Chapter 403

The vegetable market that Old Man Lan spoke of is not the one near Chu Hua Da Xue; one still has to ride a bike some distance to get there.

On the bike, the puppy confined in the cage seemed not very accustomed to the strange environment, and there was no familiar scent around it; it wasn't as spirited as before, giving a few "humphs", and upon seeing Zheng Tan, it stretched its nose and mouth out through the gaps in the cage's iron mesh a little, nibbled the wire, and also stretched out its paws to scratch a few times.

Zheng Tan watched the puppy gnawing on the wire for fun, raised his hand and tapped its protruding nose, not expecting the little guy to open its mouth and bite. Zheng Tan, having nothing to do, kept tapping the puppy's nose to play; the puppy's reaction was slow, it couldn't keep up, and no matter how it tried, it couldn't bite Zheng Tan.

The puppy opening its mouth to bite wasn't indicating it wanted to bite something specific; it was just playing.

Zheng Tan's reason for choosing this puppy was not, as Old Man Lan thought, because the dog was exceptionally outstanding or spirited; for this little pup, Zheng Tan couldn't see any particular excellence. Actually, the main reason was that he noticed this dog had the biggest mouth; after carefully comparing it with its three brothers, he found its mouth was indeed a bit larger, finally spotting a difference, so Zheng Tan picked this one.

Twenty minutes later, Old Man Lan rode his bike to a vegetable market and pushed the cart inside. By then the market had passed the morning peak, and there weren't many people.

Going to the vegetable market to buy a dog is not something young people usually do; first, it gives the impression of not liking dogs, and second, the market basically only sells native dog puppies, which young people don't favor. Therefore, those who come here to buy dogs are mostly middle-aged and elderly. Old Man Lan also learned from others that there were native dog puppies for sale here; he had no such experience before.

After asking around, Old Man Lan followed the direction others pointed to, where dogs were being sold.

In this market, dogs are sold either by dealers who collect them specially to resell for people to cook, or by vegetable vendors who, having dog puppies at home, simply put them up for sale as a side business.

Old Man Lan checked two stalls; the dogs there were a bit grown, likely about three or four months old. He thought it was better to raise a dog from puppyhood, for deeper feelings, and while the puppy's nature hadn't fully formed, he could still correct it. So this time he intended to buy two one- to two-month-old puppies at once, raise them from infancy, and keep them in a small flowerbed for better effect. For this reason he also turned down several friends' offers to give him a dog. A big dog given to him would not create feelings, and cultivating affection isn't easy, so he decided against it.

Probably because of the noises of big and small dogs at the market, the puppy in the cage on the bike no longer played with Zheng Tan. It crouched there, listening intently to something, and kept looking around.

Zheng Tan, looking around from the edge of the bike, felt a certain sadness seeing the dogs caged there, reminding him of a past unpleasant experience. These dogs were not being raised for meat; they were native dogs that vendors had bought cheaply from some farmers, previously used as guard dogs, and one could tell from their eyes.

Not to mention these dogs, even now countless cats are being shipped to the south.

Change?

Society is like this; it cannot be changed.

As he was thinking, Zheng Tan heard discussion not far ahead, stretched his neck to look, and saw a spotted native dog carrying a basket, following a person all the way to a vegetable stall; the basket held puppies that looked slightly smaller than the one on Old Man Lan's bike. Due to the angle, Zheng Tan couldn't tell how many there were—he could only see half a puppy's head, the rest hidden.

Because of this, quite a few people gathered around to watch.

Old Man Lan also pushed his cart over. Fortunately, the market wasn't crowded then; otherwise the cart really wouldn't have fit through.

"Is this dog for sale?" someone asked.

"Yes, it's our dog, very obedient; we let it carry the basket, and it does." said the stall owner.

"This mother dog probably doesn't know it's supposed to sell its puppies; ah, it looks so pitiful."

Although some felt sorry for it, the people who gathered just talked; however, there really were people who wanted to buy a dog.

