pjbooks Chapter 63 The Clever Brother-in-Law
Chapter 63 The Clever Brother-in-Law
In Shan Dashan's view, neither of his two sons were experts.
The eldest brother has only worked at the state-owned ranch for a few days?
He probably only knows how to kill sheep for meat. As for tending sheep, he's obviously a complete novice. Who would believe that a young man in his twenties can take care of sheep?
As for the second son, Shan's father didn't believe him at all.
This kid has been idle for so many years, and it's only recently that he's changed his ways. He's not even as good as his older brother.
The other Lin Hao is just like the second brother.
These three young boys went to buy sheep, fearing they would be swindled out of everything.
But the second son is now very opinionated and doesn't listen to his arrangements.
Let's just consider it a lesson for him.
The father was already prepared to see a flock of sickly sheep.
However, when he got closer, the sheep's bleating was loud and energetic.
Upon closer inspection, they were all half-grown sheep, looking quite clean, and none of them had runny noses or diarrhea.
"That's not right. Zhao Laosi is notoriously heartless. Would he really give you all the good sheep?" Father Shan muttered to himself, then looked at the sheep again. All fifteen sheep were fine; they could run and jump.
"The second brother chose them. There were many more at the time, but the second brother chose these." Shan Yaowu untied the back panel, preparing to put the sheep down, and then recounted the situation at the time.
The sheep were mainly chosen by Shan Yaowen, while the other two just accompanied them and helped herd the sheep.
Father Shan looked at Shan Yaowen in surprise, "Has Zhao Laosi changed his ways? He's giving you such good sheep?"
Shan Yaowen sighed. "Dad, why can't you believe your son can herd sheep?"
"You know how to watch sheep? I don't eat dinner, I eat sheep droppings." Father Shan glanced at his second son with disdain.
Shan Yaowen still didn't believe it, so he immediately pulled over a sheep and examined it from its nose, eyes, mouth to its ears, and finally its bones and buttocks.
He explained it in great detail.
Then Shan Dashan fell silent.
It seems his son was right, and he had never heard of many of the methods for observing sheep.
But tell him directly that it's true.
Seeing her father fall silent, Shan Xiaomei blinked, then grabbed the sheep droppings from the ground, held them up, and said, "Dad, eat this."
A group of people around him were trying to suppress their laughter, turning their heads away as if afraid of bursting out laughing.
Shan Yaowen slapped the sheep droppings out of his younger sister's hand, saying, "Don't pick up poop, it's filthy."
Then he led the little girl away to wash her hands. This little girl picked up sheep droppings with her bare hands, and they smelled terrible.
Dan Dashan, as if nothing had happened, directed the people around him to herd the sheep.
Originally there were forty sheep. When Shan Yaowen got married, he gave two sheep to the Lin family. Now, with these fifteen more, there are a total of fifty-three sheep.
Some half-grown sheep were mixed into the flock that was originally all adult sheep, and it instantly looked like a flock of sheep.
"Once next spring, when they have a few more litters of lambs, your flock will be basically complete." Father Shan looked with satisfaction at the two groups of sheep mixed together.
Unfortunately, the original adult sheep kept bullying the new lambs.
They can only temporarily release and lock them up separately.
They can only be put together after they have become familiar with each other's scents. Otherwise, the sheep will fight fiercely. If a big sheep pushes a small sheep out of the flock, it's one thing, but if several sheep fight together, the small sheep can be killed.
After the sheep were safely kept in their enclosure, the group returned home.
However, as soon as he got back, Shan Yaowen saw that his brother-in-law and sister had arrived, as well as his eldest nephew. When his younger sister saw them, she walked up to Xiao Bai with a smug look on her face.
"Call me Auntie!"
The two little ones love to argue about seniority whenever they meet. The younger sister usually has to wait for Xiao Bai to call her "Auntie" before she will play with him.
"Brother-in-law, what brings you here today?" Shan Yaowen looked at his brother-in-law's family in surprise. Didn't they come for his wedding?
