Chapter 388: Chapter 388: Pig Farm
'He's not asking for help, he's giving orders,' Feng Yuxuan had not spoken up until now because she knew that whatever she said would not be good. 'Why did he leave the things he brought? I'll go after him and give them back,'
'Hey, we're all from the same village, how can I do that?' Feng Zhenchang said.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, if I rush to return the gift he brought to the door today, where will his face be?
'Leave it, otherwise Meng Chuan won't be able to spend a peaceful New Year. He might come back tomorrow. This is already the fifth time since the twelfth lunar month,' Mei Qiuping said.
'Have many people been fired from the factory because of this?'
'Some have, but they usually only do it once. He's the first person to do it three times.'
It seems that the managers at all levels of the factory have done a good job. Most of them have done a good job of explaining and educating after the first offence, and there have been no repeat offences.
'He's only getting what he deserves. You shouldn't have agreed to it just now, brother. Someone like that is irresponsible. Where do you want to put him?'
'Simple, let him go to the logistics company and move goods for three months to see if he can hold out.' Feng Yiping had already thought about this. At the logistics company, apart from those who issue invoices, including the drivers, the work is not easy
'If it weren't for the fact that Meng Chuan's family is also having a hard time, and if it weren't for Hongqi's hot-headed nature, I wouldn't bother looking after them,' Mei Qiuping said.
This is how my parents are. In their simple emotions, they hold great sympathy for those poor families. Maybe this was the life they led in the beginning.
'This time we have done our best. If Hongqi is still not doing well, there is nothing we can do. Anyway, let's go and see our house.' Feng Zhenchang led his son and daughter enthusiastically towards the new house.
In fact, you can see the place as soon as you enter the village. On the hill in front of you, three flat areas, or three floors, have been levelled from the foot of the hill. There are now a total of 11 two-and-a-half-storey buildings distributed on them.
'The bottom one can accommodate at least eight households, and this hill can be flattened out to five floors, with a total of more than 30 households. The top of the hill is also planned out. In the future, we'll have a small garden in the city, with a few pavilions and whatnot.' Feng Zhenchang greeted everyone he met while introducing the area to his children.
'Look at the middle road,' he said, pointing to the dirt road that hadn't yet been paved with concrete. 'It's reserved to be very wide, at least wide enough for two cars. And there are sewage pipes underground,'
These houses were all built according to the same design plan, and the general layout is the same. Each one covers an area of nearly 200 square meters, with a garage, a pigsty in the backyard, and a chicken coop in the backyard, very much in the style of a farmhouse.
Their house is on the third floor, next to the middle road. 'This area under the porch will be fenced off with railings, the floor will be covered with wooden boards, and a few rattan chairs will be placed here,'
Along the porch, they came to the kitchen, which was somewhat separate and attached to the left side of the small building. A stove had already been set up inside, and this was where meals were cooked with firewood. My parents and many other people stubbornly believed that meals cooked with firewood were tastier.
'Here, there will be custom-made cabinets installed, and a gas stove will be installed,' Feng Zhenchang told them about the future layout of the house, going up to the roof.
The roof of this half-level is to be tiled, with green glazed tiles stacked next to it. A platform has been left in the middle of the roof, where a solar water heater will be placed in the future.
'This area,' Feng Zhenchang said, pointing to the large platform in front of him, 'will be arranged like your house in the capital, as a leisure area, where you can drink tea and soak up the sun in winter. So, what do you think of the overall arrangement? Do you have any other good ideas?'
Feng Zhenchang must have discussed this arrangement with Mei Qiuping for a long time and considered many plans before saying this today, and Feng Yiping has nothing to add.
'In front of the house and along the road, we'll plant trees, and in the courtyard we'll grow flowers. Just imagine, when it's finished, it won't be any worse than those villa areas in the city,'
'Yes, it'll be pretty good,' Feng Yuxuan really liked the way her father described the finished home. She looked at her brother, who seemed to be deep in thought on the other side of the room. These changes, which she never would have imagined before, had happened because of her brother.
The plan was really quite good, but there was still so much to be done.
