American Farmers: Facing a Cutoff at the Start

A wave of warm, humid air rushed towards me, mixed with the pungent smell of straw and animals.

Two rows of high-powered infrared heat lamps hung from the ceiling, emitting a dim red light that warmed the interior. In a corner stood an electric industrial heater, humming and continuously venturing hot air outwards.

Protected by these heating devices, dozens of pink piglets were fast asleep, huddled in a thick pile of straw, completely unaware of the storm raging outside.

Beside them stood a rather out-of-place creature—a sheep with its skin shaved completely off, leaving only a layer of pink skin, huddled shivering next to the heater, looking utterly dejected.

"This sheep..." Fett pointed at it, somewhat puzzled.

Leila gathered her disheveled hair and smiled sheepishly, "I was worried that we wouldn't have enough loose wool to support the farm's business, so I had my dad shave one of my sheep."

"That's why we kept it in the greenhouse, afraid it would freeze to death outside because it has no fur."

"Well, it must have had a tough time."

Fett looked at the trembling "naked sheep," couldn't help but chuckle, then stopped smiling and got to work.

This greenhouse was recently built by Roy. The frame structure is actually fine, after all, Roy is an old hand at this for decades.

The problem is that in order to save a few steel pipes, the spacing between the frames was left a bit too large.

Normally, it's fine to keep out the wind and rain, but when it comes to this deadly freezing rain, the plastic sheeting can't hold up such heavy ice, and it's naturally pulled down.

The solution is simple: just make the frame supporting the plastic film of the roof denser.

Fett and Lyra worked together to cut the brought timber to the appropriate length and, like patching, added another piece between two steel pipes.

Before long, Roy and old Frank finished herding the sheep and came in, soaking wet, to help.

With the four of them working together, even as the wind and snow raged outside, they worked feverishly inside the greenhouse. In less than half an hour, the entire greenhouse was reinforced like an iron barrel, so that no amount of ice could break it.

"Alright! That's a wrap!"

"Come on! Let's go inside and warm up!"

Roy dusted the sawdust off his hands and called everyone back inside.

Upon entering the main house, you are greeted by a wave of warmth.

Aunt Rachel had already brewed a large pot of ginger tea, filling the house with its spicy aroma.

"Quickly! Drink it while it's hot!"

As everyone sat around the fireplace, holding hot tea, the biting chill gradually dissipated.

Roy took a big gulp of tea, let out a long sigh, and looked at old Frank and Fett with gratitude in his voice:

"Old pal, Fett, thanks to you guys today."

"Otherwise, the three of us definitely won't be able to manage. This shed will definitely collapse, and those piglets will suffer too."

"No need to be so polite, why are we talking about this when we're not in a relationship?" Old Frank swallowed a mouthful of ginger tea, waved his hand, and didn't take credit for it.

Fett sat next to Lyra and saw her awkwardly drying her hair with a towel.

I was just inside the greenhouse, breaking ice and reinforcing things. Although I didn't get much rain, I still broke out in a sweat. A few strands of wet hair clung to my forehead and cheeks, making me look a bit disheveled.

"Don't rub too hard, you're making your hair frizzy."

Fett put down his cup, naturally took the towel from her hand, and gently brushed the wet hair from her forehead back, then carefully wiped the water droplets from the ends of her hair.

"You must be exhausted?"

Layla blushed, but didn't flinch. She obediently let him do as he pleased, a smile playing on her lips like a cat being stroked. She muttered softly:

"It's alright, my arms are just a little sore."

A warm atmosphere spread out under the glow of the fireplace.

The two families sat together, holding hot tea, listening to the howling wind outside the window, and chatting.

Old Frank picked up the remote and turned the TV volume up a bit.

On the screen, the weather presenter was pointing at the dark blue map, speaking rapidly:

"According to the latest weather cloud image, the cold air brought by this polar vortex has reached Arkansas and has caused significant damage to many areas."

"The freezing rain in Chicot County is expected to continue until tomorrow, after which it will turn into cold and overcast weather."

The host pointed to the persistent dark blue cloud cluster on the map, his expression serious:

"Temperatures will remain below freezing across most of the state over the next week."

"This vortex has not dissipated; it has merely retreated northward temporarily."

"Another cold front is expected to merge with it just before Christmas, and a cold wave may return, potentially bringing widespread blizzards..."

"It'll keep raining until tomorrow? And it's going to snow?"

Roy frowned, holding a cup of hot tea, his voice tinged with anxiety, "I hope the Christmas tree business won't be too affected."

Old Frank, however, took it all in stride. He leaned comfortably back on the sofa, waving his hand with a smile:

"What's the rush? Didn't the forecast say that the heavy snow wouldn't come until two days before Christmas?"

"Even if the freezing rain lasts a long time, there should be a gap in between, enough for us to sell all the remaining trees."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and his eyes revealed a calm composure born of experience.

"Besides, what can we do even if we're worried? We're not Boreas (the god of the north wind who brings rain and cold), can we control whether it snows or not?"

"Everyone's exhausted these past few days, so it's a good time to take care of the livestock in this freezing weather, rest at home, and get some rest before getting back to work."

"That's true." Roy nodded, putting down his teacup. "I've been so busy selling Christmas trees these past few days that I haven't been paying much attention to my dozen or so sheep. This morning I noticed they've all gotten thinner from hunger, and their wool isn't as shiny as it used to be."

Old Frank chuckled, "That's right."

"My Angus cattle are the same. They usually need to be fed three meals of concentrated feed a day, but these past few days I've been so busy that I've sometimes just thrown them a couple of handfuls of hay."

"Now those big guys moo as soon as they see me, like they've suffered some great injustice, and they'd love to butt me with their horns."

"Once this rain stops, I need to go to town and buy a few more bags of soybean meal to fatten them up."

Roy sighed, "Yeah, we'll have to see if this awful weather will freeze our hay to death."

"If the grass doesn't grow by next spring, we'll have to spend a lot of money to buy hay, which will be another expense."

Fett leaned back in the corner of the sofa, holding his phone and looking at the weather forecast to plan his schedule.

Leila sat next to him, hugging a cushion, and scrolling through Facebook comments.

Seeing posts from visitors praising her farm, she couldn't help but smile. She nudged Fett's arm with her elbow, shoved her phone screen in front of him, and whispered with a hint of boastfulness:

"Look, someone is praising me."

Fett leaned over for a look, then smiled and said, "This customer has good taste; he's telling the truth."

Just then!

"Snapped!"

Without warning, the TV screen went black, and the overhead chandelier went out instantly.

The entire room was plunged into darkness in an instant, with only the flickering firelight from the fireplace reflecting the astonished expressions on everyone's faces.