On the way back, Zhou Zhuoshi said to Zhou Daqing, "As for raising pigs, Yang Cui doesn't seem to be just trying it out."
Zhou Daqing nodded: "Yeah, she seems pretty confident, otherwise she wouldn't raise so many at once. I feel like Yang Cui is about to make a big move now that she's finished dealing with the Lin family. We can't go wrong if we follow her."
"Then...shall we raise one too?"
Good things come in pairs; if you're going to raise one, raise two.
"Should we inform the rest of the clan about this?"
"Xiao Cui didn't say she was going to lead everyone in raising pigs. Who will we sell them to when they grow up? Let's not talk about that for now. Let's raise a couple of pigs first and see what happens. Right now, the most important thing is to raise ducks."
————
As soon as Zhou Daqing returned to the village, he immediately summoned all the villagers of Zhou'an Village.
"Village chief, what did Xiao Cui say? Is she really going to help us raise ducks and make money?"
"Village chief, please tell us quickly."
"Tell me, tell me quickly..."
The villagers eagerly inquired about it.
"Don't rush, don't rush, everyone. Listen to me. Xiao Cui agreed to help us make money, but we can't let her help for nothing. In the future, we'll give her two coins as a reward for every duck she helps sell."
"What? You want to give her money?" Qiao Yumei exclaimed in surprise.
The others whispered among themselves, surprised that Yang Cui would accept money.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Daqing looked at Qiao Yumei with a serious expression: "What? You expect her to do things for you for free? To help you for nothing?"
"I...I didn't mean that either." Qiao Yumei immediately turned into a quail after being glared at by Zhou Daqing.
Zhou Daqing glanced at everyone and said, "Don't think you're losing out just because you gave Xiao Cui a couple of coins. Let me tell you, if they hadn't given you this opportunity and hadn't included you, you wouldn't have gotten anything!"
As soon as Zhou Daqing finished speaking, his father, Zhou Guangbiao, the patriarch of the Zhou clan, said, "Anyone who is unwilling to pay should withdraw now! Daqing, take out a piece of paper and write this down to see which households don't want to make money!"
Qiao Yumei panicked: "No, no, no, clan chief, village chief, that's not what I meant! I'll give it! I'll give it!"
Chief Zhou said in a deep voice, "Don't you think you've been taken advantage of?"
Qiao Yumei dared not have any objections and shook her head repeatedly: "No, no."
Zhou Daqing said loudly, "There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Only mutual benefit can ensure long-term coexistence. Don't think that you have lost two coins. Think about how much you will gain in the end. Yang Cui can give this opportunity to the people of Anjia Village. Our Zhou clan is not her only choice, but without her, it would be very difficult for our Zhou clan to make any changes."
"Village chief, we understand your reasoning, this money should be given!"
"Yes, it should be given!"
"Village chief, we will all listen to you."
...
One by one, the members of the Zhou clan immediately expressed their opinions.
Upon seeing this, Qiao Yumei felt ashamed and rejected.
"Since everyone is listening to me, let me first talk about the arrangements. There are currently 28 households in Zhou'an Village. Each household raises its own ducks. The restaurant only wants male ducks, so everyone should focus on male ducks. The first batch should not be less than 2,000 ducks, which means each household should raise about 70 ducks. You can go back and discuss how many ducks you want to raise first, and tell me tomorrow at noon. I will collect the information and also bring people to buy ducklings together. Buying ducklings together will give us a discount, so everyone can save some money."
Zhou Daqing had considered starting a duck farm like Yang Cui, with unified management, but most of the Zhou family members were short of money. They needed to buy ducklings and build duck sheds, leaving them with no funds. Most importantly, unified management required accounting, and no one in the Zhou family knew how to do that. They were already poor; they couldn't very well hire an accountant!
Each family can only raise their own, and when it's time to sell, they'll draw lots to decide whose animals will be sold first.
The next day, the villagers of Zhou'an Village made their decision. They thought that not every duck could grow up safely, and they also wanted to raise a few female ducks to lay eggs. In this area, poultry is raised in pairs, not one, because it is considered bad luck. So each household raised ninety male ducks and ten female ducks, which made a total of one hundred.
Because the duckling sellers in the vicinity had already promised Yang Cui their ducklings, Zhou Daqing had to travel to a more distant place. He went to Huangtang Town and Wan'an County to find five duckling sellers before he was able to buy some. Moreover, the ducklings they had on hand totaled only two thousand, leaving him eight hundred short, which would be delivered a month later.
Yang Cui told them that earthworms could be used to feed chickens and ducks. After boiling them in water and drying them, they could be stored for a while. The elderly, women, and children of Zhou'an Village, from the oldest to the youngest, all began digging for earthworms to prepare. Meanwhile, the men started helping each other build a duck shed next to their respective homes using wooden planks and bamboo strips.
Seeing the people of Zhou'an Village bustling about, the Lin clan was extremely envious. Meanwhile, those outsiders who had chosen to live with the Lin clan in Lin'an Village began to regret their decision. If they had chosen Zhou'an Village instead, they would surely have gotten a share of the duck farming business!
"That bitch Yang Cui!" Lin Mingfa couldn't help but curse as he watched the Zhou family busy themselves. "A scourge!"
"What's the use of scolding her?" Lin Chenshi sneered. "A golden rooster that placed an order, and you just kicked her out like that? You might as well scold yourself instead of her!"
Lin Niu slammed her chopsticks heavily on the table: "Chen Chunya, what are you saying? Are you blaming us?"
"Mother, did I say something wrong? The Zhou family is probably laughing at us now! The opportunity for them to make money was originally ours! It was our Lin family's!"
"Shut up!" Lin Niu scolded.
"Can't I even say something? Others are living the high life, while we drink only wild vegetable porridge every day. Who knows when this will end?" Lin Chenshi was extremely aggrieved. "All the family's money has been wasted like this, and in the end, nothing was accomplished. We even lost ourselves. What are we going to do in the future? Can't I even say a few words?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Mingcai's wife, Lin Qiushi, also put down her chopsticks: "Sister-in-law, what do you mean? Are you blaming our Mingcai?"
“I didn’t say that.”
With tears welling in her eyes, Lin Qiu shouted, "What did Mingcai do back then? Wasn't it all for this family? He went to jail for this family too! Why didn't you say anything when they decided to do it? What nonsense are you spouting now?"
After saying that, Lin Qiushi slammed the bowl in her hand to the ground, shattering it into pieces that scattered everywhere.
"You dare break the bowl! I want a break-up! I want a break-up!"
"What did you say?" The Lin family was dumbfounded!
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