The waiting game was the hardest part.
For the next three days, Li Wei's life fell into a grueling rhythm that would have broken a lesser man. In his past life, he had pulled all-nighters for deadlines, but that was mental exhaustion. This was a full-body assault.
Every four hours, day and night, he had to tend to the incubator. He would wake up in the pitch black, shivering in the cold room, to check the water jars. He would heat water on the dying embers of the kitchen fire, refill the clay pots in the incubator, and carefully turn the eggs to ensure even heating.
The System helped, giving him temperature readings, but it couldn't move the eggs for him.
"Sleep, Third Brother," Li Hua whispered one night, waking up to see him silhouetted against the moonlight. "You look like a ghost."
"Ghosts don't build ranches," Li Wei murmured, his eyes burning. "Go back to sleep. I'm fine."
He wasn't fine. He was exhausted. But he was driven.
***
**The Water Crisis**
On the morning of the fourth day after planting, disaster threatened.
Li Wei stood on the West Slope, staring at the ground. The earth he had worked so hard to terrace was drying out. The winds coming down from the mountains were stripping the moisture from the soil.
The seeds needed water *now*. The check-dam was built, but the sky was a cruel, cloudless blue. There was no rain in the forecast.
"If the seeds don't sprout in two days, they'll die," Li Wei said, his voice tight.
Qin Hu stood beside him, leaning on his crutch. He looked at the dry earth, then at the village well at the bottom of the hill. It was a good distance away.
"We carry it," Qin Hu said simply.
"Li Jun and I can carry four buckets between us per trip," Li Wei calculated rapidly. "To water this terrace properly, we need at least twenty trips. That's… hours of walking. And we have the fields to plow for Father."
"Then we walk fast," Qin Hu said, gripping his crutch. "I can carry two. My arms work."
"You can't carry heavy buckets on this slope with that leg," Li Wei objected. "You'll fall."
"Watch me," the soldier grunted.
He wasn't going to be left behind.
For the next three hours, the West Slope turned into a scene of desperate labor.
Li Wei, Li Jun, and even little Li Chen formed a bucket brigade. They hauled water from the well, trudging up the steep path.
*Step. Step. Breath.*
The water sloshed over the rims, soaking their worn shoes. Li Wei's shoulders were rubbed raw by the rough wooden yoke. His back screamed.
Qin Hu, true to his word, took two smaller buckets. He limped up the hill with a terrifying intensity, his jaw clenched against the pain in his leg, using his crutch as a third leg to stabilize himself on the uneven ground.
"Faster!" Li Jun gasped, his face dripping with sweat. "My arms are shaking!"
"Don't spill it!" Li Wei urged. "Every drop is a blade of grass!"
By noon, they were drenched, muddy, and trembling with fatigue. But as Li Wei poured the last bucket over the terrace, the earth drank greedily, turning a deep, rich brown.
They collapsed on the ridge, chests heaving.
"We did it," Li Jun wheezed, staring at the sky. "If I ever see a rain cloud, I'm going to kiss it."
Li Wei rolled over, looking at the soil. It wasn't enough to make them grow instantly, but it was enough to keep the hope alive.
"We do this again tomorrow," Li Wei said.
Jun let out a long, agonizing groan.
***
**The Market Opportunity**
That afternoon, Li Wei had to go to town. They needed more grain for the chickens, and the supply of eggs had accumulated again—fifteen this time.
He went alone this time, leaving the family to rest. The walk felt longer today, his legs heavy like lead.
At the Fragrant Pavilion, the Chef was waiting for him.
"You're late," the Chef grunted, though his eyes lit up when he saw the basket of eggs. He cracked one open, checked the yolk, and nodded with satisfaction. "Same quality. Good."
As the Chef counted out the copper coins, a commotion erupted in the alley behind the restaurant.
"Heifer for sale! Healthy heifer! Going cheap!"
Li Wei's ears perked up. *Heifer?* A young female cow. The dream.
He grabbed his coins and rushed to the back alley.
A farmer stood there, holding a rope tied to a scrawny, mud-brown cow. The cow looked terrible. Its ribs were showing, its coat was dull and patchy, and it had a hacking cough. A small boy, likely the farmer's son, was crying silently nearby.
"What's wrong with it?" a butcher asked, poking the cow's flank with a stick.
"Nothing! Just… just needs food!" the farmer stammered. He looked desperate. "My wife is sick. I need money for a doctor in the prefecture. I'm selling her for… for one tael of silver."
"One tael?" The butcher laughed. "Look at it! It's coughing up its lungs. It'll be dead by winter. I'll give you three hundred cash for the meat."
"Three hundred? That's robbery! She's a good milker! Just… just skinny!"
Li Wei stepped closer. He didn't see a dying cow. He activated the System.
**[Target: Local Yellow Cattle (Heifer).]**
**[Age: 3 Years.]**
**[Health: Poor (Malnutrition, Minor Respiratory Infection).]**
**[Potential: Moderate.]**
**[System Analysis: Treatable. Requires high-protein feed, clean water, and medicinal herbs. Recovery time: 2 weeks.]**
It wasn't the Brahman or Angus he dreamed of. It was a local scrub cow. But right now, it was *livestock*.
"Four hundred," Li Wei called out.
