Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 117 The Pig Collectors Have Arrived

"It was right not to agree. Pig dealers are prone to overcharging and causing trouble; government agencies are more reliable."

Xu Chunsheng smiled and told his family that the meat processing plant workers would be coming to pick up the pigs the day after tomorrow. Then he brought up the matter of building a winery: "It's not enough to build a large winery on our own land. I'm going to ask the brigade for land to build a winery."

"In this way, we'll have places to mass-produce both baijiu and fruit wine. Also, we can free up our own house for a complete renovation."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the main room looked at Xu Chunsheng.

Although his family believed in Xu Chunsheng from the bottom of their hearts and did not think he was joking, they were willing to let the family business grow bigger and bigger.

After hearing these words, Mr. and Mrs. Xu inevitably had some concerns.

After a moment's hesitation, Mr. Xu put down the teacup he had been stroking and said calmly, "Okay."

"However, we only recently started brewing tangerine peel wine and jujube wine, and we haven't sold any of them yet, so we don't know how well they're selling. Isn't it too hasty to start repairing the winery now?"

At this point, Mr. Xu took a sip of tea.

Mrs. Xu gently slapped Mr. Xu on the back: "What do you mean, 'okay'?"

She turned to Xu Chunsheng and said, "Erwa, we definitely support you in doing these things, but we still have some concerns."

There was an unconcealable worry in Xu's mother's eyes. After saying this, she got up, walked to the door, closed it, and then turned around and said, "Although fruit wine is something that no other family has, there will definitely be people willing to buy it. But there are only so many people in town who buy wine. If we expand the workshop all at once, I'm afraid we won't have anywhere to sell it."

"Also, as Master Tang mentioned last time, fruit wine doesn't keep as long as baijiu (Chinese liquor). What if it spoils?"

Xu Chunsheng nodded.

He could understand his mother's worries.

At this moment, Xu's father quickly added, "It's not that I don't want you to do it, it's just that I'm worried you won't be able to handle it, and I also feel that there's no need to expand the business so much."

"We still have a pig farm running at home, and you're brewing liquor and making fruit wine. You already have so many businesses, the pressure is too much for you."

Xu's parents' eyes were full of trust and concern for him. They did not question his decision, but were worried that he was moving too fast and tiring himself out.

Xu Chunsheng felt a warmth in his heart as he listened. He knew his parents genuinely cared for him. He explained, "A winery can't be built in a day or two. After it's built, the fermentation tanks will need to be kept for a long time. During this period, the wine produced cannot be sold. We're just building the factory to prepare for the future."

"I have considered all of what you have said. It is precisely because the fruit wine is still being refined that we should build a formal factory."

He explained his plans step by step: "The current conditions of my own yard are just average. There's not enough space to put all the equipment. I want to build a factory so that I can standardize the process, improve the quality, and have the opportunity to expand in the future."

"What, going outside?"

Just then, the older sister's voice came from outside. She came in, holding a towel to wipe her hands: "What are you trying to do?"

"Your younger brother is planning to build another winery and clear out the space at home to build a house."

Xu's mother explained to her daughter.

The older sister looked up at Xu Chunsheng and nodded: "That's good. The paint on our house is peeling too, so it's good to fix it."

After the eldest sister said this, Mr. and Mrs. Xu were at a loss for words.

"Oh, Mom and Dad, what are you worried about? Let Chunsheng do whatever he wants. It's better than letting him just follow Qian Junwei around like before."

"Anyway, he's earned most of the money in the house these days. It doesn't matter if he loses money because he's expanded his business."

The older sister then pulled up a stool in front of Xu Chunsheng, sat down, and looked at him, saying, "Chunsheng, I'll just tell you one thing: it's fine if you want to do bigger business and make more money, but don't overwork yourself. You still need to make time to go on dates with girls, like Runshu. You should ask her out, treat her to a meal or something. She's helped you a lot; you can't keep a girl waiting for you."

"That's what we meant too, we were just worried about him getting tired."

Mother Xu smiled and said.

Then, Xu's mother said to Xu Chunsheng, "Chunsheng, your older sister is right. Don't just focus on making money. You should also pay attention to your personal life. Runshu is a really nice girl. You should ask her out and buy her some clothes or something. Young ladies can't wait."

"What are you talking about?"

"But don't worry, I won't overwork myself."

Having been given a second chance at life, Xu Chunsheng certainly didn't dare to be too arrogant.

However, he also had a headache dealing with his aunt's niece, Cheng Runshu.

He had always treated her like a younger sister, and all he wanted in this life was to marry her again.

