Trying to Build a Chicken Farm

Cao Kang's sports car sped along the highway leading to the outskirts. However, seated in the car were Ye Chui and Lin Wei. In the end, Cao Kang had lent the car to Ye Chui and took a bus home covered in ink... 

It was evident that Cao Kang's restraint was to leave a good impression on Lin Wei. However, Lin Wei clearly didn't think much about it. She was still upset that Cao Kang had frightened Wang Shiyu to tears. Even though it was a bit of an exaggeration for a prank, Cao Kang had managed to scare Wang Shiyu so much that her cries were truly distressing. It was too much, unforgivable! 

"Poor little Shiyu. Ye Chui, can I take Shiyu and An Jing out to play in the future?" Lin Wei, still full of compassion, asked. Learning about Ye Chui's and An Jing's backgrounds made her care deeply for them. 

"Sure, I'm usually too busy with work and rarely have time to accompany them. If you're willing to take them out, I'll be grateful," Ye Chui replied with a smile. However, he secretly thought, 'I didn't expect Shiyu to be so cooperative. Based on her performance today, I must prepare a big meal to treat her!' 

The plan was to go to the chicken farm with Lin Wei by bus, enjoying the scenery along the way. However, driving this sports car had a much more stylish vibe, all thanks to Wang Shiyu. 

Ye Chui was the one driving. It's worth mentioning that in this world, the age for obtaining a driver's license in this country was similar to the Western world in Ye Chui's original world; 16 was the minimum age. 

Of course, Ye Chui didn't have a driver's license, but since it was a road to a chicken farm in the outskirts and there were no checkpoints, he wasn't worried about getting into trouble without a license. As for driving skills, Ye Chui was quite confident in himself. 

Lin Wei was curious about the suburban scenery, eagerly looking outside and speaking with joy in her voice. 

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ye Chui started a conversation, "By the way, you and your family originally lived in Yanjing. Why have you been in Xizhou City recently?" 

"Oh, it's because my mom has been ill recently. She's from Xizhou, and my dad moved the focus of his business to Xizhou City to make her more comfortable," Lin Wei explained with a hint of concern on her face. It seemed her mother's illness was not optimistic. 

"Your dad must love your mom a lot," Ye Chui said with a smile. For someone at Lin Zhengdao's level of business, casually relocating the business would undoubtedly be a big sacrifice. However, he did it just to make his wife more comfortable, earning Ye Chui's admiration. 

"Yeah, my dad really loves my mom." Lin Wei nodded vigorously, her face showing a hint of girlish expectation. "In the future, I want to find a guy who loves me like my dad loves my mom..." 

Upon hearing Lin Wei's words, Ye Chui had to respond. He grinned and said, "You'll definitely find someone like that." 

The remark obviously had a hidden meaning, making Lin Wei blush and quickly look out the window. 

Ye Chui chuckled but didn't continue on this topic. He and Lin Wei had just met, and although he successfully invited her out, they were still just ordinary friends for now. 

At most, there was a mutual attraction. It was better to stop at a certain point for such ambiguous topics. There was plenty of time in the future, right? He changed the subject, "By the way, what illness does your mom have? I know some recipes for nourishing food; maybe I can help her." 

"Hehe." Hearing Ye Chui's words, Lin Wei couldn't help but laugh. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she said to Ye Chui, "Maybe you really can help my mom." 

"Why is that?" Ye Chui asked curiously. 

Lin Wei smiled and said, "I won't tell you for now, let's see how you perform in the future!" 

'See how I perform in the future?' 

Ye Chui was a bit puzzled, not understanding the meaning behind Lin Wei's words. 

The journey that would have taken at least half an hour by bus was shortened to just over ten minutes thanks to the generous loan of Cao Kang's car. 

The chicken farm Ye Chui was visiting was named 'Maple Leaf Mountain Chicken Farm.' Maple Leaf Mountain was a small hill in the outskirts, covered in wild grass. The owner of the chicken farm had leased the entire hill, surrounded it with fences, and allowed the chickens to roam freely. This free-range method was commonly used in chicken farms worldwide. 

Due to certain government incentives for meat production, it wasn't too difficult to lease a small hill like this one. 

