Leisurely Life: I Have Ten Thousand Acres of Grassland

Chapter 377: Chapter 374: Australian Ranch—Herding Cattle by Helicopter?!

Jiang Feng and Liu Yiyi arrived at a ranch deep in Australia.

Australia also has herders, and their lifestyle is more free; for example, things like hunting aren’t regulated.

Some herders even go hunting for elk.

Because this place is vast and sparsely populated, many animals are particularly overabundant.

Greeting Jiang Feng was a middle-aged Huaxia man named Liu Weishan.

Liu Weishan has his own large ranch, primarily raising cattle. He was born in Xilingol as a Han person and inherited his family’s grassland early on.

Now Liu Weishan is married and has six children.

At the dinner table, everyone chatted while eating.

They were dining outdoors, and since they were all Huaxia people, the food leaned more towards domestic flavors.

"What made you decide to stay in Australia?"

Jiang Feng asked Liu Weishan.

"I found love while traveling here, got married, and decided to settle down."

"It’s more free here. Let’s put it this way, as long as nothing major happens, no official agencies will bother you, and no one’s watching over you going hunting or whatever on regular days."

"Land is recognized as private property under national control here, of course, as long as you pay for it."

Liu Weishan took a sip of soup and replied.

That’s indeed the case.

In Huaxia, land is publicly owned, belongs to the state, and people only have usage rights.

Here, once you buy a piece of land, it’s yours.

Of course, there are pros and cons.

Jiang Feng looked out at the ranch.

The biggest difference here compared to the Ximeng Grassland is that there are many more trees, scattered everywhere, but they are very far apart.

Vehicles can drive through them.

Jiang Feng looked at other parts of the ranch. This area is the living quarters, with several small houses for workers, and further out are pens and barns.

"What do you mainly raise here?" Jiang Feng asked again.

"I only raise cattle. Most Australian ranches raise cattle, free-range beef cattle."

"They’re all in the woods."

"Sometimes we take a helicopter to round up the cattle."

"I basically fly around every other day; tomorrow, I’ll take you to have a look."

Liu Weishan is a hospitable person, inheriting the traditions of the grassland, and he hit it off well with Jiang Feng before.

Both were from the same hometown, each had a ranch, and they had business dealings in the grassland, so they felt quite close when chatting.

"A helicopter?"

Liu Yiyi found it a bit magical and exclaimed in surprise.

She grew up in Hulunbei’er and had never seen cattle being herded with a helicopter.

Liu Weishan laughed, "Yes, large cattle ranches are equipped with helicopters, just those small ones. My ranch has four in total, and two workers can fly them."

"As I said, this is my ranch, and flying a helicopter on my ranch is no one’s business."

"There are downsides here, which is being very far from the city; even the nearest small town only has supermarkets for some supplies."

"Things like milk tea shops, restaurants, takeout, massage shops, and baths all require a trip to the big city."

Liu Weishan is also quite wealthy, having managed a ranch for so many years, coupled with his assets from Ximeng, he’s very wealthy.

However, despite the wealth, he’s still living a pastoral life.

Everyone makes different choices.

There are pros and cons.

Jiang Feng prefers the grasslands of Ximeng, but experiencing and learning about the lives of Australian herders is quite novel.

Jiang Feng also chatted with Liu Weishan about live streaming. Liu Weishan said that, of course, he could livestream, as many people here are involved in social media.

Especially Huaxia students studying in Australia will film videos of Australian life and send them back.

After dinner, the servants in the yard tidied up, and Liu Yiyi played with the children while Jiang Feng and Liu Weishan went for a walk outside to tour the place.

"My wife and I really enjoy watching your videos and live streams."

"They’re reposted on video platforms here, and they’re quite interesting."

"Your ranch is much better than mine, with tigers and black bears. I saw a white sika deer and a white wolf."

"Pretty cool, I grew up there, the grassland is particularly good, but that’s about it; my family couldn’t develop it."

Liu Weishan looked at Jiang Feng and said.

Liu Weishan’s wife is Australian, whom they met earlier during dinner. She can only say a few simple phrases in Chinese, but she’s very warm.

"Every day life is a bit monotonous, so I find some fun through live streaming."

