The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 23 Somersault

"Just buy a few, even the males are fine. We can just stew them during the New Year," Yang Ming said, leaning closer.

So, Sun Fangfang and Aunt Liu scattered the chicks they had chosen on the ground, looking at their footprints. They kept the ones with messy footprints and put the ones with straight footprints back. In no time, they had picked out 7 or 8 chicks. Zheng Bao'er also joined in, but the little girl was a bit too rough. The chicks she grabbed squeaked and made the stall owner's face twitch. In the end, Wei Qingqing pulled her along to play with the dog.

After picking out the chicks, the women went to pick out ducklings and goslings. Yang Ming, feeling bored, chatted with the pigeon vendor.

"Sir, how much are these pigeons a pair?"

"I don't sell them by the pair, I sell them by the pound. They're 8 yuan a pound. Are you selling pigeons or buying pigeons?" the vendor asked.

"What breeds are your pigeons?"

"These are all meat pigeons, there are many varieties, including red-ball, gray-ball, white-ball, and ground king. Which one do you want?" The vendor saw that Yang Ming didn't seem to know anything about pigeons, so he started to try to sell him.

"Don't think I don't know pigeons, but I'm sure you don't have any of those four breeds you mentioned."

"Hehe, you're really something, buddy..." The vendor chuckled awkwardly. "Anyway, they're all meat-eaters, you can't tell the breed after they're plucked, right? Take this big spotted one, for example." The vendor pulled an enormous pigeon from the cage. Its feathers were all sorts of colors—red, white, gray, yellow, black—some feathers even had several colors on a single feather. "This is a hybrid breed, it weighs about four pounds, heavier than a ground king pigeon..."

"It is indeed quite large." After taking it, Yang Ming weighed it in his hand and found it to be quite heavy.

"These are still fresh from the nest. When they're still small and pointed, they're quite heavy!" the vendor said.

"How do you tell the male from the female?" Yang Ming asked.

"It's simple," the vendor said. "One way is to look at its head. A flat, large head means it's male, and a round, small head means it's female. Another way is to look at its anus. A male's anus protrudes outward, while a female's anus is concave inward."

"The males will purr, the females won't," said an old man carrying a cage. The cage was covered with a black cloth, so you couldn't see what was inside.

"See this old man? He's got some really good pigeons in his hand," the vendor said, pointing to the old man who had interrupted.

The vendor asked the old man, "Uncle Niu, what good pigeons have you brought today?"

"Somersault!" the old man replied succinctly.

"Wow! Wow, I've only ever heard of this before! Show us!" The vendor's eyes lit up. Yang Ming also looked over curiously.

"Okay!" The old man readily agreed, placing the cage on the ground and lifting the black cloth.

In the cage, there was a pair of blood-red pigeons. These pigeons were extremely small; if weighed, they would probably weigh less than five ounces. However, they were strangely shaped. On their heads, there was a chrysanthemum-shaped feather, with all the feathers spread out in all directions, like the whorl on the top of a person's head. This was called a chrysanthemum crown. On the back of their necks and foreheads, there were reverse feathers, called front and back feathers. Together with the chrysanthemum crown, it looked like the flat crown worn by an emperor. There was a tuft of small feathers covering their eyes, called eye covers.

Feathers also grow on its legs, covering its red legs. It has a double tail that, when spread out, resembles a peacock's tail feathers, but it points downwards.

"You came up with a good idea last time and sold it for a hundred dollars. How much are you planning to sell it for this time?" the vendor asked.

"If you can do two somersaults in a row, you'll be fine at eighty," the old man said.

"Eighty? Eighty is a bit expensive, Uncle Niu, sell it to me for fifty..." the vendor said.

"Eighty, no bargaining..." the old man said, shaking his head.

"Grandpa, can your pigeons really do somersaults?" Yang Ming asked, finding the pair of pigeons quite unusual.

"Would I lie to you?" the old man said, displeased. However, knowing the young man was unfamiliar with the subject, he picked up the cage and explained, "See these pigeons' tails? They have double tails. Pigeons with double tails are usually clumsy when flying, but it's precisely because they're clumsy that they can do somersaults. It's like driving a car; if you drive too fast, it's hard to do any difficult maneuvers. Have you ever seen anyone who drives fancy cars dare to go over 100 miles per hour?"

"There are quite a few pigeons with big tails, aren't there? Why don't the other pigeons flip over?" Yang Ming asked again.

