Reborn in 1985: Starting from Contracting a Ranch

Chapter 80 Ranch Planning

In the courtyard of the Shan family, Gou Dan was talking to his younger sister about family matters.

Turning to look at Shan Yaowen, who was being escorted back by his neighbors, he joked:

"I thought you'd lost your way home now that you've become an official."

"Erguo~"

The younger sister rushed towards Shan Yaowen with tiny, quick steps.

The three dogs behind her barked a few times, then, upon realizing it was their owner, immediately lay down and wagged their tails.

"Good boy/girl~"

Shan Yaowen picked up his little sister and patted her head. "Did you miss your second brother?"

"think."

My little sister has grown quite a bit stronger lately, so Shan Yaowen held her for a while before putting her down to play by herself.

"Erguo, the little deer can walk now, and I even fed them grass."

"Erguo, the puppy has grown up and can eat a lot now."

"Erguo..."

The younger sister had probably not seen Shan Yaowen for a few days, so she stayed around him, constantly chattering and telling him about various things at home.

Holding his younger sister's hand, Shan Yaowen returned home and sat down in a chair without any regard for his image, letting out a long sigh: "Home is the most comfortable place~"

Lin Nian picked up a few pieces of firewood and threw them into the stove. "You've been gone for quite a while. Is your brother-in-law alright?"

"It's alright now."

Shan Yaowen waved his hand, then took a bottle of face cream out of his pocket and handed it to his wife.

I bought this especially for you.

Lin Nian looked at the face cream in her hand in surprise. "Why did you buy this? Did you find money on the street?"

"Pretty much. I've become a special envoy, and I get a subsidy of twenty yuan every month."

When Gou Dan heard that there was money to be made, he was incredibly envious.

"Sigh, I can't compare. Once you get going, there's no way I can catch up."

Since her son returned, the mother's smile has never faded. After all, she never expected that her family would produce someone who would be employed by the government.

In the past, would she have worried about having no food at home or being bullied?

But it's the same now; she feels more confident when arguing with people outside.

The situation was similar for both the single father and the single mother. Ever since they received the news that their second son had become a special envoy, they hadn't stopped smiling and felt much more comfortable.

He went out with crutches, his back was much straighter, and even his injuries felt much better.

The eldest sister-in-law was even more so. With a government employee in the family, if her husband's job really had problems in the future, wouldn't Shan Yaowen help his older brother?

Of course, she was still a little disappointed. Why wasn't it her man?

Shan Yaowen rubbed his hands together and saw his younger sister about to feed the silly bird again, so he quickly stopped her.

"The big bird has eaten too much; it won't be able to fly if it eats any more." Shan Yaowen picked up his little sister and pulled her away from the silly bird.

"Oh, it's alright. This bird is auspicious; it might even help the family secure a government job."

In the past, a single mother would usually scold her younger sister for wasting food, saying that people can't even get enough to eat themselves and yet she's worrying about animals.

But ever since the second sister came back and told her about what had happened these past few days, she has grown to love this big bird.

After putting away the face cream, Lin Nian chuckled and wiped her sister-in-law's hands. "My little sister loves feeding animals now. She feeds the chickens, deer, and dogs at home every day."

"You can't keep feeding them even if you like, or they'll get so fat they won't be able to fly."

The family chatted for a while, and then Shan Yaowen went to the woodshed to check on the three fawns. They were recovering quite well and could already stand up.

After seeing Shan Yaowen go inside, Xiao Lu immediately shrank into a corner, huddled together and trembling.

After all, they were the humans who captured them in the first place, and that fear was etched into their hearts.

"The recovery is going quite well."

Even though they were hiding together, Shan Yaowen still grabbed each of them and examined their injuries.

After seeing the deer, he went to the pasture to see the sheep.

These past few days, while he was away, his older brother Shan Yaowu has been shoveling snow and feeding him.

It's not bad; the later batches of sheep have been able to get along well with the original flock.

When we first bought them, we had to feed them hay separately, otherwise the adult sheep would always steal the food from the lambs.

"These big ones should be ready for market this year, right?" Gou Dan asked, looking at the large sheep.

He had helped Shan Yaowen herd sheep back then, so he naturally knew how big and fat the first batch of sheep were.

If the state-run ranch hadn't allocated these sheep to Shan Yaowen, they would have been ready for market by winter.

