Chapter 13: Good Ma Er Sai Long and

"Giddy-up, giddy-up…"

Seeing Yan Li rode a brown horse at full gallop along a hundred-meter dirt road, making several round trips before finally pulling the reins to a stop, reluctant to end the ride.

"Good horse, so well-behaved."

Seeing Yan Li praised it, gently stroking the horse's mane, receiving in return a high head-lift and an upward curl of the upper lip.

From his studies these past days, Seeing Yan Li knew this behavior usually indicated the horse was happy or excited.

Other signs like a raised tail or eager attempts to rear up carried the same meaning.

Of course, these horse behaviors must be assessed in combination with ear position, eye expression, and facial cues—some single actions could have different meanings.

For instance, when a horse lifts a front hoof and taps lightly, it might mean happiness or excitement, or it might signal agitation, or even酝酿 an attack under anger or fear; the next step could be a heavier stomp as a warning, and a temperamental one might just kick or bite outright.

Leaving the dirt road, Seeing Yan Li dismounted and took a small carrot from his pocket, slowly feeding it to the horse.

The horse was entirely brown, save for a patch of white hair on its forehead—distinctive and easily recognizable.

Seeing Yan Li remembered that in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," Liu Bei's "Dilu Ma Er" was said to bring misfortune due to its white forehead spot; only later, after becoming more familiar, did he learn such white markings were common—he'd simply been fooled by Luo Guanzhong.

Lao Xu, one of the horse team's supervisors from "Sui Tang Heroes," watched the interaction between man and horse with a hint of envy.

"Huazi is closer to you than to me now."

"What a fine horse—you gave it such a lame name. I'd call it Red Coal Fire Dragon Steed."

During this period, whenever Seeing Yan Li had no scenes, he came to ride; he'd grown quite familiar with Lao Xu, and now he began to scheme to persuade him to rename the horse he was closest to.

Lao Xu was very dark-skinned, with a scruffy beard; he took the Yuxi cigarette Seeing Yan Li offered, exhaled a slow smoke ring.

"Didn't you just say 'Sai Long Wu' something-or-other last time?"

"Sai Long Wu Ban Ju—I actually prefer that name, but you said it sounded bad, so let's change it."

Seeing Yan Li smiled; he'd chosen the name for personal reasons.

Whether "Sai Long Wu Ban Ju" or "Red Coal Fire Dragon Steed," both were names of Yuwen Chengdu's steed.

The variation came from different versions of novels or oral storytelling.

Like Li Yuanba's mount: some versions call it "Ten Thousand Li Smoke Cloud Cover," others "Chasing Wind White-Spotted Ten Thousand Li Cloud," or "One-Plate-Ribbed Lai Qilin"—at least six or seven variants.

Perhaps the Phoenix-Winged Gold-Embellished Spear exceeded the prop team's capabilities for "Sui Tang Heroes."

Anyway, in the drama, Qin Qiong wielded a mace, Yuchi Gong used a whip, Cheng Yaojin swung an axe, Li Yuanba and Pei Yuanqing fought with hammers, Yang Lin had the Dragon-Imprisoning Rod—yet Yuwen Chengdu was stuck with a shabby long spear.

With his signature weapon gone, Seeing Yan Li could only make up for it through the steed—after all, he wanted to enjoy himself a little.

"Call it whatever you like. I still call it Huazi."

Lao Xu, still smoking Seeing Yan Li's cigarette, spoke softly—but he refused to rename it, unless Seeing Yan Li bought the horse outright; then he could name it anything he wanted.

"How much is Sai Long?"

Seeing Yan Li smoothly switched names, then couldn't help asking about the price.

Indeed, Lao Xu's mention of buying a horse struck a chord—Seeing Yan Li had already said this horse was especially close to him; his rapid progress in riding stemmed entirely from their mutual rapport.

So Seeing Yan Li had developed some affection for Sai Long and wanted to buy it for himself.

Lao Xu glanced at Seeing Yan Li and snorted: "You can't afford it."

"Aren't horses supposed to live over twenty years? Sai Long's only seven—can't afford it now doesn't mean I won't be able to later."

Seeing Yan Li had some confidence in his future; with the system's help, he wouldn't be stuck for ten years unable to buy a single horse.

"Then keep saving up."

Lao Xu crushed out his cigarette butt, not taking Seeing Yan Li's words seriously at all.

Seeing Yan Li wasn't the first actor who'd wanted to buy a horse out of fondness or connection; Lao Xu had seen a few such cases, but none ever actually paid.

