Uncle Xu heard what Qibao said and felt that it made sense. It was okay to borrow it once or twice. No matter how good the family was, they would complain if they borrowed it too many times. He immediately decided: "Okay, just listen to Qibao. Let's go to the horse market first to take a look."
The kids were so happy to hear that the family was going to buy an oxcart that they followed their dad and uncle to the horse market.
As soon as they entered the horse market, they saw an endless stream of vendors selling cattle and horses. All yelling at the top of their lungs, Uncle Xu strolled around and finally stopped in front of a vendor. The vendor saw someone stop at his stall and he immediately greeted politely: "Brother, are you buying a horse? Are you buying horses or cattle? Look at all my cattle and horses, they're all strong and sturdy! Which one do you like?"
Dabu Xu took a glance at the cattle throughout the shed and pointed at a large black bull and asked: "How do you sell this bull?"
The vendor immediately said: "Aigoo! You have a good eye! This bull is the best one I have here, look at these four big hooves, it's a good farmhand, it's not expensive, twelve taels of silver!"
After listening to the man's quotation, Uncle Xu found that the bull was worth the price, so he asked: "Can the boss give me a bullock cart?"
When the vendor heard this, he quickly said: "Aigoo! Brother, it's not that I don't want to give it away. An oxcart costs one tael of silver. I won't be able to make much money by giving it away anymore. Would you like to add more? I'll charge you 800 Wen for the oxcart, what do you think?"
Uncle Xu said: "Thank you, I'd better go and look elsewhere!" After saying this, he took the children with him and was about to leave!
The vendor saw the customer leaving. He hurriedly grabbed Uncle Xu and said: "No, brother, the price is negotiable. Okay! Just pretend I'm teaching a friend! This bullock cart is given to you, But the next time you buy livestock. You must look for me, old brother!" With that, he took the bull that was being looked at out of the shed, After putting the carriage frame on the bull and tying it up. He handed the rope to Uncle Xu and said: "Brother, I have already installed the oxcart for you. Don't worry, it's secure!"
Xu Dabu thanked the vendor, took out twelve taels of silver from his bosom, and handed it over to the vendor, preparing to take his leave!
The vendor smiled and took the silver into his sleeve, and said: "Brother, go slowly. If you need anything next time, come back to me. I will give you an advantage!"
A few people followed the way they came and were ready to go back, when suddenly Qibao saw a man in a patch squatting in the corner. There was a small white puppy placed in a broken bamboo basket in front of him. Qibao liked it very much. So she said to her uncle: "Uncle, I want to buy that puppy, is that okay?"
Following Qibao's gaze, a few of the younger ones' eyes lit up and the youngest, Xiaoliu, spoke up: "Uncle just buys it, Xiaoliu likes it a lot too." Several others nodded as well.
Seeing that the children liked it so much, Uncle Xu agreed and walked towards the man. The children walked to the basket and squatted down to touch the puppy's head. Every one of them had great joy on their faces!
When the man saw someone wanting to buy a dog, his eyes suddenly lit up. He had been squatting here for an hour and no one wanted to buy his dog. When he saw someone finally coming over, he said: "This brother, Are you looking to buy a puppy?"
Uncle Xu asked: "This puppy should still be drinking milk, right? Why is it being sold at such a young age?"
The man sighed and said: "This little white dog was born to my family's Xiong Xiong half a month ago. Yesterday, my Xiong Xiong was beaten to death by some ruthless person at the door of his house. This little white puppy has no milk to drink, and there is no one at home to help take care of him. I take care of this puppy and want to help it find a good home, which is better than starving to death at home!"
Qibao asked: "Uncle, how much do you plan to sell it for?"
The man said: "Farmer's dog, it's not worth much, if you want it, just take it for ten coins! Just feed it with some leftover soup!"
Uncle Xu wants to know whose dog in the village has given birth to a pup and what he wanted was to lose two copper coins. Although the dog was a bit more expensive, he couldn't help since the children liking it, so he said: "Okay, I want this puppy!"
The man said happily: "Then let's take this basket away too!"
After Uncle Xu paid the copper coins, Xu Zhiyong picked up the basket. Put it in the bullock cart, Xiaowu and Xiaoliu also climbed on the bullock cart, holding the puppy for a while, the puppy was probably hungry and lying in Xiaoliu's arms, he seemed to be looking for something to eat. Seeing that the puppy was pitiful, Qibao came into the bullock cart. She picked up the puppy, put her index finger into the puppy's mouth, and fed him some spiritual spring water. The puppy might be hungry, so he sucked it hungrily.
When the puppy had drunk his fill, Qibao felt that the whole doggie was different, the eyes became much brighter, his spirit was also much better and he was looking around very spiritually. Qibao put the puppy into Xiaoliu's arms again, letting it play with Xiaoliu.
They left the horse market and walked for about a quarter of an hour. They came to the door of a shop called Mo Baoxuan. It was a shop specializing in selling pens, inks, paper and inkstones. They walked to the door and stopped, inside they were greeted by a fellow who greeted them and asked: "Are you here to buy pens and ink? You guys go into the shop to choose, and I will watch the oxcart for you!"
After Uncle Xu thanked him, he walked in with a few children. The shopkeeper at the counter asked: "What do you need to buy?"
Uncle Xu replied: "Shopkeeper, I want to buy some pens, inks, paper and inkstones for the children at home who have just entered school."
The owner said: "Yes, but children who have just entered school don't need to buy a very good one, just a medium one. I wonder how many do you need?"
Uncle Xu answered: "Get a set for each of the children behind me!"
After the shopkeeper took out the required quantity and packed it as instructed, he asked: "Do you need anything else?"
Uncle Xu thought for a while, books will be distributed to children in the school. But when it is no longer needed, it has to be returned to the academy. If it's damaged, you'll have to pay for it. So he asked the children what else they needed, and saw that several of them were shaking their heads.
Xu Dabo then asked: "Boss, we want these, I wonder how much silver do you charge for them?"
The shopkeeper said: "Just give me eight taels of silver."
Xu Dabo secretly smacked his lips, no wonder the farmers can not afford to send children to school. These pens, inks, paper and inkstones alone are not worth buying just because you want to! The dark-skinned man paid the price without moving his face.
At this time, Qibao saw that there was a piece of white paper that was different from the ones her brother and the others bought, so she asked: "Uncle shopkeeper, what kind of paper is this?"
The shopkeeper looked at the white paper and said: "Little girl, this kind of paper can't be writen it on, this is someone else bought to glue the window, this paper is brightly glued on the window, but also protects from the wind and rain! The price is not expensive."
After Qibao listened to what the shopkeeper said, an idea came to mind. But she has to think about it in the long run. She said: "My family is going to build a new house, and when it's finished, I'll definitely ask the shopkeeper to help me buy this paper for the windows."
After hearing this, the shopkeeper smiled and nodded and said: "Then this uncle will wait for the you!"
The childen bid farewell to the shopkeeper and went out of the store, Xiaowu said: "Uncle, can I eat that?"
The crowd looked in the direction Xiaowu was pointing, and saw an old man yelling: "Sugar gourd, 2 Wen a stick."
Seeing that it was not expensive, Uncle Xu bought a bunch for each of the children, making the children happy, and it was the first time they had ever eaten sugar gourds!