1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 247 Blue Water Farm This whole string of unit notice boards behind it is really intimidating!
After the commendation meeting at the venue ended, Su Wenchen walked back to Pingcun Brigade in the dark.

Upon entering the village.

"Wang! Wang! Wang!"

As the first bark rang out, as if on command, all the dogs kept by the villagers living at the village entrance started barking at the same time.

As Pingcun Village has developed better and better, almost every household has started to keep a dog.

There was no way around it, because as the reputation of the Blue Water Rooster spread, chicken thieves would frequently steal chickens from the homes of the members of their brigade.

Those who were caught were often beaten half to death before being sent to the county police station.

Moreover, although there are militiamen in the village at night, they are mainly responsible for guarding the brigade's chicken farm and warehouse.

Because of the frequent thefts, even the stingiest members of the commune would usually keep a dog.

Otherwise, given the current market demand for Bluewater roosters, the loss of even one would be a major blow to the farmers.

Amidst the barking of dogs, a large yellow dog darted out from a distance.

However, after running over and smelling Su Wenchen's scent...

The original barking turned into a series of whimpering sounds, almost like pleading!

Upon arriving in front of Su Wenchen, it wagged its tail like a windmill.

The dog lay directly on the ground, exposing its belly.

Upon seeing this, Su Wenchen immediately laughed.

"Big Yellow, it's been over a month since I last saw you, and you didn't even recognize me at first!"

"Out of all the dogs in the village, you're the only one I've ever raised!"

Then he squatted down and scratched the big yellow dog's soft belly.

"Ouch!"

After being petted by Su Wenchen a couple of times, the big yellow dog immediately let out a comfortable purr.

Two militiamen carrying guns ran over from a distance.

Upon seeing that it was Su Wenchen, one of them immediately spoke up.

"Ah Chen, it's you."

"When I heard Big Yellow barking just now, I thought someone had entered the village again!"

"Dahuang is coming to you to be affectionate again, isn't it!"

"It's really strange. You know, I'm the one who feeds it the most usually, and you've only fed it a few times. How come it's so close to you?"

Su Wenchen smiled as he looked at the big yellow dog rolling around on the ground.

[Country Dog]

Current stage: Adulthood

[Current breeding direction: Guard dog LV2, bite force increased by 20%, muscle density increased by 20%, alertness increased by 20%, food intake increased by 20%.]

[Guard dog breeding feed formula: 5% beef bone meal, 2% bat droppings, 0.3% eucommia bark, 0.6% dried leech powder.]

Introduction: Native rural dog, after breeding, its agility, bite force and muscle density have been significantly enhanced, making it a good partner for guarding your home!
"Maybe it's because I'm feeding him the right things!"

After speaking, he glanced at the courtyard of the Su family, whose lights were already on, not far away.

"Brother Dashan, you guys go ahead with your work, I'll head back now. I'll leave the village's safety to you."

"Okay, go back and rest!"

"And you don't know, now almost every household in our brigade keeps a dog, so there are far fewer people coming to steal chickens."

"After all, when it comes to dogs, he can poison one, but he can't poison every family. Besides, our team's dogs are well-fed now. If we don't spend a lot of money and offer them good food, they won't even pay attention to us."

"Especially Big Yellow, it won't even bother with chickens that have been poisoned with rat poison."

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen immediately lowered his head and smiled at Dahuang.

"I didn't realize you were so smart."

"However, Brother Dashan, it's only because our conditions are better now. Otherwise, people wouldn't have enough to eat and dogs would be starving. Back then, it would be easier for them to be drugged."

"That's right. Two years ago, who would have thought that we could earn several hundred yuan a year! Back then, it was considered good if we could save fifty yuan a year."

"Ah Chen, this is all thanks to you."

Su Wenchen waved his hand.

"Alright, Brother Dashan, stop praising me. I've been away from the brigade's chicken farm for so long."

"It's getting late, I'll be going now!"

"Alright, let's go look around somewhere else too."

After they separated, Da Huang followed Su Wenchen all the way to his doorstep.

