1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 35 The Hens Start Laying Eggs
"Big brother, second brother, come quick! Our laying hens have started laying eggs!"

That morning, after feeding the laying hens, Qiao Sanduo saw some of them crawl into the laying boxes. She immediately ran over to tell her older brothers with a look of surprise.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Dajiang and Qiao Erhe both showed joy and quickly walked towards the egg-laying box.

Over the past two months, the Qiao siblings have made dozens of egg-laying boxes, and these boxes are multi-tiered, capable of supporting hundreds of laying hens to lay eggs at the same time.

At this time, these laying boxes were almost entirely occupied by laying hens.

Then, witnessed by the Qiao siblings, these laying hens began to lay eggs one by one.

Normally, even if all the laying hens were born on the same day, it is impossible for them all to start laying eggs on the same day. Some laying hens lay eggs earlier, while others lay eggs later, and it is quite normal for them to lay eggs at different times, sometimes by ten days or half a month.

However, perhaps because Qiao Erhe fed them diluted spiritual spring water every now and then, the 1000 laying hens raised by the Qiao family all laid eggs on the same day, which was quite rare. Because there wasn't enough space in the laying boxes, the hens that couldn't get a spot were anxiously pacing around the laying boxes.

Once the other hens have finished laying their eggs and left the laying box, the waiting hens will eagerly crawl into the laying box.

Upon seeing this, Qiao Erhe said, "It seems we haven't prepared enough egg-laying boxes. We need to continue making more."

Qiao Dajiang exclaimed in astonishment, "That's amazing! So many laying hens started laying eggs at the same time!"

Qiao Sihai, who had followed, said with shining eyes, "Great! From today onwards, our family will never lack eggs again."

Qiao Sanduo gave him a disdainful look: "All you do all day is eat. These eggs are meant to be sold for money."

Qiao Sihai chuckled and said, "Sister, we make 1000 eggs a day. Just keeping a few is enough for our whole family."

Qiao Erhe patted Lao Si on the shoulder and said, "Alright, we have 1000 laying hens at home, so why worry about not having enough eggs? Go get the baskets and get ready to collect the eggs. Also, get the egg cartons and paper ropes. Pack all the eggs up and we'll take them directly to the city to sell."

"Okay, second brother."

Qiao Sihai responded and ran back to get the basket, egg tray, and paper rope.

Qiao Dajiang asked, "Second brother, weren't these eggs supposed to be sold at the commune first? Why are we suddenly going to sell them in the city?"

Qiao Sanduo also couldn't understand: "Yes, Second Brother, it's convenient to go to the commune, but if you go to the city, you have to take a bus, which is quite troublesome."

Qiao Erhe explained with a smile, "Big brother, Sanduo, our family can produce 1000 eggs a day. The commune market definitely can't handle that many eggs, so it's inevitable that we have to sell them in the city."

Qiao Dajiang said, "I know that. We can set up a stall in the commune to sell eggs for a long time. There will definitely be a lot of business. And if we can't sell all the eggs, we can store them until we have a certain amount, and then take them to the city to sell. That way we won't have to go to the city every day, which will save us a lot of trouble."

Qiao Erhe smiled and said, "That's also part of my plan, but that's for tomorrow. The eggs laid by the hens today are called first-laid eggs, also known as first-laid eggs. These are eggs that have absorbed the essence of the hens and are a nutritious delicacy suitable for all ages, especially pregnant women, postpartum women, and children."

I plan to sell these eggs for 7 cents each. There probably won't be much of a market for them in the commune; only by selling them in the city will I have a chance of selling them all.

Qiao Dajiang's eyes widened and he said, "No way, you're going to sell these eggs for 7 cents each?"

Qiao Sanduo was also shocked and said, "Second Brother, even eggs bigger than these first-laid eggs only sell for 5 cents each, but you're selling them for 7 cents each. Will anyone actually buy them?"

Qiao Erhe thought of the freshly laid eggs that were much more expensive than ordinary eggs in later generations, and pondered, "We'll find out if anyone buys them by going to the city." As he spoke, Qiao Sihai had already brought over the basket, egg tray, and paper rope.

The way these hens lay eggs is naturally not as dramatic as human childbirth. It took about an hour for all 1000 laying hens to finish.

Looking at the white eggs in the egg-laying box, the Qiao siblings were overjoyed. Qiao Dajiang, Qiao Sanduo, and Qiao Sihai each carried a basket to collect the eggs.

Meanwhile, Qiao Erhe took the opportunity to put some spiritual spring water into the water tank to replenish the bodies of these great contributors.

It must be said that these laying hens have a pretty good sense of smell. As soon as Qiao Erhe put the spiritual spring water into the trough, the laying hens rushed towards the trough like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey, and then happily drank the incredibly nourishing spiritual spring water.

Even though the spiritual spring water was diluted by the water in the tank when it was released, its effects were still amazing. The laying hens, who were originally a bit weak from laying eggs, suddenly became full of energy. If it weren't for the fact that the eggshells inside their bodies needed time to form, they could lay another egg without any problem.

Seeing this, Qiao Erhe couldn't help but smile.

Generally speaking, laying hens cannot lay one egg a day in the early stages of egg production; they can only guarantee one egg a day when they reach their peak egg production period.

But with the help of this diluted spiritual spring water to replenish their energy, the laying hens, which had just started laying eggs today, were already at their peak laying period. Laying one egg a day from the start was no problem for them at all.

After collecting 1000 eggs from the egg-laying box, the Qiao siblings began to place the eggs one by one onto the egg tray and then wrap them with paper rope.

This tray contains 30 eggs. A total of 1000 eggs were processed into 33 trays. The remaining 10 eggs were kept for our own consumption.

After packing all the eggs, Qiao Erhe put them into bamboo frames that were specially woven to hold the trays of eggs.

With everything ready, Qiao Erhe said to his third sister, "Sanduo, let's take the eggs to the commune now, and then take the bus to the city to sell them. You don't need to cook lunch for us."

Although Qiao Sanduo also wanted to go to the city to sell eggs, her family couldn't do without her, so she could only regretfully reply, "Okay, I understand."

Qiao Dajiang excitedly picked up the 33 trays of eggs and waved, saying, "Let's go!"

Qiao Sihai quickly reminded them, "Big brother, second brother, don't we need to bring a scale?"

Qiao Erhe shook his head and said, "Our eggs are sold individually, not by weight."

Qiao Sihai asked, "What about the takeout? What are we going to use to pack eggs for our guests?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "If the customer buys a small amount, we'll just let them put the eggs in their pockets or find a way to take them away themselves. If they buy a lot, we'll just give them the egg trays for free. Anyway, the egg trays aren't expensive."

Hearing this, Qiao Sihai had no more questions, and happily followed his older brothers, striding towards the commune.

……

P.S.: Dear friends, please let me know you're all here.

(End of this chapter)