My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 317 Future Planning, High-End Ornamental Fish
Tiannan City was formerly known as Nantai. Legend has it that in ancient times, there were frequent floods, and a five-colored divine ox descended to earth to control the floods, so it was also called Ox City.

Why was it a divine ox that controlled the floods, and not a divine dragon, tortoise, or phoenix?

This also has historical origins.

Because the cattle from the southern part of the country have a great reputation throughout history.

This "cattle" refers not only to yellow cattle but also to water buffalo.

However, the yellow cattle are still slightly more famous in terms of reputation, and the yellow cattle beef from this city is also well-known.

"It's a pity that in a few years, the local yellow cattle will be impacted by foreign beef cattle and gradually decline. It will even be difficult to find a real Tiannan yellow cattle."

Sitting outside a breakfast shop in the flower, bird, insect and fish market, Chen Ling looked up at the image and description of scalpers on the billboard and said with some emotion.

Local yellow beef is tender and flavorful, especially the kind of yellow cattle raised in the countryside that have just grown up. After slaughtering, you can stew a big pot of it without adding any seasonings, just a sprinkle of salt.

The beef was so delicious after it came out of the pot that you almost wanted to swallow your tongue.

Unfortunately, the downside is that the local cattle are small.

Even a fully grown ox that has been raised for two or three years will only weigh four or five hundred jin (200-25

And what about the imported beef cattle?
It can grow to 800 pounds in a year.

However, people don't know the significance of this; they only know that the price of beef is the same.

Cattle farmers will naturally choose cattle that grow quickly and produce more meat.

The money earned from raising one beef cattle a year is equivalent to the money earned from raising two local yellow cattle over two or three years.

Naturally, everyone prefers beef cattle that fetch higher prices.

As for whether the meat tastes good or not, hardly anyone considers that.

This is similar to the relationship between local black pigs and foreign pigs.

After foreign pigs came in, not many people were willing to raise native pigs anymore.

"We should pay attention to this in the future. Some people will raise black pigs in the future, but the local yellow cattle have not improved at all."

As Chen Ling drank the beef offal soup, he secretly made a mental note of this incident.

Even when people in later generations paid more attention to food quality, the price of local yellow beef could not be raised, which was a drawback.

I'll buy two cows next year and do a few rounds of selective breeding; that should solve the problem of slow growth.

He had originally planned to buy some livestock to raise once his child could run around.

Everyone has their own preferences; he liked this thing when he was a child.

Back then, I was always thinking about stealing horses from the riding team.

Upon arriving in the city, the first thing to do is visit the flower, bird, insect, and fish market.

……

"Sir, how much is your budgie?"

"Five yuan a pair."

"Will you sell one?"

"Yes, we sell them one too, three yuan each."

"Your parrot is quite expensive."

At a bird stall, Chen Ling leaned over and looked at dozens of budgies flapping their wings and flying around in a rectangular iron cage, and said.

These days, when they sell birds, they don't even pack them in pairs and put them in cages for you.

Of course, there are cages nearby as well.

Only buy cages if you need them.

Most people don't need one; many people can make their own birdcages.

I bought the bird, caught it, and went home.

When Chen Ling bought bird nets last year, he saw parrots for sale in Wangbacheng, and the ordinary ones were only one yuan each.

The nice ones with long tails only cost three yuan a pair.

In the city, it would cost two yuan more.

However, even if it's two yuan more expensive, seeing that the man had quite a few different kinds of parrots, Chen Ling said, "Then can you catch me a pair of each kind of parrot and give me a discount?"

"You want these two for ten yuan a pair?"

The old man pointed to the cockatiel's cage and asked.

"Yes, can you give me a discount?"

"It can be cheaper."

This is a big client, so we can't let them get away.

The stall owner nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, "I'll pick out all the nice ones for you, the fancy ones, and I'll get you both male and female ones."

In fact, most parrot species are similar to pheasants, with males being more flamboyant and colorful, while females are slightly less so.

Do you need a cage?

"No cage."

Since he didn't want a cage, the old man put all the parrots into a small net bag for Chen Ling.

This net is made of the same material as the bird nets. You can find these at bird stalls.

Once the parrot was packed, Chen Ling picked up the net bag and continued shopping.

