Chapter 119 The Cow is Not Simple

Everyone finished lunch at around two o'clock in the afternoon. Without taking a long rest, they went straight to take a look at Xia Wu's hilltop.

I heard that the top of the mountain was not far away, only about ten minutes' walk. Everyone said that they would not take the car, and that walking would help them digest their food.

"You have a really nice environment here, with mountains and water. Even the water in the creek is so clean!"

Walking along the path in the village, Lao Zheng could see the hills not far away. It was cloudy today, and the sun was hidden in the thin clouds. It wasn't too hot, and the visibility was very good. He could even see the electric towers on the distant mountain tops.

The sky was clear and the wind was slightly cool. According to Jiang Xun's survival experience in the wild, there should be many rivers nearby with high moisture content, so it wouldn't be too hot even in summer.

Yang Guofeng said to them, "Our place is poor, but the only good thing is that the ecological environment is good."

Old Zheng laughed heartily and said, "Lucid mountains and clear waters are invaluable assets. I think you're doing quite well here. Young people coming back to start businesses should have something to offer. How much of the mountain do you own?"

Xia Wu replied, "About one or two thousand mu. The actual developed area is probably less than three hundred mu. We just started it at the end of last year, and we haven't decided on a large scale yet. We can only take it slow and grope our way through it."

Jiang Xun was a little surprised. It was not easy to conquer a hilltop of one or two thousand acres right from the start.

From the conversation with Xia Wu, Jiang Xun discovered that she was not the type to play house. No matter what others said, it was Xia Wu who answered the questions, so she was the main person in charge.

By the time they reached the foot of Yantou Mountain, Jiang Xun had already gotten to know the ecological environment of Yanggou Village. He asked Xia Wu, "Have you ever poisoned frogs here?"

Xia Wu was a little surprised: "Mr. Jiang can see this?"

"You have quite a lot of mosquitoes here," Jiang Xun spread his hands, revealing the blood stains on the back of his hand from swatting mosquitoes. "And the number is somewhat unusual. Frogs are less common in rural areas now. Ten or so years ago, the countryside was filled with the croaking of frogs. Although there are still some now, there are definitely not as many as before. Just think about it, a dozen years ago, how many rural people slept in the yard, and a palm-leaf fan could drive away mosquitoes. It was because there were so many frogs and natural enemies that mosquitoes were not as rampant as they are now."

When talking about his professional issues, Jiang Xun started to talk more.

The older people all agreed with him. "There aren't as many frogs as before. Farmers use pesticides to farm. Without them, crops can't grow. And when they do, it inevitably pollutes the water. Not only are there frogs, but there are even fewer fish."

Yang Guofeng also mentioned one thing. The most common fish in their mountain streams is mandarin fish. When they were young, they could not catch all of them. Now, the wild mandarin fish in the mountain rivers are almost gone.

Jiang Xun asked, "Do you still have wild mandarin fish here?"

"There are many more. You'll know when you go into the mountains."

When we got to the mountain, everyone praised Xia Wu's mountain for being well-maintained and well-organized. There was a large lake at the foot of the mountain, with ducks and geese floating on the water, playing freely in the water.

The poultry raised by Xia Wu are all very good, with shiny feathers, big size and loud calls. The isolation zone at the foot of the mountain is planted with thorny plants, including barberry, blueberry, raspberry and wolfberry. The timing of buying them this year was wrong and they missed the flowering period, so the fruits were sour and astringent. Xia Wu did not take much care of them and planned to take good care of them for a year and make another decision next year.

There were also raspberries in the isolation zone, which looked very tempting with their bright red color. Lao Zheng had never seen this thing before. After learning that it was edible, he picked a few without washing them. He asked Xia Wu if they had been sprayed with pesticides. After getting an affirmative answer, he threw them directly into his mouth and chewed them.

Comment: "It's quite sweet."

Xia Wu introduced to them that the most common crops on the mountain were various vegetables and fruit trees. It was estimated that there were more than 400 fruit trees, which occupied the largest area. However, the direction of the cowshed was opposite to that of the fruit forest. After visiting the cowshed, he could take them to see the fruit forest.

It was nice enough to just look at the foot of the mountain, but when we got near the cowshed, Lao Zheng's mouth opened wide, because this place is so suitable for raising buffaloes.

This can't be called a cowshed, it should be called a cattle farm.

The cattle farm is located in the northwest of the mountain, far away from people. The mountain here is a little depressed. There is a small stream flowing from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain. The water brings cool breeze. It feels cool when standing at the foot of the mountain. No matter how hot the summer is, it can't heat these buffaloes.

There are not many barren trees on the mountain here, but there is a lot of grass. Near the halfway point of the mountain slope, there is alfalfa planted by Xia Wu, which is high-quality cattle feed.