One was the owner of a nearby restaurant, not yet at work; he was chatting with people at the market, saw the dog and thought of keeping it. A restaurant needs guard dogs to deter thieves and to intimidate those looking for trouble.

"This dog is not bad, it has a good shrimp-waist build." The restaurant owner looked at the mother dog that had just carried the basket, his eyes lighting up. Over the years of running his restaurant, he had also raised several dogs and had some eye for them.

"What's that, Boss Liu? Do native dogs have such points? Tell me, if you're interested I'd also like to buy one—my warehouse really needs a guard dog." Another middle-aged man came over and said.

"Hey, Boss Wang, what are you doing here?" The restaurant owner Liu also didn't ask further; seeing everyone around looking at him, he began to speak.

"This native dog isn't as lowly as others say; it can hunt and guard the home…"

Liu Lao Bai spoke with flying spittle about the several dogs he had raised before; the people around, having nothing else to do, came over to listen to the story, and Old Man Lan listened with interest as well, but because he was pushing his cart, he couldn't get too close, only able to see the mother dog crouched nearby through the gaps between the people in front.

Actually, Zheng Tan listening to Boss Wang's words, this person perhaps didn't truly know much about dogs; he was just building on his past experience raising dogs, plus a bit of knowledge he'd picked up from others, and here he could still bluff people.

"That person also said his dogs were good—hey, back then I laughed, because it was clearly a hunting dog, yet he raised it into a pig‑shaped barrel waist and was still pleased with himself; I felt embarrassed to say anything, compared to my former shrimp‑waist dog it was worlds apart—my dog can leap three or four meters in a single bound, and in some places it could sell for tens of thousands!"

Those around hearing this couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

Hearing everyone's praise, the restaurant owner Liu became even more pleased; he coughed once, restrained the smile on his face, and, adopting the air of a professional expert, said: "However, when choosing a dog for hunting, one still has to consider the terrain and location—are you hunting on plains or hills? Small mountains or big ones? Different terrains require different hunting dogs; for example, if you use a sighthound to hunt big mountains, it can't take on wild boars and you'd still need a large breed like the Kasro; but if you take a big‑mountain dog to the plains to catch foxes and hares, it might not be able to outrun them…… Having said that, actually, as long as the dog works well for you, that's fine."

Then a bunch of people around voiced their agreement with "yes, yes, yes."

"Boss Liu, what is a sighthound?" someone from the vegetable stall behind asked.

Liu Lao Bai sat on the chair given by the stall owner, crossed one leg, and answered leisurely: "A sighthound, as the name suggests, is slender and streamlined; its running speed is impressive—like an arrow shot from a bow. The sighthound is our country's traditional hunting dog. Do you know the heavenly hound of Erlang Shen in mythology? Its original form is precisely the sighthound."

Around them rose another chorus of amazed "oh" sounds, which gratified Liu Lao Bai's vanity considerably.

Feeling that was enough, Liu Lao Bai stopped talking, stood up, patted the inconspicuous dust off his leg, and said: "However, good dogs are hard to find these days. After going through many, they're never quite perfect; wanting to find a good dog is difficult."

After finishing, Liu Lao Bai walked over to the stall selling the puppies. The mother dog that had originally been crouched nearby had already been taken away by its female owner; for selling puppies, keeping the mother dog here is not advisable as it could cause trouble. Although it was the mother dog that had carried the basket over, it might not know the puppies inside were to be sold, so it's safer to take it away.

"How much for your dog?" Liu Lao Bai asked the stall owner, "Don't think I'll pay eight or ten thousand just because of what I said earlier—I won't have it."

This dog certainly wouldn't jump to several thousand or tens of thousands just because of what Liu Lao Bai had said. Selling it for tens of thousands? Hah, some people around couldn't help but sneer inwardly—who would buy it, only an idiot. Not even a few hundred yuan would find a buyer.

Just hearing the story is enough; as experienced vendors, these people wouldn't be so easily taken in by Liu Lao Bai's few sentences and two tales—how could they sell vegetables at the market without that bit of sense?