Zhang Du offered cigarettes to the two brothers, saying, "I've been busy lately, but I happened to be off today, so I came to visit and deliver the New Year's gifts. I probably won't have much time after the New Year."
The father looked at his daughter and son-in-law with suspicion, "With this heavy snow, what's wrong with not having time?"
Zhang Du chuckled upon hearing this, "I mainly want to thank Yaowen; he opened up a business opportunity for me."
"Me?" Shan Yaowen hadn't expected his brother-in-law to bring up his own business. "What kind of business?"
He himself didn't even know when he had told his brother-in-law about the business.
I had been to my brother-in-law's house twice before, once to buy straw and the other time for hunting.
They never mentioned anything about business.
"Straw." Zhang Du chuckled. "Ever since you told me there would be a blizzard and then bought ten tons of straw to store, I've been keeping an eye on it. I bought a lot of straw to store, just like you. Now that there's a blizzard, all the ranches around are buying straw everywhere. I can make a little money by reselling it."
I rub!
Shan Yaowen hadn't expected his brother-in-law to have such a sharp mind.
Just because of his own actions and the information he received, he was able to come up with the idea of making money by hoarding straw. He not only has a quick mind, but he is also very bold.
"Impressive, but isn't this just speculation and profiteering?" Shan Yaowu looked at Zhang Du with some concern after hearing this.
"It's nothing." Hearing his brother-in-law's words, Zhang Du waved his hand. "It's just some straw, not some precious electrical appliance or anything. I'm just earning a meager living. I might only earn ten or twenty yuan in a winter, which isn't even as much as I make from hunting a wild boar in the mountains."
Besides bringing gifts, he also came to ask Shan Yaowen for some information.
He had to keep a close eye on the blizzard, because once it passed, the straw he had stored might be left unused.
"The blizzard will continue until after the New Year, but the snow disaster will not subside until April or May."
"If you're going to hoard supplies, don't bother after the New Year."
Shan Yaowen couldn't remember the exact day or time when the incident ended, but he knew the situation would ease up somewhat after the Lunar New Year.
"April or May, there are still about three months left." Zhang Du nodded, then looked at Shan Yaowen, "If you run out of straw, just let me know."
Hearing this, Shan Yaowen laughed, "That's great! I didn't dare to buy too many sheep before, but now it's perfect."
My brother-in-law and his wife stayed overnight after they arrived, since it's a rare occasion for them to come all this way.
In this blizzard, it's troublesome to make a round trip. At least the couple won't come before the New Year; they'll probably come to pay their respects after the New Year.
If I'm too busy or the weather doesn't allow it, it might be even later.
My brother-in-law came, and that night the whole Shan family sat together, drinking and playing cards until very late before going to sleep.
By the time Shan Yaowen crawled into bed, Lin Nian was already half asleep.
"Ah Wen, why are you so warm?"
After feeling Shan Yaowen get into bed, Lin Nian snuggled closer to him.
Are you cold?
"No, I feel like you're a furnace, even warmer than a kang (heated brick bed)."
"Sigh, you're already hugging, why are you taking off your clothes?"
Shan Yaowen never expected that Lin Nian would become so engrossed in the relationship that she had been incredibly proactive these past few nights.
Of course, he wasn't one to hold back, so he turned around and pounced on her.
More than two hours later, Shan Yaowen, wearing a coat, leaned against the wall and comfortably smoked a cigarette.
Lin Nian lay on top of Shan Yaowen, looking completely satisfied. She didn't know where Shan Yaowen got all those strange positions, making her feel like she was in heaven.
The two of them just hugged each other, neither of them wanting to say a word.
The next morning, after his brother-in-law's family finished breakfast, they went home. Shan Yaowen continued to live the same life every day: shoveling snow at home in the morning, shoveling snow in the sheep pen after breakfast, letting the sheep out to eat grass and drink water, and cleaning the sheep pen.
After we're done, we'll go up the mountain to find some wild game.
With the heavy snowfall, many animals on the mountain have run downhill because they have nothing to eat.
He would occasionally find frozen pheasants or rabbits.