Page 457

Ma Chengfeng: "That's right, the disaster situation there is more severe, and we are relatively close by. After discussing it, we decided to bring supplies to help with the disaster relief, since it's much more convenient to transfer supplies from here than from other places."

Shi Wen said understandingly, "That's true. It only takes two or three hours to transfer supplies from here, which is much more convenient than transferring supplies from other places."

"That's exactly what I mean," Ma Chengfeng said. "We're in a pastoral area, so everyone wanted to send some cattle and sheep over, and maybe cook some beef and mutton soup in town to warm everyone up. I was wondering if you'd like to join us?"

Before Shi Wen answer, Ma Chengfeng continued, "I mainly wanted to ask because your livestock are quite expensive."

Shi Wen said without hesitation, "Even the most expensive livestock are for people to eat, so count my family in."

Shi Wen, "When are you going? I'll separate the livestock first, then you can come and pull them."

Ma Chengfeng asked in surprise, "You're not coming?"

Shi Wen, "I've been quite busy lately, and Yan Kexing is also busy, so I can't get away easily. You can help me take the livestock over there."

"No, wait," Ma Chengfeng called out to him, lowering his voice, "You've already paid the money, you can't just leave without any recognition, right? We're not talking about seeking fame or anything, just don't suffer losses, be realistic."

Shi Wen knew he meant well. "That's true, but I'm really tied up right now. You can help take the livestock over there."

Ma Chengfeng: "If you squeeze in some time, it doesn't matter whether you go or not. You'll see awards and interviews later, you need to be there and doing the work to get the material, right?"

Ma Chengfeng lowered his voice further. "If you get caught on camera, they can come back and investigate you for the next ten or eight years. Sometimes having a record makes a difference compared to not having one. Even if you don't do anything now, what if you do something in the future?"

Ma Chengfeng's words truly showed that Shi Wen one of his own, and Shi Wen understood his thoughts, such as wanting to become a representative in the future.

Often, procedures are just like that; you really need concrete achievements to get things done.

I don't have that idea right Shi Wen, but who knows what will happen in the future.

After thinking for a moment, he agreed, "When are you going? I'll go with you."

Ma Chengfeng said happily, "It'll be in the next day or two. I'll add you to the group. We'll post the rules and schedule there, and you'll see."

The two chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up.

Shi Wen the WeChat group again, sure enough WeChat, Ma Chengfeng had already added me to it.

There are quite a few people in the group, and everyone is offering suggestions for disaster relief.

Shi Wen the group files and saw that the latest batch of disaster relief supplies has already been dispatched today, and the next batch will be dispatched tomorrow.

In addition to bringing money and supplies, they also provided logistical support.

The disaster-stricken areas lack food and water, so it's faster for them to deliver supplies there.

After Shi Wen the message, Shi Wen called Zhang Deyuan and the others, asking them to come and help slaughter the sheep.

When Zhang Deyuan and the others heard that he was going to send sheep to the disaster area, they dropped what they were doing and came to help without saying a word.

Zhang Deyuan hadn't come to help slaughter sheep for quite some time. When he saw Shi Wen's sheep, he exclaimed in surprise, "Goodness, your sheep have gotten really big in a while!"

Shi Wen with a smile, "I just weighed them this morning. The average weight is over 150 jin (75 kg), and some even weigh over 160 jin (80 kg)."

Zhang Deyuan turned to Fu Meng and said, "This weight is enough to compete? I remember last year's big-tailed sheep competition, how many kilograms did the champion weigh?"

Fu Meng said from the side, "One hundred and ninety-seven jin, a new record has been broken."

Zhang Deyuan: "Your sheep now weigh about 150 or 160 jin (75-80 kg), but this is only a little over 30 jin (15 kg). Raising them for another six months shouldn't be a problem."

Shi Wen shook his head. "It's hard to say. Their monthly weight gain rate isn't as rapid as before."

Zhang Deyuan: "Their skeletons are probably already this big, there's not much room for them to grow any further. The main task now is still fattening them up. I feel that fattening them to 30 jin (15 kg) shouldn't be too difficult."

Shi Wen, "I haven't tried it, so I can't say for sure."

"You really need to raise these sheep well. Maybe you can win first place in the competition this fall." Zhang Deyuan looked at his sheep. "I admire no one in the pastoral area more than you. Your sheep are so well-raised. You must have spent a lot on feed this year."

Shi Wen, "After raising them for a year and a half, the cost of feeding each sheep alone is at least six thousand yuan."

Fu Meng did some mental calculations and said, "The cost of feed for one sheep at my family's farm is about 1,800 yuan a year and a half, and yours is more than three times that."

Shi Wen, "They mainly eat a lot of concentrated feed, and they mostly buy the best quality concentrated feed."

Zhang Deyuan: "That's right. Raising livestock is like that—you reap what you sow. Without a substantial investment upfront, how can you expect to get top-quality mutton later?"

This Shi Wen understanding; to raise a good animal, the material foundation must be substantial.

He feeds his sheep that yellowish, stale grass every day. Even if he had the Qilin Bloodline, he probably wouldn't be able to raise any good sheep.

Shi Wen had specifically chosen these sheep, as they were the kind that grew relatively slowly.

They had to go to disaster relief and couldn't slaughter sheep locally. In addition, the storage conditions weren't very good, Shi Wen didn't plan to slaughter too many. He would slaughter twenty sheep today, which should be enough.

If that's not enough, they can order more later; it's convenient to have a refrigerated truck transport it.

Zhang Deyuan was a master at slaughtering sheep; he managed to prepare twenty sheep in less than two hours.

Everyone who assisted him was amazed.

After slaughtering the sheep, Zhang Deyuan helped him take the sheepskin back to process it.

Zhang Deyuan's sheepskin processing skills are also excellent; the sheepskin he carefully tans is no worse than the finished products from large companies.

Shi Wen completely at ease handing over the sheepskin to him.