1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 57 Distinguished Guest of the Qiao Family

in the room.

Su Jinxiu took out a stack of coupons from her pocket and handed them to Qiao Erhe, saying, "Oh right, Comrade Qiao, I almost forgot. These are some coupons my father asked me to bring you. There is a bicycle coupon, as well as some meat coupons, cloth coupons, sugar coupons, and grain coupons. They are all useful. Please be sure to accept them."

Upon seeing the stack of tickets and certificates in Su Jinxiu's hand, the Qiao family members couldn't help but gasp. As expected of city people, their actions were truly extraordinary.

Qiao Erhe politely declined, saying, "Comrade Su, the cigarettes, tea, and snacks you just gave me are more than enough. How can I accept so many more vouchers?"

Su Jinxiu smiled and said, "Comrade Qiao, you don't need to be so polite. This is a small token of my father's appreciation. The glutinous rice wine you gave me is a rare treat that money can't buy. I didn't refuse it, so you shouldn't either."

Since things had come to this point, and Qiao Erhe did indeed need the bicycle ticket, he reached out and took the ticket, saying, "Alright, then I'll accept it. Besides the filtered glutinous rice wine, the lees are also a good thing. I'll give you two jars later. You can take them back to cook eggs with the sweet wine. The taste and effects are also very good."

Su Jinxiu said happily, "That's wonderful! I really enjoy this egg and sweet wine."

Qiao Erhe smiled and said, "If you like it, Sanduo will cook it for you later."

Upon hearing her second brother call her name, Qiao Sanduo immediately replied, "No problem, I'll cook it in a bit."

Qiao Erhe said, "Since we're going to cook, let's cook a lot so everyone can have some."

Qiao Sanduo nodded and replied, "Okay, Second Brother."

Su Jinxiu asked, "Comrade Qiao, where do you keep your laying hens? Can you take me to see them?"

Qiao Erhe stood up and said, "The laying hens are kept behind the house. Let me take you to see them!"

Su Jinxiu nodded in agreement, then followed Qiao Erhe out of the room and headed towards the temporary "chicken farm" at the back.

As they passed the ditch, Su Jinxiu saw many fish of various sizes swimming in it and asked in surprise, "Comrade Qiao, are these fish raised by your family?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "These are chickens raised by my family. When raising chickens, you can't do without a fence. Whether you use bricks or bamboo and wood to fence them, it will cost a lot of money. So, in order to save money, we dug this trench to separate the laying hens and prevent them from running around."

Now that the trenches are dug, they can't be wasted, so water is diverted in to raise fish, which is a way to make use of the waste.

Su Jinxiu praised, "That's a great idea. When these fish grow up, they can be sold for a considerable income."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the back of the house. The first thing they saw was a flock of laying hens moving around in the open space. These were not adult laying hens, but rather chicks, numbering probably one or two thousand.

Qiao Erhe explained, "These chicks were only bought and raised recently. The 3000 chicks that the poultry farm delivered to me yesterday, along with the 1000 adult laying hens, are all currently in the chicken coop!"

Su Jinxiu clicked her tongue in amazement and said, "When these laying hens reach adulthood and start laying eggs next year, Comrade Qiao, your family will truly be making a fortune every day."

"well enough!"

Qiao Erhe smiled and said, "However, raising so many laying hens is not an easy task. The main problem is that they need too much feed. If it weren't for the fact that my family grows a lot of vegetables to feed the chickens, which greatly reduces their need for corn, we really wouldn't be able to keep raising these laying hens."

Previously, when we only raised 1000 laying hens, it was fine. Although these laying hens consumed two to three hundred kilograms of feed every day after entering the egg-laying period, the consumption of corn was relatively easy because of feed such as green vegetables, soybean meal, and wheat bran.

The number of laying hens has now reached 6000. Although the feed consumption of the chicks is not large, as these chicks grow, their daily feed consumption is increasing. Even with the support of vegetables, soybean meal, and wheat bran, the demand for corn is alarmingly high.

Fortunately, corn cobs can be crushed and fed to chickens, which can save a lot of feed.

Anyway, Qiao Erhe had already made plans. If he could buy enough corn, that would be great. If not, he would use other things with little nutritional value to make do. The hens would get the nutrients they needed from the diluted spiritual spring water, so there was no need to worry about them stopping laying eggs due to malnutrition. Su Jinxiu didn't understand egg-laying chicken farming, but she understood people. She smiled and said, "Comrade Qiao, you are bold and meticulous. I believe you already have a solution for the feed problem for these hens, otherwise you wouldn't be able to raise so many hens all at once."

"I didn't know you knew me so well!"

Qiao Erhe smiled slightly and then said, "We've looked at the laying hens. It's cold outside, let's go inside and warm up by the fire!"

"Ok!"

……

noon.

Qiao Sanduo prepared a large table of delicious dishes to entertain Su Jinxiu, the distinguished guest. There was braised carp, stir-fried cured pork with pepper, dry pot eel, stir-fried eggs with pepper, spicy stewed chicken, and several side dishes, filling the table to the brim.

However, what Su Jinxiu cared about most was that bowl of sweet egg wine.

After tasting the bowl of egg and sweet wine, Su Jinxiu's eyes widened in amazement; the taste was truly amazing.

Su Jinxiu thoroughly enjoyed the meal. After drinking two large bowls of sweet egg wine, she felt not only not drunk, but also full of energy.

After a short rest following the meal, Qiao Erhe, under the watchful eyes of the Qiao family and Su Jinxiu, officially opened the sealed wine jar.

Immediately, a rich aroma of wine wafted over, instantly invigorating everyone.

Qiao Erhe took a spoonful of wine, poured it into the bowl next to him, and then picked it up to taste it.

Qiao Sihai asked impatiently, "Second Brother, how does the wine taste this time?"

The others also looked at Qiao Erhe with tense expressions, afraid that the taste of the wine might be off.

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "It's a success. The taste of the wine is no different from the previous brews."

"Great!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and smiled happily.

Next comes the process of filling the jars. The jars are all cleaned and drained, and sealing materials such as plastic film, rubber bands, paper rope, red cloth, and clay are already prepared.

Qiao Erhe directly filled six jars of glutinous rice wine and two jars of lees. Each jar contained five jin (2.5 kg). When sealing the jars, he first placed a clean plastic film on the mouth of the jar, then tied it tightly with a rubber band, then covered it with a red cloth and tied it tightly with paper rope. A sealed jar of glutinous rice wine was then ready.

Tying it with red cloth is a way to give gifts; sealing it this way makes it look more upscale.

If it's glutinous rice wine meant for family consumption, the final step involves using clay instead of red cloth.

After sealing the six jars of sweet glutinous rice wine and the two jars of lees, Qiao Erhe put them in a net bag, along with another net bag of eggs, before saying to Su Jinxiu, "Comrade Su, it's getting late, and you have to go to work tomorrow. Let me take you home!"

Su Jinxiu smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll trouble you."

(End of this chapter)