Chapter Summaries

Shi Wen attended the autumn trade fair as a breeding-sheep expert, with Yan Kexing accompanying him. As Yan Kexing went to buy him coffee, an old herder asked Shi Wen to value two sheep, and another herder challenged the old man's asking price.

• Shi Wen teased Yan Kexing about his abs, then got dressed and accepted Yan Kexing's offer to drive him to the trade fair.
• Yan Kexing accompanied Shi Wen inside, where Shi Wen took his place in the breeding sheep section as an expert.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing watched an old man sell more than a hundred meat sheep for cash and discussed the good market.
• Shi Wen grew sleepy in the sun, so Yan Kexing went to buy him black coffee.
• An old herder asked Shi Wen to value his two breeding sheep, and a middle-aged herder said they were worth six or seven thousand yuan rather than the nine or ten thousand the old man demanded.

Shi Wen appraised breeding sheep at the trading fair, earning the herders’ trust with his clear explanations. The old herder then showed him a curly-haired pig, and Shi Wen recognized it as a Mangalitsa.

• Shi Wen judged two breeding sheep to be worth thirteen thousand and ten to eleven thousand, explaining the qualities behind their prices.
• Shi Wen offered to buy both sheep if the herders could not agree on a price, and the middle-aged herder left in a huff.
• More herders asked Shi Wen to appraise breeding sheep, and he explained their strengths, weaknesses, and market values while declining to assess cattle and camels.
• Ma Chengfeng greeted Yan Kexing and asked whether he had come to the fair with Shi Wen.
• The old herder showed Shi Wen a curly-haired animal and asked if he was interested in sheep pigs, and Shi Wen identified it as a Mangalitsa.

Shi Wen became interested in Abudu’s woolly pigs and agreed to visit his home to inspect the remaining herd. Yan Kexing drove them toward Abudu’s village at the foot of Mount Alabu, where the temperature had dropped to three degrees Celsius.

• Shi Wen examined Abudu’s woolly pig and learned that Abudu had 31 young pigs for sale at 380 yuan each.
• Abudu explained that four of his original 35 pigs had died because he and his wife could not raise them properly in the cold local climate, though Shi Wen found the pig he examined healthy.
• Shi Wen agreed to visit Abudu’s home and buy the pigs if they proved suitable.
• After the livestock event ended, Shi Wen introduced Abudu to Yan Kexing, who invited him to ride in the car.
• Yan Kexing drove toward Abudu’s home at the foot of Mount Alabu, and Shi Wen noticed the outside temperature had fallen to three degrees Celsius.

Shi Wen examined Abudu’s sick sheep pigs and agreed to buy all thirty-one at their original price, with Abudu arranging and paying for transport. On the drive home, Shi Wen and Yan Kexing shared the local baked buns Abudu’s family had given them, and Shi Wen returned to find Gong Jiang and the others still at the ranch.

• Shi Wen examined Abudu’s sheep pigs and decided they could recover with proper care.
• Shi Wen agreed to buy all thirty-one sheep pigs for 380 yuan each, and Abudu offered to cover their transport the next morning.
• Abudu’s family gave Shi Wen local specialties, and Yan Kexing drove him home as they shared baked buns.
• Shi Wen returned to the ranch, where Gong Jiang and the others were still present and Cong Zai was play-fighting with the dogs.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing returned to the pasture with local specialties, where Shi Wen greeted the animals and Yan Kexing cooked dinner. A tiger cub’s roar startled everyone, and Shi Wen found the cubs confronting An Wa over honey water before he helped them get a fresh bowl.

• Shi Wen opened the pasture gate and welcomed Heiwa and the other animals while Yan Kexing carried the packages.
• Shi Wen invited Gong Jiang and the others to stay for dinner, and Yan Kexing prepared five dishes and soup.
• Shi Wen made honey water and brought bowls outside for the animals before dinner.
• A loud roar startled everyone, so Shi Wen ran outside and found the two tiger cubs facing An Wa, who was drinking their honey water.
• Shi Wen comforted the aggrieved cubs, scolded An Wa, and helped pour fresh honey water for them.

