Chapter 4: Learning the Trade

Chapter 4: Learning the Trade

Being born into poverty is not a disgrace; the ability to endure and rise is what defines a true man.

Since things have come to this, there's no need for further explanation. One must simply endure and wait for the right moment, nurturing the inner fire until the time comes to rise.

"Liu Zongguan, I'll take my leave now." The donkey-faced man bowed obsequiously to the middle-aged man, then left with Meng Yuan and the others. Once outside, he straightened his back and declared, "I'm Li Zhuangtou, the head of the livestock farm. From now on, you'll be following me!"

Jiang Laobo quickly offered some kind words and then boarded a donkey cart, driven by a young man holding a knife.

The five of them didn't enter the city but instead circled around the long city walls.

The cart wheels crushed the snow, and seeing Li Zhuangtou's indifference, Meng Yuan and Jiang Laobo didn't dare to initiate a conversation.

"Stop!" After a while, Li Zhuangtou suddenly called for a halt. He retrieved a steaming pile of dung from under the donkey's rear and carefully placed it on the cart, then scolded the young driver, "Li Dabao! How could you be so careless? If I hadn't seen it, this dung would've been wasted!"

Meng Yuan and Jiang Laobo exchanged glances, and even the little maid, Jiang Tang, looked on in bewilderment.

The biting north wind blew, and the snowy ground was slippery. After traveling about forty li, by the time the sky was dark, they finally reached the livestock farm.

The farm was vast, with several fenced-in areas and a pungent smell of manure carried by the cold wind. Cows, sheep, and deer occasionally bleated and bellowed.

It was just in time for dinner, and Meng Yuan and the others were served a bowl of hot tofu.

They were led to a fenced-in yard with two thatched huts, one filled with farming tools.

The bedding was old but warm, despite being a bit prickly.

"Tomorrow morning, Li Zhuangtou will test your abilities. Don't go out tonight; the dogs aren't tied up." The guide who led them was a big-headed man named Zhao Datou, who also lived near the cowshed.

"Thank you for the information." Jiang Laobo struck up a conversation with Zhao Datou, inquiring about the manor's affairs.

It turned out that the Empress Dowager had several farms, and this was one of them. The farm had a spacious pasture and two large mountains, making it quite vast.

The Empress Dowager was also very kind. Villagers near the farm could enter the mountains to gather firewood and hunt, and the farm didn't charge for animal breeding services.

The main reason Meng Yuan and the others were allowed on the farm was that the old veterinarian had been killed by a deer.

Hearing this, Meng Yuan and Jiang Laobo realized their importance and felt a sense of relief.

After a long time on the run, they finally settled down.

The two thatched huts were assigned, with Jiang Tang taking one and Meng Yuan and Jiang Laobo sharing the other.

Jiang Laobo, now at ease, began teaching Meng Yuan about castrating animals. "Why do we castrate these animals? If you don't castrate them, the males will fight, and the females will urinate everywhere, making a mess. They'll all be skinny because they're preoccupied with mating. But once they're castrated, they won't be smelly, they'll grow faster, and their temperaments will become more docile."

Listening to these words, Meng Yuan couldn't help but think of the displaced refugees being sold like cattle. But if there were more refugees, their strength would grow, and they would sweep across the land.

The next day, after the rooster crowed three times, Meng Yuan and the others had just gotten up when Zhao Datou came to find them.

They thought they would start working immediately, but instead, they were taken to the dining hall for a meal of hot tofu and pickled vegetables, a treatment not even common peasants received.

"The Empress Dowager once visited the farm and saw how hard the farmers worked, so she established the three-meal system. Li Zhuangtou might deduct some, but he wouldn't dare reduce the number of meals." Zhao Datou explained.

After the meal, Zhao Datou led Jiang Laobo and Meng Yuan to the piggery.

The farm mainly raised cows, sheep, and deer for sale, with some chickens and ducks for the manor's consumption. Pigs were raised in smaller numbers for the farmers' festivals.

Reaching the piggery, Zhao Datou took out an old leather bag, the veterinarian's tools.

Inside were a coil of thread, two needles, and most noticeably, two knives, each about the length of a palm. One knife was narrow, and the other was slightly wider.

"The small knife is for castrating chickens and ducks, and this one is for pigs and sheep." Jiang Laobo demonstrated, sharpening the knives while teaching Meng Yuan.

After a few strokes, the knives were ready, and they entered the piggery.

The piggery was divided into several pens, but there weren't many pigs. Currently, two sows had given birth, and there were a total of seventeen piglets.

Jiang Laobo led Meng Yuan around the piggery, even picking up two small piglets to examine them, which made the mother sow huff in annoyance.

"Usually, it's best to castrate them when they're about half a month old. If you wait a couple of months, you might need to sew them up." Jiang Laobo instructed, and Meng Yuan fetched a bowl of clear water and some firewood.

After a while, Li Zhuangtou and his son, Li Dabao, arrived. Meng Yuan lit the firewood, and Jiang Laobo placed the castration knife on the fire to sterilize it.

Meng Yuan grabbed a small black piglet from the pen and, following Jiang Laobo's instructions, held it upside down by the two hind legs, with its head and front legs between his knees, exposing its rear

they were about to begin, when Li Zhuangtou and his son arrived. Meng Yuan lit the firewood, and Jiang Laobo placed the castration knife on the fire to sterilize it.

