Spring in the Empire was a cruel master. It offered the promise of harvest, but demanded a steep price in sweat before a single seed could be sown.
For the Li family, the critical window for spring plowing had arrived. The soil, softened by the winter frost and early spring rains, was perfectly ready. But the window was closing fast. In a few weeks, the sun would bake the earth into hardpan, making plowing nearly impossible without a team of oxen.
The Li family didn't have oxen. They had Li Dazhong, Li Qiang, and Li Jun.
In the main family field, a three-*mu* plot of flat land near the river, the air was thick with grunts of exertion and the sound of iron breaking soil.
Li Qiang, the eldest brother, was at the front of the plow, pulling with all his might. His tunic was soaked through, the muscles in his back knotting like ropes. Behind him, Father Li Dazhong pressed down on the wooden plow share, guiding it through the resistant earth.
"Pull!" Dazhong shouted, his voice hoarse. "Harder! The sun is getting high!"
Li Jun was at the other end of the field, using a hoe to break up the clods the plow missed. Even from a distance, Li Wei could see the tremor in his second brother's arms.
It was back-breaking work. Human-powered plowing was slow, inefficient, and exhausting. A good team of oxen could do in one hour what took these men a full day.
Li Wei stood at the edge of the field, a basket of seedlings on his back. He had been assigned the lighter work of preparing the rice nursery, but his eyes were fixed on the struggling men.
Specifically, he was looking at the empty space where a draft animal should have been.
*"System, status check on the cow,"* Li Wei thought.
**[Target: Li An (Heifer).]**
**[Health: 92% (Recovered).]**
**[Strength: Moderate.]**
**[Stamina: Low (Due to previous malnutrition).]**
**[Recommendation: Light draft work permissible. Heavy plowing not advised without risk of injury.]**
Li Wei frowned. The System warned against heavy work. But looking at his father's strained face, seeing Qiang stumble in the furrow, he knew he had to try.
He set the basket down and jogged over to the West Slope.
***
**The Yoke**
At the shed, Qin Hu was oiling a leather strap—a piece of old harness he had found in the village dump and repaired.
"You're thinking of putting her to work," Qin Hu stated, not asking. He looked up, his eyes sharp.
"Father and Qiang are killing themselves," Li Wei said, grabbing a handful of the special high-protein feed he had prepared—bran, crushed soybeans, and eggshells. "We have a healthy cow. It's a waste to let her just eat grass."
"She's a heifer," Qin Hu warned. "Never pulled a plow before. If she bolts, she could hurt someone. Or herself."
"That's why I have you," Li Wei said. "We won't put her in the deep furrows. Just the edge. Just enough to take the weight off my father's back."
Qin Hu stood up, testing his bad leg. It held. "Alright. But we go slow. I'll handle the lead rope. You walk beside her. And if she looks like she's struggling, we stop immediately."
They led An out of the shed. The cow looked better than she had a week ago. Her coat had a sheen to it, and her eyes were bright. She lowed softly, smelling the feed in Li Wei's hand.
They hitched her to a simple wooden yoke Li Wei had fashioned from a forked branch. It was crude, padded with old rags to protect her shoulders, but functional.
"Easy, girl," Li Wei whispered, stroking her neck. "We're just going for a walk. A heavy walk."
***
**The Field**
When Li Wei led the cow onto the family field, the work stopped.
Li Dazhong wiped his brow, frowning deeply. "Wei'er? What are you doing with the cow? She's recovering."
"She's recovered, Father," Li Wei said, his voice projecting over the field. "And she's bored. Let her help."
"She's never been trained!" Dazhong snapped, though Li Wei saw the desperate hope in his eyes. "She'll trample the seedbed!"
"I'll guide her," Qin Hu stepped forward, taking the lead rope. He looked every bit the soldier, commanding and calm. "Just show us the line."
Dazhong hesitated. The neighbors working in the adjacent fields—Old Man Sun and his sons—had stopped to watch. This was entertainment. If the cow failed, the Li family would be the laughingstock of the village.
"Just one row," Dazhong said finally, stepping aside. "But if she acts up, get her out of here."
Li Wei positioned himself next to An's shoulder. He didn't use a whip. He used his voice and the feed.
"Qiang Ge, hook the plow to the yoke," Li Wei instructed.
Li Qiang, panting heavily, unhooked the harness from his own shoulders and attached the single tree to the cow's yoke. The wooden plow fell into the furrow.
"Walk," Li Wei commanded, tapping An's flank gently.
The cow shifted, feeling the weight. She didn't like it. She tossed her head, mooing in protest.
"Steady!" Qin Hu tugged the lead rope, keeping her nose pointed straight.
"Come on, An," Li Wei murmured, holding a handful of soy mash just in front of her nose. "Pull. Eat."
Motivated by the smell of the treat, the cow leaned into the yoke.
*Cre-e-eak.*
The plow moved.
It wasn't fast. It wasn't the thundering charge of a trained ox team. But the iron share sliced through the soil, turning over a neat ribbon of dark earth.
Dazhong, who had taken the handle of the plow, gasped. The resistance that usually required his entire body weight to overcome was suddenly gone. The cow was doing the work of two men.
"Keep her straight!" Dazhong shouted, his voice cracking not with anger, but with excitement. "Don't let her wander!"
"Left!" Li Wei guided.
They made it to the end of the row. An stopped, breathing hard but standing firm.
