Little Gray, the horse with a white body and gray mane, looked very petite and delicate next to Ji Gu.
The height of Little Gray's back was about the same as Xiao Qi's small stature, and its whole body was also a bit thinner.
Little Gray's tail had less hair and was not as thick and long as Ji Gu's tail.
However, Little Gray seemed to have a more irritable temperament. When Xiao Qi was giving Ji Gu a bath earlier, Little Gray kept pacing around in the stable and whinnying impatiently.
Clearly, it was very anxious.
After being let out by Old Man Yu, it kept jumping and rubbing itself against the wall happily, as if it had ADHD. As soon as it came over, it squeezed its head in front of Xiao Qi.
It desperately tried to squeeze next to Ji Gu.
The water Xiao Qi had prepared was all knocked over.
Fortunately, Xiao Qi could sense that Little Gray had no malice, it was just inexplicably excited for some reason.
She could only prepare another bucket of water and start scrubbing with a sponge again.
Only while scrubbing did she discover that Little Gray had been bitten by some insect on its left hindquarter near its butt, leaving a red swollen bump that was oozing pus. And because it was close to its butt, it was hidden by the long hair and impossible to notice unless you washed it.
Moreover, there was more than one spot. Its hind legs also had some, no wonder it kept rubbing against the wall.
The spots on the legs were just red and swollen, without pus, likely very itchy.
Xiao Qi first rinsed Little Gray with water, applied conditioner, rinsed it clean, then asked Old Man Yu what to do about this situation.
Old Man Yu was checking the stables on the other side, seeing if any other water buckets were leaking. As it turned out, he discovered a flying ant nest on one of the pillars in Little Gray's stable, with several large flying ants. They must have been what bit Little Gray.
"There is anti-inflammatory medicine in the cabinet over there, take some and apply it on Little Gray. I need to get rid of this nest and spray insecticide here. Also check the other stables for more. You take Little Gray and Ji Gu out for a walk first," Old Man Yu instructed.
Horses couldn't stay in the stable during insecticide spraying.
Old Man Yu felt that Xiao Qi was very reliable. He saw how she handled the horses and washed them very skillfully, so he felt at ease leaving the two horses to her.
In fact, Ji Gu was a thoroughbred racehorse, arguably the most valuable horse on the ranch. Old Man Yu didn't know the details, which was why he left it to Xiao Qi.
As for Little Gray, it was an adolescent colt. After Xiao Qi applied the ointment, it became extremely docile, likely because the ointment felt cooling.
After the bath, with its coat dried, Little Gray also looked very beautiful - a white body with gray mane, a very pure shade of gray without any discoloration, like a handsome young man.
Xiao Qi held two lead ropes, walking the horses slowly along the path.
Ji Gu held its head high arrogantly, while Little Gray would occasionally lower its head to nibble on roadside grass.
The closer they got to the lake, the stronger the wind, because the far end of the lake connected to a sea bay, blowing Xiao Qi's hair into a mess. Fortunately she had tied her hair in little buns for convenience at work, leaving her forehead exposed, so while her hair was messy, it didn't block her eyes.
She led the two horses to the lakeside. Ji Gu and Little Gray were both excited, clearly the horses didn't like bathing but seemed to enjoy water play very much.
In Xiao Qi's assessment of the horses' intellect, Ji Gu was probably at a 5-year-old's level, while Little Gray was around 3.
Having just bathed, Xiao Qi certainly could not let them into the water, as that would ruin their clean coats, plus the lake had mud.
Xiao Qi told Ji Gu not to go in the water, and could barely dissuade it. Little Gray on the other hand became wildly excited, trying to run into the water. Having just applied the ointment, getting wet would waste it. Xiao Qi held the lead rope, not letting it go in, and it was unhappy.
Xiao Qi raised her hand and slapped its head, pretending to be angry. Only then did Little Gray settle down and continue reluctantly following Xiao Qi.
