Chapter 66: Hatching Little Chicks

  Wang Dapao and Zhao Quan were the left and right arms of Xiao Ping's farm management, and he had always attached great importance to their opinions. Seeing that the two men were so serious about talking to him, Xiao Ping certainly didn't dare to neglect them, and hurriedly said seriously: "Whatever it is, just say it, I'm also an outsider in running a farm, we'll discuss any problems together."

  With the boss's words, Wang Dapao and Zhao Quan felt at ease. Zhao Quan also put down his mind and said: "Boss, we are worried about those green egg chickens. All the hens are almost one year old, and there is not much time left for us."

  Don't look at Zhao Quan's worried appearance, but Xiao Ping didn't understand his meaning at all and foolishly asked back: "What's the big deal if the hen is almost one year old?"

  Zhao Quan was asked by Xiao Ping to the point of being speechless, and only then did he remember that his boss was a city person who didn't understand anything about raising chickens. He quickly calmed down and explained to Xiao Ping: "Generally, mother hens start laying eggs from half a year old, and the first year is the period with the highest egg production. Two-year-old mother hens can still lay eggs, but the quantity is much less than before..."

  Xiao Ping was a clever person and immediately understood Zhao Quan's meaning, and responded: "So the laying hens on the farm will soon pass their peak egg production period, right?"

  "That's exactly what I mean." Zhao Quan immediately nodded and said: "We should prepare in advance and start hatching chicks."

  Xiao Ping replied bluntly: "Alright, let's do it this way!"

  Xiao Ping readily agreed, but Wang Dapao couldn't help but laugh and say: "Boss, our chicken farm is still missing an incubator. Without that machine, we can't hatch the chicks!"

  Wang Dapao's words suddenly enlightened Xiao Ping, and he realized that he and Zhao Quan were going to add equipment to the farm themselves. No wonder Xiao Ping reacted slowly, as a city dweller, his understanding of hatching chicks was still stuck on mother hens laying eggs, and he had no idea that modern chicken farms used incubators to hatch eggs. After all, a batch of eggs is several thousand or even tens of thousands, how many chickens would they need to raise if they relied solely on mother hens?

  Xiao Ping immediately agreed: "This is not difficult to handle, Old Zhao used to run a chicken farm and he's most familiar with this aspect. Tomorrow we'll go buy the incubator and get this thing done as soon as possible."

  Seeing the boss so readily adopt his suggestion, Wang Dapao and Zhao Quan were both delighted. They chatted with Xiao Ping for a while about recent events on the farm before taking their leave.

  "Old Wang, wait a minute, I have something to say to you." Seeing that both of them were about to leave, Xiao Ping called out to Wang Dapao.

  Zhao Quan is a pretty perceptive person, knowing that the boss wants to find Wang Dapao alone, and immediately finds an excuse to leave. On the contrary, Wang Dapao, who has a straightforward temper, still doesn't understand what's going on, and looks at Xiao Ping in confusion, saying: "What's the hurry, boss? Can't it wait till tomorrow? I still need to go home and cook!"

  Xiao Ping was used to Wang Dapao's dullness in this regard, and he didn't say much. He directly stuffed a bulging envelope into the other person's hand.

  "What's this?" Wang Dapao asked curiously, holding the envelope.

  "Money!" Xiao Ping said calmly: "Fifty thousand yuan is your reward for helping to refine the Iron Skin Maple Fist."

  As soon as Xiao Ping reported the number, Wang Dapao was startled and hastily returned the envelope to Xiao Ping, stuttering: "Th...this much money, boss, I really can't accept it!"

  Xiao Ping smiled slightly and pressed down Wang Dapao's hands, putting the envelope into his pocket. Although Wang Dapao was used to working in the fields and had a lot of strength, he couldn't struggle free from Xiao Ping's light grasp, watching helplessly as he put the envelope into his own pocket.

  "Boss, this can't be right!" Wang Dapao said straightforwardly, shaking his head repeatedly: "You originally paid me my salary for working on the farm, it's my duty to work for the farm, how can I also ask you for money?"

  Xiao Ping said sincerely: "Old Wang, the salary is just the standard for ordinary workers. For someone with a good skill like you, of course, there should be special treatment. This is the rule I set for the farm, whoever contributes more gets more, if you refuse again it's like you're looking down on me!"

  Xiao Ping's words were also realistic. He had asked Luo Min, the manager of Tongrentang, and knew that if they sold fresh Tiepi Shihu directly, the price would have to be reduced by at least 30%. In other words, if Wang Dapao hadn't helped out, Xiao Ping would have made at least one million less, so he thought it was only natural to give Wang Dapao a reward of several tens of thousands.

  Since Xiao Ping has said so, Wang Dapao no longer declined. He pressed the pocket with the envelope firmly, and the thick feeling from his palm made him feel at ease. Meeting such a boss also made Wang Dapao very happy, he solemnly thanked Xiao Ping and secretly decided that as long as the farm was open for one day, he would work here for one day.

  Watching Wang Dapao walk away with a grateful face, Xiao Ping couldn't help but indulge in self-admiration: "From the beginning, I left capable old Wang at the farm, which shows that my judgment of people is still pretty accurate, haha!"

  It has to be said that Xiao Ping indeed had some insight, and it was most appropriate to let Zhao Quan handle the purchase of the incubator. The next day, the two went to a farm tool factory, where Zhao Quan took the initiative to haggle with the other party, and successfully bought an incubator worth over 20,000 yuan for 16,000 yuan.

  This incubator is computer-controlled for temperature and humidity, and also has an automatic egg-turning function. If it's used to hatch chicken eggs, it can produce up to 15,000 chicks at a time, which is sufficient for the current stage of the farm. Xiao Ping paid the deposit with satisfaction, and the other party delivered and installed the machine within five days, which made both parties very satisfied.

  After booking the incubator, Zhao Quan returned to the farm and started getting busy. He selected dozens of hens, mixed them with roosters in a certain proportion, and raised them together. As a result, these hens would lay fertilized eggs, and when the number of eggs reached a certain level, they could be sent to the incubator for hatching.

  Zhao Quan had originally planned to hatch a thousand or so chicks for the first time, but Xiao Ping told him that five hundred would be enough. Although the peak egg-laying period of ordinary hens is indeed only one year, Xiao Ping felt that these hens that had drunk the spiritual liquid should not be eliminated so quickly, so he still decided to hatch fewer chicks, lest the chicken farm face a space crisis in the future.

  Xiao Ping would not tell Zhao Quan the real reason, but only said that it was because they had just started raising green egg chickens and were still focusing on stability, so they shouldn't expand too quickly. Anyway, Xiao Ping was the boss, and since he said so, Zhao Quan didn't think much about it and just followed his instructions.

  While Zhao Quan was busy hatching chicks, Xiao Ping wasn't idle either. There were many things waiting for him to deal with on the farm.

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  Thank you for the two rewards from book friend "Red Moon Crescent".