Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 219: Buy It

Li Xu’s appearance stunned everyone present.

Song Xuecai and Song Sisi stared at him in surprise.

Foolish Song’s eyes widened. "And who are you, kid? You say we don’t have to pay, so we don’t have to pay? Who do you think you are!"

Li Xu ignored him, turning instead to Song Xuecai. He spoke earnestly, "Uncle Song, I don’t think compensating him is a good deal. With a lame leg, this bull is just going to be a burden from now on. We pay him ten thousand yuan, and what if he regrets it later and comes looking for more trouble..."

He paused, his gaze shifting to the bull. Then, with utter nonchalance, he declared, "We’re not compensating him for the bull. We’re buying it."

The moment he said it, the crowd erupted.

"Buy it? Buy a lame bull?"

"Is there something wrong with this kid from the city?"

"Yeah, the bull’s useless. What’s he going to do with it? He won’t make much money even if he slaughters it for meat."

Song Sisi grew anxious too, tugging on Li Xu’s sleeve. "Boss, don’t be impulsive."

Li Xu gave her a reassuring look, then turned to Foolish Song and asked, "Sir, name your price for the bull."

He made a deliberately casual-looking move, wrapping an arm around Song Sisi’s shoulders in an intimate gesture, as if comforting his girlfriend.

To the onlookers, this single action changed the entire meaning of the situation.

Everyone had a sudden realization. ’Ohh—so it’s a hero saving the damsel in distress! He’s just trying to show off in front of his girlfriend and future in-laws!’

Besides, Li Xu had been to Dasong Villa once before.

Some of the villagers recognized him.

They began to whisper among themselves, all coming to the same wrong conclusion.

Foolish Song was a cunning old fox. Seeing Li Xu’s confident air and his calm, money-is-no-object demeanor, he thought he understood everything perfectly.

’This kid wants to play the hero for his little sweetheart, spending money to save face!’

His eyes darted about, and the flames of greed were instantly ignited.

He cleared his throat and held up three fingers. "Thirty thousand! The bull’s leg might be lame, but it’s a good, high-quality breed. Thirty thousand yuan, not a cent less!"

"Thirty thousand?!" The village chief, Song Dehai, was the first to object. "Foolish Song, that’s outrageous! Do you know the price of beef these days? Even if your bull weren’t injured, you’d get fifteen thousand for it at most! This is blatant price gouging!"

Although Foolish Song had also claimed his bull was worth thirty thousand yesterday, no one had taken him seriously.

Now that he was actually demanding that price, the crowd grew restless.

"That’s right, Foolish Song! Have you no conscience?"

"So shameless, all for the sake of swindling some money!" The surrounding villagers couldn’t watch anymore and began to condemn him.

But Foolish Song stuck his neck out, completely shameless. "I don’t care! My bull is worth this much! If you can’t afford it, then shut up! Kid, I’m asking you. Thirty thousand. Are you buying or not?"

All eyes fell on Li Xu, waiting to see how this "big sucker" would get himself out of this mess.

Song Xuecai and his wife frantically waved their hands, signaling for Li Xu not to agree under any circumstances.

Song Sisi tugged hard on his arm, whispering urgently, "Don’t listen to him, he’s just trying to rip you off! Don’t buy it, let’s just pay him the ten thousand and be done with it!"

Li Xu, however, acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He looked at Song Sisi again, his eyes filled with a look that said, ’For you, this amount of money is nothing.’ Then, with a grand wave of his hand, he declared, "Thirty thousand it is! But let’s be clear upfront: once the deal is done, it’s final. Whether this bull lives or dies from now on will have nothing to do with you!"

"No problem! Of course, no problem!" Hearing the sum of thirty thousand, Foolish Song was so overjoyed the wrinkles on his face bloomed like a flower. He nodded repeatedly, terrified Li Xu might go back on his word.

The surrounding villagers exploded into a frenzy of discussion.

