Training the Heavens

Chapter 221 Quail Fever

"I've never even seen a quail, let alone raised one. It must be expensive, right? What if I kill it?" Like most poor people, Dong Yougen's first thought was about the risk.

This is not their fault, because the poorer people are, the weaker their ability to resist risks. They dare not take any risks. Once misfortune comes true, it will be difficult for them to recover. Even if it is a small matter like raising quails, it will take a long time to recover once it fails.

"Your aunt was illiterate, but she learned it after studying for a while. Since she can do it, you can definitely learn it too." Dong Kuan got up and went to the inner room to get out a thin booklet and showed it to Dong Yougen.

"This is a breeding manual printed by the quail farm. Your eldest child is in sixth grade this year, right? He will definitely understand it. Just ask him to read it to you and you just follow it!"

He then did the math for Dong Yougen, "Quails lay eggs much faster than hens. They lay at least one egg a day. Adding up the cost of feed, seedlings, and everything else, an egg costs about three cents. If you sell it, it's seven cents. You can earn four cents a day raising quails, which comes to one dollar and twenty cents a month. If you raise thirty, that's thirty-six yuan, more than the factory workers' salary!"

Nowadays, the monthly salary of ordinary workers in the factory is about 30 to 40 yuan. Dong Kuan’s calculation was not wrong. These were all taught to them by Xu Lingjun. If they want to attract the surrounding people to raise quails together, they have to help them calculate this account.

As long as they can see the opportunity, there are still some people willing to take risks. As long as these people make money, their relatives and friends will follow suit.

"If you're worried, I can give you a few first so you can take them home and try raising them. Once they're well-developed, I can buy you a few more." Dong Kuan also hoped that his nephew could live a good life, so he planned to pay for it himself.

In fact, Xu Lingjun also had the idea of ​​distributing quail seedlings to everyone for free first, spreading this industry, and then charging them money after they got used to it. But when he thought about his experience in poverty alleviation, he quickly gave up the idea.

People often don't know how to cherish free things. Who knows what they will do with the quail chicks? Maybe they will just eat them in the pot.

If you're asking for money, you won't. Who would be willing to use real money to fill their stomachs? Even if it's given by a relative, it's the same. Maybe they'll take it more seriously, because it's not just about the money, it's also about the human relationship. If you don't take good care of the child, how will you explain it to your relatives?
Dong Yougen flipped through the booklet. He didn't recognize many words, but he could still understand the patterns. Just by looking at the pictures, he roughly understood something. "It doesn't look much different from raising chickens, right?"

"Well, the general principles are the same, but the specific methods are a little different. You will learn it after trying a few times! The quail farm also has training courses. You can ask your wife to come and learn from Haisheng's wife. She will learn it after a few times." Nowadays, men have to do heavy physical work, and raising quails is usually done by women.

"I'll come and have a look after the New Year." Dong Yougen was tempted. He still had the money to buy a few quail chicks. If he was going to do it, he definitely couldn't let Dong Kuan help him pay.

Similar conversations happened frequently during this Spring Festival. After the New Year, when everyone woke up from the joy of the Spring Festival and started the busy life of the new year, Team 5 where Xu Lingjun was suddenly became lively.

Director Dong, Zhang Zengxiang, Li Xingfa and others came to buy feed, piglets and quail chicks as soon as possible, and happily took them back to work, fantasizing that they could have a grand New Year's celebration like Xu Lingjun and others.

As soon as they left, Dong Yougen and others came over. Among the many projects that Xu Lingjun could provide, they were most interested in raising quails, because growing porcini mushrooms requires relatively high costs and high technical requirements, and most people dare not try it.

Raising chickens and pigs was something they were used to, and they weren't necessarily willing to change their long-standing habits. Raising quail, however, offered low investment, quick results, and high profits, making it the perfect venture for them. Haisheng's wife showed them around and taught them for a few days, and many were interested, though they still had some doubts.

Dong Yougen boldly asked the question that everyone was most concerned about, "If we raise quails and their eggs, where should we sell them?"

Haisheng's wife immediately gave the answer, "The local product company in the county will take them. If you're willing to go to the county town, you can sell them for seven cents each! If you don't want to go, you can just send them to us. We go to the county several times a month anyway, so you have to help with the travel expenses. We'll charge you six and a half cents for each quail egg. We're not looking to make a profit, as long as we don't lose money."

In fact, they still make some money. They may not make much from quail eggs, but the profit from selling feed and seedlings is not low. A quail egg that costs seven cents can be sold for more than one yuan after hatching and raising it for a few days, which is much more profitable than selling eggs directly.

"Can we hatch the quail eggs ourselves?" someone else asked.

"As long as you have good skills, of course you can, but it's better to buy from us; firstly, the quails you hatch may not be good, and the ones we sell here are carefully selected, easy to raise and lay eggs quickly! Secondly, if you let the quails hatch eggs, won't that delay their laying time?" Haisheng's wife took out the words she had prepared long ago and convinced many people at once.

Of course, not everyone will listen to her. There will definitely be people who will try to hatch the eggs themselves. Once they try it, they will know that the quail farm's seedlings are good.

At the end, Haisheng's wife unleashed her ultimate weapon, "It doesn't matter if you're not comfortable right now. We don't just accept money, you can even exchange it with corn, silkworm pupae, or chicken bones."

These are the main ingredients of feed, which the feed factory originally has to buy from outside. If these villagers are willing to deliver them, they don’t have to go out to buy them.

"Really?" Dong Yougen was immediately tempted. He might hesitate if he had to spend money, but Yumi already had them at home, and silkworm pupae and chicken bones were easy to find. Wasn't this essentially free? So why hesitate?
He quickly inquired about the exchange rate and made a quick decision, "I'll take five first. No, ten. You keep them for me. I'll go home and get some food!"

With a loud bang, everyone dispersed and ran back home to get things to exchange, fearing that they would be gone if they were too late.

In the next few days, a lot of people came to Haisheng's wife almost every day, exchanging corn, silkworm pupae, chicken bones and other things for quails, and then took them home to take good care of them.

The little quails grew very fast. After only one month, the first batch of quails started laying eggs. Dong Yougen hurriedly brought the quails to exchange for money and got the money smoothly without any trouble.

Now, those who had been waiting and watching could no longer sit still. They came to exchange quails and buy feed, and a quail craze quickly started.

　My grandpa passed away, so I'll have to take some time off after saving the manuscript.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)