Then, worried that Xiao Qi was angry, it pushed its head against Xiao Qi's back.
Poking around Xiao Qi's armpits, she felt ticklish and slapped Little Gray's head again, unable to hold back a laugh. Only then did Little Gray obediently behave.
Ji Gu stood arrogantly to the side, its eyes full of envy.
Xiao Qi waved her hand and Ji Gu slowly lowered its head. Xiao Qi gave it a hug and rubbed its head, and Ji Gu immediately grinned easily, even revealing its teeth...
At this moment, in the small building by the lakeside, the upper floor of the clubhouse had a floor-to-ceiling window with late afternoon sun slanting in.
Two men sat there.
One was the little boss of the ranch on the surface, Xiao Shengzhou, with a broad face and very steady demeanor.
The other was a bit older, Xiao Shengzhou's uncle Xiao Yu. In fact, this ranch was a gift to him from his uncle.
His uncle Xiao Yu bought this land, without plans for it. Xiao Shengzhou liked horse riding, so his uncle invested in building a ranch for him to play at with friends, while Xiao Shengzhou himself mainly just played here.
It wasn't run very formally, just a place for fun.
After playing here for a few years, cultivating the land, maybe it could have other uses in the future.
Xiao Yu and his nephew didn't look very alike. The nephew had a square, honest face, resembled his aunt more, while Xiao Yu looked more like his older brother, with smiling eyes and a casual air, not appearing much older than his nephew.
At this moment, the uncle and nephew both saw the scene by the lake.
A little girl wearing a yellow raincoat and boots was leading two horses.
Xiao Shengzhou looked over because of Ji Gu. Ji Gu was his favorite horse. Usually it was quite tame and didn't throw fits, but it was also very aloof, casually ignoring others. He himself had spent a long time building rapport with it before it warmed up to him a little. Today the weather was good, and he had planned to bathe Ji Gu himself.
Grooms cleaning the stables and bathing horses helped build rapport with them. He often did these things himself and got along well with Ji Gu compared to other grooms.
He didn't expect that the horse he had bonded with for so long would reveal such a fawning expression before this little girl, without any of its usual aloof handsomeness.
It was embarrassing to watch.
Then there was Little Gray. Xiao Shengzhou hadn't personally taken over Little Gray yet since it was still young and quite mischievous, stubborn too.
He remembered letting Old Man Yu handle bathing the horses today with student helpers.
When the two horses came over, their manes were fluffy and they looked relaxed and lazy, clearly just bathed.
And the girl leading them, in rain boots and raincoat, reminded Xiao Shengzhou of one of the two student helpers from yesterday, the shorter one.
Listening to Old Man Yu's introduction yesterday, he felt the little girl was pretty capable at the job.
He didn't expect to see this scene today.
Little Gray had clearly wanted to go in the water, yet the little girl directly pulled it back and even slapped its head, and Little Gray obediently quieted down without running or whinnying. It was like two well-behaved babies. When did the horses he bought become so obedient?
Watching the little girl lead the two horses over, even his Ji Gu was competing with Little Gray for her affection. It was too adorable a scene to watch directly.
Xiao Shengzhou's uncle Xiao Yu also watched the scene with amusement.
"Is that girl a member of the club? She seems quite good, looks like a promising groom."
For playing with horses and such, having an affinity with the animals was crucial. The little girl could handle two horses obediently by herself, very capable indeed.
Xiao Shengzhou also had an odd expression. Since when was his uncle interested in this type of little girl? The women around him were usually long-legged and glamorous, and always different ones.
"She's not a member, just a student working part-time to pay her way through school. She's a new freshman this year, very young, uncle please don't make trouble here." Xiao Shengzhou forgot the girl's name. Yesterday he had the two girls submit their student ID photos but didn't pay attention.
Xiao Yu was amused seeing his nephew's nervousness. As if he would be interested in a student like this? His gaze contained no malice, just a casual question.
