Chapter Eighty-Three Camping (Two)

  Two people, Ju An and Wang Fan, rode two horses, accompanied by Xue Hua, Wu Song, Hu Tou, and Suan Tou, following Taylor and Anderson, and Cri, heading into the mountains. The group had one horse per person, plus four mules carrying seven or eight metal trunks, two pots, and two small gas tanks.

  Wang Fan looked at the several mules in front of him and said to Ju An, "Their pasture isn't very large, is it? If there aren't enough fine horses, can't they just use some tamed wild horses? Why bring mules too? It's really a loss of face. Look, one of them is even a flower-patterned one!"

  Yu An looked at the first few mules and felt a bit annoyed, so he urged Dou Cao to hurry up. Dou Cao immediately ran a few steps and caught up with Ke Li behind the mule, saying: "Why not bring all the horses? Why bring four mules instead? These mules are not very useful, are they?"

  Ker looked at the several mules carrying things and explained to Ju An: "Quarte is good on grassy plains, but it's not as good as a mule when climbing mountains. Mules are more stable on mountain roads and have a calmer temperament. If we had more mules in the pasture, we would replace them with safer ones when guests come for long-distance camping trips. My father-in-law plans to buy several mules after completing this route inspection."

  "Guests should never be allowed to ride donkeys and go wild when they come."

  Kerui listened and said with a smile, holding the reins in his hand: "Why, mules are safer when climbing mountains, more stable, and more comfortable than horses."

  He scratched his head and thought for a moment before explaining to Keli: "Chinese guests generally don't like riding mules because it's embarrassing. It has nothing to do with whether they're good or not. When they ride horses, they're very happy, but when they ride mules, they might not even want to tell others about it when they return home. If someone asks them, they'll definitely be unwilling to say anything. If I went to the US and rode a mule, people would laugh at me." Seeing Keli's confused expression, Ju'an continued to explain: "It's a matter of habit, just like how Americans love eating cheese, but Chinese people don't really like it. They prefer eating preserved eggs, which Americans think are disgusting and nauseating. It has nothing to do with whether they're good or not."

  Kerry listened to the cloudy and foggy words, then said: "Strange Chinese guests, I know later I will go tell my father-in-law that the guest is God, let the guest be our satisfaction". Kerry finished speaking and patted the horse's belly, running towards the front of the team.

  The horse slowed down and stopped after a few steps, waiting for Wang Fan to catch up.

  Wang Fan urged his horse on and walked side by side with Ju An: "What's wrong, what's the reason?"

  "Gu An replied, 'They think it's almost the same, Mule Mountain is good to use, Taylor and they still want to buy a few more mules. I've told Keli about it, now he's gone to tell Taylor.'"

  "I said how the transportation of goods is all done by mules, they don't understand, I've investigated domestic horse farms, where there are mules used, Mongolian horses are at least one or two levels lower than Quarter Horses and Arabian horses." Wang Fan said with a smile.

  "Domestically, there are not many horses with high heads. Mongolian horses are only about 1.3 meters tall, while foreign horses are basically over 1.6 meters. Although they look different, Mongolian horses have their advantages - they are one of the best warhorses, with a strong and brave temperament, good endurance, and can withstand rough feed. They don't easily lose their spirit, unlike Arabian horses which are more prone to being startled. If it weren't for the Mongolians' ability to conquer Europe?"

  Wang Fan smiled and said: "The key is that now whoever uses horses to fight, they are all riding for fun, it's just a show, in this regard foreign horses have an obvious advantage".

  "Right," said Ju An, "many domestic stables are also cultivating their own breeds now."

  "After visiting several stables in China, I came to this private stable and found the difference is quite big. In some Chinese stables, when they bring out the horses, they are all dirty and messy. But here, I visited two family-run farms with only one or two helpers, and the horses they brought out had shiny coats and were very clean." Wang Fan sighed.

  "Then you'd better pay attention to these things when you start your horse farm, or it'll end up a mess."

  Wang Fan continued, "That won't happen. This time I've invited two ranches that raise horses and Jason to come back home for about ten days to help establish a set of rules. The idea is to get the horses in my stable cleaned up and tidy, so when guests come they can have a comfortable time."

  He gave a thumbs up and praised, "You have business acumen, this is indeed the big boss. I've also been to domestic horse racing tracks before, but didn't think of improving these aspects." Wang Fan felt pleased with himself.

  After a while, Keli urged Ma Duo to come over and ride alongside Wang Fan. Smiling at the two of them, he said: "I've already discussed it with them, they understand now. According to what the client wants, this time when we go back let's just buy two mules to transport things."