Shi Wen discovered that Abudu’s wild honey came from mountain black bees and began arranging to buy colonies for the ranch. Abudu also suggested planting nectar crops, and Shi Wen consulted Yan Kexing about trying codonopsis and fritillary on the grassland.

• Ge Yue and Shi Wen praised the honey water, and Yan Kexing identified its floral notes as likely wild multifloral honey.
• Shi Wen asked Abudu about the honey and learned it came from native black bees that were kept through winter on stored honey or sugar.
• Abudu offered to ask a beekeeper friend about selling bees and whether the ranch could support them, and Shi Wen requested eight or ten hives.
• Abudu told Shi Wen that his friend could sell six hives for six hundred each and deliver them around mid-November, and suggested planting fritillary and codonopsis for nectar.
• Shi Wen asked Yan Kexing whether the crops could grow on the grassland, and Yan Kexing said it might work but their survival rate could be low.

Shi Wen planted 30,000 Xinjiang fritillaria bulbs and became known around town for raising sheep pigs. When Zhou Hongzhong asked for help hunting dangerous feral domestic pigs, Shi Wen agreed to join the hunt the day after tomorrow.

• Shi Wen arranged through Yan Kexing to buy 30,000 cultivated Xinjiang fritillaria plants and hired workers to plant them at his ranch.
• As the workers planted, Shi Wen answered their questions about his sheep pigs and how he cared for his livestock.
• News of Shi Wen’s sheep pigs spread, bringing curious herders to visit and prompting some households to seek sheep pigs of their own.
• Zhou Hongzhong asked Shi Wen to help track wild boars and feral domestic pigs, which officials had ordered culled because their numbers and danger to people were growing.
• Shi Wen agreed to hunt with Zhou Hongzhong the day after tomorrow and excitedly told Yan Kexing that evening.

Yan Kexing agreed to join Shi Wen and Zhou Hongzhong’s operation to hunt feral pigs, which threatened local crops and native wild boars. The group entered the mountains near Cuosang Village, where Shi Wen found fresh tracks and identified a group of six pigs.

• Shi Wen persuaded Yan Kexing to join the feral pig hunt after they discussed the pigs’ rapid breeding and risks to native wild boars.
• Zhou Hongzhong added Yan Kexing to the hunting party and explained that twenty-three people would carry ten guns and target at least thirty feral pigs.
• The group traveled to Cuosang Village and entered the mountains to investigate reports of feral pigs damaging silage corn.
• Shi Wen found fresh hoofprints, identified the tracks of four adults and two young pigs, and determined which way they had gone.

Shi Wen led Yan Kexing and Zhou Hongzhong’s team to several herds of feral domestic pigs, which the armed group shot and removed from the mountains. Yan Kexing helped Shi Wen take his first shot, and the recoil sent Shi Wen into Yan Kexing’s arms.

• Yan Kexing and Shi Wen joined Zhou Hongzhong’s group in finding and shooting a herd of six feral domestic pigs.
• Zhou Hongzhong’s men carried the pigs out, and Shi Wen led the team deeper into the mountains to find another herd of thirteen.
• Shi Wen used a map to estimate where more herds were located, making the search faster and easier for the group.
• Yan Kexing adjusted Shi Wen’s stance and showed him how to aim at a feral domestic pig.
• Shi Wen fired as Yan Kexing instructed, hit the pig, and fell back against Yan Kexing from the recoil.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing returned to the ranch after helping bring in 236 wild boars, and Shi Wen was welcomed home by the dogs, Cong Zai, and the tiger cubs. Gong Jiang began to suspect that something had changed between Shi Wen and Yan Kexing.

• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing shared their first hug after Shi Wen fired his first shot, and Yan Kexing took the warm gun from him.
• Shi Wen and the others finished their hunt with 236 wild boars, then Shi Wen declined Zhou Hongzhong's celebratory banquet so he could go home and rest.
• Gong Jiang told Shi Wen that Heiwa, the other dogs, Cong Zai, and the tiger cubs had waited for him while he was away.
• Shi Wen fell asleep in the car, and Yan Kexing covered him with a blanket as Gong Jiang noticed his unusual gentleness.
• Heiwa and the other dogs leapt over the ranch gate to greet Shi Wen, who hugged and petted them before Yan Kexing helped calm the group.
• Shi Wen let the tiger cubs out, and they rushed over and clung to his pant legs.

After returning home, Shi Wen spent a day off with Yan Kexing and met a young man from the dance who invited him to ride horses and pick wild chestnuts. Shi Wen chose to explore the back mountain with Yan Kexing instead, and the chapter ended with him enjoying a homemade cake Yan Kexing had baked.

• Shi Wen asked Yan Kexing to take the next day off, and they went to N City to watch a movie and try milk-bucket meat.
• On the drive home, Shi Wen recognized a young man from the dance among a group of horseback riders, and the young man invited him to pick wild chestnuts.
• Yan Kexing suggested that Shi Wen explore the back mountain with the dogs and tiger cubs, so Shi Wen politely declined the young man's invitation.
• Yan Kexing baked Shi Wen a cake with homemade dairy products, honey, and blueberry jam, and Shi Wen praised him as amazing.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing gathered wild chestnuts on the mountain with their animals, then returned to find Zhou Hongzhong waiting at the ranch with feral pigs. The chapter left them preparing to try the wild meat and feed some to the tiger cubs.

• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing went up the mountain with their cats, dogs, and tiger cubs to find a century-old chestnut tree.
• Shi Wen opened chestnut burrs for the animals, and the group gathered a little over forty jin of chestnuts.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing carried the chestnuts back to the ranch with the animals.
• Zhou Hongzhong arrived with two young men and brought feral pigs for Shi Wen, Yan Kexing, and the tiger cubs to try.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing shared a grilled feral domestic pig and roasted chestnuts with their companions. As autumn brought frost to the ranch, they prepared breakfast together, and Shi Wen praised Yan Kexing’s cooking.

• Zhou Hongzhong visited and gave Shi Wen’s group some butchered feral domestic pig before leaving to deliver meat elsewhere.
• Yan Kexing led everyone in grilling the pig and roasting chestnuts, and Shi Wen served meat to the dogs.
• Shi Wen raised a toast with lemon honey water as the group enjoyed their meal together.
• The next morning, Shi Wen found frost covering the ranch and fed the dogs while Yan Kexing prepared breakfast.
• Shi Wen talked about making sausages and ham from their future woolly pigs, then told Yan Kexing that his meals had improved since he arrived.

Shi Wen tended the livestock and checked whether his silage corn was ready to harvest, then brought the dogs to inspect the field. He discovered hundreds of crows nesting among the corn and learned they had built a nest from his sheep’s wool.

• Shi Wen milked the goats and cows, then sent the livestock out to graze in separate herds.
• Shi Wen inspected the silage corn, found it ripe, and arranged a harvest date with an operator.
• The harvester operator warned Shi Wen to check the field for wildlife before harvesting, so Shi Wen returned with the dogs that afternoon.
• Hundreds of enormous crows burst out of the corn as the dogs searched the field.
• An Wa brought Shi Wen a crow’s nest woven from wool taken from his sheep.

Shi Wen and the animals collected crow’s nests from the cornfield and found live eggs inside. Yan Kexing identified them as domestic pigeon eggs and placed them in a smart incubator, where several were expected to hatch by the next day.

• Shi Wen had An Wa and the other animals search the cornfield for crow’s nests before the harvester arrived.
• Shi Wen found warm eggs with signs of life in the nests and asked Yan Kexing what they might be.
• Yan Kexing said the eggs were likely stolen and stored by crows, then bought a smart incubator.
• Shi Wen gathered over a hundred nests and carried thirty-four live eggs home against his body.
• Yan Kexing placed the eggs in the incubator and identified them as domestic pigeon eggs, with some nearly ready to hatch.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing cared for the newly hatched pigeons, and Shi Wen found comfort in sharing the ranch home with Yan Kexing. The next morning, Shi Wen started harvesting corn for silage as birds, including crows, flew over the ranch.