"Those animals were raised gradually; the more animals I encountered, the more I raised."

"After all, there’s nothing much to do."

Jiang Feng also replied.

The ranch here is much simpler.

It’s just living quarters and a pen.

The living area has some cats and dogs, as well as chickens and ducks, and there’s a horse stable, but only a few horses, although there are some miniature donkeys living in it.

The outer woodland-grassland area is where cattle are raised.

Cattle have a higher economic value than sheep. Australian cattle are very popular worldwide and are exported.

So raising cattle is a sure-fire business.

Jiang Feng set up a live streaming plan and made an announcement to the viewers.

The next morning, Jiang Feng started the live stream.

In the live stream footage, behind Jiang Feng was a small helicopter.

Liu Weishan was already seated in the pilot’s seat, wearing sunglasses and a headset.

The small helicopter has two seats, one in the front and one in the back.

The helicopter looks small but is quite nimble.

"Today, here at an Australian cattle ranch, we’ll experience the feeling of flying a helicopter to patrol the ranch."

"People on large cattle ranches often fly helicopters to patrol the ranch."

"Because there are so many trees here, obstructing the view, it’s hard to find your cattle from the ground."

"Flying a helicopter is the best method."

Jiang Feng sat in the co-pilot’s seat and spoke to the viewers.

Viewers found this scene particularly surprising.

[The host is getting more impressive, now going to Australia to ride helicopters!]

[Can helicopters be casually flown?]

[Feels pretty cool!]

[Are all ranch owners here this awesome?]

The price of a small helicopter is about the same as an expensive car, so it’s not too costly. Plus, some celebrities abroad use small helicopters for travel.

Of course, there are occasional accidents.

Jiang Feng’s ranch tractor costs millions.

If the government allowed it, he could buy two small helicopters without a problem.

But in Huaxia, civilians are prohibited from flying helicopters; to fly, you must buy a flight plan, even for a private jet, a reservation must be made about a week in advance.

Aviation control is quite strict, and private helicopters can’t take to the skies.

The management here is relatively relaxed.

Jiang Feng sat in the back seat of the helicopter, putting on headphones and sunglasses.

The headphones are to block out the helicopter’s noise.

Conversations are held through the microphone on the headphones.

Jiang Feng turned down the microphone volume in the live stream room to the minimum and clipped it to his collar.

This greatly reduces the noise.

Soon, accompanied by a deafening roar, the helicopter slowly took off and then flew low in the forward direction.

Jiang Feng leaned out and held up a phone mount, capturing the scene below.

Below, trees quickly swept by.

After flying forward for a while, you could see many cattle grazing under the shade of the trees.

"Australian large cattle ranches are like this; when herding the cattle back, helicopters fly even lower."

"This way, the cattle are frightened by the helicopter and run in the opposite direction."

"The principle is the same as herding sheep with a sheepdog."

Jiang Feng explained to everyone.

Viewers were amazed to see this herding method for the first time.

[Host, you should also buy a few helicopters for fun!]

[Could the grasslands of Ximeng work too!]

[Looks amazing!]

Everyone commented one by one.

Life at the ranch is not much different; all are far from cities, sparsely populated.

Next to Jiang Feng’s grassland is the Maodeng Management District, and Xilinhot is dozens of kilometers away, so his living quality is quite good.

But it’s also interesting to see foreign ranches.

Jiang Feng also wanted to visit a ranch at the foot of the Alps in Europe, hearing that the grass is lush there and the scenery is exceptionally beautiful, which would be nice to experience.

Liu Weishan, looking at the situation below, turned back and said:

"This helicopter is basically my second office; I often look over my cattle this way."

"The internal situation of the ranch is also observed using the helicopter."

"Flying a round is quite quick."

Hearing Liu Weishan’s words, Jiang Feng nodded.

This area has many trees, so indeed, the view from above is clearer.

But for Jiang Feng’s own grassland, he doesn’t need this; he can directly see the situation on the grassland.

Jiang Feng just thought free-ranging cattle like this was quite convenient.

No need to manage too much; just let them live on their own.

Occasionally bringing them back to check on them, deworming, is very convenient.

The helicopter continued to fly, and this live stream was unique.

Appreciating different scenery, people also found it novel.