Chapter 12: The Bull's Bellow

  "If Mr. Tang is so concerned about his reputation, how can he still teach you veterinary medicine, a minor and biased subject?" Liu Er Tiao was after all someone who had studied in private school for two days, his brain was much more agile than Old Liu's, and he also had some of the same notions of superiority and inferiority as other scholars of his time.

  All things are of low quality, but reading books is a noble pursuit.

  In this era, veterinarians were considered a very lowly profession, their status was even lower than that of ordinary farmers.

  "That's because of Zhu Zhishan, a very famous veterinarian, who is from the same hometown as Mr. Tang and had once saved Mr. Tang's favorite pet, Qing Niu, using this method. Of course, these were all mentioned by Mr. Tang when he was chatting with me." Liu Yitia casually brought up another Zhu Zhishan.

  "Is the 'threading a cow's nose' you mentioned also a prescription from that veterinarian?" Liu Lao Shi was very moved. He didn't care about status or prestige, whoever could bring him real benefits was a good person in his eyes.

  Zhū Zhī Shān is undoubtedly a good person in Lǎo Liǔ's heart.

  Liu Yitiao nodded solemnly and said, "The cow's nose is the weakest part of its entire body, and it's also where the pain nerves are most concentrated. The veterinarian once said that as long as you control the cow's nose, you control the whole cow."

  A superior man indeed, his words are always so profound and hard to fathom.

  Two males from the Lao Liu family, one big and one small, were confused by a slightly modernized phrase from Liu.

  "Then I'll put it on too. A veterinarian who can cure intestinal colic, I believe!" Old Liu finally made up his mind.

  "Alright, I'll go prepare now. I should be able to put it on by this afternoon."

  A nose ring, iron bar, stove, boiling water, white wine, and cotton cloth were the only tools used in Liu's surgery. This is a primitive method commonly used in some rural areas, where a red-hot iron bar is used to cauterize the wound, and high-proof liquor is used as an antiseptic. Although the method may seem inhumane, there have been no reported cases of cows dying from it.

  Liu Yitiao handed a wooden stick he had prepared earlier to Liu Laoshi and said, "Dad, hit it, aim at the cow's head, and knock it out."

  "This, a stick, are you sure you want to hit? If this stick goes down and kills it, what's going to happen? That's going to be a lawsuit. Liu Old Honest held the wooden stick and didn't dare to strike, usually the precious cow couldn't even get close, who dared to hit it?"

  "Yes, big brother, intentionally harming a draft animal is punishable by imprisonment." Liu Er also chimed in from the side.

  Liu Yitiao only then remembered that in this era, the life of an ox was more precious than a human's. The sin of killing an ox was no less than killing a person, no wonder Old Liu's face had been so gloomy just now.

  So, Liu Yitiao stretched out his hand to take back the stick and pushed Liu Laoshi and Liu Ertiao aside, saying: "Let me do it, one stick is all, as long as I don't hit the back of the head, who would die so easily?"

  Liu Yitiao didn't have the psychological burden of Old Liu. Someone who grew up eating beef since childhood, what's there to be afraid of?

  Standing behind the calf, aiming at a spot three inches below the cow's ear, Liu swung his stick with all his might. Quick and neat, the calf didn't even let out a sound before falling to the ground.

  Chong Lao Liu made a reassuring gesture, and Liu Yitiao put the iron bar on the stove. At the same time, he instructed Lao Liu: "Ertiao, you put a cloth under the cow's head, then use wine to wash its nose. Dad, after a while, you press the cow's head, even if it wakes up halfway, don't let it move. Got it?"

  "Ah! Ah!" Old Liu and Liu Er Tiao nodded continuously, responding.

  Liu Yitiao clamped the red-hot iron bar, squatted in front of the ox head, and said to Old Liu: "Dad, hold it tight, I'm going to brand it now!"

  Liu Laoshi rode on the cow's neck, his two knees tightly pressed against the cow's head, and said to Liu with a nod: "Go through!"

  When the red-hot iron bar was inserted into the weak cartilage of the cow's nose, a pungent white smoke rose. The calf's body also twitched constantly due to severe pain, but with Liu Lao pressing on it, there was not much impact on Liu Yitia's actions.

  "Two beers, bottoms up!"

  When the iron bar smoothly penetrated the cow's nasal bone, Liu Yitiao ordered Liu Ertiao to pour wine for disinfection.

  Because it was a red-hot iron bar, there wasn't much blood flowing out during the operation. A rinse with liquor and water cleaned it up nicely.

  Liu Yitiao pulled out the iron bar, and a hole with a diameter of two millimeters appeared on the cow's nose.

  "Come on, Dad, put the nose ring through that hole and it'll be fine. After a couple of days when the cow's wound heals a bit more, I'll make a rope halter for it, and after the New Year it can go down to the ground."

  Since there wasn't too much blood and the cow was still alive, Liu Laoshi's suspended heart finally put down. He patted the cow's head and said, "That's good, that's good."

  Liu Yitiao finished packing up the things, and Niu also woke up just in time.

  "Mooooo!!!"

  A loud roar echoed through the entire village, shaking the roof of Old Willow's house so hard it almost fell off.

  Liu He's family was also startled by the loud noise, and Liu Xiao Hui, who had just been woken up, looked at the little cow that was mooing sadly in the cattle pen, not knowing what to do.

  Liu Yitiao saw Huang Shan leading a group of attendants rushing here from afar, and was surprised in his heart. In less than an hour, how did they arrive? Has the efficiency of the Tang Dynasty government always been so high? Yesterday when fighting Wang Shuai, it was also like this, as soon as the fight was over, Huang Shan arrived, who provided them with intelligence?

  "Daughter, take Little Hui inside first, children shouldn't see this. If she gets scared, it won't be good." Liu Yitiao escorted Liu He's wife into the house and waited calmly for Huang Shan's arrival.

  At this time, Liu Er also noticed Huang Shan and others. He nervously said to Old Liu: "Dad, look, people from the government office have come, it seems they are heading towards our house, are they here to arrest us?"

  "Ah!" Lao Shi was also startled. He had an inexplicable fear of the officials in the yamen. He shifted his gaze to Yi Tiao, wanting to hear his opinion.

  Liu Yitiao's expression didn't change, compared to yesterday's incident, these were all small matters. He rushed Liu Ertiao and said, "Ertiao also come in, with me and Father here is enough."

  "But..."

  Liu Er Tiao was about to say something else, but was interrupted by Liu Lao Shi, "What's the point of saying anything more? Listen to your elder brother and go inside!"

  Lao Liu's tone was somewhat stern, and even his eyebrows were raised. It wasn't until then that Liu Er Tiao lowered his head and returned to the house.