Seeing this, Su Wenchen also spoke up directly.

"Alright, don't bother seeing me off. I'm on vacation these few days, you can come over to my house for dinner then."

"I'll give you an extra meal these next few days."

After saying that, he patted the other dog's head.

"Wang Wang!"

Then, as if he understood, he ran towards the doghouse he had built near the brigade's warehouse, turning back every few steps.

When the door opened, Su's father came out of the main room wearing a coat.

"Youngest brother, you're back!"

"Who were you talking to at the door just now?"

After closing the door, Su Wenchen shook his head.

"It's not a person, it's that big yellow dog from the brigade's warehouse."

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Su's father nodded.

"It is indeed quite intelligent, but you've only fed it a few times, and I don't know why it's always so affectionate towards you."

Su Wenchen smiled, naturally because he had fed the animals with breeding feed before.

But of course he wouldn't say that.

"Maybe it's because I held him a lot when he was little!"

"Alright, go back to sleep!"

"You must be exhausted by now."

Su Wenchen responded and went back to his room.

After pushing open the door, the light cast a warm yellow glow. Jiang Li was leaning against a wicker chair, knitting a baby sweater. Su Wenchen looked at her slightly protruding belly, which stretched the sweater into a gentle curve.

Upon seeing Su Wenchen, a smile appeared on his face.

"How was it? I heard from my sister-in-law that your place was really lively tonight. You even set up a stage in the cafeteria, and people went up there to perform!"

"It was quite lively, but it was all done by the employees themselves."

Then Su Wenchen tiptoed to Jiang Li's wicker chair and placed his palm over her slightly cool hand.

"I'm not back yet, you can go to sleep first, don't wait for me!"

Jiang Li smiled and turned her cheek to the side.

"I didn't wait for you on purpose. I took a nap after coming back from the commune this afternoon, but I wasn't sleepy!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen squatted down and gently pressed his ear against Jiang Li's abdomen.

"Why isn't anything happening?!"

"Is she asleep?"

Jiang Li's lips curled slightly, and a gentle expression appeared on her face.

"This little guy is probably still the size of a small goose egg!"

"It will probably take about five or six months for noticeable changes. My belly is only just starting to show, it's still a long way off!"

Su Wenchen squeezed the other person's slightly cool hand.

"Ah Li, thank you for your hard work these past few days."

Jiang Li shook her head.

"What's so hard about it? Everyone goes through this, right?"

“In our commune, there are still women who are seven or eight months pregnant and still working in the fields. I feel very fortunate now.”

"I have a loving husband, caring in-laws, and harmonious and loving sisters-in-law. In the future, I will raise a well-behaved and lovely child."

Do you think the child will resemble you more, or me more?

"I still hope to be as smart as you, so that I won't suffer losses in the future."

"Ah Chen, meeting you makes me feel so happy, so incredibly happy!"

As Su Wenchen listened to Jiang Li's aspirations for the future, a hint of anticipation also appeared on his face.

Then he picked Jiang Li up from the rattan chair by the waist, the rattan chair making a soft sound as it scraped against the blue brick floor.

"Ah! What are you doing? Put me down, I can walk by myself."

"No, I want to hold you for the rest of my life. I promised to make you happier!"

Three days flew by in the blink of an eye.

As dawn broke, rays of sunlight streamed through Su Wenchen's newly installed glass windows, illuminating the cluttered desk in his study.

Su Wenchen was biting his pen, intently flipping through yellowed maps, occasionally making a mark in a place.

Kitchen.

Jiang Li tucked her loose hair behind her ear, turned around, and took the bubbling clay pot off the earthen stove.

After it is served.

The rich aroma of millet porridge, mixed with the refreshing scent of freshly pickled radish, instantly awakened Su Wenchen's hunger.

After setting out the food, Jiang Li went into the small study in the side room.

He caught a glimpse of the map, where Su Wenchen had marked numerous salt-alkali plots.

"Is this the hydrological map of the Yellow River flood zone that your farm sent over the day before yesterday? Are all the areas marked on it the areas your farm is going to take over?"