Somehow the uncle and nephew had come to stand by the floor-to-ceiling window as they talked.
Xiao Qi led Little Gray and Ji Gu past below, walking to a grassy area ahead. Xiao Qi let go of the ropes and sat down on the grass. Old Man Yu said the stables needed disinfecting for at least two hours before they could return, so she sat down and the two horses obediently stood like guards, though ultimately they couldn't stay still.
Ji Gu ran around first, just nearby, back and forth.
The sound of Ji Gu running really sounded like beating a drum, dong dong dong, very heavy, as if it could beat into the heart.
While Little Gray's sound was tick-tack tick-tack, very crisp. When happy, he would run around in circles around Xiao Qi. Running around her in circles made Xiao Qi haha laugh out loud.
At this time, Xiao Qi was not reciting words or thinking about anything else. Her mind was completely blank, but her face was full of smiles. It seemed that when you are with animals, you can really relax.
Unconsciously, it seemed that she had reached a most pure state, comfortable and lazy, without worries.
She lied down on the grass, the sky was azure, clouds drifted by.
At some point, Ji Gu and Little Gray had also stopped, standing leisurely next to Xiao Qi, rubbing their faces against Xiao Qi's face from time to time, even spraying her face with hot air.
Xiao Qi felt that she was being catered to by two guys at the same time, one mature and steady, one lively and humorous. Especially Little Gray, rubbing her face was not enough, he actually went to rub her chest. Because the plastic raincoat was too thick, she only wore a small vest inside. Little Gray opened the zipper of her raincoat with his mouth. Xiao Qi amusingly patted Little Gray's head and sat up.
She zipped up her coat again, looked at her watch, it was about time, stood up and walked towards the stables.
The two horses obediently followed her without her calling.
The expressions of the uncle and nephew by the french windows were even more strange, because their position happened to overlook the lawn below, and of course they also saw the lustful behavior of the little horse...
Xiao Yu shook his head: "Really small..."
Xiao Shengzhou: ...
Little Gray, the horse with a white body and gray mane, looked very petite and delicate next to Ji Gu.
The height of Little Gray's back was about the same as Xiao Qi's small stature, and its whole body was also a bit thinner.
Little Gray's tail had less hair and was not as thick and long as Ji Gu's tail.
However, Little Gray seemed to have a more irritable temperament. When Xiao Qi was giving Ji Gu a bath earlier, Little Gray kept pacing around in the stable and whinnying impatiently.
Clearly, it was very anxious.
After being let out by Old Man Yu, it kept jumping and rubbing itself against the wall happily, as if it had ADHD. As soon as it came over, it squeezed its head in front of Xiao Qi.
It desperately tried to squeeze next to Ji Gu.
The water Xiao Qi had prepared was all knocked over.
Fortunately, Xiao Qi could sense that Little Gray had no malice, it was just inexplicably excited for some reason.
She could only prepare another bucket of water and start scrubbing with a sponge again.
Only while scrubbing did she discover that Little Gray had been bitten by some insect on its left hindquarter near its butt, leaving a red swollen bump that was oozing pus. And because it was close to its butt, it was hidden by the long hair and impossible to notice unless you washed it.
Moreover, there was more than one spot. Its hind legs also had some, no wonder it kept rubbing against the wall.
The spots on the legs were just red and swollen, without pus, likely very itchy.
Xiao Qi first rinsed Little Gray with water, applied conditioner, rinsed it clean, then asked Old Man Yu what to do about this situation.
Old Man Yu was checking the stables on the other side, seeing if any other water buckets were leaking. As it turned out, he discovered a flying ant nest on one of the pillars in Little Gray's stable, with several large flying ants. They must have been what bit Little Gray.
"There is anti-inflammatory medicine in the cabinet over there, take some and apply it on Little Gray. I need to get rid of this nest and spray insecticide here. Also check the other stables for more. You take Little Gray and Ji Gu out for a walk first," Old Man Yu instructed.
