Chapter Summaries

Yan Kexing took Shi Wen flying in his dragon form, and the two watched a snow leopard hunt a deer. After the snow leopard caught its prey and tried to share it with them, Yan Kexing changed back into human form so it would feel less afraid.

• Yan Kexing flew Shi Wen through the sky, and they talked about Shi Wen's hoped-for Qilin transformation and seeing each other's true forms.
• Shi Wen spotted the snow leopard pursuing a young deer, and he and Yan Kexing stayed in the air to watch the hunt.
• The snow leopard patiently chased the deer for more than twenty minutes before catching and killing it.
• The snow leopard dragged the deer toward Shi Wen and Yan Kexing as if offering to share its kill, but Shi Wen told it to eat the deer itself.
• The snow leopard became wary of Yan Kexing in dragon form, so Yan Kexing transformed back into a human while carrying Shi Wen down.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing brought the snow leopard to Sanjiangyuan Park and said goodbye to it after its examination. On the drive back, Zhu Ji asked Shi Wen to raise a red-crowned crane, but Shi Wen declined because the ranch was already busy.

• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing returned to the ranch with the snow leopard and arranged to deliver it to Sanjiangyuan Park on Wednesday.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing brought the snow leopard to the park, where a manager praised its condition and arranged a physical examination before its release.
• Shi Wen said goodbye to the snow leopard and promised to visit it again before he and Yan Kexing drove away.
• Zhu Ji called Shi Wen and asked whether he would raise a red-crowned crane for the Abnormal Affairs Bureau.
• Shi Wen declined, explaining that he was better at raising mammals, Chasing Clouds might hurt the crane, and the ranch already kept him busy.

Shi Wen accepted Fu Meng’s invitation to visit Renying Ranch and arranged to check Fu Meng’s pregnant sheep. Yan Kexing offered to travel with him to J City, and Shi Wen asked Fu Meng for the organizer’s contact information so he could join the group there.

• Zhu Ji offered to help Shi Wen, who said Heiwa and the others were already assisting him.
• Fu Meng invited Shi Wen to use one of the village’s two spots to visit Renying Ranch the following Wednesday and learn about marbled beef cattle.
• Yan Kexing said he was traveling to J City for a forage-grass discussion and offered to accompany Shi Wen to Renying Ranch.
• Shi Wen examined Fu Meng’s pregnant ewes and advised him to keep caring for them and increase their nutrition later.
• Shi Wen discussed his ranch’s ninety-nine cattle with Fu Meng and said he might ask Renying Ranch about marketing his beef cattle.
• Fu Meng sent Shi Wen the organizer’s contact information so Shi Wen could ask to join the group after arriving in J City.

Shi Wen traveled to J City with Yan Kexing and joined a group visiting Renying Ranch, where he examined its cattle and explained their rumen fistula surgery. The other herders learned how the technique could help monitor digestion and treat cattle, and became interested in adopting it.

• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing traveled to J City, where Shi Wen arranged for Zhu Ji to manage the ranch in his absence.
• Shi Wen called Zhu Ji, who reported that the ranch was running smoothly with Heiwa and the other dogs handling the work.
• Yan Kexing comforted Shi Wen until he fell asleep, and they went their separate ways the next day.
• Shi Wen joined the group visiting Renying Ranch and saw its large, well-managed facilities and crossbred cattle fitted with rumen fistulas.
• Shi Wen explained to the herders how fistulas let ranchers inspect a cow's rumen, remove excess feed, and administer medicine.
• The herders watched a fistulated cow and grew eager to try the technique after hearing how it could help them spot and treat problems.

Shi Wen toured Renying Ranch, where he saw rumen fistula surgery and learned how its efficient grain-fed cattle operation produced profitable marbled beef. Troubled by the cost to the animals and the pressures of industrial farming, he returned to Yan Kexing and considered switching to grass-fed cattle.

• Shi Wen and the visitors tasted Renying Ranch's marbled beef and heard that its grain-fed cattle reached market after thirteen months at a high profit.
• The group toured the ranch's standardized feed and manure operations, then left as evening fell.
• Shi Wen returned to the hotel, where Yan Kexing noticed he was tired and asked what he had seen.
• Shi Wen told Yan Kexing that the ranch's fistula-surgery practices troubled him, even though he understood the economic pressure on herders and consumers.
• Shi Wen said he was considering giving up grain-fed marbled beef and raising grass-fed cattle in line with their natural needs.

