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Shi Wen immediately perked up. "What good news?"

In an instant, Shi Wen's mind wandered to many things, including the joyous events both inside and outside the ranch.

He was waiting for Yan Kexing to speak when Yan Kexing laughed and flicked his forehead, "The tomatoes in the backyard are red."

Shi Wen somewhat disappointed. "Ah, I thought it was something big, is this all?"

Yan Kexing: "Isn't it a good thing that the tomatoes are turning red? It's not easy to find fresh vegetables this season."

Shi Wen and said, "That's true."

Shi Wen that winter was the time when vegetables were most scarce, but that's not actually the case.

As long as the temperature isn't too low, many vegetables can be grown in winter, and in fact, most leafy green vegetables are grown in winter, such as Chinese cabbage, bok choy, rapeseed, and spinach.

On the contrary, when spring arrives, around April and May, vegetables are in short supply.

At that time, the winter and spring vegetables had already been eaten up, and the summer vegetables were not yet ripe, so there were not many fresh vegetables to eat, and we could only eat things like dried potatoes and vegetables.

Of course, that's under the condition of growing vegetables naturally. If you go out to buy them, you'll never lack fresh vegetables all year round.

Shi Wen hearing that the tomatoes were ripe, so I couldn't resist taking a basket to the backyard to pick some.

Tomatoes are extremely productive. He turned the branches over, and there were bunches of tomatoes under the leaves, big and small, Qingqing and red, looking very lively.

He picked a basket of ripe tomatoes, ran inside, and said to Yan Kexing, "We haven't had tomato stewed beef brisket in ages. Shall we have it tonight?"

"I've already taken the beef brisket out of the fridge," Yan Kexing, chopping the side dishes. "It'll be ready in a bit."

Shi Wen exclaimed with emotion, "We really are on the same wavelength!"

Yan Kexing smiled slightly.

This was the first time I ate beef brisket stewed with tomatoes from our own ranch this year, Shi Wen ate three big bowls of rice right away.

"It smells so good!" Shi Wen so full she didn't want to move. "Our tomatoes are so fresh, the flavor is so rich!"

Yan Kexing: "Perhaps because we used last year's seeds, the tomatoes' superior genes have accumulated further, resulting in a more unique flavor. Tomorrow I'll send them to Zhu Ji for testing to see if the tomatoes' Abilities have improved compared to last year?"

Shi Wen, "I have a feeling. This year's tomatoes are outstanding, even better than last year's. It wouldn't make sense if their Abilities values didn't increase."

Yan Kexing: "Then let's wait for the test results."

Shi Wen pick some to give the little ones as a treat.

Cong Zai, Changfeng, the little snow leopard, and the little fox—these carnivores only occasionally dine on tomatoes as a treat, like fruit.

The dogs still prefer meat, and they'll eat tomatoes too, but they're not their favorite.

The family's herbivores absolutely adore tomatoes, especially Shi Suo and Yan Shi. Carrots are no longer their favorite; they only love tomatoes and can eat a whole bowl of them every day.

Shi Wen people taking tomatoes to feed pregnant mares and cows to help them recover.

It was only at this point that Shi Wen discovered that all sixty of his Simmental cows were pregnant.

Laibao was still the same big bull, looking no different from usual, showing no signs of weakness.

Shi Wen never expected that the carefully bred ram would fail in just two days and need to drink Cistanche honey water to replenish its strength. Laibao, on the other hand, remained calm from beginning to end, not drinking even a sip of Cistanche honey water, but finishing all the tasks he was supposed to do.

He remarked to Yan Kexing, "You really can't judge a book by its cover."

Yan Kexing: "A bull in its prime is indeed quite different. I've taken a look, and the livestock have all been bred well this spring, but shouldn't Eight Treasures retire?"

Babao, the male Eight Treasures, was already four years old when we bought him, and this year he's reached the "advanced age" of six. He's clearly past his prime and it's time for him to retire.

Shi Wen never intended for it to be paired again.

The rams among this year's spring lambs are of good quality. About ten of them are already showing signs of being excellent breeding rams. With proper training, they can be used as breeding rams next year.

It's okay if Eight Treasures retires this year.

Yan Kexing: "What about the first batch of ewes we bought? Should we return them?"

"We'll see how it goes. We might sell them as breeding stock this fall," Shi Wen added. "If the market is good, we'll sell them; if not, we'll let them live. They should be able to reproduce for a few more years."

The livestock of the Shi Wen family are all of very good quality. Even if word gets out, they will not be used as meat livestock, but as breeding stock.

Since he had previously planned to improve the breed quality of local livestock, selling breeding stock directly would also be a form of improvement.

Actually, he probably doesn't need to sell them outside. If he were to agree, his friends would definitely be able to buy his breeding livestock in advance.

However, that will have to wait until autumn; now is not a good season for buying and selling livestock.

Their livestock weren't going to be sold yet; the tomato test results came back first.

This year's tomatoes Abilities value as high as 97. Although they haven't reached the standard for Variant Ingredients, they are already a rare and excellent ingredient.

When Zhu Ji personally delivered the results to the ranch, he asked Shi Wen, "Are you going to put these tomatoes on the market for sale?"

Shi Wen, "Let's not do it for now. Let's put some in the April member gift pack, give some to members, and we'll eat some ourselves. There won't be much left."

Zhu Ji: "You have a whole backyard, and you say there aren't many."

Shi Wen, "There's not much left. We have to leave some for the little ones, and the pregnant livestock also need a treat. So there's not much left after all."

Zhu Ji sighed, "I thought I could buy your tomatoes on the mini-program."

Shi Wen, "If you like it, why don't you just come and pick it?"

Zhu Ji: "Since you put it that way, I won't hold back."

"Don't mention it," Shi Wen said. "It's just a few tomatoes. Why don't you come and watch the ranch for me for a couple of days? You can pick as many tomatoes as you want."

Zhu Ji: "Where are you going again?"

Shi Wen, "Aren't the new season's tomatoes all ripe? Let's take them to feed the two tigers. We haven't seen a male snow leopard in a long time, so we'll go see one on the way. It's such a long way; it'll probably take us at least a couple of days to get there."