The autumn wind carried a new bite. It was no longer the lazy, golden warmth of harvest season; it was a sharp, piercing gust that stripped the leaves from the trees and turned the morning grass white with frost.
Time on the Westland was measured not in hours, but in bundles.
Four hundred and twenty bundles.
Li Wei stood before the towering mound of dried grass. It looked like a small mountain, rough and ragged, covered in tarpaulins made from woven bamboo and oiled paper. He smelled of dried sap and sweat. His hands, once soft, were now calloused leather, stained green from grass sap and brown from dirt.
"Four hundred and twenty," Li Sheng groaned, sprawled out on the ground, too tired to even eat the midday bun. "We are short by eighty bundles. The frost is coming, Brother. The grass has stopped growing."
Li Wei looked out over the fields. The lush green of the creek bed had turned a dull, dormant brown. The clover had retreated. They had pushed hard, working from before dawn until the stars came out, but nature was indifferent to their efforts.
"Eighty bundles," Li Wei muttered. "It's enough to get by if we supplement with bran, but if the winter is long..."
He kicked a rock. The frustration was palpable. They were so close. The system had even updated his status to **[Feed Stockpile: 84%]**, but the final stretch was the hardest.
"Boss," Chen Hu approached, carrying a wooden bucket. "The water in the trough is freezing over. I broke the ice this morning. Winter is here."
Li Wei sighed. "Alright. We stop cutting. We switch to maintenance. We need to check the herd for lice and ticks. Winter is when the parasites try to hitch a ride inside the warm coats."
He looked at his tired team. "Rest today. We start the inspection tomorrow."
***
**Zhao Household – Main Courtyard**
Zhao Qingyu sat behind her desk, but her mind was not on the ledgers.
In the corner of the room, her second uncle, Zhao De, was sipping tea with a smug expression on his face.
"Nephew," Zhao De said, his voice oily. "I heard the 'Rancher' is still at it. My servant saw him hauling grass like a common laborer. It is... unseemly. A scholar's son, reduced to a beast of burden."
Qingyu's brush paused. "The Westland is his to manage, Uncle. How he manages it is his affair."
"Affair?" Zhao De chuckled. "It is a joke! The other magistrates are laughing. 'The Zhao family's son-in-law is playing farmer'. They say he branded the cattle like a common bandit. If he fails, the debt falls on the family. Why not cut losses now? Sell the land. Sell the scruffy beasts. Let me handle it."
Qingyu looked up, her eyes cold. "Father gave him a year. It has been two months. The contract is binding. We do not go back on our word in this house."
"Word?" Zhao De scoffed. "He is useless! He is—"
"He is the only man in this house who has dug a pit trap with his own hands," Qingyu interrupted sharply. She stood up, the beads on her hairpin clicking together. "Enough. I have accounts to review."
She swept out of the room, her silk robes rustling.
But the words stung. *Playing farmer.*
She found herself walking toward the stables. Her maids followed, confused.
"Mistress? Where are you going?"
"The Westland," she said, climbing into the carriage. "I need to see the... inventory."
***
**Westland Ranch**
The inspection was not going well.
"Easy... easy, girl," Li Wei whispered.
He was in the middle of the corral, holding a struggling heifer. He was trying to check her gums for anemia—a sign of parasite infestation—but the animal was panicking.
The 'General', the Black Bull, watched from a few feet away, his massive head low. He seemed to be enjoying Li Wei's struggle, chewing his cud with an amused glint in his eye.
"Hold her head, Chen Hu!"
"I am trying, Boss! She's slippery!"
Suddenly, the heifer reared up, her hoof striking the wooden fence. *CRACK.* A plank splintered. Dust flew.
"Whoa!" Li Wei was knocked backward, landing hard in the manure and mud. The heifer bolted, running straight toward the open gate where Li Sheng was standing.
"Close the gate!" Li Wei yelled.
Li Sheng scrambled, slamming the bamboo gate shut just as the cow slammed into it. *BAM.* The gate held, but the impact sent Sheng tumbling backward.
Li Wei sat up, wiping mud from his face. He spit out a mouthful of dirt.
"Status?" he asked.
"She's back in," Chen Hu said, breathing hard. "But we lost a plank."
Li Wei groaned. "Great. Just great."
"Brother!" Sheng pointed. "The carriage! Sister-in-law is here!"
Li Wei froze. He looked down at himself. He was covered in filth. His robe was torn at the shoulder. He smelled of cow dung and sweat.
*Perfect timing,* he thought grimly. *Just perfect.*
He stood up, trying to brush off the worst of the manure, as Zhao Qingyu stepped out of the carriage. She looked immaculate in a pale blue winter robe, a fur collar wrapped around her neck.
She surveyed the scene. The broken fence. The panting workers. The mud-covered husband.
"So," she said, her voice cutting through the cold air. "This is the grand ranch?"
Li Wei walked over, limping slightly from the fall. He didn't bow. He just wiped his hands on a rag.
"Wife. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"I came to inspect the assets," she said, looking at the huddled cattle. "Uncle Zhao De is making noise in the clan. He says you are ruining the family reputation."
"Uncle Zhao De sits in a warm room and counts coins," Li Wei said, his voice rough. "I am building value. There is a difference."
"Value?" She pointed to the haystack. "That? It looks like a pile of weeds. And the cattle... they are thin. thinner than when you bought them?"
