Recaps

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing agreed to join a forest musk deer investigation, which the city hoped might lead to a new breeding project for poverty alleviation. During the mountain search, the team spotted a deer that an expert thought might have come from neighboring G Province.

• Zhou Hongzhong formally invited Yan Kexing to join the investigation, and Shi Wen celebrated winning their bet.
• Zhou Hongzhong explained that municipal departments hoped to explore breeding forest musk deer as a poverty alleviation project.
• Shi Wen warned Zhou Hongzhong that his brother should weigh the risks of raising deer without local breeding stock or strong husbandry skills.
• Shi Wen led the investigation team along forest musk deer tracks and stopped them when he found fresh signs of activity.
• Yan Kexing spotted a forest musk deer about two hundred and thirty meters ahead, and an expert said its markings suggested it came from neighboring G Province.

Shi Wen investigated a lone forest musk deer and, intrigued by the possibility of using musk as an animal byproduct, decided to try raising some on his mountain. With help from the authorities, he obtained breeding permits and arranged to buy five male deer, while Zhu Ji offered him more land if he later expanded.

• Shi Wen and the expert watched a forest musk deer from a distance, then searched for its tracks, food, and water sources but found no den.
• After several days of observation, Shi Wen concluded that forest musk deer might be manageable to raise and discussed the idea with Yan Kexing.
• Shi Wen decided to raise forest musk deer in a semi-wild environment, and Yan Kexing reminded him to obtain permits and find a seller.
• The authorities helped Shi Wen secure breeding permits and introduced him to a seller of forest musk deer.
• Shi Wen chose to buy five male deer for a trial run, and Zhu Ji offered him additional mountains if he needed more space.
• Shi Wen declined Zhu Ji's offer for now and asked whether Zhu Ji had come to see him about something.

Zhu Ji visited Shi Wen’s ranch to obtain fritillaria bulbs and honey for a senior expert with worsening lung problems. Shi Wen took him to dig up the ranch’s wild fritillaria, where Zhu Ji was surprised by how small the bulbs were.

• Zhu Ji asked Shi Wen for fritillaria honey and bulbs to help treat a senior expert’s lung condition, and Shi Wen agreed to provide some.
• Zhu Ji arrived early the next morning with gifts, helped feed Heiwa and the other little ones, and said he wanted to run more tests on them.
• Shi Wen and Zhu Ji went to Pasture No. 2 to dig up fritillaria using small tools that would avoid damaging the grassland.
• Zhu Ji dug up a fritillaria bulb and questioned whether it was mature enough, but Shi Wen told him it had grown for several years and was a normal size.

Shi Wen dug up fritillaria bulbs and supplied them, along with fritillaria honey, to Zhu Ji, whose contacts reported that they worked extremely well. Zhu Ji brought Shi Wen a cold-resistant bamboo variety as a gift, and Shi Wen planted it with Yan Kexing and Zhu Ji on the mountain.

• Shi Wen and Zhu Ji dug up fifty fritillaria bulbs, and Zhu Ji took them along with thirty milliliters of fritillaria honey.
• Zhu Ji paid Shi Wen five hundred thousand for the bulbs and one million for the honey, then reported that both had worked extremely well.
• Zhu Ji delivered a gift of cold-resistant bamboo cultivated for Shi Wen's area, with high-quality shoots and an Ability value over 60.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing joined Zhu Ji to plant the bamboo in an open spot on the mountain, and Shi Wen explained that they would wait until it took root before adding fertilizer.

Shi Wen received five forest musk deer at his ranch and settled them into an isolated shed, where they gradually adjusted to Yan Kexing's presence. That evening, his two pregnant black pigs went into labor, and Shi Wen and Yan Kexing rushed to the pigsty as the first piglets were born.

• Shi Wen and Zhu Ji discussed the forest musk deer arriving at the ranch, and all five male deer arrived on Friday evening.
• Shi Wen isolated the deer in separate stalls and found that they grew accustomed to Yan Kexing despite initially cowering in fear.
• Shi Wen and Zhu Ji noticed that the two black pigs were close to giving birth.
• As Shi Wen and Yan Kexing saw Zhu Ji off, the ranch-monitoring app alerted Shi Wen that the black pigs were in labor, so they hurried to the pigsty.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing arrived as the black pigs began giving birth, and the newborn piglets looked plump and much like purebred black piglets.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing cared for two black pigs as they gave birth, then released five healthy forest musk deer onto the mountain. Heiwa and the other dogs led Shi Wen to desert cistanche that the deer had nibbled.

• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing kept the livestock shed warm and helped two black pigs deliver thirteen and fourteen piglets.
• Shi Wen checked the newborn piglets and planned to make sure each one got enough milk.
• After quarantine ended, Shi Wen tagged five forest musk deer and released them onto the mountain.
• Heiwa, Wolf King, and the other dogs led Shi Wen north to the saxaul trees.
• Shi Wen found that the forest musk deer had nibbled the newly grown desert cistanche.

After forest musk deer ate Shi Wen’s cistanche, they secreted musk fluid again, prompting Shi Wen to keep them under observation. He sent a cistanche sample for testing and planned to have the finished musk tested as well.

• Shi Wen found that forest musk deer had gnawed the cistanche and decided to return the next day to harvest it.
• Shi Wen smelled a strong fragrance while the livestock were being driven out and ordered Heiwa, Wolf King, and the other sheepdogs to herd the deer back to their stalls.
• Shi Wen examined the five deer and found their musk sacs overflowing with newly secreted fluid, which he suspected was caused by the cistanche.
• Shi Wen kept the deer inside for observation, recorded their condition, and told Yan Kexing about the musk fluid; Yan Kexing advised sending the solidified musk to the Abnormal Affairs Bureau for testing.
• Shi Wen summoned Zhu Ji, who brought Duan Kuo to collect a cistanche sample for analysis, and Zhu Ji sent it to City B for Xing Mingyue and the laboratory teams to test.

Shi Wen learned that the latest desert cistanche was unusually potent and divided the harvest between ranch members, the Abnormal Affairs Bureau, and the ranch. Zhan Chongyun then called him from a racetrack to show him Number Nine competing in a race.

• Xing Mingyue sent Shi Wen reports showing that the desert cistanche had an average Abilities value of 341 and worked well in tests on mice.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing agreed to feed the forest musk deer small amounts of the cistanche and discussed testing it on other animals.
• Shi Wen dug up the mature desert cistanche and decided with Yan Kexing to split the harvest among ranch members, the Abnormal Affairs Bureau, and the ranch.
• Zhan Chongyun asked Shi Wen about giving cistanche to horses, then video-called him from a racetrack.
• Zhan Chongyun showed Shi Wen Number Nine and the other horses as they started racing.

Shi Wen watched Number Nine win an international championship by a wide margin, then heard from Zhan Chongyun that the ranch’s feed had helped the horses and that buyers wanted their semen. Zhan Chongyun asked whether the horses could receive cistanche to improve their breeding performance.

• Shi Wen watched Number Nine surge ahead in the final sprint and win the Roujiasi Highlands international race by more than five meters.
• Zhan Chongyun excitedly told Shi Wen that Number Nine and his rider had won the first international championship for their racehorses, then ended the call to meet the rider.
• Zhan Chongyun later told Shi Wen that the horses and riders had trained hard and that the horses liked all the feed shipped from Shi Wen’s ranch.
• Zhan Chongyun explained that buyers were offering tens to over a hundred Xi coins per milliliter for the horses’ semen, though he had not sold any yet.
• Zhan Chongyun asked whether the horses could receive cistanche, like ranch members, to perform better during breeding season.

Zhan Chongyun arranged to sell his champion horses’ semen in partnership with Shi Wen, while Shi Wen declined requests to sell his own horses. After hearing Baoye A Sai wanted to buy semen to restart horse raising, Shi Wen proposed they raise and train horses together.

• Shi Wen advised Zhan Chongyun to give the horses cistanche cautiously and approved collecting and selling their semen if their health was protected.
• Zhan Chongyun arranged for the horses’ semen to be collected and tested, then signed a supplementary agreement to split sales proceeds equally with Shi Wen.
• Shi Wen allowed Zhan Chongyun to use his ranch’s name and offered to send feed, including corn silage, for the horses to try.
• Shi Wen turned down requests to buy horses or reserve foals because he did not want to sell them to unsuitable owners.
• Baoye A Sai told Shi Wen he wanted to buy semen and try raising horses again, so Shi Wen proposed they raise and train horses together.

