The heavy rains of the past week had transformed the West Slope. What was once a patchwork of mud and rock was now a carpet of vibrant, pulsing life. The Gen II Ryegrass, fed by the nutrient-rich silage runoff and the strange efficiency of the System's biological upgrades, stood tall and thick, shimmering with dew under the morning sun.
It was a sight that stopped villagers in their tracks on the path below.
But Li Wei didn't have time to admire the view. He was busy with a new venture: Marketing.
In his past life, a company would spend millions on advertising campaigns, focus groups, and brand ambassadors. In Willow Village, it all came down to a piece of wood and a brush.
He stood by the main gate of the pasture, a newly erected wooden post in hand. He dipped a brush into a pot of ink Li Chen had mixed for him.
"'Cloud Hill Ranch'," Li Wei murmured, painting the characters in bold, blocky strokes. "'Premium Breeding Service'. 'Top Tier Genetics'. 'Strong Calves Guaranteed'."
Li Jun, who was mending a fence nearby, read the sign over his shoulder and burst out laughing.
"'Premium Genetics'? Third Brother, who talks like that? The villagers don't know what genetics means. You should write 'Big Bull, Strong Babies'."
"It lacks dignity," Li Wei said, stepping back to admire his work. "We're not just selling a service, Jun. We're selling a brand. 'Genetics' sounds mysterious. Expensive. It makes them curious."
"And the price?" Jun pointed to the bottom of the sign. "'Fifty Copper Coins per Service'. That's steep. The old stud bull in River Village only charges twenty."
"That old bull is half-blind and produces calves with spindly legs," Li Wei countered. "Hei Feng is a monster. Look at him."
He pointed to the pasture. Hei Feng was grazing near the top of the slope. Even from this distance, the bull looked formidable. His black coat gleamed like polished iron, and the hump over his shoulders was a mountain of muscle.
"Fifty coins is a steal for that kind of power," Li Wei said confidently. "But… to get the first customers, we need a loss leader."
"A what?"
"A discount," Li Wei translated. "The first three customers pay only thirty coins. But they must sign a contract—if the calf is born weak, I refund the money and give them a free chicken."
"You're betting the farm on that bull," Jun shook his head. "What if the calves are ugly?"
"The System guarantees the genetics," Li Wei thought. "Trust me."
He hung the sign on the gate. It swung gently in the breeze.
"Now," Li Wei dusted his hands. "We wait."
***
**The Skeptics**
The villagers of Willow Village were a conservative lot. They trusted tradition, they trusted the weather, and they trusted their own poverty. A new sign on a "useless" hill was cause for gossip, not spending.
By mid-morning, a small crowd had gathered at the bottom of the slope, staring up at the sign and the bull.
"Fifty coins? Is Li Wei crazy?"
"His bull almost killed the butcher in town!"
"I heard that bull eats human flesh!"
"My cow is fine with the River Village bull. Why change?"
Li Wei stood by the gate, arms crossed, listening to the chatter. He didn't argue. He let the sign do the talking. He let Hei Feng do the visual work.
Around noon, a figure separated from the crowd. It was Uncle Niu (no relation to the cow), a man known for his bad luck. His family had a decent cow, a spotted beauty, but she had miscarried twice in a row. The village midwife said she was cursed; the vet said she was weak.
Uncle Niu trudged up the hill, looking desperate.
"Wei'er," Niu greeted him, removing his straw hat. "Is this true? Thirty coins for the first ones?"
"Yes, Uncle Niu," Li Wei said respectfully. "And I don't just offer the bull. I offer a health check."
"Health check?"
Li Wei pointed to a wooden table he had set up under a makeshift awning. On it lay a stethoscope he had fashioned from a hollow reed and some pottery funnels, and a few jars of herbs.
"Before I let Hei Feng near your cow, I check her. If she's sick, breeding her is a waste of money. I'll tell you what's wrong."
Uncle Niu blinked. No one in the village did that. The stud service was usually just: bring the cow, let the bull do the job, pay the money.
"You know medicine?" Niu asked, suspicious.
"I know cows," Li Wei said. "Bring her up."
***
**The Lasso and the Lesson**
Uncle Niu's cow, "Flower," was led up the path. She was a docile animal, but she sensed the presence of the massive bull above and began to low nervously.
Hei Feng lifted his head from the grass. He smelled the female. His nostrils flared. He let out a low, rumbling bellow that shook the leaves on the trees.
Flower tried to bolt.
"Hold her!" Niu shouted, struggling with the rope.
"Da Niu!" Li Wei called out.
Da Niu was ready. He was holding a length of rope with a loop at the end—a lasso. He had been practicing on tree stumps for three days.
"Watch this, Boss!"
Da Niu swung the rope over his head. It was clumsy. The loop was too wide. He threw it.
The rope sailed through the air and… missed the cow entirely, landing on Li Wei's fence post.
The crowd below hooted with laughter.
"Pathetic!" someone shouted.
Da Niu's face turned red. He scrambled to gather the rope.
"Focus, Da Niu," Li Wei said calmly. He walked over to the cow. He didn't use a lasso. He used Ranger.
"Ranger, flank," Li Wei commanded.
The yellow dog darted forward. He didn't bark or bite. He simply ran wide and positioned himself on the cow's right side, staring intensely.
The cow, sensing the predator's gaze, instinctively moved left—straight towards Li Wei.
Li Wei stepped in, grabbing the cow's halter with practiced ease. He stroked her neck, speaking low and soft.
"Easy, girl. Easy."
The cow calmed down instantly.
"See?" Li Wei said to the crowd. "It's not about force. It's about control. This is the Cloud Hill way."
He turned to Uncle Niu. "Bring her here. Let's check her."