Meng Yuan grabbed a small black piglet from the pen and, following Jiang Laobo's instructions, held it upside down by the two hind legs, with its head and front legs between his knees, exposing its rear.

Old Man Jiang patted the piglet's buttocks and clasped the protruding area with one hand. With a swift and precise motion, he made two incisions the size of fingernails and squeezed, allowing the testicles to slip out. He pulled them gently, severing the spermatic cord.

The two testicles were tossed into a basin of clear water. Old Man Jiang scooped up a handful of wood ash and applied it to the piglet's wounds, patting the area a couple of times to complete the procedure.

His knife skills were steady and swift, and his movements were fluid. The piglet only squealed three or four times before it was rendered impotent.

"You've got some skills there!" said Li Zhuangtou, who had been overseeing the farm. Clearly, he knew a thing or two about the trade, and upon seeing Old Man Jiang's knife work, he recognized a master. He pointed at Meng Yuan and said, "Kid, you're not yet a master yourself, so you can't be idle. Go work in the cowshed! Datou, you arrange it!"

Li Dabiao glared at Meng Yuan.

After speaking, Li Zhuangtou and his son rose and left without another glance.

Seeing the farm head's approval, Old Man Jiang felt a bit uneasy. He looked at Zhao Datou and said in a low voice, "This farm head seems to have a good eye for talent."

Zhao Datou spat on the ground but remained silent, as if in agreement.

Meng Yuan picked up another piglet, this time a small female. Old Man Jiang's castration method changed, and he explained the process to Meng Yuan as he worked with steady and swift hands.

Old Man Jiang was a true master, and his skill was in teaching.

In less than two hours, they had castrated fifteen piglets, leaving only two for breeding.

"All done!" Old Man Jiang exclaimed. The clear water in the basin had turned into bloody water, with strings of things floating in it. Old Man Jiang was very satisfied.

Following the castrator's rules, after the work was done, aside from a small fee for their efforts, the testicles also belonged to the castrator. However, since the person had already been sold to the farm, asking for money was out of the question, but the testicles could still be taken.

Old Man Jiang washed his hands and then fished out the testicles from the basin, skewered them on a bamboo stick and roast them over the fire."

Before long, the testicles were cooked, sizzling and dripping with oil. Old Man Jiang handed them to Meng Yuan and said with a smile, "You are what you eat. You're young, and eating this will help you grow even more. In the future, you'll surely have many children. Eat them while they're hot!"

Meng Yuan hadn't tasted meat in a long time, and though he found the smell overpowering, he still took a bite.

Without salt to season it, the smell became even stronger. Meng Yuan closed his eyes and forced himself to swallow it down without chewing.

Meng Yuan immediately felt a strand of nourishment being absorbed by his essence fire.

The essence fire, which had been like a candle flame, grew slightly stronger.

"It seems I still need to eat meat... Once I recover my body, my essence fire will absorb even more nourishment and grow faster. I wonder what will happen then?" Meng Yuan wondered.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and it was already deep winter.

Thanks to Old Man Jiang's thorough teaching, Meng Yuan learned the skill of castrating animals very quickly, and now he could perform the procedure himself.

Meng Yuan no longer suffered from hunger and cold, and though he hadn't eaten much proper meat in recent days, he had consumed quite a few sheep and cattle testicles.

His body had recovered significantly, and his essence fire slowly grew larger, now the size of a washbasin.

Meng Yuan became more energetic, and not only did his strength increase greatly, but it also seemed endless.

With his already outstanding appearance, Meng Yuan's popularity improved even more. Combined with his hard work and amiable speech, all the old and young women on the farm were willing to chat with Meng Yuan, except for the livestock, of course. Even Li Dabiao's wife secretly flirted with Meng Yuan.

Before the rooster had even crowed, Meng Yuan was already up, drawing water from the well and wiping his body down, only then feeling the dryness and heat washed away.

"In two more years, when Tang'er grows up, it'll be good," Old Man Jiang said, waking up. He was an experienced man, clearly wanting to make the marriage a reality.

At this moment, Jiang Tang knocked on the door outside, then opened a crack and poked her head in, leaving her body outside. "Grandpa, I've already grown up! Brother, why are you taking a bath so early? Be careful you catch a cold."

This young girl was still a bit thin, but after a month of care, her face was gradually becoming more rosy, and her eyes were very lively.

In his free time recently, Meng Yuan had been teaching her to recognize characters, but this young girl only wanted to do needlework and wasn't learning seriously. Meng Yuan said he didn't want to marry someone illiterate, so she finally applied herself.

Jiang Tang, seeing Meng Yuan at this moment, said happily, "I've washed and mended your clothes and socks. They're on your pillow."

Meng Yuan glared at her, and the young girl quickly shut the door and ran off.

Meng Yuan had no interest in this yellow-haired girl, but after spending time on the farm, his interest in the Empress grew.

The Empress was the second wife of Prince Xin, married for eight years, and had not given birth to a single child. Now only twenty-four years old, it was said that the Empress was of heavenly beauty and noble birth, not someone who should have been reduced to a second wife. It was said that the marriage was arranged by the Emperor himself.

"I castrate the Empress's testicles every day, yet I've never even seen her face," Meng Yuan sighed.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end