Chapter 65

His WeChat Moments post last night received many likes, one of which was from his newly added friend Duan Haoying.

Duan Haoying even sent him a video.

The video shows a little girl wearing a bib around her neck, holding children's chopsticks, and eating meat piece by piece with great relish.

Below the video is Duan Haoying's voice message: "This is my little granddaughter. She usually refuses to eat meat, but this time she ate a piece of mutton one bite at a time, and then she laughed and laughed after finishing it."

Duan Haoying: "Your lamb is really delicious; kids and the elderly love it. I'll buy from you again next year!"

Shi Wen was surprised that Duan Haoying, who looked so young, already had a granddaughter. She replied, "[Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Duan. I'll send you some sheep when they're ready next year.]"

Duan Haoying continued sending voice messages, "Then it's a deal, my family will eat your sheep."

The two chatted for a few minutes, and Shi Wen was very happy about the affirmation from the major client.

Shi Wen finished washing up and went out yawning.

Yang Yiqing walked in from outside and said to him, "Professor Yan left some food in the refrigerator, Brother Shi, please eat first."

Shi Wen, "Have you finished eating? Have they gone out to work?"

Yang Yiqing: "Yes, I went out this morning. Professor Yan specially prepared breakfast before leaving. I've already eaten, so don't worry about me. Oh, by the way, Sister-in-law Xin brought a basket of potatoes over this morning, saying they were for you to plant. I put them in the kitchen."

Shi Wen went to check the kitchen and, sure enough, saw a large basket of potatoes by the door.

Yesterday, when we were roasting the whole lamb, he said the potatoes were delicious, both starchy and fluffy, with a unique potato aroma. Xin Xianghong said she would send him some seeds, and to her surprise, they arrived so quickly, and in such large quantities.

Shi Wen rummaged through it.

These are local small potatoes, about the size of a baby's fist, with a slightly reddish skin, which look delicious.

He sent Xin Xianghong a message to express his gratitude, then took out some rice from the refrigerator, heated it up, took a picture, and sent it to Yan Kexing.

Yan Kexing was probably busy and didn't reply to him.

He didn't pay any attention and went to eat lunch contentedly.

A partner who is so busy with work still thinks about cooking before leaving the house; that's enough to show how much they love you.

After dinner, Shi Wen drove a manure shovel to clean the sheep pen.

With 300 rams sold, the sheepfold became much emptier, and the entire pasture became much quieter.

Shi Wen cleaning the sheepfold, and I feel like I need to hurry up and buy a new batch of castrated sheep to raise after the New Year.

Yang Yiqing asked, "Brother Shi, are you going to buy a ewe? There aren't many ewes available right now."

Shi Wen the family only had 105 ewes.

The Wanderer sheep that were later adopted, except for the breeding sheep, were all slaughtered and fed to the two Hu Zai.

The current quantity is indeed a bit low.

Shi Wen said, "Yes, we'll have to see how things go. The key is quality, not quantity. If the livestock doesn't meet the standards, we won't keep them."

Yang Yiqing: "Then shouldn't we hurry up and find them?"

"There's no rush," Shi Wen explained. "The ewes are all pregnant, and their offspring will be ready for breeding next year or the year after, increasing the number of breeding ewes by at least seventy or eighty. Plus, they can get pregnant again at the end of the year, meaning we'll have about two hundred breeding ewes available next year. There's no need to rush."

Shi Wen that many of my ewes are pregnant with twins or even triplets, so it shouldn't be difficult to increase the number of breeding ewes by seventy or eighty.

He has confidence in the second generation of sheep in his family.

Yang Yiqing, Shi Wen writing rapidly and asked, "Do you have any suggestions?"

Yang Yiqing said, "Given the scale of your operation, you could definitely raise more breeding sheep. Raising meat sheep is too unprofitable. Didn't you say you wanted to increase your flock to three thousand? I think you could have fifteen hundred meat sheep and fifteen hundred breeding sheep."

Shi Wen and said, "Breeding sheep require much more meticulous care than meat sheep, so 1,500 is a bit too optimistic."

Yang Yiqing: "No, I think this plan is still too conservative."

Yang Yiqing pulled out a sheet of paper from under the folder. "This is my draft. You can take a look, Brother Shi. I think that considering the size of the pasture, the expected harvest of the forage, and your management skills, raising 1,500 breeding sheep is no problem at all."

Shi Wen glanced at it; it was covered with dense calculations.

Yang Yiqing: "I don't know the reason, but it's clear that Brother Shi, your breeding skills are exceptional. I can almost guarantee that next year's breeding sheep, both males and females, will be much better than this year's. You should be able to cull a batch next year."

Yang Yiqing: "I think that next year when you sell sheep, you won't just be selling meat sheep, but also breeding sheep."

Shi Wen stared at the data in his hand and murmured, "You're almost convinced."

Yang Yiqing: "It's the facts that are about to convince you, not me."

Chapter 65

The weather has shown signs of warming up in the last couple of days.

The wind blew in from the south, bringing warm, humid air.

The pasture became muddy from being trodden by people and livestock.

Although it's warmer than before, it's still not a good time to drive livestock out to graze.

Cold and damp weather makes cattle and sheep very susceptible to illness. His cattle and sheep were about to give birth, Shi Wen dared not take the risk.

He could only continue feeding the pigs, cattle, and sheep a diet consisting of hay, silage, corn kernels, and fishmeal, and customized appropriate feed ratios for each animal.

Yan Kexing and the others went out to work.

Shi Wen and Yang Yiqing stayed at home, overseeing the renovation of the ranch and taking care of the livestock.

Shi Wen used large scissors to cut the hay bales, Yang Yiqing came over to help. Shi Wen tried to refuse, but failed, so she let her do as she pleased.

Yang Yiqing held a bundle of hay. "This bundle of hay smells so good, it has the scent of sunshine and the sweetness of wild grass."

Shi Wen, "Well-preserved hay looks like this, but the flavor mainly comes from wildflowers and herbs; ordinary wild grasses don't have much of a fragrance."