Chapter 90 (continued)

The lambs he bought from Red Blossom Ranch have already been castrated, and the lambs he bought last year were also mostly castrated. His own second-generation lambs are the first batch of lambs that need to be castrated.

Having little experience and finding it difficult to do it alone, he called Old Man Ma and Zhang Deyuan to come and do some short-term work for a day, helping to tie up sheep and castrate them.

Upon receiving the invitation, the two came without hesitation.

Old Man Ma also said to Shi Wen, "I was just about to say that your sheep need to be castrated. When do you need them castrated? Do you need any help? Just let us know."

Shi Wen, "I really need help with this. Yesterday I tried to hold the lamb up to it, but I still don't know where to start."

Zhang Deyuan: "Don't be afraid, we'll guide you this once, and next time you'll know how to castrate."

"Shall we get started? Besides preparing special rubber bands, what else do we need to do?" Shi Wen took out a large box of special rubber bands. "I've already disinfected the rubber bands."

Zhang Deyuan: "No need to do anything, just grab the sheep and get to work, it's not difficult."

Shi Wen then led them to the sheepfold.

The other sheep have already been driven out to graze on the pasture, Heiwa and the others are watching over them.

There are only young male sheep waiting to be castrated in the sheepfold now.

The three men Shi Wen entered the sheepfold, starting with the first sheepfold.

Upon looking at the sheep in the sheepfold, Zhang Deyuan said to Shi Wen, "You've raised this batch of sheep quite well this year. The frame and the amount of wool are really good. Hey, their bodies are good too. They'd be qualified as stud dogs if sold outside. Are you really going to castrate them?"

Shi Wen nodded. "I want to train a group of good meat sheep."

Zhang Deyuan sighed, "That's a bit of a pity. He's clearly a good prospect for a stud."

Shi Wen thought it was alright, "Even if they were used as studs, they could only be ordinary studs, not top-tier ones, so there's nothing to regret."

Zhang Deyuan: "You can't say that. Good male sheep are hard to find. Once your flock grows up, you can sell them as males for 12,000 or 13,000 yuan, no problem."

Old Man Ma interjected, "I think selling it for 14,000 or 15,000 shouldn't be a problem. Most male studs outside sell for 12,000 or 13,000."

Shi Wen, "If they were sold as meat sheep, and they could grow to 130 or 140 jin (55-60 kg), the price would be 100 or 200 yuan per jin, and even higher."

Zhang Deyuan shook his head. "Only you dare to say that. Who can be so sure that their mutton will sell for one or two hundred yuan a pound?"

The three people talked, but their hands didn't stop moving.

They nimbly grabbed a lamb, wrapped the rope around its neck, and quickly tied it to the frame before grabbing its front legs.

The lamb was tied up for the first time and couldn't move at all. It could only bleat loudly, scaring its companions around it into trembling.

Old Man Ma squeezed the lamb's testicles with his dry, rough hands, quickly positioned them in the right spot, and then fastened them with rubber bands.

After the rubber bands were tied around the lamb's legs, it immediately spread its legs and bleated loudly.

Shi Wen and Zhang Deyuan let it go, it seemed unable to walk, only able to shuffle forward little by little with its legs spread apart.

Shi Wen looked at the little lamb with some concern.

Zhang Deyuan had already nimbly caught the second lamb, tied it up, and then gestured for Shi Wen to come and grab the lamb's leg. "Don't worry about it, it'll get used to it soon."

Old Man Ma also said, "Sheep can endure pain better than people; it'll be fine in a bit."

As he spoke, Old Man Ma began squeezing the testicles of the second lamb, squeezing them one by one until he had finished another lamb.

They Shi Wen released the lambs.

The little lamb also stood with its legs apart, but its temper was obviously much more violent than the first little lamb. As soon as it was released, it immediately turned its head and rushed straight at Old Man Ma, trying to butt Old Man Ma's buttocks.

Old Man Ma dodged to the side, nearly straining his back.

Shi Wen, Shi Wen reacted quickly and pulled the lamb back; otherwise, it would have definitely hurt him if it had gored him.

Zhang Deyuan took over the work from Old Man Ma: "I'll do the castration, you guys tie it up."

Old Man Ma sighed as he walked over, "I'm old now. If it were before, this little lamb wouldn't have gotten a single hair on my head."

Zhang Deyuan: "How old are you? If you never age, won't you turn into an old monster?"

Old Man Ma laughed heartily.

With the three working together, the process of castrating the lambs was very quick.

Basically, one every two minutes, and immediately switch to the next one after finishing the first one.

Shi Wen twenty or thirty of them, Shi Wen said to Zhang Deyuan, "I'll handle the rest. I'll learn from them, and if there's anything wrong, please point it out to me."

Zhang Deyuan: "Okay. It's very simple. As long as it's properly tied, there shouldn't be any problems."

Old Man Ma nodded. "It's much simpler than when we were young. Back then, we had to use knives, and if we accidentally castrated a cow or sheep, we would lose a lot of money."

Shi Wen, "That's true, at least this one doesn't involve bloodshed."

Shi Wen wasn't very skilled and his movements were a bit slower than Zhang Deyuan's, but he could still finish one in three or four minutes.

It was only noon by the time all seventy-odd male lambs had been castrated.

Shi Wen invited the two to have lunch at his house. "I bought a good batch of beef a few days ago, how about we have hot pot for lunch today?"

Old Man Ma chuckled, "That would be wonderful if you were willing to treat us. Do you have any wine?"

Shi Wen, "Of course we have it; we can have it whenever we want."

I've recently Shi Wen that I've fallen in love with tomato hot pot, so I treated Zhang Deyuan and the others to it, and even used a half-and-half pot, half tomato and half clear broth.

Zhang Deyuan and his friends were used to eating clear broth beef and mutton dipped in chive blossom sauce; they loved that flavor.

Shi Wen loves everything, as long as it tastes good.

Eating hot pot is the simplest thing ever: just cut up big platters of meat, make a dipping sauce, and you're all set.

He cooked the hot pot using an induction cooker.

The hot pot quickly started bubbling and boiling, filling the room with the delicious and rich aroma of the tomato broth.

Zhang Deyuan, who usually only eats clear broth hot pot, couldn't resist the aroma. "This broth smells amazing!"