1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 274 Xiao Su, you'd better be prepared to speak at the meeting that's postponed the day after tomorrow!
At noon, the canteen at Blue Water Farm was filled with the aroma of cooking, and a long queue had already formed at the food counter.

Su Wenchen and the other officials from the ministry were also in the group.

The old man looked curiously at the cafeteria window, where a small blackboard hung directly above, displaying today's lunch menu.

[Today's Supply]

Meat dish – braised pork with potatoes, two cents a serving.

Vegetarian dish – cabbage stew with glass noodles, five cents a serving.

Staple foods (required food coupons) - rice cost two cents per 50 grams, cornbread cost one cent each.

Limited supply - scrambled eggs with scallions, 15 cents a serving.

After reading it, the old man asked Su Wenchen directly.

"Is this how you usually eat in your cafeteria? Or is it just like this today because I'm here?"

Su Wenchen explained with a smile.

"Sir, the General Office of the Ministry has sent several documents to our field office, repeatedly prohibiting the use of public funds for meals and entertainment. How could we knowingly violate this rule!"

"The scrambled eggs with scallions that were only available in limited quantities weren't a special offer for today. Our chicken farm produces a lot of broken eggs every day, and they're sent to the canteen."

"And you can see from our employees that we usually have one meat dish and one vegetable dish, and let the employees choose for themselves."

The elderly man observed that while most employees appeared somewhat reserved, they were quite casual when getting their meals.

At most, after the injection, he had a surprised expression on his face, and it seemed like he had gained some weight compared to usual.

The old man didn't say much about Su Wenchen and his group's little schemes.

After all, all the canteen staff get their meals from the same window, so if there's more meat, all the staff can eat more meat.

Then the old man looked at the employees in front of him. Some of them, after getting their vegetables, also asked for a side dish from the small vegetable section on the left.

"You even prepared special side dishes here!"

Su Wenchen nodded.

"They're usually made from scraps, like chicken skeletons, rabbit heads, and things like river clams and snails that members of the surrounding production teams collect from the river and bring them over."

"It's marinated after being seasoned by the master chef!"

"To be honest, the price is not cheap. Each serving starts at 15 cents, which is almost as much as a meat dish. It was originally intended for passing drivers, but now many employees like it."

"Especially some single male employees who like to have a drink in the evening, basically spend a good portion of their monthly salary on these food and drink expenses!"

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately shook his head repeatedly.

"No wonder he doesn't have a wife! He spends all his money on food and drink every day, how could he possibly find one!"

"That's incredibly wasteful of their money."

Su Wenchen smiled. Actually, the reason these people weren't looking for him wasn't because they couldn't find him, but because they deliberately didn't want to.

Because once you get married, anyone with even a little sense of responsibility will no longer be as carefree as they are now.

I'll have to save up to buy big-ticket items, like clothes for my wife and kids, so things won't be as comfortable as they are now.

However, even after getting married, the farm workers actually lived quite well.

Because the farm basically covers everything except food and drink, there are free nursery classes, free staff clubs, a movie theater, and various activity centers.

Raising a child involves only feeding them and buying them a few clothes; there are basically no other major expenses.

Soon after it was their turn to get their food, the old man only ordered a serving of stewed potatoes and meat, refusing all the side dishes and other suggestions from Su Wenchen.

On the table.

The old man picked up a piece of stewed pork that was cooked until tender, put it in his mouth, and nodded with a smile.

"Xiao Su, the food in your canteen is great, even better than the canteen in the ministry!"

The old man smiled and picked up another piece of potato.

"These potatoes are very flavorful, I think they're quite good, but you young people probably wouldn't like them."

Su Wenchen also smiled and shook his head.

"Boss, our head chef used to be a chef at a state-run restaurant, and his skills are indeed excellent."

"But boss, you're really wrong. I do like this kind of soft and tender potato stew with meat."

