The Pentium Era - South to North

It was still early for dinner, so Lao Qiao and his sister took Zhang Xiangbei for a visit. Lao Qiao introduced to Zhang Xiangbei that his sister used to help raise cattle at home and now works for an import and export company in Osaka. They The company specializes in exporting Kobe beef to Europe and the United States. My sister knows all about Kobe beef. You can ask her, brother.

My sister’s English is also very good. After Lao Qiao finished speaking, my sister smiled with Zhang Xiangbei and said in English, please take care of me.

Zhang Xiangbei quickly said thank you, nice to meet my sister!

My sister is very gentle when she smiles.

Lao Qiao thought about it and he was right, buddy, I know your first question.

He then said something to his sister in Japanese instead of English. My sister looked at Zhang Xiangbei and blushed. She also spoke to Lao Qiao in Japanese instead of English. Lao Qiao kept yelling. Xi nodded, and finally made a look of realization.

Lao Qiao and Zhang Xiangbei said: "Sister has the solution to your eternal problem. Why do Kobe Wagyu beef have to be female virgin cattle that are more than three years old? My sister said that female cows are chosen because they have more hormones and more fat. , there will be such a beautiful frost, ox beef will not have such a beautiful frost..."

"Frost?" Zhang Xiangbei asked.

"Frost is the white fat, marble effect. Australians call it snowflakes, and we Japanese call it frost."

Lao Qiao said, Zhang Xiangbei nodded and understood, Australians call snowflake fat cattle, and Kobe Wagyu, more accurately, should it be called frost fall fat cattle?

Lao Qiao continued:

"We choose virgin cows because once the female cows have been mated, their meat will have a slight milky smell, which will affect the taste. Do you understand, buddy?"

"I understand, I understand." Zhang Xiangbei said, "You really solved my eternal mystery."

The three people were talking and walking. The house they had just left was the home of Lao Qiao and his family. The big house they were walking towards now needed no introduction. Looking at the structure of the house, Zhang Xiangbei could also tell that it was probably a cow. shed.

Zhang Xiangbei pointed to the large green pasture in front of him, and remembered some legends about Wagyu breeding that he had read before, such as drinking mineral water, eating herbs, etc., and asked his sister:

"Is there anything special about these pastures? Do the cattle here eat these pastures to make their meat particularly tender?"

"No." My sister said, "Cows only eat very little grass and can control it. You can't give them too much grass, just like you can't let them exercise too much. The pasture is mainly for cattle to walk. The main food they eat is dry grass, and a lot of our grass is imported from China. When feeding, wheat and cereals need to be mixed with the dry grass.”

Zhang Xiangbei laughed. It seemed that eating herbs, drinking mineral water, etc. were all rumors passed down from generation to generation. Zhang Xiangbei told them the things he remembered. His sister said that they were not all legends, at least there were some. Part of it is true, for example, drinking mineral water. The water flowing down from the mountains here is all water containing minerals. This is correct.

"Also, in the past, cattle also ate grass. Now they are only fed dry grass. This way, they can better control their intake and the nutrients they obtain. Nowadays, Japanese Wagyu cattle breeding follows standardized operations. If it is If it’s green grass, it’s more difficult to control,” said my sister.

Zhang Xiangbei nodded: "It's like customizing nutritious meals for people?"

"Yes, you must know that the current Wagyu is not exactly the same breed as the previous Wagyu. We now strictly prohibit the export of live Wagyu cattle, but in fact, Wagyu is not entirely native to Japan, but is related to foreign cattle. The result of continuous hybridization and improvement.

"The current Kobe Wagyu beef originated from the improvement in 1956. That improvement is considered to be the most successful improvement in the history of Wagyu. It was bred from the improved descendants of the Leitian Simmental bull. It’s done.”

When my sister saw what Zhang Xiangbei wanted to say, she understood, smiled, and explained:

"Simmental cattle originated in the Swiss Alps. By the way, through DNA analysis, our Japanese Kobe black cattle and your Chinese Qinghai cattle have a common ancestor."

As they talked, they walked to the cowshed. To be honest, Zhang Xiangbei was disappointed with the cowshed when he entered it. It turned out that Zhang Xiangbei thought that such a famous Kobe beef should be in a very modern cowshed with a clean floor. It's clean enough for people to lie down on it, and the cowshed also has all kinds of advanced equipment, and there's also melodious music.

As a result, this cowshed is no different from an ordinary cowshed. It is divided into cattle pens. In each cattle pen, there are more than a dozen black cows. The trough for feeding dry grass is made of wood. There was a thick layer of something, mixed with cow urine and dung, and it looked filthy.

What surprised Zhang Xiangbei even more was that this cowshed, like ordinary cowsheds, also had an unpleasant smell.

Lao Qiao told Zhang Xiangbei that their family raised a total of 256 cows. Zhang Xiangbei saw that the difference between the cows here and those in other places was that each cow had a cow hanging on its right ear. A sign with a ten-digit code on it. Lao Qiao and Zhang Xiangbei said that this was the cow's ID card, which was issued by the government.