Although the chicken farm had direct transportation, there was still a five-minute walk on a rugged path after reaching the station. At this point, Ye Chui was even more grateful for borrowing Cao Kang's luxury car. 

Finally, he parked the car outside the chicken farm. Since he had called ahead, the farm owner, Chen Sitang, was already waiting outside. When he saw Ye Chui and Lin Wei arriving in such a nice car, a smile immediately appeared on his face as he warmly welcomed them. 

"Mr. Ye, welcome to my Maple Leaf Mountain Chicken Farm." Chen Sitang was a lean middle-aged man. When he saw that Ye Chui was just a young man, a hint of surprise appeared on his face. Curiously, he asked, "Mr. Ye, I didn't expect such a young and promising person to come to buy chicken. I wonder how much you'd like to buy?" 

"I just need three chickens," Ye Chui replied as he observed the small hill in front of him. 

"Three chickens?" Chen Sitang was somewhat surprised. Had he traveled all this way just for three chickens? 

Chen Sitang glanced at the luxurious car Ye Chui had driven and then at the excited Lin Wei. His expression became a bit uncomfortable. He initially thought this might be a big customer, but now it seemed like this young man was just here for leisure with his girlfriend. 

Nevertheless, it was still a business deal, so he quickly concealed his displeasure and introduced with a smile, "I have various types of chickens here, including dwarf broilers, Yanjing oil chickens, and Tibetan mountain chickens. What type of chicken meat are you looking for? I'll have someone catch them for you." 

For free-range chickens, they were caught on demand by people going up the mountain. As Chen Sitang explained this, Ye Chui happened to see a group of people carrying cages coming down from the mountain. The cages were filled with lively chickens, and some of the people even had chicken-catching nets. 

One of them seemed to have been scratched by a chicken, with a few blood marks on his face and disheveled hair, looking quite miserable. Witnessing this scene, Ye Chui couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. 

This chicken farm relied on people going up the mountain every day to catch chickens. It seemed like quite a hassle. 

Moreover, there was some obvious danger involved... 

Chen Sitang hurriedly went over to greet the workers who had come down from the mountain, then came back to Ye Chui and said, "Mr. Ye, you've come at the right time. A batch of live chickens ready for slaughter has just been caught from the mountain. Come and choose a few." 

Ye Chui couldn't help but suppress a laugh. After glancing at the somewhat unhappy chicken-catching team, he asked Chen Sitang, "Boss, it seems like your chicken farm is quite troublesome. Do you really have people go up the mountain to catch chickens every day?" 

"That's right." Chen Sitang sighed. "These chicken catchers are specially hired, but unfortunately, it's not an easy job. Besides being tiring, there's a risk of getting scratched by the chickens. No one can handle it for more than two months. Ah, this chicken farm is getting harder and harder to run." 

Ye Chui was a bit puzzled, "Why don't you build chicken coops for farming?" 

Free-range chickens are usually raised for better meat quality, allowing them to drink rainwater when thirsty and eat insects when hungry. The meat becomes more tender and nutritious. However, it seemed that this chicken farm didn't prioritize the quality of chicken meat, making free-range farming unnecessary. 

Shaking his head, Chen Sitang sighed, "Building chicken coops is not that easy. I heard that people used to build coops for raising chickens, but that might be fine for ten or so chickens. However, there are tens of thousands of sheep grazing on this hill of mine. I have no idea how to build chicken coops for such a large number." 

Hearing this, Ye Chui fell into silence. After his rebirth, he hadn't paid much attention to animal husbandry. It seemed like there was a gap in this world when it came to this aspect —due to the vegetarian movement and concerns about animal toxicity, the animal husbandry industry had mostly collapsed. 

Eighty years later, this generation had virtually no experience in animal husbandry, and it would take many years to rebuild. 

However, Ye Chui in his previous life had some knowledge in this area, despite not having managed a farm himself. 

"Maybe I can try building a chicken farm..." Ye Chui looked at the distant Maple Leaf Mountain, deep in thought. 

(A/N: The mentioned chicken breeds, 'dwarf broilers' refer to bantam chickens, 'Yanjing oil chickens' refer to Beijing oil chickens. As for 'Tibetan mountain chickens,' the name is fictional, based on Tibetan chickens, with some modifications. It can be seen as a kind of domesticated wild mountain chicken, suitable for a delicious dish.)