ordinary person, so he treats him with great respect.

Liu Yanxi and Liu Nanjia followed the village head obediently, like two little tails.

Upon arrival, the waiter pointed to a plump and strong cow and said, "Look at this one, it's only 4 years old, look at its physique."

Then he pried open the cow's mouth for the village head to see: "Look, it has just finished losing its third pair of milk teeth, and the fourth pair hasn't come in yet. It's not fully grown yet. This cow just arrived. You've come at the right time. If you had come any later, someone else would have bought it."

The village head circled the ox, examining it closely. Finding it indeed quite fine, he asked, "How much will this ox cost?"

"55 taels," the shopkeeper replied respectfully. "It's a bit more expensive than usual, but this ox is excellent and the age is just right. You can start working as soon as you buy it. If you take good care of it, it can live for more than ten years without any problem."

Liu Nanjia was persuaded by these words. Although it exceeded the budget, it was still acceptable.

So he looked at the village head and asked with his eyes, "How about this one?"

The problem is that other people have already been brought to see the cow by other guys, and she's afraid that someone else will buy it in a little while.

The village head was quite composed this time. After observing for a while, he said to the shop assistant, "Anything else? Let's take another look."

When the shop assistant saw that other people had arrived, although he was very unwilling and wanted to close the deal as soon as possible, he could not go against the customer's wishes, especially those of the village head.

They had no choice but to lead them to another cow, but the tone of their introduction was noticeably less enthusiastic than before: "There's another one over here. It seems the family that sold the cow had some trouble and needed money urgently, so they sold it. This one is already 8 years old."

After saying that, seeing that the village head was also carefully examining it, he added somewhat unwillingly, "Look, this one is much thinner. I guess that family didn't take good care of it either. It's also older than the other one. Although it's cheaper, judging from its appearance, it definitely won't live as long as the other one. Plus, it's four years younger. It's not worth it."

The clerk naturally wants to sell at the highest price, as he can get a larger commission.

The village head responded with "uh-huh," but Liu Nanjia noticed that his eyes seemed brighter than before, which puzzled her.

Looking at it, she agreed with what the shopkeeper had said; this one was indeed inferior to the other. Look at the prominent bones on its back—it was too thin.

Just then, the village head asked, "How much is this?"

"45 taels, although it's 10 taels less, you'll save at least 4 years of use, so that one is still more cost-effective." The waiter still wanted to try and negotiate.

"Hey, you said it's already 8 years old, why are you asking for such a high price, and it's so thin right now. Can you lower the price a bit more? If you can, I'll pay and take it home right now."

Seeing that the village head really didn't intend to buy the animal, the shopkeeper stopped trying to persuade him and started bargaining with him. If he could sell the animal, it would be a good deal.

After a brief exchange, the village headman finally agreed on a price of 40 taels plus a cart.

Liu Yanxi and Liu Nanjia received a look from the village head, but they didn't ask why they wanted to buy this head. They stood obediently to the side until the village head made a deal, and then Liu Nanjia took out the money.

The waiter was quite surprised; how come this seemingly insignificant little girl was the one who ended up getting the money?

After completing the paperwork and other formalities, the village head led the ox out of the brokerage firm. Liu Nanjia then asked impatiently, "Uncle Village Head? Why do you want to buy this one? Are you trying to save us money? Actually, we could afford the other one, which cost 55 taels."