Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 273: Buying chicks

Lian Fang Zhou hurriedly laughed and said: “I’m just curious and wanted to watch! I promise not to make any noise.”

“I can’t make this decision!” Old Man Wang’s wife smiled, spreading her hands: “I will ask my husband later.”

“Okay, I can wait!” Lian Fang Zhou agreed.

Old Man Wang’s wife set up a small table in the yard and poured tea for them, serving them outside.
Lian Fang Zhou and the others followed her example and did not dare to speak too loudly.

After about half an hour, they could hear the shouts of Old Man Wang from inside the room.
His wife immediately got up and said: “Alright, alright, Miss Lian, I will go in now and you can wait at the door.
If he agrees, I will call you in.”

Lian Fang Zhou nodded and promised, hurriedly following her to stand under the eaves of the porch by the door.

After a while, the wife pushed the door open from inside and beckoned her in, smiling: “Miss Lian, they are starting soon, and my husband agreed.”

“Thank you, madam!” Lian Fang Zhou was overjoyed and quickly followed inside.

At this time, the incubation room was open and the house was very warm.

Old Man Wang’s son and wife stood and nervously watched the incubation room.
Two large bamboo baskets and one large flat basket, about half a foot high and round like a dustpan, were placed on the ground.

Lian Fang Zhou approached gently and glanced into the incubation room, hearing the slight crisp sound of countless chicks breaking through their thin eggshells.

As soon as a chick was finished breaking out, the wife would reach in with gloved hands and remove the bloody eggs shells, and throw them into one of the bamboo baskets.
The son and his father would catch the unsteady chicks and place them on a slightly higher platform in the middle of the incubation room.

After three or four minutes, the fluffy baby feathers would dry and the chick could stand up on their feet.
Each of them were very fluffy and cute, already looking around and cheeping with little mung bean eyes.
When they were dry, the father and son would pick them up and put them inside the flat basket.

The three people moved efficiently without speaking.
There was only the tender chirps of the countless chicks in the whole room.

Most of the chicks were yellow but there were also various shades of gray, black, brown, and tan mixed in.
Lian Fang Zhou glanced into the flat basket, her heart full of joy.

She didn’t disturb the three of them.
After watching for a while, she quietly walked outside.

After this first batch of chicks, she thought that she would not need to buy chicks anymore in the future.
She could just set aside some hens as breeders in the future and let them incubate their own eggs.

With so many of them, just having two hundred new chicks would be enough.

Old Man Wang’s incubation was indeed very good.
All of the chicks had broken through in about half and hour with only seven or eight still struggling.

Lian Fang Zhou was really amazed when she saw this, thinking deeply.

You should know that when hens brood and hatch their own eggs, it was common for the entire batch to take a full day to hatch.

After all the chicks had been packed into the flat basket, Old Man Wang said to Lian Fang Zhou: “Miss Lian, you can take them back now.
Although it is still a little bit cold in the evenings, there are so many chicks squeezed into one place, they won’t be cold.
When you get home, remember to give the warm water and feed them millet after half an hour.
Don’t feed them too much on the first day…”

This was similar to what Lian Fang Zhou had heard in her previous life but of course she couldn’t say that.
Instead, she smiled and nodded in agreement.

Old Man Wang smiled: “I’m really sorry, Miss Lian, I’m very tired, I’m going to rest first!”

“You have worked hard, please go!” Lian Fang Zhou hurriedly told him.

Old Man Wang’s cheeks were sunken and covered with stubble, his eyes flushed, and his dark face was so thin and haggard, it looked like bark.

Although his son was younger, he looked just as haggard.

Incubating chickens was not an easy job! No wonder the father and son could only do a few incubation batches in the spring each year! It was impossible to do this kind of work year round.

The seven hundred chicks were packed into four flat baskets and placed on the two carts, two baskets each.

To settle the accounts, Lian Fang Zhou gave another two taels of silver to Old Man Wang’s wife, who thanked her in surprised before sending her and the others off.

The donkey carts traveled directly to the chicken coop at the foot of Xiaohuaguo mountain in Sanchakou.
In addition to Sun Zhang Qing and his wife, Zhang Xiao Jun, his wife, and Zhang Liang were also waiting with Third Aunt and Lian Fang Qing.

After dismissing the hired cart, the group carefully carried the four baskets of chicks into the two chicken coops and gently set them down.

Listening to the chicks chirp and peep constantly, the tender and crisp sound filled the listeners with joy and everyone was talking in excited whispers to avoid startling the babies.

At the top of the mountain, Madam Sun was boiling water in her house and letting it cool off outside while Lian Fang Zhou carried the warm water down to pour it into the two water troughs made out of a split bamboo stalk for the chicks to drink.

There were several of these bamboo troughs in each chicken coop.

At first, the chicks were startled by the water but eventually a few were brave enough to run over and dip their beaks to fill them up with water before lifting their heads to the sky to drink.

After these leaders took the first step, more chicks quickly swarmed up, peeping and drinking.
How adorable they looked!

“They’re so cute! It’s so fun!” Lian Fang Qing smiled, eyebrows raised eye.
She couldn’t help by squat down and stretch out her hand to gently touch one of them.
The soft fluffy feathers made her palms itchy and she giggled.

Zhang Liang saw this and couldn’t help but squat down next to her, also reaching out to touch them.

When Madam Li saw this, she hurriedly reached out to pull him back, shaking her head gently.

Zhang Liang’s eyes were dark but he sensibly did not touch them anymore.

“Sister, let me take a few ones to raise, okay, Sister?” Lian Fang Qing suddenly called out to Lian Fang Zhou, coquettishly taking her hand.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Our family yard is so spacious, there is no problem raising ten or so! Ah, no, twenty or thirty is fine!” Third Aunt hurriedly added.

Under Lian Fang Qing’s expectant gaze, Lian Fang Zhou thought about it but finally shook her head.
Disappointed, Lian Fang Qing continued to beg and harass her until Lian Fang Zhou said: “Why would we take them home to raise, wouldn’t that be too much trouble? Didn’t Qing’er say that she wants to share her sister’s worries? Well, sister doesn’t have much time to manage these chickens, why don’t I leave it to you?”

“Really!” Lian Fang Qing was overjoyed, her eyes bright and dazzling as she smiled happily: “All of these chicks will be given to me to raise?”

Lian Fang Qing suddenly felt a strong sense of responsibility.
From now on, she was also a person with a ‘job’.