Chapter Summaries

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing watched the wolf king, Heiwa, and the tiger cubs hunt a marbled polecat, then discussed the animals’ hunting habits and vaccines. The group returned to the ranch after eating and playing by the river, leaving Shi Wen reflecting on the intelligence and emotions of the animals he had raised.

• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing waited for an animal to emerge from a hole, and a marbled polecat eventually came out to eat the bait.
• The wolf king and tiger cubs ambushed and killed the marbled polecat in a coordinated hunt, while Heiwa and the other dogs joined in.
• Shi Wen worried about the dogs hunting and spreading disease, and Yan Kexing agreed to check their vaccine records.
• The wolf king, tiger cubs, and dogs shared the prey, then rinsed their mouths in a ditch before the tiger cubs swam in the river.
• The animals headed back to the ranch, and Shi Wen reflected that the animals he had raised seemed more intelligent and emotional than ordinary livestock.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing kept watch as their little ones went hunting, then Shi Wen discovered two cows were about to give birth. With Yan Kexing and Yang Yiqing beside him, he waited through the night until both cows delivered calves.

• Shi Wen saw that Hu Zai's fur was damp after the little ones returned from a hunt, but he let them keep hunting after confirming they did not harm livestock or kill for sport.
• Yan Kexing exported the hunting video and studied it with Gong Jiang and the others.
• Shi Wen found two pregnant cows restless in the shed and called Yan Kexing to check them; they moved the cows into a prepared birthing pen and waited with Yang Yiqing.
• As labor began, Shi Wen and the others watched from outside the pen, while Cong Zai joined them and rubbed against Shi Wen's leg.
• A little after one in the morning, a calf's head appeared, and both cows gave birth at nearly the same time.

Shi Wen welcomed two healthy heifer calves at the ranch and arranged for Sikewell to check and tag them. He milked the cows’ golden colostrum, which delighted the ranch’s animals and became a rich dessert that made Yan Kexing eager to return early.

• Shi Wen and the others found that both newborn calves were heifers and healthy, then settled them with their mothers for the night.
• Shi Wen asked Sikewell to visit the ranch to examine and tag the calves, and Sikewell agreed to come after eleven.
• Shi Wen found the calves walking and jumping, checked them, and milked the excess colostrum while the calves were full.
• An Wa, the Wolf King, and the other animals eagerly gathered for the colostrum, so Shi Wen boiled some and shared it with them.
• Shi Wen steamed the remaining colostrum with rock sugar and sent Yan Kexing a photo; Yan Kexing said he would try to finish work early and come home.

Shi Wen shared the ranch’s exceptional colostrum and newborn calves with Sikewell, who examined and praised the cattle. Sikewell promised to find Shi Wen top-quality cattle after the New Year.

• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing exchanged jokes over messages before Yang Yiqing arrived and teased Shi Wen about his broad smile.
• Shi Wen welcomed Sikewell to the ranch and gave him golden colostrum custard, which Sikewell called the best he had tasted.
• Shi Wen showed Sikewell the newborn calves and their mothers, and Sikewell praised their size, health, and condition.
• With Shi Wen’s permission, Sikewell photographed and filmed the cattle, shared care advice with his group, tagged the calves’ ears, and vaccinated them.
• At lunch, Sikewell told Shi Wen he should raise higher-quality cattle and promised to help find the best ones after the New Year.

Shi Wen considered buying high-quality cattle from abroad and gave generous New Year gifts to his ranch helpers before they left for home. Yang Yiqing reunited with her family, who discussed Shi Wen’s reputation as a skilled livestock breeder, and she enjoyed mutton from the ranch at dinner.

• Yang Yiqing and Sikewell suggested Shi Wen look abroad for top-quality cattle, and he said he would think about it after the New Year.
• Shi Wen gave his departing helpers half a sheep carcass and an eight-thousand-yuan red envelope each, and they eventually accepted his gifts.
• Yan Kexing paid for plane tickets so Yang Yiqing, Ge Yue, Gong Jiang, and Lin Chengqian could fly home for the New Year.
• Yang Yiqing reunited with her parents, Yang Teng and Feng Chunzhu, at the airport in Z City.
• Yang Teng told Yang Yiqing that he knew of Shi Wen’s work breeding fat-tailed sheep and his plans to develop a new line.
• Yang Yiqing ate red-braised mutton from the ranch at home, and Feng Chunzhu revealed that Yang Teng had saved some of it for her.

