Winter Broodmare Auction and Stormcloud Lightning

[Happy Lunar New Year's Eve, everyone! I hope the new year brings you nothing but smooth sailing o(〃＾▽＾〃)o]

In the second week of January, a light breeze carrying the ocean's moisture swept through Mindu, rustling the banyan leaves.

Two weeks had passed since Shadow Hunter won the Two-Year-Old Championship. The kid had been living comfortably in the pasture lately, eating and sleeping every day, looking exactly like a retired old official.

But Zhang Jun had it rough, running all over the place against the cold wind in ten-degree weather.

Either he went from Jian'an to Jianzhou Ranch in Mindu to keep Shadow Hunter and the mares company, or he rode his little electric scooter from home to the Jian'an training center to see Cloudstream Flying Shadow and the racehorses.

The cold wind had him feeling two or three years older.

Standing at the entrance to the Mindu auction stables, Zhang Jun breathed into his hands and rubbed his frozen fingers together.

Today was the day the winter broodmare auction opened its stables. The auction list had already been released, and compared to the autumn auction, there were far fewer horses—only one-tenth as many, 164 in total.

These broodmares would be auctioned over two days, with eighty-two mares sold each day.

When he pushed open the stable doors, a wave of warmth hit him in the face.

Quite a few people were already walking through the stables, either observing the mares in their stalls or quietly discussing the bloodlines of particular horses.

An auction staff member stood outside every stall, responsible for introducing the mares' racing records and pedigrees to the prospective buyers.

Zhang Jun glanced around and spotted Luo Heng in front of a stall in the corner.

That kid wanted to add two new bloodlines to the stable under his care, so he had come to this auction as well.

Zhang Jun walked over and glanced at the big-bellied bay mare in the stall.

[Horse Name: Eight Directions Koi

Sex/Age: Mare, 8

Coat Color: Bay

Racing Attributes:

Burst: C+

Health: B

Distance: 1400–2200

Breeding Attributes:

Offspring: 5]

Zhang Jun raised his brows in surprise. He had not expected Luo Heng to have such a good eye and pick out a horse that could become a mainstay broodmare for the ranch.

He patted Luo Heng on the shoulder. "How's it looking?"

Luo Heng flipped through the list in his hand and sighed, his face full of worry.

"I couldn't find many I wanted. Including this one, I only picked seven mares total. Three of them are already pretty old and won't be able to breed for many more years. What about you, Jun?"

"I just got here. I haven't looked yet."

Zhang Jun smiled. "I probably won't pick many either. You know I like mares that have just retired and haven't been bred before.

"That way, I can handle the pairings myself from the very beginning and won't waste any breeding opportunities."

Luo Heng nodded. "Then go see if there are any you like, Jun. I'll keep analyzing these on my own."

"Sure." Zhang Jun patted Luo Heng again and turned to leave.

After looking over all 164 mares, the results could be called ideal—or far from ideal.

Of the 164 mares, only twenty-one had Offspring above five or positive inherited traits. Most of them had only five points or a single Iron Pony trait.

A full sixteen of them were old mares over ten years old.

Still, Zhang Jun had found a hidden gem: Lot 49 on the first day, Stormcloud Lightning. She was five years old, had just retired from the Mindu local circuit, and had five wins from twenty-one career starts.

[Horse Name: Stormcloud Lightning

Sex/Age: Mare, 5

Coat Color: Black

Racing Attributes:

Speed: F+

Health: A+

Growth Type: Early Average.

Breeding Attributes:

Offspring: 7]

Stormcloud Lightning's Offspring stat was a full seven, tying Gentle Breeze Arrives for the highest Zhang Jun had seen so far.

After discovering Stormcloud Lightning, Zhang Jun immediately spent points to unlock the rest of her attributes.

[Burst: C+]

[Intelligence: B]

[Race Distance: 1400–1800]

[Track Aptitude: Turf ◎, Dirt X]

[Inherited Traits: Health (Silver Pony), Burst (Iron Pony)]

With only five points, he had unlocked Stormcloud Lightning's inherited traits. To Zhang Jun's surprise, she had two positive traits just like Gentle Breeze Arrives.

