Chapter 128: This Fool!

  "An, you can't be serious about choosing this horse."

  "Is there a problem? Isn't this a pure-blooded horse? Is there something wrong with its pedigree?"

  "There's no problem with the horse's pedigree, all the records are there and can't be faked. But if I sell this horse to you and it ends up on the track, it'll ruin my reputation! It's been in a few prep races and finished last every time, even getting left behind by tens of lengths. Putting it on the track would be an insult to other racing horses. People will say I have credibility issues, who will dare buy my horses in the future?" Brad said with a bitter face.

  "Relax, I won't send him to the track if he doesn't develop well," said Ju An with a smile to Brad. "With his current small build, it's not even worth others laughing at him. You don't know how much face we Chinese people value. The more I look at this little thing, the more I like it. I've made up my mind that if he doesn't grow to over 1.7 meters, I absolutely won't send him to the track. It's just that his temper is quite similar to mine. How about we discuss a price?"

  Brad thought for a moment and said, "Ten thousand dollars, if he can really grow to 1.7 meters tall at the shoulder, you can send him to the racing field, no problem with my stable's name, growing to 1.7 meters, this horse basically has no weaknesses, I'm not saying it's impossible for him to grow that high, but in my decades of raising horses, I've never seen such a miracle, An, I advise you to consider those two horses from earlier, really, although they're a bit expensive, with a year or more of training, at least they won't be too embarrassing on the track."

  "Alright, I've thought about it. Five thousand dollars, and you can bring that goat."

  Brad hastily shook his head and said, "No way, he's a purebred horse, and his grandfather even won the championship in a small airport competition. Five thousand dollars is really too little. I can give you a goat for that price. Let's each take a step back, eight thousand dollars."

  "Seven thousand dollars for the goat, I've already added two thousand. Anyway, you're just letting it sit there and nobody's buying it, and it's still consuming feed, isn't it? If I buy it, you'll get the money and save on feed too, what do you say?" Juren said with a smile to Brad.

  "Alright, we have a deal!" said Brad with a nod.

  "Like that! Give my little guy some mosquito-repellent clothes too, it's not good to look so smooth and shiny, right?"

  "No way, no way, that thing costs three hundred dollars too, it's really can't be given as a gift" Brad hastily shook his head and said.

  "Then you have new ones here? If so, give one to my little guy and I'll add 200 yuan, how about that?"

  Brad listened and couldn't help but laugh: "An! You shouldn't be messing with the ranch, you should be working on goddamn Wall Street, alright I agree".

  "Alright then, let's settle on how you'll get paid, will a check be okay?"

  Brad shook his head and said, "Tomorrow, I'll send the horse to the Horse Association for inspection, and then you'll see the detailed information about the horse. I don't guarantee its height, but I do guarantee its health. We also need to update the owner's information, and we can trade directly at the Horse Association."

  "This thoroughbred horse transaction is really troublesome, I thought I could bring my baby back today" Ju An said and stroked the black horse's head, as if feeling a deep affection from Ju An, the horse also stretched its neck and rubbed against Ju An's hand. Ju An continued: "Right, later we must dress up my horse to look more beautiful".

  Brad looked at the horse and said, "Don't worry, no matter what, I'm going to find this guy a master he likes. I'll make sure he's looking his best for the horse show." After giving Sanchez some instructions, Brad watched as Sanchez opened the gate of the corral and led the black horse out. Juan and Brad followed them out into the courtyard, where they saw Sanchez call over a young man to start washing the horse with what looked like warm water. As the water was sprayed onto the horse's back, a wave of heat rose from its body, and the little black horse let out a comfortable snort.

  After watching for a while, Ju An bid farewell to Brad and made an appointment to go to the horse fair transaction in two days. Brad then drove Ju An back to downtown Los Angeles.

  Having bought the horse that meets my mind, the joy of being at ease is so pleasant. On the way back to the hotel, I walked with a spring in my step, humming two out-of-tune songs from time to time.

  When the time was almost up, he specially called the hotel service. When the phone confirmed that Jasmine was about to arrive at the hotel, Ju An let the waiter bring dinner up. Jasmine pushed open the door and saw that the room was dark, with only a few candles lit on the table. Ju An stood up politely and helped Jasmine pull out the chair in front of the dinner table.

  Jasmine put down the bag in her hand and happily asked Ju'an: "What's today, with candlelight dinner?"

