Fatty listened intently as Ye Tiancheng explained. The village's peculiar customs regarding sheep husbandry indeed piqued his curiosity. After finishing his meal, the little fox also put down his chopsticks and sat nearby, listening to Ye Tiancheng with interest.
"First, let's talk about feeding the sheep. Fatty, you mentioned earlier that the villagers must feed their sheep themselves. It's impossible to truly keep the sheep from people, right?"
"However, not everyone in this village feeds the sheep. The sheep in this village are actually fed by a fixed group of people, and only those few are allowed to feed them."
"Secondly, there is indeed a need for isolation. On one hand, humans and sheep cannot live together. If the sheep are exposed to too much human scent, according to the villagers, it's not a good thing. Therefore, humans and sheep must be kept separate as much as possible, and most people should avoid contact with these sheep."
"The other aspect of protection is to prevent the sheep from being startled. It is said that this particular breed of sheep raised in this village is not very courageous. Once they are out, they are easily frightened. Seeing other people also scares them easily. Therefore, they cannot be seen by others. If something happens to the sheep due to fright, that would be bad."
After speaking, Ye Tiancheng looked at Fatty and smiled, "Actually, you should be able to understand this to some extent. Many farms and ranches outside also have similar practices, don't they?"
"For example, livestock are kept in a confined space and never allowed to go out. Only the feeders can enter to feed the animals, and all outsiders are forbidden from entering that space. This is to prevent the livestock from being exposed to too much human scent and to prevent them from being stressed by fright, isn't it?"
Fatty was not a farm owner, nor had he specifically researched such matters. After all, even if he could cook, he didn't have to raise his own ingredients. It was only after Ye Tiancheng's explanation that he realized such a farming method existed.
He figured Ye Tiancheng had no reason to lie to him, so Fatty didn't doubt his words. He finally accepted that he couldn't go see the sheep the village raised.
He hadn't been fortunate enough to witness the sheep slaughter, and their arrival time was also unfortunate. They had just delivered sheep not long ago. Their luck was truly insufficient. Fatty felt there was nothing more to say and could only think of another way.
Even if he wanted to see the sheep raised in the village, he would probably have to do so secretly, carefully avoiding the villagers. Otherwise, he didn't know what would happen.
As for whether to tell Ye Tiancheng and the little fox about his desire to secretly see the village's sheep, Fatty felt hesitant for the first time. In the past, he would have immediately considered discussing it with Ye Tiancheng. However, he surprisingly didn't want to confide his thoughts to Ye Tiancheng now.
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox seemed unwilling to break the village rules, as if they had no intention of secretly peeking at the un-slaughtered sheep.
And this wasn't the first time. Since arriving here, Fatty often found himself at odds with Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, which made their relationship somewhat subtly awkward. The little fox essentially agreed with whatever Ye Tiancheng said, and Ye Tiancheng often indulged the little fox, favoring his thoughts.
However, whenever Fatty proposed his own ideas and opinions, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox would always have opposing views, ultimately leading to an unpleasant situation for the three of them, forcing Fatty to concede.
After all, Fatty knew his own mind wasn't as meticulous as Ye Tiancheng and the little fox. If he made assumptions and caused trouble, it would be too disastrous.
However, recently, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox's attitude towards him had indeed made Fatty uncomfortable. He always felt like an outsider when interacting with them, as if they weren't a unit.
Fatty couldn't understand how things had become this way. Perhaps he was being overly sensitive and thinking too much, and they weren't targeting him at all, and he was just being thin-skinned.
However, regardless of his inner thoughts, Fatty ultimately knew that Ye Tiancheng had already made his stance clear. He didn't want to break the village rules. Therefore, if he brought up his desire to secretly see the village's sheep, there was a high probability of immediate opposition and obstruction.
If Fatty intended to do this, he absolutely could not let Ye Tiancheng and the little fox know his intention. Fatty was very certain of this now.
Fatty struggled internally for a long time and finally secretly made up his mind. He always felt there was something amiss here. He wanted to secretly take a look at the sheep raised in this village. Therefore, he absolutely could not let Ye Tiancheng and the little fox know about this matter.
He would secretly prepare and seize the opportunity when he next acted separately from Ye Tiancheng and the little fox to investigate clues outside, so as to avoid them noticing anything amiss.
Fatty concluded his conversation with Ye Tiancheng and the little fox. Not long after finishing dinner, as they were unlikely to move around the village at night for safety reasons, they would always act together if there was anything to do.
