The two hundred copper coins lay on the scarred wooden table, heavy and gleaming in the morning light. It was the most money the Li family had seen in a single lump sum in years.
Chen Lan stared at the coins, her hand hovering over them as if they were hot coals. "Two hundred... This is enough to buy grain for two months. Or to pay the tax collector when he comes."
"It's blood money," Li Jun muttered, though his eyes were greedy. "Wang Er's blood."
"It's compensation," Li Wei corrected, sitting across from them. He looked tired but his eyes were clear. "And it is capital. We cannot eat it. We must spend it to make more."
Grandfather Li Dagen knocked his pipe against the table leg, the sound echoing like a gavel. "The boy is right. Money that sits still rots. Wei-er, what is the plan?"
Li Wei took a breath. "I want to buy a calf."
"A calf?" Li Qiang frowned. "We have sheep. We have a dog. The hill is barely cleared. Why add a cow now?"
"Sheep are for wool and small meat," Li Wei explained, his voice steady. "But cows... cows are the foundation. Even if we can't slaughter them for meat legally without permission, a bull calf can be trained to plow. We can rent it out to neighbors during planting season. That's steady income. And if it's a heifer... we have milk."
"Milk," little Dahu whispered, his eyes widening. The concept of drinking milk was a luxury reserved for the wealthy or the very sick in the countryside.
"And there is another reason," Li Wei added, tapping his temple. "The system... my intuition. I know how to raise them. Better than anyone else."
Grandfather Li Dagen looked at Li Wei for a long time. "You spent a tael of silver on three dying sheep, and they lived. You bought a demon dog, and it saved our flock. I will trust you. But not with all of it."
The old man divided the coins. "One hundred goes into the family treasury for An's tuition and emergency grain. The rest... one hundred and twenty coins. That is your budget. If you can't buy a calf with that, you save the rest."
One hundred and twenty coins. It was tight. A healthy calf usually cost three hundred or more.
"I'll make it work," Li Wei said, scooping the coins into his pouch.
***
**Qinghe Town Livestock Market.**
The smell of manure was familiar now. Li Wei walked through the crowded pens, Zhao Hu limping beside him. The ex-soldiver's presence deterred the pickpockets and hustlers who usually targeted country boys.
Li Wei bypassed the prime livestock area. He couldn't afford those. He headed for the back rows, where the auctions for "miscellaneous" livestock happened.
He saw a pen of calves. They were local Yellow Cattle, the standard breed of the Great Yu Dynasty. Hardy, used to poor fodder, but small and slow-growing.
Li Wei activated his system.
*Scanning...*
*Target: Local Yellow Calf (Male).*
*Genetic Potential: Low. Average meat yield.*
*Recommendation: Pass.*
He moved on. He scanned a dozen calves. All average. All overpriced.
Then, near the edge of the market, he saw a commotion. A farmer was yelling at a young boy, who was crying.
"Get rid of it! It's cursed! It won't drink from the bucket, and it bit the neighbor's dog! It's a waste of my milk powder!"
In a wooden crate, a small calf was huddled. It wasn't the typical dusty yellow. Its coat was a deep, mottled black, with patches of brown. It was a crossbreed, likely a stray gene from some passing trader's bull long ago.
The calf looked mangy. Its ears were torn, likely from fighting with other calves. It looked small, weak, and angry.
*Scanning...*
*Target: Crossbreed Calf (Male).*
*Genetics: Recessive traits detected. [Angus Bloodline: 12%].*
*Current Status: Malnourished, high stress.*
*Trait Analysis: Natural Marbling (Dormant), High Fertility (Dormant).*
*Potential: High.*
Li Wei's heart skipped a beat. Angus. The legendary beef cattle. Even a 12% bloodline was a goldmine. This ugly, black runt carried the genes for premium, high-yield meat.
"How much for the calf?" Li Wei asked, stepping forward.
The farmer looked at him, annoyed. "You want this demon? One hundred coins. It comes with the crate, I just want it gone. It refuses to suckle, it's going to die anyway."
"One hundred coins?" Li Wei acted shocked. "Look at it. It's skin and bone. It's aggressive. I'd be doing you a favor taking it off your hands. Fifty coins."
"Fifty? Are you robbing me? The crate alone is worth thirty!"
"I don't need the crate. I have a rope," Li Wei said calmly. "Eighty coins. Final offer. Or I walk away, and you watch it starve."
The farmer looked at the calf, then at Li Wei. "Fine! Eighty! Take the beast before it kicks my teeth in."
Li Wei handed over the coins. He knelt by the crate. The calf inside snorted, pawing the dirt, its eyes wild.
"Easy," Li Wei murmured. He didn't reach in blindly. He made eye contact. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to starve you."
He opened the crate. The calf bolted out, surprisingly fast. It tried to run into the crowd.
"Grab it!" the farmer yelled.
"No," Li Wei said. "Zhao Hu, block the left."
Zhao Hu moved surprisingly fast on his crutch, cutting off the calf's escape route. The calf panicked, turning back toward Li Wei.
Li Wei didn't tackle it. He stepped aside, then grabbed its tail—a technique used by cowboys to control unruly steers—and twisted gently. The calf stopped, stunned by the discomfort, and turned its head.
"Good," Li Wei said, quickly slipping a rope around its neck. "I'm going to call you 'Hei Dan' (Black Egg). You're coming home with me."
