Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 1376 - 669: Attending the Yellow Cattle Festival_2

Chapter 1376: Chapter 669: Attending the Yellow Cattle Festival_2

Yan Fei chuckled, "Then don’t drink it. This is for health maintenance, the strength is mild, it wouldn’t be very useful for you guys. It’s meant for Tai Guang and Big Zhuang. Don’t drink too much, but you must be persistent, just drink two small cups a day, about one or two tael will do."

"This... is that appropriate?" Chen Tai Guang said with some hesitation.

"It’s a welfare benefit from our ranch, now available to everyone here having a meal, and it’s different for men, women, the elderly, and the young," Heizi explained. "Our boss has got a real knack for this, no boasting. Last time, when officials from the Imperial City came to inspect our place, they went out of their way to ask our boss for some liquor to take with them. Now, if others want the good stuff they can only buy it at the front store, they can’t even get their hands on the boss’s private stock!"

Yan Fei smiled and said, "Take it! It’ll definitely benefit your health. See that old man over there? Just ask him and you’ll know how effective it is."

Master Cheng beamed with a smile, "It really does have benefits, listen to him, feel free to drink."

Yan Fei jokingly referred to Master Cheng as an old man, but the two disabled veterans wouldn’t dare. They had already known before coming that he was their senior predecessor, and that his disability was a result of battlefield injuries.

Hence, upon hearing Master Cheng’s affirmation, the two quickly expressed their gratitude to the boss again.

Meanwhile, Old Gong started to boast, "Before, the old man here would be in pain whenever it rained, but now he barely feels it anymore. When he first told me about it, I thought he was having a last rally before passing away! It’s that miraculous, everyone in our township knows."

Yan Fei waved his hand to stop him from continuing. Whether it was good or not, he didn’t need to boast; just how many old men and women in the township would mention Boss Yan with such reverence they nearly wanted to set up a shrine in his honor—there was no need for his own people to toot his horn here!

"Has Xiaohei arranged everything? Whoever is going should get ready quickly. We’re the hosts, after all. Let’s go early to see if there’s anything we can help with. I still have to be a judge, right?"

"Don’t worry, Brother Fei!" Xiaohei nodded. "Everything’s been arranged; we guarantee there won’t be any slip-ups at the critical moment."

"That’s good, then eat up quickly and let’s head out!"

The group immediately started devouring their food, and in no time, the large and small vehicles roared out of the cattle ranch, heading straight for the Yellow Cattle festival venue.

On the way, they ran into many locals, most of whom were on tractors and motorized tricycles, and some were even leading cattle. Heizi couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw them, "Do those cattle they’re leading even stand a chance? Those are all young calves, we’re bringing their fathers, the bulls. The fathers aren’t old yet, how could those calves compare?"

The laughter erupted from Old Gao and Xiaohei, who were sitting in the vehicle, at Heizi’s words.

What Heizi said wasn’t an insult or a curse; he was pointing out that the cattle these people were leading were basically bred by the breeding bulls at the ranch—the big bulls on the trailer behind were indeed the sires of those cattle.

Nowadays, most cattle in the township were raised by cooperative breeders; the breeders didn’t own the autonomy, so they obviously wouldn’t take cattle to the Yellow Cattle festival without permission. As for the remaining cattle breeders, their cattle were essentially prepared for Boss Yan. Although the ranch didn’t supply the calves, the difference wasn’t much—breeding was all done at the cattle ranch.

Heizi was one of the first responsible for the breeding process; seeing these cattle now, he could remember handling them at the start. Some people he even recognized—the people on the tractors and tricycles would nod in acknowledgment when they saw him driving by.

In just a few words, they arrived at the site.

At this moment, the Yellow Cattle festival venue wasn’t crowded yet, but the loudspeakers were continuously making announcements, directing each county to their planned areas. The entire main venue was decorated with fluttering banners and there were several large balloons, with streamers waving in the wind beneath them, bearing the name of Tanghe County Morning Glory Animal Husbandry Company.

The middle was an open area fenced with wooden railings, prepared for dragon and lion dances, as well as for the later cattle competitions. Of course, there were no seats; those coming to watch the spectacle could only stand. Only at the edge of the space for each district’s grounds, there was a simple shed and some rickety benches.

