"Huh..." A hot current flashed through his chest, and Jiang Hai let out a long breath. Looking at himself in the mirror, he moved his body. As he observed the scales that had grown more and more, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.
"Sure enough, improving my ability seems to have an effect on the energy of animals, in addition to plants and the environment." Jiang Hai said excitedly, looking at the new scales on his body.
Today marked the seventh day since he introduced cattle to his ranch, and yesterday the 15,000 cattle he ordered arrived. After an inspection by Robbins and the others, there were a total of 15,200 cattle. In the end, they kept 14,300. Although it was still fewer than 20,000, there was no need to buy more. The 20,000 figure was just an estimate. All the damaged, sick, and less lively ones were returned. This is common in the cowboy industry, as careful selection is necessary when buying cattle.
Jiang Hai didn't understand this, but Robbins and his team were trying very hard to please him, as he might be their future boss. They picked out nearly all the cattle that might be problematic.
Lehman could only curl his lips. However, this huge commission would be enough for him to live for a few years. Before he left, Lehman gave Jiang Hai a flock of sheep, totaling 1,000 head. Sheep are not expensive in the United States. Compared to mutton, which is not very popular in the U.S., people prefer beef and sea fish. But for cowboys, mutton is very good, especially roasted whole lamb, which is quite tasty.
Jiang Hai naturally liked roasted whole lamb, but in China, the price was quite high. Just a leg of lamb cost over 300 yuan, and roasted whole lamb was even more expensive. But here, he could enjoy a feast. These 1,000 sheep were not for sale, but for eating.
After arranging all the livestock, Jiang Hai noticed a problem—something was wrong with the scales on his body. Over the past few days, the scales had grown more rapidly. Every day, three new scales would grow, and he had to use a drop of blood to dilute and water the lawn. After all this work, at least the lawn near the cowshed had become more lush and grew faster, and the energy contained in it was increasing. The growth rate of the cattle had also visibly accelerated, although it had only been a week, so the change wasn't too dramatic.
As for the new cattle, after eating the grass there, they had become much more docile and peaceful.
When there were only 5,000 cows, Jiang Hai felt that the growth of his scales had accelerated—from three scales a day to almost four. He thought it was just his imagination. But when all the cows and sheep entered the manor, he realized it wasn't an illusion. The scales that once grew only one every eight hours now grew one every three hours. This meant Jiang Hai now grew eight scales a day. There were 1,080 scales on his entire body, and if he kept growing at this pace without using them, it would only take about 135 days to upgrade. And this was just with the cows. If he raised fish, Jiang Hai's eyes couldn't help but light up thinking about it.
It seemed there was hope for upgrading! With this thought, Jiang Hai couldn't help but grin, though he knew it was all just wishful thinking for now.
What he needed to do most was change the pasture. This was the top priority. According to the current pasture area, it would take another 200 drops of blood to complete the transformation. Two hundred drops of blood meant 600 scales. Although reluctant, he had to transform it slowly. Even if it felt uncomfortable, he had to make money after buying the place.
With a long sigh, Jiang Hai put on his bathrobe again and walked out of the bathroom. Standing in his room, he stretched, turned on the TV casually, and then leaned against his bed. Xiaobai and Xiaohuang were dozing. When they felt Jiang Hai approaching, the two dogs shifted positions but didn't hide. They lay down comfortably, turning their heads to watch the 3D TV. As for Jiang Hai, he was thinking about what to do tomorrow.
These days, his routine had been the same. He woke up in the morning to have breakfast, fed the dogs, fetched water, mixed his blood in the water, and watered the pasture. He rested at noon, watched TV, played games, used his phone, or played on the computer in the afternoon. Anyway, he couldn't help Robbins and the others much.
If Robbins and the others hadn't occupied the all-terrain vehicles, and if he had a job, Jiang Hai would have really liked to get one to play on the beach by the sea. But walking there was too far.
In the evening, he would get some barbecue from Philemon's house, feed the two dogs, sit on the balcony, eat barbecue, drink beer, enjoy the night breeze, and gaze at the stars. This little life was quite beautiful.
Of course, others might find it boring, but for Jiang Hai, who used to stay at home, it was perfect. This life could be considered his dream life.
"Ding-ling-ling-ling..." At this moment, the phone on his bedside table rang. This phone wasn't his mobile phone, but the internal phone of the manor. Jiang Hai leaned over, letting Xiaohuang climb out from under him. Xiaohuang ran to the phone, picked it up, and handed it to Jiang Hai, who pressed the answer button.
"Hello, boss, this is Robbins. I wanted to ask, when are we going to buy horses?" Hearing Jiang Hai answer the call, Robbins on the other side also spoke up. Jiang Hai was a little surprised. If Robbins hadn't mentioned it, he might have almost forgotten about buying horses.
"Any time!" A horse was very important to a cowboy. Although the all-terrain vehicle was fast, had long endurance, and was good in many ways, it had drawbacks. First, it wasn't as quick to respond. Second, it had limited visibility, making it good for patrolling the fence, but not ideal for checking cattle. Third, the machine was uncomfortable. Jiang Hai had heard Bell and others mention the horse issue before, but he had been focused on improving the grasslands. No one had time for horses, so the matter was put aside.
"Then tomorrow. There are too many cattle coming back this time. Although they're relatively docile now, we don't know what will happen if we release them. Let's keep them in the cowshed for a few more days. In the meantime, the cattle dogs can be put to use." Robbins continued. If it came to buying things like horses or cattle, he'd care about everything.
"Okay, then tomorrow!" After thinking about it, Jiang Hai agreed without hesitation since he had nothing to do tomorrow.
"Then tomorrow!" Robbins happily replied before hanging up.
Jiang Hai looked at the phone for a while, fiddled with it, and then went to sleep. The two big dogs also lived in Jiang Hai's room but knew that if they needed to go to the bathroom, they had to go outside. They didn't eat in Jiang Hai's room.
The next morning—well, for Jiang Hai, it was very early—he got up around 8 a.m. and went to Mrs. Philemon's house for a meal of pasta. Jiang Hai really liked Western food.
In China, these things were considered luxury items. Even a simple meal of Kaifeng dishes would cost more than 100 yuan. With his previous income, he couldn't afford it. But now that he was in the U.S., where these items were cheap, he enjoyed them to his heart's content. Mrs. Philemon made pasta with sausages, which was high in calories. Jiang Hai wasn't afraid of getting fat, since his physical condition was fixed and at its limit.
Now, he was a little nostalgic for the tofu brain, pancakes, and fried dough sticks he used to eat in China, but the problem was that he couldn't make them, and neither could Mrs. Philemon. He couldn't stand the sour and sweet taste all the time.
After breakfast, Jiang Hai left with Robbins, who had finished his work.
Since his driver's license was still pending, Jiang Hai could only watch but not drive. Robbins drove a Ford F750 out of the ranch. This time, they didn't head toward Winthrop, but towards Boston. Winthrop was a small seaside town with many fish collectors and motorboat sellers, but no horse sellers. In case of a typhoon, it would be a problem, so horse sellers were usually inland.
After driving for about half an hour, Robbins' car slowly stopped.
In front of them was a large ranch, but unlike Jiang Hai's cattle ranch, this one was full of horses. It was a legendary horse farm.
They parked the car at the gate, and as they got out, a man walked out of the manor.
"Hi, Bob, it's me." Seeing the man, Robbins smiled and waved. The man was stunned when he saw Robbins, then quickly walked over with a smile.
"I was wondering who was driving a monster to my manor. I thought it was those monkeys from Boston, but it turned out to be you, old man!" The two hit each other on the chest and laughed heartily.