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Shi Wen drove the cattle and sheep to the designated grazing spot, left three dogs there to watch over them, then took the other route home.

He wanted to stop by and check out the pasture's former cornfields.

Back when this ranch had belonged to his grandfather, a large area had been cleared to grow silage corn and other forage crops.

It had now lain abandoned for several years.

He had inspected it a few times before and only gotten a rough idea of the situation, without having the time to deal with it.

Now that he had some free time, he needed to reclaim the cornfields.

When Shi Wen reached the former cornfields, he found that despite years of neglect, scattered corn seedlings still remained in the field, though they were growing poorly.

He walked through the field and dug up a clump of soil.

This area had genuine black soil, dark and loose. With a light dig, he could turn up a large clump.

He crumbled it between his fingers. The soil was in fairly good condition, much better than uncultivated land. Once it was tilled and given a layer of base fertilizer, it would be usable.

He had only been here for a little over two months. He had not accumulated much manure, and none of it had fully fermented yet. If he wanted base fertilizer, he would first have to buy some elsewhere.

Shi Wen sent Fu Meng a greeting on WeChat, then paid him a visit that evening.

Fu Meng welcomed Shi Wen into his home. "Haven't seen you for days. How are those two cows you bought?"

"Dr. Skewell said their pregnancies are stable," Shi Wen said. "As long as I take good care of them, they should calve in May next year."

Fu Meng smiled. "That's great. I thought it would be another couple of years before calves were born on your ranch. Didn't expect you'd have them so soon. Your sheep can be bred this year too, right?"

Shi Wen nodded. "They can. I plan to keep conditioning them for a while longer, then breed them in October so I can welcome spring lambs next March."

Cows needed nine months of pregnancy, while sheep only needed five.

Since it was Shi Wen's first year raising sheep, he was worried that lambs born in winter would face freezing weather. If he failed to care for them properly, they could easily die young, so he wanted to delay it a little.

By then, spring would have arrived and fresh pasture would be growing, which would also benefit the ewes while nursing.

Many locals bred their sheep in August.

Of course, some bred them in September, October, or November. It mainly depended on each household's circumstances.

After hearing Shi Wen's plan, Fu Meng knew he had thought it through and praised him.

After chatting for a while, Shi Wen got to the point. "Brother Fu, do you have any fermented cattle or sheep manure? Sell me five thousand kilograms."

Fu Meng waved it off carelessly. "Why sell it? If you need it, haul it away first. You can return it to me later."

Shi Wen smiled. "It's mainly because hauling it back and forth is a hassle. I'll buy it from you, Brother Fu. Once the cattle and sheep manure on my side has fermented, I'll sell it to the factory. That'll settle the account."

Fu Meng stopped objecting after hearing that. "When do you need it? I'll clear it out first and find someone to haul it over for you."

"If possible, I'd like it cleared out within the next few days," Shi Wen explained. "I want to plant some silage corn to save for the cattle and sheep to eat over the winter."

For cattle and sheep ranchers, winter forage was a major expense.

Raising several hundred head of cattle and sheep meant spending hundreds of thousands on feed over a single winter.

If he did not plan ahead, merely scraping together the money to buy forage in winter would be enough to give Shi Wen a headache.

Fu Meng asked how much silage corn Shi Wen wanted to plant.

"It's my first year planting it, so I want to try fifty mu first," Shi Wen said. "If I can handle the management, I'll plant more next year."

"Silage corn is pretty easy to manage," Fu Meng said. "Once you've put down enough base fertilizer, there's no need for pesticides or additional fertilizer. When the time comes, you just wait to harvest it. But you don't have many cattle and sheep yet, so there's really no need to plant too much at once."

"Exactly," Shi Wen said with a smile. "I'll work within my means."

Ever since coming to the ranch, Shi Wen had been very cautious.

He did not have much money in hand and could not afford to waste it.

Since he was already visiting Fu Meng, Shi Wen simply asked him to recommend some reliable workers as well.

He needed people to till the land and then use machinery to sow it.

Otherwise, relying on himself alone would be far too exhausting.

Fu Meng knew the local situation inside and out and, as expected, recommended several people.

However, it was currently the peak season for planting silage corn. Shi Wen had asked rather late, so he would have to wait in line for a few days before the workers were free to come.

That day, Shi Wen stayed busy until after nine in the evening before finishing dinner, taking a shower, and returning to his desk.

He planned to write out his work schedule for the next few days.

Before writing, he opened his phone to check his unread messages and discovered that Yan Kexing had actually called him on WeChat voice chat.

That really was unusual.

Yan Kexing actually had a day when he took the initiative to contact him!

Shi Wen stared at his phone and thought of calling him back. Unexpectedly, his finger slipped and pressed the video call button instead.

By the time he realized it and frantically tried to hang up, Yan Kexing had already answered. "Shi Wen?"

Yan Kexing was sitting in a large study, with two big screens in front of him filled with densely packed characters.

Looking at Yan Kexing against that backdrop, Shi Wen felt strangely fascinated.

He had never seen this side of Yan Kexing before.

Seeing that Shi Wen was not speaking, Yan Kexing asked, "Did it freeze?"

"No!" Shi Wen jolted back to his senses, only to find himself staring at the metal-rimmed glasses on Yan Kexing's nose. "Are you nearsighted?"

Yan Kexing looked so handsome in a shirt and glasses!!!

Yan Kexing used his slender fingers to remove the metal-rimmed glasses from his nose and showed them to him. "These? They're plain blue-light-blocking glasses."

"So that's what they are." Shi Wen swallowed and forced his brain to start working again. "What did you need me for?"

"I went out for an inspection today," Yan Kexing said. "The people working the fields said you hired them to reclaim fifty mu of land?"

Shi Wen nodded. "Yes. I want to plant some silage corn and save some money on winter forage."

Yan Kexing asked, "Have you decided on a variety?"

"Not yet. I'm torn between Liaoyang White, Yu Silage, and Gonghe Silage. For now, I'm leaning toward Liaoyang White. It's better suited to our local environment, and many people around here grow it."