Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 43 Solution to the Three-Party Dilemma

When Ma Qing heard this, he thought about it and then started a conversation with the man selling the cow.

"Brother, how are you selling your cattle and sheep? If you are sincere, tell me the amount and I will buy it all."

When the man selling the cattle heard this, he immediately became excited and said, "You want to buy it all? Then you must know what disease my cattle have, right? Tell me quickly."

When Ma Qing heard this, he knew that this was a problem. "Why are you fishing here? Are you going to sell it or not? If not, I'm leaving."

The man selling the cow was immediately anxious: "Don't go, just tell me how to save them, and I will give you the calf and the lamb."

"You don't have to send it off. Just tell me how much you want. If you don't want to sell it to me, I'll leave." Ma Qing turned around and was about to leave.

The man selling cattle pulled Ma Qing back, and two tall men stood beside him and picked Ma Qing up. Ma Qing was a little nervous. "What do you want to do? If you keep doing this, I will call for help."

"No, no, no, we have no ill intentions. We just want to know what disease this animal has and whether it can be saved."

Ma Qing looked at the man selling cattle helplessly and said, "Tell me first whether you will sell these animals or not, and we can talk about the other things later."

"700 yuan, take it." The man selling the cow said, "Tell me how to cure it, and I'll give you the animal."

Ma Qing rolled his eyes and said, "How about this, you take this truck and take me to the woods next to the farm machinery factory. I'll pay you and you'll pay for the goods. I can tell you the treatment method, but it's not 100% effective. Whether it works or not depends on your luck."

"Okay, get on the cart." The man selling cattle asked Ma Qing to get on his cart, but Ma Qing refused to get on because the cart was loaded with sick calves and lambs, and cutaneous anthrax can infect humans. The man selling cattle did not care, and asked his companions to go to the farm machinery factory with Ma Qing.

Along the way, the man selling cattle explained the whole story to Ma Qing. They were from Dawangshan Village Commune. There was a valley in Dawangshan Village Commune, which was very suitable for raising cattle and sheep. It was a famous cattle and sheep breeding village in the surrounding area. However, strange diseases have appeared in cattle and sheep, and no one can help them no matter how many people they have found. The situation is now out of control, and the old party secretary of the village has no choice but to secretly transport the sick cattle and sheep out and sell them. On the one hand, this can reduce losses, and the most important thing is to find someone who can treat them.

Ma Qing felt that it was similar to what he had guessed. This old branch secretary was not a good person, but he was a smart man.

Ma Qing asked Xiao Qi to prepare some penicillin, intending to bring it back to the man selling the cattle when they arrived. Just help if you can, it's not easy for everyone.

But the reality was magical. Ma Qing and the men selling cattle were blocked on the road. Five or six men surrounded them.

"What are you doing? Don't cause trouble. These cattle and sheep are sick and can't be eaten. It's useless for you to go back." The man selling cattle shouted loudly, and while winking at his companion next to him, he pulled out a hunting knife from the cart. His companion also took out two wooden sticks and took a defensive posture.

The leading man on the opposite side was stunned and said, "Isn't this meat edible? Isn't this beast still alive?"

Ma Qing put his hand into his bag and touched his gun. He felt more at ease and interrupted, "Dermatological anthrax is a disease that can be transmitted to both humans and animals. It can kill people if eaten."

When the people on the opposite side saw Ma Qing and others’ defensive posture, they also took out their weapons. Fortunately, they were all cold weapons, so Ma Qing felt a little calmer.

The leading man on the opposite side said, "Since the meat can't be eaten, this guy must have money to buy cattle and sheep. Hand over the money and we'll leave immediately." The man selling cattle glanced at Ma Qing and said through gritted teeth, "The transaction is not yet completed. The money is not with me, but if you rob him, who can I sell it to? Who can I sell these sick cattle and sheep to? You think you are robbing him, but in fact you are robbing me. We are from Dawangshan Village, don't be confused."

Ma Qing thought it was quite interesting, this was obviously a classic three-party dilemma. The five robbers wanted to rob the money and the cows, of course they could only rob the money now, so they were the most powerful of the three parties; the three cow sellers wanted to exchange the cows for money, but there was only one buyer, Ma Qing, and if they couldn't sell to Ma Qing, the cows would die and the money would be gone, so they were the second most powerful of the three parties; Ma Qing was the only one who wanted to exchange the money for the cows, so he was the least powerful of the three parties.

Apparently everyone was aware of this problem, and the three parties strangely kept silent, and the situation remained deadlocked. Ma Qing saw that this was not a big deal, so he tentatively said, "How about everyone share some money, and I can take the cow away?"

"No." Both groups said in unison. Well, the method that Ma Qing thought was the safest and fairest was rejected.

"Then what do you think we should do? We can't keep going like this. Even though there aren't many people on this road, there won't be no one coming forever."

The leader of the robbery said, "Give us 500 yuan and we'll leave immediately."

The man selling the cow: "Fuck you, you are just trying to get the biggest share. The total is only 700 yuan. You take 500 yuan, and we can only get 200 yuan by selling the cow. You are dreaming."

The leader of the robbery saw that the man who was buying the cattle was so determined. Although it was 5 against 3 and he had the advantage, there would definitely be casualties, and he would have to pay for his men's medical expenses and nutrition expenses. So he decided to take a step back and said, "Leave the cattle and sheep, you get 500 yuan, but this man has to stay." The leader of the robbery pointed at Ma Qing, thinking that since this man could buy the sick cattle for 700 yuan, he must have some extra money on him, so it shouldn't be a loss.

The man who was selling cattle was tempted when he heard that he could get 500 yuan, but when he heard that Ma Qing had to stay, he refused. "No, he can treat sick cattle, so he can't stay. Even if he can't treat cattle, we in Dawangshan Village can't afford to lose him. We will not be able to live as human beings in the future."

"I'm giving you face, but you can't do this or that. Do you really think the weapons in my hands are vegetarian?" The leader of the robbery was also unhappy. Both groups stepped forward and were about to fight.

Ma Qing was a little surprised and glanced at the man selling the cattle.

With a "bang" of a gunshot, the leader of the robbery screamed. The people on both sides were stunned. They turned around and saw the leader of the robbery lying on the ground howling, with blood on his thigh. Looking around, they saw Ma Qing holding a pistol in a very showy manner and blowing gently on the muzzle.

Ma Qing pointed a gun at the robbers and said, "Fuck you, if a tiger doesn't show its might, you think I'm a sick cat. You don't even have a gun, but you dare to rob people. I'll count to three. If you don't get out of here, I'll give you a peanut."

Ma Qing couldn't see his own face, but he must be very arrogant now.

In fact, before Ma Qing could count, the robbers dispersed, leaving their boss alone on the ground cursing. Ma Qing didn't even look at the scum on the ground. He was kind-hearted enough not to beat him to death. He would not waste any sympathy on such a person.

Ma Qing directly told the cattle-selling man to continue on his way. The cattle-selling man and his companions were silent along the way. Ma Qing comforted them: "Don't worry, this matter has nothing to do with you. Since you didn't sell me just now, I owe you a favor. Let's continue the transaction. When we get to the place, we will exchange money and goods."

The three of them calmed down. More than ten minutes later, the four of them came to a grove next to the agricultural machinery factory. Ma Qing asked the three of them to drive the cattle and sheep into the woods, while he completed the transaction with the man selling the cattle at the edge of the woods. Ma Qing directly handed 700 yuan to the man selling the cattle.

"Brother, can you..." The man selling the cattle took the money but did not put it in his pocket. Instead, he spoke.

(End of this chapter)