Chapter 717
There is strength in numbers
Xu Bo'an's considerations were reasonable.
As his skills have grown, he has become more and more concerned about his personal safety.
For him now, whether it's a car or a train, if an emergency occurs, he can generally handle it safely and there is basically no danger to his life.
But if the plane really crashes, he has no way to save himself!
After all, airplanes are known as the mode of transportation with the lowest accident rate, but they have the highest mortality rate.
Therefore, Xu Bo'an thought it best to avoid using airplanes as a mode of transportation as much as possible.
Zhang Kai chuckled and said, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Mr. Xu. I haven't thought about this matter yet. This horse exhibition is being held in a small city in Weizhou Province called Herui City."
There's no airport there; if you want to fly, you have to take off and land at an airport in a neighboring city, which is over 100 kilometers away. The high-speed rail station is also quite far, and most importantly, both the high-speed rail and the plane only run at night, so although the journey is short, it might be a bit tiring for us.
It takes about seven or eight hours by car, but it's not tiring if there are two drivers.
I was on the phone with staff from the trade fair when you called, so I couldn't answer your call immediately. The people at the trade fair said they can arrange pick-up and drop-off services from nearby high-speed rail stations and airports if needed.
Upon hearing Zhang Kai's words, Xu Bo'an already had an idea in mind.
He did know something about Herui City. He had seen the name Herui City in the information that Malu was developing the market from Weizhou. Because he didn't know the character "汭", he had searched for the place online.
Herui is a fifth-tier city. The word "rui" in the city's name means a place where rivers converge or bend. It is called Herui because it is a place where a famous river in the Central Plains makes a bend and where it meets two other tributaries, hence the name.
This place lacks a pillar industry and is essentially an agricultural region. However, it is located at the intersection of four provinces.
In ancient times, during the prosperous period of the Khitan tribe, they chose this place as a trading hub with the Central Plains. Countless horses, cattle, and sheep were traded into the Central Plains from here, while countless fabrics, sugar, and tea flowed out of the pass. It is said that the horse market here has existed for over a thousand years.
However, with the increasing development of society, the trade attributes of this place have gradually faded. The channels for selling cattle, sheep and horses, as well as trading cloth, sugar and tea, have become increasingly tight. Only the horse market is still relatively prosperous.
When Zhang Kai heard that Xu Bo'an hadn't given an answer about how he planned to travel, he continued, "Originally, if I were traveling alone, I was thinking of either a plane or a high-speed train, traveling light. But since Mr. Xu is willing to come along, I think it would be more convenient and freer for us to drive."
Seeing that Zhang Kai shared the same idea, Xu Bo'an immediately agreed, saying, "Okay, I also think driving is a good idea. As for the car, my big pickup truck is just right! I heard that there are many mountain roads in Weizhou, and my truck is good for off-roading."
Zhang Kai quickly interjected, "It's not that bad, Mr. Xu. I've already checked; there's a direct highway from here to that place. My GL8 was picked up last year; although it's not a new model, it's been well-maintained and is quite comfortable."
If you don't mind, I can call two more drivers so we can leave earlier. They can take turns driving, so it won't be too much trouble. If we leave in the morning, we should arrive before sunset. Driving a pickup truck with too many people is too cramped and uncomfortable, and driving for such a long time with fewer people is too tiring.”
Hearing Zhang Kai's suggestion, Xu Bo'an thought it made a lot of sense and immediately said, "Alright, then I'll trouble you, Mr. Zhang. The GL8 is quite comfortable, I have no problem with it."
Zhang Kai added, "You're too kind! By the way, Mr. Xu, since you're also willing to go, I wonder if you'd be interested in participating in the special program at the trade fair, the Golden Horse Grand Prix!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Bo'an asked with great curiosity, "Huh? What did you say? The Golden Horse Awards?"
Xu Bo'an was a little confused. The Golden Horse Awards were entertainment awards named after the Flying Apsaras Awards, so how did they actually have anything to do with horses?
Zhang Kai hurriedly explained, "Mr. Xu, please don't misunderstand. I didn't explain clearly. The Golden Horse Grand Prix I'm talking about isn't the Golden Horse Award that the entertainment industry focuses on. It's a purely industry award for selecting the best horses, with the top three receiving hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan in prize money."
