Chapter 18 Section 18

The chicken farm jointly operated by the three brothers was established. A light blue brand new incubator was bought back. In front of the earthen fence on the side of the street gate, two mud houses with asphalt felt roofs were temporarily repaired and used as machine rooms for the hatching of the first brood of chicks. The work starts from the selection of eggs, until the chicks hatch, and the four sisters are almost inseparable.Before the Spring Festival, when she had an idea and decided to take this move, she rushed to Zipoguo Nutritive Chicken Farm 20 miles away, where she watched a whole process from egg selection to chick hatching. During the process, she paid her own money to work as a partner in the staff canteen of the National Nutrition Chicken Farm, working alongside the shift for free, and accompanying the night shift workers on duty.Now, she's hatching her first brood of chicks in her own home.

She told her niece Xue Lan and her second sister-in-law that under the electric light, an egg with a black spot in the shell can be seen as a fertilized breeding egg, while an egg without a black spot is a water egg that cannot hatch a chick.She told them how to control the temperature of the incubator until she helped them read the mark on the thermometer.After all, my niece Xue Lan is a little educated, so I will remember it after saying it twice.The second sister-in-law blinked her eyes in vain, she just remembered something today, but she forgot after sleeping all night.This stupid second sister-in-law, who can swear at the street for three days without swearing heavy words, can't always remember the names and functions of the knobs on the machine, so she had to be replaced by her second daughter-in-law, Xiaohong.The fourth sister and her two nieces finally hatched the first brood of chicks. The two nieces were so happy that they snatched the first chick that had just hatched, stroked their faces, and even kissed it with their mouths. Thin, creamy-white down.

The one who is most satisfied with this matter is the old man Lu Kejian. The old man has no free time from morning till night.He stirred the feed, cleaned the chicken coop, carried the big cage on his back and went to the river ditch to dig water celery, which is the green feed that hens like to eat most.Picking up a basket full of green grass, the setting sun was fading, the chilly mountain wind was blowing on the skin, the old man lit a bag of dry tobacco, and smoked happily on the ditch. The three sons became one family again.During the Spring Festival, he came forward and hosted by him, which finally led to the union of the three brothers and three sisters-in-law.Originally, he just wanted the women or children of the eldest and second child to come and help the third family, and the third daughter-in-law would pay the wages, so as to avoid the suspicion of exploitation by hired workers, and secondly, to increase the economic income of the eldest and second family.When he came up with the idea that it would be good for any son but not bad, the eldest son who was a teacher proposed three joint ventures.In this way, the suspicion of hiring labor is completely eliminated, and the chicken farm can be further expanded, increasing the income of the third family and itself.For example, not only hatching chickens, but also the original laying hens can be expanded from the current 300 to 700 or 800, or even thousands.The second child also supports the elder brother's approach.When the old man mentioned this idea to Fourth Sister, Fourth Sister seemed a little displeased at first, but then readily agreed, saying: "Since the two elder brothers have spoken, I agree to do so."

Again, the boss came up with the idea, and the fourth sister came out to borrow money from the credit union of the commune. Because the fourth sister had gained a reputation now, any unit was willing to support this new thing, and he or the second brother would lend money.It is much more difficult.After careful consideration of everything, the fourth younger sister applied for it, and loaned the money to the names of the eldest woman and the second child, as the investment of the eldest and second child, and then used the existing live chickens in the chicken farm as shares. The field belongs to the three joint ventures.

Now, the three sons, the three sisters-in-law, and the grandchildren are miraculously united in one purpose, and a situation of unprecedented prosperity and harmony has emerged. This is what the old man dreamed of but never realized. A lively and harmonious family atmosphere.He doesn't want to see one son is very rich and another son is poor and difficult. The three sons go hand in hand. This is the most comforting thing.Due to the formation of the alliance of the three families, the old man consciously stopped receiving wages, and only said that his sons would provide him with food and clothing according to their conscience.He has endless energy, and his mood has never been more relaxed and carefree. Now that class struggle is not mentioned much, it seems that no one will be embarrassed by his status in the short term. The status of landlords and rich peasants has returned to that of middle peasants.He wanted to see his three sons become the wealthiest family in Lujiabao. As for whether he wants to earn money from his sons, what's the point?