As he spoke, he deliberately mashed a few soft, mushy potato chunks, then used chopsticks to scoop some mashed potatoes mixed with broth into the bowl of rice, and then stirred it as he spoke.

"Boss, I think rice tastes best when mixed with this kind of mashed potatoes! It has the soft and sticky texture of mashed potatoes and rice, and also the savory flavor of pork!"

"One bite and there's only one word to describe it: delicious!"

"Boss, why don't you try it?"

Seeing Su Wenchen take a big bite, the old man also had a big appetite and followed Su Wenchen's example.

Mix the rice with the mashed potatoes and broth.

After taking a bite, he immediately felt it was very good. He had bad teeth, and usually ate rice soaked in soup or cornbread soaked in soup at the ministry.

Although it's soft when eaten this way, the taste is actually quite average.

However, after mixing it like this, although it's not as soft as rice porridge, it's still a bit softer and stickier than if you don't mix it, and the taste is much better than if you just soak it in soup.

"It really suits his teeth," he nodded repeatedly, a satisfied look on his face.

"Xiao Su, I didn't expect you to have such a good appetite!"

Then, looking around, he saw that the other members of his entourage were all enjoying their food, and couldn't help but sigh.

"The fact that your farm canteen can reach this level shows that the kitchen staff must have put a lot of effort into it!"

He then looked at the other employees and said.

“I can tell that when you workers are eating, you always have a smile on your face when you talk to your colleagues. You can’t fake that.”

"That shows that the employees in your factory really do have good benefits!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Anguo chimed in from the side.

"Boss, the employee benefits at Lanshui Farm are known to be excellent, even among the factories in our bureau."

"When our bureau first started coordinating with them, we thought something had gone wrong!"

"Because Blue Water Farm, despite being a small farm, offers employees benefits that are comparable to those of employees at some large farms."

"Finally, we had to confirm with their farm office and logistics department several times before we had to believe that this was a small to medium-sized farm with fewer than a thousand people."

To be honest, Lu Anguo sometimes envied the employees of Lanshui Farm. Their food was better than what they usually ate, and their treatment was better than what they received in their bureau.

Because the canteens of the various departments under their ministries mainly rely on farms under the Bureau of Animal Husbandry for their ingredients, although they usually offer one meat dish and one vegetable dish as a choice.

However, the only places that provided the most food were the canteens of ministries and the canteens of the animal husbandry bureau.

Other government canteens often serve people bean products like fried tofu and vegetarian chicken.

There are also various kinds of blood tofu and offal; in short, they really can't provide as much authentic meat as Blue Water Farm.

There was no other way. Although their agricultural reclamation bureau was in charge of farms across the country, the main development direction of each farm in the past was land reclamation and grain planting.

Their bureau has no shortage of grain, but the number of farms raising meat is really small, far less than that of the subordinate departments of the animal husbandry bureau.

Moreover, when Su Wenchen heard Lu Anguo mention their welfare issues, he simply smiled and explained.

"Director Lu, although our farm has good benefits, our output is also high!"

"Think about it, our main plant has less than a thousand employees in total. On one hand, we maintain the egg supply for hundreds of thousands of urban workers in Lan City, and on the other hand, we can generate foreign exchange of up to one hundred million US dollars."

"Especially now that the white pig breed has been successfully developed, our pig farm will also have to shoulder the important responsibility of promoting the white pig."

"Therefore, our employees should absolutely enjoy this benefit, because employees will work harder when they are well-fed!"

"I believe that hardworking employees should be rewarded and lazy employees should be punished. Otherwise, if people see that hard work goes unrewarded and slacking off goes unpunished, then gradually no one in the company will be motivated to work hard."

Moreover, Su Wenchen felt that although their farm had good benefits, they weren't too outrageous. To put it bluntly, the standards were actually similar to those of large state-owned factories at that time.