Shi Wen invited Baoye A Sai to the ranch to discuss working together, and Baoye A Sai arrived with a spirited gaited horse as a gift. Over dinner, they talked about raising horses and agreed Baoye A Sai would help when Shi Wen’s mare foaled next month.

• Shi Wen invited Baoye A Sai to the ranch to discuss their proposal in person and planned to make him dinner.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing prepared fatty beef in golden broth, and Shi Wen discussed their cattle’s future sale plans.
• Baoye A Sai arrived with a half-grown gaited horse as a gift, and Shi Wen accepted it and fed it hay.
• Baoye A Sai joined Shi Wen and Yan Kexing for dinner and praised the fatty beef.
• Shi Wen asked Baoye A Sai to help when their mare foaled next month, and Baoye A Sai agreed to visit and look at their horses.

Shi Wen agreed to work with Baoye A Sai on breeding horses and brought home a gaited horse to keep temporarily. That evening, the ranch animals played and fought while Chasing Clouds collected their shed fur for its felt nest.

• Shi Wen and Baoye A Sai agreed to discuss their horse-breeding partnership further after the foal was born.
• Shi Wen led the gaited horse to an empty livestock shed, and Yan Kexing explained its unusual gait and comfortable ride.
• Heiwa and the Wolf King led opposing groups in a rough play fight while Shi Wen watched the ranch animals.
• Chasing Clouds carried clumps of shed fur to its nest and used them to make felt.
• Shi Wen warned Heiwa and the Wolf King not to fight to the death, and An Wa barked and wagged its tail to show it understood.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing prepared dinner while their animals played and ate together. Sikewell examined the pregnant mares and told Shi Wen they would likely give birth in late September or early October.

• Shi Wen prepared vegetables while Yan Kexing explained that the city was planning a project to increase plant diversity next spring.
• Shi Wen filmed Shi Suo and Yan Shi trying to imitate Zou Ma’s unusual running gait before calling the animals over for dinner.
• Shi Wen made Cong Zai a meat soup, and Cong Zai bared its fangs at the Wolf King before Shi Wen and Heiwa intervened in the animals’ scuffle.
• Shi Wen asked Sikewell to examine the pregnant mares, and Sikewell said they would probably give birth in late September or early October.

Shi Wen learned that Jerusalem artichokes could be a hardy, high-yield food for his pigs, so he went with Zhang Deyuan to dig some up. They found the plants growing in an abandoned cultivated valley and began harvesting their tubers.

• After checking the pregnant mares, Shi Wen invited Sikewell inside and heard that his leg had mostly healed.
• Zhang Deyuan stopped by for milk tea while heading to dig Jerusalem artichokes, and Shi Wen learned they could be used to feed pigs.
• Shi Wen researched Jerusalem artichokes and decided they would be suitable to plant for his more than two hundred pigs.
• Shi Wen and Zhang Deyuan rode their motorcycles to a valley where Jerusalem artichokes had continued growing since a family emigrated.
• Zhang Deyuan showed Shi Wen where the plants were, and they began digging up tubers in the soft, fertile soil.

Shi Wen harvested Jerusalem artichokes with Zhang Deyuan and tested them as food for the animals and as a salad for Yan Kexing. He planned to plant them on the mountain for the woolly pigs, and Yan Kexing offered to help contain their spread.

• Shi Wen dug up Jerusalem artichokes rapidly while Zhang Deyuan gathered some and explained that the hardy tubers were easy to plant.
• Shi Wen returned home with a large bag of tubers and let the little fox, White Tiger, Yan Shi, Shi Suo, and Little Zouma try them.
• Shi Wen fed Jerusalem artichokes to the woolly piglets, which ate them eagerly.
• Shi Wen cooked dinner and served Yan Kexing a Jerusalem artichoke salad, which Yan Kexing said tasted good.
• Shi Wen planned to plant the tubers on the mountain for the pigs, and Yan Kexing agreed to help dig a barrier trench.

