Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 155

Wu Mancang was overjoyed. As long as he could sell them, he said, "I know that live pigs are currently selling for a little over two cents a pound. So I'll only ask for two cents a pound. Is that okay?"

"Okay, it's settled then."

The two agreed to the deal and then discussed the details.

He Yuzhu then realized that Wu Mancang was from Zuojiazhuang, which was not far from Dongzhimen.

Then we agreed to go to Zuojiazhuang tomorrow morning to weigh the pigs and buy them. If the yard was suitable, we would buy the yard as well.

He Yuzhu knew that there would often be unrest in the city in the future, and if he had a house in the nearby countryside, he could go out and hide there.

Besides, Zuojiazhuang isn't far away, so buying it wouldn't be a bad deal. After all, it's a residential plot within the Third Ring Road, which will be very valuable land in the future.

After seeing Wu Mancang off, Xu Huizhen saw him and asked, "What's this for?"

"He came to sell pigs. He's a professional pig farmer with three large sows and more than 20 piglets weighing 70 or 80 pounds each."

"So many? Are you going to sell them all?" Xu Huizhen hesitated, then asked, "Don't you think there's something fishy about this?"

“What problem could there be? He even wants to sell the house so he can go home and take care of his wife while she gets medical treatment.”

"I see. Then there shouldn't be any problems."

He Yuzhu said, "That's what I think too."

Even if there is a problem, what is it?

That pig is a living pig; once it's killed, it can be turned into braised meat, and any excess can be stored in my spatial storage.

The next day, around mid-morning, He Yuzhu finally arrived at Zuojiazhuang with two other people, pushing bicycles and tricycles.

Wu Mancang's pig farm is located at one end of the village, about 200 meters away from the nearest house. There is also a small river nearby, making it easy to find.

He Yuzhu was very satisfied with the location. The yard was large and no one lived around it. It would be nice to buy it. When he could no longer do business, he could come here to enjoy a peaceful life with his wife, growing flowers and vegetables. It would be very pleasant.

He knocked on the door, and then Wu Mancang's delighted voice came from inside: "Coming!"

Wu Mancang scurried over and opened the door, complaining, "Why are you so late? I thought you weren't coming."

In the morning, Wu Mancang prepared more pig feed than usual, and all the pigs were fed their fill, just waiting for He Yuzhu to come and weigh them.

You know, a pig can eat several kilograms of pig feed in one meal. If it's weighed, a pig can sell for an extra dollar.

More than 20 piglets plus three sows can sell for more than 30 yuan more.

But He Yuzhu didn't come, and it was already past 10 o'clock. The pigs had already digested and excreted the pig feed they were given in the morning.

He Yuzhu just smiled at Wu Manshan's complaints. Da Yong had also been fooled twice when he first started collecting pigs, but he became smarter and learned this little trick, so he would only go to collect pigs in the late morning or late afternoon.

If you find that the pig's belly is full, you'd rather not accept it than be cheated, or you can dawdle and wait until the pig defecates before weighing it.

Wu Mancang had been waiting impatiently for a long time. He knew that if he delayed any longer, things might change. So, he didn't say much and took He Yuzhu to weigh the pigs.

Upon arriving at the backyard, Wu Mancang explained, "There are 15 large pigsties here, and each pigsty can hold two pigs, but I only have 24 pigs here in total."

He Yuzhu nodded: "I didn't expect your place to be so big."

It can be seen that these pigsties are all newly built. There are not only 15 pigsties, but also a warehouse and a stone mill, the kind that can be pulled by a donkey.

He Yuzhu brought a scale, and two people were responsible for going into the pigpen to catch the pigs, then tying them up and weighing them. The average weight was over 80 jin (40 kg), and the total price for the 24 pigs was 397 yuan.

He Yuzhu generously calculated the amount at 400 yuan.

Sows are a bit more expensive, costing 50 yuan each. And lastly, there's this house. Although Zuojiazhuang is very close to Beijing, houses outside the city are practically worthless.

Once you leave Dongzhimen, you're already in the countryside. Although this house is quite large and has all the necessary facilities for raising pigs, the total price is only 200 yuan, which is equivalent to just one house in the city.

He Yuzhu spent a total of 750 yuan to buy all of Wu Mancang's belongings.

Then I went to the village to complete the formalities. Since they were all rural houses, as long as the village secretary approved them, I just needed to register them.

Wu Mancang packed his luggage, then led out the donkey, hitched it to the cart, and happily left with the silver dollar He Yuzhu had given him.

The two cleaned the yard and threw away all the trash.

He Yuzhu said, "You two haven't gone back yet, have you? I'm going to Zuojiazhuang Village to buy some feed."

"Okay, boss."

After the two left, He Yuzhu released a batch of bran and soybean cakes from his spatial storage, giving the bran a place to go.

At noon, He Yuzhu was still thinking about whether he should feed the pigs when he heard a noise outside the door, and then Xu Huizhen, Dayong, and Xiangcao came in.