Of course, compared to those small factories, there is still a big difference!
Upon hearing this, the old man nodded slightly, a hint of appreciation appearing in his eyes as he looked at Su Wenchen.

"Excellent! Those who perform meritorious service will be rewarded, and those who commit wrongdoing will be punished!"

"Your farm has developed to where it is today not only because of its achievements in livestock and poultry breeding, but also because you have handled management very well."

"That's how you motivate employees to work harder!"

After lunch, the old man carefully checked all the farm's production records and financial accounts.

Then, at the invitation of Lan City, I went to Lan City and visited several grassroots communes.

The inspection concluded with satisfaction only in the late afternoon.

As night fell, the convoy was on its way back to Bluewater Farm.

Inside the Hongqi sedan, an elderly man, somewhat tired after a long day, sat with his eyes closed, resting. Suddenly, he spoke.

"Xiao Su, you've been running around with me all day, thank you for your hard work!"

This time, Su Wenchen, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, turned around and said with a smile.

"Leader, what you're saying is all about serving the people, so what's there to complain about?"

"After all, my salary and benefits are several times that of ordinary employees!"

"You can't just say you're going to serve the people when you're getting paid, and then complain about how hard and tiring it is when you actually have to do the work!"

The old man opened his eyes and looked at Su Wenchen with bright, piercing eyes.

"Well said. I hope you will truly remember what you said in the future!"

"I took a tour of Lan City this time and found that your Beiwan Commune has developed very rapidly in the past two years. Your farm has played a big role in this development!"

"It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it played a decisive role."

"Moreover, influenced by you, the surrounding communes have also started to pick up side businesses."

However, he then sighed.

"However, I'm not optimistic about the current rush into egg-laying chicken farming! I don't know how many of them will actually succeed in the end."

"On the contrary, the commune that wanted to raise bees is more interesting to me."

"Currently, most of the honey in our country is exported. If this commune can be established, it could be a viable path for development."

Su Wenchen said with some helplessness.

“Leader, we actually warned them when these communes sent people over.”

“One chicken farm per commune or brigade is usually enough for a county.” “Because egg consumption is mainly driven by urban workers and state-owned factories.”

“Now in rural areas, almost every household has three to five chickens, and the eggs they produce each month are basically enough to supply the residents and factories in the county town.”

"Even if there is some shortfall, one chicken farm in a county is usually enough to supply the needs."

"But now in many counties, almost every commune has started to build chicken farms, and some production brigades even want to build one."

“If this continues, the price of eggs will drop, and in the end, it will be these production brigades and communes that suffer losses, and even the commune members who originally raised chickens at home will be affected.”

"To be honest, the price of eggs here has actually dropped significantly in the past two years. When eggs were in short supply, they cost one yuan per kilogram, but now they have dropped to fifty cents per kilogram."

"This price doesn't leave much of a profit margin for most chicken farms."

"Because coarse grains currently cost eight cents a pound, most of the chicken farms in the communes and production brigades cannot control their feed-to-egg ratio to the level of two to one that we have."

"They can't even reach a 3:1 ratio. Just like the ones we're looking at today, their basic ingredient-to-egg ratio is close to 4:1."

"That means it takes four pounds of feed to produce one pound of eggs."

"You could say that feed costs alone take up more than half of the budget, and you also have to factor in the culling rate of laying hens, labor costs, and transportation costs."

"It can be said that there is basically no profit margin left, even though they are all brigade members and there is no labor cost."

"But even if you use this manpower for other things, such as organizing it to dig irrigation ditches, the surrounding land will have a better harvest the following year. All of these can generate income."

Upon hearing this, the old man spoke directly.

Aren't you worried about the impact on your venue?

Su Wenchen smiled and shook his head.

"It's unlikely to have much of an impact on us; at most, it will just mean a slight reduction in our profits."

"One reason is that our technology is relatively mature, and the number of laying hens dying from disease is very small. Another reason is that due to our large-scale production, our feed is also a mixed feed with a high nutritional ratio."

