Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 96 - : 96. Buy fish fry_1
Chapter 96: 96. Buy fish fry_1
There are many elderly people like Old Li in Yunqiao Village.
It’s no exaggeration to say that in a poor mountain village like theirs, with no more than thirty households, about one-third of the people are of Old Li’s age group.
The village didn’t start off with so few people; there once were over two hundred households.
But as times have developed and prices have risen, the mountain village has gradually fallen behind. It’s only lively for a few months around the Spring Festival each year.
That’s because everyone under sixty has gone out to find work.
Even though the work is not easy for those in their fifties and sixties, mainly consisting of rather grueling jobs paying a mere dozen or so yuan per hour, they mostly rely on overtime pay.
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But with elders to care for and children who might just be starting their own families, buying houses and cars, and educating their children, which expense can be avoided?
The children can’t even think about supporting the elderly, given how tough their own lives are.
Working is, after all, a forced means of survival.
That’s why, even though Zu Jun repeatedly assured that agricultural loans are now easier to get approved and come with very low interest rates. If Song Tan is confident, she can definitely apply to the credit union…
Is Song Tan confident? Of course, she’s very confident.
But can she find the necessary manpower?
Not at all.
The situation is the same for miles around. Surely, you can’t expect to shake these elderly people out of every village just to do the farm work, right?
At their age, they might seem fine in daily life, but one careless fall could lead to a serious incident, let alone getting involved in labor recruitment…
Even a fortune wouldn’t cover such expenses!
As for hiring strong young laborers from elsewhere… What would the labor costs amount to?
It’s better to start small and grow gradually, one step at a time, until the village slowly develops and stabilizes. Naturally, young people who don’t want to leave their hometown would start coming back.
That won’t happen overnight.
For this reason, Song Tan, in dealing with the elderly, never brings up money.
Song Sancheng chatted with Old Li about the weather this year and then went up to the higher fields to check if the tilling was done meticulously enough. Had the work ended after making this round?
No.
The excavator roared as it advanced through the barren hills with its blades, requiring people to be specifically assigned to rake the crushed vines, saplings, and branches out of the way.
If left to pile up in the soil, these leaves and branches wouldn’t decompose quickly, which could seriously delay subsequent planting.
Zhang Yanping, wearing a straw hat, stood numbly in the forest, watching the work her uncle’s family had specifically assigned to her out of regard for her situation. Glancing at the rake in her hand, her face was filled with bitterness.
Indeed, as requested, she hadn’t gone to the fields today; instead, she had gone directly up the mountain.
Song Sancheng climbed up the slope, his eyes capturing the expansive view and his body filled with fighting spirit.
Looking further down, there was a pond within their contracted area, with the blue sky reflected and aquatic plants whispering.
The fish in this pond were too slippery, hardly easy to catch!
In an instant, Song Sancheng remembered something and quickly took out his phone:
“Tantan, didn’t we talk about buying some fish fry last time? Don’t forget!”
As it happened, Song Tan was looking over a fishery right then!
This was a fishery in their own city, where local businesses, like this one, relied heavily on reputation. The fishery wasn’t large and mainly stocked common types of fish.
The owner, speaking in the local dialect rapidly and urgently, said:
“Is this your first time raising them? Then you can’t get too many, no more than 1500 per acre! With no experience, any more than that and you won’t be able to manage.”
Another question came up, “How’s the pond? How big and deep is it? And where is it located? Are you planning to farm fish for sale, or just to raise them leisurely in your own pond?”
The owner’s questions were all on point, and even though Song Tan could rely on Spiritual Energy to cheat, it didn’t stop her from wanting to learn from experience, so she answered every question in detail:
“The pond is not too big, about three acres, and nearly three meters deep at its deepest. It’s located in a mountain hollow surrounded by a ring of aquatic plants.”
“The primary purpose is for our own consumption, but I plan to sell any surplus.”
The owner pondered for a moment, “That pond in the mountain hollow probably can’t be drained completely, right? It’ll be troublesome to fish in the winter.”
“There’s no other water source nearby to channel in, and it gets too hot in summer, easy to dry up, and prone to disease.”
Song Tan nodded—if it were really a high-quality fishpond, even in a remote mountain village, it wouldn’t be absurd to expect at least eight hundred to a thousand yuan per acre.
And what’s the price now?
Three hundred.
So why be picky? Consider it a water reserve for the orchard on the mountain. Song Tan decided to lease it: firstly, for convenience, secondly, in her recollection, that pond had never dried up.
That was enough for her.
The owner didn’t bother showing her the lively fish in front of them; instead, he led her to another area where variously sized partitioned boxes held densely packed, freshly hatched fry.
“Since you have no experience, you should start with these: crucian carp, common carp, grass carp, and silver carp. Mix and match them for purchase. Don’t underestimate their common varieties; the grass carp eat aquatic plants, keeping your pond from getting overgrown, which could happen in just a few years.”
“The other three types of fish will help maintain a good water cycle in the pond. It’ll be clean, the fish will be hardy and tasty, and less prone to disease.”
“Aren’t you planning to eat the fish yourself? I’m guessing the pond hasn’t been cleaned out, so there should be some big fish remaining. That’ll be enough for a while. Just buy these fry for now.”
Fry?
The owner burst into laughter, “Just as I thought, you’ve never farmed fish before. We aquaculturists call these newly hatched little ones ‘fry’.”
“If you think it’s a good fit, I’ll pick a good mix for you. For a three-acre fish pond, accounting for loss, you should buy about five thousand fry, give or take.”
Song Tan nodded: a little more or less, she could manage to raise them, so the quantity wasn’t a big issue.
But she had done her homework beforehand; everything the owner said was truthful, which made her willing to listen to his experience.
“How much?”
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The owner, looking utterly unenthusiastic, said, “Let’s make it thirty.”
Song Tan: …
Ah, so the price of fry is that low.
The owner pointed to another set of fry, “These two-centimeter ones have a different price, fifty cents each. The bigger they are, the more expensive. It depends on what you want to raise!”
Was there even a choice to make?
“I’ll take the fry! Add another 8000, because we have a larger fish pond at home with better terrain and drainage.”
“Alright!” The owner seemed pleased too, “I see that you’re a straightforward person; I won’t charge you extra, let’s make it seventy-five.”
Song Tan chuckled to herself; being ‘straightforward’ apparently only brought a three yuan discount.
But for a total of thirteen thousand fry at seventy-five yuan, what more could she ask for!
She handed over the money promptly, then saw the owner begrudgingly provide a couple of plastic bags instead of styrofoam boxes:
“This bag has the eight thousand fry, and this one has five thousand. Rest assured, there might be extras but never a shortage! If you don’t trust me, feel free to count them when you have the time at home.”
“If there’s even one less, I’ll compensate you with a hundred.”
Song Tan laughed out loud, “Uncle, that won’t be necessary!”
