A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 57 Thanks and Meal

Villagers came out one after another, carrying whole sacks of large, chubby ducks. Even the village chief was carrying a sack.

Mr. Wang took out a calculator from his car and a notebook, standing in front of the large scale. "One by one. Don't rush. Everyone will get their turn." The villagers, who had been a bit noisy, immediately quieted down and lined up.

Zhang Niu stood next to Boss Wang, watching them weigh the ducks and pack them into iron cages of fifteen. Boss Wang, holding a duck and examining it closely, shook the fat duck and said, "These village ducks of yours are quite good. They're past molting season. They're plump enough."

Zhang Niu also boasted, "That's right, good mountains and good water produce good ducks. Country ducks just grow slowly. Everything else is fine."

"The ducks are good, and they sell well where I'm from. Last time I bought a batch of ducks from Shangdongfang. I lost quite a bit of money. They look good, but the meat just doesn't taste right when cooked. Isn't that strange? If you hadn't called me here, I wouldn't have even bothered buying free-range ducks."

"Have people in the city started eating duck now?"

"This is all thanks to the brand you built with that amazing duck. Duck meat sells well now. Life is expensive in the city, who would buy any to take home? People just want the best stuff. Working people aren't afraid to spend money." He said, spitting out saliva.

I never imagined that duck meat would be driven up by our own actions. No wonder duck prices are so high now, with a pound of meat duck costing five or six yuan. It seems that as living standards improve, so do people's tastes.

Cages of ducks were loaded onto the truck. At each household's weighing, a stack of banknotes would be taken out of a bag. The villagers would then sign their names to complete the transaction. Loading the ducks and paying the money proceeded smoothly and efficiently.

I checked the number of ducks on the register. It turned out there were over 1500. Quite a few villagers hadn't loaded their ducks yet. A quick glance showed that Er Gou's family and Sheng Ming's fish farm had a maximum of 300 and 500 ducks respectively, roughly half. Looks like they had good judgment. There were quite a few onlookers under the camphor tree. Now they were all a little regretful. With such good prices, why didn't they raise some themselves? A few were even dragged home by their wives, apparently going to be kneeling on the washboard.

The half-empty back of the truck was filled with iron cages. A few cages were empty. A rough estimate suggested there were about three thousand ducks. Er Gou's family and Sheng Ming's family alone sold fifteen thousand and twenty-five thousand ducks respectively. Other families generally sold for around two or three thousand. That's less than half a year's income. Even the village chief's family only sold about a thousand.

After packing the ducks, Boss Wang was in a hurry to leave. Zhang Niu didn't ask him to stay any longer. Just as Zhang Niu was about to take the canned fish home, he called out to Shengming behind him, "Zhang Wa, wait a minute. Don't rush off."

"What's up?" Zhang Niu asked, stopping in his tracks.

Shengming, who had just sold the ducks, looked delighted. "Come to my house for dinner tonight. The village chief will be there too, don't forget." Without waiting for Zhang Niu's reply, he hurriedly took the empty sack and went back.

Zhang Niu knew a bit about it, guessing he'd made quite a bit of money selling ducks. He planned to invite him to dinner, since it was Zhang Niu who'd suggested it. He'd also contacted the dealer himself.

In the evening, Shengming called his son over and invited Zhang Niu and his father to come along. Originally, the father wasn't planning to go, but Zhang Niu persuaded him before he went. The mother stayed home. It's customary for women not to sit at the main table when entertaining guests. They can only eat some food on the side. This tradition has been passed down for a long time and is difficult to change overnight.

Shengming's house was right next to the village chief's. It was a three-story villa with white tiles on the outside, and a nearly new tractor was parked in the front yard. Before even entering the house, Shengming came out. "You're finally here? Everyone's been waiting for you."

Upon entering the house, a bright hall was furnished with a transparent glass table laden with dishes. Several people had arrived, including Er Gou's family and the village chief's family. They had just joined Zhang Niu and his son to make up a table.

"You're late. Here's three cups as punishment." A full cup of yellow wine was poured in front of Zhang Niu and his father.

Looking at the full glass in front of him, Zhang Niu quickly said, "That guy can't hold his liquor, let's get some Sprite instead."

Dad downed his glass in no time. He then picked up some food and put it in his bowl. "Since Shengming doesn't drink rice wine, let's replace it with Sprite!"

The village chief, drinking, said, "Young man, you still need to learn how to drink. Look at your father, he used to be the village's drinking champion."

Zhang Niu had also heard that his father was a heavy drinker, but he didn't expect him to be famous in the village.

The father, sipping his drink, chuckled, "Don't mention it. It's all old news. Now that I'm old, look how grown up my son is. I can't deny getting old." He then took another swig of his drink.

"Don't just drink, come and have some chicken. See if the poached chicken suits your taste," Shengming said, standing up.

The dinner was indeed very lavish. There were about ten dishes, including meat and fish. It was quite a feast. While eating, Er Gou raised his glass. "Come on, Zhang Wa. This time, selling the ducks was all thanks to you; it made our whole village a profit. A toast to you!"

"Yes, just by casually raising these big, clumsy ducks, I've brought in a thousand yuan for my family. My wife even praised me for it," the village chief said readily.

"Thank you for your kind offer. At first, I was worried that I would lose money raising them. I didn't expect the price of ducks to soar this year. That's because you dared to raise them. I was just a middleman. It's not worth thanking you for." Zhang Niu said modestly while drinking his Sprite.

"Anyway, you're the one who raised us, so I'm sticking to that principle. Come on, drink up!" Er Gou raised his glass again.

They ate until nine o'clock in the evening before finally finishing their drinks. Zhang Niu sat there mostly listening to them talk about the past, and the village gossip. Zhang Niu couldn't help but sigh. It turned out that even his honest, simple father could talk about such things. It was truly amazing.

Dad had drunk too much; he was staggering and kept insisting he wasn't drunk and could still see. Zhang Niu could only manage a wry smile. What a mess! Luckily, Dad hadn't learned any kung fu, or he'd be in big trouble if he started practicing drunken boxing.

After helping his father home, Zhang Niu received a good scolding from his mother, who reeked of alcohol. It was late, and Zhang Niu didn't go back to Happy Little Abode; he stayed at home instead.

A rooster crowed outside. A fair amount of light was already streaming into the bedside.

After breakfast, Zhang Niu ran to Shengming to borrow a fishing net. The pond at Kaixin Xiaozhu was a bit bigger than Shengming's, and the net, which was originally too short, had to be spliced. They were busy with this simple task until noon. Then they asked Shengming to help carry it upstairs using a tractor. The net weighed over 200 pounds, which wasn't easy for one person to carry.

The road was a bit slippery. The tractor, having exerted all its strength, managed to climb up. Two people carried it into the storeroom using bamboo poles.

"Thank you. Please bring it up."

"No need to thank me. It's not a long way. If there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

I borrowed a fishing net, planning to catch a few fish from the pond where the ducks are raised after these white ducks are sold. Several thousand kilograms shouldn't be a problem. As for the snakehead and forkfish, they're too small for that; they'll be ready next year.

The grass carp and flatfish surfaced several times before we decided to haul them in. The weather has been unpredictable these past few days. The fish in the pond have been surfacing most nights, indicating a lack of oxygen. This prompted Zhang Niu to add a large bag of industrial salt, which finally made them sink back to the bottom.

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