Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 224 Talking over drinks
Under everyone's gaze, the falcon swooped down and, at a height of only five or six meters above the ground, accurately tossed the little rabbit towards Chen Fan.

Chen Fan's martial arts skills hadn't been wasted; he reached out and grabbed the little rabbit, checked it over, and found that apart from being a bit dazed, it was otherwise unaffected.

It's just stunned; it's probably like those two rabbits from before, scared from that "airplane ride." Even if it were a little slow, it wouldn't affect its growth and reproduction.

Including the three today, Chen Fan has collected 24 baby rabbits in the past few days, with an equal number of males and females, so he can start his breeding business.

Watching the falcon take flight, An Quan was so astonished he couldn't close his mouth. Only after the falcon had flown far away did he turn to look at Chen Fan, his face full of disbelief, "How did you train him?"

Before Chen Fan could speak, Yang Chuanfu laughed and said, "It wasn't from training. He found it in the snow around the 20th of December. The bird's wing was injured at the time. If it hadn't met him, it would probably have been snatched away by a fox or a weasel, or eaten by a dog. So after it recovered, the bird stuck with him. But it didn't eat and stay for free. It caught a rabbit almost every day and brought it back. Everyone in our team knows about this."

As he spoke, his envy was palpable. Unfortunately, he knew his own situation well. Even if he were to run into such a bird, it would likely only become meat in his bowl, not a rabbit every day!
Chen Fan chuckled and tacitly agreed with Captain Yang's statement.

The first rabbits were delivered in front of the militia members; it was impossible to hide it, but there was no need to.

Unlike many years later when wild animals are rare, there are plenty of spiritually connected animals in the countryside these days. People just treat it as gossip and no one finds it strange.

Hearing that the big bird had taken the initiative to repay the favor, the safety of the bird was beyond question. Looking at Chen Fan with a face full of regret, the bird said, "I thought you could train birds. I wanted to ask you to help me train an eagle. It seems that's not going to happen."

Which man hasn't dreamed of flying eagles and hunting dogs? If you could bring an eagle home, everyone would be envious. Why doesn't this Teacher Chen know how to train eagles?

But then he thought about it again and realized it was normal. Teacher Chen was already very talented. If he could also train birds, he couldn't imagine how someone could know so many things.
Upon hearing his words, Chen Fan was immediately speechless. Taming an eagle? You really dare to dream of that.

Putting aside whether I can tame it or not, the problem is, where are you going to catch an eagle?!

Eagles can fly, so can you?

After chatting for a bit, Anquan looked down at the rabbits in the basket, then looked up and said seriously, "Since we're going to breed them and do this as a side business, we need to hurry up, summarize our experiences, and then implement it in the brigade. If we don't have enough rabbits or other resources at the beginning, we should start small and gradually expand."

If there's anything you need me to do, just tell me.

Besides the commune, I also have some connections in the county. Of the educated youth from our batch back then, only half were recruited back to the city; the other nine went to county-level units, and now they're mostly in leadership positions. If I put in a word with them, many things are easily resolved. It's not really a case of using public office for private gain, but providing some work conveniences is still very helpful.”

Seeing his expression, Chen Fan knew that he didn't joke when talking about work, so he nodded seriously. "If there are any difficulties, I will definitely ask the brigade leaders and you. However, my idea is to make the most of the existing conditions and have the rabbits fostered in the homes of the various commune members."

Compared to centralized large-scale farming, this decentralized farming model, while not conducive to the intensive and effective use of resources, can mitigate the risk of disease transmission associated with large-scale farming to some extent. Furthermore, by mobilizing the masses, it can also solve some of the feed problems.

Once the rabbits are fully grown and ready for market, the work points will be distributed to the members according to the pre-agreed ratio.

He paused for a moment, then hesitated again, "I just don't know if this is in accordance with the rules."

Strictly speaking, this is a livestock version of the "household responsibility system." He still doesn't fully understand the current red lines. If this doesn't work, he can only follow the production team's sideline business model.

It means doing things in a fixed location with fixed personnel, which is equivalent to a small workshop-style breeding farm.

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Ye Shubao waved his hand and laughed, "What's wrong with this? Even if these rabbits belong to the production team, and are distributed to each household as their own property, isn't that the same principle as raising chickens and ducks? As long as they can manage, what's wrong with raising a few more rabbits?!"