Xu Huizhen said anxiously, "Brother Zhu, you've been tricked."

Dayong was also very anxious, saying, "Yes, Zhuzi, why didn't you ask me first? Now everyone is saying there's swine fever in the Northeast, and who knows when it will spread here."

“There have been a lot of pigs for sale these past two days. I was just about to talk to you about it this morning when I found out you bought so many pigs.”

He Yuzhu asked, "Is it true that there is swine fever in Northeast China?"

"How could this thing possibly be fake? It's better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn't."

"That's right, why don't we just kill all these pigs? That would reduce some of the losses."

He Yuzhu said, "There's no loss at all. I bought it for two cents a pound cheaper. Even if I sell it now, I won't lose money."

None of the three knew the purchase price beforehand, and when they heard it was only two cents per pound, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

This price is acceptable; at least we won't lose money.

Xu Huizhen said, "This time we were tricked. I was wondering why he sold everything at once."

He Yuzhu nodded: "Indeed, the other party must have known about the African swine fever, which is why they sold all the sows and piglets at once."

The group entered the yard and the first thing they did was check all the pigs to make sure they were free of swine fever, which put their minds at ease.

He Yuzhu said, "Actually, we shouldn't be so paranoid. After all, there's no swine fever in Beijing yet, so I don't plan to slaughter these pigs now. I'll keep them for now."

"Will this work?" Xu Huizhen asked.

“However, my pig farming is different from others. We’ll find someone to raise the pigs in the yard. I’ve already bought the feed. This person will live in this yard from now on and won’t be allowed to leave, nor will anyone else be allowed to come in.”

This dedicated pig farming approach minimizes the risk of disease transmission. Even if swine fever breaks out elsewhere, it ensures that this batch of pigs remains disease-free. Only when absolutely necessary should these fattening pigs be slaughtered.

"Finding him is easy, but how will he eat?"

Chapter 113 The He family, father and son, come knocking on the door.

"Isn't this simple? We'll find someone to deliver the vegetables, and she can cook here herself, as long as she doesn't go out. We also need to disinfect the pigsty again to ensure its hygiene. I've arranged all of that."

Although He Yuzhu had never raised pigs in his previous life, he had some experience and knew that as long as management was strengthened and the sources of pollution were reduced, these pigs might be able to grow up before being slaughtered.

"Okay, but I don't know if it will make money in the end."

"Making money is definitely possible, it's just a matter of how much."

At that time, there weren't many preventative vaccinations for pigs, and they were very easy to die when they were young.

The lightest of these pigs weighs over 70 jin (35 kg) and the heaviest is close to 90 jin (45 catties), indicating that they have already passed the weakest stage and are in good health.

With improved management, the occurrence of illness and death will be much less likely in the future.

After returning home, we found an old man with experience in raising pigs to come and help them raise pigs. They would then deliver a batch of vegetables to us every other day.

He Yuzhu explained all the key points of breeding that he knew, and asked the old man to guarantee that he could complete all the requirements meticulously.

Then send someone to take the old man there, and He Yuzhu won't have to worry about it anymore.

But when evening came, the Daqing drinker came knocking.

With a hint of anger on his face, he called He Yuzhu and Xu Huizhen into the room.

"Zhu Zi, I thought you were already very sensible. Ke Ke, what did you do today? You actually got scammed! Why were you in such a hurry to buy it? It's not just one or two pigs. There are 24 piglets, plus three sows. Are you brain-dead?"

Just as He Yuzhu was about to explain, He Daqing turned to Xu Huizhen and said, "And you too, why didn't you try to persuade him? Now you've suffered the consequences."

"I..."

Xu Huizhen didn't expect to be scolded. She opened her mouth, but didn't know how to explain.

Then she looked at He Yuzhu with a resentful expression, her face full of unhappiness.

Then he said, "Why should I care about him?"

He Daqing had so much to say, but he couldn't say it. He sat down and poured himself a cup of tea.

He Yuzhu quickly pulled Xu Huizhen's hand to sit down and explained to He Daqing.

"You're saying you won't lose money?"

"Yes, the pigs were cheap, and besides, there's no swine fever outbreak in Beijing yet, so it doesn't seem like we're losing out right now."

"That's alright, I just received the news, it gave me a fright."

He Daqing had only heard a little bit about it from someone else, and thought that He Yuzhu had lost a lot of money, so he rushed over to meet him and scolded He Yuzhu.

It turned out to be a misunderstanding, which put He Daqing in a very awkward position.

I scolded my son, and if he made a mistake, it's no big deal. But I can't accept that I just talked to Xu Huizhen.

Although they were fully aware of their affair, they were still officially not related.

He Daqing said awkwardly, "Huizhen, don't mind me. I was just too anxious and didn't ask clearly."

Xu Huizhen said, "It's alright, grandpa, you're just concerned about Brother Zhu."