1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 21 Never Gets Drunk
Cenhe Commune.

State-owned hotel.

Qiao Erhe and Xiao Fengliang's farewell dinner lasted until it got dark. The two "master and apprentice" drank every last drop of the small jar of wine. Fortunately, both of them had a high alcohol tolerance; otherwise, they would have been completely drunk.

As they walked out of the restaurant, Xiao Fengliang, already quite tipsy, patted his "apprentice" on the shoulder and praised, "Not bad! I didn't expect you to be such a good drinker. Even I, an old drunkard, can't outdrink you. You're truly a formidable young man!"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Erhe couldn't help but smile. In his previous life, although he had a good alcohol tolerance, even at his peak, he could only drink about 1.5 jin of 53-proof liquor at most before his mind became too clear.

In this life, his body, having been cleansed time and again by the spiritual spring water, has been comprehensively strengthened in terms of flesh, bones, and internal organs. Now, in terms of physical strength, Qiao Erhe stands at the pinnacle of the world, and no one can compare with him.

With such a strong physique, his alcohol tolerance naturally reached an incredible level; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk.

Qiao Erhe smiled modestly and said, "Master Xiao, I can only drink with you to a standstill because I'm young. If you were a few years younger, I wouldn't be a match for you."

Whether or not one's face turns red after drinking has little to do with alcohol tolerance. Some people's faces turn red after just one sip of liquor, while others don't even turn red when they're drunk. Xiao Fengliang, however, is the type of person whose face turns red after drinking.

At this moment, Xiao Fengliang, his face flushed and reeking of alcohol, said, "Alright, stop being modest. Do you really think I'm drunk? I've seen all kinds of people at the dinner table. I know your drinking capacity. Among the people I know, I'm afraid only Director Zhou from the grain depot can compare to you."

Qiao Erhe said a few more modest words before taking his leave, saying, "Master Xiao, it's getting dark, so I'll head back now."

"Okay, go back now. Be careful on the road. Let's have a drink together another time when we're free."

"Okay, I'll treat you to drinks another day, Master Xiao."

After exchanging greetings, Qiao Erhe saw that Master Xiao hadn't drunk too much, so he didn't offer to take him home. Instead, he strode towards Qiaojiawan.

By the time Qiao Erhe got home, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening.

At this moment, the family members were sitting at the door chatting. When they saw Qiao Erhe return, Qiao Sanduo immediately stood up and said, "Second brother, you're back. Have you eaten? If not, I'll go and make you a bowl of noodles."

Qiao Erhe waved his hand and said, "No need, I've already eaten."

Qiao Sihai sniffed and asked, "Second Brother, have you been drinking?"

Qiao Erhe said, "I've had a few drinks, you guys chat, I'm going to take a shower."

In this day and age, even communes don't have running water, let alone rural areas. People usually boil water and use buckets to take baths. However, since the weather is quite hot now, rural men usually take cold showers, which is more convenient and saves firewood.

After taking a cold shower and changing into clean clothes, Qiao Erhe went to the door to chat with his family.

During our casual conversation, we unknowingly started talking about selling eggs in the future.

Qiao Sanduo asked, "Big brother, second brother, once our hens start laying eggs, will we sell them directly to the supply and marketing cooperative?"

Qiao Erhe said, "We'll see how the eggs are. If they're no different from other eggs, we'll sell them directly to the supply and marketing cooperative. We won't earn as much that way, but it'll be easier."

"If the quality of the eggs is better than other eggs, then we can take them to the commune or even the city to sell, and I believe we can make a lot more money." He only fed these laying hens diluted spiritual spring water every few days. Currently, these chicks are growing very well. Not only have all 1000 chicks survived, but their growth rate is also faster than that of normal laying hens.

Of course, it's not much faster. Based on the current growth rate, normal laying hens start laying eggs after about four months of raising, while their laying hens probably start laying eggs after about three months of raising, which is about a month faster than normal laying hens.

As for whether the eggs laid by laying hens taste better than regular chicken eggs, or by how much better, you'll only know after you've tasted them.

Anyway, Qiao Erhe's plan is to make these eggs of slightly better quality than ordinary eggs, but not so much better, ideally with the difference between feed-fed eggs and free-range eggs. He will adjust the dilution ratio of the spiritual spring water according to the needs to ensure that the taste of these eggs does not exceed the standard.

Qiao Sanduo asked doubtfully, "Second Brother, aren't all these eggs the same quality?"

Others were also puzzled, mainly because the eggs they had eaten all their lives were either laid by their own hens or given to them by relatives. And the eggs given by relatives were all laid by the hens in their relatives' homes, so they all tasted basically the same.

None of the people present had ever eaten those factory-farmed eggs, so they naturally didn't know that there was a big difference in taste between factory-farmed eggs and free-range eggs.

"Of course it's different."

Qiao Erhe explained with a smile, "If you keep a chicken in a cage all day and feed it fast-growing feed, its eggs will only taste so-so. But if the chickens are free-range, given more space to move around, and fed healthier feed, their eggs will taste much better."

In short, different feeding methods for laying hens will have different effects on the quality of their eggs.

These words left Huang Hongmei, Qiao Dajiang, Qiao Sanduo, Qiao Sihai, and others dumbfounded.

Qiao Sanduo said with admiration, "Second Brother, you know so much."

Huang Hongmei couldn't help but ask, "Second brother, where did you learn all this?"

Qiao Erhe said, "This is no secret. Anyone who has eaten both factory-farmed eggs and free-range eggs knows this."

Qiao Dajiang asked, "Second brother, are the eggs laid by our chickens factory-farmed eggs or free-range eggs?"

Qiao Erhe said, "Of course they are free-range eggs. Our chickens have a wide range of activity, and we feed them all-natural feed, especially earthworms and insects. The eggs will definitely taste good when they lay them."

Qiao Sihai said, "If that's the case, then we need to prepare to sell eggs in the city."

Qiao Erhe nodded and said, "That's right. Once these hens start laying eggs, there will be 1000 eggs a day. The commune's population alone certainly can't consume that many eggs, and the purchase price offered by the supply and marketing cooperative isn't very high. If we really want to sell at a higher price, we can only take the eggs to the city to sell."

"However, it is not an easy task to get so many eggs to the city to sell."

"The main problem is that the eggs break so easily, and I don't know if it would be feasible to transport them by bus."

"It should be fine. We can just learn from the packaging of the supply and marketing cooperatives."

"..."

(End of this chapter)