[Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! I hope everything goes smoothly for you in the new year o(〃＾▽＾〃)o]
After the auction ended that day, Zhang Jun eagerly went to complete the handover procedures. Luo Heng had poor luck today; everything had gone over budget, and he had not bought a single horse.
Stormcloud Lightning had already been led into the stable to await her new owner. The auction staff were preparing her final meal here.
She stood quietly facing the back wall of the stable, her tail flicking occasionally, her gaze calm, though her ears remained pinned back.
Hearing Zhang Jun's approaching footsteps, Stormcloud Lightning's ears twitched, but she still did not turn around.
Zhang Jun walked over to the stable and greeted the staff. He did not rush to introduce himself to Stormcloud Lightning, merely standing quietly at the door and watching her.
After a while, Stormcloud Lightning slowly turned her head. Her large dark-brown eyes looked calmly at Zhang Jun, carrying a trace of scrutiny.
This girl's intelligence stat was definitely above A-grade!
Zhang Jun praised her inwardly. Smiling, he took a round carrot-flavored horse treat from his pocket, placed it in his palm, and held it out to Stormcloud Lightning—ever since learning to make horse treats, this was all Zhang Jun carried around.
After watching Zhang Jun for a while, Stormcloud Lightning seemed to sense his friendliness. She lowered her head to sniff his palm and the treat in it, then looked up at him.
Then, she touched Zhang Jun's palm with her damp pink nose before opening her mouth and eating the treat.
Her chewing was very quiet. Zhang Jun knew that she still had some guard up around him.
Zhang Jun crouched down to lower Stormcloud Lightning's guard further. He took out horse treats in other flavors and shapes, introducing them to her one by one.
"This one has sugar and apples in it. It's a club horse treat, and it's Shadow Hunter's favorite flavor. He was my first horse. I treated him like a younger brother. He..."
Stormcloud Lightning quietly chewed and listened. Her gaze gradually softened, no longer cold, and her ears lifted slightly from her head.
One after another, she sniffed the horse treats Zhang Jun had taken out and ate them, as though memorizing the scents of the ponies he had introduced.
The sky gradually darkened. Jianzhou Ranch's horse transport truck stopped outside the grounds, and Zhang Jun personally led Stormcloud Lightning onto it before sitting in the back with her.
She stood quietly in the carriage. Her ears were no longer pinned to her head, but slightly perked up.
Days passed. With no suitable races to enter, Cloudstream Flying Shadow competed in a Class A Winter Plum Special after the auction ended. After winning, he returned to Jianzhou Ranch to graze.
River Moon had already finished her final race of the season before the auction began, a 2,000-meter Class B3 race. She had returned to the ranch to graze even earlier than Cloudstream Flying Shadow.
Afterward, Flying Cloud Colt entered a 2,000-meter Class B2 race on the Friday of the third week of January. After an easy victory, he likewise returned to Jianzhou Ranch for grazing.
February arrived quickly. Over these dozen or so days, Zhang Jun had already built a good relationship with Stormcloud Lightning.
Now, whenever Stormcloud Lightning saw Zhang Jun, she no longer pinned her ears back in wariness as she had at first.
Though her personality still kept her from becoming close to Zhang Jun, whenever he beckoned, she would obediently walk up to him and let him pet her.
Zhang Jun stroked Stormcloud Lightning's forehead with a smile, stepped back two paces, took out his phone, snapped a photo of her, and uploaded it to The Ponies' Daily Life account.
Caption: The newest member of our big family, Stormcloud Lightning. Please take good care of her from now on.
The account already had quite a few fans thanks to Shadow Hunter and Cloudstream Flying Shadow, and the comments quickly became lively.
Celestial Strategy Palace Soldier: [A new family member? Let me see who it is. Wait, I know this horse! Isn't this Stormcloud Lightning, the one who won the LOP Camellia Special over in Sanyuan?]
Southeast Splendor: [That's her, all right. I checked! Sire Stormcloud Leopard, dam Roll Cloud. Twenty-one career starts, five wins. Her major victories were the Anshan Camellia Special and the Sanyuan Special Prize.]
Who Says Women Are Inferior to Men: [Wuwuwu, the new mare big sister is so beautiful! I love that cool, aloof temperament!]
Zhang Jun returned to his room at the ranch, scrolling through the comments with the corners of his mouth curled upward.
During the first week of February, due to Min Province's race schedule, Forest Hero, who had just turned three, had no Class A or Class B races to enter.
So Zheng Xing selected the three-year-old-only LOP GT Special, a 1,600-meter dirt race held at Funing Racecourse, for Forest Hero.
That day, the skies were cloudless. Sunlight shone upon the land, bringing a hint of warmth to the cold winter day.
Zhang Jun sat in the owner's box, enjoying the warm breeze from the heater.
Looking through the box window, he saw fifteen racehorses circling in warm-up before the starting gates.
Zhang Jun looked over them one by one:
[Speed: F] [Health: C] [Explosiveness: C+] [Mentality: B+] [Speed: E+] [Distance: 1400–1800]
Their stats were basically all lower than Forest Hero's. It looked like this would be another sure win. Zhang Jun nodded in satisfaction and was about to take a sip of juice when his eyes suddenly widened.
Wait, had a Speed E+ just flashed past?
Zhang Jun looked over the herd again, his gaze locking onto a tall bay stallion:
[Horse Name: Wind Through Pines Sex and Age: Three-Year-Old Stallion Coat Color: Chestnut Racing Stats: Speed: E+ Explosiveness: B Growth Type: Early Maturer Breeding Stats: Offspring: 4]
Zhang Jun frowned. An early maturer with Speed E+, one grade higher than Forest Hero's E, and Explosiveness B, only one grade lower than Forest Hero's.
It could be said that if Forest Hero could not accelerate ahead of Wind Through Pines and open up a safe gap, there was an eighty-percent chance this race would be over.
Zhang Jun rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"I knew we were bound to lose sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to come this quickly. This sucks (＞﹏＜)"
Sure enough, just as Zhang Jun had expected.
When the race reached the final stretch, Ning Fei decisively caught up with the number four horse that had led the entire race, but Wind Through Pines, running from behind, still caught them at the fifty-meter mark. Forest Hero lost by half a length.
In front of the stable, Zheng Xing lowered his head and apologized in great shame. "I'm terribly sorry. I failed to come up with a good strategy."
Zhang Jun had already prepared himself mentally, so he was not upset at all.
He waved his hand. "It's racing. Who can avoid losing? Do you remember the racing philosophy I told you about?"
Zheng Xing looked up. "I remember. One win is not worth a lifetime."
"Just as I said, winning or losing isn't important. Safety is what matters. Even if we lose the race, as long as the ponies are safe and sound, that's enough."
Zhang Jun reached out and rubbed Forest Hero's little ears.
The kid was not sad at all about losing. He was heartlessly stuffing himself with feed and horse treats.
Ψ(￣∀￣)Ψ Awoo, awoo.
In the second week of February, Mountain Patrol Leopard finished second in the 1,600-meter turf LOP Green Wheat Special, beaten by a full three lengths—the winner had made a breakaway start, yet somehow still unleashed a late burst in the final stretch.
After chasing for a hundred meters and realizing she could not catch up, Shan Yao saw that the horses behind had already been left four or five lengths behind Mountain Patrol Leopard and directly chose to stop chasing.
Zhang Jun greatly approved of this—he had long said that one win was not worth a lifetime. Since they could not win anyway, it was better to save some strength and reduce the risk of injury.
He even raised a glass to Shan Yao at the post-race gathering because of it.