• Shi Wen returned from retrieving his motorcycle and found that one pigeon had hatched; Yan Kexing said it might grow into a racing pigeon.
• Shi Wen woke at two in the morning and found Yan Kexing feeding the baby pigeons after an international video conference.
• Shi Wen joined Yan Kexing in feeding all seven baby pigeons, then returned to bed as Yan Kexing agreed to let him handle the next feeding.
• The next morning, Shi Wen fed the ranch animals and spotted crows among the birds flying overhead.
• The hired harvester operator and two workers began chopping the corn and packing it with lactic acid bacteria into silage bales.

Shi Wen and the ranch workers made silage while discussing his unusually fast-growing sheep and the year’s prices. Zhang Deyuan hired Shi Wen to grade his sheep, and they agreed to begin the next day.

• Shi Wen and more than twenty workers chopped, fermented, and packed corn silage, taking breaks together as they worked.
• Chang Qingqing and the others discussed Shi Wen’s hay, while Shi Wen said he had cut the pasture again to store forage and protect next year’s growth.
• The ranchers talked about Shi Wen’s fast-growing sheep and ordinary live sheep prices, and Shi Wen explained that he planned to keep his sheep until the New Year.
• Zhang Deyuan asked Shi Wen to help grade his sheep for five hundred yuan a day because he needed to sell them and recover cash.
• Shi Wen agreed to start grading the sheep the next day, and Zhang Deyuan helped carry silage bales to the pit.

Shi Wen finished harvesting and stacking silage corn, then talked with Yan Kexing about their pasts and felt their relationship grow closer. He went to help Zhang Deyuan sort sheep for shipment, where he began inspecting the flock.

• Shi Wen paid the workers after they finished harvesting the fifty mu of silage corn and invited them for tea, but they declined.
• Shi Wen found Yan Kexing making pigeon cages and learned he had prepared wood for a goose cage as well.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing shared stories about their pasts, and Shi Wen reflected that leaving for the ranch had brought him to Yan Kexing and his current life.
• Shi Wen left his livestock and tiger cubs in others’ care and went to help Zhang Deyuan select sheep.
• Shi Wen and Zhang Deyuan divided the work, with Shi Wen inspecting the sheep and Zhang Deyuan preparing to mark them with spray paint.

Shi Wen helped Zhang Deyuan grade his sheep by judging their meat quality, then compared the grades through a plain-mutton tasting. He learned that special-grade sheep had strong demand and considered how to market his own flock, leaving the grading unfinished for the next day.

• Shi Wen used his experience and Qilin Bloodline intuition to help Zhang Deyuan grade the sheep, finding mostly second-grade animals and only three special-grade sheep among more than two hundred.
• Zhang Deyuan slaughtered one sheep from each grade, and he and Shi Wen tasted the boiled meat to compare their flavors and textures.
• Zhang Deyuan explained that competition from larger companies had pushed him to grade sheep and that special-grade mutton attracted many buyers.
• Shi Wen considered how to sell his carefully raised flock and whether he could establish his ranch's brand.
• Shi Wen continued grading sheep with Zhang Deyuan until they stopped after five in the afternoon, agreeing to resume the next day.

After helping Zhang Deyuan sort and sell his sheep, Shi Wen returned to managing his pasture and prepared to take delivery of bees from Abudu and Reheman. The six hives arrived, and Reheman began explaining how to care for them.

• Zhang Deyuan gave Shi Wen a bag of mutton to take home for his animals.
• Shi Wen resumed managing the pasture, hired Old Man Ma and Aini, and took Cong Zai and the growing tiger cubs for walks in the mountains.
• Abudu called Shi Wen and arranged to bring bees to the pasture the next day with his friend Reheman.
• Shi Wen planned to distribute the six beehives across Pastures No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3.
• Reheman brought the hives in an open three-wheeler and told Shi Wen that the smoked bees would wake that night and explained how to feed them in freezing weather.