The cowshed is made entirely of cement, and the mud surface looks like it was built not long ago. It is about two meters high, and the roof is covered with wood and has a waterproof layer. Standing in the cowshed is cool and not stuffy.

There are pastures, rivers and streams near the cowshed, which is a great place to raise cattle and sheep naturally.

Old Zheng was speechless for a long time, and suddenly he envied Xia Wu for being able to find such a good Feng Shui place for raising cattle.

"These cows are having a really good life with you. Not to mention the cows, even the people living here would have a great time."

Yang Guofeng laughed and said, "It's okay to live here in the summer, but it's too cold in the winter. You'll get rheumatism if you live here for three to five years."

Xia Wu also built a milking yard, which she built according to the scientific cattle breeding yard drawings she found on the Sannong website.

It has cement underneath and wood on top. It looks nice and cool, and cows like it.

Jiang Xun had nothing to say. Just by looking at this place, he knew that Xia Wu must have put a lot of thought into it. At least raising cattle was not a spur-of-the-moment idea, but something she had planned for a long time.

The buffaloes had been in the car for hundreds of kilometers. Logically, they should be restless and anxious when they arrived at a new place, but Xia Wu directly released them into the wild and let them move freely. Not only were these buffaloes not restless, but they liked the place very much. They were in the river, by the stream, drinking water, eating grass, or eating grass while taking a bath. It was so comfortable.

Among the forty-five cows, there are at least a dozen cows with calves. Xia Wu will have to pay more attention to them in the next few days and find professionals to take care of them. It will take at least until the second half of the year before the cows can give birth.

"What is that puppy doing?" Jiang Xun suddenly asked, pointing not far away.

Everyone looked in the direction of his finger and saw a small yellow dog that was not even as tall as the buffalo's legs barking next to the buffalo. When the buffalo moved a little, the dog was frightened and ran a few meters away. After a while, it approached again tirelessly and barked at the buffalo.

Only buffaloes have good tempers and gentle natures. If they were to do something else, they would have been hooved long ago.

Xia Wu held his forehead and explained, "It's grazing."

"Pasturing?" Jiang Xun was surprised.

Xia Wu shouted loudly: "Jindou, come here!"

The little yellow dog barked at the buffalo unwillingly a few times and ran towards its owner while barking.

"I have two puppies, and I usually let them look after the chickens, ducks, and geese. The other one, Heidou, is very smart and has already become adept at herding the chickens, ducks, and geese. Actually, the ducks and geese don't need him to watch them much, but watching the chickens is a little difficult. Jindou is a bit clumsy and has never been very good at it. Maybe he feels a little resentful because he sees me always giving Heidou rewards, so he has recently shown a lot of interest in herding..."

However, the chickens, ducks and geese under Heidou's management were not afraid of Jindou at all. Even barking at them was of no use. Xia Wu said that maybe these chickens, ducks and geese had grown up and did not listen to Jindou. Next time he raised chicks, he would let Jindou take care of them.

I don’t know if Jindou understood, but the little guy treated these new buffaloes as chickens that could be managed, and actually ran over to try to discipline them without knowing his own limitations.

Jindou ran to Xia Wu and whimpered as if complaining, but the big guys ignored it!

Jindou is the general beside his master, but he doesn’t listen to his orders!

Xia Wu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She patted Jindou's head and said, "Don't worry about them. Be good and go play with Heidou."

Jindou left reluctantly. Jiang Xun stared at him with wide eyes. "Can it really understand?"

Xia Wu said as a matter of course: "Yes!"

"That's amazing," Jiang Xun gave a thumbs up.

Next, Old Zheng Jiangxun and the staff from the epidemic prevention station and animal husbandry station took care of the buffaloes to appease them. Xia Wu also joined them and learned from them how to take care of buffaloes and how to milk them.

She is a novice, but very smart and can learn basically anything once taught.

Milking a cow is not an easy task. The technique must be moderate. Otherwise, if it is too light, no milk can be squeezed out. If it is too heavy, the cow will feel uncomfortable and kick around due to anxiety.

Lao Zheng was an experienced milker. He taught Xia Wu twice before letting her do it herself. Xia Wu imitated him and asked, "Is that so?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're pretty quick at it, that's it."

The buffalo was very docile, chewing the grass. Its long and thick eyelashes made it look innocent. No matter how Xia Wu touched it, it was obedient.

Xia Wu's personal involvement made everyone feel much more at ease. Dozens of cows were worth nearly one million, which was not a small amount. Even without mentioning the money, so many cows were innocent.

Today's milk has been milked. Even without a calf, the cow will still get engorged even without milking, so it must be milked on time and in the right amount every day.

