Chapter 18: Freshness

The man's name was Shi Qi.

The Shi family village was very close to the Li family village, and their relations were fairly amicable. For example, Li Mu's "Aunt Shi" was originally from Shi family village. The two villages had intermarried, making them practically kin, their ties unusually close.

The one being questioned was "Fourth Uncle Li." His big black ox was the first, apart from Ninth Aunt's big blue ox, to have its hooves trimmed by Li Mu.

For the past three days, Li Mu was busy trimming hooves in Li family village. Fourth Uncle Li lingered there, watching attentively for three whole days, only coming out today to earn a living.

"Hahaha, you noticed too?" Fourth Uncle Li replied with a proud laugh, patting the neck of his big black ox. Normally famous for its irritable temperament, the ox now appeared gentle, snorted softly, shook its head, and continued chewing the grass it had eaten along the way.

"Wasn't your big black ox a lame one before? Did you find a vet?" Shi Qi looked astonished, continuously sizing up the ox.

He and Fourth Uncle Li had worked this area for a long time, and the villages being so close, they’d known each other since childhood. Their relationship was naturally good. He was well acquainted with the ox, notorious for its bad temper and also for being a "lame ox." All four legs looked problematic, always limping.

But today, upon seeing the big black ox, he immediately sensed something was off. Not only was its temper much improved, but it walked without a limp. It had pulled several loads all morning, full of energy, swift and steady, which truly surprised him.

He couldn't help but wonder if his friend had taken the ox to a vet.

There was a vet in the county.

Of course, the so-called "vet" actually treated anything from donkeys, mules, to nags—any animal that fell ill.

"What lame ox? My big black is just fine!" Fourth Uncle Li snorted at Shi Qi’s words.

"And those vets are expensive. I don't have that much silver to squander." Vets charged a hefty fee; just entering cost at least two taels of silver. Sometimes even more. Unless it was a matter of life and death, no one dared go there lightly. It was daylight robbery.

Seeing Fourth Uncle Li shake his head, Shi Qi was puzzled.

"Then what happened?" he asked.

Fourth Uncle Li chuckled, pointing at the ox’s hooves. "Take a look at my big black’s hooves—do you notice anything different?"

"Hooves?" Shi Qi looked instinctively, brow furrowed. He sensed something was different, but couldn’t pinpoint it immediately.

"My big black had its hooves trimmed!" Fourth Uncle Li finally revealed.

"Hoof trimming?" Shi Qi was momentarily confused.

Fourth Uncle Li laughed. "You probably don’t know, do you? These animals' hooves are just like human fingernails. Think about it—when your nails grow too long, don’t you need to cut them? Otherwise, walking hurts, and it’s hard to work, isn’t it?"

Shi Qi was stunned.

"Animals are the same," Fourth Uncle Li continued. "When their hooves grow long, walking becomes painful. If their feet hurt, how can they work? Naturally, their temperament turns irritable, and they refuse to work."

In the past days, Li Mu had explained to the villagers why their animals needed their hooves trimmed—a bit of publicity for his new trade.

Now Fourth Uncle Li was showing off with this knowledge.

Shi Qi listened, dumbfounded. It was clearly something he'd never heard before.

But soon, he nodded in understanding. "Yes, yes, that makes sense..."

He glanced at his own donkey. He hadn't noticed before, but upon inspection, the donkey's hooves were overgrown, misshapen, and it walked as if lame.

Looking at the big black ox's hooves, they were neat and well-shaped—just one look made them seem efficient.

The contrast was striking.

"You did it yourself?" Shi Qi asked curiously.

"Where would I learn that skill?" Fourth Uncle Li laughed. "To tell the truth, it was a younger kinsman from my village who did it."

"That young man is remarkable, with real talent for handling animals!"

"You know my big black’s temperament. Yet in his hands, the beast is docile beyond belief!"

"Tell it to lie down, it lies down. Tell it to get up, it gets up!"

Fourth Uncle Li was proud. "Only someone with his skill could trim these animals’ hooves. Otherwise, think about it—these beasts are powerful. If you hurt them, they’ll lash out, and who knows, you might get kicked to death before you finish. How could anyone trim their hooves?"

Shi Qi was bewildered. Handling animals, trimming hooves—it sounded like a story.

"Is your kinsman a martial artist?" he asked.

A martial artist would naturally have the strength to subdue animals.

"No, his skill with animals is far superior. Martial artists use brute force, but my kinsman just speaks and the animals obey!"

Fourth Uncle Li shook his head, then smiled. "Words can only do so much. You haven’t seen it yourself, so I can’t fully explain. Coincidentally, my kinsman plans to make hoof trimming his livelihood. Your donkey’s hooves really need trimming. If you’re interested, come to our village and look for him. Honestly, once your donkey’s hooves are trimmed, you’ll see what a difference it makes."

Fourth Uncle Li sighed.

After the big black ox’s hooves were trimmed, it became so obedient. Such a small thing as trimming hooves brought a dramatic change—he was amazed.

Shi Qi still hadn’t recovered from the conversation when a call rang out from the nearby dock, "Ox cart!"

Fourth Uncle Li quickly looked up and answered, "Yes, coming!"

He turned to Shi Qi, "I need to get to work. We'll talk later. If you really want the hooves trimmed, just come to our village and ask anyone for the hoof trimmer—they’ll take you to my kinsman. No more talk, I have to work..."

With that, Fourth Uncle Li drove his ox cart off to earn his living.

Shi Qi stood for a moment, frowning thoughtfully.

But seeing the once "lame ox" now trotting smoothly and steadily, he was tempted.

"Li family village, hoof trimming..."

It was certainly something new.

He looked at his donkey’s hooves, pondered, and finally decided to go and see for himself.

He pulled his donkey cart away from the dock.

...

...

Wugong County wasn’t far from Li family village, but it was still more than twenty li of mountain road. The donkey was slow, reluctant to walk, and now Shi Qi realized the likely culprit was its overgrown hooves. It took him more than an hour to reach Li family village.

As soon as he arrived, Shi Qi was startled to find several ox carts and donkey carts gathered at the village entrance, with a few men chatting nearby.

Driving his donkey cart over, he saw they were all acquaintances.

"Ding San, Zhang Liu, Old Eight?... What are you all doing here?"

The group turned, surprised to see Shi Qi. One of them asked, "Shi Qi, what brings you here?"

"I heard from Fourth Uncle Li that someone in their village is trimming hooves, so I came to have a look," Shi Qi replied frankly.

"You’re here for hoof trimming too?" Zhang Liu exclaimed, then laughed, "We’re all here for the same reason. But there are people inside already, and with so many carts, it’s hard to enter the village, so we’re waiting here."

With that, Shi Qi realized that they had all come for hoof trimming.