Although Burst was an Iron Pony trait with only a very small chance of inheritance, Health was a Silver Pony trait with a moderate inheritance chance. In terms of value, she could completely rival Gentle Breeze Arrives.

After looking over the final featured mare and marking his list, Zhang Jun met Luo Heng in a private room at a restaurant outside the auction house.

The two took out their marked lists and discussed them together for a while. They crossed off mares they could not afford for now, settled on their respective auction targets, and went home.

The auction officially began the next day, and Zhang Jun sat in his chair feeling somewhat nervous.

Although Shadow Hunter and Cloudstream Flying Shadow had earned Zhang Jun quite a bit of money, the other racehorses had also made back all the money spent buying them.

But because he was saving up to buy a ranch, Zhang Jun had prepared a budget of only 500,000 this time. Of that, 350,000 was for buying Stormcloud Lightning, while the remaining 150,000 was reserved for contingencies and purchasing other mares.

The auction began soon enough. Of the twenty-one mares presented that morning, two had been marked by Zhang Jun, but their prices rose too quickly. After only a few bids, they had already exceeded his budget.

The two mares Luo Heng had wanted also went over his budget and were bought by others.

Though he was Luo Fei's son, he was still in his learning period. He only had some seed money from Luo Fei, and he needed to set aside funds for next year's breeding as well. His budget was not much higher than Zhang Jun's.

Time passed quickly. Before long, it was afternoon. The first seven horses were sold in rapid succession. Zhang Jun took a deep breath, his heartbeat gradually accelerating.

"Next up is Lot 49, Stormcloud Lightning."

The auctioneer's voice rang through the hall over the microphone as a handler led out a black mare.

Zhang Jun's gaze locked onto Stormcloud Lightning. Her entire body was black, gleaming with health under the lights. Her legs were long and slender, and a narrow white blaze ran down her forehead.

The auctioneer began introducing Stormcloud Lightning's pedigree. "Her sire is Stormcloud Leopard, a two-time Central G1 winner. Her dam is Roll Cloud, who achieved wins on the local circuit...

"The opening bid is 150,000. 150,000—do I have a bid?"

"Here!" Someone in the front row raised a paddle, and the handler standing nearby immediately raised a hand to signal it.

Zhang Jun did not act rashly. He waited until the price climbed to 250,000 and only two buyers remained in contention before immediately raising his paddle.

"Here!"

"260,000! This buyer bids 260,000. The next bid will be 270,000! 270,000—does anyone bid 270,000?"

The auctioneer pointed flatly toward Zhang Jun, his mouth never stopping.

A buyer in the section to Zhang Jun's right turned to look at him, then lowered his paddle and withdrew from the bidding.

The front-row buyer looked back at Zhang Jun. He was a middle-aged man in his fifties, dressed in a suit and leather shoes. He frowned at Zhang Jun, then raised his paddle again.

"Here!"

Zhang Jun did not hesitate. Before the auctioneer could speak, he immediately raised his paddle. "Here!"

The middle-aged man in front looked back again, uncertainty in his eyes. After a moment, just before the auctioneer brought down the hammer, he raised his paddle once more.

Zhang Jun followed immediately, raising the price to 300,000.

The middle-aged man sighed and lowered his paddle.

Zhang Jun felt his heart pounding wildly. He kept praying inwardly.

"...320,000. Any further bids?... Then, 300,000, going once!" The auctioneer's countdown rang exceptionally clear.

"300,000, going twice! Stormcloud Lightning, a five-year-old mare by Stormcloud Leopard and out of a Soaring Cloud Eagle daughter, with one LOP victory to her name. No one wishes to continue bidding?

"300,000, going three times! Sold! Congratulations to this buyer!"

Zhang Jun let out a heavy breath, and the heart lodged in his throat finally dropped back into his chest.