Li Wei immediately gave her the mash. "Good girl. Good girl."
"Well I'll be damned," Li Qiang breathed, slumping onto the ground. He looked at his hands, raw and blistered, then at the cow. "That… that was easy."
"Again!" Dazhong was already turning the plow. The fatigue in his eyes had been replaced by a manic energy. "Faster! We have time before lunch!"
***
**The Ripple Effect**
For the next three hours, Li An plowed.
They didn't push her to exhaustion. Li Wei made her rest every twenty minutes, giving her water and small amounts of feed. She was slow, but she was steady.
By noon, the Li family had finished the section that would have taken them two days to plow by hand.
The effect on the village was immediate. Old Man Sun from the next field wandered over, leaning on his hoe.
"Li Dazhong," Old Man Sun called out. "That cow… she sick?"
"She was," Dazhong puffed out his chest, unable to hide his grin. "My son cured her. She's strong as an ox now."
"Cured a dying cow and trained her to plow in a week?" Sun looked at Li Wei with new eyes. "Boy, you have magic hands?"
"Just good feed, Uncle Sun," Li Wei wiped his face. "And clean water."
"Can I borrow her?" Sun asked greedily. "My field is half-done. I'll pay… ten copper coins a day."
Li Wei blinked. *Rental income.*
Before he could speak, Dazhong stepped in front of his son. "She's still recovering. We finish our own fields first. After that… we'll see."
The father knew the value of an asset now. He wasn't going to let neighbors run their miracle cow into the ground for pennies.
But the tide had turned. The neighbors who had mocked the "useless wasteland" project were now eyeing the cow with envy and respect.
***
**The Bargain**
That evening, the Li family dinner table was transformed.
Usually, dinner was a quiet, tense affair. But tonight, there was laughter.
"We did it!" Li Qiang pounded the table, a rare grin on his face. "The west field is done! We can start sowing tomorrow!"
"And my back doesn't hurt," Li Jun added, stretching his arms. "I might actually be able to feel my fingers tomorrow."
Dazhong sat at the head of the table, slowly sipping his hot water. He looked at Li Wei, who was quietly eating his porridge.
"Wei'er," Dazhong said.
The table quieted.
"Yes, Father?"
"You… you did good," Dazhong said. The words seemed to stick in his throat, but he forced them out. "I thought you wasted your savings on a dying beast. I was wrong. You saved us days of labor. You saved my back."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small string of cash—fifty copper coins.
"Here. For the feed. And for the work."
Li Wei looked at the money. It was a significant sum for the family.
"Father, keep it," Li Wei pushed the hand back. "Use it to buy good seed for the field. The high-yield millet, not the cheap stuff. If we have a good harvest, that's the best payment."
Dazhong stared at him, stunned. It was the mindset of a businessman—investing profits back into production—but to a farmer, it sounded like madness. Turning down cash?
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," Li Wei nodded. "But Father… I have a request."
"Speak."
"The West Slope," Li Wei said. "I want to officially lease the whole hill. Not just the terrace. I want to fence it all in. I want to build a shed up there, not just for tools, but for workers. Da Niu and Qin Hu are sleeping in the dirt. It's not right."
Dazhong looked at the stranger sitting at the end of the table—Qin Hu, who had been given a bowl of porridge and a place at the family table for the first time. And Da Niu, the refugee boy, who was eating with the focus of a wolf, grateful for every bite.
"You want to build a house?"
"A bunkhouse," Li Wei corrected. "A big one. I'll use the stones from the hill. I'll buy the wood. I just need your permission to use the land. And… maybe a loan for some nails and roof tiles."
Dazhong looked at his wife. She gave a tiny nod. The cow had proven the boy's worth. The chickens were laying. The eggs were selling.
"You have the lease," Dazhong said. "As for the loan… I have a small jar buried under the jujube tree. It was for the winter taxes. But…"
He looked at the cow through the window, chewing her cud peacefully in the newly fenced pasture.
"Take it. Build your house. But Wei'er… if this ranch is to be real, you need to make money. Not just eggs. Real money. The autumn tax is coming. If we can't pay, the government takes the land."
Li Wei felt the weight settle on his shoulders. It was the reality of this world. The Emperor didn't care about his dreams. He wanted silver.
"I know, Father," Li Wei said, his eyes gleaming in the lamplight. "I'm going to the prefecture city next week. I have a plan for the cow."
"A plan?" Li Jun asked, leaning in. "What plan?"
Li Wei smiled, a mysterious, confident smile that belonged to the man he used to be, not the boy he was.
"An isn't just a plow animal," Li Wei said. "She's local stock. But she's going to give birth to something special. But first… I need to find a bull. A very specific bull."
He didn't mention the System. He didn't mention the genetic upgrades. But he saw the path forward.
To build a legendary herd, he needed superior genetics. And in this world, superior cattle were owned by the rich.
"I need a bull," Li Wei thought, looking at the system interface that hovered in the air above his porridge.
**[Next Milestone: Acquire Bull for Breeding.]**
**[Recommended Breed: Local Draft Bull (High stamina).]**
**[Goal: Produce first generation cross-breed calf.]**
"One step at a time," Li Wei whispered.
He stood up. "I'm going to check the incubator. The second batch is hatching tonight."
He walked out into the cool night air, leaving the family to their meal. The stars were bright overhead. The Empire was vast, and he was small. But tonight, he had a full belly, a working cow, and a family that believed in him.
It was a good start.