159: Chapter 159: Forty-two liters of fresh milk secured! Thirty thousand people will have food to eat tomorrow after the wheat harvest.

Eight o'clock in the evening.

The communicator rang.

“City Lord,” Liao Dacheng's voice came through.

“What is it?”

“The statistics for today's total milk yield from the four cows are out.”

“How much?”

“Forty-two liters.”

Lu Chen tapped the armrest once.

“Two liters higher than the estimated lower limit.”

“Correct. Producing forty-two liters on the very first day of entering the lactation period proves that the quality of this batch of Holsteins is indeed top-tier.”

“And tomorrow?”

“Lactation volume will continue to rise between the third and seventh days. Tomorrow is expected to reach forty-eight to fifty liters. It will stabilize at full production levels after a week.”

“How much is full production?”

“Sixty liters per day, for all four combined.”

“Sixty liters is enough for three hundred people to drink.”

“Yes.”

“What about the distribution plan?”

“Following your instructions, City Lord, today three liters went to the Medical Pod, three liters to the Engineering Team, and one and a half liters to Zhao Tiezhu's Scavenging Team. Of what remained, I kept a portion as colostrum samples for the archives and put the rest in the kitchen.”

“Starting tomorrow, fix the Medical Pod's share at three liters, and increase the Engineering Team's share to five liters.”

Lu Chen paused for a beat.

“Put all the rest in the kitchen, first come, first served.”

“First come, first served?”

“It's impossible for every one of the six thousand plus people to get a share. Whoever passes by the kitchen gets to drink.”

“Understood.”

“Anything else?”

“Regarding the pigs.”

“Speak.”

“I increased the feed rations for the three pregnant sows by twenty percent. I observed them all day today; their intake is normal, with no vomiting or diarrhea.”

“Weight changes?”

“The three pregnant sows are on average about fifteen kilograms heavier than the non-pregnant ones, which is consistent with normal weight gain during mid-pregnancy.”

“What about the breeding plan?”

“I observed the behavior of the other five non-pregnant sows today. Two showed frequent sniffing and mounting tendencies; preliminary judgment is that they have entered proestrus.”

“When will they be bred?”

“Between the day after tomorrow and the day after that.” Liao Dacheng's voice was raspy but steady. “The peak of estrus lasts twenty-four to thirty-six hours. I will arrange breeding during that window.”

“How is the boars' condition?”

“The boars are very enthusiastic.” A hint of a wry smile touched Liao Dacheng's voice. “Out of the twenty-two boars, I've selected three of the largest and most energetic ones to be the breeding boars, numbered YM-01 through YM-03.”

“Is there anything to watch out for during breeding?”

“Breeding itself doesn't require human intervention; just put the breeding boar into the sow's pen.”

He paused for half a beat.

“What I need to do is record the time and frequency of breeding, and then check if the sows are pregnant after twenty-one days.”

“Twenty-one days.”

“Yes. If the conception is successful, the second batch of piglets will be born around the one hundred and eightieth day.”

“But with the Growth Acceleration Module, the piglets' growth cycle is compressed to one-third of the normal time.”

“They can be ready for slaughter by the one hundred and twentieth day,” Lu Chen added.

“Correct. However, the piglets from the first three sows, which will farrow on the sixtieth day, will be even faster. That batch of piglets will also be ready for slaughter by day one hundred and twenty.”

“The two batches will overlap.”

“Yes, after half a year, the pig population will enter an exponential growth phase.”

“Liao Dacheng.”

“Present.”

“Will the breeding progress report be submitted next Monday?”

“Yes, next Monday.”

“Standardize the format for the breeding records. I want to see each sow's ID, breeding date, estimated pregnancy confirmation date, and estimated farrowing date.”

“Understood.”

“Any other issues?”

“Ma Dong is doing a good job. He's very efficient at moving feed buckets and milking the cows.”

“Good.”

The communicator hung up.

Lu Chen leaned back into the pilot's seat.

The time on the panel showed 8:23 PM.

Today was the day Zhou Yuan set out.

The iron wall should have already traveled about four hundred and forty kilometers, exceeding the effective communication range.

Complete loss of contact.

He glanced at the communication frequency list.

Zhou Yuan's frequency was still gray.

A silent gray.

Across seven hundred kilometers of wasteland, a downgraded chariot was grinding its way northeast alone. On board were three people, three ears of wheat, and four hundred nutrient bars.

Lu Chen shifted his gaze away from the gray frequency.

There were no new Iron Hoof Legion signals.

Two hundred and fifteen people had migrated, bringing the total to six thousand six hundred and thirty-three.

Han Zhengqing's second and third ventilation renovation teams finished simultaneously. Only the last of the four sets of vents remained, to be completed tomorrow.

Total number of beds: nine hundred and sixty.

Of Zhao Tiezhu's fifty novice welders, nineteen passed Han Zhengqing's fillet weld test and officially began welding beds.

Production capacity increased by twenty-five percent.

Daily milk yield from the cows rose to forty-eight liters.

The Fast-growing Wheat ears were ninety-five percent through the grain-filling stage.

Harvesting tomorrow.

Lu Chen leaned back in the pilot's seat and closed his eyes.

The first bite of hot steamed buns for thirty thousand people was less than twenty-four hours away.