1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 15 Stunned
"Hongmei, why do you raise so many chickens?"

"Sister-in-law, what's going on here? There must be at least several hundred chickens here!"

"Hongmei, how dare you be so bold? We have to sneak around when we raise a few chickens and ducks, and you're raising so many? Aren't you afraid the brigade and commune leaders will come after you?"

"..."

When relatives and friends arrived, they were all stunned when they saw the 1000 chicks the Qiao family was raising.

Although raising chickens was the idea of ​​her second son, Huang Hongmei only took the money meant for her eldest son's wedding and gave it to the siblings to squander, and didn't care about anything else. But now that the chickens were up and running, she naturally wanted to show off in front of relatives and friends.

Therefore, when asked by relatives and friends, Huang Hongmei smiled and said, "There are 1000 chicks here. In the past, we had a rule for raising chickens: three chickens were socialist and five chickens were capitalist. However, this rule was broken by Deng Xiaoping more than two years ago. When Deng Xiaoping inspected Guangzhou, he said that no matter how many chickens and ducks we farmers raise, it is all socialist. That's why our family dared to raise these 1000 chicks."

Upon hearing this, Sister-in-law Huang was shocked and blurted out, "Hongmei, is what you're saying true? The government no longer restricts how many chickens and ducks we can raise?"

Other relatives and friends were also very excited. Chicken and duck farming is very important for rural people. Many farmers rely on the eggs laid by their old hens, collect the eggs for ten days or half a month, and then sell them to exchange for some living supplies.

In this day and age, eggs are indispensable, whether visiting relatives or for elderly people, children, or pregnant women who need nourishment.

If the government didn't restrict the number of chickens and ducks raised, they would only need to raise ten or eight more laying hens. When these hens start laying eggs, besides exchanging some of the eggs for living supplies, wouldn't their families also be able to enjoy these delicious eggs?
Thinking of this, the relatives and friends present were all excited.

Huang Hongmei said with a beaming smile, "Of course I'm telling the truth. This has even made the news. If Deng Xiaoping hadn't actually said something like that, our family wouldn't have dared to raise so many laying hens all at once!"

When the relatives and friends heard this, they all nodded in agreement.

That makes perfect sense. In today's society, if it weren't for Deng Xiaoping's words, who would dare to raise thousands of laying hens at once? Wouldn't that be a death wish?
After receiving a definite answer, the relatives and friends present were all silently planning to raise more chickens and ducks when they got back. As for the number of chickens and ducks, they hadn't decided yet, but they would start with at least a few dozen.

Looking at the partially dug trench around them, Aunt Qiao asked, "Sister-in-law, what's the purpose of this trench? Are you building a new house?"

Huang Hongmei shook her head and said, "We don't have the money to build a new house now. We raise so many laying hens. We originally planned to use timber to fence this place off, but timber is too expensive. So we'll just dig a trench to replace the timber for now, so that the laying hens can't escape."

Brother Huang frowned and said, "Hongmei, this can't go on. This ditch can't stop people. When your chickens grow up, you won't even know if some shady people take them away."

Brother Huang chimed in, "Hongmei, we really have to be careful about this. You've raised so many chickens, even if someone comes and takes some away, you probably won't even know. You'll suffer a huge loss then."

Huang Hongmei said, "There's nothing we can do about it, but don't worry too much. There are people watching the house during the day, and the chickens are kept in the chicken coop at night. Even if some shady people want to steal the chickens, it won't be an easy thing."

Besides, my eldest son has already asked someone to help find puppies. Once we have a few dogs to help guard the house, no one should dare to mess with our laying hens.”

Brother Huang nodded and said, "It's good that you know what's going on."

……

noon.

The Qiao family held a banquet.

This time, for the seventh son of the Qiao family to turn ten, a total of five tables of guests were invited, plus family members, making a total of six tables. Although there were only four dishes and three bowls of food, they were all impressive main dishes, and the portions were very generous, so the feast was naturally very popular.

After all, in this day and age, even urban residents lack meat, let alone rural people. Given that they can hardly eat meat even once a month, seeing such a table full of meat dishes is like a mouse falling into a rice jar—it's so damn satisfying.

Especially the fish cake that was served first; the huge bowl was emptied in less than ten seconds.

Qiao Erhe ate the fresh, tender, and delicious fish cake, feeling quite satisfied. This fish cake was not only famous in their area, but it was also a delicacy that men, women, and children all loved.

The meal lasted until 2 p.m.

The dishes on the table were almost completely devoured, and all the relatives and friends were stuffed.

In this day and age, such a lavish feast is a rare treat for rural people, perhaps only once a year. And since they had all given red envelopes (gifts of money), they naturally ate to their hearts' content.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the relatives and friends began to say goodbye and leave.

After all the relatives and friends had left, the Qiao family gathered together to take stock and see if the banquet had been a profitable or unprofitable event.

Huang Hongmei counted all the red envelopes given by relatives and friends before saying to her children, "I earned a total of 12 yuan."

Qiao Dajiang chimed in, "If you calculate it that way, then we should have lost money, because the fish at the banquet were all caught by the second brother. If we sold all those fish, they would definitely be worth more than 12 yuan. So overall, we've lost money."

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "It's all just a small amount of money, no need to worry about it. At least our relatives and friends were quite satisfied with the meal today, and they all gave it high praise, so it was worth it."

Huang Hongmei looked at her second son and said, "Today, your eldest uncle, second uncle, and your aunt all asked about raising chickens. Judging from what they said, they probably want to raise chickens with our family as well."

Qiao Erhe said, "The prospects for raising chickens are definitely very good, but have you explained the risks involved to them?"

Huang Hongmei said, "I have already told them about the risks. Your uncle's idea is to raise a hundred or so to try first. If it goes well, we can increase the number later."

Qiao Erhe nodded and said, "It's good that they know the risks. What I'm afraid of is blindly following others without any awareness of the risks. If something unexpected happens, they might not be able to accept it and might blame us."

"This has nothing to do with me. It's not like I told them to raise chickens."

Huang Hongmei first shirked responsibility, then put away the money and said to her youngest daughter, "Liuduo, I need to poop (the character for poop is pronounced 'gai' and the character for poop is pronounced 'sou', both are in the third tone), come and fan me."

Qiao Liuduo reluctantly replied, "Oh."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Sanduo couldn't help but reminisce. Because of her obesity, Fat Old Ba was extremely sensitive to heat. In the past, when she needed to relieve herself, Qiao Sanduo would always help her fan her. Later, when Qiao Sanduo grew up, this task was taken over by Qiao Liuduo.

She observed a moment of silence for three seconds in remembrance of her younger sister.

(End of this chapter)