Horses couldn't stay in the stable during insecticide spraying.
Old Man Yu felt that Xiao Qi was very reliable. He saw how she handled the horses and washed them very skillfully, so he felt at ease leaving the two horses to her.
In fact, Ji Gu was a thoroughbred racehorse, arguably the most valuable horse on the ranch. Old Man Yu didn't know the details, which was why he left it to Xiao Qi.
As for Little Gray, it was an adolescent colt. After Xiao Qi applied the ointment, it became extremely docile, likely because the ointment felt cooling.
After the bath, with its coat dried, Little Gray also looked very beautiful - a white body with gray mane, a very pure shade of gray without any discoloration, like a handsome young man.
Xiao Qi held two lead ropes, walking the horses slowly along the path.
Ji Gu held its head high arrogantly, while Little Gray would occasionally lower its head to nibble on roadside grass.
The closer they got to the lake, the stronger the wind, because the far end of the lake connected to a sea bay, blowing Xiao Qi's hair into a mess. Fortunately she had tied her hair in little buns for convenience at work, leaving her forehead exposed, so while her hair was messy, it didn't block her eyes.
She led the two horses to the lakeside. Ji Gu and Little Gray were both excited, clearly the horses didn't like bathing but seemed to enjoy water play very much.
In Xiao Qi's assessment of the horses' intellect, Ji Gu was probably at a 5-year-old's level, while Little Gray was around 3.
Having just bathed, Xiao Qi certainly could not let them into the water, as that would ruin their clean coats, plus the lake had mud.
Xiao Qi told Ji Gu not to go in the water, and could barely dissuade it. Little Gray on the other hand became wildly excited, trying to run into the water. Having just applied the ointment, getting wet would waste it. Xiao Qi held the lead rope, not letting it go in, and it was unhappy.
Xiao Qi raised her hand and slapped its head, pretending to be angry. Only then did Little Gray settle down and continue reluctantly following Xiao Qi.
Then, worried that Xiao Qi was angry, it pushed its head against Xiao Qi's back.
Poking around Xiao Qi's armpits, she felt ticklish and slapped Little Gray's head again, unable to hold back a laugh. Only then did Little Gray obediently behave.
Ji Gu stood arrogantly to the side, its eyes full of envy.
Xiao Qi waved her hand and Ji Gu slowly lowered its head. Xiao Qi gave it a hug and rubbed its head, and Ji Gu immediately grinned easily, even revealing its teeth...
At this moment, in the small building by the lakeside, the upper floor of the clubhouse had a floor-to-ceiling window with late afternoon sun slanting in.
Two men sat there.
One was the little boss of the ranch on the surface, Xiao Shengzhou, with a broad face and very steady demeanor.
The other was a bit older, Xiao Shengzhou's uncle Xiao Yu. In fact, this ranch was a gift to him from his uncle.
His uncle Xiao Yu bought this land, without plans for it. Xiao Shengzhou liked horse riding, so his uncle invested in building a ranch for him to play at with friends, while Xiao Shengzhou himself mainly just played here.
It wasn't run very formally, just a place for fun.
After playing here for a few years, cultivating the land, maybe it could have other uses in the future.
Xiao Yu and his nephew didn't look very alike. The nephew had a square, honest face, resembled his aunt more, while Xiao Yu looked more like his older brother, with smiling eyes and a casual air, not appearing much older than his nephew.
At this moment, the uncle and nephew both saw the scene by the lake.
A little girl wearing a yellow raincoat and boots was leading two horses.
Xiao Shengzhou looked over because of Ji Gu. Ji Gu was his favorite horse. Usually it was quite tame and didn't throw fits, but it was also very aloof, casually ignoring others. He himself had spent a long time building rapport with it before it warmed up to him a little. Today the weather was good, and he had planned to bathe Ji Gu himself.
Grooms cleaning the stables and bathing horses helped build rapport with them. He often did these things himself and got along well with Ji Gu compared to other grooms.