This joint operation of the three chicken farms kinks the three brothers and three sisters-in-law together again.The eldest is teaching in a nearby elementary school. He used to be at school for board and lodging, and only returned home for worship on Saturdays. Now, he rides his bicycle home every evening, eats a bowl of rice in a hurry, and automatically looks for work in the chicken farm. until midnight. The old man carried a basket of green grass on his back, and walked down the ravine in the afterglow of the setting sun. When he went back, he chopped it up and fed it to the chickens! Fourth sister felt a threat.She has already learned that in this small commune with a population of less than 20,000, three farmers have already set up hatcheries. It seems that she is not the only one watching this move.The competition is palpable.On the most conspicuous walls in the streets and alleys of Lujiabao Village, there are side by side advertisements for the sale of chickens from the three companies.The state-run Zipo chicken farm also sent salesmen to the countryside to post advertisements from village to village, saying, "This farm has a history of hatching chickens for 15 years, with rich experience, the chickens are strong, and the survival rate is as high as 98%", etc., People respect habits, and habits are the safest chickens in Zipo Chicken Farm.

The fourth sister pondered for a long time, found the elder brother, spread a thick roll of red and green paper on the table, and asked the elder brother who is a teacher to write the advertisement. She only considered one thing: keep alive.For all chicks bought from Simeizi's family, Simeizi will be responsible for guiding the breeding, treating diseases, free medical treatment, and being on call.This one is the deadliest one. Those peasant women who don't know how to feed chickens are the most afraid of the death of chickens, and chickens are indeed difficult to feed. This one not only defeated the other three competitors, but also defeated Zipo Chicken Farm.They couldn't win the trust of rural women, so they flocked to Fourth Sister's house, and chickens were in short supply.Some would rather wait until the next batch of chicks hatch than buy them somewhere else.

The fourth sister got into trouble because of this.Those peasant women who have always relied on the wings of old hens to feed their chicks are not used to feeding their chicks scientifically. They cannot control the temperature (this is the key) and their food intake, which makes the chicks often get sick or even die.She had to do what the advertisement said and treat other people's sick chickens.Sometimes just after falling asleep, someone knocked on the door, saying that there was something wrong with the chick, and she and the visitor rushed to the village overnight... Thanks to her guidance, the lives of thousands of chicks were saved, The fourth sister's reputation was so shocking that the peasant women even called her "Chicken King".In direct proportion, the sales of her chicks are getting better and better, which is encouraging.

Si Meizi is too tired. The more chicks she sells, the heavier her burden will be. Several times, she had to ride a bicycle to the foot of the Qinling Mountains, seventy or eighty miles away, to rescue those who had never been born. The lives of the chicks she bought there.She is tired, but not bored.She herself couldn't figure out where such high energy came from.She simply realized that if she could save the lives of ten chicks, she might in turn increase the sales of a thousand chicks.Although there is no need for money to run away for medical treatment, the greater income has already flowed into the account books of the joint chicken farm.She received the warmest hospitality from the housewives who were treated by her, which often put her in a happy state of elation. Listening to those heartfelt and long-winded words of gratitude to Xie En, Fourth Sister felt again and again that she was this A woman from a foreign country has become like a human being among the locals. Once, she treated a woman’s chick in the village, and the woman’s husband was once a propaganda committee member of the Lujiabao Party branch. He led the campaign against her. Criticize the behavior of selling eggs, and speak very sharply.She resented him.Now she treats the chicken in his family with special care. When she concentrated on asking about the chicken's condition for the second time, the housewife smiled and praised her for her skill and good heart, but at the same time scolded the man. You can't do shit, not even a woman.Fourth Sister was very happy in her heart, a kind of joy of getting revenge.

Contradictions within the family were brewing during the days when she was running around, like dark clouds gathering rapidly. In the afternoon of this day, the scorching sun of May hangs overhead, and the fire-like sun is scorching the yellowed ears of wheat. The summer harvest is about to begin, so it is time to prepare the sickle.The fourth sister rode a bicycle and walked through the resplendent Mai Hai.She is in a very good mood.She is a winner.She absolutely overwhelmed the three competitors, selling chickens twice as much as them, and her income was self-evident.It's time to come to an end for the time being. Once the sickle is opened, peasants and men will not have the leisure and patience to caress those weak chicks.The last batch of chicks in her incubator went on sale today, and when they're sold out, it's time for the year to end.