"My god, thirty thousand for a lame bull. This young man must be loaded!"

"That’s not being loaded, that’s being a huge sucker! Wasting all that money for a girl!"

"Sigh, that Sisi is a lucky girl, finding a boyfriend so willing to spend money on her."

Voices of envy, jealousy, and snide commentary all mingled together.

Song Xuecai and his wife were completely dumbfounded, their mouths agape, unable to utter a single word.

Song Sisi, beyond her anger at the situation, was deeply moved.

Li Xu said to Song Dehai, "Village Chief, I’ll have to ask you to be a witness. We’ll draw up a written agreement right now."

He took out a pen and paper and quickly scribbled a simple sales agreement. The content was clear and direct: Party A, Foolish Song, voluntarily sells one bull to Party B, Li Xu, for the price of thirty thousand yuan. Upon signing and payment, ownership of the bull transfers to Party B. Hereafter, Party A is not responsible for anything that happens to the bull (including but not limited to injury, illness, or death).

When he was done, he handed it to Foolish Song. "Sign it and add your thumbprint."

Foolish Song gave it a quick scan, confirmed the amount was thirty thousand, and immediately signed his name with a wide grin, pressing his thumbprint in red ink beside it.

Li Xu signed his name as well.

Then, he took thirty thousand yuan from his bag and handed it to Foolish Song in front of everyone.

Foolish Song counted it over and over again.

Still not feeling secure, he borrowed a currency detector from the village supermarket and checked the bills for authenticity before he was finally at ease.

"Good, good! The deal is done, the deal is done!"

The transaction was complete.

Li Xu put the agreement away.

"Oh, Li Xu, thank you so much. We’ve made you spend so much money..."

The more Mrs. Song looked at Li Xu, the more pleased she was.

Though she felt he was a bit of a spendthrift, his sentiment was undeniably genuine.

"Boss, what are you going to do with the bull?"

Song Sisi asked, "Are you going to raise it?"

"Of course not."

Li Xu shook his head. "I don’t have that kind of energy. Hmm... Let’s just slaughter it for meat."

"What?!"

Song Sisi and her parents were completely flabbergasted.

"Slau... slaughter it for meat?" Mrs. Song stammered. "Li Xu, you paid thirty thousand yuan for it! Just for a meal? Isn’t that too..."

...wasteful!

She was too embarrassed to say the last word, but the expression on her face said it all.

Song Xuecai looked physically pained as well. Thirty thousand yuan was what their family earned in a whole year of hard work. The thought of it being turned into a pile of beef made his heart bleed.

Li Xu saw what they were thinking and explained with a smile, "Uncle, Auntie, think about it. Keeping the bull is just a hassle. It needs to eat and drink every day, its leg is lame, and it’s sad to look at. If we slaughter it for meat, we can at least recoup some of our losses. It’s better than losing money on feed every day, right?"

"By the way, Uncle Song, do you know anyone who can butcher a bull?"

Song Xuecai shook his head. "Private slaughtering has been banned for a while now. You get fined if you’re caught. Whether it’s pigs, cattle, or sheep, they all have to be sent to a designated slaughterhouse."

"Oh? There’s a rule like that?" Li Xu thought for a moment, then continued, "Then do you know of any slaughterhouses nearby? It’d be best if you had their number."

"I do, I do," a neighbor who hadn’t left yet and was still watching the excitement immediately sidled up, saying enthusiastically, "There’s one in town, called the Sanshui Beef and Sheep Slaughterhouse. All the villages call them when they need a pig or sheep butchered. They have a truck and can come pick it up. I have the owner’s number in my phone!"

With that, the neighbor took out his phone and read a string of numbers to Li Xu.

Li Xu thanked him and dialed the number on the spot.

The person on the other end was very straightforward. After confirming the address and the type of livestock, he said they could send a truck over within half an hour. The slaughtering and processing fee would be calculated by weight, with a starting price of five hundred yuan.