153: Chapter 153 The old veterinarian stayed up all night! Thirty piglets were ready for market in two months.

8:00 PM.

On the first level of the farm, Liao Dacheng squatted by the fence of the sheep pen. He held a homemade stethoscope tube, pressing one end against the pregnant ewe's belly and the other to his ear.

Ma Dong stood behind him, holding a basin of chopped fodder.

"Master Liao, will the sheep eat this?"

"Leave it for now." Liao Dacheng's fingers moved slowly across the ewe's belly, his fingertips pressing gently.

The ewe let out a low bleat but did not struggle.

"The fetal position is correct." Liao Dacheng put away the stethoscope tube and stood up.

His waist gave a sharp click.

"Master Liao, if your back is giving out, you shouldn't squat like that," Ma Dong said.

"If I don't squat, how am I supposed to feel the belly? You want me to lie on the ground to do it?"

Ma Dong chuckled.

Liao Dacheng walked over to the cattle pens.

Four cows were eating the system-rationed fodder, their mouths moving in a rhythmic chewing motion.

The brownish-yellow cow that had started lactating early this morning stood quietly in her stall; her udder was even more swollen than it had been in the morning.

"When you milk her tomorrow morning, pay attention to your technique. Squeeze from top to bottom following the direction of the mammary ducts; don't pinch horizontally."

"I understand. I've milked goats before on the sixth floor of The City-State."

"Cows are different from goats. A cow's udder is twice as large as a goat's. Your hand needs to be able to grip the entire base before pulling down."

"Got it."

Liao Dacheng pulled a Livestock Manual from his cloth bag and flipped to a newly written page.

He filled in the record for the ewe's fetal position and added a line of notes to the cow section.

First lactating cow numbered HF-01. Colostrum volume: two liters. Color: normal, yellowish. No abnormal odor. Estimated daily milk yield for tomorrow: 4 to 6 liters. The other three, HF-02 through HF-04, show good mammary development and are expected to enter lactation within 24 hours.

He closed the manual and tucked it back into his waistband.

"Ma Dong."

"Yes."

"Go check on the three pregnant sows in the pigpen. See if they're eating normally tonight."

"Okay."

Ma Dong turned and walked toward the pigpen with the fodder basin.

Liao Dacheng stood alone by the cattle pens, watching the four cows quietly eat their fodder.

The warm yellow lights of the farm shone down from the eight-meter-high ceiling, illuminating the cows' backs and dyeing their brownish-yellow hides with a layer of warm gold.

The air held the grassy scent of fodder and the warm breath emanating from the livestock's body heat.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

This smell was so familiar.

In the greenhouses on the sixth floor of The City-State, he had raised livestock for twenty years.

At his peak, he had raised eight pigs, five sheep, and two cows all at once.

Later, the greenhouse temperature couldn't be maintained, and three piglets froze to death on a night that hit ten degrees below zero.

Then the fodder supply was cut off. The remaining livestock became skin and bones, and he watched them die one by one.

On the night the last sheep died, he drank half a bottle of poor-quality home-brewed liquor and sat in the empty pens all night long.

That was three years ago.

Since then, the Livestock Experimental Zone on the sixth floor of The City-State had existed in name only.

Liao Dacheng had become a veterinarian with no animals to tend to.

Fifty-three years old, with a bad back and bad knees, he did nothing in The City-State but eat, sleep, and flip through that worn-out manual.

Until this morning.

Standing at the entrance of the Polaris farm, he saw thirty plump Yorkshire Large White Pigs.

Twelve healthy adult cows.

Forty Merino Fine-Wool Sheep with uniform coats.

An automated fodder distribution system, a constant temperature of twenty degrees.

Independent ventilation.

Growth Acceleration Modules.

He stood at the entrance for half a minute without moving.

Then he squatted down and touched the ear of the nearest sow.

He hadn't seen such fat pigs in fifty years.

His communicator beeped.

"Liao Dacheng." Lu Chen's voice came through the communicator.

"City Lord."

"I've read the report; it's acceptable. There's one thing I want to confirm with you."

"Please, go ahead."

"When can the breeding plan be ready?"

"Pig breeding is the fastest. The estrus cycle for Large White pigs is twenty-one days. Based on today's behavior, two sows are already approaching estrus. The first mating can be arranged within three to five days."

"What about the cows?"

"The estrus cycle for cows is longer, twenty-one to twenty-three days. The four cows are currently lactating. Conception rates are low during lactation, so I suggest waiting until the first peak of lactation has passed before making arrangements."

"How long?"

"The peak lactation period lasts forty to sixty days, after which they enter the breeding window."

"And the sheep?"

"Don't worry about the pregnant ewe; just wait for her to give birth. Among the other thirty-nine, there are sixteen of breeding age. The estrus cycle for Merinos is seventeen days. I'll start observing and recording them one by one tomorrow."

"When will the first breeding progress report be submitted?"

"Next Monday."

"Good."

"City Lord."

"What is it?"

"If I may ask, the Growth Acceleration Module in this farm is effective on offspring, right?"

"It is. The growth cycle is compressed to one-third of a normal breed."

"Meaning it only takes two months for a piglet to go from birth to slaughter?"

"Exactly two months."

The other end of the communicator was silent for two seconds.

"City Lord, I've done some math."

"Three sows will farrow on the sixtieth day. The first litter is usually eight to twelve piglets. Taking the median of ten, three litters mean thirty piglets."

"Thirty piglets ready for slaughter in two months, with each yielding a hundred kilograms of meat—that's three thousand kilograms of pork."

"Three thousand kilograms is enough for thirty thousand people to have a hundred grams each."

"A hundred grams isn't much," Lu Chen said.

"It's not much, but this is only the first batch." Liao Dacheng's voice was hoarse, but his speaking speed picked up. "The second round of breeding can be arranged as soon as the piglets are weaned. With a twenty-one-day cycle, the litter size for the third and fourth farrowings will increase to twelve to fourteen piglets."

"The compound effect."

"Yes, City Lord. Within half a year, the pig population can expand from thirty to over two hundred."

"Provided the fodder keeps up."

"I'm not worried about fodder. Once the greenhouse agricultural waste pipes are connected, the stalks and root residues will be enough to feed a herd of that size."

"If you're not worried, then I'm not worried."

"City Lord."

"Yes?"

"I will raise these animals well."

"I know."

The communicator disconnected.

Liao Dacheng tucked the communicator back into his waistband.

He stood by the cattle pens, watching the four cows eating quietly under the lights.

Ma Dong walked back from the pigpen.

"Master Liao, the three pregnant sows are eating normally. One of them finished and is still rooting at the trough."

"Rooting at the trough means she's not full. The system rations are calculated based on standard weight, but the caloric needs of a pregnant sow are twenty percent higher than a normal pig."

"What should we do?"

"Tomorrow, I'll adjust the fodder distribution parameters and increase the rations for the three pregnant sows by twenty percent."

"Can the system be adjusted manually?"

"The City Lord gave me authorization."

Ma Dong nodded and placed the empty fodder basin on the cleaning rack.

Liao Dacheng took one last look at the entire farm, bathed in warm yellow light.

The air was warm.

Pigs were rooting at their troughs, cows were chewing fodder, and sheep were lying quietly by the fences.

He turned and walked toward the farm exit.

He stopped at the door.

"Ma Dong."

"Yes."

"Come relieve me tomorrow at three in the morning. I need to monitor the cows' lactation during the second half of the night."

"Three in the morning?"

"We need to observe the changes in udder fullness before the morning milking. This data is very important."

"Okay, I'll set an alarm."

Liao Dacheng nodded and walked out through the Airtight Door.