HLM – Chapter 209 Alpacas in Hand

What made the Dong Tao Chicken so valuable was New Zealand’s strict policy on livestock breeds. Due to its relatively fragile ecosystem, the country rarely introduced new breeds of poultry or livestock.

As the first auction concluded, the second item followed immediately—twenty Brahman calves.  This breed was quite common in New Zealand, and not particularly expensive. The entire lot cost only forty-five thousand NZD. Without hesitation, Wang Bo placed a bid and successfully bought them.

The third item was a batch of Boer goats. This time, Wang Bo didn’t bid—his ranch already had plenty of them.

The fourth item was also cattle: Australian Shorthorns. Wang Bo thought these round-headed, chunky animals looked cute, so he bought a lot of fifty.

Four items in, and he’d already won three of them. This caused quite a stir among the other ranchers present. People began asking around about his identity, and Geer, chuckling with his big belly shaking, gave them a simple introduction.

From the fifth to the eighth items, the auction featured horses. Wang Bo was quite interested—he didn’t have any horses on his ranch yet.

But one of the cowboys advised him that raising horses was very different from raising cattle or sheep. It required specialized stables and professional caretakers. If horses were simply left to graze freely, even top-tier breeds like Akhal-Tekes would end up looking like strays.

That temporarily discouraged Wang Bo from buying horses. But it was only temporary—once he had more time, he planned to build a proper horse ranch and raise herds of them.

For the rest of the auction, Wang Bo participated actively. If there was a breed of cattle, sheep, pigs, or donkeys that he didn’t already have, he would place a bid.

Of course, he didn’t buy everything. He would only proceed if the price was right.

Over the course of two hours and more than fifty livestock auctions, he won nearly thirty lots, completely igniting the atmosphere of the event. Even before the auction ended, ranchers were swarming over to exchange business cards with him.

Wang Bo followed a “better to overbuy than miss out” philosophy when it came to livestock. He needed to make full use of his family’s huge ranch. Right now, the Heart of the Ranch still hadn’t reached its threshold capacity.

Finally, the grand finale: over 400 Huacaya alpacas were brought out.

These alpacas were divided into forty lots, ten per lot. They were extremely expensive—each one could fetch over ten thousand NZD. That meant all 400 were worth around four million NZD. How many ranchers could afford to buy that many at once?

Given the large quantity, the auction competition wasn’t too fierce. The alpacas were grouped by weight, quality, and age, with prices varying slightly.

Geer, who had stayed quiet until now, was the first to act. Like a whirlwind, he snapped up ten lots of alpacas in one go.

The first few lots were all healthy, youthful, and energetic alpacas, so naturally, they attracted the most attention. Many ranchers were here just for the alpacas.

But Geer was aggressive—he followed every bid and secured all ten initial lots, spending over 1.1 million NZD in total.

Wang Bo, blending into the crowd, targeted those alpacas that looked scruffy, were either too young or too old—naturally, they came at the lowest prices. He bought ten such lots, spending only 850,000 NZD.

Geer, clearly wanting to befriend him, came over when he saw Wang Bo focusing on the weaker animals and offered a kind warning:

“Wang, when buying livestock, buy the best, not the worst. Buy when prices are rising, not falling! Healthy alpacas will earn you money. Sick ones might be cheaper upfront, but in the end, they probably won’t make you a profit.”

Wang Bo accepted the kind advice but stuck to his decision.

While the Heart of the Ranch couldn’t turn back time, it could still improve an animal’s health and condition. As long as they weren’t dead, even the old, weak, sick, or disabled could be transformed into top-quality alpacas after returning to the ranch.

And even if the Heart of the Ranch couldn’t cure them, he still had the Nest Heart back at the castle—it could heal any lingering issues.

When they arrived, it was just four people in one car. When they left, it was a whole ordeal—over forty large trailers were needed to haul the livestock, forming a procession that looked more like a military convoy.

Before leaving, Wang Bo paid a visit to Geer—one of the largest ranchers on the North Island. Given how courteous the man had been throughout, he couldn’t leave without showing appreciation.

During their chat, Wang Bo learned why Geer had been so friendly—he was a close friend of Sharp. Sharp had spoken of Wang Bo many times, praising both him and his ranch, which made Geer remember him.

Geer had also recognized him at first glance thanks to the footage of his performance during the Wanderer Town Earthquake—it had made the news.

As lunchtime approached, Geer invited him to a restaurant. The main course: a steak roughly the size of a young boy’s palm for each person.

Wang Bo sliced off a piece with his steak knife and took a bite—the meat was tender and juicy, almost rivaling the Simmental beef from his own ranch.

He nodded and praised, “I’m honestly surprised, Mr. Geer. This steak is incredible. I didn’t expect to taste such flavorful beef here. What kind of beef is this? Does New Zealand produce meat this good?”

Geer laughed heartily.

“You’ve got a sharp tongue, my friend. It is great beef—but it’s not local. I got this Golden Aquitaine beef from France. Combine it with my chef’s skills, and the taste should satisfy you, right?”

Wang Bo blinked in realization.

“Wait, your chef made all this? Did you bring your own chef to Kurao?”

Geer nodded with a wide grin.

Wang Bo secretly curled his lips. He’d initially underestimated Geer, thinking the guy dressed and acted like a regular cowboy, without any particular airs or sophistication.

But clearly, as one of the top ranchers in New Zealand, Geer was a real rich man. He traveled with bodyguards and his personal chef—that was no small flex.

Wang Bo wasn’t very familiar with this “Golden Aquitaine” beef, so he asked about it.

Geer explained,

“It’s the highest-grade beef breed in France. Globally, only Japanese Wagyu can barely compare. It can sell for over ten thousand NZD per kilogram and is only supplied to Michelin two-star restaurants.”

Wang Bo blinked again.

Damn! Over ten thousand NZD per kilogram?

It didn’t even taste better than his Simmental beef, and yet his was selling for less than a hundred NZD per kilogram. That’s practically giving it away!

Like Wagyu in Japan, Golden Aquitaine cattle were the pride of French ranchers. Every calf was tagged and documented. Calves and breeding cows were never for sale.

Geer said he had recently visited France in hopes of buying a few Golden Aquitaine cows, but failed. All he managed to get were some frozen bull semen, which he brought back and used for artificial insemination to breed a batch of second-tier Golden Aquitaine cattle.