Chapter 22

The manure scraper was another recent purchase he had made after receiving his loan. It cost over twenty thousand yuan, so it wasn't particularly cheap, but it saved him a great deal of cleaning time.

With the manure scraper, he could clean the entire enormous livestock shed in a little over ten minutes and spray disinfectant while he was at it.

The scraped-up manure and urine could be taken straight to the fermentation pit and dumped with the press of a button. It was extremely convenient.

That morning, the construction crew Shi Wen had hired arrived at the ranch.

He wanted to build another livestock shed at the northeastern corner of the ranch's cluster of buildings. He had submitted the application long ago, but the building permit had only been approved in the past few days.

As he raised more and more livestock, the existing shed would gradually become too small. He would have to expand.

Now that a new shed was being built, it could be used to quarantine and house new livestock. Putting them in the warehouse every time really wasn't a proper solution.

The crew had been recommended by Zhang Deyuan. They were a long-established local construction crew with a consistently good reputation, and their rates were low.

For Shi Wen's new livestock shed, the crew supplied both labor and materials, charging 380 yuan per square meter. Floor tiles, wall tiles, fencing, roof tiles, and the like were all included. Only the windows and the plumbing and electrical work required separate payment from Shi Wen.

Now that he had money, Shi Wen didn't want to spend too much effort on this. He signed a contract with the crew and left them to handle it.

The crew worked efficiently. In just one month, they built a large, five-hundred-square-meter livestock shed on Shi Wen's ranch.

In the meantime, Shi Wen hired separate plumbers and electricians to install the water and electricity, and the windows were fitted too.

The new shed was more scientifically designed, with better natural lighting, ventilation, and insulation.

Shi Wen planned to house the cattle and sheep separately, putting the cattle here and leaving the sheep in the old shed.

As soon as the new shed was finished, Shi Wen moved the five dairy cows from the warehouse into it.

Perhaps Shi Wen had grown better at raising livestock, or perhaps the cows had been in good shape to begin with, but all five had pulled through this time. They were all alive and in pretty good condition.

If he resold them, getting twenty thousand yuan for each cow would be no problem at all. Compared with what he had paid for them, he could make over eighty thousand yuan in one go.

But he wasn't short of money now, and he had no intention of making a quick profit that way.

Shi Wen invited Sikewell over again to examine the five cows that had recovered from their illness.

As soon as their full recovery was confirmed, Shi Wen couldn't resist bringing over the electric milker. He came back with three large buckets of milk in all.

This was the first batch of milk produced on his ranch.

Perhaps because he had been feeding the cows well lately, the milk had an appealing pale yellow tint. One look and he could tell it was delicious.

Shi Wen carried the milk into the kitchen and carefully poured it into a clean soup pot, then slowly brought it to a boil over low heat.

As he cooked the milk, a thick skin quickly formed on top. A rich aroma rose with the steam and drifted everywhere.

At some point, the dogs had caught the scent and were all sitting obediently outside the kitchen.

This time, even Heiwa couldn't resist.

They sat in a row, barking from time to time, with anxious whimpers mixed in.

The whimpers were unmistakably coming from An Wa, that little attention seeker. An Wa also pawed at Shi Wen's door, urging him to hurry up.

Shi Wen stirred the milk as it cooked, listening to the sounds outside with a broad smile on his face.

The milk finally came to a boil, and Shi Wen poured out four bowls.

His own was a large bowl filled to the brim, while the three dogs each had only a shallow layer at the bottom of theirs.

Shi Wen set the milk down in front of the kitchen for the dogs, then picked up his own full bowl and started drinking.

Heiwa and Le Wa both buried their heads and drank.

An Wa, however, looked at Shi Wen's bowl, then at An Wa's own. Unhappy, An Wa pawed at the bowl and protested, "Woof!"

Shi Wen said, "Puppies can't drink too much milk."

An Wa tilted their head, round eyes full of suspicion. "Woof!"

"It's true." Shi Wen took a sip of milk. "If puppies drink too much milk, they'll get diarrhea. And if they get diarrhea, I'll have to call Doctor Sikewell over to give them an injection."

As he spoke, Shi Wen made a gesture of giving an injection.

The three puppies at home had only just gotten their vaccinations, so An Wa understood as soon as Shi Wen made the gesture.

An Wa hesitated and circled the bowl of milk twice before finally burying their head in it and starting to lap!

Standing at the kitchen door, Shi Wen watched the dogs drink with their heads down and took another big mouthful of milk, smiling.

As expected of milk produced on his own ranch—it was wonderfully rich and fragrant!

Enjoying the fruits of his own labor felt wonderful.

Chapter 22

In the morning, Shi Wen's usual waking time arrived.

His body clock woke him, and he opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling above him.

The room was very dim. He turned his head toward the window, where tiny raindrops struck the glass and ran down it, leaving long wet trails.

It had started raining in the middle of the night. The noisy rain pattered against the roof and windows, and he had woken and gone back to sleep. Even now, he didn't want to get up.

Shi Wen reached under his pillow for his phone and set an alarm for ten minutes.

Just ten more minutes in bed.

After ten minutes, I'll have to get up and feed the cattle and sheep.

Ten minutes later, the alarm went off right on time.

With the greatest reluctance, Shi Wen pushed himself upright in bed. Yawning, he pulled his coat over from the foot of the bed, slipped it on, and got up to wash.

He took his time washing up, then heated some milk in the microwave and drank it. Only then did he finally shake off his sleepiness.

He went to the door, took a pair of tall rain boots from the shoe rack and changed into them, then put on a raincoat and prepared to go outside.

To his surprise, when he opened the door, the courtyard was full of little flowers, some white and some red, as though a floral carpet had been spread across the ground.

Crystal-clear droplets clung to the flowers, and whenever the wind blew, the whole blooms swayed.

There were so many flowers!

Shi Wen had never expected the courtyard to look so completely different after a single night.

Surprised, he strode out into the courtyard.

Standing at the entrance to the courtyard, he looked out and saw swaying white flowers covering the entire grassland, stretching all the way from here to the foot of the mountains.