Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

Hokkaido Horse Racing Story

Author: Dianqi2009

Summary:

Summary:

Just like spring, which is destined to end as soon as it arrives, the famous horse racing families that were once active in the middle and long-distance races have fallen into decline.

The glory of the 20th century has gradually faded, but the unfulfilled wish remains to this day.

At the foot of Mount Yotei, the torch of inheritance quietly changed hands.

Chapter 1 The System Twenty-six Years Later

In Hokkaido in late March, the occasional cold wind still makes people feel a little chilly.

Exhaling a puff of white air, Watanabe couldn't help but retract his neck into the warm down jacket.

Watanabe is thin and his face is dark due to years of hard work.

Soon he stuck his head out again and looked at the intersection frequently.

A silver Isuzu D-MAX pickup truck came from the end of the field of vision, leaving two long tracks on the mud.

The impatience on his face suddenly disappeared, replaced by excitement mixed with inexplicable emotions.

He trotted over and shouted loudly before the pickup truck came to a complete stop.

"Mr. Kitano!"

The car door opened and a young man who looked obviously younger than him got out.

His skin was a lighter shade of wheat than Watanabe's, and his eyes were bright under his thick eyebrows that were as black as pencils.

"Let's go over and take a look at the situation."

The young man called Mr. Kitano briefly greeted him and took out a bag that looked quite heavy from the car.

"My stomach was bloated a few days ago. At first I thought it was just gas, but after taking the medicine, it bloated again very quickly."

Watanabe, who was walking in front and leading the way, began to talk in a rambling manner, his eyebrows almost wrinkled into a ball.

“Is the feeding amount normal?”

Kitano nodded, as if agreeing with the man's words, or as if thinking about something. After a while, he asked.

"It has increased slightly since the weather warmed up, but it should still be within the normal range."

Watanabe's tone became a little uncertain.

"Let's wait and see."

Kitano said.

Watanabe nodded with relief.

Soon they arrived at the stables.

Oblivious to the smell in the air, Kitano easily noticed something unusual among the herd.

As Watanabe said, one cow's belly was noticeably bulging, and when they arrived, it was still trying to look back at its belly and breathing heavily.

"It's definitely bloating."

Kitano took out gloves from his bag and put them on, then walked around to the left rear of the cow and patted the triangle area.

There was a crisp sound coming from the cow's belly.

The cow cried out in panic.

"Want to pierce?"

Mr. Watanabe asked nervously.

"No hurry, let's go check the trough first."

Kitano shook his head.

Moreover, when dealing with animal flatulence, puncture deflation is prioritized lower than oral deflation in most cases.

Kitano took off his gloves, not minding the dirt, walked to the other side of the stable, squatted down, and reached into the trough to grope around.

"The proportion of concentrate feed is too high. How about trying feeding more green feed?"

Clapping his hands, he stood up and said.

As a compound stomach animal, the cow's first stomach, commonly known as the rumen, is prone to swelling when ruminating due to the fermentation of the contents and the production of large amounts of gas. If effective measures are not taken, the cow may even die from rumen rupture.

Rumen bloating is often caused by eating too much concentrate or various compound feeds.

Perhaps it can be considered a disease of affluence.

"So it's the feed?"

Watanabe asked cautiously, imitating Kitano and picking up a handful of feed.

“It’s possible, but feed is not the main reason.”

If there was a problem with the feed, more than one cow would have been affected.

Kitano was rummaging through his bag for something.

Soon after, he took out his stethoscope and pressed it against the cow's belly, while his other hand repeatedly rubbed a higher position, occasionally stopping to gently tap certain parts.

"I think I ate something."

After a while, Kitano put away his stethoscope.

"We won't know what it is until we take it out."

Watanabe's tense expression relaxed slightly, and he quickly asked, "Then what should we do?"

"I'm afraid I need surgery. Otherwise, it might be dangerous if I delay."

Kitano patted the cow's head again, trying to calm its somewhat anxious mood.

