The leisurely life of farmers in mountain villages

Chapter 85

The village market has always been the center of trade distribution in rural areas.

Later, as the transportation became more and more developed, it became more and more convenient for ordinary people to shop in supermarkets in county towns, and then the village fairs gradually became less lively than before.

However, due to some particularities of the rural market, it has advantages that the supermarkets in the city do not have. It can only be bought in the village market.

There are quite a few people who make a living by selling things in the village fairs, such as Dazhai Xiaozhang who sells rat medicine in Dazhai Village, Lao Sun who sells kitchen knives and hoes, and the three Xu family brothers who sell dim sum, etc. .

These people go to the market in a circle. Today is the Dazhai village market, they go to Dazhai village to go to the market, and tomorrow is the Yanzhuang town market, they go to Yanzhuang town again.Those who make a living by going to the market are commonly known as "catch four episodes" locally.

Catch four episodes, not four episodes, but episodes in all directions.

Because the price of chickens in carts is too low, since the chickens raised at home reached the marketable weight of two pounds, Ma Zhentang, He Jiaqing and He Jiaxiang, three chicken farmers in Taohualing Village, joined the camp of catching four episodes.

As far as the people in the mountains are concerned, they are all relatively simple and optimistic.

This batch of chickens seemed to be making no money, but the three brothers were watching four episodes together, chatting and laughing, and it was quite lively.

Especially He Jiaqing, when he arrived at the market, he yelled about playing poker before the scales were opened. Because of this, He Jiaqing's younger brother He Jiaxiang didn't whisper behind his back.

Entering the twelfth lunar month, the market is getting more and more lively.

In Dazhai Township, there is one episode every five days, and the days with 2 and 7 in each month are episodes.

On the second day of the twelfth lunar month, there was a fair in Dazhai Township, and Ma Zhentang came to the market early in the morning to grab a favorable stall.

After entering the twelfth lunar month, it is the New Year's Fair. On the New Year's Fair, people come and go, and it is much more lively than usual.Moreover, those who catch the New Year's Fair are generally richer than usual, and in order to buy New Year's goods, they are more generous than usual.

It is a tradition to kill chickens during the New Year, and because many rural families do not like to raise chickens too dirty, many families do not have chickens to kill.

If there are chickens and fish, it is called Chinese New Year. If there is no chicken, you have to buy it.

When there are more people buying things, there will naturally be more people selling things.The stalls in Dazhai Village are limited. If you want to grab the best stall, you have to get up early to grab the stall.

When Ma Zhentang arrived at the live chicken market, he saw someone spreading woven bags and putting chicken cages.

"Jiaxiang, is it earlier than me?"

"Cousin Zhen, the market for live chickens has gone up in the past two days. I was so excited that I didn't fall asleep yesterday."

Ma Zhentang also showed a smile on his face. When they opened the scales to sell the chickens, the price of live chickens in the market was only four yuan and three a catty, but now the price has risen to six yuan and three.

It's just a pity that these three chicken farmers don't have many chickens left.

"Hey, it's a pity, it's a pity, we don't have many chickens, otherwise, if we can last until now, we will really make money."

"Cousin Zhen, how many chickens do you have?"

While tidying up the stalls, Ma Zhentang said, "There are not many more, there are less than 200, and they will be sold out in a week."

When He Jiaxiang heard this, he said enviously: "You are much better than me. 200 chickens will cost you at least 7000 yuan. By the way, have you returned the cost of these chickens?"

Ma Zhentang shook his head and said, "There is still 5000 yuan left to pay back."

He Jiaxiang sighed, and said: "Then you are better than me, and I am still five thousand short of the return, but I only have 170 chickens left, and this batch of chickens will just return the return."

Ma Zhentang nodded: "It's not bad to be able to pay back. When we first started selling chickens, who would have thought that these chickens would not lose money?"

"Yeah, it's not bad. Brother Fumin gave you 4000 yuan during the Chinese New Year. It's justified."