Li Wei stiffened. "They are leaner. They are building muscle, not fat. They are healthier."
"They look like ghosts."
Before Li Wei could retort, a low, pained moan came from the far corner of the pen.
It was one of the older cows, 'Old Blossom'. She was lying down, her head stretched out, her sides heaving violently. Her stomach looked distended, swollen tight like a drum.
"What is that?" Qingyu asked, stepping back.
Li Wei's eyes snapped to the cow. He didn't hesitate. He ran over, the mud squelching under his boots.
**[System Alert!]**
**[Target: Cow #3 (Old Blossom)]**
**[Diagnosis: Acute Bloat (Ruminal Tympany).]**
**[Cause: Excessive consumption of wet clover/frost-covered grass.]**
**[Condition: Critical. Gas pressure restricting breathing.]**
**[Immediate Action Required: Decompression.]**
"She's choking!" Li Sheng yelled.
The cow's eyes were bulging, her tongue lolling out. She was suffocating on her own gas. It was a common killer in cattle, often mistaken for illness by ancient farmers.
"Chen Hu! Get me a hollow reed! The thick one from the creek! And a knife! NOW!"
Li Wei dropped to his knees beside the cow. He felt the left flank. It was tight as a drum skin. If he didn't release the pressure, she would die of heart failure in minutes.
Qingyu watched, horrified. "Is it... is it sick? Should we call a vet?"
"There are no vets for cows here, only horse doctors," Li Wei said, his hands probing the flank. "And they would just bleed her. Useless."
Chen Hu ran over, breathless, handing Li Wei a long, hollow bamboo reed and a sharp skinning knife.
"What are you doing?" Qingyu asked, stepping closer despite her fear. "You can't cut her!"
Li Wei looked up at her, his eyes intense. "I have to. Or she dies."
He sterilized the knife quickly in the flame of a nearby lantern. "Hold her head, Chen Hu. Keep her still."
Li Wei located the spot—the *fossa paralis*, the hollow of the flank.
"Forgive me, girl," he whispered.
He made a small, precise incision through the skin. The cow jerked, but Chen Hu held her down with his immense strength.
Then, Li Wei took the hollow reed. He positioned it over the incision and pushed.
*HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.*
A loud, prolonged hiss filled the air. It sounded like a dragon exhaling. Foul-smelling gas erupted from the tube, blowing back the dust around them.
Qingyu covered her nose, gagging. "What... what is that smell?!"
"That is the smell of life," Li Wei said, watching the cow's distended stomach slowly deflate. He moved the reed slightly, ensuring the gas could escape freely.
The cow's breathing steadied. The panic in her eyes faded. She let out a long, shuddering breath and stopped struggling.
Li Wei sat back on his heels, exhaling himself. He waited a few minutes, then pulled the reed out. He quickly cleaned the small wound and applied a paste of healing herbs he had prepared.
"She will live," Li Wei said, wiping the knife on the grass.
He looked up at his wife.
Qingyu was staring at him. The disdain was gone, replaced by a mixture of shock and confusion. She looked at the reed, then at the cow, then at the man kneeling in the mud.
"You... you saved her. With a tube?"
"Bloat," Li Wei explained, standing up. His legs were shaky. "Gas gets trapped. It builds up. She can't burp it out. I let it out. It's simple physics."
"It looked like magic," Li Sheng whispered from the side.
"It's knowledge," Li Wei said. He looked at Qingyu. "This is what I do, Wife. I don't write poetry. I save cows. I cut grass. I survive."
He gestured to the haystack. "We are short on feed. Winter is hard. But these cows are mine. And I will not let one of them die without a fight."
Qingyu was silent for a long time. The wind whipped a strand of hair across her face.
"You are... competent," she said finally. It sounded like a high compliment from her lips. "I will tell Uncle Zhao De that the inventory is... stable."
She turned to leave, then paused.
"Li Wei."
"Yes?"
"Your hands."
Li Wei looked at his hands. They were trembling slightly from the adrenaline, covered in dirt and blood.
"They are dirty," he said.
"They are useful," she corrected. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a small, wrapped bundle. "Winter clothing. Thick cotton. Father sent it. He... he thought you might need it."
She placed the bundle on the fence post and walked back to the carriage, not looking back.
Li Wei picked up the bundle. It was heavy, lined with sheepskin. It wasn't silk, but it was warm.
**[System Notification:]**
**[Action Performed: Emergency Veterinary Surgery.]**
**[Reputation with Zhao Qingyu: Neutral -> Curious.]**
**[Ranch Reputation: Professionalism established.]**
Li Wei watched the carriage disappear down the road. He felt a small, warm glow in his chest that had nothing to do with the work.
"Alright," he called out to the men. "The cow is down, but not out. Let's fix that fence. Winter isn't waiting for us."
He put on the new jacket. It fit perfectly.
**[Quest Update: Winter Feed Stockpile.]**
**[Bonus Objective Complete: Treat Livestock Illness.]**
**[Reward: Basic Nutritional Mix Formula (Bran/Grass/Molasses ratio).]**
Li Wei grinned. Molasses? He didn't have molasses. But he had honey. And he had a new idea to keep the cows fat through the winter.
"Sheng! Do we have any honey left from the supplies?"
"A little jar, Brother!"
"Good. We're making candy for the cows."
The Westland Ranch was open for business.