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Beads of sweat broke out on the tip of Shi Wen's nose as he ate.

Only after breakfast did the two go to the lamb market.

The lambs were kept in individual wooden cages. None were more than three months old, and they were mostly local fat-tailed sheep.

There were several fat-tailed sheep breeds in China, such as Altay, Inner Mongolian and Shandong fat-tailed sheep. When buying lambs, people generally chose locally bred varieties.

Local breeds were suited to the local soil, water and climate, fell ill less often, and had meat with a more distinctive local character.

Fat-tailed sheep were sheep.

Goats were less common here.

Sheep mainly ate grass and fodder, while goats more often ate leaves, roots and stems. There was plenty of pasture and little mountainous land here, so sheep were more suitable to raise.

Shi Wen started with the first wooden cage. Copying the others, he checked the lambs' teeth, legs and coloring, and squeezed their backs... He looked like he knew what he was doing.

Fu Meng watched in amazement. "You have experience raising sheep?"

Shi Wen looked up. "I've read books."

Fu Meng laughed. "Books aren't quite the same as real life."

Shi Wen said, "Then I'll just have to use what I learned from the books and pick by feel. Once I'm done, please help me check my choices, Brother Fu."

Shi Wen had already realized that Fu Meng had come to the market today partly to help him pick lambs, though he hadn't said so outright.

Fu Meng agreed at once. "Sure."

While they were talking, Shi Wen felt that the lamb under his hand was slightly different from the others.

There was no specific measure of that difference. Somehow, he simply felt that this lamb wasn't quite the same as the rest.

He looked down.

It was a ewe.

She was probably no more than three months old, with a white face, little feet and little ears. She was fluffy all over, exceptionally snowy white and cute, with a very fine coat.

Shi Wen put his hand on her back and, feeling the muscle beneath, gave it a gentle squeeze. He found a finger's thickness of fat there; she was quite plump.

The little lamb raised her head and stared wide-eyed at the squeeze, then let out a "baa." Even her bleat was clear and cute.

Shi Wen felt her fleece again. It was quite fluffy too.

He checked her legs. They were straight, with no bowing or splaying.

With those points meeting his standards, Shi Wen was already eighty percent satisfied. He pried the lamb's mouth open.

The lamb had small, rice-grain teeth in her lower jaw. They were white and even, and clearly in very good condition.

Sheep only had lower teeth, with none on top, just a hard dental pad. As long as the lower teeth passed inspection, the teeth were good.

Shi Wen rubbed the lamb's back and turned to the older woman selling her. "Auntie, how much is this sheep?"

The woman straightened up and enthusiastically began her pitch. "This little lamb is a fine one, the best sheep we have. Buy her as a breeding ewe, and I guarantee she'll give you a whole flock of fine sheep. If you really want her, you can have her for 600."

Before Shi Wen could reply, Fu Meng's eyes widened. "Auntie, is your sheep made of gold? For one just as good, 300 is the absolute highest price."

The woman drew herself up. "If you can buy one for 300, I'll take as many as you can get!"

Fu Meng said, "Even so, she's not worth 600. There are fine sheep all over the market. Yours is good, but other people's aren't bad either. I'd say 320 at most."

The woman said, "320 is too low. If you really want her, I'll take 50 off. You can have her for 550!"

Shi Wen joined the bargaining. "350."

The woman waved her hand repeatedly. "350 won't do. If you really want her, I'll let you have her for 530."

Shi Wen's limit was 500. As Fu Meng had said, the lamb really was good, but she wasn't so good that there was no other like her. If she cost more than 500, he would pass.

The two sides bargained for several minutes before the woman finally sold her for 420.

With the sale made, the woman handed Shi Wen the spray paint she was holding and told him to mark the lamb himself.

Shi Wen sprayed a "1" on the lamb's rump to show that she was the first sheep he had bought. Once they had finished buying them all, Fu Meng would drive the three-wheeler to the market entrance, and they would ask the stallholders to help drive the purchased sheep onto it. Otherwise, the sheep would be hard to carry.

That was how people bought sheep here.

The two left the stall.

Fu Meng said quietly to Shi Wen, "You've been hiding your talents. You're good at picking sheep."

Shi Wen said, "I learned it all from books. Thanks for helping me bargain, Brother Fu."

Fu Meng said, "I only said a few words. You're pretty good at bargaining yourself."

Shi Wen smiled. As a working man, he really was good at bargaining.

The two continued browsing the stalls.

Shi Wen checked the stalls one by one. At some he found lambs he liked; at others he didn't.

The sheep he picked weren't all ones that everyone thought highly of. Some were quite ordinary, but they gave him a good feeling, and since they weren't expensive, he bought them too.

After he had picked more than a dozen sheep, a few people gradually began following him, all of them young.

Shi Wen glanced at them. Their faces were unfamiliar; they probably weren't from his village.

When the young men met Shi Wen's gaze, they spoke up. "Hey, which village are you from? Did you just come back? You're really good at picking sheep!"

Shi Wen stopped. "Clear Breeze Village. Did you come back to raise sheep too?"

The young men said, "We've been raising sheep in the village all along. We haven't seen you before. Want to add each other on WeChat?"

They were all in the same area, so they might have plenty of dealings with one another in the future.

Shi Wen readily exchanged WeChat contacts with the young men.

They invited him to come riding, herd sheep and drink with them sometime.

Shi Wen said he certainly would if he got the chance.

The young men approaching him were just a brief interlude. After parting ways with them, Shi Wen continued buying sheep.

He bought readily and didn't drive the price down too hard. After two or three rounds of bargaining, he could usually make a purchase.

After a morning at the market, Shi Wen had bought thirty-seven lambs: thirty-two ewes and five castrated ram lambs.

Once castrated, the ram lambs were more docile and could be grazed alongside the ewes. When the time came, they would be sent to market together as meat sheep.

After Shi Wen finished buying the lambs, Fu Meng came over from elsewhere to meet him and drove the three-wheeler over.