Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

If we don’t mention this, Yu Qiutang almost forgot about it.

He immediately came to his senses and said, "Yes, that's why I came here. I plan to raise some chickens at home, and I came here to learn from you."

"Raising chickens? This isn't my specialty. Who do you think is very professional about this?"

Yang Lin turned and looked at Yang Xiaolin.

Yang Xiaolin said mysteriously: "Who else? The scholar!"

"Oh, that's right."

Yang Lin slapped his head and said, "That's him. I remember hearing him say that he graduated from the chicken farming major and has a lot of insights into chicken farming."

Although he said this, his expression did not show any genuine admiration. Instead, he seemed to be a little sarcastic and contemptuous.

The same is true for Yang Xiaolin.

Yu Qiutang didn't know what the story behind this was, nor was it something he cared about. "Then may I ask, is this... Xiucai at work today?"

"He's the same whether he's here or not. He lives in the dormitory anyway. If you really want to meet him, I can take you to see him."

"That's troublesome."

Yu Qiutang said hurriedly.

Following Yang Lin deeper into the corner of the backyard, Yu Qiutang wondered what a livestock station worker who was called a scholar would look like.

If someone is called a scholar, he is probably a bit pedantic.

As he walked further inside, Yu Qiutang saw several other wild animals, which all interested him very much.

I also asked Yang Lin about some things.

Yang Lin didn't know that Yu Qiutang's real purpose was to trick him into telling him something, and he thought that Yu Qiutang was just curious and had nothing to hide, so he told him everything.

It can only be said that for people at that time, even with this kind of organizational unit, the situation was still relatively simple.

It is completely unable to keep up with the complexity of later generations.

After passing the last row of pens, there is a basketball court behind. In the northwest corner of the basketball court, there is a row of poplar trees, and under the poplar trees are several dormitories.

"Look, the scholar is inside. See the one hanging clothes at the door? He's right there."

Yu Qiutang had naturally seen it.

The door was tied with a hemp rope between two poplar trees, and on it was draped a white shirt and a pair of gray khaki pants.

The clothes swayed in the wind, making her look lonely.

As he got closer, he could see that the roofs of the three rooms were very old, covered with pine grass, and the gray tiles were in a state of disrepair. It was probably because it rarely rained here, otherwise they would definitely not be able to block the rain. It was raining heavily outside and drizzling inside.

“This is the old dormitory of the animal husbandry station. No one lives there now, but Xiucai insisted on living in it and refused to move out.

In fact, the people in the security department have always been worried about him. Look at this house, it is shaking and it might collapse suddenly one day.

There was nothing we could do. He was just too stubborn and wouldn't listen. Even when the stationmaster and secretary called him out, he refused.

Anyway, he is a strange person. It will be hard to say when you meet him later. If it doesn't work, don't force it.

There are many experts in poultry breeding at the station, and you may not necessarily go to him, so don't let him make you feel uncomfortable."

Yang Lin kept nagging Yu Qiutang as he walked.

Yu Qiutang nodded, but he was half-believing and half-doubting in his heart.

It is often the people who are excluded by others who are the real big shots, especially in this era, an era where knowledge is not regarded as wealth, many talents are buried in ordinary life.

The two came to the room where clothes were hung and found the door half open. In front of the door hung a wind chime made by themselves with steel pipes and scraps of iron. It made a crisp sound when the wind blew.

“Scholar!!”

"Scholar, come out, someone is looking for you!"

Yang Lin didn't want to go into the dangerous building, so he stood outside and shouted a few times.

A man appeared through the door.

Yu Qiutang took one look and thought that there was no need to call this person a scholar, and it would be more appropriate to call him Jigong.

He subconsciously glanced at the cleanly washed shirt outside, and it was hard to connect it with the sloppy, shabby man inside the door.

Since he doesn't care about his appearance, why does he wash the white shirt so white?

But if he cared, why is it that the clothes he is wearing now are not much better than those of a beggar?

Because the room was dark, Yu Qiutang couldn't see his face clearly. He just felt that he was a little thin, about 1.75 meters tall, shorter than himself, but still looked okay compared to other people.

Nowadays, even in the northwest, people are generally not very old.

Except for those with extraordinary talents like Yu Qiutang, whose height increases rapidly like free leeks, most children fail to develop in height in time during their childhood and adolescence due to malnutrition and insufficient supplies.

