Jing Shu felt a little troubled about this matter. In her Cube Space, the female sheep had previously given birth to seven lambs. Jing Shu kept one male and two females at the villa, while the remaining four stayed in the Cube Space.
The real headache was the black pig. According to Jing Shu, pigs usually give birth to five to eight piglets, but the black pig in her Cube Space gave birth to twelve. She kept two at the villa, and ten piglets remained in the Cube Space.
The villa could not sustain too many livestock. They were still small, so it was hard to notice now, but once the cows, sheep, and pigs grew up, this place would not suffice. After the apocalypse, raising people would be difficult, let alone poultry.
Even though one room was stocked with feed and there was no worry about food at the start, the first year of the apocalypse would bring extreme heat that required air conditioning to keep livestock cool. Jing Shu had started storing water. In a few months, water would be scarce. Humans would be thirsty, so caring for livestock would become secondary. The villa's animals might survive for a year, but after that, natural disasters would make raising them very difficult.
Raising ten pigs solely for consumption in the Cube Space was also a burden. Jing Shu decided that in six months, she would trade some pigs and resources to repay debts and reduce the load. To put it bluntly, in six months, one pig could be exchanged for a small BMW.
No matter what, Jing Shu would repay anyone who lent her money. At the very least, she wanted them to live well during the apocalypse. Anyone able to lend her such a sum now could be trusted.
By now, all types of dried, smoked, and braised meat had been prepared, and her Cube Space was no longer pushing reproduction. For a while, to accelerate growth, all Spirit Spring produced in the Cube Space had been consumed. With the apocalypse far from over, Jing Shu needed to conserve some Spirit Spring.
For poultry, she mixed Number 5 Spirit Spring (1 drop + 2 liters of water) into their feed. After over a month of testing, this formula strengthened the animals, improved meat quality, and increased yield. Growth was slightly faster than normal poultry while consuming the same feed. This helped slow reproduction, easing the Cube Space's burden.
When she first began Spirit Spring experiments, she left one rooster unexposed to it. Less than half a month later, it was pecked to death by an unknown hen. Jing Shu concluded it had been rejected by Hen Number 1.
Hen Number 1 had been given Number 3 Spirit Spring, the same as Jing Shu herself. It was the only exception. Every morning, Jing Shu took it for a run in the mountains, treating it like a pet dog and cleaning up after it.
Hen Number 1 did not disappoint. Flapping its brown wings like a phoenix, it followed Jing Shu closely. Whenever she stopped, it would nuzzle her legs affectionately.
"What??"
"Other people's apocalypse pets are usually Tibetan mastiffs or German shepherds, strong enough to fight and cute enough to sell. They're impressive to show off. Mine is just an old hen." Jing Shu felt a strange, indescribable mix of emotions.
The only consolation was that Number 1 weighed 30 jin (15 kilograms) and looked remarkably imposing. A few mornings ago, during their run, it had pecked a small snake by the mountain's edge, as if asking for a reward or cuddle. Jing Shu gave it a sip of diluted Spirit Spring. Training it to submit good things had been very useful.
Jing Shu planned to train Number 1 like a dog, teaching simple commands like "sit" and "hit" in hopes that it would become obedient.
Managing her Cube Space felt like playing a strategy game. Maximizing efficiency with limited resources required careful planning.
The black fields produced high yields, but land was limited. She had to decide how much and what to grow to feed her family while raising livestock and managing fish, shrimp, and crabs. Excess Spirit Spring caused waste and accelerated reproduction, while too little was ineffective.
Currently, her Cube Space was slightly imbalanced. She focused too much on fruit cultivation, so feeding the lambs and piglets had become an issue. Fortunately, she still had a dairy cow.
On the day she made spicy beef jerky, her livestream audience surpassed 500,000 viewers, all drawn to the spectacle of slaughtering a cow. That day, Jing Shu and her family taught viewers how to use every part of the cow.
Neck meat was made into hand-rolled meatballs, frozen for hotpot or soup. The spine produced tender meat for premium steaks, all cooked and stored in the Cube Space for late-night snacks.
The top sirloin was sliced thin for hotpot. That evening, the family had beef hotpot. Rump meat was for roasting, shoulder and large bones made into frozen stock. When needed, a large spoon of stock was cooked with thin noodles, topped with beef and scallions for a delicious beef noodle dish. Pork belly was prepared as braised beef brisket, offering multiple frozen meal options.
Shank meat was slow-cooked and braised, served as cold slices with sauce. Its soft, chewy texture lingered in the mouth. Beef offal, like lamb offal, was prepared and frozen. Items like tripe, which couldn't be stored, were eaten fresh during hotpot. For the next few days, meals would revolve around beef.
Luckily, since Grandma Jing arrived, she had saved Jing Shu's appetite. Jing Shu now ate double portions, and over time, the family's appetite had grown as well. Perhaps it was from a hard day's labor.
The front chest and remaining meat were made into spicy beef jerky. Jing Shu packed 170 jars in 2-liter sealed containers. Most cows barely reached a thousand jin, but Jing Shu's cow, according to the slaughterman, appeared stronger than it seemed. He had even requested the cowhide as payment, but Jing Shu refused. The hide would have other uses.
Although the livestream was extremely popular that day, Jing Shu received tens of thousands of rotten eggs from viewers who were frustrated. People wanted to stock up on grain for the Earth's Dark Days, yet she only sold spicy beef jerky.
She set a 30-jar purchase limit, which quickly sold out. Jing An excitedly went to ship them. He might regret later, during food shortages, that she had not sold more.
The villa's dairy cow now produced 50 kilograms of milk daily, slightly higher than the best cows in the United States. In China, a cow typically produced around 20 kilograms per day. Spirit Spring had made her livestock exceptionally productive.
Jing Shu used the surplus milk to make yogurt curds (milk tofu).
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If you have been reading my historical translations, you probably know I keep a private glossary of ancient China terms in Google Docs. I usually share the link in the chapter comments. I realized some of you read on the app, and copying links there can be a hassle (´･ᴗ･`).
So I am officially uploading the glossary here on Webnovel under The Imperial Handbook: A Practical Guide to Ancient Chinese Society. This will make it easier to access, and I can keep updating it whenever I meet a useful term, office, rank, or cultural note. Whether you are new to history novels or want deeper context, I hope it makes your reading smoother and more fun. (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ
If it helps, please add the handbook to your Library and give it a read. While you are there, feel free to add the rest of my handbook series as well:
• The Xianxia Handbook: A Guide to Cultivation and BeyondIn short: for all things Cultivation, Realms, and Daoist magic.
• The Imperial Handbook: A Practical Guide to Ancient Chinese SocietyIn short: for historical topics, courts, bureaucracy, and daily life in the past.
• The Webnovel Handbook: A Guide to Slang, Tropes, and Inside JokesIn short: for community slang, inside jokes, and fun tropes. The cover is ready, chapters will follow soon.
The Xianxia Handbook and the Imperial Handbook have passed vetting and are visible on my profile. Thank you for the support and happy reading!