The ground shook again, this time more noticeably than before.

Chen Hao suddenly opened his eyes, nearly dropping his pen into the hay. He sat up straight, staring at the female goat in the pen. She was sniffing the ground, her ears twitching, and her front hooves gently pawing the soil.

"Nana!" he whispered, "Is she about to give birth?"

Nana's mechanical eye lit up red as the scanning line swept across the mother goat's abdomen. "Contractions are occurring every three minutes, the fetal position is normal, and delivery is expected within ten minutes."

"So fast?" Chen Hao slid off the stool, his knees weak. "I thought I'd have to wait forever."

"Life waits for no one." Nana had already removed the outer protective plate from her right arm, revealing the internal heating module. "Prepare the delivery tools."

"What tools?" Chen Hao rummaged through his backpack. "Tissues? Towels? I also have half a pack of wet wipes..."

"Resin cotton for cleaning the birth canal and disinfectant." Nana handed over a sealed bag. "And this." She took out a long, thin metal tube. "A body temperature monitoring probe."

Chen Hao took the item, his hands trembling slightly. "Do you think it'll work? It hit the net so hard before..."

“Animals have a stronger birthing instinct than humans.” Nana placed the heat lamp in the corner of the sheepfold. “Don’t talk, just observe.”

The mother goat suddenly knelt down, her body convulsing. The next second, a wet, sticky thing slid out.

"They're out!" Chen Hao rushed to the fence.

The first calf lay motionless on the ground, covered in slime, its nostrils tightly closed. The mother goat, panting, turned and began to lick its back. But after five or six seconds, the little guy still didn't react.

"No!" Chen Hao reached in, grabbed the cub, flipped it over, and slapped its bottom with his palm.

Snap!

A muffled thud.

The lamb gasped, opened its mouth, and let out a very soft "baa".

"It's alive!" Chen Hao almost threw it away. "I was so scared, I thought it was dead."

Nana immediately turned on the heating lamp and shone it over. "The second one is being delivered."

Sure enough, the ewe strained again, and the second lamb came down. This one was smaller, and its legs were still wrapped in the amniotic sac when it landed.

Chen Hao didn't even bother to wash his hands; he tore off the plastic film and patted the lamb's back a couple of times. The lamb coughed twice and finally began to breathe.

"Both are alive." He slumped to the ground. "God has finally been kind to us today."

Nana scanned the two cubs with an infrared thermometer. "Their body temperature is low, below 35 degrees Celsius. They need external heating." She turned the heating lamp to its maximum setting. "Otherwise, they may fail within four hours."

"Then hurry up and take the picture." Chen Hao moved the two lambs under the light and wiped their bodies with a dry cloth.

The ewe had already stood up, sniffed the two calves, and then began to gnaw on the umbilical cord.

"It's quite good at being a mother," Chen Hao grinned.

“Basic survival skills for mammals,” Nana said, “but here’s the problem.”

"What?"

"Analysis of the milk composition shows insufficient protein content and a low fat content." Nana pulled up the data table. "Long-term feeding can lead to stunted growth in the pups."

Chen Hao frowned: "We don't have any baby formula, do we?"

"No."

"Where's the milk?"

"There are no dairy cows."

"Then what should we do?"

Both of them fell silent.

A few seconds later, Chen Hao suddenly looked up: "Honey."

"What?"

“Honey mixed with soybean powder!” He slapped his thigh. “I still have the leftover honey from making the ointment last time. Add some ground plant protein powder and a little minerals—isn’t this a nutritional paste?”

Nana paused for a second, then started the database comparison. "Honey contains natural sugars and trace enzymes, soy flour provides plant protein, and minerals replenish electrolytes." She nodded, "That works."

"Then hurry up and help me with this." Chen Hao pulled out the resin jar. "I remember where I put it."

In less than five minutes, a bowl of brownish-yellow paste was placed in front of her. Nana used a dropper to take a little to test the pH level.

“The pH is 6.8, which is suitable for the digestive system of pups,” she said. “0.5 ml each time, every 20 minutes.”

Chen Hao carefully inserted the dropper into the lamb's mouth. After swallowing the first bite, the little guy twitched its nose but didn't spit it out.

"efficient!"

After being fed three times, the two lambs' eyelids began to twitch, and their front legs lifted slightly, as if they were trying to prop themselves up.

"There's hope," Chen Haosong said with a sigh of relief. "Looks like we won't have to rely on the descendants of the deceased."

The night grew deeper. The heat lamps remained on, keeping the temperature in the sheepfold stable at twenty-eight degrees Celsius. The ewe lay to one side, occasionally lowering her head to lick her calf.