So, this is the reason why many younger brothers of children born in the 1980s are taller than their older brothers.

Relatively speaking, my younger brother lived in a better era and had better food, so the northwestern genes in his height were able to be expanded, and he eventually grew into a tall man.

As for my brothers, the food they eat is poor, but it is already pretty good just to maintain the basic needs of the body and not go hungry.

How could I have the extra energy to think about growing taller?

"Scholar, come out, come out quickly, someone is looking for you here!"

Yang Lin stood about two or three feet away from the house to ensure that even if the house collapsed, it would not affect him.

The scholar then walked out of the room and let Yu Qiutang see his true face.

He was still very surprised when he saw this.

At first glance, he thought that this man was probably a man with a face full of stubble and a listless look, but after he came out, he found that although the scholar was wearing tattered clothes, his face and body were clean.

His breathing was also very clean, without any sign of dejection.

He doesn't have a very handsome appearance, with a thin face and big cheekbones, but his eyes are bright, a bit like Wang Chuanjun in a movie who has just experienced a terrible experience.

Of course, he did not have the gloomy aura of Wang Chuanjun. Instead, he looked at Yu Qiutang indifferently. In his hand was an unknown book that was rolled up into a ball. Marks made with red ink could be seen on the opened pages.

"Come here, here you go... Oh, by the way, I still don't know your name, little brother?"

He was a young man then, and now he is a little brother.

Yang Lin's feeling towards Yu Qiutang is much better now than before.

"My name is Yu Qiutang, and I'm from Wangjiazhuang."

"Yu Qiutang, right? This is the scholar... Oh, yes... yes..."

Yang Lin wanted to be polite and introduce the scholar's name, but he stuttered for a few words and just couldn't call it out.

It was suddenly very embarrassing.

He had to cover it up and said, "The scholar has a lot of ideas about poultry farming. You can talk about it."

After saying this, he felt that he had done his duty, so he did not participate in the conversation between the two and turned back to the front yard.

He walked very quickly, as if he was afraid of being left behind.

Yu Qiutang came back to his senses and took the initiative to greet, "Hello, I am Yu Qiutang, I heard that you raise chickens and ducks..." "Come in and talk."

The scholar finally spoke. His voice was gentle, magnetic, and comfortable to listen to.

After saying that, he went in first.

Yu Qiutang looked at the house and felt a little timid. It was no wonder that Yang Lin was like that. The house was indeed a bit old. He did not notice it from a distance, but when he got closer, he discovered that the door pillars supporting the house had cracks and were casually fixed with nails.

It's really casual.

For a house like this, if it encounters a slightly strong wind, not even a typhoon, but just level 7 or 8, he suspected that it might be blown over.

But he couldn't say it to his face at the moment, so he had to follow him in.

In my heart, I was complaining about this guy. It was totally unnecessary. After all, he was a government employee, so why was he acting like a hermit?

If this happened in later times, it would be completely impossible.

Even in this era of transition from the old to the new, there are still people who maintain a certain "character".

If this can be considered as character.

He went in with his head held high, and his eyes lit up.

I originally thought that it must be pitch dark in here, and I couldn't see my hand in front of me.

But after entering, I found that there was a window on the north side of the house, which allowed light to come in. However, the location at the door seemed a little dim because of the strong light outside.

The room was tidy and not as messy and unkempt as he had imagined.

There is a row of bookshelves against the wall, filled with books. At a glance, there are some world classics and some martial arts novels written in traditional Chinese.

Martial arts novels really entered the mainland after the 1990s. Before that, many books were not banned, but at least they were not allowed to be published in simplified Chinese.

What flowed in were all kinds of pirated books.

The great Jin Yong, who is loved by people in later generations, was only relatively famous in Hong Kong at that time, but many people in mainland China didn't know him.

Even though TV series like The Legend of the Condor Heroes were released in 83, people at that time did not yet have access to electricity, let alone buy televisions.

Even if these conditions are met, people will focus on the TV series itself and rarely know where the TV series was filmed, whose work it was adapted from, etc.

Many things that later generations think are casual, common, and should be common sense are actually still unfamiliar in this era.

This scholar has collected quite a few traditional Chinese martial arts books on his bookshelf, which shows that he really likes reading.

There are so many books that we can never finish reading them all in later generations.

