Chapter 51: The Little Fatty, a Master of Paper Warfare.

Qin Xiangxiang and her husband are preparing to plant vegetables and build a chicken coop. Li Jianzhi is currently in a semi-vacation, semi-rotational state because he has not taken any family visit leave in the past four years. This time, his family has just moved in, and the higher-ups have given him more time to accompany his family and resolve family issues first.

After a while, Li Jianzhi will inevitably become busier, and the time he spends at home each week will decrease, to about three times a week, just like other officers.

Taking advantage of the extra time at home, Li Jianzhi wanted to first tidy up the vegetable garden and chicken coop. This was crucial for the future food supply for his family of three. With three hens, they could collect eggs daily, and slaughter one for his wife during holidays to nourish her body. Having experienced the last family warm meal, Li Jianzhi knew that in this era, pork and chicken weren't easily obtained simply by having money, especially on this island. Having food at home would provide peace of mind should a typhoon hit.

As for the safety of the hens during a typhoon—of course, they'll be kept at home temporarily during a typhoon. If the hens are too crowded, then of course we'll kill one to replenish our bodies.

Chickens are raised primarily for food.

The production team would give out eight chicks, but not all of them would necessarily be hens. If there were extra hens, it meant that you had "found a treasure" and could use the half-grown hens to trade for valuable things.

Before the chicks show a clear sex, they are not considered adult live chickens and do not occupy a chicken-raising quota. The registration personnel responsible for managing the number of poultry will come to register the chicken-raising situation of each household in the family compound once a week. Any chickens that die unexpectedly or are killed and eaten must be reported.

Slaughtering and eating chickens is free. The role of the registration staff is mainly to prevent each household from raising more chickens than the number of people. Of course, many people use their wits to secretly raise more chickens, including unborn children in their wombs, or raise roosters until the day before registration to kill them. Some even secretly take them home and raise them for a couple more days.

"If four of the eight chicks are hens, our family will be very lucky. If all eight are hens, then we've hit the jackpot."

In this era where roosters have no "chicken rights," everyone hopes for the birth of hens. However, at least roosters in this era can grow a few more ounces of meat. If they were in a farm in the future, roosters would be crushed and used as feed not long after they were born.

Qin Xiangxiang said, "I want to wish for four little hens."

Despite having only three hens to raise, she greedily asked for an extra hen, just in case one of them got into trouble. If all the hens were raised well, she would give the worst hen to someone else.

Little Fatty: "Mommy, I wish for roosters, roosters, crowing and clucking, and hens, clucking and quacking."

"The teacher said the rooster is so majestic!"

"Silly son, only hens lay eggs. Come and make a wish with your mother: may our family have four hens."

The chubby boy quickly said, "Then I want a little hen too."

Li Jianzhi asked in confusion, "Can't you tell the gender from a chick? Why make a wish?"

Qin Xiangxiang squinted her eyes and said, "Then you can tell which one is the rooster and which one will be the hen in the future?"

Li Jianzhi: "..."

"Sister Gao reminded me before that we should not buy chicks from the farmers here, even if they are only one cent each, most of them are roosters."

"If you're going to buy a chicken, buy one that you can already tell is male or female. It's a bit more expensive, but that's safer."

Farmers also need to register their chicken-raising situation. After the chicks hatch, they cannot keep too many. Some people pick out the chicks to sell. Many of these chicks have been selected, with the hens being screened out, and most of them are roosters.

Roosters are not worth raising; they are a waste of grain for farmers. Hens are quiet, and too many roosters are noisy.

Raising a rooster to adulthood only yields valuable meat, worth at most one or two yuan. Considering the grain it eats, it's a huge loss. On the other hand, an adult hen can lay about eighty to one hundred and twenty eggs a year, which alone are worth five to eight yuan.

Hens lay more eggs in the first two years and less in the third year. Generally, hens are raised for two years before being slaughtered. As for roosters, apart from breeding chickens, most young roosters live for about a month and are slaughtered before they weigh less than a pound, which is considered a small amount of meat.

In this day and age, the ability to accurately distinguish between male and female chicks is a bragging right in the countryside. For example, when going on a blind date, if the woman or man can accurately identify the sex of chicks, the other family will think more highly of him.

Farmers are not allowed to occasionally sell chicks and fruit, but since it is not the resale of industrial products, grains, or pork, the price is low and it is not a big problem. Generally speaking, few people will investigate it; it is a common practice.

“No matter what kind of chicken it is, we’ll raise them together.” Li Jianzhi stroked his chin. He had been startled by live chickens in the old apartment building before and couldn’t determine their gender.

When he has time, he can flip through an agricultural book and study it carefully.

"It's good that it turned out to be a rooster, I can make you a baby rooster stew."