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen stood up and stretched.

"This is the area in northern Jiangsu Province that I marked. There are also northern Anhui Province and western Shandong Province, but these two areas are not marked!"

"If we add them all up, the current conservative estimate is 30 million mu."

Jiang Li blinked.

"Thirty million mu? How big is that?"

Although she has worked in the brigade and commune for a period of time, she still has no idea how big 30 million mu is.

She only knew it was very big, but she didn't know exactly how big.

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen thought for a moment and then unfolded a map.

Let me give you an example from a place you're familiar with!
The total area of ​​Beijing, including its surrounding suburbs, is approximately 1,200 square kilometers, according to the map.

That translates to nearly two million acres, so now you probably have a standard!

These unmanaged saline-alkali lands in the Yellow River floodplains, when added together, are roughly the size of fifteen Beijing cities plus the surrounding suburbs.

This is the result of twenty years of efforts to control the floods, because before that, almost half of Henan Province was affected by the Yellow River floods.

However, in the past, our country could not spare many resources, so we could only prioritize the governance of the large plain in Henan Province.

As he spoke, Su Wenchen circled a spot on the right side of the center of the map.

"It all depends on the local efforts here, but without unified planning and support from above, the progress here will naturally be much slower."

After speaking, Su Wenchen put down his pen.

"Now that the higher-ups have some free time, they are planning to solve this long-standing problem."

Jiang Li blinked, looking at Su Wenchen with shock.

"Such a huge project, all entrusted to your site?"

Seeing Jiang Li's surprised expression, Su Wenchen chuckled and playfully pinched her nose.
"what are you thinking!"

"How could a farm possibly handle something like this?"

"Building dams, flood control, alkali treatment, and sand fixation—each of these steps requires a massive amount of manpower and resources." "Our farm can only be responsible for one or two of the alkali treatment and sand fixation tasks at most. Otherwise, are we really going to be expected to build a dam?"

"Right now, I'm just drawing up the untreated saline-alkali land first, then going to the site to walk around and plan the subsequent development based on the actual situation."

"After all, people live off the land and water. If we don't know the actual situation, it's not good to simply copy our current situation."

As they spoke, the two walked to the study in the side room and came to the dining table. Su Wenchen picked up an egg, gently cracked the shell, and said as he peeled it.

"The holiday has just ended, and I have to leave again for a while."

After saying that, she put the peeled boiled egg into the bowl of ginger and pear.

Seeing her husband's heartwarming gesture, Jiang Li clenched her little fist.

"I'm busy too, okay!"

"Moreover, the commune director will retire at the end of the year, and I need to take over some of the commune director's work ahead of schedule. There's a lot to do right now."

"It's already great that I can spare three days to spend with you. We can't just stay home all the time!"

"You're not annoyed? I am!"

Su Wenchen looked at Jiang Liyan's insincere expression.

"Okay, okay, thank you Director Jiang for taking the time out of your busy schedule to spend with me."

As he spoke, he picked up the steaming bowl of millet porridge.

"Then let me offer this congee instead of wine to congratulate our Director Jiang on his promotion."

Seeing Su Wenchen's actions, Jiang Li's lips curled up slightly, revealing her sharp little tiger teeth.

"Hmph, although I can't keep up with your promotion speed right now, I'm sure I have more staying power."

"Haven't you heard the old saying? Getting fat first isn't true fatness, but getting fat later can be overwhelming."

Su Wenchen immediately smiled and nodded.

"Yes, yes, you're fat in the back, you can crush the bed as soon as you come up."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Li lightly pinched Su Wenchen's arm a few times.

"You're the one who's so fat you could collapse on the bed!"

The hourglass of time slipped away little by little amidst the loving tenderness between the two.

A month later, it was December.

A biting wind, carrying specks of ice crystals, seemed to tell the people living on this land that winter had truly arrived.

There were still quite a few people at the entrance of Blue Water Farm.

Purchasing agents from various state-owned enterprises in the city would typically ride their bicycles to buy eggs every winter.