The farmer and the butcher turned to look at him.
"You're the egg boy," the butcher sneered. "This beast is for the slaughterhouse. Don't waste your coin."
"She's breathing," Li Wei said, walking up to the cow. He didn't flinch at the smell of dung and sickness. He looked into the cow's large, brown eyes. They were tired, but clear. "She's not dead yet."
He pulled out his pouch. He had fifty-four coins from today's eggs. He had saved twenty from before. He had… nothing close to one tael (1000 coins).
But he had a soldier's pension.
"Wait here," Li Wei told the farmer. "Don't sell to him yet. I'll be back in an hour."
***
**The Bargain**
Li Wei sprinted back to the village. He ignored the burning in his lungs.
He found Qin Hu resting under the eaves of the tool shed, nursing his swollen leg.
"Qin Hu," Li Wei gasped, skidding to a halt. "I need a loan."
Qin Hu looked up, unsurprised. "How much?"
"Five hundred copper coins. I found a cow. She's sick, but I can cure her. She's selling for meat price. It's a chance to triple our money."
A normal servant would have laughed. A cow? A sick one?
Qin Hu didn't hesitate. He reached into the bundle of clothes he kept by his bed and pulled out a small, cloth-wrapped bundle. Inside were a few loose coins and two small silver ingots—bits of broken silver from his army pay.
"I have three hundred in copper," Qin Hu said. "And this silver. It's worth about five hundred coins in town."
"You're giving me everything?" Li Wei asked, stunned.
"It's my wages," Qin Hu said calmly. "You said the ranch is an investment. If you lose it, I lose my wages. I trust your eyes."
Li Wei grabbed the money. "I'll pay you back with interest."
"Just buy the cow," Qin Hu smiled faintly.
Li Wei ran back to town, the coins clinking heavily in his pocket.
***
**The First Head**
The farmer was still there, arguing with the butcher, when Li Wei returned.
"I have eight hundred coins," Li Wei announced, panting. "And a promise to give you another two hundred within a month if she lives."
The farmer looked at the boy, then at the desperate butcher.
"Eight hundred now?" the farmer asked.
"Now."
"Sold!" The farmer grabbed the money before the butcher could object. "Take her!"
Li Wei took the rope. The cow looked at him and let out a low, mournful moo.
The butcher shook his head. "Boy, you're throwing your money into a pit. That thing is a walking corpse."
"Then I'll bury it with dignity," Li Wei shot back. "But I think she wants to live."
The walk back to the village was excruciating. The cow was weak and slow. She stopped every few minutes to cough or graze on dry weeds by the roadside. Li Wei didn't whip her. He walked beside her, talking to her gently.
"Come on, girl. I have fresh water. I have bran. You're going to be okay."
It took them two hours to cover the three *li*. By the time they reached the base of the West Slope, the sun was setting.
The Li family was gathered in the courtyard for dinner. When they saw Li Wei leading a cow—a real, living cow—silence fell over the compound.
"Wei'er?" Father Li Dazhong stood up, his eyes wide. "Where did you get that? Did you steal it?!"
"Bought it, Father," Li Wei said, wiping sweat from his brow. "From a desperate farmer. She's sick. But I can fix her."
He led the cow up the path to the newly cleared terrace. It was the only place with fresh earth and space.
"She's so thin," Mother Zhao Lan whispered, coming closer. She reached out to touch the cow's flank, her heart aching for the animal. "She looks like a skeleton."
"She needs nutrition," Li Wei said. He turned to his siblings. "Jun, bring the water bucket. Hua, get the best bran we have. Mix it with warm water and a bit of salt."
He looked at the cow. It was a risk. A huge risk. He had just spent every liquid asset the "ranch" had. If she died, they were back to zero.
He opened the system interface.
**[Livestock Management Interface Unlocked.]**
**[New Animal Added: Local Yellow Cattle (ID: 001).]**
**[Prescription Generated: High-Protein Gruel + Garlic Infusion (for lungs).]**
Li Wei mixed the feed personally. He crushed garlic cloves into the warm bran mash. The smell was strong, but the cow, smelling food for the first time in days, pricked her ears.
She lowered her head and took a tentative lick.
Then, she began to eat.
The family watched in silence as the animal ate greedily, the sound of her chewing filling the evening air.
"She's eating," Li Chen whispered, awestruck. "We have a cow."
Li Wei leaned against the fence, his body finally giving out. He slid down until he was sitting in the dirt.
"We have a cow," he repeated, a tired grin breaking across his face.
Qin Hu limped up the path, leaning on his crutch. He stood beside Li Wei, looking at the scrawny beast.
"She looks ugly," Qin Hu commented.
"She looks like profit," Li Wei corrected.
"A ranch needs a name," Qin Hu said after a moment. "If we're going to die for this hill, it should have a name."
Li Wei looked at the darkening sky, the stars beginning to poke through the twilight. He looked at the ugly cow, the scratched-up hill, and his tired family.
"Cloud Hill Ranch," Li Wei said softly. "Because one day, we'll be high enough to touch them."
Qin Hu nodded. "Cloud Hill. Sounds like a place for soldiers."
It wasn't much. It was a sick cow and a patch of dirt.
But it was the start of an empire.