"Keep some ewes, then some rams, and sell the rest when the price is right," Shan Yaowen had already planned.

Generally, sheep can be sold when they reach about 60 or 70 kilograms; if they are fed for another year, they won't grow much more.

Of course, rams specifically used for breeding and ewes used for giving birth are larger, and people who eat meat generally don't choose these kinds of sheep; they usually choose sheep that are one to two years old.

The Khorchin fine-wool sheep he raises are mainly used for shearing wool; they don't need to grow to a large size before being sold.

"By the way, should we castrate these lambs?" Gou Dan looked at the lively lambs in the sheepfold, his eyes fixed on the two small bells between their hind legs with ill intent.

"That batch of meat sheep will be castrated, but the wool sheep will not."

"What about meat, wool, and sheep? Aren't they all the same?"

Shan Yaowen waved his hand, "This is called intensive farming. You wouldn't understand even if I told you. I think you just want to eat sheep testicles."

The sheep that are sold specifically for meat are usually castrated after about three or four months. Only after being castrated will the sheep grow fat like crazy, and the meat will not taste fishy.

And those castrated sheep testicles were Dog Egg's favorite.

In his past life, Shan Yaowen worked on a ranch. Every year, after the owner gelded all the lambs, he would keep some for Gou Dan to take back with him.

This guy doesn't even want to eat meat anymore now that he has sheep testicles.

"You don't understand, sheep testicles are so delicious, they're so soft and fluffy."

Seeing Gou Dan start to swallow, Shan Yaowen couldn't help but feel a tightness in his groin.

It's a shame this guy doesn't become a pervert.

"We'll talk about it later. Once I increase the size of my sheep flock, I'll raise more meat sheep, and I'll give you plenty of sheep eggs then." Shan Yaowen waved his hand, not wanting to say more to him.

"Okay, but what about the cows? And the horses? We're not going to keep them anymore?"

"I only have a few hundred acres of grassland right now, how can I raise so many? Besides, buying cattle and sheep will cost money. After the New Year, I will focus on raising sheep first. After I make money from raising sheep, I will talk about raising cattle and horses in a year or two."

Although Shan Yaowen was reborn, he didn't have the resources to directly create a ranch as large as in his previous life. He could only proceed step by step.

Since we've caught up with such good policies, let's start by raising sheep and take it one step at a time.

"That's true, but be sure to call me if you have any sheep eggs."

"Okay, but you have to help me with the work."

"Normally, it's the son-in-law who helps his father-in-law with chores, why are you asking your brother-in-law to help you?"

"Are you in or not?"

"Go away, go away! If you, as a special envoy, just wave your hand, wouldn't a ton of people come to your door to do your work?"

"How can they be the same?"

"How is it different? Besides, what do you even need to do?"

Shan Yaowen pointed to the distance and gestured, "After the New Year, I plan to expand the ranch to a thousand acres, and then divide it into four seasons. What do you think I need to develop?"

Whether it's a four-season ranch or expanding the ranch area and then surrounding it with tree stumps, it's no small task.

So Shan Yaowen wasn't talking nonsense. After the snow melts at the beginning of the year, even though there are less than a hundred sheep, there will be a lot of things to do.

He has planned everything for the ranch. The area closer to the woods is the winter pasture and the sika deer breeding base.

Then, they fenced off several other areas with flowing water to use as pastures for the other three seasons.

He didn't need to write these things down in a notebook; they were all in his head. After all, he had worked on this ranch his whole life in his previous life, and he knew exactly where the water was, how much water there was, and how long it would last.

However, he needed to dig an artificial lake for the pasture between winter and summer. The winter pasture had enough water, but the summer pasture had less water. In the 1990s, the summer pasture even dried up so much that the river stopped flowing.

As for the artificial lake, Shan Yaowen put it off until last. Anyway, it wouldn't be built anytime soon. He could deal with it after his ranch was established and developed.

After Shan Yaowen and Gou Dan finished inspecting the ranch, and asked him to keep an eye out for some timber at the forest farm, they went back home. As soon as they arrived at their doorstep, they ran into his younger sister who had come looking for him.

"Erguo, someone's come to visit. Dad sent me to find you."

"Okay, I understand."

After patting his little sister's head, Shan Yaowen led her home.

I only realized it was the Party Secretary when I entered the door.