Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 161 - 37: Selling Pigs_1

Chapter 161: Chapter 37: Selling Pigs_1

Woof woof woof...

Three fat little puppies ran amok on Vegetable Garden Island, watching Yan Fei toil with sweat pouring down his back.

Feeding dogs, planting vegetables, chopping wood, building houses.

All the wood chopped on the other islands was already cut to size and only needed to be transported to Vegetable Garden Island. Normally, the wood would need to dry before use, but Yan Fei was too impatient to wait for that.

His requirements were not high. All he wanted was to build a small wooden house that could withstand the wind and rain.

One man could only accomplish so much in one night. After working tirelessly till late into the night, feeling the refreshing sweat on his skin, he went back to the cattle farm to sleep.

He was awoken early the next morning by Ma Chao, who told him: "Quickly, I asked the folks at the Slaughter Pig Station last night. They said they will slaughter our pig today."

"Why are they in such a hurry?" Yan Fei said, following Ma Chao towards the pigsty.

"Just follow me, they’ll be here soon with the equipment. We should tie up the pigs first, and get ready for the weigh-in." Ma Chao advised Yan Fei while walking. "Maybe quite a few meat vendors would come over. One pig might not even be enough! Haha, when I told them last night about how big our pig is, they were very interested and decided right away to come today. The price is even a dime higher than what they usually offer."

"How did you negotiate this? It’s really a dime higher?" Yan Fei became more curious when he saw how mysteriously Ma Chao had arranged this.

"The pigs they usually slaughter are huge, from the countryside. Those big ones are not ideal in this hot weather. If they cannot sell them in one day, they’ll spoil easily. I didn’t have to say much, once they heard the size of our pig, they raised the price themselves."

Ma Chao took pains to explain the details to Yan Fei.

People these days love fatty meats, the richer the better. The pork sold in the small town is usually from local farmers, so their sizes are normally quite large. They refuse to sell anything that hasn’t grown to at least a few hundred pounds and it’s not uncommon to see them measuring four or five hundred pounds.

The pig slaughterers in the town all operate at specified spots like the Slaughter Pig Station. The meat vendors buy from them and sell the meat onwards. They usually buy at least half a pig at a time because everyone wants the most profitable parts and it’s not feasible to split it any further.

This is manageable in winter, as unsold meat can still be stored for a day or two. However, in summer, the unsold pork spoils easily. If they slaughter less, there’s not enough to sell. But pork is a fixed quantity, you can only sell as much as you slaughter. What if you can’t sell it all?

Hence, they have to sub-divide the meat. However, problems arise from this. People don’t eat meat daily, and when they want to, they desire their favourite cuts. Many would rather wait another day to eat than to buy meat they don’t like.

Competition among the same trade can be fierce, as people often have self-interest at heart.

Thus arise issues like ’you got all the good meat today, but I am left with unsold cuts’ or ’my share of meat was insufficient, I ran out of stock to sell.’ These conflicts are impossible to resolve.

So, when the prospect of a smaller pig for sale emerged, how could the people at the Slaughter Pig Station not be thrilled?

Yan Fei was pretty pleased too. Who wouldn’t be glad to earn a bit more off their own products?

He didn’t need any help. He jumped into the pigsty, grabbed a pig and brought it out. He pinned the pig to the ground, and Ma Chao quickly called over Heizi, who had just woken up. They tied up the pig’s feet together.

The moment they finished, the dogs at the cattle farm started barking. This signaled the arrival of the folks from the Slaughter Pig Station.

Yan Fei didn’t need to lift a finger after that. Two men from the Slaughter Pig Station came, accompanied by two or three meat vendors who had nothing else to do and came along to help. They brought a large scale to weigh the pigs on the spot.

This type of scale, which can weigh a fat pig, is almost extinct. In a short time, it would become an antique. The average family does not have one. Only places like the Slaughter Pig Station or junkyards would.

After weighing the first pig, they didn’t have enough meat to divide, so they asked for another pig.

Then came the payment process. The price of pork wasn’t high, it was just over three yuan per catty. Two pigs weighed roughly four hundred pounds, so the total was slightly over a thousand yuan.

The money was not substantial, but Yan Fei didn’t raise pigs expecting to earn much. Initially, he raised pigs because they could eat anything. After keeping them for half a year, he realized that having a few pigs around was quite convenient. Leftovers, dishwashing water, and uneaten fruits and vegetables could all be fed to the pigs.

Considering this, the situation at the cattle farm was pretty great. Nowadays, the pigs are all ordinary domestic pigs with no special breeds. Normally, families cannot raise pigs to reach two hundred pounds in half a year. The pigs at the cattle farm grew this quickly because they were regularly fed, and also due to Yan Fei’s "Bone Powder Secret Recipe."

After sending off the people from the Slaughter Pig Station, Yan Fei fed the cows with everyone else. He compared the cattle-raising records for this period.

Then, he went to the river to catch fish.

Now that he had improved his technique, the fish he caught were mostly unharmed. He could keep them in a basin and kill them when he wanted to eat them.

After catching the fish, he went into the small kitchen and closed the door. He made several trips into and out of Vegetable Garden Island to collect what he needed.

Then, he picked up his book, ran to the wine-selling room, and grinned at Fang Xiaoqing, who lost her concentration while doing her homework because of his presence. He lounged on the worn rattan chair like an old boss, pretentiously beginning to read his book.

Fang Xiaoqing kept throwing him stealthy contemptuous looks when she saw him in that posture. Was he reading a book or pretending? He was so poor at pretending that he couldn’t even hold the book straight!

Since the wheat busy holiday, Lin Yumei’s daughter had visited her uncle’s home once and since then, she didn’t mention about going back. She had been staying at the cattle farm since the holidays.

Originally, Yan Fei did not see eye to eye with her, but he later found that this young girl was undergoing some changes, and she was even somewhat useful, so he became less repulsive towards her.

Actually, this was because lately, while he was not at the cattle farm, Lin Yumei had her daughter doing her summer homework at the cattle farm while also selling wine. Selling wine did not require any skills, so she was the perfect candidate.

For such an unpaid aider like this, Yan Fei, the greedy boss, would not be stingy to give her even a mere smile.

He was quite satisfied, but Fang Xiaoqing was extremely discontented with him. Despite being young, he acted as if he was a big shot!

When someone came to buy wine after a while, Fang Xiaoqing saw that Yan Fei showed no intention of serving the customer. She put down her pen, got up, and served the wine. After the money was received and the customer left, she turned to him and said: "Can’t you serve the wine yourself?"

Yan Fei, who was on the verge of dozing off while hugging the book, lazily opened his eyes: "I have something to do!"

Fang Xiaoqing was so annoyed that she stared at him, but couldn’t do anything to him. Fuming, she sat back down and continued her homework. In her heart, she must have been cursing him. Clearly he was lying around and about to fall asleep, yet he claimed to be preoccupied. He couldn’t even make up a plausible lie!

However, venting her anger was pointless, as this young girl understood one thing. She and her mother depended on Yan Fei’s wages for their food and schooling. Without the cattle farm, they might not even have a place to stay!

Yan Fei wasn’t deliberately bullying this young girl, as he genuinely had something to do. After being busy for most of the day and preparing so many things in the kitchen, he was now eagerly waiting for Xu Xiaoyan!

And whether waiting counts as being busy?’

To him, it was the most important task, as opposed to anything else.