Riding the wind of rebirth

However, thanks to the quick cooking time for the rice noodles and offal, and the fact that the mutton is pre-cooked and thinly sliced, it can be quickly added to the rice noodle bowl along with the mutton soup after just a quick stir in the pot. As a result, although the business is booming, the restaurant is able to stay busy and orderly. Customers can enjoy piping hot rice noodles in no time and can also add small bowls of mutton and offal.

The lamb used here is all top-quality mutton; even Mai Xiaomiao can tell the difference just by tasting it.

"The mutton seems even better now." While eating rice noodles, Zhouzhi overheard a diner commenting, "The gamey smell is almost gone, the broth is clear and oily, and the meat is fattier and more tender..."

Mai Xiaomiao and Zhou Zhi exchanged a glance and smiled.

Because they knew exactly what was going on with this secret.

The broth is clear and the oil is yellow, which is a characteristic of standard Huili black goat. The gamey smell is almost gone because the goats have been castrated, and the meat is fattier and more tender because it has been switched from free-range to pen-raising. Black goats grow and develop quickly. Pen-raising reduces their roaming and foraging activities, increasing the proportion of forage converted into mutton. A unit of forage can produce more mutton, making the goats fatter. At the same time, the feeding cycle is shortened by half, resulting in faster turnover and higher efficiency. Furthermore, because the shorter timeframe allows the goats to leave the pen at a younger age, the meat is naturally more tender.

This scientific method has only been implemented on a large scale in Lianhe Town, because only Lianhe Town has developed high-quality dry and silage forage, which meets the conditions for raising black goats in enclosures.

Of course, the benefits of captive breeding go far beyond these, including saving labor and greatly reducing the labor intensity of grazing.

In addition, the amount of manure accumulated has increased significantly. On average, a free-range sheep accumulates about 500 kilograms of manure per year, while a penned sheep can accumulate up to one ton.

At the same time, due to timely care, meticulous management can be carried out and hygiene conditions can be controlled, which can reduce sheep diseases, make the ewes fat and the lambs strong, and the survival rate of lambs can reach almost 100%.

The remaining benefits include promoting vegetation restoration, resolving conflicts between forestry and animal husbandry, facilitating the commercialization of forage industry, and driving the development of animal husbandry towards intensification and large-scale production.

The fact that Uncle Tu was able to sell the black goats from Lianhe Town to Xichang, the prefectural capital, shows that the industry has taken off and is generating considerable profits.

After finishing their mutton rice noodles, Zhou Zhi took Mai Xiaomiao to the market to buy some fruit and snacks. Then, the two hailed a tricycle and headed towards the state government.

Before they even reached the government building, Li Yutang's secretary called to ask where they were and said that the Party Secretary had instructed them to arrange dinner for them.

Zhou Zhi could only say that he had already eaten and that he just needed to get his train ticket to the train station.

When they arrived at the government building, Shama and Wu Renzhong were already waiting there. Secretary Hu had arranged for vehicles to take them there and had also prepared two large bags of gifts, including local specialties, fruits, and snacks.

Seeing Zhou Zhi was rather awkward. The secretary smiled and explained that since Mr. Zhou said there was no need to arrange dinner, he should bring some fruit and snacks to eat on the way. After all, he would be taking an overnight train ride. In addition, many local specialties were actually samples sent by various organizations and were usually given to friends visiting Liangshan Prefecture as a form of publicity. There was no need to be polite.

The state government's cars could naturally drive directly to the station platform. It wasn't until Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao boarded the train that they realized this soft sleeper was a bit different from the regular soft sleeper carriages.

In a regular carriage, a hard sleeper has three berths (upper, middle, and lower) and a compartment has six beds; a soft sleeper has two berths (upper and lower) and a compartment has four beds.

However, the layout of this carriage is different. On the left, the lower berth is a long sofa with a bed on top. Opposite the long sofa is a short sofa, and between the two sofas is a small desk.

There was also a separate toilet in the carriage. This made the compartment feel quite spacious. The sofas were covered with beige slipcovers and had matching cushions, and there were fresh flowers in a vase on the table.

Zhou Zhi had never sat in such a compartment in either of his lives; he didn't even know that there were such comfortable seats on trains.

The secretary called over a waiter: "This is Zhang, the train conductor for this trip. If you need anything, you can press this bell, and she will come and help you."

It seemed that this was the first time Xiao Zhang had received such young and distinguished guests, and he looked somewhat surprised. However, he maintained excellent professionalism and smiled, saying, "Secretary Hu told me that you two are important guests of our Liangshan Prefecture. I will be serving you on this train and will make sure you are comfortable and happy."

“I arranged for your checked luggage to be transported to Chengdu West Railway Station yesterday. Since I didn’t know if you would be using the car today, it wasn’t checked in. It was just put on the train and is now arriving at the North Station. You can pick it up when you get off the train,” Wu Renzhong said.

"Thank you, thank you." Zhou Zhi could only express his gratitude repeatedly, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart that Wu Renzhong was like a completely different person now. One should look at a person with new eyes after three days of separation.

Li Yutang said he wanted to keep me as his secretary, but now it seems I'm not cut out for it; at least I can't be as meticulous as Wu Renzhong is now.

Secretary Hu then conveyed Secretary Li's apologies, saying that he was simply unable to attend today, and Zhou Zhi could only offer polite words of apology.

As more and more people entered the station, the time to leave the train drew near. Wu Renzhong hugged Zhou Zhi and patted him on the back. The camaraderie they had forged over the years needed no words to express, and there was no sadness or reluctance to part. Wu Renzhong simply smiled and said that when he brought Shama to Sichuan in the future, he would definitely visit Zhou Zhi's mansion and let him do his best to be a good host. Then he pulled Shama, who was still reluctant to part with Mai Xiaomiao, off the train.

The dark green train slowly pulled away from the platform with a rumble. Passengers waved goodbye to the crowd seeing them off at the station from the windows. Then the train sped up, leaving the station behind on the tracks.

Zhou Zhi pulled Mai Xiaomiao back to the compartment and put his arm around her as they sat on the sofa: "If every train journey could be like this, then taking the train would be really nice."

Mai Xiaomiao said, "I'm starting to miss Ziqi and Aguo a little."

Zhou Zhi patted her little hand: "Aguo and the others will come to Chengdu for study tours after their holidays, and then we'll be able to see them. Actually, there's not much time left before the holidays. They'll be here one after the other."

Thinking of ways to distract Mai Xiaomiao, he said, "How about we try our Star Engine device? I wonder how effective it is on a train or other mode of transportation."

Current ground base stations cannot be set up along the route, nor can they be switched in a timely manner, so the effectiveness of mobile phones on trains is quite poor.

However, this also provides an opportunity to test the seamless switching between ground base station relay and sky satellite communication relay of the Tianxing Diwang system, and to see if it can be done without the user's terminal noticing.

Although this function has undergone several rounds of testing by ministries and the group, Zhou Zhi has not yet seen it in person.

"Hmm." Mai Xiaomiao opened her laptop, then took out a similar device and placed it on the table, turning it on and pointing it out the window.

This is the Starspeed data switch, a device used to establish communication with the Tianxing-Diwang network. The part at the bottom, resembling a laptop stand, is the power supply, and the screen-like part houses the satellite search radar and communication equipment. (End of Chapter)