Chapter 474: Chapter 433: Gadan God’s Title Achieved

“No need, your teacher’s wife misses her, she’s already arranged to spend the New Year at Jiamu Gully in Xiaozhai Village.”

Xiaozhai Village may not be as convenient as the city, but the New Year atmosphere is stronger, and your teacher’s wife really likes it here. She even plans to open a small workshop making wooden combs in Xiaozhai Village.

Your teacher’s wife’s grandfather was a carpenter, making combs was the family’s traditional skill, and it was with this craft that your teacher’s wife’s grandfather supported the family. As modern technologies evolved rapidly, traditional wooden comb making became time-consuming and laborious while not particularly appealing, and it gradually fell out of favor.

Your teacher’s wife was influenced from a young age and can also make wooden combs, though her skills are not very good.

After retiring, she moved to the mountains with Professor Bai, and there was plenty of wood available. Out of boredom, she picked up her childhood hobby again.

Anyway, she never intended to make money from it, it’s just a way to pass the time for herself, and also to provide an extra spending option for tourists visiting Xiaozhai Village.

Starting from scratch might be difficult for tourists, but fine-tuning a blank comb, painting it or applying lacquer would still be manageable.

The old couple both have things they enjoy doing, and Professor Bai can spend time with the animals he likes, each finding their own joy, and even the number of quarrels has reduced.

Most importantly, with the parents having their own interests and hobbies, they’re not even bothering to nag about marriage anymore, which is essentially why the young junior sister dares to go home for the New Year.

After hanging up the call, Chen Ying thought for a while and video-called his mother.

Mother Chen was still busy; after connecting the call, she just glanced, “What’s up?”

“Mom, do you want to come to River Source for the New Year this year?”

“In this freezing weather when even birds aren’t flying, you’re asking me to go there? Thanks but no thanks, your mom’s old bones currently don’t want to be buried yet.”

“No, we have heating here…”

“And then what? I rarely get a break and you’re suggesting I just sit in your little shabby house roasting myself for a few days and then come back?”

Mother Chen scoffed while staying busy, and a few minutes later, she straightened up and looked at her son in the video.

“Don’t worry about me and your dad, just take good care of yourself during the New Year. I’ve sent you some cured meat and sausages, along with cured meat and smoked chicken and fish your dad had someone make, seem like he also packed ten pounds of spicy rabbit and toothpick mutton. He said you look at rabbits all the time but never get to eat them, guessing you’re craving for them. There are two portions, one for you and one for Ali, once you receive it, send a share over to Ali.”

“Got it, I transferred some money to your account, why don’t you buy yourself some nice clothes and bags for the New Year?”

“Alright, if I want to buy something I have the money myself. Plan your spending wisely, you’re either supporting this or that all the time, and you still can’t find a wife, tsk.”

Chen Ying’s face darkened, and he quickly said, “Goodbye,” then hung up the call.

Holding his phone, he sat quietly for a while, rubbed his face, and continued with his work.

The elders are in good health and spirit, and that’s what matters.

For ten days in a row, Chen Ying’s surgeries were becoming more and more seamless.

“Thousand Cuts” stage goal achievement: 100/1000

Apart from those stray dogs they brought back, some surrounding herders, upon hearing about it, also brought in dogs for neutering.

Generally speaking, unless a dog has exceptionally good traits, herders typically wouldn’t let dogs mate and have pups.

However, breeding dogs with good traits is not that easy either. Like Uncle Renbo, there are now very few old herders who meticulously cultivate Mastiff Kings.

Their purpose in breeding Mastiff Kings is not like dog ranch owners from a few years ago who ignored everything but profit; they genuinely love Mastiffs and want to cultivate a real Mastiff King.

The Mastiff King prototypes they cultivate are not easily sold; they often choose who to give them to, sometimes half-sold, half-given away, while Chen Ying usually just gives them away at a loss.

Moreover, Uncle Renbo wouldn’t let the female dogs breed every year; he observes their health and only when suitable for breeding, carefully selects a male dog for mating.

Other young herders also only allow their dogs to breed once at the right time, leaving just one offspring.

During the surgeries, some dogs unexpectedly passed away due to health issues, and one female dog had a midnight delivery, hemorrhaged, and passed away with her pups.

Uncle Tashi and Ci Ren set up prayer flags and built a Mani mound at the edge of a small lake between the emergency station and the national highway for the dogs.

These flags are printed with the Six-character Mantra. When the wind blows these prayer flags, each flutter counts as a recitation of the mantra.

Wherever the prayer flags are, it signifies the presence of the deities, and people’s prayers to the deities.

Passersby often add stones to the Mani mound, reciting the mantra, praying for blessings for heaven, earth, people, and all living things.

“Brother Ying, a batch of stray dogs will be released back tomorrow, the public welfare organization has scheduled to arrive here early in the morning. Is the release location decided? Are we releasing them where they were found?”

“Has last time’s negotiation with the township still not concluded? Weren’t they planning to designate a place by the Sanjiang to build a stray dog shelter?”

“The report was submitted, and the locals do have this plan, but there are quite a few issues to address; the most important one is that they haven’t found anyone willing to work at the shelter. The salary offered is low, and the work intensity is high.”

Simply relying on purchasing food for feeding is unrealistic. According to the current practices in most stray dog shelters, leftover food is collected from various pastoral villages and restaurants, cooked thoroughly, and then fed to the dogs.

Furthermore, there are certain requirements for these leftovers, as mixing in spoiled food must be avoided; there’s a fear of malintent from some individuals, so employees at the shelters need to be meticulous, ensuring prompt identification and exclusion of problematic food.