A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 20 Good mountains and good water produce good fish

The sound of car horns blaring came from outside. Zhang Niu looked out the window and saw several large Dongfang brand trucks parked outside, with a large number of fruit tree seedlings clearly visible on them.

I didn't expect the fruit seedling vendor to have gathered all the seedlings so quickly. I grabbed my phone from the bedside table and dialed the village committee. I asked him to have his father find more people to help plant the seedlings.

The fruit seedling owner had a beaming face today, which, combined with his obese body, looked rather awkward.

The orchard also brought quite a few people today, in case Zhang Niu can't find enough help. They can be used as an emergency measure. Zhang Niu will have to pay them.

The father, who lived down the mountain, quickly led a group of villagers up to Kaixin Xiaozhu, each carrying a hoe and a shovel. Sixty yuan a day was already quite a lot; it was much better than staying idle at home. This time, thirty-eight people went up the mountain to plant fruit seedlings. Zhang Niu looked at the people the fruit seedling vendor had brought and felt that should be enough!

The cleared land was now very flat. Zhang Niu busied himself telling the driver to drive a short distance and then unload some fruit seedlings. This way, he wouldn't have to run around picking up seedlings. After chatting with the seedling vendor for a while, Zhang Niu joined the work team himself; it was better to contribute than to sit idly by.

"King Kong" swayed and staggered out of the house.

The fruit grower owner spotted the "King Kong" emerging from the house and, startled, rushed towards Zhang Niu, shouting, "The wild boar's here! The wild boar's here!" This drew laughter from the surrounding villagers. This was nothing new; many people from other villages would come specifically to see wild boars.

After Zhang Niu explained, the fruit grower owner learned that the wild boar was a special kind of spirit that Zhang Niu raised; as long as you didn't provoke it, nothing would happen. You could treat it like it didn't exist. It even called "King Kong" over. Although Zhang Niu said it was very docile, the fruit grower owner was still a little afraid. His size was nothing compared to "King Kong." However, for him, a living, highly intelligent wild boar was still a rare sight.

This was just a minor incident that happened in the middle; the important things still needed to be done. After getting acquainted with the fruit seedlings, the owner surrounded "King Kong," looking him over curiously. "King Kong," quite exasperated, grunted and ran back inside, wanting to see his piglet girlfriend.

With many people working, digging holes and planting saplings proceeded in an orderly fashion. The weather was also exceptionally good today, preventing them from working under the scorching sun. It seemed even the heavens were on their side.

By evening, all the fruit seedlings on the trucks had been planted, and everyone was exhausted, their hands and feet aching. Even Zhang Niu had blisters on his hands.

The orchard owner seemed to have plenty of free time. This afternoon, I went to someone else's mountain and bought several large bags of early-ripening oranges and chestnuts. I plan to take them back to the county town as gifts. I'll also give some to the orchard's employees. Anyway, they're cheap and taste pretty good.

The issue was money. Zhang Niu told the fruit seedling vendor to go back first, as he was going to the county town the next day. He would pay the remaining balance then. The fruit seedling vendor readily agreed, saying he wasn't worried. He then drove off with his entourage, kicking up a cloud of dust.

After paying the villagers for today's work, they all went home happily.

My father was still tidying up his things when he left, but the tools and equipment for planting fruit seedlings were left scattered on the ground.

I herded the ducklings back to the shed. Then I took my father home. He was quite tired today. He kept saying that he was getting old, and even doing a little chores made his back ache. He wasn't like he used to be, and he looked quite wistful.

He, who was once naive and ignorant, has now grown up, and his parents are getting older.

In the county town, I went to the orchard to pay the remaining balance. Zhang Niu's savings, however, had dwindled significantly. He was heartbroken. He also knew that a trip to the aquatic products institute later would cost him even more money.

Today, the fruit seedling owner, having nothing else to do, drove his utility vehicle to take Zhang Niu to the aquatic products institute. He has a few friends there. People who contract wasteland usually set up fishponds and raise fish fry. So occasionally, he helps others with fish fry.

After the person in charge learned that Zhang Niu had ordered the fish fry a few days ago, he took him directly to see the fish fry. Even when buying goods, one should first see what they look like.

Looking at the snakehead fry, each about the size of a palm, I felt they were a bit expensive, but the price was justified. The person in charge also said these snakeheads were easy to raise, unlike the other forkedtail fry I had bought. They led me to the area where the forkedtail fry were kept. It was my first time seeing forkedtail fry, and they were incredibly small. They weren't even as long as a fingernail segment. They looked a bit like tadpoles, a dark, lumpy mass. The survival rate was at most 50-60%. This was especially true for newly hatched forkedtail.

The fish fry owner was a bit curious. He had thought Zhang Niu only raised ordinary fish, but it turned out he was raising valuable fry. He had heard of both types of fish; snakehead fish were expensive, but they grew slowly. In Guangdong, there were people who specialized in buying them for six to seven yuan a piece, but even then, there weren't many sellers.

"You're really something, kid! I'll definitely be fishing at your place next time. Just looking at those blackfish is enough to attract people," the fruit seedling owner said happily.

"Alright, beautiful mountains and clear waters. Good fish for them. But you'd better take my fish fry back today."

"No problem. Everything's fine today. If you hadn't widened the mountain road, this car really wouldn't be able to get up there. You can only drive utility vehicles in that area. Other vehicles might get their chassis worn out."

"It's already a favor that we've given you a road, and you're still complaining? How about you pay for it? You can have whatever road you want. My big boss," Zhang Niu said with a sly grin.

The fruit seedling owner, with a long face, said, "Stop making fun of me. Everyone says I'm a big boss. Everyone only sees how rich I am. They don't see how poor I am!"

I also bought two dense fishpond nets from the fish farm, planning to raise black carp fry and forktail fry in the pond beforehand when I go home. That way, I won't have to worry about not being able to catch them.

If 50% to 60% of the forked tails have a 100% survival rate in the space, then there are a total of 30,000 of them.

We paid to load the fish fry and eels onto the truck. To prevent the snakehead fry from being damaged by the bumpy ride, we even got a small aerator from the aquatic products institute and kept oxygenating the fry.

"Having a car makes you fast. It's just that the road is no good," the fruit seedling owner kept muttering to himself as he drove.

We drove straight to the newly filled pond, which had been filled up the night before. The three-meter-wide path was still quite wide enough. We got out and released the eel fry and loaches directly into the pond. There were probably tens of thousands of them, at least, densely packed together. I didn't even ask when I bought them.

After unloading all the fish fry, I tossed the aerator back into the car and asked him to take it home. The bored fruit seedling vendor left shortly after. Before leaving, he stopped by Er Gou's place to buy a few more bags of oranges. I later learned that he had given away all the ones he bought yesterday.

Find a few thin bamboo poles near the duck shed, enter the space, insert the bamboo poles by the pond, and tie the fishpond to the bamboo poles to form a square.

A bamboo pole is placed in the middle, and snakehead fish can be raised on one side while forkedtail fish can be raised on the other.

I went to my aunt's house this morning and didn't get back until the afternoon. I'm quickly writing this up. Please forgive me if it's a little slow, as I didn't want to keep you all waiting.

I'm shamelessly asking for recommendations and favorites. My favorites are pitifully few, please vote for me! I'll still update every night to maintain my daily update schedule.