Back to 2008: I Helped My Dad Become the Richest Man

On a sweltering summer night, it all happened so suddenly.

That evening, the Luo family of four and Grandpa Liu had just finished dinner when Luo Xinde, as usual, took a flashlight and went to the pigsty for one last inspection.

"The pigs are doing well today, eating happily and sleeping soundly," he said cheerfully to Li Minxia when he returned.

The family chatted for a while, then went back to their rooms to sleep.

Around midnight, Luo Xiyuan was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.

"Xiyuan! Xiyuan! Wake up! Something's happened!" It was her father Luo Xinde's voice, sounding panicked and anxious.

Luo Xiyuan's heart tightened; she sensed something was wrong. She didn't even have time to put on her clothes properly, just threw on a coat and rushed out.

The living room was brightly lit. Luo Xinde and Li Minxia stood there in their pajamas, their faces deathly pale. Li Minxia's eyes were red-rimmed, and her hands were trembling uncontrollably.

"What's wrong? Dad, what happened?" Luo Xiyuan asked quickly.

"The pigs...the pigs are having problems." Luo Xinde's voice trembled. "I got up in the middle of the night and went to check on the pigsty. I found that a few pigs were acting strangely!"

Luo Xiyuan's heart sank.

She followed her parents, running and stumbling towards the pigsty. Before they even got close, they could smell an unusual, fishy stench in the air.

Luo Xinde turned on the lights in the pigsty and led them to the innermost pigpen.

Most of the pigs in the pen were sleeping, but three or four of them lay listlessly in a corner, motionless. Their bodies were trembling slightly, and their breathing was rapid. Beside them, on the ground, were several puddles of watery, yellowish-green feces, emitting a foul stench.

"These are them." Luo Xinde shone his flashlight on the sick pigs. "I just touched them, and they were frighteningly hot!"

High fever, diarrhea, lethargy...

These symptoms immediately reminded Luo Xiyuan of a terrifying word: swine fever.

Although she hadn't experienced it firsthand, she had read countless descriptions of swine fever in books and online. These symptoms were so similar to the early stages of swine fever!

African swine fever is the number one killer in the pig farming industry. It is highly contagious and has a mortality rate of almost 100%. Once confirmed, it means that all the pigs in the entire farm may have to be culled and buried.

All their hard work and investments over the past few months, the 50,000 yuan loan, the wealth that was about to be in their hands... everything could be lost overnight.

"What to do... what to do..." Li Minxia looked at the sick pigs, tears streaming down her face, her voice trembling with fear. She had never been so scared in her life.

Luo Xinde panicked, pacing back and forth in the pigsty, muttering repeatedly, "How could this happen? How could this happen? Everything was fine during the day..."

"Don't panic!"

Just then, Luo Xiyuan shouted.

Her shout instantly calmed her panicked parents down.

Luo Xinde and Li Minxia both turned to look at her. Under the light, their daughter's face was a little pale, but her eyes were very calm.

"Dad, Mom, now's not the time to panic!" Luo Xiyuan forced herself to calm down, her mind racing. "The first thing to do is wake Grandpa Liu right away! Quickly!"

Luo Xinde realized what was happening and ran towards Master Liu's residence.

"Mom, go boil a big pot of water, and find all the disinfectant you can find in the house!"

Li Minxia wiped away her tears, nodded, and turned to run to the kitchen.

"Sister, what... what can I do?" Luo Wen, who had been following behind and was too scared to make a sound, asked in a low voice.

"Go to the office and bring all our record books, especially the vaccination and medication records!" Luo Xiyuan ordered.

After dismissing everyone, Luo Xiyuan stood alone in front of the pigpen. Looking at the sick pigs, her heart pounded. She was terrified, terrified to death. She was afraid that even after being reborn and striving for so long, she would still be unable to escape the cruel tricks of fate.

But she knew she couldn't collapse. She was the pillar of this family; if she panicked, the family would truly be finished.

She took a deep breath, took a pair of disposable gloves from the wall and put them on, then grabbed a plastic bag and carefully collected a small sample of the sick pig's feces. She had learned this from a book; preserving the sample immediately was crucial should a test be needed.

Soon, Luo Xinde helped Grandpa Liu and jogged over.

Master Liu was clearly also awakened, wearing only an outer garment, but his expression was calmer than anyone else's.

As soon as he entered the pigsty, he frowned and sniffed the air.

"Which ones?" he asked in a deep voice.

Luo Xinde quickly pointed it out to him.

Grandpa Liu didn't approach immediately. Instead, he stood at a distance and observed for a while before walking to the pigpen, squatting down, and carefully examining the sick pig's ears, as well as the skin on its belly and legs.

"Have you taken your temperature?" he asked.

"No... I didn't have time," Luo Xinde said.

"Bring me a thermometer!"

Luo Xiyuan quickly took out a veterinary thermometer from the medicine box in her office and handed it over.

Grandpa Liu put on gloves and skillfully took the temperature of one of the sickest pigs.

The mercury column soared to 41.5 degrees Celsius.

"High fever." Master Liu's expression turned very serious.

He picked up the fecal sample collected by Luo Xiyuan, held it up to the light to look at it, then rubbed a little with his finger and smelled it.

The entire pigsty was eerily quiet, save for the pigs' panting and the tense heartbeats of the people inside.

Luo Xinde and Li Minxia held their breath, staring intently at Master Liu, waiting for his conclusion.

Five minutes passed before Mr. Liu slowly stood up.

He glanced at the Luo family members, whose faces were full of expectation, and said in a deep voice, "The situation... is not good."

"Judging from the symptoms, the patient has a high fever, diarrhea, and bleeding spots on the skin, which does indeed indicate a possible case of swine fever."

These words made Luo Xinde and Li Minxia's legs go weak. Li Minxia burst into tears.

"However," Liu Ye changed the subject, "don't jump to conclusions. It could be acute gastroenteritis, or some other infectious disease. After all, it's hot in the summer, and feed spoils easily."

"Then... what should we do now?" Luo Xinde asked anxiously.

For the first time, a truly serious and decisive expression appeared on Master Liu's face.

"Isolate them immediately!" He pointed to the sick pigs. "Move them to the designated isolation pen right away! This pen and the surrounding pens must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected immediately! Not a single corner can be missed!"

"From now on, all pigs will be without feed for twelve hours, and will only be provided with clean drinking water. Add electrolytes, multivitamins, and antibiotics to the water as a preventative measure!"

"Notify all staff that the pig farm is now on the highest level of alert! No one is allowed to enter or leave the pigsty without permission. Anyone entering or leaving must change clothes and shoes and undergo full-body disinfection!"

He issued instructions one by one, his voice not loud, but carrying an unquestionable authority.

The panicked Luo family finally had a direction after hearing his words and immediately began to act according to his instructions.

Luo Xinde and two workers, wearing protective suits, carefully herded the sick pigs into the quarantine pen.

Li Minxia and Luo Xiyuan took disinfectant and carefully sprayed it on every corner of the pigpen.

The entire farm was brightly lit, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.

As Luo Xiyuan disinfected the pigs, she looked at the sick pigs that were dying in the isolation pen and silently prayed.

Please, please don't let it be swine fever.

If that's true, then everything is over.

She dared not think any further, and could only channel all her fear and anxiety into her work, washing the ground again and again.