Yang Yiqing discussed her boss Shi Wen’s plans to raise Simmental cattle with her father, Yang Teng, who explained why the breed suited a new ranch. As New Year approached, Shi Wen and Yan Kexing prepared to celebrate at the ranch with their animals.

• Yang Yiqing told Yang Teng that Shi Wen might raise beef cattle, and Yang Teng approved of his interest in Simmentals.
• Yang Teng explained that Simmentals were affordable, adaptable, and useful for crossbreeding with local cattle.
• Shi Wen planned to develop suitable beef cattle and improve local populations, choosing Simmentals for their established local presence and crossbreeding potential.
• A Sai’s renovation crew paused its unfinished work until after the New Year, leaving Shi Wen and Yan Kexing at the ranch with the animals.
• Shi Wen took Yan Kexing into the city to buy New Year snacks and other holiday supplies.

On New Year’s Eve, Yan Kexing and Shi Wen decorated the ranch, welcomed the delivery man, and shared a festive dinner with their animals. After Shi Wen took an unusually long time in the shower, Yan Kexing went to check on him and heard that he was doing his hair.

• Yan Kexing wrote Spring Festival couplets and painted sheep and good fortune characters for Shi Wen to decorate the ranch.
• Shi Wen gave the delivery man a red envelope and exchanged New Year wishes with him while the animals gathered at the gate.
• Shi Wen hid the package he received in his wardrobe, and Yan Kexing prepared a special New Year’s Eve meal for the animals.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing toasted to fate for bringing them together and ate dinner before cleaning up together.
• Yan Kexing noticed Shi Wen was taking a long time in the shower, knocked on the bathroom door, and heard Shi Wen say he was doing his hair.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing spent a passionate New Year’s night together before welcoming Yang Yiqing and the others back to the ranch. After a celebratory meal, Shi Wen arranged a separate village house for Yang Yiqing, and he and Yan Kexing gave the group generous red envelopes.

• Shi Wen dressed up for Yan Kexing, and the two spent a passionate night together at the ranch.
• After more than a week of New Year celebrations, Yang Yiqing and the others returned with local specialties for Shi Wen and Yan Kexing.
• Shi Wen invited the group to a ranch meal, where Yan Kexing cooked a goose from the ranch.
• Shi Wen told Yang Yiqing that he and Yan Kexing had arranged a nearby village house for her to stay in.
• Shi Wen and Yan Kexing gave the returning workers red envelopes, and Ge Yue wished them a long and happy life together.

Shi Wen arranged a new home for Yang Yiqing while Ge Yue and Yang Yiqing discussed his growing closeness with Yan Kexing. After the New Year holidays, Shi Wen began expanding his cattle operation by buying sixty Simmental heifers, and he explained his plans to Fu Meng and the others.

• Gong Jiang and Lin Chengqian accompanied Ge Yue and Yang Yiqing to the house Shi Wen had rented for them, where Ge Yue teased Yang Yiqing about Shi Wen and Yan Kexing’s relationship.
• Ge Yue and Yang Yiqing talked about their hopes for lasting love and finding compatible partners.
• After the holidays, Shi Wen took Yang Yiqing to visit cattle-breeding companies and bought sixty locally bred Simmental heifers for a million.
• Shi Wen told Fu Meng and the others that his seven pregnant cows would soon have calves, that he would keep promising bulls for breeding, and that he planned to buy sheep.
• Shi Wen explained that marbled beef depended on both breed and raising methods, and that he might pursue it in a year or two.

Shi Wen and Fu Meng discussed breeding better beef cattle for the pastoral area before Shi Wen focused on preparing for lambing at his ranch. On February 13, the first ewe went into labor, and her lamb was born safely as Shi Wen and his helpers tended the flock.

• Shi Wen told Fu Meng and Old Man Ma that his generation could breed better cattle and help the whole pastoral area prosper.
• Shi Wen quarantined the sixty heifers he had brought home, then prepared for more than a hundred pregnant ewes to give birth.
• Shi Wen and Aini watched the ewes around the clock, and Yan Kexing helped prepare for the deliveries.
• Aini alerted Shi Wen and Yan Kexing when a ewe showed signs of labor in the early hours of February 13.
• Shi Wen checked and recorded the condition of the ewes, then called Sikewell for help with the many carrying twins or triplets.
• The first ewe gave birth to a white lamb, which she licked clean as it sought her belly.

