Chapter 83

However, Lu Zheng had a resilient character, and life in the Jiyuelu had gradually changed his disposition, making him more outgoing than before. Knowing that the white horse was playing with him, Lu Zheng felt both angry and curious. He was angry that he had been bullied by a horse, and curious about how the horse could be so intelligent. His teacher wanted him to tame this white horse, which was clearly not an easy task! So, he continued to spend every day with the horse on the training ground.

The white horse gradually got used to Lu Zheng's daily provocations. Every day, the two of them would compete. As soon as the white horse saw Lu Zheng, it would neigh loudly, snort a few times, as if mocking him, and then see Lu Zheng, who had been provoked, start to chase it frantically. Of course, no matter how fast Lu Zheng ran, he could only follow behind, eating dust.

It seemed that just spending time like this would not tame the white horse. Lu Zheng had to think of other methods. He was determined and thought to himself, "I can't believe I can't handle a horse!" After much thought, he recalled what Tang Xiaojiu had told him about how 'Zhen Sanjie' Lai Liqi dealt with his disobedient subordinates.

Lai Liqi had gathered a group of small ruffians as his subordinates to collect protection money on the streets. The more subordinates he had, the better. Therefore, he often lured small beggars into his gang. Lu Zheng and Tang Xiaojiu had also been threatened by him, but Tang Xiaojiu had always protected them.

Among these small beggars, some were stubborn and preferred to beg rather than bully others for Lai Liqi. Lai Liqi had a specific method to deal with these beggars, which Lu Zheng had heard from Tang Xiaojiu in detail.

To deal with the small beggars, Lai Liqi's first method was to deceive. Since most of the beggars were often hungry, he would have his subordinates call them to his home, give them food and drink, and talk to them, telling them the benefits of joining him. Many beggars, in order to fill their stomachs, would voluntarily join him.

Of course, some would not fall for his tricks, or they would eat the food but still refuse to listen to him. In such cases, Lai Liqi would not be so polite. If deception didn't work, he would use violence. He would tie them to a pillar and have his subordinates take turns whipping them until they submitted. Tang Xiaojiu had seen this with his own eyes.

If they still refused to submit, Lai Liqi would gather the disobedient beggars, pick out the most stubborn, the loudest, and the most resistant one, and beat him to death in front of the others. As the cries of pain gradually turned to silence, the other beggars would be so frightened that they would obediently listen to him.

When Tang Xiaojiu told him this, Lu Zheng was very afraid, fearing that Lai Liqi would treat them the same way. However, Tang Xiaojiu was not at all concerned. He thought Lai Liqi's methods were not very wise, just deception and violence. But for both people and animals, these were the only two methods to make them obey: either give them something sweet or something bitter. One of these would always make them obey, but this was for ordinary people.

Lu Zheng then asked, "What about those who are not ordinary?"

Tang Xiaojiu replied, "To deal with those who are not ordinary, you must first be extraordinary yourself." Saying this, he smiled at Lu Zheng and continued, "When you become extraordinary, you will naturally know. It's useless to talk about it now."

In the end, Tang Xiaojiu was still mocking him for being ordinary, which made Lu Zheng both afraid and depressed. But now, thinking about it, his brother's words made sense. If he could make the beggars obey, perhaps he could tame the white horse too. Clearly, the horse was not ordinary, and he himself was still ordinary, so he would have to use ordinary methods.

Lu Zheng made up his mind and searched around Jiyuelu, finding three items: a bamboo whip, an iron hammer, and a knife. He planned to use the bamboo whip to whip the horse if it didn't obey, and if it still didn't obey, he would use the iron hammer. If the hammer didn't work, he would have to use the knife.

After careful consideration, Lu Zheng decided to abandon this plan. The reason was that he couldn't bear to see the white horse, with its snow-white body, covered in blood from the whip, hammer, or knife.

But if he didn't use this method, how could he tame the white horse?

On the training ground, the white horse was leisurely walking around, occasionally lowering its head to eat grass, or chasing butterflies, very much at ease.

Not far away, Lu Zheng came over with a basket of green grass, smiling. The white horse immediately perked up its ears, stopped playing with the butterflies, and turned to stare at him, full of disdain.

Lu Zheng walked in front of the white horse, pretending not to see its look, and poured the basket of green grass on the ground. He then smiled at the horse and said, "Hehe, look what I brought you, it's green grass! We've been playing for so long, you probably don't know my name yet. I'm called Lu Zheng. From now on, let's live in peace and be friends, okay? I spent a lot of effort pulling these grasses from the flower garden, picking the tenderest ones. If you agree, take a bite!"

It turned out he had abandoned Lai Liqi's violent methods and used deception instead.

After saying this, Lu Zheng smiled and waited for the horse to eat the grass. But the horse just stood there, sniffing, without moving. Lu Zheng thought, "Does this guy not like green grass? I just saw it eating grass a moment ago." So he picked up a handful of grass and offered it, saying, "Eat it! Eat it! Don't be shy!"

But the horse didn't even look at the grass. Instead, it lazily turned around, showing its rear to Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng, feeling humiliated, was suddenly filled with anger. "Who does this horse think I am? I pulled the grass for him, and he dares to show me his rear!" He was about to lash out but remembered he wanted to be friends with the horse, so he forced himself to calm down and said with a forced smile, "Hey, you don't like green grass? Tell me what you like, and I'll find it for you, okay? Just give me some face and take a bite!" As he said this, he pushed the grass forward with a fawning smile.

