Huo Shu stroked Ji Taoyu’s hair. "Now I have you. Wherever you are, that’s my home."
Ji Taoyu’s eyes reddened. He gripped Huo Shu’s hand.
He had known Huo Shu’s parents were gone, but he hadn’t pressed for details, afraid of stirring painful memories.
Now, with this one question, he understood just how difficult his past had been.
"Don’t grieve for me. The villagers treated me well enough. When I grew older, I learned to ride and shoot, hunting foxes and game to sell in the city. I had some spare money, it wasn’t as hard as you might think."
Besides, Huo Shu felt that in Tongzhou, life was good.
Ji Taoyu was good. His in-laws were good. Zhao Changsui’s whole family was good.
That was heaven’s compensation to him.
Ji Taoyu gave a tearful hum in response.
His heart felt heavy. He couldn’t imagine how much hardship Huo Shu had endured as a child in a home like that.
The carriage rocked gently, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep against Huo Shu.
Later in the afternoon, when Ji Taoyu woke up, he found the carriage had already stopped.
Huo Shu was nowhere to be seen inside. He stepped out and realized they had arrived at a vast grassland.
The early summer grass was lush and green, stretching out flat and wide under the open sky.
In the distance, flocks of sheep and herds of horses grazed peacefully.
Having never seen such a place before, Ji Taoyu quickly jumped down from the carriage.
This area seemed to be part of a horse ranch, with residential houses nearby. As he looked around, he noticed many horse stables as well.
Horses of various colors—black and brown—flicked their tails as they drank water.
Among the stables were also foals, their eyes bright and lively.
Ji Taoyu had never seen so many horses before. Though the air carried the strong scent of horse manure, he couldn’t resist leaning against the stable fence to watch the foals.
Just as he reached out to touch one nibbling on hay, he suddenly felt eyes on him.
Turning around, he saw an elderly man, tall but slightly hunched, holding a large bucket of horse manure and staring at him.
"Young master likes foals? There are some outside the stable you can touch."
Ji Taoyu blinked, taking in the man’s weathered face, rough like tree bark scarred by wind and sun.
Yet his eyes were sharp, and his strength matched his build.
Assuming he was a stablehand, Ji Taoyu followed him to see the foals in the open grassy yard.
He stroked a gentle, newly born foal, delighted.
Just as he was about to ask where Huo Shu and the others were, a sharp crack of a whip suddenly rang out:
"What are you staring at? Keep your thieving eyes to yourself! This is a merchant here for the tea-horse trade. Disturb him again, and you’ll be begging for scraps somewhere else!"
Not far off, a dust-covered man hunched over, rubbing his back where the whip must have struck him.
Cowering, he stammered to the man holding the whip, "I—I was just surprised to see strangers. Didn’t mean anything by it."
Before he could finish, the whip landed squarely on him again: "Dare talk back to me? You’ve got some nerve!"
Seeing the man lash out relentlessly, the old man hurried over. "Master Qiu, he’s just a clueless kid. Don’t be angry, please."
But the man showed no mercy, kicking the old man in the back. "Scram! Who asked for your opinion?"
Realizing the situation was turning ugly, Ji Taoyu spoke up: "Have you seen where my companions went?"
The furious man immediately changed his tone, smiling obsequiously. "They’re in that stable over there, picking out horses. Let me take you to them."
Ji Taoyu nodded, then glanced meaningfully at the old man and the stablehand, signaling them to leave quickly.
The two took the hint and hurried away with their things.
"Our ranch has top-quality stock. With the northern wars over, horses aren’t in high demand, so these are well-fed and sturdy. Hardy too—they’ll stay strong even driven south."
Huo Shu walked between the stables, his men following curiously.
For farming folk, owning a donkey was already a luxury. Seeing so many horses for the first time, they couldn’t help but feel exhilarated.
The thought of bringing some back made them even more excited.
Though they weren’t skilled at judging horses, following Huo Shu and Ge Liang was an eye-opening experience.
"Brother Taoyu, you’re awake!"
Ji Wenliang spotted him and bounded over.
"Brother-in-law picked a bunch of horses. He says I can ride one back!"
Ji Taoyu chuckled. "You know how to ride?"
"Brother-in-law’s going to teach me!"
Hearing Ji Taoyu’s voice, Huo Shu paused.
Ji Taoyu walked over. "You didn’t wake me up."
"You were sleeping soundly, so I didn’t disturb you."
Huo Shu pointed to two horses drinking water in the stable. "Pick one. We’ll take it back for A-Pan."
Ji Taoyu frowned slightly. Apart from one being brown and the other black, he couldn’t tell any difference.
"I don’t know how to choose."
Ge Liang laughed. "Brother Huo already vetted both, they’re good horses. Just pick the one you like."
Relieved, Ji Taoyu pointed to the black one.
It matched their family’s big black horse. They’d look striking running together.
With tea worth 250 taels as trade, Huo Shu exchanged for fifty horses.
Most were mid-grade—forty horses priced around fifty taels each, thanks to connections at the ranch.
Only ten were higher-grade, costing over a hundred taels each. These would be kept for personal use or gifted to important people.
The ranch also had low-grade horses, cheaper but less hardy.
Though they could still be sold for profit back in Tongzhou, lower-quality horses might not endure the two-month journey, risking illness or death—a waste of money.
Plus, too many horses would be hard to manage on the road.
Aside from the horses, their empty crates were refilled with fodder for the journey.
Financially, the tea trade wasn’t as profitable as selling fabric piecemeal.
But splitting half for horses and half for cash was a fair balance.
"With so many strong horses, the return trip will be faster! We’ll make it back in under two months for sure."
"Now our old pack livestock look pathetic. If northern mules and donkeys weren’t worthless here, we’d sell them and save the hassle."
"Alright, everyone, go help load the fodder. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can hit the road."
Ge Liang waved them off, giving a meaningful look.
The men hurried to assist—partly to help, but mostly to ensure the ranch didn’t short them on fodder.
Meanwhile, Huo Shu took some hay for Dahei.
If nothing else, northern horse fodder was top-notch.
Just as he pulled out a handful, a hoarse voice suddenly called:
"Huo… Huo Shu…"
"Are you Huo Shu?"
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