As soon as Cui Qian finished speaking, Lu Linjiang didn't stand on ceremony and walked straight into the office. There were eight desks inside but only two computers. Lu Linjiang walked over and saw that one of them was still displaying a game of Spider Solitaire.
Cui Qian walked over sheepishly. "Nothing much to do at work, so I was sneaking in a quick game."
Lu Linjiang teased, "You don't see many computers with that game on them these days."
Cui Qian laughed as he closed the window. "That’s true. Our computers aren't connected to the internet, and the system is quite old. We just use them to record daily income and expenses; we don't need anything high-tech."
"Can I take a look?" Lu Linjiang asked.
Cui Qian froze for a moment, clearly not expecting Lu Linjiang to make such a request. Fortunately, he reacted quickly. "Sure, go ahead. The ledgers and such are all in that folder."
Lu Linjiang sat down without hesitation. Aside from a few single-player games, there was only one folder on the desktop. He clicked it open without a second thought. Inside were just a few spreadsheets; judging by the names, they were monthly income and expenditure records.
Lu Linjiang clicked one open at random and saw that the profits were actually quite good. "I heard the ranch used to be run by the production brigade?" He saw Cui Qian nod. "So, is it public or private now?"
"It's a joint-stock system. Everyone invested a bit of money here. At the end of the year, we issue a report, announce the annual profit status, and then distribute dividends according to shareholdings."
"Oh, quite professional," Lu Linjiang remarked. He slid the mouse and closed the folder.
Cui Qian smiled. "Everyone trusted me to manage it, so I have to keep things formal." He was about to ask Lu Linjiang where he wanted to go next, but Lu Linjiang, who had looked ready to stand up, moved his hand back to the mouse and clicked on 'My Computer.' Cui Qian’s expression shifted slightly, but he ultimately said nothing.
Lu Linjiang flipped through the various drives one by one, finding only past years' accounts and a few movies. This computer was cleaner than a fresh shave.
"I really haven't seen a computer kept this clean in a long time," Lu Linjiang remarked with half-genuine sentiment. "Let's go check out the stables."
Cui Qian smiled and stepped back to make room for Lu Linjiang. "It's a work computer. It wouldn't look good if others saw a bunch of random junk on it."
Although Lu Linjiang said he was leaving, his backside didn't move an inch. He moved the mouse to check the hard drive capacity. "These movies are Blu-ray, aren't they? They're quite large."
Cui Qian gave a dry chuckle. "Yeah, I specifically asked someone to copy them for us. Some people work the night shift, and when they aren't sleeping, they watch these to pass the time."
Lu Linjiang finally stood up. "That’s nice. Let's go; we'll head to the stables." As he left, he shot a look at Yang Bo. Yang Bo, who had already taken a step forward, paused and naturally lagged behind the group.
Cui Qian led the way, occasionally looking back to see if everyone was following. Lu Linjiang inconspicuously blocked his line of sight. Unexpectedly, Cui Qian suddenly turned around just as Yang Bo was about to open the office door. Just when Lu Linjiang thought they would be caught, Jiang Cheng, who had been silent all along, slowly drifted over, perfectly obstructing Cui Qian’s view.
Cui Qian seemed to sense something was wrong, but before he could look closer, Jiang Cheng pointed toward a corner ahead and asked, "There are some kids being chased by geese over there. Is that really okay?"
A few bratty kids must have done something, as the ranch's only two white geese were flapping their wings and fiercely chasing them. The children's parents were nowhere to be seen; only the kids' wailing and screaming could be heard.
Cui Qian cursed under his breath and rushed over. Taking advantage of the moment, Yang Bo closed the office door. Zhao Zhijie also rushed forward with Cui Qian, narrowly rescuing the children from the geese's attack. The missing parents finally followed the screams and arrived on the scene.
Lu Linjiang took advantage of the commotion to slip into the stables for a look. The stables weren't large, and since the horses had been taken out, the space felt somewhat empty. The manure hadn't been cleared yet, and a peculiar smell permeated the air.
Lu Linjiang walked around. As a first-time visitor, he couldn't see anything wrong with the double-row stable. Jiang Cheng followed behind at a slow pace. Aside from his timely distraction of Cui Qian, he hadn't made a sound the whole way.
Lu Linjiang was about to tell him to head out first when he realized Jiang Cheng was still holding the rabbit.
"Why did you bring it along?"
Jiang Cheng glanced at the rabbit in his hands. "Zhao Zhijie can't keep it, and when I tried to return it, that lady absolutely refused to take it back. If the ranch doesn't want it, we'll just have to eat it."
