Although the black dog looked huge, it still had a childish air about it. It was an underage dog, and its main job on the farm was probably not to herd but to stand guard.
The black dog was quickly led away by the workers. Fang Zhao looked around the parking lot. Besides their flying transport, there was also a large flying transport and five flying cars.
"There's a tour group here," Zuo Yu told Fang Zhao. "It's about 20 people."
When the tour group noticed that the weather was not good, they would look for a good place to land. Some places in Muzhou had rapid weather changes, and the weather forecast would be broadcasted an hour in advance. Besides Fang Zhao's group, the others had also found their way here after hearing the broadcast. After all, this was the only place in the vicinity that had a flying transport.
After making arrangements for their accommodations, the farm worker told Fang Zhao's group, "Today is a competition day. The farm owner and a few other small farm owners are here to watch the competition. There's also a tour group from Jizhou heading over to the viewing hall. Our farm owner's relatives are participating in today's competition. The host is in a good mood and has invited everyone to watch. Look at the time, the competition is about to start. Do you want to go? The tea and alcohol in the viewing hall are free. "
Besides its developed agriculture and tourism industry, Muzhou was also famous for its sheep-herding culture.
Muzhou's sheep-herding competition had been around since the founding of the continent. At first, it had been organized by Great General Su Mu to entertain the pioneers. Relaxation was the key to life. However, back then, it had been a small-scale competition. Now, the sheep-herding competition had a 500-year history, and the competition had a mature system and rules. The feelings the people of Muzhou had toward the sheep-herding competition was something people from other continents could not understand. It was a form of entertainment that had accompanied generations of Muzhou people.
If you were to talk to a Muzhou person about celebrities, even if it was an international celebrity, they might not be able to accurately match it up. At most, they would remember a name, a face, or have a vague impression of a certain character. But if you were to talk about those famous shepherd dogs in Muzhou, not only could they clearly recite the color of the dog's coat, height, age, the farm it belonged to, the year it competed in, the awards it had won, and so on, they could even recite the pedigree of the shepherd dog up to three generations back for an hour. As for the farms that the shepherd dogs belonged to, it was even more of a topic after a meal.
Therefore, it was not that Muzhou did not have an entertainment industry. It was just that their entertainment industry was different from other continents. It was not without reason that shepherd dogs had a higher status than wanderers in Muzhou.
Recently, Fang Zhao had been very popular in Yanzhou, but other continents might not have mentioned him much, let alone Muzhou. Until now, Zuo Yu had only seen him mentioned a few times in a medical electronic magazine. Other magazines and news had not mentioned him at all. However, this also saved a lot of trouble. Zuo Yu's work was more relaxed. He only needed to be a driver and assistant.
When Fang Zhao had looked up information on Muzhou online, he had seen introductions to Muzhou's sheep-herding culture as well as some competition videos, but he had never had the experience of watching a live broadcast.
After tidying up the guest room, Fang Zhao and Zuo Yu followed the farm employee to the viewing hall.
There were still about 40 minutes before the start of the match. When Fang Zhao and the others arrived, there were quite a number of people seated in the viewing hall, and it was very lively.
The 400-square-meter viewing hall was like a small movie theater. The best place to watch the movie was for the farm owners and the surrounding small farm owners. The invited guests were arranged to sit on the side. They could sit anywhere they wanted.
When Fang Zhao and the others arrived, there were only a few tables left in the corner.
Based on the number of chairs, each table could probably seat four to six people. However, not everyone in the tour group was familiar with each other, so there were some tables with two or three people.
Fang Zhao did not have high expectations for where to sit. As long as he could see the big screen, he was fine.
"Right here." After being brought in by the employee through a side door, Fang Zhao chose a table and sat down.
After Zuo Yu entered, he glanced at the people guarding the viewing hall's main door and side door. The corners of his mouth curled up, but he quickly restrained himself. There was a security check before entering, and guns were not allowed. However, when Fang Zhao and Zuo Yu entered, the people guarding there did not hear the alarm.
Fang Zhao looked at the center of the viewing hall. It was obvious who the owner was. The seat was the best and largest. A seat occupied 10 square meters, and there were two dogs guarding it.
When the flying transport landed, basic information about this farm and some information about the owner could be found.
This farm was called Shanmu Farm. The owner was Wu Yi, who was in his 80s. In the New Era, 80 years old was considered middle-aged, but not old. As for Wu Yi himself, he looked very fit. His face was dark, his waist was round, and he spoke in a low, muffled voice. When Fang Zhao and Zuo Yu came in, he glanced at them and did not pay them much attention. He continued to discuss the possible rankings of the day's competition with a few small farm owners.
Muzhou's sheep-herding competitions were not for humans, but for sheepdog teams on farms. The minimum number of dogs participating was six, and the maximum number was 10. For every competition, 100 sheep would be released into the field. The time would start from the moment the dogs were released until all 100 sheep were in the pens. The team that used the least time would be the day's champion. The seven teams on the same day would be ranked according to the time they used.
