My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 39 Capital City
After getting a haircut, Chen Ling continued to stroll around.

Fortunately, there were seeds for sale near the grain station, including rapeseed and miscellaneous grain seeds.

I went over and bought a little of everything.

Once they started buying, they couldn't stop.

Soon, Chen Ling's hands were so full that he couldn't carry any more. He turned into an alley, sat on a stone at the entrance, and gnawed on a juicy lamb hoof.

Several dark green turtles, each about the size of a bowl, were tied together with straw rope at his feet.

After finishing gnawing on the sheep's trotters, Chen Ling looked around and, finding no one nearby, picked up the old turtle from the ground and entered the cave.

Upon arriving at the cave, Chen Ling glanced at the female turtle in the pond, which was almost the size of a well cover, and then untied the straw rope and threw the string of male turtles he was holding into the pond.

The female turtle thought Chen Ling was going to feed her, so she stretched out her huge head above the water. But the next second, she realized that it was several of her own kind and immediately stared in disbelief.

"Haha, this is the guy I found for you. How about it? Is he enough to make you happy?"

"You think it's too small? Well, there's nothing we can do about it. Let's raise it a bit. Once it's big enough to breed with you, you'll have a fierce male turtle. Wouldn't that make you ecstatic?"

Chen Ling patted its head and said with a smile.

He had previously considered fishing for turtles.

Unfortunately, these creatures are still a bit hard to find this season. Last time, in the Nansha River in the county town, even bait mixed with water from Dongtian Creek didn't attract a single one.

Fortunately, he happened to be at the market this time, and Chen Ling bought up all the male turtles on the stall.

There are seven of them.

There were a few female turtles left, but Chen Ling didn't take them.

The largest one in the Mother's Cave is enough.

It's often said that one male will mate with three females, and too many males will cause them to fight, but that's exactly the effect Chen Ling wanted.

Nourished by the stream in the cave, the male turtles will not die even if injured. They can even choose the fiercest one to mate in a fight, which can be considered a kind of selective breeding of superior genes.

After releasing the turtles, he glanced at the fish in the pond next to him.

The cave has a suitable environment, and the fish inside had already laid eggs a few days ago. Now, a layer of small fish fry floats on the surface, and they scatter as soon as Chen Ling approaches.

"Grow well, and you'll be ready to eat in a little while."

Chen Ling picked up a bucket and poured some more stream water into the two ponds. Instantly, the turtles and fish became excited, splashing around in the water as if having a great time.

Standing by the pond, Chen Ling paused to watch for a while before leaving the cave.

After observing the surroundings again, he took out two full baskets of things from the cave.

There was a basket each of vegetables and peanuts.

The vegetables weren't grown in a cave.

Just like peanuts, they are rapidly grown in the ground.

They still don't need to be pinned down or trellised. Just set up two bamboo poles and let them grow, and they still grow very well.

Both cucumbers and tomatoes are available.

He planned to take advantage of the market day to try delivering oil to the local oil mills and supply and marketing cooperatives.

Let's check the price.

If that doesn't work, just set up a stall and sell them under the guise of greenhouse vegetables, as usual.

Even compared to the fruits and vegetables that grow naturally in the cave, it's like comparing heaven and earth.

But it's definitely better than regular vegetables.

Whether you taste it or look at it, anyone with a discerning eye can tell it's a good product.

However, Chen Ling still felt somewhat uncertain...

People don't have much money in their pockets these days.

If vegetables are sold at high prices, no one will want them.

Do you expect vegetables grown in the field to be more expensive than pork?

So what if it's greenhouse vegetables? Ordinary people don't care about that.

"Let's try it at the price in the county town's vegetable market first, two yuan per jin, and send it to the supply and marketing cooperative to see how it goes..."

The price of greenhouse vegetables in the county is around two yuan, but the total national output is not high, so we have been encouraging the planting of greenhouse vegetables.

Although there aren't that many wealthy people in the countryside these days, there are still a few in Chang Le Township.

While he was wandering around the market, he noticed several small villas near the health center. He even saw a woman coming out of one of these villas, dressed in a flamboyant manner, with delicate little hands, picking up a piece of cloth with her pinky finger raised.

Such a family is definitely not short of money.

"Hmm, let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative and the oil mill first, and see if we can sell the vegetables and peanuts. If not, we can set up a stall near those small Western-style buildings."

Chen Ling had made up his mind.

He then hopped on his bicycle and headed towards the supply and marketing cooperative and the oil mill.