The calf struggled, but Li Wei held firm. He was weak, but leverage was everything.
"That thing is wild," Zhao Hu observed as they dragged the reluctant calf toward the oxcart.
"It's spirited," Li Wei corrected, breathing hard. "Spirit means life. We just need to tame it."
***
The journey home was an ordeal. Hei Dan refused to walk steadily, constantly pulling, stopping, or trying to bolt. It took them twice as long to reach the village.
When they arrived, it was late afternoon. The family was waiting.
"You bought a calf?" Li Yue asked, smiling. Then she saw the animal. Her smile faltered. "It's... black? And so skinny."
"It's a special breed," Li Wei said, sweating profusely. "Brother Qiang, help me get it to the hill. We need to keep it separate from the sheep for now."
As they dragged the calf up the slope, Li An came running up the path, his book bag bouncing against his hip.
"Third Brother! You're back!" Li An called out, but his face was troubled.
"What's wrong, An?" Li Wei asked, pausing to wipe his face. "School?"
Li An kicked a stone. "Master Liu... he says I am falling behind. The other boys... their fathers are merchants or landlords. They buy extra tutoring. They have reference books I've never seen. Master Liu says if I want to pass the county exam next year, I need the 'Four Treasures of the Study'—good ink, good paper—and I need to hire a tutor for the classics."
"How much?" Li Wei asked quietly.
"The books and materials... maybe two hundred coins. The tutor... five hundred coins for the season."
Li Wei felt the weight of the world pressing down. The money they won from Wang Er was already gone—spent on the family treasury and this calf. He had forty coins left in his pocket.
"Two hundred coins," Li Wei repeated.
"I know we don't have it," Li An said, his voice trembling. "I told Grandfather I would quit school and help on the ranch."
"No," Li Wei said sharply. He grabbed Li An's shoulder. "You don't quit. We find a way."
He looked at the struggling black calf. He looked at the hill, where the green shoots of ryegrass were waving in the wind.
"An, look at this calf."
Li An looked at the mangy animal. "It looks sick."
"It's a fighter," Li Wei said. "Everyone thinks it's trash. Just like they think we are trash. But inside, it has the blood of kings. It just needs the right food and the right training. Just like you."
Li An looked up, tears welling in his eyes.
"I am going to make this calf the biggest, strongest bull in the prefecture," Li Wei promised. "And you are going to be the top scholar. The books... I will get you the books. But you have to trust me."
"How?"
"I have a plan," Li Wei said. He didn't have a plan yet, but he knew the system would provide if he worked hard enough. "For now, help me build a pen for Hei Dan. And bring me the bucket of warm water and the milk powder Mother saved."
"Milk powder?"
"This calf is weaned too early," Li Wei said. "He needs to be bottle-fed. We have to earn his trust."
***
That evening, Li Wei sat on a rock inside the newly constructed pen on the hill. The sun had set, leaving the sky a bruised purple.
In his lap, he held a gourd filled with diluted goat's milk (bought from a neighbor). The black calf, Hei Dan, stood in the corner, watching him warily.
"Come on," Li Wei coaxed. "I know you're hungry. The farmer beat you, didn't he? I'm not him."
He dipped his finger in the milk and let it drip. The calf sniffed the air. Its stomach growled audibly.
Slowly, the calf took a step forward. Then another. It extended its rough, grey tongue and licked the milk from Li Wei's finger.
"That's it," Li Wei whispered. He guided the gourd to the calf's mouth.
The calf latched on, suckling greedily. The milk disappeared rapidly.
As the calf drank, Li Wei stroked its neck. He felt the bones beneath the skin, but he also felt the potential.
*System Notification: Bonding in progress.*
*Target [Hei Dan] Loyalty: 5/100.*
*Trait [Trusting] partially unlocked.*
"You're going to be a legend, Hei Dan," Li Wei murmured. "And so am I."
From the edge of the pen, Zhao Hu watched. He leaned on his crutch, the light from his pipe illuminating his scarred face.
"You talk to animals like they are people," Zhao Hu noted.
"They understand more than people think," Li Wei replied, scratching the calf behind the ears. "Better than people, sometimes."
"The boy, Li An," Zhao Hu said. "He wants to help. He carried rocks for two hours today without complaining. He wants to earn the books."
"I know," Li Wei said. "He has the heart. He just lacks the silver."
"What is the plan for the books?"
Li Wei looked at the growing grass. "The ryegrass. In two months, it will be tall enough to harvest a first cutting. The seed heads... I can sell the seeds to the other farmers. It's high-yield fodder. But until then..."
He looked at the calf. "We need a miracle. Or a very good trade."
"Or a fight," Zhao Hu said, blowing smoke. "If Wang Er comes back..."
"He won't," Li Wei said. "But others might. The news of our two hundred coin fine will spread. Greedy people will come. We need to be ready."
Li Wei stood up. The calf had finished the milk and was nuzzling his hand, looking for more.
"Tomorrow, we start training," Li Wei said to Zhao Hu. "I will teach you how to halter-break a calf. And you will teach me how to use a staff. If I'm going to be a rancher, I need to know how to protect what's mine."
Zhao Hu grinned, a rare, terrifying sight. "I can do that."
The night settled over Willow Village. In the Li household, the fire burned low. Li An was asleep, dreaming of academies and ink. Li Wei was awake, planning the next move.
The Ranch had its first calf. But the cost of a scholar's dream was a mountain that still needed climbing.