First, horses are expensive—even though the horse team's mounts aren't purebred champions, they're not farm workhorses either.

Their price is already high, but crucially, these horses have been trained for filming and can keep earning money through future shoots.

Factoring in breeding costs and future earnings, their value skyrockets beyond what most people can afford.

Not to mention the problem of how to care for a horse after purchase.

To keep a horse in good condition for free galloping, you need land, staff, feed, medicine, and countless other expenses—all adding up to a hefty sum most people simply can't handle.

More importantly, many people are just temporarily fascinated; once the novelty fades, they forget all about it.

Even if someone still wants to ride, there are plenty of fine horses outside Hengdian—no need to buy one here with low cost-to-benefit ratio.

Seeing Yan Li didn't argue with Lao Xu; he affectionately stroked the white patch on the horse's forehead: "Sai Long, wait for me."

As he spoke, another white horse galloped over and stopped beside Seeing Yan Li; the young man with a crew cut on its back called out to him.

"Seeing Yan Li, race one lap?"

Seeing Yan Li lightly brushed the horse's face to calm Sai Long, who was growing restless at the stranger's approach, and shook his head.

"No, I've got something else soon. Next time."

"Alright then."

The other didn't press; he tugged the reins and rode off. Lao Xu watched his back, annoyed by the man's disregard for him.

"Damn, acting so high and mighty."

Seeing Yan Li paused at this, said nothing, and quietly continued feeding Sai Long the carrot.

The young man just now was Nie Yuan, the actor portraying Luo Cheng in "Sui Tang Heroes"—second only to Huang Haibing, who played Qin Qiong, in male supporting status.

Though Seeing Yan Li and Nie Yuan had no direct scenes together, frequent visits to the stables had made them familiar over time.

Nie Yuan was now in his Rapid Growth Phase: last year he rose to fame with "The Wrong Flower, the Right Groom," this year he played the Qianlong Emperor in CCTV's New Year drama "The Granary of Heaven," his fame surging—he was clearly becoming one of the mainland's hottest young male stars.

Even within the "Sui Tang Heroes" cast, though Qin Qiong was the male lead, the popularity of the "Cool-Faced, Cold-Spear, Handsome Luo Cheng" needed no explanation.

Moreover, the production team was actively promoting Luo Cheng.

In the original "Sui Tang Romance," Luo Cheng's character was morally questionable, but the script erased all his flaws, shaping him along the lines of Yue Fei and Zhao Zilong; Seeing Yan Li personally felt this version of the character outshone Qin Qiong.

Thinking of this, Seeing Yan Li couldn't help a twinge of envy.

Luo Cheng threw away his bad traits and maximized his strengths, while Yuwen Chengdu discarded even his few good qualities and squandered them utterly—same group, different fates.

Still, setting that aside, Seeing Yan Li had a fairly good impression of Nie Yuan.

Mainly, both liked horseback riding, were close in age, had common topics, and since Seeing Yan Li was at least a known actor in the crew, he had some minor standing, so they got along reasonably well.

Moreover, there was another key factor—the system—

【Daily Info x: Nie Yuan recently raced horses and chatted with Seeing Yan Li, conversing happily and finding him a good person; he should be invited to hang out more often.】

【Daily Info x: Nie Yuan was greatly pleased because Seeing Yan Li shared with him the secrets he'd worked out for horse combat scenes, and deemed Seeing Yan Li upright and openhearted, regarding him as a friend.】

A person's outward behavior can be faked, but their true inner feelings cannot be hidden.

So for Seeing Yan Li, no matter how friendly and warm or cold and stern someone appeared to him, he valued more the system's direct "message" about their innermost thoughts.

As for the other crew members, opinions on Nie Yuan were inconsistent.

Right now, Nie Yuan's career is thriving and he's young; everyone in and out of the crew fawns over him, and naturally his demeanor sometimes betrays a touch of arrogance.

In truth, this is only human nature—others would likely act the same, perhaps even worse.

But while the logic holds, few people are truly understanding, let alone those who've directly experienced his arrogance—imagine what they think of Nie Yuan.

Seeing Yan Li and Nie Yuan have a decent personal relationship, so he never speaks ill of others behind their backs.

When he sees others gossiping about Nie Yuan, Seeing Yan Li will sometimes smooth things over—if it's someone like Lao Xu, who's harder to appease, he pretends not to hear and stays neutral.

(End of Chapter)