My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 162

We've confirmed that he wasn't just fooling around, but genuinely intended to do so.

Old Ba didn't say much and agreed.

He can make the decision on this small matter.

Although a township livestock station is still a basic unit.

They also give me a salary every month.

But the salaries of ordinary epidemic prevention workers and veterinarians are meager, practically nothing.

Every year the township tries to recruit people, but they can't find anyone willing to do it.

Now that we finally have young people who want to come, there's no reason to turn them away.

So Lao Ba said that he would bring Chen Ling to the livestock station to register his name later.

Let him work as an epidemic prevention worker first. As for treating poultry and livestock, he'll have to learn that gradually later.

Chen Ling had no objection to this.

Anyway, that's the title he wants.

Besides, is veterinary medicine easy for him to learn? It's a piece of cake.

"Erwazi, are you selling your sheep?"

After the two men finished giving the chicken the injection, Old Ba asked.

"what?"

"Uncle, apart from the ram, all the other rams in my family either just gave birth to lambs or are about to give birth."

“I know, your brother told me he’s looking for this sheep. Are you selling it or not? If you are, I’ll buy it all for you, young man, whether it’s had a litter or not, big and small. You can negotiate the price yourselves.”

This second child was his son-in-law's cousin, so he didn't stand on ceremony and went straight to the point.

"You want both big and small? Brother, are you a sheep trader?"

"Haha, he's not some sheep trader. Even if he were, I wouldn't bring him here..."

Old Ba squatted in the corner and tapped his pipe.

While filling the pipe with tobacco leaves, I explained it to him.

After listening, Erwazi understood: "You want to buy sheep to produce milk, huh? That's easy."

“My old black sheep just had a lamb, and we’re not planning to sell it now. We’ll keep it for another two or three years. But since Uncle Ba brought you here, I can’t let you come for nothing. I have two more sheep at home, and they’ll be giving birth in about a month. I can give you one. Pick one that you like and take it home.”

"Okay, shall we go take a look?"

"Come on, come and take a look."

So Erwazi led the two of them to the sheep pen at the very top of the chicken coop.

His sheep pen was a spacious room separated from the chicken coop, with several fences added. Inside, he kept seven or eight goats, both black and white, all plump and strong. There was also a tall and robust black ram, majestic and imposing. He was indeed well-fed.

Chen Ling followed and looked inside the fence. He found that there were quite a few pregnant ewes, including four or five heavily pregnant ewes mixed in with the flock. As soon as people came, they bleated and stood up, walked to the fence, and looked up, waiting to be fed.

Among them was a small black lamb following behind a black goat, clinging tightly to its mother's hind legs and curiously peering out.

"Young man, look, these are the two with the biggest bellies. Pick one."

Erwa pointed to two pregnant ewes, one black and one white, who were about to give birth compared to the other ewes.

Chen Ling squatted down to examine it. The white sheep's breasts were quite large, with two big, bulging lumps hanging down, while the black sheep's breasts were not very noticeable.

I was just about to say that he had his eye on this Aries.

Old Ba suddenly reminded him, "Let me add something: of these two sheep, the black sheep is good for meat production, so it's a meat sheep; the white sheep is good for milk production, so it's a dairy goat from Guanzhong."

"These dairy goats produce a lot of milk for five or six months of the year after they give birth to lambs. However, there is one downside: once no one in your family drinks the goat milk, you can't get much meat from slaughtering them. They are hard to sell."

"The black goat has given birth to a lamb. If you raise it well, it can provide you with milk for two or three months at most. It will produce a lot of meat, and the price of the meat will be high. You should think about it carefully."

It must be said that Buffett is a very competent broker; he explains everything clearly.

Let you make the decision yourself.

Perhaps this is why his reputation has grown over the years.

Erwazi was used to this.

"So, brother, Uncle Ba has explained it all to you. Have you decided which one to pick?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure if they're good or bad. How about this, you're selling one anyway, so why don't you let me take both of them..."

"No, no, I'll only sell one. I'm only letting you go because Uncle Ba brought you here. I wouldn't sell any to anyone else."

"I'll raise the price by 100 yuan for each one."

"Then, then you can take it."

……

After buying the sheep, the market became more crowded, with stalls lining both sides of the road, one next to another, all packed together. Men, women, and children who came to the market carried small baskets or bags, some chatting and laughing as they walked, others stopping to ask the price of something they liked, creating a lively and bustling scene.

"Make way, make way..."

Chen Ling followed behind Lao Ba, leading two heavily pregnant sheep, calling out as they walked through the crowd.

People heard the noise and quickly moved aside, then saw two pregnant ewes, one black and one white, bleating behind Chen Ling, and were immediately surprised.

"Young man, these two ewes are about to give birth, why are you still bringing them out to sell?"

"I'm not selling it. Who said I was selling it? I just bought it."

"Bought? Who's so stupid? The lambs are about to give birth, and they still bring them to the market."

"Yeah, this kid's just trying to fool people."

"It doesn't seem like it. Look, he went with Old Ba. It can't be faked."