While the amount of money involved isn't huge, the competition is essentially designed to promote stallion trading and facilitate high-end markets such as auctions of valuable horses. I've heard there's a similar competition in Australia that generates over 5 million Australian dollars in annual revenue.
Although the event in Herui City isn't that large, it's still considered a very influential competition or gathering within the horse trading circle in the country.
Xu Bo'an originally did not plan to participate in this competition. Although he thought his Akhal-Teke horse was quite excellent, Xu Bo'an was not short of money and preferred to keep a low profile, so he did not want to be too ostentatious.
However, considering that he would most likely need to supply warhorses to Yan Shouyi and his group next, being involved in this circle would pave the way for future horse transactions. Keeping a low profile wasn't a problem; he could simply have Zhang Kai represent him in the competition.
So Xu Bo'an replied, "Alright, my horse is not bad, it can go out and see the world and see how it compares to other horses of the same kind. It's just that I don't like to show off. If possible, could you please take my horse to the competition, Mr. Zhang? It would be good to see what level it is."
This is not a difficult task for Zhang Kai, especially since it is an opportunity for him, as a businessman, to make a name for himself in the industry.
So Zhang, all smiles and eager to take charge, said, "That's easy, I'll arrange it. I'm also planning to bring a horse with me this time, it's all about participation, right? Mr. Xu, where do you think we should meet? Tonight or tomorrow morning would be more suitable? I'll arrange for a carriage to transport your Akhal-Teke horse first. If we're any later, we might not make it in time."
Xu Bo'an thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll trouble you. As for the location, let's meet at the back mountain of your hometown. As for the time, let's set it for tomorrow morning."
Zhang Kai replied, "Okay, Mr. Xu, I'll make the preparations. See you tomorrow!"
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two hung up the phone. Xu Bo'an was thinking that he would be leaving tomorrow, so he needed to settle Chen Shishi's affairs as soon as possible.
After thinking for a while, Xu Bo'an couldn't come up with a suitable solution that would make him feel more secure.
So Xu Bo'an simply took out his phone, opened the Kuaiyin app, and posted a text-based message with pictures, posing this somewhat frustrating question.
"Family members, please help me think of a solution. My friend is writing a novel, and the idea is that he gets into a miniature world where the people treat him like a god. He can take him out, and he can also grow to the same size as people in the real world."
Now, a beautiful young woman has to leave the world of Lilliput and enter the real world. For her safety, she will most likely have to live with the protagonist of the novel. However, since she is undocumented, it's still somewhat unsafe for her in the real world.
Furthermore, living together for too long might affect her reverence for the protagonist, whom she considers a 'god.' How can she maintain her reverence for the protagonist while ensuring she remains undiscovered by people in the real world?
Twenty lucky commenters will be randomly selected from those who comment below to receive a 100 RMB red envelope. If the comment method is adopted, the friend will send a 1000 RMB red envelope as a token of gratitude. We hope everyone will participate enthusiastically.
Xu Bo'an's thoughts are very realistic. If he only throws out one bait, he's afraid that netizens won't be very involved.
However, directly offering twenty prizes would certainly attract more attention and participation, thus increasing the likelihood of selecting high-quality answers.
Sometimes, however, imagination is beautiful, but reality is cruel.
Xu Bo'an waited for more than ten minutes, but there were no reliable comments.
The only comments were irrelevant and pointless remarks from long-time fans, drawn by the sheer number of followers they had accumulated. "Finally updated! But what did you update? Did your account get hacked?!"
"Blogger, that's enough. What are you doing? Do you even want to keep up your account? Hurry up and keep posting videos of that beautiful woman playing the piano or dancing."
"Agreed, I can't sleep at night, please update quickly."
"Exactly, what kind of friends are you fantasizing about? Where did you get these friends? Whose urine is yellow? Who will wake him up by splashing it on him?"
"That's right, we're losing traffic this way! If we don't seize the opportunity now, it'll be too late."
"Hehe, you're your friend, right? You're such a goofball, blogger. You already have so many followers on short videos, why are you still working on novels? Just keep working on the classical beauty short video track."
