Chapter 116

Chapter 116

“Good heavens, where did you drive this herd of wild horses in from? There must be around thirty of them. Look at those builds, and the speed they’re running at-these are all fine horses.”

A single horse cost several hundred taels of silver. The strongest ones at the head of the herd would take several thousand taels to buy.

Quite a few people had come running over to watch because of the sudden arrival of the wild horses.

One by one, their eyes shone as they stared at the horses.

Among soldiers, who didn’t want a horse of their own?

Horses ran fast. With a horse, there was a little more hope of surviving on the battlefield.

But there were many soldiers and too few horses. Only those chosen as cavalry could have a warhorse of their own.

And they didn’t even make up a third of the troops.

To them, horses were vital supplies, as well as important comrades and partners.

Raising and training warhorses was difficult too.

Now that thirty-odd wild horses had suddenly appeared, of course everyone’s eyes were shining.

“That white one is the best-looking, and it has the fiercest temper too. I wonder who’ll be able to tame it.”

“If only one of those horses could be mine.”

“Dream on. Our turn won’t come.”

“Are these all wild horses? Where did they come from?”

“What, you want to go look for some too? Forget it. Even if there were any, they’d have run off long ago.”

There was a rule within the Ji Family Army: if someone encountered a wild horse outside and managed to tame it, that horse could be counted as their private property.

But wild horses were far too hard to find out in the wilderness. Even if you found one, taming it was even harder.

Some people who were acquainted with Fat Chef and the others came over to fish for information.

These wild horses had been brought back by them. If they could get the rights to distribute them from their hands, that would be perfect.

Who didn’t want more cavalry under their command?

“Old Pang, I really couldn’t tell you old fellows still had it in you. Normally you never leave camp, but the moment you do, you pull off something huge. Considering our relationship, how about selling me a few of these wild horses?”

That was right. In order to encourage everyone to search for wild horses outside, anyone who found wild horses could sell them directly to the horse camp of the Celestial Jade Battalion, or sell them to their superiors or close acquaintances, but they all had to be registered with Celestial Jade.

This was also meant to encourage everyone’s enthusiasm.

“Now, Old Hu, don’t go too far. Old Shen, with our relationship, you’ve got to share some of these horses with us, right?”

“Old Pang…”

Fat Chef and the others laughed and scolded them. “Oh, give it a rest. These wild horses don’t have much to do with us. At most, we just helped drive them along.”

Fat Chef directly fished Jiang Yunsui out from where she had shrunk behind him to hide, her social anxiety flaring up so badly she didn’t really want to see anyone.

Jiang Yunsui, suddenly lifted under the armpits with her little body dangling in the air, looked utterly confused. Her clear, innocent eyes were still filled with bewilderment, and her little legs curled up slightly.

She looked like a kitten suddenly picked up by the scruff of its neck, curling its paws pitifully.

“She’s the real great contributor who brought the wild horses back this time.”

The whole crowd stared at Jiang Yunsui, who had been lifted up.

“What?!!!”

This child? These old fellows weren’t just making up an excuse because they didn’t want to hand over the horses, were they?

Jiang Yunsui grew terribly uncomfortable under so many gazes. Her fair little face gradually turned red, and she lowered her eyes, whining under her breath.

“Fat Chef, put me down right now!”

Even her childish little voice trembled a bit. She was angry!

Fat Chef hurriedly put her down and stroked her head to soothe her.

Jiang Yunsui ignored him. Moving her short little legs, she quickly ran behind the other grandpas, then poked her head out and gave Fat Chef a heavy huff.

Then she hid herself again.

Everyone watching was delighted. This little child was just too amusing and too adorable.

She was their precious granddaughter, hehe.

Fat Chef rubbed his nose, knowing the little one was annoyed with him.
“Why would I lie to you? And don’t even think about threatening or bribing the little one or anything like that. This child belongs to Young Master Ji’s household, so these horses will probably have to wait until the Young Master returns. For now, just take good care of them.”

After saying that, he hurried off to coax the child.

Jiang Yunsui did not leave either. After all, these wild horses had been brought back by her dogs.

She had to take responsibility.

Jiang Yunsui declared that she wanted to raise them.

“Don’t worry. We’ve got people here who specialize in keeping horses. The feed they make is guaranteed to be to their liking.”

“Besides, these horses won’t be assigned casually. Only someone who can make them submit wholeheartedly will be allowed to have one.”

“To us, warhorses are comrades, brothers. Every man who gets his own warhorse treats it better than his own wife.”

Fat Chef seemed to be remembering something from his youth.

“In my life, I’ve had two horses. That feeling really is almost the same as taking a wife.”

“Aside from Black Wind, even earlier than that, there was a horse named Big Bear. That horse was thin and weak. It wasn’t one of the best in the herd; you could even say it was among the worse ones.

That was why I gave it that name. I hoped it would grow strong and sturdy. It was a bit scrawny, but after I tamed it, I still treated it well, because it was the first horse of my life.”

“Later, when I was wounded on the battlefield, it carried me and ran a very long way, for a very long time. So long that… when it finally brought the injured me back to camp, it collapsed from exhaustion and never stood up again.”

Perhaps because he had thought of the past, Fat Chef’s eyes turned red.

“That horse was terribly stupid. Didn’t even know to stop and rest. Afterward, I dug a pit and buried it.”

Even now, he still went from time to time to visit Big Bear’s grave.

Horse meat could be eaten.

But unless they had truly run out of ammunition and food, unless they were forced to the absolute brink, no one would eat a warhorse.

Just as no one would lightly eat another person unless they had reached a desperate dead end.

Jiang Yunsui listened very seriously.

“Fat Grandpa must miss it a lot.”

“I do. I miss it very much. It saved my life, after all. If not for it, your Fat Grandpa wouldn’t be standing here now.”

They put those old matters aside, and Fat Chef brought Jiang Yunsui to the Cook Battalion.

Everyone there was busy as could be.

“Oh-ho, you’re grinding tofu today?”

“Got any soy milk?”

“Saved some over there.”

Fat Chef made himself right at home, poured Jiang Yunsui a cup of soy milk, added a little sugar, and handed it to her.

Jiang Yunsui obediently sat off to the side and sipped it little by little, her eyes narrowing in enjoyment.

She was so tiny, fair, and soft that she was unbearably adorable.

“Want some tofu pudding?”

Jiang Yunsui answered in a crisp little voice.

“Yes!”

She drank soy milk, ate tofu pudding, and afterward they even fried little tofu cubes especially for her.

On top of that, the others made her various snacks.

Before Fat Chef came to the military camp, his family had run a restaurant, so his cooking skills were excellent. The brothers who later came here to spend their retirement had all learned to cook from him.

Those who truly could not cook went to slaughter pigs, process game, or chop vegetables instead.

There was always some work they could do. At least they were not eating for free in the Cook Battalion.

So everyone genuinely had skills.

And when it came to fighting for their own little benefits, they were not the least bit shy. They all had plenty of tasty things stashed away.

“Here, have an egg.”

Jiang Yunsui nibbled at the egg in small bites. She did not like the yolk much because it was a little chokingly dry.

Fat Chef simply took the yolk from her, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed it down.

Jiang Yunsui said softly, “Next time, you can boil them with tea leaves. They’ll taste better that way.”

She liked the yolks of tea eggs too.