Several employees, dressed in uniforms specially made by Zhao Youcai for the farm, would drag out pigs every few minutes with pained expressions and place them on the open ground outside the pigpen.
Zhao Youcai looked at the pigs that had stopped breathing and felt a pang of pain in his heart.
He seemed to see one bill after another, like a giant unity symbol, turn into butterflies and fly away.
How could such a sudden change happen?
Zhao Youcai isn't stupid; he knew that such a big incident had happened so soon after he took over the farm. Of course, he knew that someone was deliberately targeting him.
Because a noodle factory is being built in Zhaojiagou, and it's not time to expand there yet, Zhao Youcai has been staying at the breeding farm every day and has never left.
The factory employees are required to report daily on what they have done and whether any abnormalities have occurred.
Zhao Youcai further divided them into groups of three, with each group taking turns every four hours.
It's not that everyone only needs to work four hours a day; it's still an eight-hour workday.
It's just that you have to be the main person working for four hours, and spend the other four hours keeping an eye on the employees who come to relieve you.
Zhao Youcai felt that this shouldn't have happened to an employee, but the sudden occurrence of this situation was really unusual.
Having undergone systematic learning in later generations, Zhao Youcai's intuition as an intern veterinarian quickly kicked in.
First, he sent someone to the town to call the police. Then he went to the dead pig at the far end, squatted down, and carefully examined the pig's condition.
After checking the pig's condition, Zhao Youcai asked his third son to bring over the toolbox from the office.
The items inside were all things Zhao Youcai had recently acquired from supply and marketing cooperatives, steel mills, and the black market; they were essential tools specifically used for performing surgeries and examinations on animals.
However, Zhao Youcai did not rush to perform the autopsy; he would wait for the police to arrive before proceeding.
To avoid anyone defining my behavior as damaging collective property, we can accept any loss these days, but we can't accept such a serious label that involves collective interests.
The people from the town arrived quickly. To Zhao Youcai's surprise, the people who came were not only the few familiar faces from the Public Security Bureau, but also two complete strangers he had never seen before.
"This is Comrade Zhao Youcai, the manager of this breeding farm."
Then he introduced Zhao Youcai, "These are Comrade Han and Comrade Yang, who were just transferred from the county's epidemic prevention station. They are both veterinarians."
After all, there were no veterinary hospitals back then. In addition to treating people, the epidemic prevention station also treated livestock and poultry.
"Hello, comrades. You've come all this way, thank you for your hard work."
Zhao Youcai was just worrying about how to cover up his lie that he could treat animals, but now that a professional has arrived, he doesn't have to worry about the risks associated with his ability to treat animals.
Zhao Youcai smiled and told his third son to take the toolbox back, then gestured for the two veterinarians to proceed.
"We can talk about this later. Look at the big problem that has happened at my farm. Please help me figure out what's wrong."
Under normal circumstances, if Zhao Youcai dared to be so disrespectful to the two comrades, he would definitely be resented.
But in a hurry, they had to act quickly. Seeing that they had pulled out two more dead pigs in such a short time, the two of them didn't waste any time and immediately squatted down to examine them carefully.
After the two of them finished dissecting the three pigs together, their faces looked extremely grim.
"I wonder how many pigs are still alive? Can we go in and take a look?"
Zhao Youcai immediately nodded and had someone lead the way for them.
As for standardized breeding practices, such as having them wear special work clothes to go in, Zhao Youcai can't care about that now.
Given the current situation, there's no need for any protective measures.
Several employees were dragging dead pigs out, and any bacteria or viruses they might have brought in through the door.
Disinfection can't keep up with the rate at which pigs die; the most crucial thing is to race against time to prevent the situation from worsening.
Zhao Youcai had seen this situation before, and even without testing with professional instruments, he could conclude that it was swine fever.
However, when he took over the farm, Zhao Youcai made a point of going into the pigsty to check it carefully.
They even had a heavy scale prepared for them, weighing them every three days to confirm that they had a good appetite and were growing at a normal rate.
It is impossible for a large-scale outbreak of swine fever to occur suddenly under such circumstances, unless someone deliberately sabotages the situation and prepares drugs to inject into the pigs.
Another method involves controlling the food, requiring a continuous supply of the pigs with foods associated with the plague.
However, there was no plague, let alone a small-scale flu, within a radius of ten miles.
Animals generally have stronger immune systems than humans, so what kind of virus can bypass humans and enter a pig's body directly?
The only saving grace is that none of the pigs in the pigsty are currently being handed over to the meat processing plant; these pigs were all secretly raised by the man surnamed Zhu.
Zhao Youcai originally intended to use the money from selling these pigs as working capital for the farm.
Although he could simply stuff it into his pocket, Zhao Youcai believed that ill-gotten gains like this should not be used carelessly.
It's a pity that so many pigs died; the farm's working capital will be significantly reduced.
"We need to investigate the specific situation. I suggest that the remaining pigs be isolated immediately to minimize the losses."
Zhao Youcai immediately agreed, and the employees still at the breeding farm quickly sprang into action.
However, Zhao Youcai did not ask the employees in charge of poultry to come and help.
After all, no one knows whether the swine fever can be transmitted to other animals through humans, and Zhao Youcai doesn't want to follow the swine fever with chicken plague, duck plague, and other plagues.
It would be terrible if someone said that Zhao Youcai was unlucky and that animals would die wherever he went.
After all, there aren't many educated people these days, especially during such turbulent times, when many scholars are being sent to the countryside.
There are too many ignorant people, and even more who are opportunistic and can't stand seeing others do well.
Rumors are a deadly weapon that can kill without drawing blood, and Zhao Youcai didn't want to get involved in any more trouble.
Zhao Youcai was mentally filtering through potential targets.
This swine fever outbreak is really too strange; there hasn't been such a bizarre situation in all these years.
It happened at just the right time, a few days after I took over the farm.
Something unusual must be going on. Thinking of this, Zhao Youcai suddenly remembered someone and asked him directly.
"Is Director Zhu, the former manager of the breeding farm, still in prison?"
Although Captain Qi wasn't among the people who came this time, the young policeman who had left a deep impression on Zhao Youcai by giving him wedding candy was there. He also realized the seriousness of the matter and his expression was even more serious than Zhao Youcai's.
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