Shi Wen and his helpers delivered the ranch’s lambs, with Sikewell rescuing a ewe struggling to give birth to triplets. All 105 ewes produced 163 healthy lambs, and Shi Wen began recording their breeding data and arranging vaccinations and ear tags.

• Shi Wen struggled to help a weak ewe deliver her third lamb, which was coming out hind legs first.
• Sikewell arrived, gave the ewe medicine, repositioned the lamb, and helped deliver it safely.
• Shi Wen, Yan Kexing, Aini, and later Yang Yiqing tended the ewes until 43 ewes had delivered 68 healthy lambs.
• Shi Wen asked Sikewell and Yang Yiqing to record the lambs’ birth details for future breeding records.
• The ranch’s 105 ewes produced 163 lambs, and Sikewell helped vaccinate and ear-tag them and give booster shots to the other small animals.

After completing lambing, Shi Wen prepared his ranch for spring by expanding his forage planting and tending his livestock. As he waited for alfalfa seeds, Yang Yiqing offered to help him source Chinese wild rye.

• Shi Wen finished pairing the ewes with their lambs, and the newborns grew healthy and lively after several days of feeding.
• As spring arrived, Shi Wen let his livestock graze on fresh shoots and watched his geese forage in the thawed ditches.
• Shi Wen arranged to have six hundred mu plowed for forage and declined invitations from local associations because he lacked time to socialize.
• Shi Wen applied another round of base fertilizer and planned to plant alfalfa, sainfoin, and Chinese wild rye.
• Yang Yiqing offered to contact a classmate whose family grew Chinese wild rye for Shi Wen's ranch.

Shi Wen arranged to buy sheepgrass seed and asked Zhu Ji to find sainfoin seed. During a monitoring test, Shi Wen’s Divinity and Abilities had risen dramatically, and he and Zhu Ji linked the increase to Shi Wen’s relationship with Yan Kexing.

• Shi Wen bought 300 jin of sheepgrass seed from a Swiss livestock company through Yang Yiqing.
• Shi Wen struggled to find sainfoin seed until Zhu Ji promised to obtain 500 to 700 jin through the Abnormal Affairs Bureau.
• Zhu Ji tested Shi Wen and found his Divinity had risen to 3752 and his Abilities to 3542.
• Zhu Ji questioned whether the device was faulty, but Duan Kuo confirmed they had brought the newest model.
• Shi Wen suggested his relationship with Yan Kexing might explain the increase, and Zhu Ji said he would report the discovery.

Shi Wen’s rapid growth earned him High-Level Abilities User status, an eight-million annual subsidy, and increased attention from the Abnormal Affairs Bureau. As he continued improving the ranch and raising its lambs, he relied on his trained dogs to handle most of the herding.

• Zhu Ji told Shi Wen he could apply for an eight-million annual subsidy and said the Bureau might seek closer cooperation with him.
• Yan Kexing explained that Shi Wen’s progress was exceptional and revealed that his own readings exceeded nine hundred thousand; Shi Wen later attributed some of his rapid improvement to Yan Kexing.
• Shi Wen cooperated when Zhu Ji’s team collected his blood and hair, and his eight-million subsidy arrived within a week.
• Shi Wen and Yang Yiqing assessed and marked the lambs, with Shi Wen deciding that some of the males were not suitable for breeding.
• Shi Wen left most herding to Heiwa and the other trained dogs, while he patrolled the ranch to keep the livestock safe.

Shi Wen learned that Red Blossom Ranch could provide sainfoin seeds and the sheep he needed, then traveled there with Zhu Ji to arrange a purchase. At the ranch, manager Xi Yuxin welcomed them and led them to inspect its sheep sheds.

• Shi Wen learned that Red Blossom Ranch would give him sainfoin seeds and sell him meat sheep and breeding stock.
• Shi Wen arranged with Zhu Ji to visit Red Blossom Ranch and buy about fifteen hundred sheep of each type.
• Zhu Ji picked Shi Wen up, and they discussed the tiger cubs’ training and planned release.
• Shi Wen and Zhu Ji arrived at Red Blossom Ranch, where Xi Yuxin welcomed them and drove them to the sheep sheds.

Shi Wen inspected and bought 3,000 lambs from Red Blossom Ranch, then became fascinated by a costly Akhal-Teke horse he saw on the ranch. He left still unable to afford one, though he said raising horses remained part of his ranch’s plans.

