1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 210 Disadvantages

Li Shihai blinked his eyes, with a pure and innocent stupidity on his face: "Uncle, what do you mean?"

The man sighed and said, "Boss Li, you have never run a chicken farm, so you don't understand the intricacies of this business."

"Take the purchase of livestock for example. When Lezhu Township signs the contract with farmers, it has already determined the purchase price. This price may not be very stable, and sometimes there may be significant fluctuations. This seems very unstable, and farmers seem to be at great risk, and may even lose money."

"But in fact, it is not the case at all. When setting the purchase price, they always follow one principle... they will not lose money to the farmers. No matter how the market fluctuates, they will try their best to ensure the basic income of the farmers. "

"This basic income varies according to market fluctuations. It may be 1 yuan per feather or 1.2 yuan per feather. But no matter what, the income is there and it is kept as stable as possible."

"But our purchase price is based on the market... In the first half of the year, the market price rose, and Dongshan Animal Husbandry and Breeding Company gave us a discount on the market price to buy our first batch of broilers; in the second half of the year, the market price fell, and they also gave us a discount to buy our second batch of broilers."

"According to what they say over there, this is called connecting with the market and exploring a market-oriented operating model."

At this point, the man sighed and said, "Actually, I don't really understand what a market-oriented operation model is."

"But I think if I follow the old business rules and manage everything myself, it doesn't matter... If the chicken market goes up, I'll make more money; if the chicken market goes down, I'll make less money; even if I lose everything, I'll accept it."

"But the problem is... the actual situation is not like that at all!"

The man took a deep puff of his cigarette in frustration, then threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. "You know, in Lezhu Town, Guangdong, the chicken farm has a consignment business for chicks and feed, but if you don't use my chicks and feed, you can forget about signing a contract with me."

"But when they sign the contract with you and set the purchase price, they have already determined the price you will receive for the materials and the costs. Regardless of whether the price of chicken feed goes up or down this year, they will still deliver these things to you at the contract price even if they lose money... In fact, I think this is also one of the most important ways for them to guarantee the profits of the foster farmers. After all, only when all the costs are fixed at the beginning can they calculate the profits that the foster farmers deserve."

"But what about us?"

The man's tone was full of helplessness: "Although Dongshan Animal Husbandry and Breeding Company also sells chicken feed and poultry medicine on behalf of others, they also follow the market. The prices have fluctuated every month in the past two years... Unless you have the money to buy a lot when the price is low, you can't control the breeding costs."

"If that's all, it doesn't really matter. After all, before this year, even if the price of chicken feed fluctuated, it wasn't that big. It doesn't matter if we make a little less money."

"But the problem is that Dongshan Animal Husbandry Company only has one place in town to buy feed and poultry medicine, and chicken farmers in several nearby villages can only buy feed and poultry medicine from them. If they are found to be purchasing from other towns across the region, they will be fined... This problem can cost lives."

Li Shihai looked a little confused: "Isn't this quite normal? The materials of each outlet are all planned and allocated by the superior unit, and each outlet also has its own task indicators. If everyone purchases across regions, wouldn't it be a mess?"

The man chuckled twice: "As I said before, some things are fine in theory, but when it comes to putting them into practice...it depends on the person."

As he spoke, the man took out a pack of red soft-shelled golden leaves from his pocket and handed one to the other: "You know, in the past two years, the agricultural supply store in the town set up by Dongshan Animal Husbandry Company has been out of stock all the time... Often, after the first week of each month, the chicken feed and poultry medicine quotas are used up."

"But the strange thing is that even though the goods have been sold out, everyone can still buy the chicken feed and poultry medicine specified by Dongshan Animal Husbandry Company from a certain store warehouse... Of course, the price must be much higher. The 40 kg chicken feed that originally cost yuan a bag can now be bought for yuan." With a strong sense of helplessness in his tone, the man lit a match and handed it to Li Shihai: "Although everyone knows what's going on, if you are unlucky and can't get the regular price chicken feed in the first few days of the month, what else can you do except to pay a high price?"

"You should know that the staff of Dongshan Animal Husbandry Company stationed in the town will go to the countryside to inspect the work once a month. If they find that you are not using the feed they specify, or the amount of feed is not up to standard, they will immediately impose a heavy fine... And they are very powerful, as if they have clairvoyance. If any foster farmer did not purchase enough chicken feed this month, they can immediately find it."

Li Shihai's expression was a little strange: "Have you ever thought about reporting the problem to Dongshan Livestock Company?"

The man smiled and said, "It was reported. How could it not be reported? Last year, Fatty Xu from Matou Township didn't believe in evil and went straight to the county town to report the situation to the leaders of Dongshan Animal Husbandry Company."

Li Shihai looked curious: "Oh? What's the result?"

The man sighed, "The result? The result was that when the nearly 4,000 reed chickens that Fatty Xu raised were released, the staff found that nearly 2,500 of them were infected with fowl pox, so they refused to accept them... Fatty Xu lost everything he had, and could only wear tattered clothes and shamelessly eat at other people's houses in the village."

Li Shihai's eyes were somewhat profound: "Did he really have chicken pox, or was he being bullied?"

The man glanced at him, turned his head away, and said in a distant tone: "Since it was found by the technicians, it must be true... But later, a batch of reed chickens suddenly appeared in Matou Township and our Sanchunji Township for sale at a low price. It is said that the taste of stewed and fried chickens is very delicious. Everyone kept thinking about it after eating it, and always wondered when they could get another batch of chicken like this."

Li Shihai understood immediately.

Fowl pox is a very troublesome infectious disease nowadays, so it is not surprising that all the chickens in a chicken farm are infected with fowl pox due to poor management or neglect of observation.

Although some unscrupulous farmers will sell these sick or dead chickens with fowl pox at low prices, in fact, unless it is made into five-spice chicken jerky and a series of technologies and hard work are used in the process, it is easy to tell whether the chicken has had fowl pox in its lifetime as soon as you put it in your mouth... Sick and dead chickens with fowl pox have a sticky texture and lack a firm feeling; not to mention they have no freshness or fragrance, they also have an unbearable fishy smell. No matter how much seasoning you put, you can't cover up that weird smell.

By now, Li Shihai roughly understood why the man said that it would be good enough if this batch of egret chickens could be kept after they were sold... There are too many uncontrollable factors, including uncontrollable factors in raw material costs, uncontrollable factors in market prices, and of course, the most fatal are some other factors that are not known to outsiders.

After a moment's hesitation, Li Shihai suddenly asked, "Uncle, apart from the money wasted on feed, how many broiler chickens will be infected with chicken pox in each batch you raise?"

The man felt a little uncomfortable when he heard this, but he glanced at the fashionable watch on Li Shihai's wrist, and then looked at the suit that only bosses on TV would wear. He hesitated for a moment before confessing, "It depends. It depends on whether you know how to behave... Sometimes, about 300 to 500 sheep will be sick when they are released, and sometimes only 50 to 60 will be sick."

Some things don't need to be said explicitly. Li Shihai didn't want to know how to "behave properly" here, nor did he want to ask where those chickens that "had chicken pox" eventually went.

After thinking for a while, Li Shihai looked up at the man who had a look of expectation on his face, and suddenly laughed: "Uncle, it just so happens that our Xialiu Sales Agency has received a big order. We will help supply broiler raw materials to a large company in the next few years;"

"Since the cooperation between uncle and Dongshan Animal Husbandry Company is not very pleasant...how about selling all these chickens to me?"

(End of this chapter)