Chen Hao leaned over the fence to record data:

[00:15 First breath]

[00:23 First time opening eyes]

[01:07 Attempting to lift head]

"He's doing well," he said. "He'll be able to call me 'Dad' tomorrow."

Nana didn't respond; the camera focused on the circuit interface.

Suddenly, the heating lamp flashed.

“Warning,” her voice changed, “Current overload, circuit overheating.”

"What do you mean?" Chen Hao looked up.

"Continuous power supply exceeds 40% of rated load." Nana quickly scanned the screen. "The insulation layer is aging, posing a short circuit risk."

"Turn it off?"

“No.” She pointed to the cub. “The ambient temperature has dropped to twenty-six degrees. A power outage will cause a sudden drop in body temperature.”

"What should we do then?"

“Replace the circuit module.” Nana extended her robotic arm. “But we must first disconnect the power.”

"Then cut it!"

"The main control switch is located in the base's distribution box, 120 meters away."

"I'll go!" Chen Hao got up and ran.

"Don't touch the wires!" Nana shouted at him. "Working with live wires is dangerous."

"I know!" Chen Hao rushed to the power outlet. "I'm just unplugging something, what's the big deal?"

He reached out and grabbed the plug, pulling it outwards.

*Smack!*

A burst of blue light exploded, his entire arm jolted violently, and he was thrown back, only stopping when his back hit the railing.

"Chen Hao!"

He lay on the ground, his mouth crooked and eyes slanted, his hair standing on end like a bird's nest. His lips twitched, and he still clutched half a pen in his hand.

Nana instantly cut off the main power switch, the robotic arm switched to insulation mode, and the wiring was replaced within three seconds. The backup battery was connected, and the heating lamp turned on again.

She rolled over to Chen Hao's side and scanned his head. "Minor electric shock injury, transient neurological disorder, no tissue damage."

Chen Hao blinked, managing to squeeze out a few words: "I...I'm not...dead, am I?"

"No."

"That's good." He raised his hand to touch his head. "Where's my hair?"

"Static electricity causes hair to stand on end; it is expected to return to normal within three minutes."

"That scared me to death." He sat up and looked at the sheep pen. "The lights are still on?"

"System has been restarted."

Two lambs curled up in the lamplight, their heads close together and their ears twitching gently.

"It's good that you're alive." Chen Hao grinned, revealing his teeth.

He got up, took a blanket out of his backpack, wrapped himself in it, and sat down again.

"Go and rest," Nana said.

“I’m not leaving.” He shook his head. “It’s my first time being a father, so I have to keep watch.”

"You are not their biological father."

"As long as the feelings are there, that's enough."

Nana didn't say anything more, and the camera turned to the inside of the sheep pen. The surveillance footage was updated simultaneously.

[Vital signs are stable]

[Ambient temperature meets requirements]

[Food intake record: three times]

Chen Hao yawned, his eyelids growing heavier. But he still held the notebook, pen between his fingers.

During the darkest hour before dawn, the lamb moved.

The slightly larger one slowly propped itself up on its front legs and wobbled to its feet. It looked around, finally fixing its gaze on Chen Hao.

"Hey!" He suddenly snapped to attention. "It stood up!"

The lamb took half a step, then fell. It got up again and took another step.

The ewe raised her head and touched it with her nose.

Chen Hao grinned from ear to ear, reaching out to touch it, but afraid of scaring it.

Nana said softly, "It's time to name it."

"What's your name?"

"Xiao Yang".

Why?

"Born at dawn, welcoming the first rays of light."

"What about the other one?"

"Xiao Guang".

"It's a duplicate."

"Different homophones."

Chen Hao thought for a moment and said, "That works too."

He looked down and opened his notebook, writing on the latest page:

[Xiao Yang, male, birth weight 2.3 kg, first time standing: 04:17]

[Xiao Guang, female, birth weight 2.1 kg, first vocalization time: 00:23]

After finishing writing, he closed the notebook, leaned against the railing, and slowly closed his eyes.

Nana turned down the monitor volume and pointed the camera at the two cubs.

Xiao Yang tentatively took his third step.

Xiao Guang looked up, his limbs trembling, but he was trying his best to stand up.

Chen Hao still had a smile on his lips, and his breathing became even.

Nana's mechanical eyes slowly dimmed, entering a low-power mode.

Outside the sheepfold, the wind gently blew across the meadow.

Xiao Yang had just lifted his front hoof when he suddenly slipped and his whole body tilted to the right.