Lu Linjiang felt a spark of curiosity and was about to ask how he planned to cook it when a sweating Cui Qian walked in. Seeing the two of them standing by the door, he let out a sigh of relief and said apologetically to Lu Linjiang, "If you take your eyes off things for one second, trouble starts."
"It's fine," Lu Linjiang said. "Being busy means business is good."
Cui Qian nodded repeatedly. He peered inside and pointed outward. "Have you finished looking around? How about we check over there?"
The words were on the tip of Lu Linjiang's tongue, but he swallowed them and changed his tune. "Not yet. Why don't you show us around?"
Cui Qian’s eyes involuntarily flicked toward the back of the stable. "There's nothing much to see here. We haven't had time to clean it this morning."
Lu Linjiang didn't miss Cui Qian’s subtle movement. He followed the man's gaze, but there was nothing there but a wall at the end of the corridor. He had just walked past it and hadn't seen anything wrong.
"It's fine," Lu Linjiang said politely, stepping around him. "I want to get the full experience. You don't see this in the big city; it's quite novel."
Seeing that he couldn't stop Lu Linjiang, Cui Qian had no choice but to lead the way. The stable was tiny—a straight shot in and out. Even a slow stroll wouldn't take five minutes. Lu Linjiang followed Cui Qian as if looking at something new, but when they reached the end of the corridor, his feet suddenly seemed bolted to the floor.
Seeing that he hadn't followed, Cui Qian turned back and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lu Linjiang tapped the wall. "Just looking." He watched the other man's expression. "Is this wood solid timber?"
Cui Qian froze for a moment, then shook his head. "This is old wood from years ago. We were poor back then, and it was hard enough just to get the ranch started. The wooden planks were donated by various households; we used whatever we had and couldn't worry about whether it was solid timber or not. But since they haven't rotted after all this time, I guess they probably are."
Lu Linjiang gave the wood a gentle tug with his hand. "Not bad." Cui Qian’s expression remained normal. Lu Linjiang wondered if he had misjudged the situation as Cui Qian started walking out.
"If you're done looking, let's head out. The smell in here is really something..." Cui Qian gave a forced laugh. "To be honest, I don't like coming in here myself."
Lu Linjiang instinctively felt something was wrong in the stable, but Cui Qian kept interrupting. Having never seen a stable before, he couldn't immediately pinpoint the issue. Sensing Lu Linjiang's hesitation, Cui Qian said nonchalantly, "This stable used to be just a shed, open to the wind on all sides. We only converted it into a proper stable after making some money these past two years. These walls were only put up last year."
"The place is small, and since the planks were donated by the villagers, we thought it wouldn't be right to just throw them away, so..."
As he was busy explaining and tapping on things, the rabbit that had been resting quietly in Jiang Cheng’s arms suddenly began to struggle violently. Jiang Cheng seemed completely caught off guard; his grip loosened, and the rabbit took the opportunity to leap into the air, bolting like an arrow toward freedom. Once it hit the ground, it kicked off with its hind legs and reached the end of the corridor in just a few bounds.
Cui Qian’s face changed instantly. Lu Linjiang immediately gave chase, calling out to Cui Qian, "Sorry, sorry! I'll catch it!"
Cui Qian hurriedly tried to stop him. "No need, I'll do it!"
Relying on his long legs, Lu Linjiang ran ahead. The two of them were practically racing to catch the rabbit. Cui Qian was very aggressive about trying to drive the rabbit outward, while Lu Linjiang intentionally or unintentionally blocked its path. The rabbit scurried back and forth between them before finally diving into a pile of hay inside a stall.
Cui Qian’s face turned completely pale. His eyes darted between the hay pile and Lu Linjiang. "Um, Captain Lu, it's dirty here. How about we wait until they clean this place up before we catch it?"
Before Lu Linjiang could think of an excuse, Jiang Cheng spoke up. "I use this rabbit for experiments. If it stays here too long and gets contaminated by horse manure, it might affect the results." He walked forward a few steps and picked up a pitchfork leaning against the corridor wall. "Just toss the hay aside."
Cui Qian rushed forward to take the pitchfork, but Jiang Cheng threw it directly to Lu Linjiang. "Better let Captain Lu do it. I'd feel bad troubling you."
By now, sweat was beading on Cui Qian’s forehead. He kept saying, "Let me do it," while trying to grab the pitchfork, but he was blocked by the combined efforts of Jiang Cheng and Zhao Zhijie. Lu Linjiang unceremoniously tossed the hay aside in a few strokes. As the rabbit scurried out, a patch of horse manure was revealed on the floor.
Lu Linjiang observed it for a moment, then used the pitchfork to scrape the ground horizontally. On the third stroke, the pitchfork hit something with a metallic *clang*. Lu Linjiang used the fork to clear away the surrounding manure, revealing a metal ring set into the floor.