On one side of the vacant lot was a stage, undoubtedly used for performing plays; of course, it was also certain that there would be leaders giving speeches later, right on that very stage.

The name of Qian Niu Hua Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Company adorned both the wooden fences enclosing the area and the positions on either side beneath the stage. Those other sponsorship companies, for the most part, didn’t even have their own banners, and the few that did were relegated to the corners—financial contributions couldn’t possibly be treated the same way. Boss Yan’s generous sponsorship is still being imitated to this day but has yet to be surpassed.

After Yan Fei had settled everything on his end, he led Heizi and Old Gao over, and they approached just as Chairman Dong was loudly directing a few people in arranging items. Spotting Yan Fei, he immediately came forward to greet him: "Boss Yan, you’ve arrived early! There’s really no need for you to be here so soon on the first day. Some leaders are planning to come over, and they’re scheduled to arrive at eight-thirty. There’s still plenty of time!"

Yan Fei chuckled and replied, "No worries. After all, I’m the closest to this place. It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t come early. Is there anything left to do? We’ve got quite a crowd here!"

"No, no need!" Chairman Dong hurriedly declined. "Everything’s ready now; I’m just puttering around with nothing better to do. It’s still early; you guys go take a rest first, and I’ll certainly call for help when it’s needed without any reservation."

Yan Fei laughed heartily and said, "Alright, just holler if you need anything. I’m not just being polite. I came early exactly to help out wherever possible."

Chairman Dong exchanged a few more pleasantries, and noticing that there really seemed to be nothing that needed doing, Yan Fei turned to Heizi and said, "Let’s go, let’s check out the Cattle Market. It’s been a while since I’ve properly visited it! Brother Xiaohei, it’s been a while for you too, right?"

"Not really missed, and not really wanted to," Xiaohei replied cheerily. "The cattle market in our village is practically nonexistent now; everything has moved to our venue here."

There were also quite a few individual traders who had shown up; after all, just leading a bull over could possibly land them a mishmash of prizes, and who knows, they might even make some money. The timing wasn’t busy, so making a trip wouldn’t be a loss.

But after glancing over the selection, Yan Fei was puzzled: "Why are all the cattle that have come of this quality?"

It wasn’t surprising that Yan Fei was puzzled; the quality of yellow cattle in the venue was really too poor. Although this low quality was partially due to the high standards of him and his group, based on the cattle present, the Yellow Cattle Festival didn’t seem to be living up to its name.

To be honest, among the cattle there, those brought in by the individual farmers from Sancha River County alone could easily outdo most others and leave them empty-handed.

Heizi wondered on the side, not puzzled by the poor quality of the arrived cattle, but puzzled by Boss Yan’s attitude: "Brother Fei, you forgot what I told you. Other counties had already organized their own selection events, only our county didn’t; they left it all to us to manage."

"I didn’t know that?" Yan Fei was confused. "When did you tell me about it?"

"It was one night, when you were busy chatting, and I came over to tell you; you told me to handle it," Heizi quickly explained in detail. He had indeed reported the issue, and if the boss claimed ignorance, it would suggest he had been negligent. "It was the evening before we delivered the large bones to the school. After I told you, didn’t you also remind me to save the bones for the school to make bone broth the next day when slaughtering the cattle?"

"Oh, oh, oh, now I remember!" exclaimed Yan Fei with sudden enlightenment. "I haven’t browsed the Cattle Market in so long that I came here eager to take a look and completely forgot about it."

Someone in the back couldn’t help but let out a snicker; if Yan Fei’s ears hadn’t been so sharp, amidst all the cattle bellowing, people shouting, and horns blaring in the venue, he might not have heard it. But even having heard it, he could only pretend as if he hadn’t.

Even people with the best memories, if someone talks to them while they’re still engaged in chat with their spouse, can’t possibly remember the conversation accurately. At this point, he vaguely recalled such a discussion, but as for what exactly was said that evening, he truly could not remember.

Those few who came were old-timers in the venue, with a deep understanding of the boss. When they heard Heizi mention that he had been chatting at the time, they guessed that the boss was now feigning clarity amidst his confusion.