Anquan smiled and said to Chen Fan, "Your current mindset is just like ours when we first came here. You're afraid of making any mistakes. I'll teach you a standard so you can distinguish things more easily."

Chen Fan immediately asked curiously, "What standards?" Anquan stretched out his hand and drew a circle around him, "Anything related to land must be approached with extreme caution."

Then he spread his hands and laughed, “Anything that has nothing to do with the land can be done without worry. Even if you raise a hundred chickens, as long as you can manage them, no one here will interfere. If a gust of wind comes and there’s a cold snap in spring, you have to be quick to sell the chickens. As long as you can get them off the ground, you’ll be fine.”

Chen Fan blinked, a realization dawning on him.

These days, the atmosphere varies from place to place. Some places are strict, while others are lenient. At least in the Nanhu Commune area, it is relatively lenient. As long as you don't make any fundamental mistakes, no one will care.

However, despite saying that, very few people actually take action.

It's not a question of whether or not we dare to do it. To put it in safety terms, raising a hundred chickens requires careful management. Resources are limited, capital is scarce, chicks and feed are problems, and building chicken coops is another issue. Most people live in mud-walled houses these days, so where would they get the money to build standard brick and tile chicken coops?
In addition, the Jiangnan region is rich in resources, and as long as people follow the established path, they can always ensure that they have enough to eat and wear. As a result, there are even fewer people with a desire for change, so few people do anything "out of line".

Just as Chen Fan was pondering, An Quan turned to Ye Shubao and said, "Brother Ye, I think Teacher Chen's idea is excellent, and he has already begun to take action to prepare for breeding rabbits and expanding the scale of breeding. Should we have a meeting with Secretary Yang and the others to finalize some details?"

Ye Shubao nodded and said, "We need to hold a meeting. We had this idea a few days ago: to take advantage of the abundance of veterinarians in Lujiawan and start a side business of a breeding farm."

However, first Xiao Chen and his colleagues had to go to the veterinary station for further training and to get their certificates, and then there was the spring plowing season, so they haven't had time to deal with this matter until today.

Even if you hadn't brought it up today, we would have talked to Xiao Chen about it after we finished this busy period and finalized the matter.

After a moment of hesitation, An Quan looked up and smiled, "Well then, there's no better time than today. Since I'm here today, according to custom, you should treat me to a meal and drinks..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yang Chuanfu waved his hands repeatedly, looking disgusted. "Oh, how can you be like this? When other cadres came to stay, we had to urge them three or four times and even have people pull them up before they would sit down at the table. But when it comes to you, all you do is ask for food and drinks. You must be a good-for-nothing."

Anquan grinned and chuckled, "That's different. They're guests, and guests should be treated with respect. I'm going back to my parents' home. What did you say when I got married a few years ago? Lujiawan Team 6 is my parents' home, the old team leader is my uncle, and you're my older brother. What's wrong with me getting a meal and drinks from my uncle?!"

Besides, today's topic is work-related. We can discuss things over drinks, so it won't interfere with work or our meal—a win-win situation, isn't it?

Faced with such a shameless person, Yang Chuanfu had no choice but to turn to Ye Shubao and say, "Then come to my place tonight, and invite Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, and Captain Xiao as well."

He then pointed to Chen Fan, "Add Xiao Chen to the mix, and let's have a feast at my house, both to welcome Lao An back and to discuss the construction of the breeding farm."

Ye Shubao nodded, "Okay, then we'll work overtime today, and this meal will be on the brigade's tab."

For work-related meals, all ingredients were paid for through the company account. The ingredients were given to the family who was eating at the company's house, or the value of the ingredients was converted into work points for accounting purposes.

Now that Ye Shubao said this, the reimbursement unit changed from Team 6 to the brigade, which is equivalent to saving Team 6 a meal.

After reaching an agreement, the group continued on their way.

Safety and Captain Yang were going back to Team 6, and Ye Shubao was going with them on the same route. He would then turn around and go to Team 7 to check on the spring plowing. He would make this trip every day, doing as much as he could, without taking a single day off.

Chen Fan had to go back to the broadcasting station to turn off the broadcast, so he said goodbye.

(End of this chapter)