Many people have thousands of books on their bookshelves.

But at that time, books themselves were very scarce. It was not until the mid-1990s that some book rental stores gradually appeared.

It includes works by Jin Yong, Gu Long, Qiong Yao, Yi Shu and others.

But definitely not this era.

"Come in and sit down."

The scholar sat at the table, poured a glass of water for Yu Qiutang and pushed it in front of him.

"Are you planning to develop the chicken farming business?"

Yu Qiutang was still concentrating on the decoration of the room. In addition to the bookshelf, he also found some brush calligraphy posted on the surrounding walls. He didn't know how to appreciate it, but he just thought it was quite powerful.

Suddenly he heard the scholar asking him, and he regained his composure and quickly focused on the business.

"Yes, I have this idea."

"What scale do you plan to raise it to?"

"It's hard to say for now. My initial plan is to have about 2,000. Once the process is cleared and there are stable channels, I will see if I can expand the scale."

The scholar nodded and pondered for a moment. "Based on the current market in Rongcheng, the scale of 2,000 is not too small. If the breeding industry is to flourish, it should match the development of local people's livelihood."

"?"

Yu Qiutang was a little surprised.

What is this guy talking about?
I just want to raise some chickens, you're talking like I'm trying to build a rocket.

Seeing Yu Qiutang was a little confused, the scholar smiled gently and said, "Oh, you haven't introduced yourself yet. My name is Lin Mu, Lin for forest, Mu for sheepdog. Your name is Yu Qiutang, right?"

"Yes, hello, Technician Lin."

"You don't have to call me a technician, just call me Lin Mu," Lin Mu smiled, "I've been working here for more than a year, and you're the first person who has this idea."

Yu Qiutang smiled and said, "Our place is small. As you said, there is not enough demand for the time being. We are still in the stage of self-sufficiency. There is indeed a lack of demand for large-scale farming."

Lin Mu was slightly startled, then smiled and said, "I am impressed by your words. Have you ever been educated?"

"junior high school."

"That's enough. It's enough to deal with daily affairs. More knowledge is not necessarily better. Too much knowledge will only make you less knowledgeable."

Yu Qiutang thought that this guy was called a scholar for a reason. It felt like he had said a lot to him, but there wasn't much substantive content.

He felt it was better to speak directly and openly.

"Technician Lin, the purpose of my visit today is very simple. We are going to start from the early stage of hatching chicks, all the way to the eggs being released from the cages and put on the market. We know a little about these links, but we are worried that there are omissions, so I would like to ask for your guidance."

"Hatching it yourself is indeed quite difficult."

Lin Mu's eyes brightened.

"I have experimented with small-scale artificial incubation and accumulated some experience, but that was in the south, where the temperature and humidity were more suitable for incubation. Your climate is relatively dry, and the temperature difference between day and night is relatively large. I don't think it is suitable for artificial incubation."

Yu Qiutang said, "That's true, but aren't all the chicks here hatched by hens? Since hens can hatch, why can't humans? The stability of our temperature control must be better than that of hens, right?"

Lin Mu put down the book in his hand and said with a smile: "That's not necessarily true. The body temperature of a hen is the most stable... But what you said makes sense. If a hen can do it, why can't we humans do it?"

"That's the truth."

Lin Mu added: "But there is a tricky question. How could I hear you say you were from Wangjiazhuang?"

“Yes, Wangjiazhuang.”

"If I remember correctly, there are still several villages in your area that have not been electrified, right?"

"It's true that it's not connected yet, but our neighboring village has already been connected. After the Chinese New Year is over, I will find a way to bring electricity to every household."

Yu Qiutang had thought about this problem before. If there is no electricity, nothing can be done. It is impossible to control the temperature and humidity by relying on fire.

The next door he mentioned was actually Mijiazhuang, but like Wangjiazhuang, Mijiazhuang is located in a large area and the two villages are adjacent to each other.

Yu Qiutang has already spotted a high-voltage transformer station at the junction of the two villages. It is estimated that the original distribution station was built to serve the two villages.

This location is not far from their home in a straight line. If they spend some money, they should be able to pull it over directly.

This is very necessary.

He originally planned to pull the wires by himself, because he was doing more than just raising chickens. If he shared electricity with the villagers, the voltage would be affected frequently, or even tripped, and he would not be able to use it stably. (End of this chapter)