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

That night felt like an eternity to the Luo family.

No one can sleep.

The lights in the pigsty stayed on all night, and Luo Xinde and Grandpa Liu practically stood guard outside the isolation fence, their eyes fixed on the sick pigs.

Li Minxia was in the kitchen, constantly boiling water and preparing disinfection equipment. Only by keeping herself busy could she suppress her panic.

Luo Xiyuan and Luo Wen sat in the office, neither of them speaking. Luo Wen took out all the record books and checked them over and over again, trying to find out which part of the process had gone wrong.

Luo Xiyuan was frantically searching for all kinds of information about swine diseases on her computer.

She listed all the diseases with similar symptoms, such as swine erysipelas, swine pneumonia, and transmissible gastroenteritis, and analyzed their differences from swine fever.

Time passed second by second, and every second was agonizing.

What's most frightening is the fear of the unknown. They don't know if more pigs will fall ill after dawn. If the epidemic spreads, it will be a devastating blow.

At four in the morning, the sky was just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

Suddenly, Grandpa Liu walked over from the other side of the fence, his face bearing an unreadable expression.

"Xiyuan, come here for a moment."

Luo Xiyuan's heart jumped into her throat as she followed Grandpa Liu to the guardrail.

"Look," said Grandpa Liu, pointing to one of the sick pigs.

Luo Xiyuan went closer to take a look and saw that next to the sick pig, a new pile of feces had been excreted. The feces were no longer watery, but were beginning to take shape, and the color had changed from yellowish-green to dark brown.

More importantly, the pig actually stood up unsteadily, walked to the water trough, and started drinking water.

"It...it drank water?" Luo Xiyuan's voice trembled with surprise.

"Hmm." Mr. Liu nodded. "His temperature has gone down a bit; it's 40.5 degrees Celsius now. Although it's still a high fever, at least it hasn't risen any further."

This tiny change, at this very moment, is no less than the sound of heavenly music!

A typical characteristic of swine fever is that infected pigs are extremely thirsty but refuse to drink any water. The fact that this pig is now drinking water on its own indicates that it still has a will to survive, and the situation may not be as bad as it seems!

Luo Xiyuan was so excited that she almost burst into tears.

"Grandpa Liu, does this mean... it's not swine fever?"

"We can't be 100% sure yet," Mr. Liu said, his expression still serious. "But at least, it gives us a glimmer of hope. It's very likely acute toxic enteritis."

He analyzed, "Yesterday was too hot and humid. When I was feeding the feed in the afternoon, I smelled a slight musty odor in the feed, but I didn't pay much attention to it at the time. It's very likely that there was a problem with that batch of feed, which led to mycotoxin poisoning."

Mycotoxin poisoning!

Upon hearing the diagnosis, Luo Xiyuan felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders!

Although it's still dangerous, compared to swine fever, this is the best news! Fungal poisoning is at least controllable and won't spread on a large scale!

After daybreak, good news followed one after another.

The other sick pigs also gradually began to drink water, and their feces began to form. Although they were still very weak, the most dangerous period seemed to have passed.

More importantly, after inspecting the entire pig farm, no new sick pigs were found except for the few in the isolation pen!

A false alarm!

When Uncle Liu finally announced that the possibility of swine fever could be basically ruled out and the diagnosis was "acute gastroenteritis caused by moldy feed," Luo Xinde collapsed to the ground, as if all his strength had been drained. Li Minxia hugged Luo Xiyuan and burst into tears, releasing all the fear and repression of the night.

The crisis is finally over.

The whole family felt like they had survived a disaster.

But this incident has also served as a wake-up call for everyone.

"We were all too careless!" At the emergency meeting the next day, Mr. Liu looked very grim. He severely criticized himself, "It's my dereliction of duty as the technical director! I was negligent in the feed inspection! In this hot weather, the storage and use of feed must have stricter regulations!"

Luo Xinde said with shame, "It's all my fault. Yesterday I was only thinking about how well the pigs were eating and didn't pay attention to the feed."

"This isn't anyone's fault," Luo Xiyuan said. "This incident has taught us all a lesson. It has made us realize that there are still huge loopholes in the management of our farm."

She stood up, walked to the small blackboard in the office, and picked up the chalk.

"I propose that, starting today, our farm must establish three ironclad systems!"

"First, biosecurity measures! I suggest that a vehicle disinfection lane be built at the main entrance of the pig farm, and all vehicles entering and leaving must be disinfected. For personnel, dedicated changing rooms and shower rooms should be provided, and work and living areas should be strictly separated. No one, including ourselves, should be allowed to enter the production area without undergoing the disinfection process!"

"Secondly, warehouse management system! All feed and veterinary drugs must undergo strict inspection and registration before being stored. The warehouse must be kept dry and well-ventilated. Any raw materials showing signs of mold or expiration must not be used and must be destroyed on-site! There can be no more wishful thinking!"

"Third, a risk contingency plan!" Luo Xiyuan's tone became exceptionally solemn. "We were lucky this time. But what about next time? I suggest that we set aside a fixed 5% of our future profits each month to establish a 'risk reserve fund,' specifically for dealing with sudden epidemics and disasters. This money, if not used, is fine, but if used, it can save lives!"

The three systems proposed by Luo Xiyuan are all crucial, addressing the shortcomings exposed by this crisis.

After hearing this, Mr. Liu led the applause.

"Excellent! Xi Yuan is absolutely right! These three points must be implemented immediately as the highest principles for our farm!" He looked at Luo Xi Yuan, his eyes full of admiration. "I'm getting old, and sometimes my thinking can't keep up. From now on, you will be in charge of developing our farm's systems!"

Luo Xinde and Li Minxia nodded repeatedly. This incident made them realize that their daughter's foresight and meticulousness were the most valuable assets of their family.

A crisis that could have destroyed the entire farm was thus averted without any real danger.

Instead of bringing ruin to the Luo family, it actually brought them good fortune.

This incident, like a live-fire exercise, thoroughly exposed the management problems that had been concealed during the farm's rapid development. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Luo Xiyuan boldly established a more scientific and rigorous management system.

After surviving a life-or-death ordeal, the internal strength of "Luo's Farm" has become even more profound.

A few days later, the sick pigs, under Liu's careful care, had basically recovered and returned to the main group.

The pigsty has returned to its usual peace and liveliness.

Luo Xiyuan stood in the passageway of the pigsty, looking at the fat pigs that had grown to 150 or 160 pounds, and felt a mix of emotions.

She knew that raising pigs was a much more arduous and dangerous path than she had imagined.

But she is even more convinced that as long as her family stays down-to-earth, is careful, and keeps learning, they will definitely be able to go further and more steadily on this path.

She looked up at the distant sky, her mind already calculating her next move. The pigs would soon be ready for market. How to sell them? To whom? How could she get the best price?