"..." The old man was a bit stumped, so he simply opened the cage. "Let them fly around for a bit, just to broaden your horizons, then you'll believe me..."

As if a signal had been given in advance, the pair of pigeons took flight as soon as the old man opened the cage, and in the blink of an eye, they were soaring into the sky.

"Uncle Niu, I hope your pigeons won't get lost. I've heard that pigeons get dizzy after a somersault, so don't let them get lost..." the vendor said with some concern.

Grandpa Niu rolled his eyes at him and said confidently, "Go ahead and say it. My pigeon will fly around in the sky a couple of times and then go back to its cage on its own."

Yang Ming kept his eyes on the two pigeons in the sky. The two pigeons, having just been freed, went wild, circling the market in the sky. Suddenly, one pigeon seemed to be drunk, or as if it had been hit by a hunting rifle. It spread its tail and flipped forward twice. After the two flips, it spread its tail again and nimbly stabilized its body. The other pigeon followed suit and flipped twice as well.

Yang Ming realized that the large tail really did play a crucial role; the pigeon used it to control its direction while somersaulting.

The pigeons flew around the market twice, flipping seven or eight times, before landing lightly on the old man's arm. Perhaps tired from flying, the two pigeons were panting heavily with their mouths open, their crops trembling. The old man put his arm near the cage opening, and the two pigeons crawled inside, burying their heads in the water trough to drink.

"How about it? My pigeons are so brightly colored, you can see them very clearly. If they were white, you wouldn't be able to see them at all..." The old man looked at Yang Ming with a smug expression.

"They've only flown two laps, and look how tired they are. They must be old pigeons." Wei Qingqing appeared behind Yang Ming at some point; she had also been attracted by the pigeons' somersaults.

The old man, annoyed, puffed out his beard and glared: "You little girl, you really don't know how to talk! Let me teach you to recognize them... See their noses? The white frost on their noses is thinner, making them look quite tender, so those are young pigeons. If they are old pigeons, the white frost on their noses is thicker. Some old pigeons have had their white frost rubbed off because they raised young pigeons. But you can look at their beaks. Those that have raised young pigeons have calluses on their beaks. Do you see any on my pair?" To prove his point, the old man even grabbed an old pigeon from the vendor's pigeon cage for comparison.

"It really is different..." Wei Qingqing said.

"Of course, in Majia Gou's pigeon market, who doesn't know that I, Old Niu, never lie?" the old man said.

"How much are these pigeons?" Wei Qingqing asked.

"Eighty!" The old man stretched out his right hand, spread his thumb and forefinger, and gestured the number eight.

"Okay! I'll take these pigeons..." Wei Qingqing took out her wallet and pulled out a 100-yuan note. She could tell that Yang Ming really liked these pigeons, so she bought them.

"Alright, you're a straightforward girl. I'll save some good pigeons for you next time." After confirming the authenticity of the banknotes, the old man smiled broadly, took out his wallet from his pocket, counted out two ten-yuan notes and gave them change, then pulled out a net bag from his waist, grabbed the two pigeons, and stuffed them into the bag along their feathers.

"Okay! This is my business card. If you have any good pigeons, just call me..." Wei Qingqing took out a business card from her pocket and handed it to the old man.

"Young lady even has a business card? Looks like you're no ordinary person." The old man took the business card, picked up the empty cage, and walked away happily.

"When did you print these business cards?" Yang Ming asked.

"That was printed when I was working at the sales center. It only had my phone number and workplace on it, but the phone number was my mobile number," Wei Qingqing said.

"Shall we buy another pair of pigeons? As the saying goes, pigeons and quails fly in the sky, while rabbits and dog meat run on the ground. If we raise a pair of pigeons, we can stew a pot of meat pigeons during the New Year. That will definitely be delicious!" Yang Ming said. Actually, he had his eye on the hybrid breed. Its head was just too big.

Wei Qingqing laughed and said, "You're the head of the household, so you should make the decisions! If you ask me, let's buy two more pigs. The character for 'house' (家) has a roof radical on top and a pig radical on the bottom, which means that a household needs to raise pigs, right?"

"You're the boss in our family, whatever you say goes. I'm going to the livestock market now to buy a couple of piglets," Yang Ming said, turning and walking towards the livestock market.

Yang Ming knew how to pick piglets. As the saying goes, pick the big ones when choosing piglets, so they can grow strong and fat. But it's different when choosing puppies. Pick the sluggish ones, which are obviously malnourished. They'll definitely grow into good dogs.

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