Chapter 35 of 100

Chapter 35

17 min read4,296 words

The morning in the small town was peaceful. Liu Yunxuan, who had woken up in the motel room, rubbed his eyes. He had drunk too much yesterday, not knowing how many glasses he had downed, but judging from Brown's constantly grinning mouth, it must have been a lot.

Liu Yunxuan's constitution was already far from ordinary, so drinking these beers wasn't a problem; it just made his stomach a bit bloated. However, he had suffered. Charlie and Dilan both drank a lot. As Charlie had said, Dilan didn't cause any trouble when he was drunk; he just hugged a bar stool and fell asleep on the ground. Charlie, on the other hand, almost danced on the bar counter. It took a lot of effort to get both of them to rest.

"Oh, damn, I really drank too much yesterday," Charlie said, rubbing his head after getting up.

At this moment, Dilan also woke up upon hearing the sound. "Liu, I'm really sorry. I said I would treat you to drinks, but I ended up making you pay."

"It's okay, Dilan. But you didn't see Charlie's last act," Liu Yunxuan said with a smile.

"Oh, don't mention it, I can't face anyone," Charlie said, covering his face. It seemed he still had some memory of yesterday.

"Alright, guys, freshen up. We're going to take over the new ranch," Liu Yunxuan said to the two of them.

At the town's restaurant, Liu Yunxuan drank a cup of coffee and ate a sandwich. Charlie still occasionally rubbed his head, only drinking coffee, as the effects of yesterday's drinking hadn't completely worn off. Compared to Charlie's suffering, Dilan seemed fine.

In the end, Dilan paid the bill and said he would definitely invite Liu Yunxuan for a good meal when there was a chance. Liu Yunxuan had a good impression of Dilan, who, despite his tall and large build, occasionally acted like a child.

After parting ways with Dilan, Liu Yunxuan and Charlie went to Spring Bay Ranch. Old Hudson, Garcia, and Rodriguez were sitting under the porch of the villa, drinking coffee.

"Liu, I've already tidied up. I left you a few bottles of whiskey as a gift," Old Hudson said first.

"Hudson, I'm very grateful for your hospitality. If you find anything left behind, contact me," Liu Yunxuan said.

"Alright, Liu, congratulations on your good harvest today," Old Hudson said, not staying long. The ranch was now someone else's, and after managing it for so many years, he felt a bit reluctant to leave.

"Boss, I checked the farm equipment, and it's in excellent condition," Garcia said.

Liu Yunxuan was very satisfied with Garcia. Although they hadn't signed the contract yet, Garcia already considered himself a cowboy of Spring Bay Ranch and had entered the role early.

"Good, Garcia. After you sign the contract, take a tour of the ranch and let me know if there's anything that needs to be done," Liu Yunxuan said to Garcia. There was no help for it; Rodriguez was still so shy.

After Garcia and Rodriguez signed the contract, they happily went to inspect the ranch. Only then did Liu Yunxuan have the time to carefully examine his villa.

He hadn't looked closely yesterday, but today he realized the villa was really nice. The last renovation was probably arranged by Hudson's son, and the villa was equipped with many electrical appliances. The basement had a wine cellar, and the wine rack held about ten bottles of whiskey that Old Hudson had left for Liu Yunxuan.

"Charlie, can we change the name of the ranch?" Liu Yunxuan asked.

"Of course, it's very simple. We just need to register it at the county office. Shall we go now?" Charlie asked.

After a brief word, Liu Yunxuan followed Charlie to the government office. Changing the name was simple; they just needed to show the transaction agreement and register the information. The whole process took less than 20 minutes.

When they returned, UPS had just delivered a package. Liu Yunxuan's green card and other new documents had arrived.

"Liu, you won't have any problems in the U.S. from now on. But if you want to become a U.S. citizen, you'll have to wait a few years," Charlie said to Liu Yunxuan.

"That's fine. As long as I can move around freely in the U.S.," Liu Yunxuan said indifferently. Whether to become a U.S. citizen could be decided later.

"Boss, the ranch is pretty good except for the pasture," Garcia said after inspecting the ranch.

"How many cattle can our ranch support? What are the prices?" This was what Liu Yunxuan was most concerned about.

Garcia calculated for a moment and said, "The pasture is about 100 acres. If fully utilized, it can support about 300 cattle, but some of the pasture grass is poor, so it can currently support about 200 cattle. The price of a calf is between $400 and $600, depending on the breed."

Liu Yunxuan frowned. It seemed the investment in the ranch was quite large. He only had about $200,000 left, and buying cattle would cost about half of it. There were also the costs of maintaining the pasture and paying the cowboys, which would be tight.

But there was no other way; this money had to be spent.

"Garcia, where do we buy the cattle? Directly from other ranches?"

"Both are possible. We can go directly to other ranches or to the market," Garcia said.

Liu Yunxuan was lucky; today was the day the market opened. The market was held once a week, mainly dealing in cattle, horses, and sheep needed by ranches.

The market was a bit far away, as many people participated, and the animals needed a lot of space. Charlie also came along, as his goal was to rest and relax.

Outside the market, there were some vendors selling horse gear, cowboy supplies, and food. Liu Yunxuan felt it was similar to the big market in his rural hometown.

Inside the market, there were wooden sheds on both sides, divided into large and small sections for ranch owners to sell their goods, for a small fee.

There were many people, and there were always people negotiating at each section.

"Boss, we can buy some breeding bulls. They are more expensive, but we can breed our own in the future," Garcia suggested.

Liu Yunxuan thought about it and agreed. After all, buying each batch of cattle from the market would be very expensive, and they wouldn't make much profit in the future.

They soon picked out 40 calves, 100 breeding cows, and 6 breeding bulls. Some of the breeding cows were already with their calves. This cost Liu Yunxuan a lot of money. He wrote the check with a heavy heart but consoled himself, "It's okay, bread will come."

There were specialized quarantine personnel at the market to inspect each cow and replace the information tags. This was important, as it gave the cows legal status, allowing them to be sold in the future.

"Boss, should we buy a few horses?" Garcia asked hopefully, "We need them for herding."

Cowboys lived on horseback; without horses, they wouldn't be cowboys.

"Of course, we need to buy horses. I don't want you to herd cattle in cars; that would make people laugh at me. Besides, I've never ridden a horse before, so I want to buy one too," Liu Yunxuan said excitedly.

He had ridden a horse in his village as a child, but he had never ridden it at a gallop. Now he could ride a horse and gallop.

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