But the other party was indeed very sincere and had very passionate feelings for him, and helped him a lot during this period.

Xu Chunsheng thought about it and felt that it was more appropriate to give Cheng Runshu money, whether Cheng Runshu wanted it or not, it was better than letting him help for nothing.

Furthermore, he felt it necessary to clarify things further.

Because he really didn't want to hold Cheng Runshu back.

In his opinion, Cheng Runshu was indeed a good girl.

Xu Chunsheng felt that once he made things clear, even if he still needed Cheng Runshu to do things for him, he could directly state what the remuneration would be, or even hire him to do things for him.

Xu Chunsheng then shared his thoughts with his parents and older sister.

Xu's parents and eldest sister sighed with regret when they saw that Xu Chunsheng insisted on not marrying Cheng Runshu, but they did not intend to force him. They just told him to handle it himself, including the matter of building the winery and renovating the house.

"Then it's settled. After the pigs are sold, I'll go to the brigade to apply for a place."

Since none of them had any objections, Xu Chunsheng smiled, got up, and stretched.

"I really don't know what's wrong with Runshu that makes you choose him."

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Mr. and Mrs. Xu both nodded. The eldest sister only said one sentence before going outside.

"Dad, what are you doing here so early?"

Three o'clock in the morning of the second day.

Xu Chunsheng was groggily awakened by the noise outside the pig farm, so he got up from his makeshift bed to investigate.

Since he didn't hear any barking, Xu Chunsheng wasn't overly vigilant.

But as soon as he came out, he saw that Xu's father had turned on the light and was preparing to mix the pig feed.

"The meat processing plant workers were coming to collect the pigs this morning, right? I'm here to feed them some and weigh them. That way, each pig will weigh four or five pounds more."

Xu Chunsheng slapped his forehead: "It's my fault for forgetting to tell you guys that we can't feed the pigs this morning. The meat processing plant has a rule against it. If we feed them, they'll deduct the weight. So don't bother, go back and get some more sleep."

Mr. Xu stopped mixing the pig feed and looked at Xu Chunsheng: "I know that in the past, when the state-run grain station bought pigs, no matter how fat they were, they would find fault with them and deduct from the weight. But I thought it would be better to feed them more before selling them, so that we could get at least two more pounds back."

Xu Chunsheng shook his head and took the shovel from his father's hand: "Dad, there's no need for that. It'll only cause trouble for us. Besides, this is our first business deal, and our first time cooperating with a meat processing plant. We need to follow the rules from the start and leave a good impression so we can have more opportunities to cooperate in the future."

For pig farms with fixed suppliers, the meat processing plant will make an agreement in advance to stop feeding 12 hours before slaughter and only provide clean water; if a pig farm is overfed multiple times to gain weight and has excessive losses, the plant will lower the price or even stop buying pigs from that farm.

This was because, although state-owned meat processing plants were gradually opening up their pig purchasing channels, they still calculated money based on the live weight of the pigs, just like before. Slaughter losses and meat yield were rigid performance indicators for the plants.

If farmers feed pigs too much pig feed before selling them, the pigs will gain weight, but their stomachs will be full of undigested feed and water. After the pigs are brought back to the factory to rest and empty their stomachs, their weight will drop significantly. During slaughter, not only will their internal organs be congested with blood, but the quality of the pork will also decline, and the meat processing plant will incur a considerable loss out of nowhere.

In the past, when farmers sold pigs to food stations, it was just a one-off deal. Many farmers wanted to gain weight by feeding the pigs more so they could make a few extra pounds. As a result, the pig buyers could only find fault with the pigs and deduct from the weight to break even.

The experienced pig collectors at the meat processing plant can tell whether a pig has eaten just by touching its belly. If they find that the pig has been deliberately fed to gain weight, the weight will be significantly reduced on the spot, or the pig's grade and purchase price will be lowered. If this happens repeatedly, the meat processing plant will terminate the cooperation directly.

After hearing Xu Chunsheng's explanation, Xu's father realized that he had made a mistake in this matter. He awkwardly wiped his hands on his clothes and said, "I was wrong. Luckily you saw it. If I had really caused a problem, it would have been difficult to cooperate with the government factory in the future."

After saying that, Xu's father patted Xu Chunsheng on the shoulder again. He was a little disappointed, but more proud of his son: "You are now the pillar of the family. I am not good at managing things, and I can only help you out. I can't even give you advice anymore."

Xu Chunsheng quickly supported his father's arm and comforted him with a smile: "Dad, why do you say that? You've been in charge of everything inside and outside the pig farm."