"So we can maintain a high feed conversion ratio, and even if the eggs are only 30 cents a pound, our farm can still make a profit."

"Moreover, our farm mainly supplies factories and government agencies in the city. These large factories tend to trust state-owned farms like ours more than those that supply the communes and brigade enterprises below."

"After all, the stability and sufficiency of egg supply from large-scale chicken farms like ours is something that small-scale chicken farms can hardly match."

The old man sighed.

"It seems that Lan City doesn't intend to interfere much; on the contrary, it's more like they're encouraging it."

Su Wenchen nodded.

"Indeed, after all, eggs are far from being unsellable these days."

"Although raising more eggs only makes the price a little cheaper, it's not without its advantages. Some families who were reluctant to buy eggs before are now willing to do so."

"Just like those commune members who raised chickens at home, it's not that they didn't like eating eggs, but because there were too few ways to make money, they had to sell these eggs to supplement their household income."

"Moreover, most members are actually able to find their own way out."

"Now that raising chickens to supplement household income is no longer worthwhile, many members' families have started raising rabbits to supplement their income."

"Especially after it was promoted in our Beiwan Commune, people from surrounding counties often come to our farm to purchase baby rabbits, organized by production brigade."

"However, the Moonflower Rabbit is, after all, a fur-producing rabbit, so its meat yield and fat content are definitely not as good as those of pure meat rabbits!"

"However, although the fur quality of this common Moonflower rabbit does not reach that of the rabbits specially bred on our farm, it can still fetch a decent export price as a mid-to-low-end fur."

"So they buy a batch of baby rabbits, raise them, and then send them to the commune. They make quite a bit of money every year."

"Raising rabbits is a bit more troublesome than raising chickens, as you have to go out and cut grass to feed them."

"We can't let the chickens wander around and find food on their own like before."

"If you let the rabbits roam free to find their own food, they'll probably disappear in a flash!"

The old man immediately laughed.

"That's for sure, otherwise why would most of the members have been raising chickens all this time!"

"By the way, you still need to keep an eye on your farm's rabbit breeding program!"

"Although there are now pig breeds like the white pig that can be slaughtered quickly, it will still take a long time to truly promote their widespread adoption."

"Based on the current number of breeding pigs in your farm, I estimate that it would be quite good if it could be popularized in farms and breeding pig farms across the country within five years."

Su Wenchen also spoke earnestly.

"Rest assured, leader, we will definitely keep the breeding of meat rabbits in mind."

"After all, white pigs, which are monogastric digestive animals, cannot consume large quantities of this alkali-tolerant alfalfa."

"So, for now, our branch will mainly focus on breeding meat rabbits, but in the future, we will most likely develop dairy and beef cattle breeding."

"Because as a ruminant with four stomach chambers, cattle are much better at digesting fiber than pigs."

"Of course, this is a future development plan. The growth cycle of cattle is too long. At this stage, we are still focusing on breeding meat rabbits so that the branch farm can achieve self-sufficiency."

"After all, we can't keep relying on the ministry and local governments to support our farm! Our farm can't offer anything in return!"

Hearing this, the old man nodded repeatedly.

"Your arrangement is good. Let's focus on self-sufficiency first before discussing future development."

"However, if there are any needs in the future, or if any varieties need to be introduced, you can contact the ministry!"

Seeing this, Su Wenchen responded directly.

"Yes, sir. We will definitely mention it to the department if needed!"

After the car entered the living area of ​​Blue Water Farm, it stopped directly in front of the guesthouse that Blue Water Farm had prepared in advance.

It's called a guesthouse, but it's actually just a clean and tidy family compound.

However, there are three rooms inside, which is enough to accommodate the leaders and their accompanying security personnel.

As for the researchers from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and other departments who came along, they didn't go on the field inspections. Instead, they stayed at the pig farm, exchanging ideas and learning from the staff there. So, accommodations were arranged for them in advance.

