Back to 1984: I built a chicken farm on a barren mountain.

After the busy autumn harvest, people began to cultivate the land and plant winter wheat.

The cicadas chirp mournfully, and the swallows fly south; the short but colorful autumn is drawing to a close.

In November 1984, the weather was getting colder.

Chen Wenfeng, having finally found some free time, reviewed the recent sales situation. Currently, the main sales channels for eggs are as follows:

County town: Zunxi Jiuzhou Hotel, Xuexia Breakfast, Zhangji Noodle Restaurant, Liji Lamb Soup.

In the town: the canteens of various departments in Qiwang Town, and Zhao Dabao's restaurant.

The eggs produced on the mountain are definitely not enough. Chen Wenfeng considered hatching some more chicks, but the current chicken coop is not yet capable of hatching chicks, whether due to external conditions or the available energy. More importantly, Wu Jiajun told him that the state-owned chicken farm in the county may not be able to hold on. Once it closes down, Chen Wenfeng can buy the machine incubator from the state-owned chicken farm at a low price.

If there are not enough eggs, some can still be purchased from various villages.

Currently, after deducting feed and personnel costs, Chen Wenfeng can make a profit of nearly 800 yuan per month. With the addition of extra income from selling mountain products, he can make a profit of 1000 yuan per month.

Based on these benefits, as long as we can maintain the current level, replacing the incubator with a new machine next year shouldn't be a problem.

As the saying goes, you don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household.

As the profitability of chicken farms continues to improve, the number of problems that need to be addressed is also increasing, with the most pressing issue being the upcoming winter.

In winter, on barren mountains, the primary issue to address is surviving the winter.

This wintering issue involves both the chickens and the people.

After repeated consideration and calculations, Chen Wenfeng decided to upgrade and renovate the chicken coop before winter arrived.

The renovation has two core aspects: sealing the chicken coop and the wiring in the chicken coop.

To seal the chicken coop, the walls need to be thickened and glass installed.

Chen Wenfeng thought of someone: Master Geng. It was Master Geng who helped build the cave back then, and now he could ask him for help with the chicken coop.

This is the first item.

The second item is the wiring for the chicken coop.

When the chicken coop was first connected to the power supply, it was just a simple wire with two light bulbs installed. Chen Wenfeng plans to ask an electrician to replace the old and thin wire with a new one and increase the number of light bulbs in the chicken coop to seven.

For chicken coops, the incandescent bulbs used for lighting also serve another important purpose: to raise the temperature inside the coop.

Therefore, in a sense, both sealing the chicken coop and modifying the electrical wiring are for the purpose of keeping warm.

That day, Niu Er was supposed to deliver goods to the county town, but Chen Wenfeng specifically asked Zhou Zhiming to go with him. Chen Wenfeng asked Zhou Zhiming to find Manager Li and ask him to invite Master Geng to come over before the chicken coop freezes to repair it. Given that Master Geng had a habit of bringing his own feed, Chen Wenfeng specifically instructed him:

"Explain the situation on the mountain to Manager Li in detail."

Zhou Zhiming listened carefully and remembered all the details.

Another thing Chen Wenfeng needed to do was to find the village chief, Chen Youwei, and ask him to coordinate with the electrician to upgrade the wiring in the chicken coop.

Upon hearing Chen Wenfeng's request, Chen Youwei immediately arranged for the only electrician in several villages in the east of the town to help him modify the power lines and install more lights on the mountain.

When Zhou Zhiming and Niu Er returned from the county town, they found that there were twice as many lights in the chicken coop, a total of seven!

At dinner that evening, Old Sun, Zhou Zhiming, Niu Da, and Niu Er were all there. Chen Wenfeng said:

"It's getting cold soon, we need to prepare for winter. While there's plenty of firewood in the mountains, we need to find some time to prepare it."

Niu Da rolled up his sleeves, striking a pose of eager anticipation, and grabbed the fifth steamed bun of the meal, saying:

"Brother Feng, this is easy. Chopping wood is simple!"

Chen Wenfeng said:

"Chopping firewood is easy, but we need a lot of it. Let's do the math: it's already cold in the mountains in winter, and we can't stop burning firewood in these houses. We need firewood for cooking, bathing, and more importantly, we need to keep the chicken coop warm too."

"We need to cut more coarse firewood, as that cannot be burned. We also need some fine straw for starting a fire. Oh, and dig up some stubble from the cornfield; that stuff is best for starting a fire."

After hearing Chen Wenfeng's explanation, everyone realized that Jiming Mountain did indeed need a lot of firewood. In this desolate wilderness, if they couldn't keep warm and cozy, their winter would be hard to endure.

Actually, Chen Wenfeng had his own selfish motives. Because of his past life experiences, he was used to the city's heating system in winter, which he found very comfortable.

One year during a mild winter, the indoor temperature was raised to 29 degrees Celsius by the heating company, so he usually had to wear a vest or go shirtless at home.

In Chenjiazhuang, many families don't even know how to light a stove in winter. Besides stuffing as much firewood as possible into the firebox, the secret to staying warm is to huddle on the kang (a heated brick bed) and tough it out with their bodies.

Chen Wenfeng had experienced both the feeling of spring-like winter and the biting cold, and he didn't want to freeze like a grandson this winter.

After all, people have already spent enough time in their lives playing the fool.

After Chen Wenfeng's mobilization, chopping firewood on the mountain became their daily recreational activity.

To encourage everyone to chop more thick firewood, Chen Wenfeng organized a small competition, awarding two prizes each week based on who chopped the most firewood and who chopped the thickest firewood.

Each person will be rewarded with five kilograms of eggs.

The result, of course, exceeded Chen Wenfeng's expectations.

He had originally thought he would need to prepare firewood for ten to fifteen days, but these people filled Jiming Mountain with it in just one week.

The two prizes were won by the brothers Niu Da and Niu Er. The two brothers really worked hard. When they brought the ten pounds of eggs home, their mother, Yang Xiuhua, stroked the ten pounds of eggs and kept wiping away tears.

Niu Da and Niu Er comforted Yang Xiuhua, and Yang Xiuhua said:

"Work hard with Wen Feng. The two of you are earning more money than two or three other companies combined."

Seeing their mother happy, Niu Da and Niu Er both felt very proud.

Looking at the mountain of firewood, Chen Wenfeng asked Old Sun:

"Master Sun, do you think this firewood will be enough to burn this winter?"

"I think it'll stay hot until summer!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

......

While everyone was busy chopping firewood, Master Geng arrived in his cart, pulled by Donkey Egg, that majestic and strong mule.

This time, Master Geng did not go to the village committee or Chen Wenfeng's house, but went directly to Jiming Mountain.

After all, he had lived here for seven or eight days, knew the place well, and had witnessed Jiming Mountain's transformation from scratch.

When Chen Xiaohei heard the noise and ran out, Master Geng jumped out of the car and said to Xiaohei:

"You've grown so big, you little rascal!"

Chen Xiaohei circled Master Geng and then circled Donkey Egg; this was its joy.

Chen Wenfeng held Master Geng's hand and said:

"Master Geng, we'll need you to come out of retirement again this time, but let's make it clear first, I'll cover both your wages and the cost of materials. Otherwise, I won't be able to hire you again."

"When I came here, Manager Li told me that this time, General Manager Wu wouldn't argue with you."

Master Geng followed Chen Wenfeng through the thicket of thorns with a smile, but said to Old Sun:

"Old Sun, long time no see! I didn't expect to see you here!"