The stall owner, hearing Liu Lao Bai's words, gave a simple smile and said, "Where could we ask for that? We were planning to sell this dog for about one or two hundred yuan." Actually they had originally intended to ask only thirty or forty, but they hadn't expected Liu Lao Bai's performance, so they took the opportunity to raise the price a little.

"Hey, give you a pole and you'll just climb up—those neighboring stalls' prices are all for big dogs. But we like your dog's waist; eighty yuan, I'll take this puppy." Liu Lao Bai pointed at the puppy in the basket whose coat almost matched the mother's, and said. Actually, if he really tried to press the price too low, his own face wouldn't allow it—after all, that mother dog was the one he had just praised, so the puppy's price inevitably had to be higher than the others'; that's why, after hearing the stall owner's quote, he didn't haggle much.

"Ah, alright, this dog is surely much better than my own mother dog." The vendor picked up the little spotted puppy clinging to the edge of the bamboo basket and handed it to Liu Lao Bai.

After paying, Liu Lao Bai glanced at the puppy; probably because it was to be sold, the vendor had given it a simple cleaning, and it didn't look particularly dirty, so he held it and walked away.

After Liu Lao Bai left, the man who had said he wanted to buy a dog to guard his warehouse pointed at the puppy in the basket that was mostly black with four white feet and said, "I just like this four‑white‑feet type; I'll take this one, please wrap it up."

Those around listened amusedly, as if buying a boxed meal, and still said "please wrap it up."

The stall owner, after some difficulty, found a snakeskin bag, put the dog inside, grinned, and handed it over.

After those two left, the crowd dispersed as well. The stall owner looked at the lone puppy left in the basket and sighed; sure enough, this was the hardest to sell. Still, the prices of the two already sold had exceeded expectations, which was some consolation. The remaining pup, if it wouldn't sell, would just be let go cheaply; otherwise, selling it to those who collect dogs for meat would also work, but keeping it would mean he didn't have enough food to feed it.

Old Man Lan also sighed; initially he had actually taken a liking to that "four‑white‑feet" puppy, even though it wasn't a purebred, it still looked better than the last one left. Even if he couldn't buy that one, he had earlier thought of getting the spotted puppy, but he hadn't expected the little spotted pup to be bought first, then the four‑white‑feet one snatched away as well—out of the three puppies, the two he had fancied were both gone, and as for the remaining one…

Old Man Lan frowned, feeling he just couldn't take a liking to it.

Not only Old Man Lan found it unappealing; the people around also didn't like it.

Actually, if the coat color were changed, some people would still be willing to buy, but the problem is that now many dislike this color, and moreover, the puppy left in the basket looks less spirited than the first two, sitting quietly in the cage, and when those two were making a fuss earlier it hardly moved at all.

With poor coat and low spirit, who would want to buy it? Even though it's only a few dozen yuan, the market folk aren't willing to waste money; to them it would be better to buy a few more packs of cigarettes.

"I know this kind of coat on a dog—when it grows up the fur looks like it has a skin disease, ugly as hell." said a pork stall vendor not far away.

"I don't find it impressive either," another stall owner added.

"Indeed, it's not very good‑looking, just mixed fur," someone in the vicinity agreed.

Listening to this, Old Man Lan also didn't want to buy it. First, he disliked the color; perhaps because he grows flowers, he prefers slightly purer, plainer hues—even if not pure, a bit of other color is fine, but he isn't fond of this mixed coat, just as a stall owner earlier said, a dog with this color grown up looks like it has a skin disease. Second, it's what others left over, plus the remarks from those around, giving him the overall impression that it's substandard.

Old Man Lan was about to push his cart away when, without expecting it, he turned his head and saw the cat on the bike jump down and walk to the edge of the bamboo basket.

"Although others don't think much of it, Zheng Tan feels the dog looks pretty good." (To be continued…)

ps: New week, asking for votes, recommendation tickets etc. If you don't vote every day and keep them, it's a waste, right?