Unexpectedly, as the horse sensed Lu Zheng approaching, it lifted its tail and let out a loud fart right in Lu Zheng's face. Lu Zheng, caught off guard, was hit with a foul smell, making his stomach churn. He quickly held his breath and ran far away, only to start breathing deeply again.

The horse, seeing his狼狈的样子, constantly neighed in mockery, raising its head high and galloping around the training ground, occasionally leaping in the air, looking extremely happy. Lu Zheng was so angry that he wanted to grind his teeth, but the smell of the fart was so disgusting that he had to leave the horse and go to the flower garden to smell the flowers, which finally helped him get rid of the unpleasant feeling.

After being toyed with by the horse, Lu Zheng sat by the flower garden, sulking and thinking about how to get back at the horse. Xin'er came over and asked, "Big brother, what are you doing, looking so angry?"

Lu Zheng jumped, secretly sniffing himself, realizing he still smelled of the foul fart. He quickly said, "Ah, Xin'er, I have something to do, I'll go first." He then ran back to his room.

Xin'er, seeing Lu Zheng's strange behavior, was puzzled and said, "What's wrong with big brother? He's so jumpy!"

Fortunately, Xin'er didn't smell the foul smell on him. Lu Zheng quickly washed himself and changed his clothes. After the bath, his anger had subsided, and he realized that he couldn't tame the horse by fighting with it. He would have to wait until he tamed it to get revenge for the fart.

He thought that although the horse didn't eat the green grass he offered, it might eat something else. If he could find something tasty for it, it might eat. So, Lu Zheng went to ask his teacher where he could find some beans.

Li Yi immediately understood that Lu Zheng was trying to tame the white horse and told him that he could go to Quzhiting and get whatever he wanted, as long as he thought about it.

Lu Zheng thanked his teacher and ran to Quzhiting, thinking about a bag of beans. Sure enough, a burlap bag appeared in the pavilion. He opened it and found a bag of soybeans.

Quzhiting was truly magical. Lu Zheng still didn't know how it produced the food he usually ate, but he didn't have time to think about it. He had to focus on taming the horse. Lu Zheng carried the bag and ran to the training ground, shouting from a distance, "Hey, I brought you some beans!"

Lu Zheng didn't know that horses have a very sensitive sense of smell. As soon as he entered the training ground with the bag, the white horse had already smelled the beans. When he shouted, the horse ran over quickly. As soon as Lu Zheng opened the bag, the horse eagerly stuck its head in and started chewing, eating half the bag in one go.

Lu Zheng watched the horse eat happily and thought to himself, "Now I've found your weakness, hehe. I'll get my revenge for that fart later."

Seeing the horse eating happily, he waited patiently. When the horse finally lifted its head from the bag, Lu Zheng approached with a smile and touched its neck, saying, "How do you like the beans?"

He thought that since the horse had eaten the beans he offered, it must be closer to him. But as soon as he reached out, the horse neighed and reared up, charging at him. Lu Zheng quickly dodged and shouted, "Ungrateful animal! I gave you beans, and you attack me!"

The horse, being very intelligent, seemed to understand what Lu Zheng was saying. It went wild, kicking the remaining half bag of beans to the ground and scattering the bag far away. Then it turned and charged at Lu Zheng.

Seeing the horse charge at him, Lu Zheng was startled. He remembered a trick he had learned on the street: to escape from someone chasing you, you should run towards them, not away. This would catch them off guard.

The horse, being very intelligent, usually chased Lu Zheng around. Seeing him run towards it, it suspected he had some trick up his sleeve and turned to run away. Lu Zheng, seeing this, shouted and pretended to reach into his pocket for something. The horse, seeing this, fled far away.

Lu Zheng, seeing his plan work, quickly ran out of the training ground. By the time the horse realized, it was too late to catch him.

It seemed that even if you give a horse food, it doesn't necessarily think you're a good person! Sitting by the flower garden, Lu Zheng thought angrily. He had tried all sorts of methods but hadn't even touched a single hair on the horse.

"But, I didn't give the horse beans out of kindness, I did it to tame it. Maybe the horse sensed my ulterior motives." This thought made Lu Zheng blush. He had clearly given the horse the beans to tame it, yet he still felt good about himself for doing so. This was a clear case of hypocrisy.

He had even said he wanted to be friends with the horse! Lu Zheng remembered what Mr. Le had said: "All things are my friends." If he truly believed this, he wouldn't have treated the horse as an object to be tamed. No wonder the horse didn't want to interact with him. If he were the horse, and someone tried to tame him with a bag of beans, how would he feel?

He realized he should really try to be friends with the horse, not just use it. This would allow him to truly approach it. Thinking this, he felt hopeful but then realized he had no idea how to be friends with a horse. People can talk to each other and understand each other's intentions, but there was no way to communicate with a horse. Even a wrong gesture could make the horse think he wanted to harm it. He had been chased just for trying to touch the horse's neck! What could he do?

After much thought, Lu Zheng decided to treat the horse as a person. Since they had already gotten to know each other, he would try to become friends.

All friends start as strangers. What happens between strangers to become friends? How do people become friends? He immediately started to recall how he and Tang Xiaojiu had become friends.