"Don't jinx it. If they're both roosters, you and your son can go sleep together and reflect on your mistakes. When you have time, take your son to the village and learn from the farmers how to tell the difference between male and female roosters."

Chubby boy: "??? Mom, what does this have to do with me, chubby boy?"

He didn't want to sleep with his dad at all.

"Who told you all to jinx things today?"

Qin Xiangxiang was really looking forward to her three hens laying eggs in the future. Ideally, they would lay three or four hundred eggs a year. If they were raised well, she could collect fresh eggs to eat every day without spending any money. She could have Xiao Pang collect the eggs every day.

Ten eggs can be exchanged for ten jin of grain coupons, and one jin of eggs can be exchanged for one jin of meat coupons. If you raise hens well, the whole family can eat well.

Especially during the winter and around the Spring Festival, eggs are in short supply. Many hens stop laying eggs due to the cold weather, and every household needs to buy eggs for the New Year. At this time, you need egg coupons to buy eggs and have to queue up for supply. If your own chickens can still lay eggs, you can keep them warm and avoid the suffering of queuing and catching a cold.

Qin Xiangxiang, who grew up in Shanghai, recalled that in the past twenty years, the whole family would have to queue up to buy eggs, fish, and pork during the Spring Festival.

Little Fatty: "Mom, how long does it take for a hen to lay eggs?"

Qin Xiangxiang: "Six months, I guess."

"Huh?! It's so long."

Li Jianzhi remembers that in modern poultry farms, as long as the hens are properly fed and kept warm, they can start laying eggs in about three to four months.

To get eggs, we need to plan our chicken farming carefully.

Our own free-range eggs are pure, natural, and high-quality protein.

Li Jianzhi drew up a vegetable garden design plan, dividing their vegetable garden into three areas. The northernmost area was the chicken coop area, where chicken coops were built, and a fence was used to separate the chicken coops from the vegetable garden.

Because the north side doesn't get much sunlight, the vegetable garden is arranged from north to south, with crops decreasing in height. The northernmost part is the chicken coop and a composting area, followed by a trellis area for loofah, pumpkin, cucumber, and green beans; then there are slightly shorter vegetables like tomatoes, cowpeas, chives, and leafy greens.

To prevent pests, basil and mint are planted together among the crops, and some marigolds and calendula are planted around the outer edge.

In other marginal open spaces, plant a variety of plants such as fennel, alfalfa, perilla, milkvetch, and ryegrass. These are considered wild grasses, as they are just roadside weeds and can be given to chickens to eat. Perilla, in particular, can improve the chickens' disease resistance.

"This is a vegetable garden planning map drawn by Dad. One for each of you. Mom and Little Fatty should take a look and familiarize themselves with it. This is a scientific planting and chicken raising distribution map that I designed."

Li Jianzhi stared at the vegetable garden plan in his hand, thinking that he had thought it through very thoroughly, but what kind of weird things he could grow was still up to fate.

Qin Xiangxiang: "Huh? We have to separate the chickens from the vegetable garden?"

Comrade Xiao Qin had long given up hope on the vegetables she grew, but this picture from that deadbeat man clearly showed that she was still preparing to salvage her vegetable garden.

Li Jianzhi: "If we don't separate our vegetable garden, it will always be just seedlings."

"It's enough to let the chickens roam in the vegetable garden for an hour or two each day for a buffet."

"We'll separate them here and take turns eating. Today we'll eat from this side, tomorrow from that side. We can't let the chickens ravage this seedling area."

Qin Xiangxiang: "...I think Sister Miao's vegetables are the best. They don't grow vegetables like yours."

With a serious expression, Li Jianzhi calmly said, "I am indeed all talk and no action."

"We only have three soldiers in our family, so let's work hard."

Qin Xiangxiang: "..." She initially only wanted to grow some vegetable seedlings to raise chickens, mainly to raise chickens!!! Her grand chicken-raising project!

Besides, isn't it troublesome to grow so many things? She couldn't be bothered with it.

"Who will manage and take responsibility for planting so many things?"

Li Jianzhi: "Little Fatty is the main force."

Qin Xiangxiang was stunned for a moment: "You're right!"

Fatty: "???!!!"

“Our family is now a three-man army. I’ll be the regimental commander, Comrade Qin Xiangxiang, you’re the political commissar, and Comrade Xiaopang is the only soldier in our regiment. As the regimental commander, I’ll give orders, the political commissar will supervise and guide the work, and Xiaopang, you do the work.”

Fatty: "??????"

"Little Fatty, you are the only precious soldier in the regiment. You will bear heavy responsibilities in the future. Whether the hen can successfully lay an egg depends on you."

Qin Xiangxiang nodded repeatedly beside her: "Your father—no, your regimental commander is right."

"Dad, I'm just a little kid."

"It should be children, children are the future hope of our troupe."