Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 817 816 Incubator?
Tang Zhitong admitted that he had ulterior motives in arranging the match between Wu Aijun and Ma Wei.

Looking at the world, once you reach a certain social class, marriage is no longer simply a matter between men and women, but becomes a union, a declaration of solidarity concerning the future of two families.

Because of Wu and Ma's family backgrounds, Tang Zhitong thought he could make a move to build a good relationship, in case it came in handy in the future.

Of course, this is based on the premise that Ma Wei has feelings for Wu Aijun.

However, since Xiao Wang did not approve, Tang Zhitong put the matter aside for the time being, since her reply to Wu Aijun did not reveal any intention to act as matchmaker.

There are two basic principles for a good relationship between husband and wife: 1. The wife is always right; 2. If the wife is wrong, please refer to the previous point.

Having figured this out, Tang Zhitong stopped worrying about it and started playing a game of generals and soldiers with Xiao Wang.

After more than ten days of accumulation, the ammunition depot was almost bursting at the seams, and emptying the stockpile became the top priority.

Amidst the clash of swords and the fierce exchange of words, the game lasted for one hour, thirty minutes, and nine and a half seconds, setting a new personal record.

Exhausted and covered in sweat, Tang Zhitong lay on the bed like a dead dog, his muscles feeling as if they had been overwhelmed by dopamine, and he didn't want to move an inch.

Napoleon once said that the best soldiers are those who help the general clean up his guns after a battle.

Yes, Xiao Wang is a good soldier...

Saturday, October 5.

As the Taoists say, the harmony of Yin and Yang invigorates the mind.

When Tang Zhitong opened the door early in the morning, he saw Beibei playing by the door, scratching at small insects with her paws.

If the insect plays dead, Beibei will stay still; if the insect tries to crawl away, Beibei will pull it back with its paw; if the insect tries to fly, Beibei will slap it down.

"What are you looking at? If you don't go eat soon, you'll be late for work." Xiao Wang folded the bedding inside the house and saw her husband squatting at the door watching Beibei play with the insects when she went out.

"Hey, a click beetle, ever seen one before?" Ignoring Bei Bei's objections, Tang Zhitong reached out and picked up the bug that was pretending to be dead on the ground, then put it on his fingernail to show Xiao Wang.

Click beetles, a common childhood toy for many little boys, don't bite, but their heads are strong and can make a slight "thump" sound when tapped on fingernails.

The elders in my family often say that it's a kowtowing insect begging the Dragon King for rain.

However, according to Tang Zhitong's observation, this statement is not accurate; most of the time, even if someone's head is knocked off, it won't rain.

Because of the specific action of kowtowing, when the wind picks up, many children will say that the kowtowing bugs have no backbone, so they are called traitors, and are beings that will be played with to death if caught.

"Oh dear, take it away, take it away, it's creepy to look at." When Xiao Wang saw the appearance of the worm, he backed away as if he wanted to avoid it at all costs.

"You've eaten cicada nymphs before, why are you afraid of this thing?" Tang Zhitong asked, picking up the cricket as instructed.

"How can they be the same? That one is for eating, this one... I don't like it anyway." Xiao Wang frowned.

"Alright, then let Beibei play with it." Tang Zhitong bounced on the ground, and Beibei jumped up beside her.

In terms of reaction speed, cats are countless times better than humans. Beibei caught the beetle accurately and ran away as if afraid that Tang Zhitong would snatch it again.

The act of flicking the beetle was just for show for Xiao Wang. By the time they reached the main house, Tang Zhitong had already plowed the entire yard again.

Although click beetles are fun, they are pests that feed on plant roots and stems, so they should not be kept at home.

Tang Zhitong has been busy attending the "Gathering of Heroes" in Beijing lately and hasn't had time to take care of the vegetable garden in the yard.

I don't know if these insects are remnants from previous cleanups or newly flown in from outside, but some of them seem to be planning to settle down and breed here.

Tang Zhitong didn't indulge them. He plucked out all the ones he could sense. The smaller ones were buried directly in the toilet to ferment and be used as fertilizer next year. The larger ones were all stuffed into the neighbor's swallows' house. The swallows had been building their nests for so long, but the two families hadn't even had a chance to visit each other. It was a bit impolite, so he made up for it today.

After breakfast, Tang Zhitong didn't go to the transport office. Instead, he strolled over to the Post and Telecommunications Institute with his classmate Xiao Wang.

Zhou Zheng painstakingly helped Tang Rong compile the application guide, and Tang Zhitong planned to bring some meat to thank her.

Arriving at the mulberry trees along the only road, Tang Zhitong parked his bicycle, looked down at the mulberries on the ground, and then looked up at the mulberries hanging on the trees. To outsiders, he looked just like a passerby who had come from the city to pick mulberries.