Shi Wen proposed that Baoye A Sai and Qile Moge jointly raise high-end grass-fed cattle to build a market beyond grain-fed beef. Baoye A Sai and Qile Moge considered the plan’s risks, and Shi Wen promised to buy back cattle raised to his requirements if the results fell short.

• Shi Wen invited Baoye A Sai and Qile Moge to his ranch for a meal and to discuss raising cattle together.
• Baoye A Sai arrived early and went to see Shi Suo and Yan Shi in the barn.
• Qile Moge arrived with cheese made from Dolan Sheep’s milk, and Shi Wen brought both guests together in the living room.
• Shi Wen proposed that several ranches jointly raise grass-fed cattle and sell them as high-end beef.
• Baoye A Sai and Qile Moge agreed grass-fed beef had potential but warned that improving its quality would take time and carry risks.
• Shi Wen said he believed they could raise good cattle and offered to buy them back if they failed to meet the required quality.

Shi Wen, Baoye A Sai, and Qile Moge agreed to raise two thousand grass-fed cattle together and split the proceeds through Shi Wen’s sales channels. After their discussions, Baoye A Sai got to ride Shi Suo before leaving the ranch.

• Shi Wen proposed a grass-fed cattle partnership, and Baoye A Sai and Qile Moge agreed to share the risks and returns.
• The three settled on a fifty-fifty split, with Baoye A Sai raising twelve hundred cattle, Qile Moge five hundred, and Shi Wen three hundred in the first stage.
• Shi Wen recorded their agreement and planned to consult experts and have a lawyer prepare a contract.
• After Qile Moge left, Baoye A Sai asked to play with Shi Suo and Yan Shi, and Shi Wen let him ride Shi Suo.
• Baoye A Sai rode Shi Suo for a while and left the ranch looking deeply satisfied.

Shi Wen finalized a joint livestock-breeding contract and agreed to lend Zhou Hongzhong his camel, cattle, and horses to carry building materials up a mountain. He enlisted his eager livestock to help with the work, and Yan Shi was already waiting at the door the next morning.

• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing discussed the breeding venture, and Shi Wen later signed a formal contract with Qile Moge and Baoye A Sai.
• Zhou Hongzhong asked to borrow Shi Wen’s camel to transport materials for a mountain fire-prevention and wildlife-protection station.
• Shi Wen offered Zhou Hongzhong his camel, cattle, and horses, and agreed to bring them to help carry the materials the next day.
• Shi Wen promised the livestock honey water and corn kernels for working, and they all agreed to go.
• Yan Shi got up early and waited eagerly by the door before Shi Wen and Yan Kexing had finished breakfast.

Shi Wen helped Zhou Hongzhong’s team carry building materials up a mountain for four days, then explored the nearby woods after the final load was delivered. He found unfamiliar tracks that Yan Kexing thought belonged to a musk deer, and Shi Wen decided to ask Xi Long about them himself.

• Shi Wen rode Shi Suo to meet Zhou Hongzhong and his team, then joined them in carrying building materials up the mountain on the animals.
• Shi Wen and the team spent four days transporting the materials, with Zhou Hongzhong treating Shi Wen to meals and giving the animals extra feed.
• After delivering the last load, Shi Wen went into the nearby woods to inspect tracks he had noticed earlier.
• Shi Wen photographed the tracks and sent them to Yan Kexing, who identified them as likely musk deer tracks and offered to ask Xi Long.
• Shi Wen told Yan Kexing he would ask Xi Long directly.

Shi Wen discovered tracks that experts identified as belonging to forest musk deer, a protected species not previously recorded in J Province. Zhou Hongzhong’s team received approval to search for the deer and planned to invite experts, while Shi Wen waited to see whether Yan Kexing would be invited within half a month.

• Shi Wen sent photos of unfamiliar tracks to Xi Long, who identified them as possible forest musk deer tracks.
• Shi Wen reported the tracks to Zhou Hongzhong’s team, and an expert confirmed they belonged to forest musk deer.
• Zhou Hongzhong invited Shi Wen to join an investigation, and Shi Wen bet Yan Kexing would be invited within half a month.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing agreed that the loser of their bet would do a reasonable favor for the winner.
• After completing the required procedures, Zhou Hongzhong told Shi Wen that the search had been approved and asked whether Professor Yan would agree to join.

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.