Old Ma was quite lucky. Before he could settle down with the brown mare, he was found. Meng Jingzhou paid the money and took Old Ma and the cart away.
“No, no, no, it doesn't cost this much to stay at the stable,” the stable boy protested.
“What about the feed? Don’t you want that?” Meng Jingzhou asked, puzzled. Old Ma had already finished the high-quality feed he brought, and he thought Old Ma was so hungry that he started eating the regular feed.
The stable boy shook his head. “Your horse hasn’t eaten anything.”
“Huh?” Meng Jingzhou was confused. He touched Old Ma’s mane and asked, “Have you been fasting?”
Old Ma snorted but didn’t answer.
How could a horse talk?
Meng Jingzhou threatened, “If you don’t answer, you won’t get any more feed!”
The man and the horse stared at each other for a long time, but Old Ma still wouldn’t respond. Eventually, Meng Jingzhou gave up and started to guess what was going on.