The echo of the Governor's praise resonated through Qinghe County faster than a galloping horse.
Overnight, the "Westland Ranch" transformed from a joke into a sensation. The morning after the banquet, Li Wei found three servants from wealthy merchant households waiting at his gate, clutching silver ingots and demanding "the smoked beef."
Li Wei stood at the gate, leaning on his staff, his expression calm despite the chaotic potential of the moment.
"I have no beef today," he told the first servant, a haughty young man from the Silk Guild.
"What?" The servant sneered, though his confidence wavered under Li Wei's steady gaze. "My master pays top coin! Do you know who he is?"
"My master is the Governor," Li Wei replied, his voice mild but sharp. "And I told him it would be a month before the next batch. Do you want to argue with the Governor's schedule?"
The servant paled and retreated.
Li Wei turned to Chen Hu. "This is a problem. The Governor wants monthly shipments. The city wants daily cuts. I have one dead cow in the shed and ten live ones I can't legally kill."
In the Great Liang Dynasty, the law was clear: the slaughter of healthy cattle was a crime punishable by imprisonment or worse. Only "fallen stock"—animals that died of natural causes or were injured beyond recovery—could be eaten. It was a law designed to protect agricultural power, ensuring no farmer would kill his plow ox for a quick profit.
But Li Wei saw the loophole. The law didn't say the animal had to be *completely* dead before you decided it was done for.
"We need supply," Li Wei said. "Sheng, bring me the brush and paper. We're putting up a notice."
***
**NOTICE: Westland Ranch Fallen Stock Purchasing Station**
*Any farmer with an ox or cow that is injured, sick, lame, or too old to plow, bring it to the Westland. We will pay a fair price—higher than the knacker or the glue boiler. We take the burden; you keep the silver.*
Li Wei posted the board at the entrance of the market.
The reaction was mixed. Some farmers laughed. "He buys broken things?"
But for others, the news hit like a thunderclap.
An old farmer named Old Man Zhang stood before the board, his hands trembling. He had an old ox, "Big Yellow," who had served him for twelve years. The ox's teeth were gone; it could barely chew hay. It was slowly starving to death. Zhang couldn't bear to kill it himself, and paying a knacker to take it away cost money he didn't have.
"He buys old oxen?" Zhang whispered. "And pays?"
An hour later, Old Man Zhang stood at the Westland gate, leading a skeletal, swaybacked yellow ox. The animal looked pathetic, its ribs visible, its eyes milky with age.
"I heard... you take the old ones," Zhang said hesitantly, looking at the strange man in the wolf-pelt hat.
Li Wei walked up to the ox. He didn't haggle. He ran his hands over the animal's frame.
**[System Analysis]**
**[Target: Old Draft Ox]**
**[Age: 13 Years.]**
**[Condition: Senile, tooth loss. Unfit for labor.]**
**[Meat Quality: Tough. Low marbling.]**
**[Status: Legal for slaughter.]**
"He's had a good life," Li Wei said softly. He looked at Zhang. "He pulled your plow for many years, didn't he?"
"Since I was a boy," Zhang said, wiping a tear. "I couldn't... I didn't want the butcher to hack him."
"I won't let him suffer," Li Wei promised. "He will feed the Governor. His life will have dignity. I will give you one tael of silver."
"One tael?" Zhang gasped. The knacker would have charged him fifty coins. "But... he is useless!"
"He is food," Li Wei corrected. "And memories. That is worth a tael."
He paid the man. Word spread like wildfire. By sundown, Li Wei had acquired two old plow oxen and a heifer with a broken leg from a rock slide.
The Ranch had a supply chain. But it also had a target on its back.
***
Three days later, the skies turned grey. A carriage bearing the seal of the *Ministry of Agriculture* rattled up the dirt road to the Westland.
It wasn't the Governor. It was a Regional Inspector, a man named Liu. He was thin, with a pinched face and a robe that was slightly too large for him, giving him the appearance of a weasel in a sack.
Behind him stood six bailiffs with staves.
Uncle Zhao De stood by the carriage, a smirk plastered on his face. "Inspector Liu, this is the place. The son-in-law. He is slaughtering cattle wantonly! He threatens the agricultural foundation of the county!"
Inspector Liu adjusted his hat and marched to the gate. "Open up! In the name of the Law!"
Chen Hu moved to block the gate, his hand on his knife, but Li Wei stepped out of the shed, wiping his hands on a cloth.
"Let them in," Li Wei said. "We have nothing to hide."
The bailiffs swept in. They immediately headed for the sheds.
"Check the pens!" Inspector Liu shouted. "Count the heads! If there is one missing from his registry that isn't accounted for by natural death, seize him!"
Li Wei stood calmly, his arms crossed. "Inspector. To what do I owe this... pleasure?"
"Silence, rogue!" Inspector Liu spat. "We have reports that you are running a slaughterhouse! You are enticing farmers to sell their plow oxen for meat! This is a direct violation of the Dynasty's Sacred Agrarian Code!"
Uncle De stepped forward, pointing a finger. "See? He has carcasses hanging in that shed! I saw them!"
Inspector Liu marched to the smoking shed and threw the door open.
Sure enough, sides of beef hung from the rafters, curing in the smoky air.
"Ha!" Uncle De crowed. "Caught red-handed! Arrest him!"
Inspector Liu turned to Li Wei, his eyes gleaming with the thrill of a successful bust. "Li Wei, you are under arrest for the unlawful slaughter of—"
"Wait," Li Wei interrupted, his voice cutting through the noise. He walked over to a table and picked up a stack of bamboo slips. "Before you put the irons on me, Inspector, perhaps you should check the paperwork."
"Paperwork?"