There were scattered purple marks on the road, which were caused by the sap from mulberries falling from the treetops and hitting the ground.

Mulberry juice has a strong coloring effect, and since there are no cleaners on the street right now, the stains from more than ten days ago are still clearly visible. In addition, the continuous falling of mulberries in recent days has caused many spots on the road.

However, there were only a few spots; there weren't many mulberries on the road. Most of the fallen mulberries were overripe and were either picked up and eaten by birds or by passersby.

Tang Zhitong pretended to pluck another batch of mulberries from the top of the mulberry tree, intending to take them home for an extra meal that evening.

A few days ago, when Tang Zhitong went to work at the grassroots level, his classmate Xiao Wang gave him fifty yuan. Tang Zhitong pretended that he had spent less than ten yuan, kept five yuan for himself, and returned the rest to her.

Tang Zhitong planned to pretend that the money he kept was pocket money he had earned from "cherry purchases" after "chance encounters" with street vendors.

Tang Zhitong still remembers that Xiao Wang didn't get to eat cherries yesterday.

After waiting a while, when no one was around, Tang Zhitong pulled a fat rabbit out of his spatial storage, grabbed it by its two hind legs, and before the rabbit could react, slammed it against the tree trunk with a "bang".

"Rabbit, when you get there, don't forget to ask around whether monks who don't eat rice will go to Avici Hell." Tang Zhitong deftly pulled off the rabbit's leather coat while assigning the rabbit a task.

As for the report, forget it. Anyway, Tang Zhitong thought that monk should go to hell and experience all kinds of torture.

Tang Zhitong put the coat back into his spatial storage, tied the rabbit to the handlebars, and rode his bicycle straight to the staff quarters of the Post and Telecommunications Institute.

This rabbit was a thank-you gift for Teacher Zhou. Compared to Zhou Zheng, Teacher's wife was much easier to talk to. After a few polite words, she happily accepted the rabbit.

Tang Zhitong didn't linger. He left the family compound, turned a corner, and went straight to the Post and Telecommunications Institute.

Since we're already here anyway, we might as well check on the progress of the incubator. If the second prototype has been completed, it can be sent to the maternity hospital, saving Lü Lixian the trouble of urging us again.

"Hey, Teacher Tang, what brings you here?" Shi Zhengze said with a smile when he saw Tang Zhitong.

Ever since Tang Zhitong started making incubators, he not only promised a spot to stay in Beijing, but also didn't punish Zhuang Lei when Tao Yingjie complained about him. As a result, his status in the research class rose, and gradually some students in the research class began to call Tang Zhitong "Teacher Tang".

"Of course it's the northwest wind. Yesterday, the northwest wind told me that our research team has finished making the second insulated box, so I came to take a look." Shi Zhengze liked to joke, and Tang Zhitong responded with a joke.

There are already two incubators in the corner of the research class. One of them contains a bird's nest, and Tang Zhitong can see the baby birds inside through the glass.

"Hey, the Northwest Wind is quick to spread rumors. We just finished making it yesterday." Shi Zhengze naturally didn't believe that the Northwest Wind could deliver a message, but that didn't stop him from continuing to joke.

"Exactly, Northwest Wind's sense of secrecy is lacking. He'll be reprimanded next time." Tang Zhitong walked to the incubator with a smile, looking down at the sleeping baby birds inside: "Did you catch these?"

"Yeah, we searched through several bird nests before finding this one that was suitable. When we first put it in, it was completely bare, without a single feather," Bi Bin chimed in from the side.

"Not bad, not bad, did you find any bird eggs?" These days, stealing birds' eggs from trees and catching fish in rivers are both legal activities, and you won't go to jail no matter how much you catch.

"We found them. Old Shi wanted to put them in an incubator to hatch, but we voted against it. The eggs are all in his belly." Bi Bin said, drawing a circle in front of his stomach.

"That's good. It's safest to keep them inside. They won't be able to fly out." Tang Zhitong chuckled. Not incubating them was the right thing to do. Using chicks for experiments was mainly to verify the reliability of the incubator, not an egg incubator.

Hmm, an incubator? An incubator can indeed be converted into an incubator!

There aren't many chicken farms or duck farms these days, but they do exist. At least the ducks used by Quanjude come from duck farms.

Now, supply and marketing cooperatives purchase eggs and live chickens from their members, and live chickens are also sold in the market. The supply of live chickens is already insufficient to meet the demand.

If this continues, by the time the grains have recovered, the live chickens will be almost gone, and then the peak of chick hatching will surely arrive.

Compared to a regular hen brooding, an incubator is far more efficient.

"Teacher Tang, what are you thinking about?" Shi Zhengze noticed that Tang Zhitong had drifted off into thought while talking, so he gently nudged him and asked.