There is one supply and marketing cooperative and one oil mill in Changle Township.

The supply and marketing cooperative is opposite the township government. The oil mill is inside the village.

Chen Ling rushed over with peanuts and vegetables, and the result was pretty much as he had expected.

The peanut harvest went relatively smoothly.

Oil pressing is still quite profitable. The oil mill owner is wealthy, and although the price he offered was one cent lower than in the county town, he accepted it anyway.

The vegetables were a bit disappointing; firstly, they were too expensive, and secondly, the vendor looked unfamiliar and young, so I tried to negotiate a lower price.

After a long discussion, Chen Ling found the people at the supply and marketing cooperative to be too unpleasant to talk to, so he simply left.

The market was bustling with people, but even after leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, he didn't bring the vegetables back to his cave.

He thought to himself, "It's still early, I'll try setting up the stall for another hour. If that doesn't work, I'll just buy some livestock."

As a result, they had only pushed the car on and hadn't gone far when...

There was a loud "bang" behind his head, which startled Chen Ling.

I turned my head to look and realized that the bicycle's rear tire had blown out.

"Damn it, what bad luck."

Chen Ling cursed under his breath, found an open space, parked the car, and squatted down to inspect it.

I used to be useless at everything. When I got married, I only cared about riding this bicycle and didn't know how to fix it.

This inspection revealed that not only the rear tires, but also the front tires had rat bites.

The so-called "rat bumps" are the air bulges on tires, which look like worms eating rats and causing them to swell up.

This is a local term used in the countryside.

"Both the front and rear tires need to be replaced, and the chain needs to be lubricated..."

Chen Ling sighed, then stood up to find a car repair stall.

"Young man, young man, come and help me."

At the entrance of the grain station, the yellow-faced old man who had just had his hair cut, wearing a black liberation cap and hunching over, was holding a crank handle, preparing to start the hand tractor.

This tractor looked old; its body was covered in black oil and looked filthy. It seemed particularly difficult to start. The old man shook it four or five times, but it didn't make a sound.

Seeing Chen Ling squatting there inspecting the vehicle, he quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead and waved while panting, "Young man, come over here and help me crank it a couple of times. This piece of junk at the grain depot is too difficult to handle. If it's left unused for a while, it'll take a lot of effort to get it running again."

"Try to get it open for me, it won't be a waste of your time. I'll take you to a good repair shop later..."

"okay."

Chen Ling did not refuse and stepped forward to take the crank handle.

Bending over, he moved the weight to relieve the pressure, using his right hand to shake it rapidly.

I don't know if it's because the engine oil wasn't changed or what, but it's very heavy when it's running, and it makes a whooshing sound.

However, this weight was nothing to Chen Ling. After only a few rotations, the machine heated up and started emitting black smoke.

"He's young after all, he's got some energy..." The old man with the yellow face praised him, seeing that he wasn't even out of breath.

He then told Chen Ling which repair stalls were good, offering the best services for tire replacement, patching, and parts replacement, promising never to rip people off.

Chen Ling thanked him and then pushed his car into the car to leave.

"Young man, don't go yet! Why do you still have cucumbers and tomatoes here?"

The old man with the sallow face noticed what was in Chen Ling's basket and his eyes widened in surprise.

"These are all grown in greenhouses. Otherwise, where would we get these vegetables around here?"

Chen Ling smiled and explained, "What, do you always buy things?"

"The vegetables in the greenhouse? I've heard of this greenhouse before. The village loudspeaker announced it several times last year."

The old man with a sallow face walked up and carefully examined the vegetables in the two baskets: "These are definitely greenhouse produce. These cucumbers and tomatoes look pretty good. I can even smell the refreshing cucumber aroma."

Is it expensive?

Chen Ling smiled and held up two fingers.

The old man was taken aback: "Two cents?"

Chen Ling shook his head: "Two pieces!"

"Wow, good heavens, you're almost as big as pork now..."

The old man immediately lost interest, clicked his tongue, and said, "At the end of the year, pork is only 1.8 yuan and beef is less than 5 yuan. How can you sell your tomatoes and cucumbers at such high prices at the market?"

Chen Ling smiled without saying a word and pushed the cart out.

This old man probably doesn't know that after this year's floods, ordinary bok choy will cost 1 yuan per kilogram.

Other vegetables are even more outrageously expensive. He's selling them at the price of greenhouse vegetables in the county town now, and he's not asking for more.

"I'll set up a stall while I'm fixing the car. If I don't sell anything by noon, I'll go buy some livestock."

(End of this chapter)