Therefore, on this day, as they had no new plans, they all retired for the night.
However, around midnight, Fatty suddenly woke up and began to walk unsteadily towards the outside of the house. Before he could reach the door, he heard sounds of others waking up. From behind him, Ye Tiancheng asked, "Fatty, what are you doing getting out of bed and leaving the room in the middle of the night?"
Fatty hadn't expected to wake Ye Tiancheng and quickly replied, "I just need to use the restroom. I'll be right back. Brother Ye, don't worry, it's nothing."
Ye Tiancheng didn't ask further and didn't get out of bed. He simply waved at Fatty, "Then hurry back. It's not safe to go out alone at night. Don't linger outside for too long."
"Alright, I understand. I'll be back soon." Fatty agreed repeatedly, then walked out of the house alone. It was inconvenient in this village; even using the restroom required going outside. If he had a choice, Fatty wouldn't want to leave the house alone in the middle of the night.
Honestly, it was quite cold outside. While inside the house, the room, though described as drafty and not airtight, was still quite cold. However, with the walls providing some shelter, it was still much warmer than being outside.
After taking care of his needs, Fatty intended to return to the house as quickly as possible. However, halfway back, he heard people whispering furtively from behind the corner of a house.
Hearing voices, Fatty knew they must be villagers. He just didn't know which family they belonged to. Fatty couldn't help but become curious and stopped not far away, hiding in a relatively concealed spot, staying within the visual blind spot, and eavesdropped on the villagers' conversation.
"Sigh, I'm not saying this to complain, but they eat meat so voraciously without any restraint. It's only been a few days, and if they continue eating like this, in another two or three days, we'll have no meat left."
"Complaining about this is useless. Who can persuade anyone in the village about eating meat? If everyone else eats, and you're the only one trying to save, the result is that everyone else will finish the meat, and not a bit will be left for you. You know this, so it's better to eat more while there's meat to eat."
"You have a point. There's no better way, and we have no choice. But don't we still have one... sheep? When can that one be slaughtered? Sigh, you have no idea how much I'm craving it. That one should be ready for slaughter by now, there's so much meat. I don't know what the village chief is thinking, why hasn't he made the move yet?"
"Alas, all you think about is eating. That one indeed has a lot of meat, but it also has potential. The village chief is surely thinking of raising it a bit longer, so that each of us can get a few more pieces of meat when it's time to eat."
"That logic does hold true. However, I've been keeping an eye on that one. I don't think it's gained any weight; in fact, I think it's lost some fat. If it gets thinner and thinner, we'll end up with less meat. Wouldn't that be a loss?"
"That's what they say, but we still have to wait and see. That one a few days ago refused to eat properly. Isn't it no wonder it's not gaining weight? The village chief originally planned to handle it well. If it still doesn't grow, they'll just slaughter it directly, to avoid it getting thinner and having no meat to eat."
"What happened then? Why wasn't it slaughtered in the end? Why did the village chief change his mind? Could it be that one can still grow? It wasn't growing before, so why is it suddenly growing again?"
"Seeing that one suddenly willing to eat properly again, the village chief saw a positive trend and changed his mind, deciding to wait and see for a while longer. If there's still hope, it's not urgent to send it out for slaughter later."
"That's fine then. I'm just afraid of having no meat to eat. As long as that one can grow, it's good. I hope it eats more good food and gains a few more taels of meat, so I can have a more satisfying meal."
Fatty, after hearing this inexplicable conversation, hadn't quite figured things out when the two villagers abruptly ended their discussion, as if they were about to leave.
Seeing them about to leave, Fatty carefully hid himself. After confirming that the two villagers had moved further away and were unlikely to spot him, he cautiously and quietly returned to the house, his mind filled with thoughts about the dialogue he had overheard. He knew he wasn't very smart and couldn't fully grasp these things, but he had a gut feeling that this information was important, so he committed it all to memory.
When Fatty returned to the house, he discovered that Ye Tiancheng and the little fox were already awake and sitting on the bed, seemingly chatting. Upon hearing his return, they both turned their heads and looked at Fatty as he entered the room.
"Oh my! Brother Fatty, why did you take so long? Why are you only returning now? What were you doing? As soon as I woke up, I realized you weren't in the room. Brother Ye said you went to use the restroom, and you've been gone for quite a while."