Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

“Raising five pigs, how much grain would that consume… Our ten acres of land only yield enough grain for our own consumption, where would we get any extra grain to feed the pigs… Eldest son, don’t mess around like this. As the old saying goes, you can’t get fat overnight. Even if we really want to raise pigs, we should take it slowly…” The old man seemed to disagree with his eldest son’s idea, frowning and expressing his objection with a worried look.

The eldest son seemed to have already thought of a solution to his father's concerns, and spoke again: "Father..."

"If we don't have enough food, we'll pay for it..."

"Although the price of a pound of wheat flour has increased a lot, it still only costs a little over two cents."

“Raising a pig can earn you at least fifty yuan. If you raise it to be fat, you can earn sixty or seventy yuan. The money earned from raising a pig can buy three or four hundred catties of flour.”

"Although our hillside land is barren, the sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn grown on one acre of hillside are enough to feed a pig..."

"You only need to set aside five acres of sloping land to raise five pigs."

"We grow corn on three acres of good land as our staple food, and use the remaining two acres of sloping land to grow sweet potatoes and potatoes. If we can't finish eating them with our five pigs, we dry them into sweet potato chips and store them to feed two more pigs next year."

"Father, if you think the food rations are still too little, not enough to feed five pigs and five sheep..."

"Didn't the village also allocate us several dozen acres of mountain land...?"

"Half of it is wasteland, but you can still find a lot of scattered plots of land in the nooks and crannies. Putting them together, it should be no problem to get two or three acres."

"Although it can't be used to grow corn, it can be used to grow potatoes and sweet potatoes..."

"If all else fails, we can always plant grass, and then we can raise a few more sheep..."

The old man seemed to have been persuaded by his eldest son.

A few years ago, when the production team distributed land, in addition to ten mu of dry land and sloping land, they also distributed dozens of mu of mountain land and barren slopes.

Although those barren slopes cannot be cultivated into fertile fields, there are still many small plots of land that can be carved out from between the rocks, which are definitely suitable for growing sweet potatoes and potatoes.

Potatoes and sweet potatoes can be used to feed pigs, while potato vines and sweet potato vines can be used to feed sheep.

Even the corn stalks used to grow corn can be chopped up and used to feed sheep.

If you calculate it this way, as long as you plan ahead what to plant on that piece of land and ensure a constant supply of feed for a few pigs and sheep, the eldest son can indeed stay at home and make a fortune by raising pigs and sheep.

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and he immediately made a decision: "Okay..."

"Let's do as the boss says..."

"After more than half a month, the second son started working at the farm, while the eldest son stayed home to raise pigs, sheep, and chickens..."

"Once the breeding farm on Shiniu Mountain is built, I will go with the eldest brother to reclaim the land and clear all the weeds from the cracks in the rocks. We can start planting sweet potatoes a month later."

"With ten or so acres of sweet potatoes, no matter how barren the soil, we can definitely harvest more than 10,000 jin of sweet potatoes a year. Let alone raising five pigs, even if we get five more pigs, we can raise them to adulthood..."

…………

The front yard of a courtyard house.

As soon as Wang Dong returned to the courtyard house from Shikou Town, he locked himself in his room, his brows furrowed in deep thought.

As he acquired more and more businesses, Wang Dong gradually felt overwhelmed and unsure where to begin.

Although he had experienced the internet bombardment of later generations and knew many ways and directions to make money, the answer was still just a head chef. His mind was only on managing and operating hotels. He knew nothing about how to run a farm, how to ensure that hundreds of thousands of chickens and thousands of pigs on the farm would not have any accidents, or how to continuously hatch chicks.

As the saying goes, "Every profession is like a mountain to climb."

Faced with a completely unfamiliar field, even though Wang Dong came from the future, he felt immense management pressure. The Dongjun Hotel's several branches in Beijing had their own set of rules and regulations. As long as the professional managers they assigned weren't too incompetent and strictly enforced these rules and regulations, the hotel could operate normally and generate a steady stream of revenue.

Even if something unexpected happens during the operation of the restaurant, he can use his experience and methods from later generations to resolve it immediately.

Unlike livestock farms, this is a completely unfamiliar field.

The farm is still in the planning stage and has not been fully established. There are countless problems waiting for him to solve every day.

Once the farm is fully established, he will definitely face more problems, many of which are professional ones. Even if Wang Dong came from the future and didn't have a computer or mobile phone to access information, he couldn't think of any solutions.

Under these circumstances, Wang Dong experienced for the first time the enormous problem caused by a shortage of talent.

But talent is different from other things...

He needs to discover it for himself.

Unlike the white-feathered chickens that come to the airport from chicken farms, which can be bought back as long as you are willing to pay.

"Dongzi... I heard from Mom that you locked yourself in your room as soon as you came back. Is something wrong?" His wife, Chen Jun, suddenly walked up behind him, hugged Wang Dong's neck, and asked with a worried expression.

His wife was already pregnant and would give birth in two months at most, so Wang Dong's first thought was not to bother her with these trivial matters.

But his wife was the kind of person who wouldn't give up until she got what she wanted, so he had no choice but to speak up in the face of her persistent pursuit.

"Wife..."

"The problems encountered in building a breeding farm in Shikou Town are just too numerous and endless..."

"There are so many issues that I've never encountered before..."

"I feel the pressure on my shoulders getting heavier and heavier..."

"I can't even find someone to ask for advice..."

"If this continues, the farm will run into problems sooner or later."

"Not only will our investment go down the drain, but our plan to open a fast food restaurant in Beijing will also be disrupted..."

“I want to find some people who understand livestock farming to help me, but as you know, I’m not well-educated. Although I worked as a manager in a steel rolling mill for a few years, I only dealt with logistics staff and had no experience with people involved in livestock farming…”

"I don't even have anyone to look for..."

At this point, Wang Dong's eyes suddenly lit up, and his gaze towards his wife, Chen Jun, became increasingly ardent. He immediately asked, "By the way... wife..."

“I didn’t go to college, but you did…”

"Whether it's university or high school, you must know a lot of classmates, and maybe one of them is a talent in this field..."

"If you really can't find one, a classmate who is related to this field will also be fine..."

"At worst, I'll treat them to a meal, give them a small favor, and ask them to introduce me to some relevant talent..."

"I'm really short of talent right now, honey, if you have any classmates in this field, please introduce me to a few..."

"As long as I have a target, I can find a way to persuade him to work for me." (End of Chapter)