***
**The Doctor is In**
Li Wei ran his hands over the cow's flank. He checked her gums. He looked at her eyes.
**[System Scan: Target 'Flower'.]**
**[Health Status: 65% (Malnutrition + Parasite Load).]**
**[Reproductive Status: Uterine inflammation detected.]**
**[Recommendation: Do not breed yet. Treat with antibiotic herbs and improved diet for 2 weeks.]**
Li Wei frowned. He pulled his hand back.
"What is it?" Uncle Niu asked, terrified. "Is she broken?"
"She's not cursed," Li Wei said. "She has worms. And she's too thin. Look at her coat. It's dull. If you breed her now, she'll miscarry again because her body can't support the calf."
The crowd murmured. This was unheard of. A stud service rejecting a customer?
"So you can't do it?" Niu asked, disappointed.
"I *can*," Li Wei said, "But I *won't*. Not yet. I'm not taking your thirty coins for a dead calf."
He reached under the table and pulled out a packet of powder he had prepared—dried pumpkin seeds and a specific bitter herb known for deworming, mixed with mineral salt.
"Take this. Mix it with her bran for three days. Feed her clean grass—no stubble. Bring her back in two weeks. If she's healthy, we breed. If not, I refund the consultation fee."
"What consultation fee? I haven't paid yet."
"The consultation is free," Li Wei smiled. "The medicine is ten coins. Just the cost of the herbs."
Uncle Niu stared at the packet. He looked at Li Wei, then at his cow. Ten coins was cheap for a cure.
"You… you're sure?"
"I'm sure."
Niu took the packet. He looked at Li Wei with a new expression—respect. Not the respect due to an elder, but the respect due to a professional.
"Thank you, Wei'er," Niu said. "I'll do as you say."
As Niu led the cow away, Li Wei turned to the crowd.
"Cloud Hill Ranch doesn't just sell studs. We sell healthy herds. Anybody else?"
The laughter had stopped. The villagers looked at the boy standing by the table, the massive black bull watching from the hill behind him, and the wolf-like dog sitting at his feet.
They realized this wasn't a child playing farmer. This was a business.
***
**The First Success**
The afternoon saw a change in fortune.
A neighbor, Old Man Sun, who had seen Hei Feng plow, brought his cow. She was healthy, a sturdy work cow.
"Thirty coins?" Sun asked.
"Thirty coins," Li Wei nodded. "But I check her first."
The check was quick. She was healthy. **[Optimal Breeding Time: Now.]**
"Proceed," Li Wei said.
He led Hei Feng down from the pasture. The bull knew what to do. He didn't need to be coaxed. He approached the cow with a bullish confidence.
The act itself was quick and efficient—a display of raw power that made the watching men nod in approval. There was no struggle, no confusion. Just nature taking its course, accelerated by superior genetics.
When it was done, Li Wei handed Hei Feng a bucket of water mixed with electrolytes (a pinch of salt and sugar).
"Done," Li Wei said, wiping his hands. "If she doesn't take, come back. But she will."
Old Man Sun handed over the thirty coins. The copper clinked in Li Wei's hand. It was the first revenue generated purely by the bull's biology.
"Well done, Wei'er," Sun said, slapping his thigh. "That bull of yours… he's got the spirit. If the calf is half as strong, I'll be able to plow the north field next spring."
"Come back for the birth," Li Wei said. "I'll check the calf for free."
By sunset, two more neighbors had come up. One was rejected due to health issues (and sold medicine), and one was serviced.
Total revenue for the day: Sixty coins for breeding, twenty coins for medicine.
Eighty copper coins.
It wasn't a fortune. But it was cash flow. It was validation.
***
**The Campfire**
That evening, the family and workers gathered at the bunkhouse on the hill.
The air was cool, and the sky was a deep, bruised purple. They had brought food up—steamed buns, pickled vegetables, and a small pot of stew made from the leftover pork bones.
Li Wei sat on a wooden stump, counting the coins into a small wooden box.
"Sixty for the bull. Twenty for the herbs. Ten for the eggs sold to the restaurant," Li Wei announced. "Total: ninety coins today."
Qin Hu sat across from him, whittting a piece of wood. He looked up. "Not bad. The villagers are talking. They're saying you have 'magic eyes'. That you can see inside the cow."
"Just knowledge," Li Wei said, closing the box. "Knowledge is worth more than gold."
He looked at Da Niu, who was eating his bun quietly, Ranger sleeping at his feet.
"You did good with the rope today, Da Niu," Li Wei said. "Even if you missed. You stayed calm. That's the most important part."
Da Niu looked up, surprised by the praise. "I… I will practice more, Boss. I will hit the post next time."
"Don't aim for the post," Li Wei said, his eyes twinkling. "Aim for the horns. Next week, we're going to start training the cows to lead. We need them to follow us without ropes. We're going to be real cowboys."
"Cowboys?" Li Jun asked, mouth full. "What's a cowboy?"
"A man who rides with the herd," Li Wei said. "Not behind it. Not driving it with sticks. But riding with it. A partner."
He looked up at the stars, the first ones appearing in the darkening sky.
"One day," Li Wei said softly, "we won't be walking up this hill. We'll be riding. And the grass will be so deep it brushes our boots."
He stood up, stretching.
"But for now, we have a reputation to build. Tomorrow, we buy more chickens. And we start saving for Chen's exam."
He looked at the money box. It was the first installment.
*"Three months,"* he thought. *"Three months to make a scholar."*
"Get some sleep," Li Wei ordered. "The cows wake up early."
He walked down the hill towards the main house, the coins in his pocket jingling a song of progress. The rain was gone. The season of growth had begun.
**[Ranch Funds: 140 Coins.]**
**[Reputation in Willow Village: Neutral -> Recognized Professional.]**