Page 12

Gong Jiang: "Then let's go take a look. There are two more families, and they're not far."

They changed course and went to the other two homes.

The puppies at those two homes were good too, but neither suited Shi Wen's taste. He simply had no connection with them.

Shi Wen was quite satisfied that he had managed to find a puppy he liked after looking for just one day.

After saying goodbye to Gong Jiang, he took the puppy home and used a cardboard box and blankets to make it a nest beside the livestock shed's fence.

Before they parted, Nurguli had repeatedly reminded him that the puppy was a working dog, not a pet, and could not be brought indoors.

Shi Wen did not have much experience in this area, so he decided to follow the previous owner's advice.

The puppy's moist eyes were bright. It was relatively thin and weak, but not timid. Living beside the livestock shed, it heard the sheep bleating and sensed the flock's restlessness, yet showed no fear.

That evening, Shi Wen made fish soup mixed with rice for the puppy and placed several chunks of boiled mutton on top.

The puppy wolfed down its meal, stuffing its belly round, then let out a soft, babyish bark at Shi Wen.

Shi Wen smiled and patted the puppy's head. After checking the livestock shed once more and making sure the sheep pen gate was closed, he shut the outer gate and returned indoors to sleep.

He had been tired all day too, so he needed to go to bed early.

Chapter 5

The weather had been excellent these past few days.

Shi Wen had been clearing the ranch's drainage ditches.

The three-thousand-mu ranch was simply too large. Without hiring help, it would probably take him nearly a month to finish it alone.

Every day, he herded sheep and cleared the ranch. Now, he had the additional task of training the dog.

The newly bought puppy really was smart. After only two days, it already knew that Black Kid was its name.

Whenever he called Black Kid, the puppy would stretch out its four little legs and come pattering over at top speed.

Training it was very interesting.

The same was true that day. Once the sun came out, the weather warmed up and it was bright outside. Shi Wen tucked a bag of meat pellets into his pocket and went out to train the dog.

The moment it saw Shi Wen, the puppy ran over to nuzzle against him, sniffing him hard as whimpering sounds came from its nose.

Shi Wen crouched down, rubbed the puppy's neck, and smiled. "Today's training is starting too. Do your best, Black Kid."

The puppy barked, "Woof!"

Shi Wen took the puppy out to the pasture, putting some distance between man and dog.

Shi Wen called, "Black Kid, front left!"

The puppy, which had been standing still and listening for instructions, immediately followed Shi Wen's hand gesture and ran in a circle toward the front left. It ran all the way to Shi Wen's feet, sat down obediently, and lifted its head to bark at him. "Woof woof!"

Shi Wen bent down and rubbed the puppy's head. "Black Kid, well done!"

After praising it, Shi Wen gave the puppy a piece of homemade jerky.

The puppy puffed out its little chest and barked even louder in its young voice. "Woof woof!"

Shi Wen ran forward a few steps, waved his hand again, and called, "Black Kid, front left!"

The puppy continued circling toward the front left, once again running to Shi Wen's feet to wait for praise and jerky.

The man and dog repeated the same command and movements.

Shi Wen was not anxious at all. Training a dog required patience and care most of all—repeated training and repeated correction.

He planned to spend a month first letting Black Kid familiarize itself with the ranch and learn these basic commands, while also helping it grow stronger.

Black Kid was a little underdeveloped from birth and needed to be properly nourished.

With how it was now, Shi Wen felt that making it herd sheep would seem a little like hiring child labor.

Just as Shi Wen was training the dog, the sound of a vehicle came from outside the ranch.

Man and dog heard it almost at the same time. Black Kid reacted first, barking loudly toward the entrance, both as a warning and a reminder.

Shi Wen rubbed Black Kid's head and lightly patted its neck, telling it to go play nearby before heading to the ranch entrance to greet the visitors.

It was Gong Jiang's team.

Gong Jiang had contacted Shi Wen yesterday, saying that he wanted to collect samples from the ranch and investigate the fish in the stream.

The ranch gate was not closed. Gong Jiang and the others parked at the entrance, slung their bags over their shoulders, picked up their instruments, and walked in.

Shi Wen went out to greet them. The puppy playing nearby trotted beside him on four short legs. Once it approached Gong Jiang and the others, it began barking in its young voice. "Woof woof woof!"

"Don't bark." Shi Wen bent down, pinched the puppy by the scruff, and stopped it from barking. "Guests."

After receiving the instruction, the puppy looked at Shi Wen in confusion, then at Gong Jiang and the others. It quickly understood and stopped barking.

Gong Jiang said, "You've already started training it?"

Shi Wen smiled. "Yeah. Training should start early. I was afraid it would be harder to correct once it grew up."

Gong Jiang introduced his junior fellow disciple and junior female disciple to Shi Wen.

His junior fellow disciple was named Lin Chengqian, and his junior female disciple was named Ge Yue. Both were dressed like outdoor enthusiasts.

After everyone exchanged greetings, Gong Jiang said, "Sorry to trouble you."

Shi Wen said, "It's no trouble at all. No need to be so polite. Come on, I'll take you there."

He had been clearing the drainage ditches these past few days, so he knew exactly what fish were in each section.

Shi Wen said, "Should we look at the Chinese Paddlefish first? They usually move around in the section of ditch slightly northeast of here."

Gong Jiang said, "Let's go take a look."

They carried their equipment to the ditch slightly northeast of the ranch. Searching along the ditch, they quickly found two Chinese Paddlefish, just as expected.

Gong Jiang and the others took photographs and collected material from the fish, then released them after the sampling was finished.

Shi Wen assisted them from the side.

Once they had put away the sampling tubes, Shi Wen asked, "We'll sample along this ditch, right? A little farther down, you can see Arctic Grayling and Naked-bellied Sturgeon. But I've only seen the Naked-bellied Sturgeon once, so I don't know whether we'll spot one today."

Gong Jiang said, "Let's try first."

During the sampling process, they also saw some ordinary small fish. Everyone conscientiously photographed and sampled them.

Whether their luck was good or those fish simply stayed active in that stretch of ditch, they really did find the fish they had been looking for.