Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 449 - 147 Killing the Yellow Bull_1

Chapter 449: Chapter 147 Killing the Yellow Bull_1

The knife grinds rapidly in preparation for the ox.

First thing in the morning, the slowest-growing fattened cow was hauled out.

It was the usual routine, exhibit it for a while, and begin slaughtering and selling the meat when the crowd gathered.

Xu Xiaoyan and Yan Chao were squatting not far away, setting up a stall to sell vegetables. Their roles were clearly divided: Xu Xiaoyan was in charge of clumsily weighing and calculating the bill, Yan Chao was in charge of... creating chaos!

In these few days while everyone was busy, these two had nothing to do. The girl came up with an idea to try and sell off-season vegetables at Sancha River.

If his wife wanted to find something to do, Yan Fei would certainly agree. These days, he was busy slaughtering pigs and selling meat, without time to pick up the vegetables and run to town to sell them, so he let his wife do it to pass her time.

The price certainly couldn’t beat the retail prices Yan Fei offered in town, they were just slightly more expensive than the wholesale prices - this was because they feared the girl might feel awkward and drop the price as soon as someone haggled. They left some room for negotiation, if someone haggled fiercely, they would just sell at the wholesale price.

Despite this, the business in the past two days was just average. The prices were too high, most people simply asked about the price, shook their heads, and left.

But no one accused the boss of being greedy, because everyone knew off-season vegetables were naturally expensive. There were sellers in the county town who sold at much higher prices.

No one expected that nothing could stand in the way of a large crowd and quick-spreading news. There were always people wanting to taste something new and rare.

What’s more, quite a few restaurants in the town had heard that there were off-season vegetables here and came to buy; even smarter vegetable vendors asked about the price, decided to buy from here and sell in the county town - no one is a fool, the off-season vegetables in the county town have been passed through many hands, and the prices there are definitely much higher than here. Buying from here to sell there, even though it’s a journey over twenty miles, there was still a good chance to make a small fortune.

Because there’s only one greenhouse for vegetables, the amount was limited, and now there was unexpectedly a supply shortage.

This turned out to be an unexpected surprise, originally it was meant to keep the girl busy, as long as she had something to do, she would be happy. Little did they expect to actually be successful, it was truly a good omen for the new year.

Yan Fei would have made more money selling them this way than wholesaling them to the town!

Moreover, the vegetables were all picked by Yan Fei at night, with a lot of them coming from Vegetable Garden Island. Sending them to town might expose some flaws to those who knew better, so only mediocre ones were mixed in. It didn’t matter here, they were bought to be eaten directly. Mixing in some large ones was fine, as long as they were not conspicuous, that’s truly profitable!

However, the fact that a graduate from Provincial University was selling vegetables here made many people secretly curse Boss Yan for not knowing how to cherish his wife: they were so rich, yet he was willing to let his sweet and charming college-educated wife sell vegetables on the roadside in the cold wind! It was something that no human would do...

Of course, people who said this were those who knew the situation inside and out, and they also knew what kind of person Yan Fei was, so they didn’t dare to say it to his face.

With wine and off-season vegetables for sale, plus a few pigs being slaughtered each day, this place was almost turning into a small market.

On the day of the ox slaughter, more people were there to watch the spectacle and wait to buy meat.

Heizi was still running back and forth, going in and out. Ma Chao was puzzled, "What are you so busy with Heizi? Didn’t you see how busy we are selling meat?"

Isn’t that right? The pigs had already been slaughtered and they were in the middle of selling the meat, yet he was running about busily, not coming over to help. Hezi cried out, "Looking for a sledgehammer. We’ll need it for slaughtering the ox later! Have you seen the sledgehammer we used to throw around the yard before?"

When Yan Fei overheard this, he shouted at him, "What do you need a sledgehammer for?"

Heizi expressed his extensive knowledge: "Before slaughtering an ox, you need to knock it on the head a couple of times with a sledgehammer to stun it so it doesn’t suffer."

Yan Fei was impatient: "Enough already, I’ve seen oxen being slaughtered before, you don’t need to look for it. Just watch later."

It takes four or five people to busy themselves with slaughtering a pig, slaughtering an ox is even more troublesome.

Usually, the scene of an ox being slaughtered is a bit more brutal and cruel than that of a pig, unlike slaughtering pigs, there’s a common method throughout most of the country. When it comes to slaughtering oxen, there are more methods, and the habits of different places vary.

Here at Sancha River, oxen are slaughtered by first stunning them with a sledgehammer. Of course, if the first hit doesn’t go well, the ox suffers alive. Some don’t let the ox detect it beforehand and sneak up on it from the side. So, usually, the one swinging the sledgehammer has to be professional, otherwise, it would be even more troublesome if the ox ran away.

The ox mustn’t be killed in one hit, otherwise its blood wouldn’t drain well, the color of the beef wouldn’t look good, and it wouldn’t taste good either - but generally, people don’t have to worry about this, as there are only a few big shots who can kill an ox with one strike.

Heizi obeyed Yan Fei, and since he said there was no need to, Heizi stopped looking for the sledgehammer.

The mute was gesturing beside them, simulating stabbing into his chest and pulling out, then rolling his eyes. Yan Fei nodded after watching.

The communication between these two was a bit complicated. The mute meant that he had helped others slaughter oxen before, directly stabbing the ox’s heart with a sharp knife, it works very well. Yan Fei understood, but whether he would follow through was an open question.

