Want to Raise Pigs? The Hundred-Head Kind!

Zhou Laifu told the militia to continue patrolling the mountain, while he pulled Jin Yin aside to talk: "Erhua, the peach blossoms on the mountain are blooming differently this year. It looks like they can bear good fruit."

Speaking of this year's peach blossoms, Zhou Laifu was beaming. Previously, when Jin Yin led Xia Yu up the mountain to cut branches, there were always villagers running up to watch. Seeing a large number of branches being cut down, whether sincerely or intentionally, everyone was extremely heartbroken.

It was also because the peaches in previous years were truly too small and could not be sold for a good price. They could only distribute a portion to the brigade members, but such a large peach orchard wasted a lot of land.

Although peaches were delicious, how could they fill stomachs like grain? If there was no improvement in the peaches this year, the peach orchard would have to be cut down to plant corn, which was why everyone didn't say anything in front of Zhou Laifu.

But in private, many people said bluntly that cutting down so many branches, even if the fruits were small, they would still hang in abundance. Now that they were all cut, how many fruits could still hang?

Zhou Laifu was also unsure in his heart. Fortunately, the peach blossoms bloomed, and those flowers looked at a glance like they could bear large fruits. Zhou Laifu hoped in his heart that this year's peaches could bear large fruits as Jin Yin said, and selling them for money could stop the villagers from complaining.

Now that the peach orchard was growing well, and so many strawberries were planted on the ground, Zhou Laifu suddenly came up with the idea of finding a new way to make money for the brigade.

"Erhua, the peaches this year will definitely be better than in previous years. Whether the strawberries are good or not is hard to say, but as long as they bear fruit, they can definitely be sold for money. The people in our brigade all remember your kindness."

Seeing Zhou Laifu beating around the bush to say these words, Jin Yin knew he definitely had other intentions, so she asked: "Second Uncle, do you have something else to tell me? We are family, no need to say those useless words."

Zhou Laifu smiled foolishly: "Your second uncle wants to ask, do you think you can find more ways to make money for our brigade? Our brigade doesn't have much land for planting grain. Relying only on this bit of land, when grain is distributed at the end of the year, it is almost finished by the beginning of spring, and we have to gather wild vegetables for more than half the year. If we can have another trade, everyone's life can be a bit better."

Jin Yin looked at the large mountain range behind, stretching endlessly. It was indeed as Zhou Laifu said, there was not much arable land.

But with their backs against such a large mountain, full of wild vegetables all over the mountain, were they still afraid of going hungry? Zhou Laifu saying this was actually to take care of some families with heavy burdens, or did he want the brigade to become a famous rich brigade near and far?

If she had this ability, she would naturally do her best to help the Taohua Wan Brigade.

Jin Yin said, "Second Uncle, have you thought about building a pig farm in the village?"

Hearing this, Zhou Laifu shook his head: "Raising pigs? No, no, how much grain does that consume? People don't even have enough to eat, where would we get grain to raise pigs?"

Jin Yin smiled: "I remember the brigade used to have a tofu factory, right? If the brigade wants to raise pigs, we can reopen the tofu factory. Tofu doesn't need to be bought with money either. Whichever family wants tofu can exchange it with the same amount of soybeans. The okara left over after making tofu can be used to raise pigs. Our village lacks land, but there are so many pig weeds on the mountain, are we still afraid of not having enough to feed the pigs? Pig manure can also be composted as fertilizer for farming. No matter how you calculate it, making a pig farm is very profitable."

The more Zhou Laifu listened, the brighter his eyes became. But thinking that to start a pig farm, piglet allocation had to be approved by the commune, his eyes dimmed again: "But where do we get piglets? The few allocated by the commune are not even enough to distribute to the households in the brigade."

At this time, the number of piglets the commune could provide was small. Even for individuals raising pigs, they had to hand over one pig at the end of the year, but there were still many households wanting to raise pigs. Most people couldn't get piglets, let alone the number of piglets a pig farm needed.

Jin Yin patted her chest and said, "Leave the piglets to me. Second Uncle, just say if you want to raise them."

Since words had come to this, how could Zhou Laifu still hesitate? He immediately nodded: "Raise them! How many can you get?"

Jin Yin smiled: "How many does Second Uncle want?"

Zhou Laifu made up his mind: "Twenty. Hand over half to the commune, and the remaining ten, we'll slaughter them at the end of the year. Every family can get quite a bit of meat."

"Second Uncle, you are too conservative!" Jin Yin thought he would want more, but she didn't expect that after making up such a big mind, he only wanted twenty, which was somewhat disappointing.

One must know that the Taohua Wan Brigade had little land and many people. Except for the three busy seasons of spring plowing, summer sowing, and autumn harvest, most of the time the brigade members were idle at home.

At this time, it was not popular for the public to find their own livelihoods. It could be said that the whole village was full of idle people. In a few days, the busy season would end. Raising a hundred or eighty pigs wouldn't be a problem, right?

Realizing Jin Yin's intention, Zhou Laifu had no choice: "Twenty is not a small number. Although there are many idle people in the brigade, there are also many eyes and ears in the commune. If you help get twenty, others might be envious and jealous, but if you get more, those people will target you. At that time, this brigade will want a hundred, and that brigade will want a hundred. Where will you get so many piglets? If everyone copies us to open tofu factories to raise pigs, who will come to our brigade to grind tofu? Besides, even if they want to grind tofu, they can't get that many soybeans, right?"

Jin Yin heard this and found it reasonable. But she had soybeans; how much she wanted was just a matter of a single thought of hers.

Jin Yin said, "Second Uncle, just be bolder. I can get piglets, so why can't I get soybeans? As long as you want them, I can get them for you. If other brigades want to compete with our brigade for the pig-raising business, they have to see if they can get piglets. If they want to get piglets from me, they have to find me first. With my current work unit, even if the people from the commune want to force me, they don't have the guts. As long as you can withstand the pressure, you don't need to worry on my side."

Seeing that Jin Yin was not joking, Zhou Laifu widened his eyes. After a long mental struggle, he said decisively: "Alright, you help me get piglets, I'll go apply for a permit at the commune, and our brigade's pig farm will be built right away!"

With that, Zhou Laifu turned to run down the mountain, but was stopped by Jin Yin: "Second Uncle, want to raise goats? Raise a few cows too, just find two people to herd them on the mountain."

Zhou Laifu was no longer shocked, and suddenly nodded: "Raise them!"

Jin Yin waved at him with a smile: "Second Uncle, go to the commune quickly. I will deliver them all in the next few days."

"Okay!" Zhou Laifu replied and ran down the mountain. Besides applying for the commune's approval to raise pigs, goats, and cows, he also had to have people clean up the pigsties and goat pens first. Previously, there was a pig farm in the village, but at most it only raised ten pigs. A hundred pigs—when they were small it was fine, but when they grew up, the pig farm would definitely have to be expanded.

Tie Zhua swallowed her saliva: "When the end of the year comes, I will definitely visit your brigade. At that time, I'll taste the pigs and goats raised by your brigade. The taste will definitely be delicious."

Jin Yin smiled at her: "It's not that troublesome. Tomorrow I will get a big fat pig, and the people in our department will gather to have a meal together."