  "Just wanted to give you a surprise, seeing how tired you look every day."

  "Thank you, dear, I love you," said Molly, hugging Jian'an's neck and giving him a kiss. Then she sat down. Since Molly was controlling her weight, Jian'an gave her a small portion of the baked snails - there weren't many inside anyway. As for the rest, they all ended up in Jian'an's stomach.

  After finishing a romantic candlelight dinner, waiting for the waiter to collect the dishes, the two of us rolled back onto the bed and started playing adult games. This time it wasn't as crazy as the night before last, but rather another kind of tenderness and sweetness. The two of us would occasionally exchange gazes, and then "I love you" would slip out, truly a loving couple, with endless affection.

  The next day, Ju An rented a car and waited anxiously for a whole day. Finally, he received a call from Brad just before noon, saying that the horse's inspection was done and asking him to come to the Horse Association Trading Center.

  Hurriedly rushing out of the hotel, I went to a nearby car rental place, got a car, and drove towards the direction of the horse racing track. The horse racing track was just inside, after answering the guard's questions, I entered the back stable. As soon as I walked in, I saw Brad standing next to a stable with several old men chatting, my little black horse had already been led out of the stable, and all four legs were tied with light blue bandages, probably had run a lap, wearing a beautiful sky blue anti-mosquito jacket, only the clothes were a bit big, loose and sloppy, really didn't look good, but rather comical.

  He parked the car safely and jumped out. He walked over and greeted Brad.

  Several old men looked at each other with a smile on their faces, full of ridicule.

  Brad looked at An and said, "An, you came quickly. Look, the physical examination report of your little guy has come out, and it's not bad, right?" He pointed to a small black horse beside him.

  The black horse, looking like a small child wearing adult clothes, said: "This loose-fitting outfit is really not good, I say why can't you give me something that fits?"

  Brad smiled and said, "At home, there really isn't a suitable one, so it can only be bigger." After finishing speaking, he handed over several papers to Ju An, then called the veterinarian from the horse farm. Ju An looked at the report, asked about the parts she didn't understand, and listened as the veterinarian explained that the horse's health was fine. Then she nodded, and Brad took Ju An to an office in the horse farm, where there was a long counter. At the counter, Ju An began to negotiate with Brad, and after a few minutes, Ju An wrote out a check for almost $7,500, including taxes and one night's worth of hay at the horse farm.

  Jū ān gave the little black horse a name, Táo Qì Bāo. Suddenly someone told him that this name was already taken, damn it, how is it like registering an ID online? Either this one is taken or that one is taken. In the end, he simply called it Fènnù de Táo Qì Bāo, this damned thing has no one registered.

  After finishing the transaction, Ju An and Brad walked out of the office, just as several old men were still surrounding Ju An's little black horse, pointing and gesturing from time to time.

  One of the old men saw Ju An walking out and said to him, "Young man, when I first saw your horse, I thought it was only a little over one year old. Who knew that Bula'de said it was already two years old? Hearing what Bula'de said, you believe this little guy can grow up to 1.7 meters tall at the shoulder, I really admire your courage." After finishing speaking, he looked at Ju An with a playful expression.

  "Is it impossible for this horse to grow up to 1.7 meters?" At this time, another old man said: "Young man, it's not that your horse is bad, looking at its muscle structure, the overall is very symmetrical, just now I saw him run a lap and his pace was also very beautiful, if he were a palm taller, he would be a good horse, but now he is small, that's a big problem, all I can say is good luck to you!"

  Without saying anything, he beckoned to Brad and Sanchez to load his little black mare wearing a large cloak onto the trailer, also putting the small goat inside, closing the door, and then shook hands with Brad to bid farewell.

  As soon as he got on the bus, before it even started moving, the first old man to speak up said: "This young fellow is still too young, this isn't picking horses, this is simply foolish, this Chinese person has gone mad".

  Another old man's voice: "This fool, but I do hope there are more fools like him, so that many of my horses can be sold out. Brad has too much good luck."

  Looking in the rearview mirror, he took a glance at those old men and understood that he must have been made a fool of by Brad. As for the big coat on Tao Qi's body, he even suspected that it was deliberately worn by Brad. People's hearts are indeed separated from their skin. He started the car casually and drove out of the gate, thinking in his heart: Wait until next May, I'll let you idiots know who the real fool is!