• Shi Wen inspected Red Blossom Ranch’s lambs, negotiated prices with Xi Yuxin, and began selecting 3,000 lambs over two days.
• Shi Wen told Yan Kexing the lambs would cost more than four million yuan and predicted their ranch could earn profits in the tens of millions this year.
• Shi Wen spotted a striking platinum-colored Akhal-Teke being ridden across the pasture and asked Xi Yuxin about it.
• Xi Yuxin explained that the horse belonged to a famous stud farm and had come to Red Blossom Ranch for the river-opening festival.
• Shi Wen admitted to Zhu Ji that he wanted a beautiful horse but could not afford a Ferghana horse, and Zhu Ji said purebred Akhal-Tekes in China were rare and difficult to obtain.

Shi Wen returned from Red Blossom Ranch after arranging for his sheep and sainfoin seeds to be delivered, then discovered that Yan Kexing had surprised him with a platinum-colored Akhal-Teke filly. He fell in love with the foal, named her Yan Shi, and set out to prepare her a stable.

• Shi Wen spoke with Ban Liyan about horses, declined his offer to ride, and exchanged WeChat contacts with him.
• Red Blossom Ranch agreed to inspect, vaccinate, and deliver Shi Wen’s sheep, while Xi Yuxin added a thousand jin of sainfoin seeds at no charge.
• Zhu Ji drove Shi Wen home and hinted that Yan Kexing was waiting with a surprise.
• Shi Wen found a platinum-colored Akhal-Teke filly in an iron cage and learned Yan Kexing had obtained her for him.
• Shi Wen chose the name Yan Shi for the filly and went to prepare her stable.

Shi Wen and Yan Kexing settled their new foal, Yan Shi, into life at the ranch while Shi Wen prepared forage and tended to the ranch’s animals and plants. As spring rain arrived, Shi Wen kept the livestock warm and dry, and Sikewell reassured him that nearby minor animal illnesses were being monitored.

• Shi Wen prepared a pen for the foal, and Yan Kexing showed him how to feed it before the two kissed.
• Gong Jiang, Lin Chengqian, Ge Yue, and Yang Yiqing visited to see the foal, while Shi Wen said only he and Yan Kexing would ride it.
• Yan Shi grew comfortable with the ranch animals, running with the dogs and carrying Cong Zai on its back while avoiding the tiger cubs.
• Shi Wen hired workers to machine-sow Leymus chinensis, alfalfa, and sainfoin seeds, then kept the lambs penned to protect the seeds.
• As the weather warmed, Shi Wen let the black bees forage and found that his fritillaries had begun to sprout.
• When spring rain made the ranch damp, Shi Wen restarted the boiler, and Sikewell ear-tagged and vaccinated the flock while assuring him nearby livestock illnesses were minor and monitored.

Shi Wen discovered that his tiger cubs had brought home seven crows and went to check whether the flock had attacked his bees. The hives were unharmed, but crows were eating the pasture seeds, and after discussing ways to stop them, Shi Wen consulted Yan Kexing.

• Shi Wen and Sikewell saw the tiger cubs return with seven crows, and Shi Wen praised the excited cubs.
• Shi Wen inspected the beehives but found no sign that the crows had disturbed the bees.
• Shi Wen found crows eating seeds in the pasture, drove them away with a tiger-like roar, and watched them return whenever he left.
• Shi Wen asked the group chat for advice, but the others' suggestions offered no good solution that would protect the ranch's ecosystem.
• Shi Wen discussed the crow problem with Yan Kexing.

Shi Wen sent the tiger cubs and the Wolf King to guard the pastures and keep crows away. He discovered that the Wolf King had been lounging while his pack did the work, then hauled him home as Gong Jiang and the others gathered to ask what had happened.

• Yan Kexing suggested using the tiger cubs and the Wolf King to guard the three pasture plots, and Shi Wen agreed.
• Shi Wen took the tiger cubs and the Wolf King to the pasture, where the cubs obediently stayed and the Wolf King only agreed after receiving jerky.
• Shi Wen finished the ranch work with help from temporary workers and villagers, then rode out to check on the pasture.
• Shi Wen found the Wolf King relaxing while several wolves chased the crows for him, and the pack fled when Shi Wen appeared.
• The Wolf King rolled over and licked Shi Wen, who hauled him home as Gong Jiang and the others asked what had happened.