The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1012 - 911 Open Sincerity

Chapter 1012: Chapter 911 Open Sincerity

Since Zhang Jinghao was resisting death, Bai Shan naturally had to change his strategy as well; it wouldn’t do to let others think they were being unreasonably persistent. Besides, their confrontation hadn’t originally been about the horses at all.

When Bai Shan put it that way, the others became curious, and someone egged him on, "Then, Young Master Bai, do tell us, what is this really about?"

Bai Shan looked at Zhang Jinghao and laughed lightly, "Young Master Zhang, you brought them to the horse farm, and you introduced the people. Now whatever you say goes, but I may not necessarily believe it."

"I am simple-minded and never overthink things," Bai Shan said, "but I am also very suspicious. You said that person was your friend and you decided on the price of the horse yourself, but my Junior Brother said that after he saw that horse, it was basically the horse trader who introduced it to him, and you just echoed on the side that it indeed was a rare, good horse."

Zhang Jinghao immediately said, "That person was someone I hired on the spot, not a friend of mine."

"Coincidentally, I have also met that horse trader, and even brought my Junior Brother to see him - it was indeed him. Since Young Master Zhang says you hired him temporarily, why don’t you hire him temporarily again now? I can show you the way."

Zhang Jinghao hung his head in silence.

"Young Master Bai, didn’t you say it wasn’t about the horse? Why after all this time are we still talking about the horse?"

"It’s not about the horse, it is about the person selling the horse," Bai Shan said, "that person has some connections with this horse farm. No wonder my Junior Brother said that when they entered that day, they were warmly welcomed. Someone not only took care of parking the horse cart but also escorted them all the way to the polo ground to arrange seats, and even brought everyone tea and snacks. But when we came alone today, we received none of that."

"Tea and snacks, too?"

"Don’t you have to pay for a spot to watch the polo?"

Bai Shan curled his lips, "Not only tea and snacks, but he also advised my Junior Brother and the others to bet on the polo. I heard that besides my Junior Brother, everyone else lost some money that day?"

Those who lost money, including Ren Ke, nodded vigorously, "I lost most of my pocket money for the month already, and it’s only early August. I had already decided to spend the rest at the horse farm today, but I’m not gambling anymore."

Qiao Tao also nodded, "I had it even worse. I lost all my spending money for the entire month, and now I am borrowing from my classmates."

Bai Shan then coldly stared at Zhang Jinghao, "Unfortunately for you, my Junior Brother won nearly two hundred taels that day and came home in high spirits, planning to return next time to take out his savings and play, in order to win back the money for the thousand-li horse that cost one thousand five hundred taels."

Everyone gasped in surprise and turned their heads to look at Bai Erlang.

Bai Erlang hung his head.

Someone exclaimed, "He won two hundred taels?"

At the same time, someone else said, "That’s some clever calculation."

After exchanging a look, one said, "Don’t tell me you’re tempted too, knowing who plays polo here; do you dare to place a bet? And you think about winning fifteen hundred taels?"

"It’s likely you won’t see that money back without losing three to five thousand taels first."

Everyone wasn’t foolish. Without Bai Shan being explicit, they might not have realized, but now that he pointed it out so clearly, anyone who couldn’t understand would indeed have to be a fool.

For a moment, all eyes turned to Zhang Jinghao, their gazes changed.

Zhang Jinghao maintained his composure and said, "Young Master Bai, I know you are angry with me for deceiving Bai Er into buying the horse, but there’s no need to be so suspicious of me. I’m also a student of the Highest Institute; how could I possibly lead fellow students into gambling on polo?"

"Moreover, betting on polo is a refined pastime, even His Majesty enjoys watching polo and betting on the games. It’s just fun and games," Zhang Jinghao continued, "You see, there are many people placing bets here..."

"That’s other people," Bai Shan interrupted him. "Whether it’s betting on football or anything else, there are winners and losers. Unless one is extremely familiar with the team, it’s not likely to win four matches in a row."

The crowd listened to Zhang Jinghao’s defense, and for a moment found it reasonable, but they still felt that Bai Shan’s argument was also sound, so they were uncertain which side to take.

Bai Shan continued, "As for the reasons, aren’t they obvious? My Junior Brother is friendly with you, and both of you are also students at the Highest Institute. Yet you tricked him into paying over a thousand taels for a horse – why?"

"What else could it be for if not money?" someone from the side answered for him.

Bai Shan responded, "If you could deceive someone with a horse for money, why couldn’t you lead him into gambling for it?"

Bai Shan pointed to Bai Erlang, "This fool was planning to gamble his own capital at the horse farm with the hope of earning enough to buy the horse. You tricked him straight into buying the horse, but once he led the horse home, we aren’t fools, nor are our schoolmates. Everyone would eventually see that he’d been cheated by you."

"Even if you adamantly refuse to admit it afterward, it would still have some impact on your reputation. How unprofitable would that be?" Bai Shan said. "On the contrary, if you used a thousand-li horse to keep him hooked, making him continually take money from home to gamble at the horse farm, he would never win that money, he would never own that so-called thousand-li horse."

"And given his character, maybe after a month or two, he would have forgotten his original intention altogether, his heart and eyes fixated solely on winning back the money he’d lost."

Zhang Jinghao’s heart pounded fiercely as he exclaimed, "Young Master Bai, don’t wrong me; he did win money that day."

"If he hadn’t won money, I wouldn’t have come to look for you today," Bai Shan indicated Ren Ke and Qiao Tao. "Ask them, will they bet on polo again?"

Both shook their heads vehemently, never again. If one gambling session resulted in such a big loss, how could they keep doing it and stay alive?

Once again, the crowd’s view of Zhang Jinghao shifted.

Deceiving Bai Er into spending over a thousand taels on a horse sounded terrible, but such news wouldn’t be particularly scandalous once spread.

At most, his peers would consider Zhang Jinghao sly but also clever. Even if their teachers found out, they wouldn’t scold him, because such incidents occurred occasionally in the Six Academies.

However, no one in the Calligraphy School would deceive someone into buying a horse; usually, upperclassmen would mimic good calligraphy or paintings and trick others into buying them as genuine works, or a senior from the Mathematics School might swindle them with an abacus; it’s also possible for someone in the National College to swindle with a piece of jade...

As long as it wasn’t excessive, the scholars of the Six Academies turned a blind eye, and the fellow students just laughed it off. Apart from the students who were scammed feeling dejected for a while, there were no other issues.

But the seniors always knew where to draw the line. Even when deceiving their juniors, they would stay within a reasonable price range. Some did it purely for amusement, and in the end, the money was often spent on treating the scammed Junior Brothers to a good drink at the Primus Pavilion...

With such events happening often, the students who were deceived didn’t feel particularly unlucky.

But these incidents took place within the school. There had not been a case like Zhang Jinghao’s, who operated outside school and swindled such a large sum of money.

But that wasn’t the worst part. What was truly frightening was his aim to entice gambling!