Li Wei handed the slips to the Inspector. "These are the bills of sale and veterinary reports for every animal in that shed."
Inspector Liu snatched them. He began to read.
*"Item 1: Old Yellow Ox. Age 13. Sold by Farmer Zhang. Reason: Senile, teeth fallen out. Unable to graze. Verified by local vet."*
*"Item 2: Red Heifer. Age 4. Sold by Farmer Wang. Reason: Compound fracture of left foreleg due to rock slide. Verified."*
Liu flipped through the stack. Every single animal was documented. Every single one was either old, injured, or sick. According to the law, these were not plow oxen; they were waste.
"Well?" Li Wei asked. "Do you see a crime, Inspector?"
Uncle De's face fell. "He... he bought them broken! He must have broken them himself!"
Li Wei laughed coldly. "Uncle, do you think I break the legs of cows for fun? The Veterinary Bureau verified these injuries. Are you accusing the government vets of lying?"
Inspector Liu's face soured. He had hoped for an easy conviction, a bribe from Uncle De, and a quick exit. Now he was looking at a pile of perfectly legal, if unsavory, paperwork.
"This... this is highly irregular," Inspector Liu stammered. "Buying old cows? It is... strange."
"It is recycling," Li Wei said. "I take the burdens of the farmers. I give them coin to buy new, strong oxen. The Dynasty gets strong farmers. And I get to make a living. Where is the harm?"
He pointed to the 'General', the massive Black Bull standing in the pen. The beast looked imposing, almost royal.
"And *that* one," Uncle De pointed frantically. "That black beast! He is prime! Surely you plan to kill that one!"
Li Wei's eyes turned cold. "That is the Westland Stud. My breeding bull. He is registered with the Magistrate's office as 'Essential Agricultural Asset'. Touch him, Inspector, and you hinder the improvement of the local breed. The Governor himself has praised my breeding program."
Li Wei played his trump card. "In fact, the Governor has a standing order for my smoked beef. If you shut me down, Inspector, you will have to explain to His Excellency why he cannot have his dinner."
Inspector Liu froze. The Governor? The man was a tiger. Inspectors who annoyed tigers tended to disappear.
He looked at the paperwork again. Legal. He looked at the bull. Registered. He looked at Li Wei, who stood there with the confidence of a man holding a royal decree.
"This... operation is messy," Inspector Liu grumbled, trying to save face. "And the smell! It is offensive."
"The smell is prosperity," Li Wei said. "If there is no crime, Inspector, I have a ranch to run."
Inspector Liu threw the bamboo slips back at Li Wei. "Hmph. Keep your paperwork tight, Li Wei. We will be watching."
He turned to Uncle De. "There is nothing to be done here. Everything is in order."
"What?" Uncle De hissed. "You said—"
"I said I would inspect!" Liu snapped, tired of Uncle De's whining. "And I have inspected! There is no crime! Let's go!"
The bailiffs and the Inspector marched out, leaving a fuming Uncle De standing in the dust.
"You think you are clever, boy," Uncle De snarled. "But the law is not your only enemy. You have made powerful enemies today."
"Get off my land, Uncle," Li Wei said, turning his back. "Before the 'General' decides you look like a threat."
Uncle De stomped back to his carriage, his face purple with rage.
***
**Later that Evening**
The news of the failed inspection spread quickly. The farmers who had been hesitating now saw the Westland as a safe haven for their old animals.
Li Wei sat in his workshop, counting the day's intake. The "Beef Business" was risky, but it was generating cash flow.
"Brother," Sheng ran in, breathless. "The 'General'... he's acting strange!"
Li Wei dropped the coins. "Strange how?"
"He's pacing. He's snorting at the fence. And... he's drooling."
Li Wei ran to the bull pen. The Black Bull was indeed pacing, kicking up dirt. He wasn't aggressive; he was restless. He was pawing at the fence facing the cow pen.
Li Wei looked at the cows. The dwarf heifer, 'Little Treasure', was standing near the fence, wagging her tail.
Then, Li Wei checked the system calendar.
**[System Alert: Spring Mating Season.]**
**[Target: 'General' (Bull).]**
**[Status: Rutting. High Libido.]**
**[Target: 'Little Treasure' (Heifer).]**
**[Status: Estrus (Heat).]**
Li Wei's eyes widened.
"No way," he whispered. "She's too young. She's only a yearling."
Technically, heifers could breed at 12-15 months, but it was risky for a dwarf. But nature didn't care about technicalities.
"He wants her," Chen Hu observed, leaning on the fence. "The stud wants the runt."
Li Wei watched the animals. The genetic lottery was about to happen. If 'General'—the massive, marbling-carrier—bred with 'Little Treasure'—the dwarf with the high-fat gene—it would create the ultimate monstrosity. Or the ultimate miracle.
"Let them be," Li Wei said, making a split-second decision. "Open the gate between the pens."
"Boss? He might hurt her. He's huge."
"He knows what he's doing," Li Wei said, though he held his breath. "It's time to make some magic."
As the gate swung open, the Black Bull trotted forward, surprisingly gentle for a beast of his size. He sniffed the air, then nudged the little heifer.
Li Wei turned away. Some things were private.
"Come on, Sheng. Let's go check on the smoker. We have a Governor to feed."
**[System Notification]**
**[Breeding Event Initiated: General x Little Treasure.]**
**[Estimated Gestation: 283 Days.]**
**[Offspring Prediction: "Liang Black Gold" (Unique Breed).]**
Li Wei smiled into the night. The inspector had failed. The uncle had failed. And now, the future of the dynasty's beef industry was being conceived in a muddy pen under the light of the moon.
**[Chapter End.]**