Uh……
Xu Bo'an read some of the comments and was speechless.
It's not that such comments are completely useless, but rather that they are utterly irrelevant!
Okay, this method doesn't seem to be working.
Xu Bo'an was thinking of shutting down the Kuaiyin app and looking for other solutions, so he wanted to see if he could come up with any good ideas.
Suddenly, a newly popped-up comment caught Xu Bo'an's eye.
"Hey blogger, I've given you a 1000 yuan subscription to Kuaiyin with faster data. No need to thank me. Of course, there's no need to thank me, because I didn't actually subscribe!"
Although Xu Bo'an burst out laughing at the fan's comment, it also served as a perfect reminder.
Yeah, why didn't I think of that? I should have topped up my Kuaiyin data plan!
Without hesitation, Xu Bo'an immediately opened the recharge page and quickly recharged 5,000 yuan for the "Quick Audio Data Acceleration Package+".
In the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, Xu Bo'an saw a bunch of red dots on the page, reminding him that there were new comments.
Haha, sure enough, money makes the world go round! That solves everything!
While he was in the bathroom again, Xu Bo'an was surprised to see that the number of views on his short video with pictures and text had increased rapidly, and the number of comments had also gradually increased.
"OP, you're such an idiot! You could have locked her up and kept her as a mistress, or taught her about the traditional virtues of obedience and chastity. This is not appropriate!"
"What a load of rubbish! It's completely unreliable. If you ask me, the best you two can live a simple life, picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence and living a leisurely life in the southern mountains. It would be just fine if you two stayed together, the man farming and the woman weaving."
"If you ask me, if you have that kind of ability, why bother looking for women? Just find ten thousand men to be your slaves and do hard labor. Even if each of them pays you ten dollars a day, ten thousand men would be a hundred thousand dollars. How awesome would that be?"
"Pah! The person upstairs must be a monkey. If you had that kind of ability, you would only be thinking such nonsense. What's the difference between your idea and that of Sun Wukong who held off the seven fairies in the Peach Garden!"
"Don't listen to their nonsense, blogger. If you ask me, since you say you can make a tiny person grow bigger, why not keep her from growing bigger? Then, put her in her tiny form in an aquarium ecosystem and raise her for a few days. During that time, you can gradually make her grow bigger so she knows your power. That way, no matter what, she will always maintain her awe of you because she understands that you hold her life and death in your hands, and that's enough."
Upon seeing this, Xu Bo'an's eyes widened immediately.
This is a great idea! Brilliant! It's so reliable!
Indeed, there is strength in numbers.
I'll buy a bigger fish tank, decorate it nicely, and then put Chen Shishi in it for a few days to get used to it. I'll keep an eye on her every move.
In this case, it's roughly equivalent to creating a simpler bonsai world.
With a solution in mind, Xu Bo'an was no longer in a hurry.
Anyway, there are still three days left. If we get Chen Shishi out sooner, we can make her suffer for one more day.
Let's wait until we get back from that Golden Horse Awards competition with Zhang Kai before we start researching aquarium ecosystems.
Early the next morning, Xu Bo'an arrived at the village where Zhang Kai was from Jiangcheng City. He pretended to take out his Akhal-Teke horse and waited for Zhang Kai. After the two met, they headed straight for Weizhou.
We were weary from our journey, which goes without saying.
It was already dark when the two arrived in Herui City, Weizhou Province.
Night fell like a huge black ribbon, heavily enveloping this not-so-bustling city.
While there are brightly lit neon signs here, they only exist in certain areas. This is typical of small cities, which is to be expected.
What's abnormal is that more than 20 kilometers away in the suburbs, there is another place that is as bright as day and covers a large area.
The main hall in front is in the style of European architecture, and behind it is a large playground that looks like a gladiator, with a black canopy covering it. It is currently half open, and looking down, you can vaguely see people and horses moving around inside, which is quite lively.
Xu Bo'an was naturally unaware of these things. He followed Zhang Kai all the way to a magnificent building, an overall European-style building that resembled a luxurious palace.
After verifying the electronic invitation code at the entrance, Xu Bo'an and Zhang Kai entered the hall. (End of Chapter)