"Each cow has this code when it is born. By inputting this code into the computer, you can check the cow's pedigree, its mother and father." My sister said, "After the improvement was successful in five or six years, we here in Tajima, The management of Tajima cattle is very strict, and crossbreeding with other impure cattle is no longer allowed, and no other hybrid blood is allowed in the bloodline.”

Zhang Xiangbei understood that these cattle were nobles among cattle. Just like people, all nobles were actually born from common people. But after becoming nobles, they had to pay attention to being well-matched and look down on common people.

“The code of cattle appears on people’s tables or in hotels from raising to slaughtering until final sale. This code will always follow it. It can be said that every piece of Kobe beef sold in the world can be traced back to Its bloodline includes the farm where it was raised,” said my sister.

"Isn't anyone forging this brand?" Zhang Xiangbei asked.

My sister and Lao Qiao became alert almost at the same time. They both said that it couldn't be forged. Lao Qiao pointed to the nose of a cow and asked Zhang Xiangbei to look at it. Zhang Xiangbei took a closer look and saw that it turned out that the cow's nose had a nose mark.

Lao Qiao said that the nose mark is stamped upon birth and corresponds to the brand. The brand can be forged or damaged, but this nose mark cannot.

Zhang Xiangbei knew why they were so vigilant, and at the same time tried his best to explain things that could not be faked.

Just last year, on October 23, 2017, the Hyogo Prefecture headquarters of the Japan Agricultural Cooperative Association admitted to the outside world that a restaurant directly operated by the organization in Kobe City had been operating since April 2016. As of October 2017, approximately 3,200 servings of Kobe beef, which was passed off as inferior beef, were provided to customers.

The Kobe beef fraud incident, and the subsequent fraud incidents at Nissan Motor, Kobe Steel, and CICC, have become a huge scandal that shocked the world, subverting everyone's original understanding of Japanese products.

Zhang Xiangbei didn't mention this matter. It could be seen that both Lao Qiao and his sister seemed to be relieved. Zhang Xiangbei said with a smile, this bullpen is still different from what I imagined.

"What's the difference?" Lao Qiao asked.

“I originally thought that Kobe beef should be raised in a very modern cattle farm. The floor is clean and tiled, and the cowsheds are also made of stainless steel, including the cowsheds and troughs.

"There will also be a lot of tubes. This tube leads to water, that tube leads to feed, and there are tubes responsible for removing excrement. It is very modern, including the breeders, all wearing sterile protective clothing and controlling The computer in front of you and various display screens will display various data, including the heart rate of each cow and so on."

Zhang Xiangbei said honestly, Lao Qiao and his sister both laughed, and the sister said:

"You said that people like it very much, but cows definitely don't like it. Everything here is done in a way that cows like it, so that they can stay in a happy mood, not people. They just like to be in wooden troughs. I just like the sawdust on the ground when I eat there.”

Only then did Zhang Xiangbei realize that the thick layer on the ground of the cattle pen turned out to be sawdust.

Zhang Xiangbei thinks what his sister said makes sense. He once saw a video of a KFC farm. It can be said that the picture is terrifying. The instant chickens are crowded together and are force-fed every day. The most terrifying thing is those The chicken doesn't even have feathers.

"The beef will be delicious only if the cow is completely relaxed and in a happy mood." My sister said.

Zhang Xiangbei is right. If KFC and McDonald's chickens could be raised according to the chicken's wishes, their chickens would definitely taste better than they do now.

My sister and Lao Qiao both laughed.

"So, do you really listen to music for cows?" Zhang Xiangbei asked.

"Yes." My sister pointed with her finger. Zhang Xiangbei saw that there were indeed speakers hanging in the cowshed. Her sister said:

"However, if you listen to it for a period of time every day, if you listen to it all day long, let alone a cow, even a human will not think it is beautiful music, but noise."

"Sister really understands cows."

Zhang Xiangbei said that his sister couldn't help laughing, but it wasn't a big laugh, she still pursed her lips and smiled very gently.

Coming out of the cowshed, Lao Qiao and his sister took Zhang Xiangbei into a house on the side. This house was connected to both ends. Unlike the cowshed, this house was very modern and looked like It is an automatic car wash room with an archway five or six meters long.

Lao Qiao walked to the edge of the arch. There was a console there. Lao Qiao pressed a button, and water jets were sprayed up, down, left, and right in the arch. In an instant, the entire arch was filled with mist. Through the ground of the arch, Zhang Xiangbei discovered that it was possible Mobile.

Lao Qiao said: "This is the place where the cows are bathed. When the cows go in from one end and come out from the other end, they will be very clean. The water is all hot springs pumped out from the ground."

My sister stood next to Zhang Xiangbei and explained to him that after the cows came out from that end, someone would help them dry themselves and then massage them.

"Will cows be obedient?" Zhang Xiangbei asked, "Will they lose their temper?"

"No." My sister said with a smile, "This is their favorite place. When they get to the door, they are eager to go inside."

Zhang Xiangbei said to his sister: "This really looks like a modern car wash."

"Yes, the price of a Wagyu beef is more expensive than an ordinary Toyota car." My sister said to Zhang Xiangbei.

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