Shi Wen planted Jerusalem artichokes on the mountain and asked Heiwa and Wolf King to guard them. He picked ripe apples with Laibao and a group of animals, sharing fruit as they went.

• Shi Wen planted Jerusalem artichokes across the mountain and asked Heiwa and Wolf King to keep the animals from disturbing them.
• Heiwa warned a goat away from a tree, then Shi Wen finished planting and headed to pick apples with Laibao.
• Shi Wen tasted a ripe apple and gave one to Laibao, who eagerly ate it too.
• Shi Wen shared apples with Heiwa, Wolf King, and the other animals on the way home, then returned to the mountain with bags and picking shears.
• Shi Suo, Yan Shi, the little fox, White Tiger, and Cong Zai followed Shi Wen to the orchard, where the little fox picked apples and White Tiger caught them.

Shi Wen baked apple pie with their ranch’s apples and shared it with Yan Kexing before telling him about an upcoming trip to help a herding family breed their ewes. The next morning, Shi Wen, Sikewell, and Tang Duohai rode into the Gobi, following Tang Duohai’s lead toward the family’s flock.

• Shi Wen picked apples with the others and made two apple pies, which Yan Kexing praised as the best dessert he had ever eaten.
• Shi Wen told Yan Kexing he would travel deep into the Gobi the next day to help a herding family breed its ewes, with Brother Zhu watching the ranch.
• Shi Wen met Sikewell and Tang Duohai at the village entrance, and the three rode horses into the Gobi carrying ram semen in a cooler.
• Tang Duohai led Shi Wen and Sikewell off the rural road and deeper into the Gobi, where Shi Wen spotted tracks from wild donkeys, wild camels, and goitered gazelles.

Shi Wen and his companions reached a remote herders’ grazing site, where they learned about the family’s way of life and saw a sick lamb being cared for. After sharing lunch with the family, they met the herder as he returned with his flock of more than three hundred ewes.

• Shi Wen, Tang Duohai, and Sikewell rested beside the trail, avoided nettles, and shared food with their horses.
• The group arrived at the herders’ earth shelter, where the woman showed them a lamb with an infected insect bite.
• Shi Wen drank milk tea, looked around the sparse grazing area, and left the family his apples after learning vegetables were scarce.
• The woman prepared lunch for the visitors, and the man returned afterward with the family’s flock of more than three hundred ewes.

Shi Wen and Sikewell artificially inseminated more than three hundred sheep, then returned to the ranch, where Zhu Ji helped the exhausted Shi Wen rest. After waking, Shi Wen reunited with Yan Kexing and teased Zhu Ji over WeChat for scolding his dogs.

• Shi Wen selected ewes for breeding while Sikewell and Tang Duohai inseminated them at the herders’ home.
• The next morning, Shi Wen and Sikewell told the grateful herding couple that the flock seemed fine and needed only proper care.
• Shi Wen and the others rode back to town, where Sikewell and Tang Duohai parted ways with him.
• Zhu Ji cooked Shi Wen lunch and urged him to shower and sleep after his tiring trip.
• Shi Wen woke in the evening, hugged Yan Kexing, and said he had slept poorly without him.
• Shi Wen sent Zhu Ji teasing memes after Zhu Ji admitted he had scolded Shi Wen’s dogs.

Shi Wen discovered that the little ones had stolen Zhu Ji’s phone to send insulting messages and punished those involved. After apologizing, he heard how they had argued with Zhu Ji and promised to discipline them more carefully.

• Zhu Ji went to Shi Wen’s ranch to clear up a misunderstanding about his argument with the little ones.
• Shi Wen learned that the dogs had sent Zhu Ji insulting stickers and used his phone to message his own account.
• Shi Wen, Zhu Ji, and Yan Kexing found the little ones gathered around a phone, with the little fox typing a message.
• Shi Wen caught Le Wa as he tried to escape and scolded the group for stealing the phone and sending messages.
• Shi Wen made everyone except Cong Zai, Laibao, Guaibao, and Shi Suo sit in the corner with apples balanced on their heads.
• Shi Wen asked Zhu Ji about the argument, apologized for the little ones’ behavior, and promised to educate them better.