Because once winter arrives, the number of eggs laid by the free-range hens raised by farmers in the production teams below will decrease significantly.

This directly led to a significant reduction in the supply of eggs in the market.

If they wanted to wait for the supply and marketing cooperative to take the eggs to the city first, just like in summer, and then go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy them, they probably wouldn't even get a single chicken feather.

So now, almost every winter, there are many factory buyers riding bicycles waiting at the entrance of Lanshui Farm to buy eggs.

Because at that time, eggs were basically unavailable from anywhere except Bluewater Farm.

A cloud of dust rose in the distance.

Three military jeeps parked in a row at the entrance of Blue Water Farm.

Some of the purchasing agents waiting at the door immediately craned their necks to look at the jeep.

"Hey, look, a military vehicle!"

"What are they here for? They can't be here to buy eggs too, can they?"

"Ah! Isn't that just trying to steal our things? Looks like it's not our turn again today."

"No way! The military should have its own farms for supplies, right? Didn't Blue Water Farm say that its eggs are mainly supplied to units in the Lan City area?"

"After all, these chickens are fed with grain from our Lanshui County."

"Who can say for sure? If other regions come to transfer eggs, we can still have something to say, but when it comes to the military, it's not so certain."

After the jeep stopped at the gate, Lei Bailiang, wearing cotton shoes and a military cotton coat, was the first to get out of the car.

Looking at the gate, it's clearly different from the last time I came.

The first thing that caught his eye was the rows of white signs with black lettering hanging on both sides of the entrance.

Only the topmost sign, which reads "Blue Water Farm," is hung horizontally; the others are all vertical signs, hanging on either side of the main entrance.

Farms directly under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

National-level Yuehua Rabbit Breeding Base

Pilot Units for Comprehensive Management of Saline-Alkali Land in the Yellow River Floodplain

"Outstanding Unit in Foreign Trade Export Earnings"

Model Unit in the Province for Learning from Dazhai in Agriculture

Lanshi Large-Scale Egg-Laying Chicken Breeding Demonstration Base

This long list of notices surprised Lei Bailiang.

If I remember correctly, when he came here last time, there was only a notice board for a "Large-scale Egg-laying Chicken Breeding Demonstration Base".

How did so many numbers increase in the blink of an eye?

The long list of notices from various organizations at Lanshui Farm is really intimidating!
After looking around, Lei Boliang basically knew where the awards were issued.

He was aware that the farms directly under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Yuehua Rabbit Breeding Base were both awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The pilot unit for comprehensive management of the Yellow River flood area was awarded by the newly established joint Yellow River management committee of four provinces.

The "Red Flag Unit for Foreign Exchange Earnings" award was given by their foreign trade department.

The province-wide "Learn from Dazhai in Agriculture" campaign was clearly awarded by the provincial government, while the last one was probably awarded by Lan City.

As the other passengers got out of the car one after another, they followed Lei Boliang's gaze and saw what was happening.

Many people were also taken aback.

The initial disdain that some people initially held for him has suddenly diminished considerably.

As soon as the group got off the car, security personnel from the reception room immediately called the scene to handle the matter.

Shortly after receiving the notification, Su Wenchen appeared at the gate.

"Haha! Uncle Lei, why didn't you say hello before you came over?"

"This also gives me time to welcome you."

Lei Bailiang coughed lightly a few times.

"Ahem, what Uncle Lei? I'm here on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Trade to check how well your farm is preparing for the final skinning of the Moonflower Rabbits."

"The contract we signed stipulated that delivery would begin three months later, and the first batch of deliveries is almost here. The foreign company has already paid, and they are pressing us very hard."

"I hope nothing goes wrong here!"

"Otherwise, this would be a major diplomatic incident, and we would not only have to pay compensation but also damage the country's reputation."

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen immediately understood.

This was a large order involving nearly one hundred million US dollars, and it was the first delivery, so the Ministry of Foreign Trade was keeping a close eye on it. Su Wenchen wasn't too surprised.

So he made a brief, perfunctory remark.

