1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 201 We won’t have many more days like this!
Under the leadership of Li Zhimin, the commune director of the ferry.

Su Wenchen came to the guesthouse not far from the ferry.

On the mottled white wall outside the guesthouse, the slogan "Agriculture Learns from Dazhai" has been blackened by the coal smoke from frequent cooking.

Originally, Su Wenchen thought that the Dongfeng Commune, which controlled the ferry, should have a good life. However, looking at this guesthouse, it did not seem as comfortable as he had imagined.

Walk into the guesthouse.

Su Wenchen found that the temperature rose instantly.

The kettle hissed on the honeycomb coal stove, and the thick white steam coming out of the spout reminded people around from time to time that the water was boiling.

Seeing this, Li Zhimin shouted directly inside.

"Lao Liu, the water is boiling. Where did you put the tea I left here last time? I want to entertain Brother Su. Are the dishes I ordered ready?"

Hear Li Zhimin's voice.

A tall master chef poked his head out of the kitchen.

"Director Li, it's in the second cabinet in the first row. Your order will be ready soon. Have some tea to warm your stomach first."

Hearing this, Li Zhimin walked to the cabinet next to him, rummaged around, took out a small bag of tea, then picked up the kettle and said to Su Wenchen.

"Brother Su, the food will be ready soon. Let's go to the room and have some tea and wait!"

As he said this, he led the way in front.

As he passed by closed doors, Su Wenchen could vaguely hear the noisy sounds of drinking inside.

After Su Wenchen walked in, he found that it was similar to the small room in the hotel box.

However, the conditions were definitely far from perfect. The small room only had a clothes rack, a wooden table and four long benches that were popular in that era.

Su Wenchen glanced at him casually.

The lower part of the wooden window frame has cracked, and there is not even any glass inlaid. It is just covered with yellowed newspaper. When the north wind blows by, a corner of the newspaper is lifted, and you can even see the silhouettes of the ferry militia holding guns to check the vehicles boarding the ship.

Judging from the layout of the rooms in the guesthouse of the other commune, Su Wenchen believed that it should be developing in the direction of a restaurant, and the purpose was most likely to make money from the passing transport drivers.

Moreover, as I walked along the way, I saw that several rooms were already occupied. It was obvious that business was good and they could make some money.

After all, the salary of drivers in this era is already at an upper-middle level, and this is for drivers who drive short distances and transport passengers.

Drivers who do long-distance freight not only receive various long-distance subsidies, but can even smuggle some other items.

There is no shortage of hidden income alone, and they should be the group that is more willing to spend in this era.

Not long after I sat down.

Li Zhimin had just made hot tea with hot water.

A voice was heard outside.

"The fish are coming!"

After a while, a tall and strong master craftsman came in carrying a large willow tray.

on the tray.

A carp with golden scales and a red tail was frozen on the plate with its head held high and its tail raised, as if it had just jumped out of the waves of the Yellow River.

Especially the amber sweet and sour sauce on the outside and the oily sheen make people's appetite increase greatly.

After arranging it, the master said directly.

"Director Li, have a good meal! Call me if you need anything."

Li Zhimin nodded.

"Okay, Lao Liu, go get busy!"

As he said that, he immediately picked up the chopsticks and gestured to Su Wenchen.

"Brother Su, this is all we can do due to limited conditions. Come and try our sweet and sour Yellow River carp!!"

Su Wenchen frowned upon seeing this. In this day and age, serving such a dish to entertain guests would definitely cost a lot of money.

If this is simple, what is the usual? And this is sugar and oil, which are relatively expensive in this era.

So I’m afraid this meal isn’t that delicious.

Su Wenchen put down his chopsticks immediately.

"Director Li, let's get this straight first! Otherwise, if you're being so grand, I really won't be able to eat this meal."

"Don't worry, I'm right here. If I can help, I will definitely help, so let's be direct!"

Hearing Su Wenchen say this, and the other party having already arrived.

Li Zhimin sighed.

"Since you've said this, I can't hide it anymore."

“Brother Su, you don’t know, our life here is so hard!”

Su Wenchen immediately became alert when he heard this. Ever since what happened with his childhood friend Zhuang Lin, he has become extremely wary of people who play the victim.

Obviously, the person who plays the victim right from the start is definitely trying to arouse your sympathy and gain something from you.

However, he didn't show any expression on his face and still looked like he was listening attentively.

Li Zhimin looked at Su Wenchen and continued.

"Brother Su, you don't know that the land in our commune is almost all saline-alkali land. Only a few improved fields can grow crops. The lives of the brigades below are even more difficult than each other. We work on an empty stomach most of the time every year." Su Wenchen fell into thought when he heard this.

