"More than a hundred sheep and dozens of cows are dead?"
Just as Ansheng returned to the dormitory, he heard Tang You exclaim and then he widened his eyes too.
"Damn..."
"Won't your family go bankrupt this time?" Ansheng couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"How… how is this possible! An earthquake."
Tang You, with a face full of disbelief, loudly questioned her older brother: "You bastard! You knew I wouldn't be home for the National Day holiday, and you actually called to tell me!"
"Sorry, sister..."
Facing the faintly frenzied Tang You, Tang Lian spoke in a low voice: "I… really can't handle it. We're siblings for life, you can't just watch me suffer..."
"Come back! We have your favorite hot pot! The lambs are already on the table."
"Pfft!"
With her chest heaving heavily, Tang You spat at her brother and hung up the phone directly, her face turning red as she breathed heavily, slapping her thigh in regret.
"Youyou... are you okay?"
Even though Ah Qing couldn't hear Tang You's brother's voice, she, along with Mo Yiqing who was showering in the bathroom and Lingren, heard Tang You's earlier exclamation.
There was an earthquake at Tang You's home, causing the sheep pen to collapse, killing more than a hundred sheep and dozens of Northern cattle.
Adult sheep cost over a thousand each, while a cow is worth over ten thousand.
From this earthquake, Tang You's family lost over a million.
Ah Qing approached concernedly, gently patting Tang You's back to help her steady her breath: "The sheep pen collapsed, but no one at home was hurt, right?"
"The family is okay, my parents aren't in the country." Tang You, filled with regret, caught her breath and slapped her thigh again with a crisp "slap," speaking full of remorse:
"I shouldn't have picked up that call, my dimwitted brother deliberately set me up."
"Five years ago, our sheep pen also collapsed, blown down by a sandstorm, and the startled sheep trampled each other..."
Tang You seemed to recall some terrifying things, her rosy face turning pale as she spoke with trembling lips:
"There were a total of seventy-four sheep... we couldn't finish eating them, so we decided to give them to the locals."
"We drove a truck to deliver them. At that time, no one was home, and when we got back at night, the entrance of our house was piled with slaughtered sheep."
"Those were return gifts. After giving away seventy sheep, the locals returned two hundred to us, and we couldn't finish them at all... not to mention there's beef this time."
Tang You was trembling all over, recalling the overwhelming memory of eating mutton every day until even her urine smelled like mutton five years ago.
Their family's ranch was self-built for fun, and none of the sheep, cows, or horses there had quarantine certificates, so they weren't allowed to be sold in the market.
Since Tang You's family couldn't finish eating them, they decided to give them away.
As soon as they gave them away, people brought double the number of slaughtered sheep back to their doorstep as return gifts.
It wasn't just Tang You's family that suffered from the sandstorm, so the locals quickly saw through Tang You's father's intentions.
The villagers took advantage of the fact that no one was home and just dumped the slaughtered sheep at their doorstep and ran.
A total of over two hundred sheep...
It was simply Tang You's nightmare.
Now hearing about the earthquake at home, the collapse of the sheep pen, and the death of over a hundred sheep, Tang You was shaking all over.
"So...."
"You're scared of eating mutton, not upset because the family's bankrupt?"
Ansheng squatted nearby, trying to make sense of Tang You's logic for angrily hanging up, looking full of doubt as he said:
"Your family just lost a million! Why don't you seem sad?"
"But I guess it makes sense, people in the livestock business always say: 'Rich in assets, but they don't count till sold.'"
"Before selling anything, the livestock at home is considered perishable items; who knows if a heavy rain might cause a disease and they all die. They must have factored in these losses."
Ansheng nodded with conviction.
"Boohoo—"
Tang You, her face full of tears, whimpered and looked at Ah Qing saying: "Ah Qing, you have to help me!"
"I'll cover your lodging, you can come to my house and eat lamb and beef to your heart's content, eat everything, and there's fresh beef jerky for you to load up in your truck..."
"Hey, hey?"
Ah Qing looked flabbergasted and said: "Can't your family sell the surplus at the market?"
"We can't without a quarantine certificate; if customers get sick after eating, we can't explain..."
"How do you operate a ranch without quarantine certificates?" Ah Qing looked at Tang You with disbelief.
"My family doesn't actually run a ranch!"
"But... didn't you say cows and sheep died?"
"Yes, cows and sheep died!"
"Then... without a quarantine certificate, how do you run a ranch?"
Tang You: "......"
Ah Qing: "......"
"Pfft..."
Momo, coming out with a towel wrapped around her head, saw the two speechless people and couldn't help but laugh, saying:
"Tang You's family has a ranch, but that doesn't mean they operate a ranch."
"Just like buying a villa doesn't necessarily mean you live there; it can be used for ambiance, to sell wine, cigars, and private dining."
Youyou was a bit emotional and didn't convey the intended meaning well.
But Momo perfectly understood what she meant.
Just like when she brought Ah Qing home, that villa with a lawn on the roof was really hers, but her family didn't live there; its purpose was to store antiques and host guests.
Youyou's family ranch might be similar, probably built to secure the land or for other reasons.
"Momo is right!"
Tang You scratched her head and said: "My family does have a ranch, but you can think of it as ancestral. If we don't put something on it, it would be taken over."
"But those things aren't important. The most urgent thing is that you guys need to come and help me!"
"If the cattle are dead, we can sun dry them into beef jerky; if we don't eat the sheep, my family would have to build a freezer for zombie meat."
"Without a quarantine certificate, can't you sell them off cheap at a big market or village claiming they're from your own home?"
"On the condition that there's no real issue with the goods," said Momo, drying her hair.
"Uh... my parents are lazy, and my brother feels embarrassed," Tang You awkwardly explained the reason for the problem.
At this, even Momo was at a loss for words.
Yet she could understand; just like when she was home alone, she didn't like wearing outer clothes and even liked wearing some revealing outfits.
She liked it, but wouldn't wear it outside, nor go near any unsavory areas.
For business people, face matters.
It's fine to wear at home, but wearing it outside, seen or misunderstood by others, would be troublesome.
Being called indecent would be mild.
There have been rumors of families falling from grace, daughters standing on the street; Momo hadn't seen such things happen, but she did see a neighbor being slandered for wearing a silk nightdress while taking out the trash.
A wealthy woman driving a new Bentley, two hundred a night?
Do people believe this?
Yet some really believe it.
"So....
"Will you guys help me?"
Tang You grabbed Ah Qing with her left hand, held Momo's arm with her right, and reached out a foot to nudge the little fox.
"???"
Lingren, walking out of the bathroom, stared at the scene in the dorm with wide eyes.