"Alright, Director Lei and comrades, I'll take you to the rabbit shed for a look around."

"After you've finished reading, we'll talk about other things!"

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, Lei Bailiang nodded slightly.

Although he and Su Wenchen have a good relationship now, a mission is a mission.

As one of the leading cadres in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, he could not prioritize personal relationships over his duties.

However, just as Lei Boliang and his group were about to go inside, one of them curiously pointed to the purchasing agents at the door and asked a question.

"Director Su, what are these people doing here? Why aren't they leaving the gate of your field?"

Su Wenchen smiled wryly when he saw the purchasing agents the man was pointing at.

"These are all purchasing agents sent by some small factories in Lan City."

"They're all here to buy eggs. Our daily egg production is limited, so many of them come early in the morning to queue up in order to get eggs."

That left the person completely stunned.

"buyer?"

"They even fight over eggs when their state-owned enterprises go to buy them!"

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen was taken aback at first, then chuckled wryly.

Because the other party is a low-level cadre in a ministry, even just a clerk, their material supply may not be very abundant.

However, most of the basic necessities are available, but the situation is different for the small state-owned factories in the lower-level areas.

Local resources are limited, but there are many mouths to feed.

If you really don't compete or fight, you really won't get a single bite. Don't say you're suffering; at this time, everything is suffering, and everything is lacking.

Unless you're in a key unit, you have to find your own way to get things done; otherwise, you can only blame yourselves for being incompetent.

At this point, if you don't fight or grab anything, you probably won't even get a sip of soup. In fact, the bottom of the bowl will be licked clean by others, and you'll only be able to sniff it at the very end.

So Su Wenchen remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Our supplies are still quite tight."

“In the entire Lan City, we are the only large-scale chicken farm. Although several counties have started to establish state-owned chicken farms now.”

"But the technology is still not that mature, especially in terms of winter insulation, which will take them a long time to develop."

Hearing this, Lei Bailiang glanced at the cadre who had come with him with some dissatisfaction.

Especially what the other party just said, it clearly gave off a "let them eat meat porridge" vibe.

So I said it directly.

"Xiao Liu, after this mission is over, you should personally go and investigate each of the export factories."

"I want to see a detailed research report by then."

Upon hearing this, the younger cadre from before wilted instantly, like a frostbitten eggplant.

All I can do is ask.

"Boss, we can't possibly investigate every single one of the hundred-plus export factories!"

Lei Bailiang waved his hand.

"No need, a survey of all thirty-seven non-staple food production bases will suffice."

On the way to the rabbit hutch, Lei Bailiang asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Xiao Su, doesn't your Lan City have this large-scale egg-laying hen breeding demonstration base?"

"Why didn't any other breeding units in the city come to learn from them?"

"I see so many people lining up at the door to buy eggs, there must still be a big shortage in the egg supply!"

Su Wenchen sighed.

"It's not that no companies come to learn from us; to be honest, quite a few companies come to learn from us almost every month now."

“We don’t actually lack eggs in the summer and autumn seasons. Several counties have now planned egg-laying chicken farming based on our farm.”

"But their problem with winter egg-laying chicken farming isn't a lack of technology, but rather a lack of warmth."

"We are able to produce enough eggs in winter because the chicken coop has good insulation and a sufficient supply of coal."

"Most of the farms that come to learn can't get good enough insulation materials. As a result, the insulation effect is reduced, and they have to increase the supply of coal in order to keep the chicken house at a temperature above 20 degrees Celsius in winter."

"And coal! Director, you know how difficult it is to get your hands on it!"

At this time, Su Wenchen was well aware that coal was also a scarce resource. He had managed to obtain a total of twenty tons only by relying on his relationship with Luo Yan, the deputy director of the city's planning commission.

That was when the city was in dire need of eggs.

Now that Lanshuichang, a large egg-producing farm, is located in Lanshi, it is actually difficult for the city to allocate excess coal to some other farms for the construction of insulated chicken farms.

Since the urgency is no longer so high, it is natural to prioritize supplying other places that need it more.

(End of this chapter)