He continued, "The reason I didn't allow feeding the pigs earlier wasn't because I thought you were naive. It's because we want to do long-term business with the meat processing plant, and we need to be practical. Besides, you've lived for so many years, and I've always needed your guidance. Without your support, I wouldn't dare to go all out."

Mr. Xu sighed, a smile playing on his lips, and looked at his son: "Alright, I'll listen to you. We won't feed him anymore. We're going to do business with sincerity."

Xu Chunsheng turned off the lights in the mixing area, locked the door, and said to his father, "Then you should go back to sleep. The meat processing plant people won't be here for a long time. I'll stay here and keep watch."

Mr. Xu waved his hand: "Forget it, we're not going back. I'm too lazy to make a fuss. Let's just put up another board and squeeze in together."

"Okay. Then come inside and wait a moment, I'll go put up a plank."

The weather was already quite chilly in early winter, but luckily we had brought thick blankets with us, so the two of us could share the blankets without getting cold.

After sleeping for another two hours, Xu Chunsheng quietly got up without waking his father, put on his clothes, closed the door, and went to the main road at the entrance of the village alone with a flashlight to wait.

Last time, we only agreed to come in the morning, but we didn't specify a time. However, the people who buy pigs always come very early so that the farmers won't have to feed the pigs in the morning.

They couldn't stop everyone from getting up in the middle of the night to feed the pigs, like Mr. Xu, so they could only come as early as possible.

Sure enough, Xu Chunsheng waited by the big banyan tree at the village entrance for less than half an hour before he heard the sound of a car entering the village.

Xu Chunsheng straightened up, waved to the two approaching Jiefang trucks, and after they stopped, asked, "Sir, are you here to buy pigs?"

"Yes, you must be Boss Xu? How far is it? Can our truck get to your pig farm?"

"It's me. We need to drive a little further ahead, but we can only stop at the main road. The road to the pig farm is only wide enough for a tricycle."

"Okay, come up here and give me directions."

Xu Chunsheng opened the car door, got in, and handed the driver a cigarette: "When did you leave, driver? It's quite a distance from the county town."

"They left around 2 a.m. They didn't come from the county, they came directly from Luoshui, which would have saved them an hour or so."

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"Take the lower road ahead. The upper road leads to another village."

While giving directions to the driver, Xu Chunsheng chatted with the people. Before long, they reached a fork in the road: "The car can only go this far. Drive a little further ahead. There's a dam ahead, so you can turn around. Go ahead and call another car over. I'll go home and get some people to help herd the pigs."

"OK."

After pointing out the direction of the dam, Xu Chunsheng quickly headed home with a flashlight.

Before they even got home, they ran into Xu's mother and older sister, who had gone out together.

"I was just saying I'd go back and call you guys, but you're already up."

With her hands tucked into her pocket, Xu's mother mumbled, "I haven't slept well since your dad went to the pig farm. I just heard a truck, and I guessed it was a pig hauler, so I got up."

The older woman, carrying a thermos, nodded in agreement: "Knowing that someone was coming to pick up the pigs today, I didn't sleep well at all. I was worried that they would find fault with me, and I was also thinking about helping to support the pigs. I didn't sleep well all night."

Xu Chunsheng took the water bottle from his sister and said with a smile, "What's there to worry about not sleeping? We've already agreed on a deal and signed a contract, so there's no way we can run away from it."

"Then let's hurry up, they can just turn their car around and we'll be there."

When the group arrived, they saw Xu's father chatting with three people: "Master, where are you from? It's so cold, go downstairs and have some hot water before you rest."

"Yes, it gets colder faster in the mountains."

"Hey, yeah, it feels like it's higher up here than it is back home. The way here was all winding mountain roads, you wouldn't dare to drive on it without some skill."

— Xu's father was the first to notice the group approaching and said to the three masters, "They're here, masters. Why don't you go inside and talk? It's terribly cold."

The eldest sister poured a bowl of hot water for each of the three men from the kettle. After they had rested, she said, "Boss Xu, let's go check on the pigs first."

Xu Chunsheng led his men to the pig farm. The pigs in the pen thought it was time to eat and stood up, grunting and squealing.

The three men looked at the scene and glanced around the pigsty. They exchanged a look, and one of the workers stepped forward and said, "Boss Xu, you're feeding these pigs well. Not only is the pigsty clean, but the pigs are also very white and clean. It seems you clean it quite often."

"Indeed, we've been to several pig farms, but none of them are as clean as yours."

Xu Chunsheng smiled and said, "Of course, we clean every day, wash it every two or three days, and disinfect it once a week. You can rest assured about the hygiene."

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