Xia Wu definitely cannot take care of so many cows by herself. She is currently planning to recruit skilled cattle farmers in the village. Moreover, there are so many cows, and milking is a hard job, which one or two people definitely cannot do.

Jiang Xun was very interested in Xia Wu's hill. He planned to stay here for two more days and also guide Xia Wu on cattle breeding.

Old Zheng walked around the mountain, his eyes full of envy. "You are quite an accomplished girl. You have managed to keep such a large mountain in such good order. How do you make money?"

Xia Wu told Lao Zheng about her profit points. Before Lao Zheng came, she had heard about what Lao Zheng's cattle farm had encountered recently. They were both farmers, and they earned their money through hard work. They knew the pain of having no market demand and their products rotting at home.

The reason why Xia Wu's villa can make money is mainly because it has opened up the market. Once a video account is created and a link is posted, it has gotten rid of the old model of selling goods and is more efficient and direct.

"Many children in cities have never experienced rural life. Setting up a section as a parent-child interaction area gives city dwellers an opportunity to experience it. This is a good idea. On the one hand, they can see that your planting is green and pollution-free. On the other hand, they feel involved, which will increase the repurchase rate."

Xia Wu talked freely.

Old Zheng frowned and thought, as if he had thought of a way to break the deadlock.

"That makes sense, it makes a lot of sense. I kind of know what I should do now," said Lao Zheng, extremely anxious, eager to go back and turn the idea in his head into reality. "Let's not talk about other things. I'll send you the cow. If you have any questions, just contact me on WeChat. It's not easy for a young girl to start a business. I'll cover your after-sales service for six months. We can exchange experiences more often in the future."

Xia Wu was delighted when she heard this. Old Zheng was a straightforward person, so she reached out and shook his hand. "Thank you, Brother Zheng."

Lao Zheng’s name is Lao Zheng, but he is not old. He is only 38 years old this year. It’s okay to call him Big Brother.

Old Zheng is gone.

The staff from the epidemic prevention station and the animal husbandry station also left. Before leaving, they bought some vegetables and fruits from Xia Wu's hilltop to take back. Xia Wu confiscated their money, thinking that he would definitely trouble them again in the future.

Xia Wu's purchase of the cow went smoothly, which was closely related to Jiang Xun.

Xia Wu knew Jiang Xun's occupation. He stayed here to help Xia Wu look after the cows just as a side job. He probably wanted to do environmental monitoring in the nearby mountains. Xia Wu warmly welcomed him and wanted to find him a place to live in the village, but Jiang Xun directly refused.

"The bullpen is pretty good. I can live there."

There are wooden houses for employees near the cowshed, and you just need to bring your bedding.

The host should follow the guest's wishes. Jiang Xun seemed to be a straightforward person, so Xia Wu didn't worry too much about it. He just found a set of bedding for him from home, and Jiang Xun settled down in the mountains.

There is internet access on the mountain, and you can eat by walking a distance to the courtyard with a well. Jiang Xun still has to write a report during this period, so it's a good time for him to finish his work here in peace.

Milkers are needed in the mountains, and someone is also needed to take care of the cattle at night. Xia Wu wants to recruit two or three people in the village so that they can take turns looking after the cows.

With nearly one million in property, she was a little hesitant to hand it over to anyone. Fourth Master Yang offered to help her take care of the cattle, but Fourth Master Yang was old and it was not convenient for him to go up and down the mountain or walk through the valley.

Unable to find a suitable person in the early stage, Xia Wu had to take on the burden of looking after the cattle herself. She finally persuaded her parents and moved her bedding to live in the mountains.

Being a neighbor to Jiang Xun was not as inconvenient as one might imagine. Sometimes, Xia Wu would get up early in the morning to milk the cows, and Jiang Xun would have already gone out with his bag. When she finished milking and went to the courtyard by the well to eat, Jiang Xun would appear out of nowhere, as elusive as a ghost.

More than 20 lactating buffaloes were milked, but less than 150 kilograms of milk were produced each day. This was because the buffaloes were young and not yet at the peak of lactation. Furthermore, the journey was exhausting...

However, even 300 kilograms of buffalo milk is a large amount that Xia Wu cannot digest internally.

She could only find a way to digest the buffalo milk.

Steamed buns are started in the small courtyard with a well. Not a drop of water is added. The buns are made purely with milk, and they are full of milky aroma after being steamed.

The women in the village are very good at making pastries. They are the masters of their home kitchens. They use their best abilities in the courtyard by the well, learning from videos and making steamed buns in various shapes.

The old people in the village all like buffalo milk steamed buns very much. No, or rather, everyone dislikes buffalo milk steamed buns. Even after eating them for three consecutive days, the buffalo milk is still not used up. Xia Wu suddenly had an idea to upload the steamed buns made of buffalo milk to the Internet. Maybe someone will buy them?