Feng Yiping thought about the scene they saw when they went to Moganshan for a visit. The mountains and waters there looked pristine, but in fact, they had all been treated. The same was true in the village. What was being done now was just a start. The general environment was still very primitive, and there was still a lot of work to be done.
My parents have been living at home. Since the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, when some families slaughtered their New Year's pigs, they have eaten many meals outside. So these past two days, unlike previous New Year's, when their family returned, many people were blocking the house, asking them to go out to eat.
However, Feng Yiping did not eat lunch at home either, as his cousin Dongming dragged him to his house for dinner.
He and Dongming had not seen each other for a whole year. This former dark-skinned, burly rural man had changed a lot, from head to toe, inside and out. His hairstyle had changed, his clothes had changed, and so had his way of speaking.
'Next year, I want to open another store in the county below, and help my brother-in-law open another one,' he said, beaming, about his plans for the coming year.
He has already opened two stores in the city, a three-hour drive from the provincial capital, and also helped his brother-in-law open one.
'By the year after next, when Sheng is old enough to go to primary school, we can take him to live with us. The schools in the city are much better than those in the countryside. I don't want my parents to work so hard, so I'll let my eldest brother take over the family chicken farm, and let them go to the city for a while.'
Uncle Feng's eldest son, Dongzheng, was also there with his family. His aunt was busy around the stove with her two daughters-in-law and three granddaughters. Uncle Feng was cuddling his favourite nephew, Sheng, and poking at the sweet potatoes roasting in the fire.
'Yiping, come here, sit down. Where's Yuxuan? Why didn't you call her over?'
'Xinhua's family came over,'
Everyone was very enthusiastic after not seeing each other for a year. Several school-age nieces and nephews, curious, surrounded Feng Yiping and asked about life at university. Feng Yiping was well prepared and pulled out a stack of photos, letting them see for themselves.
'Is the chicken farm business still good?' Feng Yiping held a bowl of chicken soup that his aunt had ladled for him. The soup smelled delicious and a layer of yellow oil floated on top.
'Business is still good, but there are more and more noodle shops opening. There are three chicken farms in the village, and sometimes they can't even supply all the demand,' Dongzhengge said.
'However, the mountain we contracted can only raise so many chickens. If there are more, we can't guarantee the current quality. These days, I'm also discussing with your fourth uncle about taking over the next mountain,' Erbo said.
'I've discussed it with my parents and sister, and it seems that the noodle shop only uses chicken broth. After a long time, some people may get tired of it, so we were wondering if we could add another kind, such as pork bone broth,'
'I think it's necessary. Having only one kind is a bit thin. Having more options is good,' Dongming said.
'It's just that the flavour of the bone broth needs to be adjusted well, and some work still needs to be done. It won't be quick, but it also takes time to raise a pig to market weight, so I was thinking, is it possible to stop expanding the chicken farm? We can build a pig farm and not feed it with feed. Now that so many fields on the mountain are abandoned, we can grow more sweet potatoes. Whether it's the sweet potatoes or the sweet potato vines, they can all be used to feed the pigs.'
Feng Yiping had a reason for mentioning this. For a long time since 2003, everyone had been afraid of chickens. Even if the chickens in the mountains were not infected, the noodle shops that mainly served chicken noodle soup would not do much business.
'You are right, but this is not a trivial matter. Not to mention how much money needs to be invested, we know nothing about how to run a pig farm. Besides, can we sell so many pigs in the future?' said Feng Yiping's uncle.
'Dad, don't worry about this. Where is the downside to selling pigs that have not been fed feed? Just find a few pork stalls at the farmers' market and you can buy a few pigs a day. Just ask Yuxuan to look for them in the province. It's not a problem to sell five pigs a day, let alone ten. We've just started, so how many pigs can we sell a year? I think this is a good idea,' Dongming said.
'There's no rush. At that time, you and Uncle Si, plus my father, can sit down and discuss it together. It's not difficult to set up a pig farm. The Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau has experts in this field. If they're not good at it, they can go to the Agricultural University and find well-known professors,'
Feng Yiping mentioned it today, and since my parents' work had already been done, he basically didn't need to worry about the next steps.
(The end of this Chapter)