In no time, a not so small crowd had gathered around, waiting from afar to watch the excitement and buy meat - after all, ox slaughtering was too bloody, and they were afraid the ox might break free, so they didn’t get too close.

The place where the cow was tied up was a bit far off, so Yan Fei put his knife on his back, took a large basin and walked towards the cow - in the countryside, people believe cows are sentient, so before slaughtering, they try not to let the cow know about it, so as not to make it distressed at realizing its impending death.

When passing by the vegetable stalls, Yan Fei had Miss Xu Xiaoyan and Yan Chao enter the cattle farm first, not wanting them to witness the bloody scene. Although Yan Chao was somewhat reluctant, he obediently went in, led by the girl.

The cow became somewhat uneasy at the presence of so many onlookers.

There are legends that cows weep before they die, and even stories about cows kneeling pleadingly for their lives, young calves hiding knives to save their mothers and so on.

However, no matter the stories, the cows are inevitably destined to be slaughtered.

When Yan Fei approached the cow, he placed the basin aside and gave the cow a few scratches on its neck, as if he was comforting it.

This cow was young and probably didn’t know it was about to be slaughtered. After being comforted by Yan Fei, it relaxed.

The onlookers watched in amazement, wondering how Yan Fei was going to kill the cow. Just as they were still processing what was happening, they saw him slap the cow between the horns.

With a grunt, the cow fell to the ground, and then he pulled out his sharp knife, and the cow’s blood began to gush out.

Only then did he take the basin and start collecting the blood.

Luckily, he didn’t let the cow suffer too much.

While letting the cow bleed out, he was also thinking: maybe he should look into a way to slaughter cows that causes even less pain?

Until the blood fully drained, the onlookers couldn’t figure out how just a slap on the cow’s head from Yan Fei could render it unconscious and ready for slaughter.

In the midst of the discussion, someone asked, "Is there something wrong with that cow? How come it passed out with a single hit to the head?"

"Yeah, really, what’s going on? Isn’t it said that slaughtering a cow is quite bloody? This looks easier than slaughtering a pig!"

Hearing this, Gao Rui, who was spreading plastic sheets with the mute man, Heizi, picked up half a brick from the road. He whacked it with his hand, smashing the brick into small pieces. He glared, "Our boss’s slap is even more powerful than mine. If you don’t believe it, you can try it yourself."

Everyone was immediately silenced by the threatening look on his face, one that made him resemble a butcher even more.

With his explanation, no one had doubts anymore. Those in the know started talking about how the young boss, Yan Fei, could compete with the strength of a cow, and was a real big shot, even tougher than a cow! No one wanted to personally experience how powerful his slap was; if the cow couldn’t take even one, then a human head would surely be flattened!

It was a real surprise that they not only came to buy meat but also witnessed a legendary cow-slaughtering with just a slap. It was truly a worthwhile trip. The only disappointing part was that Boss Yan didn’t make a big show of it or utter a few words to bring some hype, which would make it a better story to brag about later!

As for Yan Fei, the remaining task was just to sell the meat.

However, before selling the meat, there was something else to do. Zhang Hui was present, and even the station leader from the veterinary station had also come.

Since this cow had been growing especially slow, Zhang Hui had consulted with the station leader, but he couldn’t figure out the reason. Now that they had mentioned slaughtering the cow, he came along with Zhang Hui to find out if there were any visible issues.

Even if they couldn’t find a reason, at least they needed to confirm that the cow was healthy. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be prudent selling the meat. People who didn’t care might be quiet and sell the meat of the unknowingly sick cow, but Yan Fei, who had a "grand future plan" in mind, certainly wouldn’t want to sign off on such a detrimental act.

The hide was peeled off, and a large pile of entrails was stacked on the plastic sheet. The old station leader and Zhang Hui, wearing gloves that reached to their elbows, flipped through the innards for examination. Those gloves were the type used for cow artificial insemination, long enough to reach up to the elbow.

The crowd was waiting to buy the meat! But Yan Fei wasn’t in a hurry; they had to wait until the two men finished their examination.

When asked, Yan Fei was open about it: "This cow grows meat slower than other cows. Over there is an old veterinarian and the doctor from the veterinary station. They’re checking the cow to see if there are any issues."

The crowd immediately started chattering, some afraid there might be an issue and contemplating whether it was necessary to buy this beef. What if there was an issue - that would be a huge problem, right?

Some, who had frequent dealings with cattle farming, stepped forward and defended Yan Fei, "We watched them feed this cow. If there was any issue, it would have appeared by now. You all saw the condition it was in just a while ago, right? Is there any problem with it? It’s just that Boss Yan has high standards and found the cow growing too slowly. Compared to some other farms, that would have been a good cow."

Who hadn’t seen a cow before? Everyone took a careful look and agreed with the statement, so no one spoke out anymore.

Wasn’t it just a matter of waiting a little longer? They had waited this long already, so a little more would make no difference.

Finally, the station leader and Zhang Hui finished examining the cow and stood up, shaking their heads, "There’s no issue. It’s the same thing I said earlier. It’s probably just not prone to putting on weight, just like how people can vary in height and size! You can’t expect the cow to grow exactly the way you want it to. Just get on with selling the meat already! And remember to save a piece for me!"