1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 30 Growing up
morning.

When Qiao Sanduo started feeding the chickens, Qiao San's mother came to the chicken coop to help clean up the chicken droppings.

After cleaning up all the chicken droppings in the chicken coop, Qiao Sanma said to Qiao Erhe who came over, "Erhe, you and your brother can keep these chicken droppings to sell for money, instead of letting the villagers come and take them away."

Qiao Erhe said, "Third Aunt, I know that, but we're all related by blood, and chicken manure isn't worth much. If you want, just come and take it."

Aunt Qiao sighed, "A few years ago, some people in the village almost fought over a pile of cow dung, but now you let the villagers come and take away all this chicken manure so easily. Only you and your brother are so generous."

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "It's only now that people still value our chicken manure. Next year, when everyone starts raising chickens and ducks on a large scale, no one will lack manure. Unless we find another market, even if we give the chicken manure away, people won't want it."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Qiao sighed, "It's truly unimaginable that there would be a day when no one wants excrement."

Qiao Erhe naturally understood why his third aunt would say such a thing. After all, in the days before fertilizer was widely available, animal excrement was a natural fertilizer. The older generation's obsession with animal excrement was something that later generations could not imagine.

For example, in the 1960s and 70s, people who went out to herd cattle would prepare in advance. When they saw the cows defecating, they would immediately grab their tools to catch it, so the cow dung wouldn't even have a chance to fall to the ground.

Even if the cow doesn't dung in time, the herder will clean it up immediately and never let a dung pile go to waste.

Also, it's a common practice for the elderly men and women in the village to pick up manure early in the morning with their tools.

In short, as the saying goes, "a crop is like a flower, and manure is the key to its growth." People in the past truly had the spirit of "cherishing manure like gold," and collecting manure was like finding treasure. This was not an exaggeration at all in the 1960s and 70s.

(Before dawn, people get up, carrying manure baskets to collect fertilizer. Donkey dung and cow dung rolls are all good nutrients for crops.)

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Third Aunt, there's always a market for chicken manure. If the villagers don't want it, we can sell it to outsiders. But it's too early to talk about that now. Let's wait until the number of chickens and ducks raised by the villagers increases!"

Aunt Qiao nodded, picked up a load of chicken manure, and said, "Then I'll be going now."

After watching Third Aunt leave, Qiao Erhe also started thinking about the chicken manure.

If the whole village follows their example and raises laying hens on a large scale next year, the amount of chicken manure will be beyond what Qiaojiawan can handle. Moreover, this stuff will pollute the environment, so even if they just throw it away, they can't; they have to sell it.

However, if you're just selling chicken manure, it's not worth much.

If chicken manure can be processed into organic fertilizer or feed, it can be sold at a good price.

However, it is the early 1980s now, and the equipment for processing chicken manure is probably still quite outdated. We should find out how to do it properly before we can discuss it further.

"Erhe".

Just as Qiao Erhe was pondering the matter of chicken manure, a familiar voice from his memory came over.

Qiao Erhe turned around and saw that the person calling him was none other than his childhood friend Qiao Weixing, who was the same age as him.

He had been reborn for quite some time, but this was the first time he had seen his childhood friend. The reason this happened was that his childhood friend had gotten married last year, and he didn't marry a wife, but instead chose to become a live-in son-in-law.

In the Cenhe area, although the mainstream practice is still to marry a wife, there are also quite a few families that have their sons-in-law move in with them.

"Satellite, when did you get back?" "I just got home and came to find you."

At this point, Qiao Weixing revealed the gift he had hidden behind his back and said with a smile, "Look what I brought you!"

Qiao Erhe took a closer look and realized that it was a popular type of liquor in their area during that era, called Xiangjiang Tequ. This liquor was also known as Xiangjiang Water among the locals. Although its price couldn't compare to Moutai or similar brands, it was still a bottled liquor and should be worth a dollar or two.

In the early 1980s, for a childhood friend to bring him a bottle of wine when he returned to his wife's family home was a testament to his brotherly loyalty.

Qiao Erhe didn't stand on ceremony, took the wine, and punched him: "Good brother."

Looking at the chickens bustling around eating, Qiao Weixing said admiringly, "Erhe, as soon as I came back, I heard that your family raised 1000 laying hens. I heard that it was your idea to raise so many laying hens at once. You're really amazing."

Qiao Erhe said, "The bold get rich, the timid starve. Now that the country has reformed and opened up, it is a good opportunity for us to work hard. If we only dare to raise ten or eight chickens, how easy is it to get out of poverty and become rich!"

Qiao Weixing nodded and said, "You're right. If you want to get out of poverty and become rich, you have to be bold and do it."

Qiao Erhe smiled and asked, "Weixing, did you come back alone today, or with your wife and child?"

Qiao Weixing said, "I came back alone. Ya Zi is still young, so it's inconvenient for her to come and go."

"That's true."

Qiao Erhe nodded, sat down on a small stool, and then asked, "How long will you stay this time?"

Qiao Weixing sat down on another small stool and replied, "I just came back to see my parents today because I had nothing else to do. I'll go back this afternoon."

Qiao Erhe said, "This is a bit rushed. Let's have lunch at my house. It's been a long time since we brothers have seen each other. We must have a good drink today."

The two were like brothers, so Qiao Weixing naturally didn't stand on ceremony and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll have lunch here then."

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Then you wait here, I'll go out and get some good stuff to treat you."

Qiao Weixing quickly waved his hand and said, "Erhe, we're brothers, no need to go to so much trouble. Just get us something to eat."

Qiao Erhe said, "It's rare for you to come back, so I must treat you well today. You should go back and spend some time with your parents. I'll call you when it's time to eat."

Qiao Weixing couldn't refuse, so he could only nod in agreement.

When Qiao Weixing returned home, Qiao Erhe said to his younger sister, who had just finished feeding the chickens, "Sanduo, your brother Weixing is going to have lunch at our house. I'm going out for a walk now to see if I can catch some good stuff."

Qiao Sanduo nodded and said, "I understand, Second Brother. I'll go cook in a bit."

Qiao Erhe hummed in agreement, then took the bottle of Xiangjiang Special Qu that Qiao Weixing had given him back and put it away. He then took his fishing rod, net, basket and other tools and went out.

(End of this chapter)