He didn't expect that the horse he had bonded with for so long would reveal such a fawning expression before this little girl, without any of its usual aloof handsomeness.
It was embarrassing to watch.
Then there was Little Gray. Xiao Shengzhou hadn't personally taken over Little Gray yet since it was still young and quite mischievous, stubborn too.
He remembered letting Old Man Yu handle bathing the horses today with student helpers.
When the two horses came over, their manes were fluffy and they looked relaxed and lazy, clearly just bathed.
And the girl leading them, in rain boots and raincoat, reminded Xiao Shengzhou of one of the two student helpers from yesterday, the shorter one.
Listening to Old Man Yu's introduction yesterday, he felt the little girl was pretty capable at the job.
He didn't expect to see this scene today.
Little Gray had clearly wanted to go in the water, yet the little girl directly pulled it back and even slapped its head, and Little Gray obediently quieted down without running or whinnying. It was like two well-behaved babies. When did the horses he bought become so obedient?
Watching the little girl lead the two horses over, even his Ji Gu was competing with Little Gray for her affection. It was too adorable a scene to watch directly.
Xiao Shengzhou's uncle Xiao Yu also watched the scene with amusement.
"Is that girl a member of the club? She seems quite good, looks like a promising groom."
For playing with horses and such, having an affinity with the animals was crucial. The little girl could handle two horses obediently by herself, very capable indeed.
Xiao Shengzhou also had an odd expression. Since when was his uncle interested in this type of little girl? The women around him were usually long-legged and glamorous, and always different ones.
"She's not a member, just a student working part-time to pay her way through school. She's a new freshman this year, very young, uncle please don't make trouble here." Xiao Shengzhou forgot the girl's name. Yesterday he had the two girls submit their student ID photos but didn't pay attention.
Xiao Yu was amused seeing his nephew's nervousness. As if he would be interested in a student like this? His gaze contained no malice, just a casual question.
Somehow the uncle and nephew had come to stand by the floor-to-ceiling window as they talked.
Xiao Qi led Little Gray and Ji Gu past below, walking to a grassy area ahead. Xiao Qi let go of the ropes and sat down on the grass. Old Man Yu said the stables needed disinfecting for at least two hours before they could return, so she sat down and the two horses obediently stood like guards, though ultimately they couldn't stay still.
Ji Gu ran around first, just nearby, back and forth.
The sound of Ji Gu running really sounded like beating a drum, dong dong dong, very heavy, as if it could beat into the heart.
While Little Gray's sound was tick-tack tick-tack, very crisp. When happy, he would run around in circles around Xiao Qi. Running around her in circles made Xiao Qi haha laugh out loud.
At this time, Xiao Qi was not reciting words or thinking about anything else. Her mind was completely blank, but her face was full of smiles. It seemed that when you are with animals, you can really relax.
Unconsciously, it seemed that she had reached a most pure state, comfortable and lazy, without worries.
She lied down on the grass, the sky was azure, clouds drifted by.
At some point, Ji Gu and Little Gray had also stopped, standing leisurely next to Xiao Qi, rubbing their faces against Xiao Qi's face from time to time, even spraying her face with hot air.
Xiao Qi felt that she was being catered to by two guys at the same time, one mature and steady, one lively and humorous. Especially Little Gray, rubbing her face was not enough, he actually went to rub her chest. Because the plastic raincoat was too thick, she only wore a small vest inside. Little Gray opened the zipper of her raincoat with his mouth. Xiao Qi amusingly patted Little Gray's head and sat up.
She zipped up her coat again, looked at her watch, it was about time, stood up and walked towards the stables.
The two horses obediently followed her without her calling.
The expressions of the uncle and nephew by the french windows were even more strange, because their position happened to overlook the lawn below, and of course they also saw the lustful behavior of the little horse...
Xiao Yu shook his head: "Really small..."
Xiao Shengzhou: ...