She put the car outside the door, in case someone would come to ask her to cure the disease of chickens in the future, walked into the street door, didn't even care to drink a sip of water, and walked straight to the hatching room, I don't know how many chickens were sold today chicken?This crop of chicks must be sold before the wheat is harvested.When she walked to the small window, she stopped her hurried steps suddenly, and there were unscrupulous voices mocking her. Her eldest niece Xue Lan and second niece Xiaohong, together with her second sister-in-law, sang together. , talking about the heat—— "We are long-term workers." The voice of the second sister-in-law said, "He rides a bicycle all over the place from morning to night, and we work for him as a long-term worker from morning to night." "He's a savage!" Xue Lan's voice said, "Mountain barbarian! I don't know the rules! Riding a bike day and night, who knows what good things can happen..." "Can it be praised in the newspaper..." Xiaohong said. "I'm afraid it's just for publishing newspapers and selling chickens, so I don't have such great energy? A wild woman in the mountains..." said the second sister-in-law. Simeizi's brain hurts sharply, as if she has been beaten several times in succession.Like a wild animal that was suddenly attacked, without any thought, she rushed in the door without saying a word, and punched the smiling fat face of the second sister-in-law head-on, without waiting for the face to react Coming over, he punched him again, causing nosebleeds to flow down. Xiaohong was the first to react. Seeing her mother being beaten, she immediately jumped up and pushed her aside before the fourth sister's third punch fell.Xiaohong then rushed forward and wrestled with the fourth sister.She tugged at Fourth Sister's hair.The fourth sister tugged at Xiaohong's front.Xiaohong's front lapel hissed, and two small breasts that had never been seen before were exposed to the air.Embarrassed, she pulled a bunch of hair off Simeizi's head with all her strength. Xiaohong's mother had already reacted, she rushed over like a she-wolf, and hugged Simeizi's leg.The fourth sister was caught off guard and fell into the wooden trough on the ground. The chick was crushed to death, but she ignored it because her pants were torn. She grabbed her lower body with one hand. died. Lu Kejian was cleaning the hay cutting site, when he heard hoarse shouts and curses, he threw down the long-handled bamboo broom and ran over. As soon as he stepped into the small door of the hatching room, he saw a horrible scene: his granddaughter Xiaohong was torn from her clothes , with her chest bare, the face of the second daughter-in-law covered with blood and water, the eldest granddaughter Xuelan with loose hair and blood dripping from the corner of her mouth, the third daughter-in-law and the fourth younger sister whose pants were torn off, her buttocks were covered with blood, and her buttocks were crushed to death The chick... Lu Kejian couldn't help roaring: "Are you all shameless?" The Kejian old man carried a pair of thorns on his head, a crock full of boiling water in one hand, and a mushroom hat that changed from yellow to black on his head. The ravine behind the fort went uphill.After the summer harvest, the land of the Lujiabao production team was redistributed to households according to population.Although he couldn't believe that the world would develop and change to such a point, he still plowed the two slightly gentle slopes with the ox, leaving two steep slopes, and it was rare for the ox to stand with the plow Yes, only rely on him to dig with his head.Digging up the first layer of the ground surface and exposing it to the whole dog days, the weeds are dead, the raw soil is sun-dried, and the ground surface is soft. It is good to sow wheat after autumn! The chicken farm jointly run by the three brothers broke up.Thousands of laying and laying hens were all sold.The rattling sound that had been heard from morning to night was gone.The old man Lu Kejian had already left the courtyard of his third son and returned to his old den, together with his wife.Thinking of the prosperous and lucky days of the chicken farm is really regrettable, and I can't bear to look back, but I can't help but think about it anyway. Digging up the head, turning up a piece of dry and hard soil with grass roots, digging down one by one, and there are yellow-brown soil clods of various sizes behind.The sun, which is about to enter the three volts, is like a burning brazier buckled on the back, and sweat drips on the dry clods that have just been dug up under the feet.Tired of work, he lifted his head and walked slowly to the bottom of a mountain elm tree on the edge of the ditch, dropped his head, picked up the earthen pot, poured half of the pot of cold boiled water, and sat in the shade of Huahua Lala. Next, take out the cigarette pouch.The old lady is tricky!It's so weird that it doesn't care about the voice of the neighbors.He cursed his elder son resentfully in his heart. It was the eldest son who proposed to sell all the existing hens in the chicken farm, and the incubator was also sold.Excluding the repayment of loans, all surplus profits will be distributed according to labor.As soon as this distribution plan was put forward, the second child and his wife immediately expressed their active support. The third daughter-in-law