This parrot was bought for Wang Susu and her son to play with.

Of course, once the birds are bred in the cave, they can also be sold as pets and high-end ornamental birds.

The best outcome is to be able to enjoy hobbies without losing one's ambition and even earn money to support one's family.

Chen Ling continued strolling around, asking people what pets were expensive and popular these days.

The answers received were varied and diverse.

But most people agree.

One is ornamental fish, and the other is a dog.

Dogs are easy to talk about; Chen Ling knows a lot about them.

Dogs these days...

From the mid-to-late 90s until around 08, most of the popular dogs in China were foreign breeds.

One type is the Pug and the Lion Dog. The Lion Dog is white with long hair, small in stature, and has short legs, resembling a small lion.

Another type is the German Shepherd, a large breed that is very popular among the wealthy.

If you see a family in the countryside that owns a German Shepherd, then that person must be either rich or noble.

In places like Huangni Town and Wangbacheng, there are many people who own factories or mines and keep these kinds of large dogs.

Even police dogs and military dogs are often German Shepherds.

"Right now it's dogs, but in a few years it'll be cats. Whether you're keeping a dog or a cat, imported breeds will be all the rage..."

That's true. After all, the domestic breeds aren't very attractive, so it's understandable that people like to keep cute pets.

But then you think about how imported breeds of cats and dogs have dominated the pet world for two or three decades.

Finally, local cats and dogs were abandoned, and many people in rural areas started raising Teddy dogs and Golden Retrievers.

Even police and military dogs are mostly foreign breeds, such as Belgian Malinois and East German dogs. The only breed that is considered good domestically is the Chinese Blue Dog, also known as the Wolfhound.

But it's just a small foothold.

Thinking about this, Chen Ling felt that he should do something next.

When I have time, I should still do some selective breeding for local cats and dogs.

Let's breed some of our own domestic pets.

While leisurely enjoying life, start with things you like and do something small, but still meaningful.

Why don't we also do some pet export then, and let the intelligent and loyal Chinese dog and the domestic cat with maxed-out hunting skills go international?
It should be feasible.

Bees, cattle, cats and dogs—I have a lot to do too.

This isn't urgent, and it shouldn't be rushed. We can take our time with it later.

Of course, it wasn't a big deal for him, and he didn't feel any pressure. He could get things done while playing around.

Besides these, there are fish.

But Chen Ling didn't know anything about fish.

Even his understanding of fighting fish and Qinling fine-scaled salmon came from Feng Yi, which made him realize how precious these creatures were.

However, these two types of fish are not mainstream and are not well known to most people.

He wanted to know the current market price of ornamental fish, so he needed to go around asking around and inquiring about prices.

The flower, bird, insect and fish market here is not far from the train station, so it is not very large.

There aren't any very high-end or premium ornamental fish either.

Chen Ling took a quick look around, but seeing that he couldn't get any information out of them, he didn't linger. He went to the public restroom to put the parrot back in its burrow, and then went to find the next place.

There are plenty of dog markets, livestock markets, and flower, bird, insect and fish markets in Tiannan City. This place doesn't have everything you need; there are even bigger markets out there.

After boarding a swaying bus, Chen Ling crossed most of the city and made several detours before finally finding a place that sold high-end ornamental fish.

Asking about the price made me realize that the trip was worthwhile.

Goodness, a single "lionhead" goldfish can sell for anywhere from tens to hundreds of yuan.

Koi are the most dazzling stars among goldfish and ornamental fish. Good quality koi can cost several hundred yuan, and some can even reach thousands of yuan.

Based on this price, Chen Ling felt that he didn't need to do anything else; he could get rich just by raising fish in the cave.

"Alright, I think we don't even need to sell ginseng anymore. At this price, we can easily save up enough to buy a car next year just by selling fish."

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PS:
I haven't started my holiday yet. I've been busy with work these past few days. The beginning of the month is the busiest time, and with the National Day holiday, it's even more hectic.

The update frequency has been low lately, and it will take two days for it to return to normal.

I will make up the word count later. I apologize for any impact on your reading experience.

Finally, I wish everyone a happy holiday, a relaxing break, and lots of fun.

(End of this chapter)