After getting off the bus, the old man patted Su Wenchen on the shoulder.

"You should get some rest tonight too. We'll head back to Beijing first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Xiao Su, you'd better be prepared to speak at the National State Farms Conference that's been postponed the day after tomorrow!"

Su Wenchen was startled upon hearing this.

"Sir, should I go up and give a speech? What should I mainly say?"

To be honest, Su Wenchen hadn't really thought about going up to speak, because he hadn't been notified beforehand that there would be a speaking session. However, the fact that he was being asked to speak now was most likely because of Bai Zhu.

After all, their farm hasn't made any significant progress in land reclamation, because construction hasn't even started in the Yellow River floodplain yet!

The old man understood what Su Wenchen meant and spoke directly.

"This meeting was originally supposed to discuss the next steps for the development of state-owned farms, but now that we have your achievement in breeding white pigs, we need to add another topic to the meeting."

"Now, except for the Great Northern Wilderness, most other farms have completed the land reclamation work, so the development of animal husbandry cannot stagnate."

"You just need to go up there and give a detailed introduction to the various data of this white pig. You don't need to do any of the promotion."

“They will come to us one by one.”

Su Wenchen was touched when he heard this, because he knew that the old man wanted him to get to know his colleagues in the system in advance.

Like the Moon Rabbit, although many farm units know about the Moon Rabbit, very few people actually know it.

Su Wenchen understood that this was paving the way for his future. After all, the more people he knew at this time, the more achievements he could make, and the less resistance he would face in his future promotion.

Because promotion isn't something you can just get by with a single word from above. Without impressive achievements, no one below will respect you.

When you can't find anyone to help you, even if they force you up there, all sorts of accidents will cause you to fall.

Moreover, if you can't even achieve basic public support, it's generally very difficult to rise to a higher position.

Su Wenchen nodded, somewhat moved, at the old man's arrangement.

"Don't worry, boss, I'll organize all the relevant information as soon as I get back."

The old man waved his hand.

"Don't rush. You've been running around all day, you must be tired. You need to rest well!"

After saying that, he walked into the room.

Leave the residential area.

Su Wenchen yawned, preparing to go home to sleep as well. After all, their team was right next door, and because so many people had come this time, all the available rooms were full.

Su Wenchen had no desire to squeeze in with a bunch of grown men!
Su family.

Half asleep, Su's mother heard someone knocking on the door and immediately nudged her husband beside her.

"Old man, I hear the youngest son knocking on the door!"

Su's father turned over and muttered something.

You must be dreaming!

"Didn't the youngest son just leave with his wife yesterday?"

"How could he possibly come back so late at night? Besides, he would definitely call the brigade headquarters to let his family know he was coming back beforehand!"

"Besides, he's only been gone for a day. I didn't see you worry this much when he went to other places before. What's there to worry about when he goes to his father-in-law's house!"

Su's mother patted Su's father.

"What am I worried about? I really heard it just now!!"

"Could it be the eldest son's? He said that a high-ranking official came to inspect the farm today, and someone came to call her early this morning."

Su's father waved his hand.

"Alright, stop worrying about it. Didn't the eldest daughter-in-law say this morning that if the big boss doesn't leave tonight, she won't come back?"

"After all, they have to get up early to prepare breakfast in their cafeteria!"

"It's the middle of the night, what's she doing coming back at this hour? Just to sleep in the house for two hours?"

"Go to sleep, stop thinking nonsense!"

Facing the howling wind, Su Wenchen tightened his cotton coat. He had forgotten to bring his keys in his haste to come back, and he noticed that even the lights inside were off.

I felt a bit helpless; I couldn't sleep by the door tonight!
In this freezing winter wind, if you sleep outside all night, you'll probably be stiff the next day!
"No, big brother! Second brother! Is anyone home? Open the front door for me!"

(End of this chapter)