"Then let's operate—"

Watanabe nodded quickly and then let out a long sigh.

The two of them worked together to lead the cow to the concrete ground outside the stable.

While Kitano was preparing the anesthesia, Watanabe found a relatively clean plastic mat and placed it under the cow's feet.

If there is any benefit to being a veterinarian, this is probably the only one left.

Most of the time, they are even less picky about their working environment than military doctors.

The veterinary anesthetic took effect quickly, and Kitano picked up the electric clipper and began to shave the hair in the surgical area.

Layers of winter fur fell and piled up in a mess at his feet.

After simply disinfecting the skin surface with iodine, Kitano placed a sterile towel on the cow's abdomen.

Everything was ready and he put on latex gloves.

The sharp scalpel fell accurately into the left lateral fossa.

Watanabe couldn't help but frown.

Beads of sweat appeared on both of their foreheads.

Beneath the layers of cowhide is a deformed and swollen rumen.

When the rumen is cut open, a strong odor hits your nose.

[Horse Racing Tycoon system has been activated, do you want to start the game?]

A mechanical voice without any emotion suddenly rang in my ears.

Kitano's continuous movements of his hands suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Mr. Kitano?"

Watanabe asked, covering his nose.

"No, it's nothing."

After emptying his stomach's contents, Kitano responded as if nothing had happened.

The surgery at hand is more important than the inexplicable noise.

Forcing away all distracting thoughts, Kitano quickly returned to the operation.

The stubbornness of the foreign body was somewhat unexpected, so he simply put down the long tweezers and started to dig it out with his hands.

A piece of soft, wet cloth whose original appearance was difficult to discern was pulled out of the cow's stomach, with a pungent liquid dripping from the bottom.

The number "169" was vaguely written on the cloth.

"Did he eat the feed bag?"

Watanabe immediately widened his eyes and then covered his face.

"It's best not to place feed bags too close to the trough."

Kitano had no choice but to say so.

In many cases, livestock diseases are related to the owners' irregular breeding practices.

At least that's the case judging by the actual cases he has come into contact with so far.

Throwing the cloth aside, he picked up the needle and thread for sewing.

Suturing the cowhide was more difficult than expected, and it was already past one in the afternoon when the operation was completely completed.

After giving instructions on the dosage of antibiotics, Kitano began to pack up.

"You have worked hard!"

Watanabe's hunched figure shrank into a black dot behind the car. After a long time, he slowly straightened his back.

On the way back to the clinic, Kitano casually turned on the car stereo.

What came out of it was the old-fashioned enka.

The previous owner of the car was also the original attending physician of the clinic.

After graduating from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Hokkaido University two years ago, Kitano joined the veterinary clinic where his predecessor worked.

In Japan, veterinary medicine is not a very popular job.

That's probably why my predecessor decided to transfer the clinic and retire early last year.

After returning to the clinic and parking the car, Kitano did not rush to leave.

"call--"

He slammed into the back of the chair and rubbed his temples hard.

[Horse Racing Tycoon system has been activated, do you want to start the game?]

The sudden sound that appeared during the operation appeared again.

The frequency is once per minute, and the time is accurate.

He couldn't help but let out a sneer.

Kitano's reason for becoming a veterinarian is simple.

For most irrational choices, the simple word "poverty" is enough to be the reason.

The Kitano family was once a formidable presence in certain industries.

But that was a long time ago.

When Kitano was thirteen years old, his father chose to wander around because of debt problems.

In the winter of the following year, my mother also passed away.

With the help of part-time jobs and scholarships, he finally completed high school.

Kitano's 73-point deviation made him eligible for admission to any national university, but he quickly made his choice under the temptation of a low-interest loan from JA (Agricultural Cooperative) and special support from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Hokkaido University.

After six years of undergraduate study, taking the national veterinary exam covering over 20 subjects, and obtaining a veterinary license, and putting in as much effort as her medical classmates—