Most of what the other party said should be true, because as he walked along, he found that large areas of saline-alkali land in the Yellow River flood area were covered with saline-alkali land.

Some of the cracked land was even spitting out white foam.

Although there are some improved fields, their scale is relatively limited. At the very least, it is impossible to be self-sufficient relying on these improved fields.

But the other commune is close to the ferry, so they should be living a good life!

Moreover, in terms of the completeness of the construction of the other commune’s headquarters, it is better than their Beiwan Commune.

Their commune is actually more like a large village, except that it has one more street, a branch of the post office, and state-owned units such as the supply and marketing cooperative.

For most things, even slightly serious illnesses, you basically have to go to the county.

From the current perspective, the other commune is obviously developing well.

Although there might not be enough food, we can exchange some locally caught fish with passing drivers so that we don’t go hungry all year round!
Thinking of this, Su Wenchen asked directly.

"Director Li, I see that you are doing quite well here! The team members are in good spirits, and you have a special guesthouse. I don't think life is as difficult as you say!"

Li Zhimin shook his head.

"Brother Su, I won't hide it from you. We are doing well now. We can make a lot of money just from the agricultural construction fees we collect from the ferry every day."

"But we don't have many days like this left."

"In Pingyin, a few days downstream, a cross-river bridge has been under construction since last year, and it is being built by the engineering corps of the provincial military region. The construction speed is very fast and it is estimated that it will be completed and open to traffic this year or next year at the latest."

"Moreover, this bridge is a real highway bridge, different from the railway bridge upstream. It is ten meters wide. I'm afraid the ferry at our ferry port can only be used to transport members from both sides of the strait to visit relatives."

As he said this he took a sip of tea.

"Do you think I can stop being anxious?"

Obviously, building a cross-river bridge downstream may be a good thing at the national level, because it not only speeds up the mobilization of materials between regions.

It also facilitates the mobilization of troops and speeds up support.

Even communication between the people on both sides of the strait will be more convenient, but for the Dongfeng Commune, which controls the ferry, this is simply a disaster.

There will definitely be no more good things like collecting tolls in the future.

After all, the bridge deck is ten meters wide, and there are not so many cars in this era.

There will be no traffic jams.

After all, even if only two cars can pass through the ferry every hour, there are only about a hundred cars stuck in traffic.

After hearing this, Su Wenchen roughly understood what the other party meant. It was obvious that he would not be able to make money from the drivers in the future.

Given the current conditions of the other party’s commune, it will be a real problem to fill their stomachs in the future.

Although I can earn some extra income by fishing in the Yellow River, fish are not that easy to catch.

Besides, the price for selling to these drivers is one price, and the price for selling to the surrounding counties is another price.

Obviously, fish cannot be sold at a high price in the eyes of local people.

But they don't have the conditions to transport it to other places.

So the other party knows his development history and wants to develop the breeding industry?
But we can’t even grow crops here, how can we develop?

However, after knowing the other party's approximate purpose, Su Wenchen felt relieved.

Said directly.

"Director Li, so you want to take advantage of the fact that the commune still has some spare money to develop other industries as much as possible?"

If this is the case, Su Wenchen thinks that this person has long-term ideas.

Hearing this, Li Zhimin nodded.

"Yeah, what else can we do? We can't just live on those few acres of improved farmland!"

"Brother Su, you don't know that improving saline-alkali fields is a long process and cannot be completed in a day or two. But before that, I have to find other income for the members below!"

Su Wenchen raised his eyebrows.

"So you plan to raise chickens? But you can only grow so much food here. Do you have anything to feed the chickens?"

Judging from the current conditions, Su Wenchen doesn't think there are conditions for raising livestock here.

Hearing that Su Wenchen's attitude had softened and that Li Zhimin had taken the initiative to mention this, a smile appeared on his face.

"Brother Su, we can raise chickens here. We can't grow anything else in this saline-alkali land, so we planted large tracts of Suaeda salsa."

"We can use it to feed chickens and cows. We can even grind it into powder and make steamed bread. However, the eggs laid by chickens that have eaten this grass have a different smell. Brother Su, wait a minute!"

Then he stood up and walked outside.

Looking at the other person's figure, Su Wenchen wondered whether he should help with this matter, or what would be best for him.

Before he could think clearly, the other party hurriedly came in with a steamer full of steaming yellow-brown steamed bread.

There were also two what appeared to be steamed eggs on top.

As he said that, the other party immediately cracked the eggshell and showed it to Su Wenchen.

"Brother Su, look, this is the egg laid by the chickens that grew up eating Suaeda salsa. Try it and you'll see that it tastes really different."

(End of this chapter)