On every competition day, there would be a quiz and prizes.
Fang Zhao looked at the quiz rewards for today:
Guessing first place correctly: Every bet will receive double the amount of the bet.
Guessing first and second place correctly: Every bet will receive five times the prize.
Guessing first, second, and third place correctly: Every bet will receive 12 times the prize.
Guessing the top four correctly: Every bet will receive 30 times the prize.
Guessing the top five correctly: Every bet will receive 100 times the prize.
Guessing the top six correctly: Every bet will receive 300 times the prize.
Guessing all correctly: 1,000 times the prize.
According to the rules of Muzhou's sheep-herding competition, one bet was worth five dollars. In other words, buying one bet and guessing all the rankings for the day would receive 5,000 dollars!
Five dollars was not even worth mentioning to people who came to Muzhou for a vacation. Many people would give it a try. Of course, the number of people who guessed correctly was few and far between.
In the tour group, there were quite a few first-time visitors to Muzhou. They did not know much about Muzhou's farms, and they were even more confused about the teams participating in today's competition. Watching online experts explain? The more they watched, the more confused they became.
Therefore, many people strained their ears to listen to the conversation between the farm owners in the middle of the viewing area. Anyway, the farm owners' voices were loud, so no one would say anything if they were to listen openly. All they had to do was place their bets later.
The big screen showed the current situation of the competition. It was a pre-competition interview with a few of the participating farms.
The place where Fang Zhao and the others were resting was near the eastern border, and the competition was on the other side of Muzhou, near the center of Muzhou. The weather there was not bad. The sun shone brightly, unlike here, which was covered in dark clouds.
"The weather at the competition venue is very good today. Who knows, Big Sis Carilla's farm might easily take first place," a small farm owner said to Wu Yi.
The third team participating today was the farm of this farm owner, Wu Yi's cousin. Wu Yi's cousin's farm was called Carilla Farm. The farm's logo was a carrot, so people who were familiar with it preferred to call it Carrot Farm.
"I also think they will do well." Wu Yi's face was beaming. He looked very happy. Then he placed a bet on his cousin's farm to take first place.
"Wow! One million?! Pretty confident! "Another small farm owner took a peek at Wu Yi's bet and exclaimed exaggeratedly.
"Then I'll bet some too. I'll support Big Sis Carilla. I'll bet 500,000 to support her."
"Me too. But I only have a small farm. I'm not as extravagant as you guys. 100,000 to support me. "
The farm owners around Wu Yi chatted happily. The tour group sitting to the side had complicated expressions on their faces. Before coming here, they had heard that Muzhou people were nouveau riches. The wealth of an unremarkable small farm exceeded their imaginations. Today, they had experienced it firsthand. This bunch of people did not need to go to work, did not need to work tirelessly. All they had to do was guard their small plot of land and they could have fun.
Envy? Envy! Envy to the point of death!
"Hey, you outsiders, are you interested in playing a round? How can you not participate in a sheep herding contest when you come to Muzhou? Who knows, you might win quite a bit, "a farm owner said to the tour group.
The tour group leader just smiled and said, "I'll just place a bet. It's just a little fun, just a little fun."
However, a lot of people in the tour group were interested. They even took the initiative to chat with a few farm owners. The farm owners shared their experiences and explained the rules of the competition to the tour group. For example, they explained how to look for the lead dog in the team, how to find the leader, how to position them, and how to cooperate with each other.
"Boss, should we follow?" Zuo Yu asked Fang Zhao. He did not have much money on hand to play this game. Even if he played, it was just a small bet. He could not afford to throw money around like these local nouveau riches. But Fang Zhao was different. He knew very well how much money Fang Zhao could rake in from his four movements.
"Mmhm." Fang Zhao did not say much else. Instead, he browsed through the information and videos on the Internet. They were all about the shepherd dog teams from the few farms that had participated in the contest.
While Wu Yi was chatting with the others, he glanced around and realized that the people from the tour group had already gathered together to discuss. Only the last two people who had come to his farm were still seriously looking through the team's previous competition videos. In their hands, they were even scribbling something down on a paper notebook.
"Pfft, acting like they know a lot," Wu Yi whispered. He had seen many foreigners come to Muzhou to participate in the contest. Before the contest, they would analyze and calculate, but in the end, they would come up with nothing.
Muzhou's shepherd dogs were not something that foreigners could easily understand. Even some famous dog behaviorists would be lucky to win five out of ten guessing games. There were also some foreign herdsmen who thought they knew a lot who came here to place their bets, but in the end, they just left in silence.
That was why Wu Yi had always advised foreigners who came to Muzhou not to look at the analysis online. They should just place their bets based on their gut feeling. Who knew, they might even win a few more times. The analysis online was mostly a smokescreen used to confuse one's clear mind. Without a Muzhou native professional to impart their experience, no one could make a killing in Muzhou's competition!
Bets were stopped 10 minutes before the start of the contest. Fang Zhao placed his bet two minutes before the time limit.
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