"Oh, the team leader just said you wanted to use an incubator to hatch the eggs. I'm wondering if that's feasible," Tang Zhitong said with a smile, speaking frankly.

“It’s feasible, of course it’s feasible! The temperature fluctuation in the incubator is very small. As long as the appropriate temperature is set, we don’t need to do anything. The hatching efficiency will definitely be higher than that of birds. We can use it to test the incubators we assemble later, so we won’t have to climb trees to raid bird nests anymore.” Shi Zhengze got excited and gesticulated as he told Tang Zhitong about his idea.

"The idea is good, I think this method is feasible. However, isn't it a waste to use it for hatching birds? If this thing were used to hatch chickens, ducks, and geese, it would not only free up the mother birds but also improve hatching efficiency. Farms would definitely love it!"

Tang Zhitong had heard a rumor that the goods used to repay debts included eggs. When the goods arrived at the port, people would measure them one by one with calipers, only keeping the large ones and not the small ones.

It's not easy to tell whether it's true or false, because Tang Zhitong has never staked out the northern border.

These days, even eggs from farms can easily vary in size because chicks are hatched by hens. When a hen decides to brood is beyond human control, so precise timing is impossible. As a result, the chicks grow at different times, leading to variations in egg size.

"A breeding farm? What breeding farm? Are there factories in Beijing that specialize in raising chickens and ducks?" Shi Zhengze was stunned. This information was beyond his imagination.

"It might also be called a breeding production team, something like that, don't worry about the name. Your idea is great, it has a bright future!" Of course, there are breeding farms these days, but ordinary people don't have access to them, and the eggs produced by them don't end up on ordinary people's tables.

Even so, incubators will still have their place in China. Once a batch is hatched, small vendors can carry two large baskets, walking around calling out, "Selling~ chicks~!"

The taste of childhood can be brought back with just a scratch.

Most importantly, the incubator can be made into an incubator for export. The domestic automated farming industry is underdeveloped, but can there be no market for farming abroad? After all, many countries have high per capita income and high intake of meat and protein, all of which are inseparable from the support of the farming industry.

Tang Zhitong became more and more excited as he thought about it, and planned to arrange another market survey about incubators for Miao Xiaoqin on the way back.

"Really?" After receiving confirmation from Tang Zhitong, Shi Zhengze was still somewhat incredulous. He had initially only thought about hatching bird eggs to reduce the burden on his classmates, and had never considered the direction of animal husbandry.

“Really. I’ll take this one with me today and deliver it to the maternity hospital so they can try it out. We’ll make another one later, modify the design slightly, and make it specifically for incubation. I’ll figure out how to sell it.” Tang Zhitong has plenty of funding for the incubator project, which gives her the confidence to act decisively.

"Great!" Encouraged, Shi Zhengze rubbed his hands together, ready to work hard and build another machine!
"By the way, how's the incubator doing? Is the temperature and humidity control accurate?" Before sending the incubator to the maternity hospital, Tang Zhitong pointed to the machine next to her that was being used for experiments with baby birds and asked.

The chicks are still small, with only a few feathers, and it's impossible to tell what kind they are from their appearance. However, judging from how soundly they are sleeping, they should be able to be released after about twenty more days.

“No problem, these silly birds eat and sleep all day. Comrade He Ping comes over three times a day to record their growth. According to her, they are very healthy,” Shi Zhengze said with a grin.

He Ping comes over every day, and when he goes back in the evening, he becomes a sought-after student, with several classmates showing great enthusiasm in this regard.

"Then this matter is probably settled. Once the maternity hospital passes the inspection, we'll have a celebration banquet!" Tang Zhitong had mentioned several times that she wanted to celebrate the research team's success, but she hadn't set a time yet. This time, she simply set a time, so that passing the inspection wouldn't be like celebrating halfway through, which was just right.

The insulated box was large, and the group carefully carried it downstairs. Bi Bin was worried that it would get bumped or damaged if tied to the bicycle, so he brought his own quilt from the dormitory to cushion it.

Even so, Tang Zhitong did not ride the bicycle, but pushed it forward. Bi Bin, Shi Zhengze and others held the bicycle from the back seat like guardian deities, ensuring its safety.

After a couple of hours of dawdling, the group finally delivered the incubator to the maternity hospital. Lü Lixian happened to be there as well, and the handover procedures were completed very smoothly.

"Sister-in-law, please keep their phone number. Call them if there are any problems later." After the incubator was set up and Lü Lixian learned the basic operation, Tang Zhitong realized that an instruction manual was missing.

The incubator is crucial to the health of premature infants. The instruction manual should not only explain how to use the equipment, but also how to troubleshoot simple malfunctions. This is something that these college students need to work on later.

(End of this chapter)