could only obey the majority, and could only twist five fingers with one finger.According to this method of distribution, the boss's woman and daughter Xuelan, and the second's woman and daughter Xiaohong are naturally distributed as two laborers. The boss himself also won half of the laborers because he came back from school every day to participate in the chicken farm labor. Distribution, in this way, the eldest family has two and a half labors, the second child's family has two shares, only the third daughter-in-law and the fourth sister have one arm and one hand, only occupying one share.Whenever he thinks of this huge disparity in the distribution results, the old man Lu Kejian is very annoyed, and even hates himself. He should never have dragged the eldest and second child to the chicken farm of the third wife.I did a stupid thing with good intentions, and I lost my third daughter-in-law!The fourth sister of the family worked hard and had a good heart, but in the end, the two cruel brothers and sister-in-law scooped up all the money. It's so cruel and unrighteous! The frugal old man now hates his eldest son very much.At the family meeting to calculate the distribution plan, the old man never expected that the eldest son took out a blue book from his uniform pocket, and in front of his younger brother, sister-in-law, and niece, he read like a stream of books he made on Sunday. And the time spent working on the chicken farm in the afternoon every day is even detailed from what time to what time, not a day, not a minute.This abrupt move stunned the sister-in-law, younger brother and niece, but the most surprised one was the thrifty old man himself.The old man stared at the eldest son reading it unhurriedly, turning one page after another... He suddenly felt that he didn't know the eldest son, and he was different from the gentleman who had been knowledgeable about books and etiquette in his mind for decades. If there are two people. The old man stared at the blue book, suppressed his disgust and endured it, and listened to the eldest son read the boring time journal like a student, cursing in his heart, he really loves money and disregards face!How dare you take out this bullshit notebook and read it!The old man stared dazedly, the blue leather book turned into a dead mouse with shaved hair and rotten flesh, one more look would make one feel sick. It's really a loss to the third daughter-in-law and the fourth sister, who suffered a stomachache and couldn't tell the pain.The family business created by the family doll's hard work was all stolen by the brothers and sisters-in-law! The weather is sweltering, and there are scorching heat waves flowing between the slopes and gullies.The sky was gray, but there was not a single cloud in sight.The blades of grass are scorched.The spring in the ditch stopped flowing.Looking at the divided fields in the river, he suddenly realized that he had made a serious mistake, slapped his forehead, and sighed alone—— The world is so big and the world is so chaotic, the ancients said that there is far-sightedness, long-term separation must unite, long-term unity must divide, and now it is the trend of division.The land is divided, the cattle are divided.The public property in Lujiabao, including the brigade office house, was distributed to individuals at a discount.Now people's hearts are turning towards subdivision, the smaller the division, the better, and the more thorough the division, the more satisfied.In such a current situation like a flood breaking a dike, but I turned my back against the time and brought together the three brothers who had already separated, how could there be a perfect ending?How stupid! Although the old man Lu Kejian repeatedly lamented his mistakes in judging the situation, he did not lessen his disgust towards his eldest son. Even though the word "fen" has a "knife" under it, you are an educator after all!How dare you grab meat from your own brother's bowl?You are not benevolent and unrighteous, but you put the old man in your pocket and smeared it into a messy face, so that the third daughter-in-law and fourth sister will be suspicious, saying that you men are conspiring to plot against me... The old man walked to the third son's door several times, but he didn't have the courage to go in. How could he speak when he saw the third son's house?He just told his wife to let her comfort the third daughter-in-law more... But there is no way for him to go on like this for a long time, and he can't rest assured after all. He looked at Lujiabao at the bottom of the slope, quietly attached to the roots of the slope on the south bank of the small river, with the ridge tiles of new and old houses exposed among the dense treetops.Groups of people are pulling carts and transporting soil on the open area where wheat has been harvested in the west of the village, which is the newly allocated village base.During the slack period of more than three months before the autumn harvest, a new house can be repaired and built. Among the people who have become very small, there are his two sons, the eldest and the second.The boss is using the summer vacation to lead the whole family to dig the foundation and prepare to build a new house.The second child also resigned from the contract, led his wife and baby, and worked like a competition with the boss.They are all rich, and they are going to build new houses... Alas!