  As the horse team passed through the pasture of Ju'an, they arrived at the foot of the mountain. In front of them were dense and towering cedars and pines, which were different from those in China. The shrubs that were commonly seen in China, about half a person's height, were scarce here, or almost non-existent. There was only grass, rocks, and tall trees, allowing the horses to walk easily among them.

  As they passed through a large forest, listening to the crisp bird songs and watching the occasional wild rabbits jumping out, the leisurely grazing deer, Wang Fan sighed and said to Ju An: "You say when the Americans modernized, why didn't they cut down all these big trees? The big trees we see on this road are basically all two or three people hugging together, this one tree alone would sell for a lot of money."

  "When the United States was modernizing, they had a much smaller population than ours, with a similar land area, but their arable land was much larger than ours. Did they need to cut down trees for money?"

  When we came out of this large forest, we arrived at a small hilltop. The trees were no longer so tall and majestic, mostly being small trees with trunks as wide as a big bowl. The view suddenly opened up, and looking around, everything was a lush green color. The warm sunlight shone on our bodies, making us feel comfortable and a bit lazy.

  Urging the horse to continue following behind the cavalry, Wang Fan suddenly pointed at a large tree not far away and said to Ju An: "Anzi, look quickly, that tree is full of broken shoes."

  Following Wang Fan's pointing direction, it was indeed the case. A tree had many pairs of shoes hanging from it, not some fruit that looked like shoes, but real shoes, hanging from the branches. At a glance, they all seemed to be, just like the tree had produced many shoe-like fruits.

  "Hey Cui, what's with all the shoes on that tree? What does it mean? It looks really interesting."

  Kerry glanced over and explained with a smile: "Many people go into the mountains to hunt, bringing a pair of worn-out shoes hanging on that tree, praying for good luck. As time went by, it became like this, but there's no special meaning. Seeing this, let's walk for a while, and we'll arrive at the rest stop soon. Everyone can take a break." After finishing speaking, he urged his horse to move forward towards the front of the team.

  Wang Fan watched as Keli walked away, and smiled at Ju An in Chinese: "I said why the Americans don't have a saying for 'broken shoes', it turns out their way of dealing with broken shoes is to hang them on trees."

  He smiled and shook his head, knowing exactly what this broken shoe meant. "The Americans don't pay much attention to what's proper or not," he said. "I saw an article last time about a female college student in Nevada who wanted to sell her first time, she put it up for bidding online, and finally got over $10,000. The news made the papers, and many young people were interviewed, all of them expressing their confusion, saying that they couldn't understand why someone would buy this, and that the buyer must be bored out of their mind."

  Wang Fan said: "Come on, we haven't even prepared how to confess yet, and we've already entered the police station".

  Spread out his hands, and said helplessly: "Sorry, the only state in the United States that is **legal**, is Nevada, so they have no worries about selling it, it's a legitimate business".

  "Did you know it earlier?" Wang Fan asked.

  "No," Ju An smiled and replied, "I just saw it in the newspaper a few days ago."

  Wang Fan smiled and said: "Is it special regret that the ranch was not bought in Nevada?"

  "Get out of here, you bastard!"

  After walking for a few more minutes, they arrived at a small stream. Tyler called out to everyone to dismount and rest, removing the saddles and other horse gear from the horses' backs. The mules were still suffering, carrying loads on their backs. Ah, compared to the horses, their treatment was indeed inferior.

  At this time, Keli walked over and smiled at Ju An and Wang Fan, saying: "Do you want to go wash up in the mountain spring? The water here is very good." Ju An and Wang Fan looked at each other, nodded one after another, and followed Keli for a few minutes.

  Two minutes' walk from the rest stop, three people walked to a small pool, where the clear stream water gathered into a small pond of about ten meters. The surrounding rocks were all large gray stones, with the smallest being as big as a millstone. The soles of Ju An and Wang Fan's feet had a diameter of two or three meters, like an enlarged version of domestic goose eggs. The entire pool was crystal clear, and even small stones at the bottom could be seen clearly. Originally, Ju An thought that his own pasture pond was clear enough, but compared to this small pool, it didn't count as anything. Moreover, the water here had a phosphorescent glow, which was extremely beautiful.

  Wang Fan took off his shoes, stretched out his feet and dipped them in the water, saying: "Wow, it's really cool! You can see the small fish inside clearly, I don't even know how to describe it."

  Sitting on a rock, taking off his shoes, he said: "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get in the water!"