Chapter 18 (continued)

He tied the coat he had taken off around his waist and leisurely drove the cattle and sheep onward.

Heiwa, Le Wa, and An Wa helped drive them from either side, keeping the cattle and sheep from straying.

With three dogs to help him, Shi Wen managed the large herd of cattle and sheep with relative ease.

Shi Wen's gaze fell on the brown cattle up ahead.

The two newly purchased brown cows walked among the herd with steady steps, showing no sign that they had been seriously ill or were pregnant.

They walked among the cattle and sheep as though they had always belonged on the ranch.

It looked like the two cows had settled into the big family quite well. Things were looking good.

The livestock walked slowly, lowering their heads to graze as they went. When they passed a ditch, the geese playing and grazing beside it took an interest and waddled after them, calling, "Honk, honk."

The geese had shed their down and grown white feathers, making them quite beautiful. They were noisy and curious, though, and loved following people or animals and suddenly pecking them.

Shi Wen saw the geese following them but couldn't be bothered to chase them off. He whistled and called, "Heiwa!"

Heiwa stopped and turned to see the geese behind them. He gave an authoritative "Woof!" Hearing him, Le Wa and An Wa stopped in unison and turned to look too.

Le Wa was the first to lose patience. The dog bounded forward on all fours and quickly ran to drive the geese back. "Woof, woof!"

The geese and dogs had clashed several times lately, always ending in an overwhelming victory for the dogs.

The half-grown geese were no match for the half-grown dogs. Whenever they caused trouble, the dogs would bite them and pin them down with their paws.

After a few such encounters, the geese had learned their lesson and no longer dared to provoke the dogs.

Seeing Le Wa running over, the geese flapped their wings in panic and fled, half flying and half running, honking all the way.

In their panic, they left a pile of snow-white feathers behind.

Seeing the geese panic only made Le Wa more excited. Barking loudly, the dog ran up in front of them and bared its teeth to scare them.

Seeing this, Shi Wen called, "Le Wa!"

Le Wa was too caught up in the chase to listen and kept running forward.

Shi Wen called again, "Heiwa!"

When Heiwa looked over, Shi Wen shouted, "From the back left!" He made a gesture, telling Heiwa to circle around from the back left and stop Le Wa before the dog chased the geese to death.

At the same time, Shi Wen started running toward Le Wa from the other side.

But before Shi Wen and Heiwa could reach the dog, Le Wa suddenly stumbled over something and tumbled head over heels several times. The fall made the tail end of the dog's "Woof!" change pitch.

While Le Wa was down, Shi Wen ran over, scooped the dog up under the front legs with both hands, and held Le Wa up to look the dog in the eye.

Le Wa seemed dazed by the fall, eyes unable to focus and furry face utterly bewildered.

Shi Wen had intended to scold the out-of-control dog, but seeing this, he first felt Le Wa's head and face, checking for injuries.

Le Wa finally recovered and let out a whimper, then bumped a big head against Shi Wen's chest, seeking comfort.

Shi Wen held the dog with one arm and knocked Le Wa on the head with his other hand. Keeping a stern face, he scolded, "You've got the nerve to whimper? Chase the geese again and I'll take away your treats for today!"

Once he was sure Le Wa was all right, Shi Wen set the dog down, bent over to pat Heiwa, who was waiting nearby, and pulled out a treat to reward him. "Good job!"

Heiwa ate the treat from Shi Wen's palm and barked loudly. "Woof!"

Nearby, Le Wa, knowing the chase had been wrong, didn't dare make a sound. Farther away, An Wa, who had been too lazy to run and had stayed put slacking off, looked on enviously.

Shi Wen looked at each of the three dogs in turn, then looked away.

The three dogs at home had three different personalities. Heiwa was already showing signs of becoming a capable helper, but Le Wa and An Wa still needed patient training. There was no rushing it.

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

He wanted to check on the ranch's old cornfield on the way.

When the ranch had belonged to his grandfather, a large plot had been cleared to grow silage corn and other forage crops.

It had lain fallow for several years now.

He had looked at it a few times before, but had only gotten a general idea of its condition and hadn't been able to spare the time to clear it.

Now that he had time, he needed to reclaim the cornfield.

Shi Wen came to the old cornfield. Though it had lain fallow for years, a few scattered corn plants still grew there, though not very well.

He walked into the field and dug out a clump of soil with his hand.

This area had genuine black soil, dark and loose. With just a little digging, he could turn up a large clump.

He rubbed it between his fingers and felt that the soil had held up fairly well. It was much better than wasteland; once plowed, it would be ready to use with a layer of base fertilizer.

He had only been here a little over two months, so he hadn't accumulated much manure, and none of it had finished composting. If he wanted base fertilizer, he would have to buy some first.

Shi Wen sent Fu Meng a message on WeChat and paid him a visit that evening.

Fu Meng welcomed Shi Wen into his home. "I haven't seen you in days. How are those two cows you just bought?"

Shi Wen said, "Dr. Sikewell said their pregnancies are stable now. If they're well cared for, they should give birth to calves next May."

Fu Meng smiled. "That's great. I thought it would be another two years before any calves were born on your ranch. I didn't expect it to happen so soon. Your sheep can be bred this year too, right?"

Shi Wen nodded. "Yes. I'm planning to get them in better condition for a while longer and breed them in October, just in time for spring lambs in March."

Cows were pregnant for nine months, but five months was enough for sheep.

It was Shi Wen's first year raising sheep, and he was afraid it would be too cold if the lambs were born in winter. They could easily die young if he failed to care for them properly, so he wanted to put it off a little.

By then, spring would have arrived and fresh forage would be growing, which would also help the ewes nurse their lambs.

Many local people bred their sheep in August.