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That day, Shi Wen casually dug into the ditch with a hoe and easily scooped out a full hoeful of silt.

They haven't cleaned this ditch for almost two years. A lot of silt brought from upstream has accumulated at the bottom of the ditch, and the geese and Bresse chickens that roam around nearby have also stirred up a lot of mud and sand into the ditch.

It looks like we'll have to clean it again this year, otherwise the ditch will get clogged and the water flow will decrease.

Shi Wen's family has so many livestock and poultry. They are fine inside the sheds, but when they go outside, they mainly rely on this large ditch that runs through the pasture for drinking water.

For ranches, ditches are their lifeline.

With so much silt inside, Shi Wen Shi Wen to hire someone to help clear it.

He's not the same person he used to be. There's more to do on the ranch now, so he can't just spend two months doing everything by himself like before. It's faster to hire someone.

His family always paid generously, and the work wasn't too strenuous.

As soon as the message was posted in various WeChat groups that people were needed, many people rushed to sign up, most of them women.

With economic development, fewer and fewer people are left to graze their livestock here, and even fewer are venturing into the deep mountain pastures.

Many men choose to go to work in other places and leave right after the New Year, leaving women at home to take care of the elderly, children, and livestock. It is mostly women who go out to work.

In the past, it wasn't very obvious Shi Wen about it, but this year, as soon as recruitment started, the situation became particularly clear.

Shi Wen said to Fu Meng, "It seems our local animal husbandry is going to decline."

Fu Meng: "It was already declining. How can our family-run farms compare to other large-scale livestock farms? Only some elderly people and women who have no other work continue to raise livestock."

Shi Wen nodded.

Fu Meng said, "Don't even think about it. Raising livestock isn't very profitable, and it's risky. If you can avoid it, it's best not to. Find some other work to do; it's much better to have a stable income regardless of drought or flood."

Shi Wen, "You don't want to raise it anymore?"

Fu Meng: "I'm alright. I'm the village chief, so I'll definitely stay here. My child is still in school, and I don't have time to do anything else. Let's talk about it in a few years. By the way, the village is having its spring meeting on Wednesday at 3 PM. Remember to come!"

Shi Wen that ranches are established here, and there are actually quite a few meetings held here, including various livestock and agricultural meetings, which are held several times every quarter.

The meetings were held in the village, and every household was required to send someone to attend if they were engaged in local agriculture or animal husbandry.

Their meetings mainly convey policies, and sometimes they also give presentations. If you attend the meetings attentively, you can learn quite a lot.

He had previously been Shi Wen various titles by his superiors, but he politely declined them all.

He's not interested in these things right now, but he could attend a livestock conference to get some industry information.

Shi Wen kept the time in mind and attended on time on Wednesday.

During the meeting, he noticed that the number of people from the village who had gone out to work had indeed increased, and the number of attendees had decreased.

This meeting mainly focused on sharing information about animal husbandry, including disease prevention and control, sales of livestock products, and market forecasts for this year.

Shi Wen taking simple notes on their phones while attending meetings, while most others chatted during the meetings, only half-listening.

After the meeting, Shi Wen rode his horse home.

As I passed Zhao Yongqiang's house, Shi Wen heard a dog barking.

The dog was barking very loudly; you could tell the mother dog was very anxious inside.

Upon Shi Wen this, he reined in his horse, dismounted, and waited for the mother dog.

The next moment, the mother dog indeed emerged from the yard gate.

It squeezed open the gate a crack, then ran out and squatted at Shi Wen's feet, Shi Wen its tail vigorously at him.

Shi Wen smiled and patted its head, "Are you thanking me? You don't need to be so polite."

The mother dog barked loudly twice more, it was unclear whether she was responding.

Shi Wen to pet it and mount my horse to leave, the mother dog suddenly barked loudly into the yard again.

The call was unusual, Shi Wen thought it had something to say, so he stood in front of the horse and waited for a moment.

After waiting, the mother dog stopped barking, but the puppies in the yard lined up and came out.

There are seven puppies in total, ranging from black to yellow to white, all sorts of colors.

The seven puppies sat in a row, squatting there neatly, wagging their tails frantically Shi Wen, and making childish barks.

Shi Wen never expected that the mother dog had called them out to thank him.

For a moment, Shi Wen didn't know what to say.

After a while, he stroked each of the soft puppies and said, "You're all too kind."

After saying goodbye to the puppy, he rode home on horseback.

As evening fell, fiery clouds lingered in the sky, turning a brilliant and spectacular orange-red, like a dazzling jade disc standing upright on the pasture.

Shi Suo's platinum-gold fur looked exceptionally handsome against the backdrop of the fiery sunset.

It seemed not to be a horse from the human world, but rather a horse transformed from the clouds in the sky, descending directly from heaven.

Shi Wen someone riding a horse to the edge of the main courtyard.

The other little ones had already come out to greet us.

The dogs, in particular, were wiggling their butts so happily that they looked like they were dancing.

Shi Wen so many little ones running over enthusiastically, Shi Wen felt much of his fatigue dissipate, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

The White Tiger Changfeng rushed over, its thicker paws landing on Shi Wen's arm, meowing loudly like a child wanting a hug.

As soon as the little snow leopard saw Changfeng coming over, it immediately ran over, nudging the White Tiger aside with its rear end, and wanted a hug too. "Woof!"

The little guys got upset and swarmed over, stepping on each other's feet and bumping into each other's bottoms, barking all at once.

Shi Wen had no choice but to hug each of them one by one, even the largest Wolf King, and gently stroke its thick back.