"Let's go check out the mule and horse market. If they really have any for sale, I'll take one home too."

The crowd dispersed with a thud, and the market suddenly became much more spacious.

Chen Ling then led the two sheep and went with Lao Ba to the livestock station.

To get into a livestock station, you have to meet the station manager and register your personal information.

The son-in-law of the old man at the livestock station was surnamed Li. This station chief, Li, was also somewhat educated; he had a square face, a big nose, thick lips, wore glasses, spoke gently, and always had a smile on his face. When he learned that Chen Ling wanted to come to the livestock station, he was a little surprised at first, but he quickly recovered and warmly led him into the house to register.

"Erwazi's sheep are raised quite well."

"It was his first year raising sheep. He bought lambs in the spring. He even came to my house several times to ask before buying them. I talked to him about it, and that's how he bought meat sheep and dairy sheep. There are benefits to raising both kinds of sheep together."

“Sometimes meat sheep produce little milk and wean their lambs a few days after giving birth, which makes the lambs grow poorly. In this case, the milk from dairy sheep can play a big role and can solve the problem without having to see a veterinarian, which is very convenient.”

Dairy goats, also known as dairy goats, produce more milk than regular female goats. The key difference is that they have a longer milk-producing period. Their udders are as big as two balls, and they often remain in the lactation period for more than half a year after giving birth to lambs.

One dairy goat can feed seven or eight lambs.

In this way, with the milk from dairy goats, the meat sheep can be weaned after giving birth and continue to gain weight. When prices are good, they can be sold at any time, which is very convenient.

However, dairy goats produce a lot of milk but not much meat; they have the lowest meat yield among all goat breeds.

A regular sheep can yield about one pound of meat from three pounds of meat, while dairy goats are far inferior in this respect.

The difference is the same as that between dairy cows and regular cows.

In this day and age, you can't raise them if they don't produce enough meat; nobody in the countryside would be willing to do that.

It was only after listening to Station Chief Li that Erwazi managed to bring back two or three dairy goats.

Now that Chen Ling had heard what Station Chief Li had to say, he understood. However, he had already bought both meat sheep and dairy sheep, so it didn't matter how they were raised; the sheep milk would definitely be enough for him.

"Come again at the next market day, and I'll find you some books so you can flip through them when you get home."

After registering Chen Ling, Station Master Li asked him to sit down, poured him a glass of water, and the two chatted for a while.

As for Lao Ba, he's always being looked for at market days, so he's been called away to look after his livestock.

After a brief introduction, Station Chief Li escorted Chen Ling out.

“Brother Li, I came to the market in a tractor this time. It’s going to be difficult to haul these two sheep back with the tractor. Could you leave them here for a day and I’ll come back to pick them up tomorrow?”

“Sure, that’s not hard to say. If you live far away, why don’t you stay here, let the lambs give birth, and then take them back?”

"Haha, there's no need to go to so much trouble."

Actually, Chen Ling originally wanted to stay at Erwazi's house first, but Lao Ba wouldn't allow it. He told him that Erwazi's wife was a troublesome person and that if he stayed for a few days, he might have to pay more.

Helpless, Chen Ling had no choice but to take it to the livestock station first.

After leaving the livestock station and returning to where they had set up their stall, they were surprised to find that most of the game had already been sold. The muntjac was sold, the deer was sold, and the two half-grown wild boars were also sold. There were no pheasants, wild ducks, or water camels left.

Now all that's left are the rabbits Chen Ling brought and a large boar that haven't been sold. "Uncle Fugui, you're finally back! Someone wants to buy the rabbits, but I don't dare make the decision for you; several groups have already come."

When Chen Yuqiang saw him coming, he quickly pulled him over.

"What's the big deal? Didn't we talk about it on the way? You guys can decide how to sell it."

"I wouldn't dare."

As Chen Yuqiang was speaking, Chen Ze shouted from the other side, "Hey, old man, the main character is back. Do you still want the rabbit?"

"Want to want."

Not far away, next to a fried dough stick stall, a short old man with his trousers rolled up got up and ran over, carrying a bag of urea under his arm. Several people, young and old, followed behind him.

"You little rascal, we've been waiting for you! How much is this wild rabbit?"

"Two yuan and fifty cents a pound, discounts available for bulk orders."

Whether it's meat rabbit or wild rabbit, the price has never been very high. In the past, pork was priced at 2.5 yuan, while rabbit meat was only between 0.8 and 1.3 yuan.

Pork prices have skyrocketed, reaching at least five yuan per jin (500g), while rabbit meat prices remain stagnant.

However, wild rabbits are definitely better than meat rabbits; the rabbit fur is different.

"There are six of us, we'll take everything from you, how much of a discount can you give us?"

"Two yuan and thirty cents, no less."

"This is still a bit expensive. Can you give me a discount? If not, we'll look around some more."

"It won't be cheaper. If you think it's too expensive, go look around some more."

Chen Ling wasn't buying it, and Yu Qiang and the others next to him were also smiling. They had already checked and found that their stall was the biggest in the market.