Shi Wen and the Abnormal Affairs Bureau tested the Variant Beasts at his ranch, whose readings had risen dramatically, and the Bureau’s director brought them gifts. As autumn harvest and lambing season began, Shi Wen prepared the ranch and called Sikewell and the others to help with the first-time mothers.

• Zhu Ji and Duan Kuo tested Heiwa and the others, finding that Cong Zai, Heiwa, the Wolf King, and several others had made major gains in Divinity and Ability.
• Shi Wen signed the test results as the Variant Beasts’ guardian, and Zhu Ji reported them to the Abnormal Affairs Bureau.
• Dang Changming visited the ranch with expensive, personalized gifts, raising the little ones’ favorable impression of the Bureau.
• Shi Wen hired workers to harvest the forage, corn, and backyard vegetables as the weather cooled.
• More than sixteen hundred ewes entered their lambing period, so Shi Wen disinfected and equipped the lambing rooms and asked Sikewell and the others to help deliver the lambs.

Shi Wen and the ranch workers helped his ewes give birth, and every lamb and ewe survived. With a surplus of goat’s milk afterward, Shi Wen suggested reviving his plan to make green juice goat’s milk.

• Shi Wen checked on his pregnant ewes with Sikewell, Tang Duohai, Ban Lei, Zhang Deyuan, and Fu Meng, then divided the birthing area into sections for monitoring.
• As the lambs were born, Shi Wen recorded their health and lineage, while Cong Zai comforted him when he grew anxious.
• Yan Kexing returned early and joined Shi Wen in admiring the newborn lambs, and Shi Wen said he felt accomplished.
• Over four days, all the ewes gave birth safely, though more than twenty weak lambs needed hand-feeding.
• Shi Wen collected excess goat’s milk and discussed with Yan Kexing putting their plan to make green juice goat’s milk into motion.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing planned to produce green juice goat milk and asked Zhu Ji to help find a factory. Zhu Ji praised both alfalfa and corn versions and agreed to gather factory information and help expedite testing.

• Yan Kexing and Shi Wen discussed asking the Abnormal Affairs Bureau to help them contact a factory for green juice goat milk.
• Shi Wen invited Zhu Ji to taste his green juice goat milk alongside similar market products, and Zhu Ji identified the ranch's goat milk by its rich flavor.
• Zhu Ji tasted the alfalfa and corn versions and said both were good, noting that the corn version was sweeter and fresher.
• Shi Wen decided to send both versions for testing before choosing whether to launch them together.
• Zhu Ji agreed to ask local factory managers about suitable facilities and send Shi Wen a document with information the next day.
• Shi Wen asked Zhu Ji to help follow up on the formal tests and get the results back quickly.

Shi Wen arranged testing for green juice goat milk, then launched it and sold out the first batch quickly. He prepared to sell 156 spiritual lambs and agreed to host a customer who wanted to choose one in person, leaving him to ready the sheepfold with Fu Meng's help.

• Shi Wen asked Zhu Ji to arrange testing of green juice goat milk and discussed keeping the product line simple.
• With help from the Abnormal Affairs Bureau, Shi Wen launched the goat milk, and the first 20,000 bottles sold out in twenty minutes.
• Shi Wen set a limit of ten bottles per purchase and planned more crops to keep green juice production going into November.
• Shi Wen found 156 spiritual lambs among the new flock and planned to sell them as pet sheep.
• A major customer asked to choose a lamb in person, and Shi Wen arranged a Saturday visit.
• Shi Wen asked Fu Meng to help clean the sheepfold and separate the lambs before the visit.

Shi Wen prepared individual pens for the pet lambs and welcomed Wang Changchun and his daughter, Wang Yiyi, to choose one. Yiyi became fascinated with the first lamb and asked to pet it.

• Shi Wen explained to Fu Meng that he had kept the lambs with their mothers because he lacked the help to care for them himself.
• Shi Wen and Fu Meng spent more than half a day preparing clean, heated, ventilated individual pens for the lambs.
• Wang Changchun arrived at the ranch on Saturday with his daughter, Wang Yiyi, to choose a lamb.
• Shi Wen led Wang Changchun and Yiyi through the clean pens, and Yiyi hurried over to admire the first lamb.
• Yiyi asked to pet the lamb, and Shi Wen agreed to let her.