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Shi Wen ate until beads of sweat formed on the tip of his nose.

Only after breakfast did the two head to the lamb market.

The lambs were kept in wooden cages, all under three months old, and most were local Fat-Tailed Sheep.

There were several breeds of Fat-Tailed Sheep in China, such as Altay Fat-Tailed Sheep, Inner Mongolian Fat-Tailed Sheep, and Shandong Fat-Tailed Sheep. When buying lambs, people generally chose breeds raised locally.

Local breeds suited the local soil and climate, fell ill less often, and had meat with distinct local characteristics.

Fat-Tailed Sheep were sheep.

Goats were relatively rare here.

Sheep mainly fed on grass and fodder, while goats more often ate leaves, roots, and stems. There were many grasslands and few mountains here, making sheep more suitable to raise.

Starting from the first wooden cage, Shi Wen examined the lambs like everyone else did—checking their teeth, limbs, coat colors, and pinching their backs. He looked quite convincing.

Fu Meng was astonished. "You have experience raising sheep?"

Shi Wen looked up. "I've read books."

Fu Meng chuckled. "What's in books isn't quite the same as reality."

Shi Wen said, "Then I can only combine what I learned from books with my instincts. Once I've picked them out, I'll have to ask Brother Fu to help me check them."

Shi Wen had already realized that Fu Meng had come to the market today specifically intending to help him pick lambs, though he had not said so outright.

Fu Meng agreed without hesitation. "Sure."

As they spoke, Shi Wen felt that the sheep beneath his hand was slightly different from the others.

There was no particular metric behind that feeling. He simply sensed, inexplicably, that this sheep was unlike the rest.

He lowered his head to look.

It was a ewe lamb.

It was probably less than three months old, with a white face, small hooves, small ears, and a fluffy, exceptionally snowy-white body. Its fleece was very beautiful.

Shi Wen reached for its back and gently pinched its muscles. He found that the fat on its back was a finger thick. It was quite plump.

The little lamb raised its head and stared wide-eyed after being pinched, bleating, "Baa!" Its cry was clear and adorable.

Shi Wen stroked its fleece again. Its wool quality was quite good as well.

He checked its legs. They were straight, with no bowed legs or splayed legs.

Those indicators were all satisfactory, and Shi Wen was already eighty percent pleased. He pried open the lamb's mouth.

The lamb had neat, white rice-grain teeth along its lower jaw. It was clear that its teeth were excellent.

Sheep only had lower teeth, with no upper teeth—only a hard dental pad. As long as the lower teeth were good, the mouth passed inspection.

Shi Wen rubbed the lamb's back and turned to ask the woman selling sheep, "Ma'am, how much is this one?"

The woman straightened up and enthusiastically introduced it. "This lamb is a fine one, the best sheep in our family. Buy it as a breeding ewe, and I guarantee it'll give you a whole flock of good sheep. If you truly want it, 600 will do."

Before Shi Wen could respond, Fu Meng's eyes widened. "Ma'am, are your sheep made of gold? For a sheep just as good, 300 is already the ceiling price."

The woman puffed out her chest. "If you can buy one for 300, I'll take as many as you can find!"

Fu Meng said, "Even so, it doesn't need to cost 600. There are good sheep all over the market. Yours is good, but everyone else's aren't bad either. I'd say 320 at most."

The woman said, "320 is too low. If you really want it, I'll knock off 50. Take it for 550!"

Shi Wen joined the bidding. "350."

The woman repeatedly waved her hands. "350 won't do. If you really want it, 530."

Shi Wen's target price was below 500. As Fu Meng had said, this sheep was indeed good, but it was not uniquely exceptional. If it went over 500, he would forget it.

After haggling for several minutes, the woman finally sold it for 420.

Once the sheep was sold, the woman handed Shi Wen the spray paint in her hand and told him to mark it himself.

Shi Wen sprayed a "1" on the sheep's rear, representing the first sheep he had bought. After he had finished buying them all, Fu Meng would drive the three-wheeler to the market entrance and have each vendor help herd the purchased sheep onto it. Otherwise, they would be hard to transport.

This was how sheep were bought here.

The two left the stall.

Fu Meng said quietly to Shi Wen, "You really hide your talents well. You're quite skilled at picking sheep."

Shi Wen said, "I learned it all from books. Thanks for helping me bargain, Brother Fu."

Fu Meng said, "I only said a few things. You're pretty good at bargaining yourself."

Shi Wen smiled. As someone who had worked for a living, he really was good at bargaining.

The two continued browsing the stalls.

Shi Wen went through the stalls one by one. Some had sheep he liked, while others did not.

The sheep he chose were not all the ones everyone thought highly of. Some looked ordinary, but gave him a good feeling. Since they were not expensive, he bought those as well.

After he had picked more than a dozen sheep, several people gradually began following behind Shi Wen. They were all young men.

Shi Wen glanced at them. Their faces were unfamiliar, so they were probably not from his village.

When the young men met Shi Wen's gaze, one of them took the initiative to speak. "Brother, which village are you from? Did you just come back? You're amazing at picking sheep!"

Shi Wen stopped. "Breeze Village. Did you come back to raise sheep too?"

The young man said, "We've always raised sheep in the village. We haven't seen you before. Want to add each other on WeChat?"

They were all from the same area, and there would probably be plenty of dealings between them in the future.

Shi Wen readily added the young men on WeChat.

The young men invited him to go horseback riding, herding, and drinking with them sometime.

Shi Wen said that if he had the chance, he definitely would.

The young men approaching him was merely a small interlude. After parting from them, Shi Wen continued buying sheep.

He made decisions readily and did not press prices down too ruthlessly. After bargaining two or three times, he could generally make the purchase.

After spending the entire morning browsing, Shi Wen had bought thirty-seven lambs: thirty-two ewe lambs and five castrated ram lambs.

Castrated ram lambs were relatively docile and could graze alongside the ewes. When the time came, they could be sold for slaughter as meat sheep.