A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

Batur Abujiang squatted by the pond, staring at the fine ripples on the water's surface, his brows furrowed.

The two planted their seedlings at almost the same time, but after half a month, Batur Abujiang felt that the crabs in his pond seemed to be smaller than those in Ding Xuemin's pond, and they weren't as active.

He grabbed a handful of feed and weighed it in his hand.

"Section Chief Ding, look at my crabs, aren't they growing too slowly?"

Ding Xuemin was squatting by the pond recording the water temperature, not even looking up: "What's the rush? What can you possibly see in just half a month?"

"But I compared them, and your seedlings are indeed stronger than mine."

Batur Abujiang walked to the dividing embankment between the two ponds, pointed to the water, and asked, "Did I feed them too little? Should I add some more?"

"How many times have I told you?"

Ding Xuemin stood up, dusted off his hands, and said, "Raising crabs isn't like feeding pigs; it's not about how much feed makes them grow faster. It's all about science."

"Can……"

"There's no 'but' about it."

Ding Xuemin interrupted him, "When I raised them for the first year, I was just like you, wanting to feed them eight times a day. And what happened?"

The water quality deteriorated, the crabs got sick, and they almost all perished.

Batur Abujiang opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

"Look at me now, I change the water at fixed times and in fixed quantities every day, and I add oxygen when it's time to change the water and add oxygen when it's time to add oxygen. Not a bit more, not a bit less."

My crabs are fine raised this way, and yours will be fine too.

"But there is indeed a gap in progress," Batur Abujiang said, unwilling to give up.

"The seedlings themselves vary, and water quality, water temperature, and even weather all have an impact."

Ding Xuemin walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Brother, I understand you're anxious, but the worst thing about raising livestock is doing things recklessly."

If you follow my method step by step, I guarantee you won't make any big mistakes.

Looking at the lively crab seedlings in Ding Xuemin's pond, and then at the rather quiet scene in his own pond, Batur Abujiang felt uneasy.

"What if production can't keep up with the demand..."

"There's no 'what if'."

Ding Xuemin said with certainty, "If I let you add feed haphazardly, that would be harming you."

Listen to me, stick to the plan.

As the two were talking, the automatic feeder by Ding Xuemin's pond started right on time, spreading feed evenly on the water surface, and the crabs quickly gathered around.

Batur Abujiang glanced at the time—indeed, it was exactly the same feeding time and amount as his own pond.

Ding Xuemin said, "You see, just do what I do."

Our two ponds are exactly the same except for their location.

You must trust scientific farming methods.

Batur Abujiang took a deep breath and slowly put the handful of feed back into the bag.

"Okay, Section Chief Ding, I'll do as you say."

"That's right."

Ding Xuemin smiled and said, "Raising livestock is like raising children; you can't spoil them, but you also can't starve them."

When to feed and how much to feed are all experiences summarized by our predecessors.

You're just starting out, so staying calm is the most important thing.

Batur Abujiang nodded, but the doubts in his heart did not completely disappear.

He made up his mind: observe for a few more days, and if the gap widens further, he will have to find a solution no matter what.

However, the good times did not last long.

When the crab larvae reached their first month of growth, a problem arose, which should have been the time for them to gain weight rapidly.

First, in the core area that Ding Xuemin was in charge of, the crabs' growth rate slowed down significantly, and their size was smaller.

Following this, other herders who were trying out the program also reported the same problems, and panic began to spread.

The problem seems to be more prominent in Batur Abujiangna Shimu Pond.

He squatted by the pond, looking at the obviously small and thin crabs he had pulled up, his face full of worry.

The pressure on the family members instantly reached its peak.

"See? I told you so."

In front of Ding Xuemin, Abujiang Tursun pointed at his son's nose and scolded, "You didn't listen to your elders, and now look what happened, all the money has gone down the drain."

"Quickly scoop the crabs out and throw them away; that way we can save on feed costs!"

Batur Abujiang's wife took the child and went straight back to her parents' home, saying she wanted a divorce.

Batur Abujiang squatted on the ground, holding his head in his hands, his eyes red.

Abujiang Tursun directed all his anger and foresight at Ding Xuemin.

He rallied several other equally anxious participants and stormed into the project team's office.

"It's been a month, and the crabs haven't grown at all! Give us an explanation!"

Batur Abujiang slammed the well-worn Liaoning aquaculture manual on the table, saying, "I told you long ago, we should follow other people's experience."

High protein, more feed, but you just won't listen. You insist on some kind of scientific formula and mixing in some rotten grass powder.

Now look what's happened, the crabs are all skin and bones from hunger.

The employees who followed also chimed in with their opinions:

"Exactly! We're all counting on making money at the end of the year!"

"At this rate, forget about making money, we won't even get our principal back!"

"Do you not even know how to raise a pet? Are you using our hard-earned money as an experiment?"

Looking at the excited crowd, Ding Xuemin picked up her densely filled aquaculture log and water quality monitoring data: "Everyone, look at the data."

It's not that we're feeding them too little, it's that the crabs aren't absorbing nutrients well.

Xinjiang experiences large temperature differences between day and night, which in turn affects water temperature, causing significant fluctuations in the crabs' digestive abilities.

Adding ingredients blindly is simply not enough for them to digest; it will only spoil the water and cause disease!

Stop spouting nonsense!

Batur Abujiang waved his hand, "We don't understand any data. All we know is that feeding meat makes it fat, and feeding grass makes it grow."

This is just giving bad advice; we need to talk to the regiment.

Replace him with someone who truly knows the job!

"Yes, change the person!" several employees shouted in response.

The conflict has become completely public and intense.

Batur Abujiang and others indeed went to the regimental headquarters to make a scene, saying that Ding Xuemin was "stubborn and self-willed" and "wasting state property and the hard work of employees," and demanded the removal of the project leader.

Under pressure, Ding Xuemin knew that she had to find more authoritative support.

He thought of Professor Liu from Dalian Ocean University, who studied aquaculture, whom he had contacted before.

Over the phone, Professor Liu listened to his description and data, pondered for a moment, and said, "Xiao Ding, your judgment may be reasonable. The metabolic stress caused by temperature differences is a common problem in aquaculture in Northwest China."

But how to adjust the feeding strategy specifically requires an on-site inspection of the water and the crabs. I can go over there.

Ding Xuemin was overjoyed and immediately submitted a report to the group to apply for expert travel expenses.

The report was submitted, but it disappeared without a trace.

He steeled himself and went to find Zhao Zhiqiang.

Zhao Zhiqiang looked troubled: "Xuemin, I know your difficulties."

But the group's funds were indeed tight, and money was needed everywhere.

You've already invested a lot in this project, but haven't seen any returns yet. If you spend another sum of money to hire experts... other project teams will have objections.

Besides, the public has opinions about you right now; you need to resolve your internal conflicts first.

"Deputy Political Commissar Zhao, Professor Liu is a top expert in China. His arrival can fundamentally solve the problem."

This concerns the very survival of the project, and also the vital interests of so many participating employees.

"Alright, alright."

Zhao Zhiqiang waved his hand, "We'll talk about the experts later. You need to calm the employees down first."

"We'll talk about it later"? Crab can't wait, and neither can anyone else!

With no other options available, Ding Xuemin made a risky decision.