Leaving aside wild boars and such, just look at these rabbits! Three large cages of them laid out—who can compare?

Wild rabbits are usually sold in small quantities, no more than ten at most, unlike them, who have so many.

"Where are Xian Ge and the others?"

Chen Ling looked around and noticed that several people were missing.

"They're going to weigh them. The two half-grown wild boars will be divided among several families."

Chen Ze replied.

"Sold to a dealer?"

"No, it was several families who were getting married. They came to the market looking for meat, but they weren't satisfied with what they found. They saw two medium-sized pigs here, so they discussed it and pooled their money to take them all away."

Actually, wild boar meat is much cheaper, but it has a strong smell and is tough. Getting married is a joyous occasion, so using this meat would be asking for trouble.

"I see. I didn't expect there would be weddings in the leap month of August."

"What's wrong with a leap August? Does a leap August mean there are no good days? Double August with a leap month means that both sons and daughters will be born into wealth and prosperity. It's a good omen."

As they chatted, the group that came to buy rabbits circled around and then came back to them.

Obviously, I didn't find anything satisfactory.

"Young man, how about another dime, two dollars and twenty cents?"

"Two yuan and two jiao it is, you can take it, it saves me the trouble."

"How do you weigh them? Separately or together?"

"We're separated; we're not together."

"Then you can choose first, and then weigh it after you've chosen."

After a flurry of activity, Chen Ling finished processing the rabbits and earned about five hundred yuan. Not long after he returned, a large crowd gathered around his stall, arguing and haggling over the price. The wild boar also found buyers and was divided among a group of people.

Most of these people were still butchers who came to the market.

With fewer pigs available now, dealers go to villages or markets to buy pigs. Even with pig brokers leading the way, it's often difficult to find any. As a result, meat stalls at markets sell out very quickly, while live pigs at mule and horse markets rarely sell.

Like Chen Ling and his group, a tractorload of goods sold out shortly after noon.

After selling their goods, they had a lot of money in their pockets, so they didn't stay any longer. Chen Ling started the tractor, and they all climbed onto the trailer and drove off from the market.

"Uncle Fugui, how much did you get for it?"

"Don't shout. Why are you shouting in the street? Let's find a secluded place to count."

"The tractor is loud; you can't hear it unless you shout."

“There, there’s a grove of trees. Fugui, drive there.”

Chen Ling glanced at it; it was a village orchard. The fruit hadn't grown properly this year and had fallen early. There wasn't much anyone watching over it, so he turned the road and drove in.

……

"Pah! One, two, three, four..."

After parking the tractor, Chen Ling took a thick wad of money and started counting it.

After counting, turn it over and count again.

A group of people stood around him, watching him count the money with bated breath, so nervous they could hardly breathe.

"How much? How much did you sell it for?"

"Uncle Fugui, did you count correctly? Don't miscount."

The young men were incredibly nervous, looking around anxiously, as if afraid someone would barge in.

"Don't worry, I know perfectly well."

Chen Ling drew some lines on the ground with his finger, then looked up and said, "There are twelve of us, so it comes out to a little over four hundred yuan each. How's that? Not bad, right?"

"Four hundred yuan, God! We've only been in the mountains for three days..."

The group gasped in astonishment, stamping their feet in excitement.

"Fugui, you're the first one out, so you get an extra hundred dollars."

Wang Lixian was also very happy, but not as excited as a young person, so he smiled and reminded Chen Ling.

"Yes, yes, Uncle Fugui, take away your hundred yuan and calculate how much we can get?"

"Is it still over four hundred if you remove one hundred?"

"Huh? Still over four hundred?"

"I didn't miscalculate, did I?"

"Yes, yes, double-check, make sure you don't make a mistake."

They urged him one by one.

"Can't be wrong."

Chen Ling smiled helplessly and had no choice but to calculate it for them again on the ground.

The twelve of them gave Chen Ling an extra 100 yuan, which meant that each of them gave Chen Ling about 10 yuan more.

It still comes down to a little over four hundred yuan.

It's a very simple question.

"My goodness, that's over four hundred yuan per person! One trip into the mountains, and they earn four hundred yuan in just three days..."

"If this were grain, our whole family wouldn't be able to finish it in half a year."

After confirming that everyone had indeed received that much money, the group from Chenwangzhuang beamed with joy.

"Let's go, let's go. Now that we've made some money, let's go out to eat. It's my treat today, to properly thank Uncle Fugui and Uncle Lixian."

The short Chen Yubin shouted.

"Shall we go now, bro?"

"How about we go home first, put the money away, and then go to the county town for a drink?"

His brother, Chen Guangbin, was timid and sweating profusely. He had just made money from the sale and dared not go out to eat or drink, fearing that something might happen before he could even enjoy the money, leaving him with nowhere to turn for help.

"Shall we go home first?"

"Yes, let's go home. It's good to be home; it makes me feel at ease."

"Row."

Chen Ling had no objections. He started the tractor again, shifted gears, stepped on the gas, and sputtered off.

(End of this chapter)