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

They detoured to the other two homes.

The puppies at those homes were also very good, but they still weren't to Shi Wen's liking. He simply had no connection with them.

Shi Wen was quite satisfied that he had found a puppy he liked after looking for only one day.

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

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

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

The puppy's moist eyes were bright. It was relatively frail, yet not timid. Living beside the livestock shed, hearing the sheep bleat and sensing the restlessness of the flock, it showed no fear at all.

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

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

Smiling, Shi Wen patted the puppy's head, checked the livestock shed once more, and made sure the sheep pen gate was shut before closing the outer gate and returning indoors to sleep.

He had been tired all day too. He needed to turn in early.

Chapter 5

The weather had been good these past few days.

Shi Wen had been clearing the ranch's ditches these days.

The three-thousand-acre ranch was simply too large. If he did not hire help and worked alone, it would probably take him nearly a month.

Every day, he tended the sheep and cleared the ranch, and now he had the added task of training the dog.

The puppy he had bought was indeed clever. After just two days, it already knew that Black Kid was its name.

Whenever he called Black Kid, the puppy would pump its four short 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 went out with a bag of meat pellets tucked in his pocket to train the dog.

The moment the puppy saw Shi Wen, it immediately ran over to rub against him, sniffing him hard as little whimpers came from its nose.

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

The puppy barked, "Woof!"

Shi Wen took the puppy to the pasture outside, putting some distance between himself and the dog.

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

The puppy, which had been standing in place awaiting instructions, immediately followed Shi Wen's gesture and ran in a circle toward the front left. It ran straight to Shi Wen's feet, obediently sat down, tilted up its head, and barked at him. "Woof woof!"

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

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 immature voice. "Woof woof!"

Shi Wen ran a few steps forward, waved his hand again, and called out, "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 this sequence of commands and movements.

Shi Wen was not in the least impatient. Training a dog required patience and affection most of all—repeated training, repeated correction.

He planned to spend a month first letting Black Kid familiarize itself with the ranch and learn these basic commands, while also growing a little sturdier.

Black Kid was somewhat weak from birth and needed to be properly nourished.

As it was now, Shi Wen felt that having it herd sheep would seem a little like making a child laborer out of a dog.

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

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

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

It was Gong Jiang and his team.

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

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

Shi Wen went out to meet them. The puppy that had been playing nearby trotted beside him on four short little legs, and once they approached Gong Jiang and the others, it began barking in its immature voice. "Woof woof woof!"

"Don't bark." Shi Wen bent down, pinched the loose skin at the back of the puppy's neck, and stopped it from barking. "Guests."

Having received 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 asked, "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 got older."

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

His junior fellow student was named Lin Chengqian, and his junior female fellow student 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, I'll take you over."

He had been clearing the 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? Chinese Paddlefish generally move around in the stretch of ditch slightly to the northeast."

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

They carried their equipment to the ditch slightly to the northeast and searched for fish along it. Sure enough, they soon found two Chinese Paddlefish.

Gong Jiang and the others took photographs and collected material from the fish, then released them back after finishing the collection.

Shi Wen assisted them from the side.

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

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

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

Whether it was because they were lucky or because those fish stayed active in that particular stretch of ditch, they really did see the fish they had been looking for.