Ma Zhentang shook his head, smiled and said with a sigh: "Oh, I said Jiaxiang, our brother Fumin's luck is really good, and this market really made him wait."

However, He Jiaxiang frowned, and said to Ma Zhentang: "Brother Zhentang, do you think the old Wang's chickens make money?"

"Make money!" Ma Zhentang said with certainty.

"Brother Zhen, let me do the math for you. He has 7 chickens. Up to now, the total investment is 2000! Now the average chicken in their family is only about 1 catties. If 4 chickens can weigh 8 catties, it is not bad. Based on the current market price of 8 yuan, the total sale price is only 2000 yuan. It seems that you can’t get back the money? Besides, it will take at least two months to sell out the [-] chickens? Even if it is sold during the Chinese New Year. Hurry up, if they are sold out in a month, then the feed money will have to be increased by tens of thousands of yuan, right? Cousin Zhen, I don’t think the old Wang’s chickens can make any money.”

Ma Zhentang frowned and listened to He Jiaxiang next to him, then shook his head and said: "I am also quite puzzled, Lao Wang is a very steady person, at first I advised him to hurry up and sell chickens in the market, but he was not in a hurry at all .Hey, I don’t know what old Wang is thinking about.”

He Jiaxiang went on to say: "What other ideas can I make? It must be that these chickens are no longer making money, and I don't have to suffer from the pain of going to the market. Now the price of the chickens in the cart has reached 2 yuan. The old Wang's 4 Ten thousand 5 chickens will be able to leave in less than ten days. According to my calculations, each chicken in their family can make at least two yuan in profit. In this way, they can earn a small [-] yuan in ten days. Then these old chickens lose ten thousand and eight thousand, and they don't care anymore."

Ma Zhentang still felt that this matter was not so simple, but after hearing He Jiaxiang's introduction, he still nodded in doubt.

The stalls of the two people are next to each other, which is considered to be a better stall in the live chicken market.

If you want to grab a good booth, you have to arrive earlier than others. It's freezing cold, and it's not a comfortable job to catch four episodes.

Those who go to the market to buy things usually come to the market after seven o'clock in the morning, and some of the sellers come to grab the stalls at four o'clock.There is less competition in the live chicken market, and the vegetable market is not a good place if you come late, and there will be no corners left for you.

As the sky was getting brighter, Ma Zhentang and He Jiaxiang squatted by the side of the stall, next to each other, smoking cigarettes to keep warm.

At this time, the lazy He Jiaqing came over on a motorcycle just whistling.

"Both of you are here, I said Zhentang, how do we set the price today?"

The prices on the bazaar are negotiated by peers, and are generally determined according to the market conditions in the surrounding bazaars.

It was only at this time that Ma Zhentang thought about the price, and then he stood up and saw Xiao Xue, a chicken dealer who was more aware of the situation in the whole live chicken market, and asked, "What's the price for this collection?"

Xiao Xue is a chicken dealer in Tainan City, and he knows the market conditions in various markets around him.

"Seven yuan, whoever sells for less than six yuan today is a fool."

Ma Zhentang was stunned for a moment: "What? Six dollars and five, Xiao Xue, are you kidding me?" Yesterday it was only six dollars and three dollars, but today it suddenly increased by another [-] cents.

"Old Ma, what are you kidding me? Six dollars and five is the lowest price, it's up to you if you can sell it higher, I told you, there is a shortage of chickens, and there are no chickens around, Tai The retail price in the market on the south side is almost seven yuan!"

Beside Ma Zhentang, He Jiaqing hurriedly set up a stall, and said to Ma Zhentang with a smile: "Brother Zhentang, I still have [-] chickens left in my family. These chickens are profitable."

Ma Zhentang was jealous and whispered: "What's wrong with this world, lazy He Jiaqing has the most leftover chickens, and it seems that his batch of chickens has earned at least 8000 yuan."

However, Ma Zhentang didn't know that what He Jiaqing earned was nothing compared to the Wang family's.

(End of this chapter)