1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 7 Everything is ready
in the afternoon.

The Qiao family of four and the Qiao family of three were invited to help build the chicken coop. Together with the Qiao brothers, Qiao Dajiang, Qiao Erhe, and Qiao Sihai, the ten people worked together to build the simple chicken coop, and the speed was quite fast.

As for Qiao Sanduo, she was naturally in charge of cooking dinner.

Huang Hongmei, the mother, is usually shameless, but since both her sisters-in-law came to help today, she felt embarrassed to just stand by and watch. So she went into the kitchen under the pretext of helping with the cooking and didn't come out. As for whether she was really helping with the cooking, those who know, know.

The chicken coop being built now is a temporary facility for Qiao Erhe, so the construction process was relatively simple. First, piles were driven in, and then wooden planks and bamboo strips were nailed on to ensure that it could provide shelter from the wind and rain. With ten people working together, the coop, which can accommodate 1000 laying hens, was completed in less than three hours.

In addition, several feeding troughs and water troughs were also made.

Once everything was settled, dinner was ready.

The Qiao family's dinner tonight was quite lavish. The main dishes included pepper-stewed chicken, pepper-fried eggs, spicy stewed fish, and dry-pot eel, all in generous portions. The last two dishes, in particular, were brought back by Qiao Erhe, who made two large bowls of them.

As for the side dishes, there's not much to say; they're all cheap vegetarian options.

Looking at the lavish meal, Uncle Qiao couldn't help but swallow hard and said, "Just a couple of simple dishes would have been fine, why make it so lavish?"

Everyone else couldn't help but salivate when they saw the food on the table.

It's only the 1980s now. Let alone people in the countryside, even city dwellers might not be able to afford to eat meat even once a month. And even if they did, it was just a small taste, not something they would eat casually.

These dishes, with their perfect color, aroma, and taste, would whet the appetite even in later generations, let alone in the present day.

As Qiao Erhe poured the wine, he said with a smile, "Second Uncle, Third Uncle, I caught these grass carp and eels myself, they didn't cost me anything. Everyone has worked hard today, so there's plenty of food and wine to eat your fill!"

Sitting next to Qiao Erhe, Qiao Xiangnan looked at the table of food and wine and said with shining eyes, "Brother Erhe, if there are any more good things like this in the future, just call me and I promise I'll be there whenever you call."

Qiao Erhe reached out and patted his shoulder, smiling, "No problem, I'll call you if I need anything in the future."

Huang Hongmei, her face beaming, said, "Alright, the food will get cold if we keep talking, let's eat!"

With delicious food in front of them, no one was in the mood for much talk. After Huang Hongmei took the first bite, everyone else followed suit and started eating.

"Hmm, this chicken stew is delicious. Sanduo's cooking skills are getting better and better."

"Sanduo's cooking skills are really good, this eel tastes so good!"

"This is grass carp, right? Why does it smell so good?"

"..."

After they started eating, both Qiao Erdie's family and Qiao Sandie's family praised Qiao Sanduo's cooking skills. Cooking is all about aptitude; some people don't have the talent to cook and can't make delicious food no matter how much you teach them, while others have a talent for cooking and can make very tasty food by figuring it out on their own.

Clearly, Qiao Sanduo belonged to the latter category. After a few rounds of drinks, Qiao's second father spoke up: "Sister-in-law, Dajiang is not young anymore. His three-year mourning period with his siblings is over. Shouldn't you consider finding him a partner?"

Huang Hongmei said, "I've already told him about this. I originally planned to find him a partner this year, but the second son wants to start egg-laying chicken farming, which has emptied the dowry money I prepared for the eldest son. If the eldest son wants to get married, we can only wait until the egg-laying chicken farming makes money."

Upon hearing this, Uncle Qiao frowned and asked, "Erhe, what are you thinking? Your brother is already 24 years old this year, which is already considered old. People of his age in the village have all gotten married long ago. If he doesn't hurry up and find a partner, it will be even harder to find one in another year or two."

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Second Uncle, I've thought about this carefully. If we don't raise chickens and instead use this money to help my eldest brother get married, given our current circumstances, not only will my eldest brother not be able to find a good wife, but we don't know how many more years we'll have to be poor before we have a chance to turn our lives around."

Using that money to raise chickens is a different story. It's only the beginning of August in the lunar calendar. I'll bring back those 1000 chicks tomorrow. After raising them for two or three months, they'll start laying eggs. Once we sell those eggs, we can use the money to find a partner for my older brother by the end of the year.

"If the economic benefits are good, then my brother can marry any kind of wife he wants. This is much better than using this little bit of money to get married directly."

Qiao Dajiang chimed in, "Second Uncle, I think Second Brother is right."

Qiao Erdie nodded and said, "Since you brothers have thought it through, I won't say anything more."

Uncle Qiao encouraged, "Erhe, work hard. If you really make money by the end of the year, I'll go and get a few thousand or a hundred egg-laying chicks to raise."

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Then you can start preparing in advance. Our 1000 laying hens are sure to make a fortune."

Aunt Qiao asked, "These 1000 chicks need a lot of feed every day. How do you and your siblings plan to manage that?"

Qiao Sihai, who was eating with his mouth full of oil, looked up and said, "Third Aunt, this Second Brother was prepared. This morning he asked me to go to the production teams of Wanjiawan, Wangjiatai, Lishutai, and Fujiatai to inquire about the price of corn, planning to buy some corn from these production teams to feed these chicks."

Aunt Qiao nodded and said, "Okay, it's good that you're prepared. There's a lot of food for these chickens. They eat things like small stones, wheat bran, vegetable leaves, corn, insects, earthworms, grass seeds, and grass. When you're free, you can go and get them some more food. That way, you can save a lot on feeding costs."

Aunt Qiao smiled and said, "Dajiang, Erhe, your third aunt is quite the expert in raising livestock. She was in charge of raising chickens and ducks in our production team before. If you have any questions about raising livestock, you should ask your third aunt."

Qiao Dajiang nodded repeatedly and said, "Third Aunt, then we'll ask you if we don't understand anything in the future."

Aunt Qiao smiled and said, "Of course, that's no problem."

Next, everyone ate and chatted, and the most talked-about topic was naturally the reform and opening up. Although it was only the 1980s, the country had changed rapidly, and everyone had felt the benefits brought about by the reform and opening up.

The meal lasted until it got dark.

The food on the table was not completely devoured, but it was eaten quite a bit.

There's no way around it. People in that era, perhaps due to a chronic lack of oil and fat in their diet, or perhaps due to long-term physical labor, simply had an appetite that people of later generations couldn't match. They could easily eat three to five bowls of rice as if it were child's play.

With over a dozen people eating so much, it's not surprising that they managed to finish most of the food on the table.

(End of this chapter)