166: Earn money while standing

The entire parking lot in front of the warehouse was overcrowded. The large trucks sent by Wu Gengbiao had almost filled it to capacity.

After unloading their cargo, every truck would be loaded with a full load of plastic waste before departing.

Operating at such full capacity, Ye Tian estimated in his heart that he would likely be able to pay back the loan Wu Gengbiao had lent him in about a month.

Feeling relieved, he returned to the Breeding Farm.

As soon as he entered, he saw that Li Ming was actually there as well.

"Brother Li, why are you here at this time today?"

"Brother, you're here! I was just about to give you a call."

"What's up?"

"The number of chickens we've bought over the last two days has increased quite a bit, so I was wondering if we could produce a bit more feed."

"Increased quite a bit? By how much?"

Ye Tian asked curiously.

"Didn't I tell you the other day that if we brought in all the chickens we'd ordered, it would be about ten thousand? Seeing how promptly we paid, those chicken dealers I work with have been sparing no effort these past two days. They've collected quite a lot more from nearby towns. As of just now, there are already nearly twenty thousand chicks at the Breeding Farm. We also got quite a few geese and ducks; every single one of them has a bottomless pit for a stomach. A truckload of cockroach meat was brought down this morning, and it didn't even last half an hour before it was all snatched up."

Li Ming said, sounding both pained and happy.

"That's a good thing! But bringing in so much stock at once, won't there be problems?"

"I was worried at first because some of the chicks looked like they were on their last legs when they were delivered, but since they were already transported here, I couldn't really say I didn't want them. I thought about penning them up separately to feed them; it wouldn't cost too much anyway. The main thing is that the price for this kind of chicken is only about one-tenth that of a normal one."

"I figured I'd try treating a dead horse as if it were alive, so I transported those chicks separately to the hillside by the unfinished Second Greenhouse. Who knew that as soon as the cockroach meat went in these past two days, those sickly-looking chicks would immediately become full of life."

"That really happened?"

Ye Tian's eyes lit up as if he had realized something.

"Then how many of those chickens are there? Could they be diseased or something?"

"About five thousand or so, but they're all the silkie chicken breed. The other party also stated clearly that these chickens had poor health as chicks due to incubation issues. Actually, this kind of chicken isn't rare on the market. For breeders, there's another name for them: 'gambling chickens.' You're gambling on a low price for a survival rate. Generally, if you can reach about half, it's a massive profit; anything higher, and you're striking it rich."

"As for whether they're diseased, chicken dealers like them wouldn't resort to those kinds of tricks; otherwise, they absolutely wouldn't be able to survive in this industry."

"I see. Is this also the reason why free-range chickens are so scarce?"

"Yeah, free-range chickens aren't like other chickens; their hatching and survival rates are relatively low. Usually, if you raise a few dozen, at most ten or so will be successfully raised to adulthood. So the price of newly hatched chicks isn't high. For these 5,000 chickens of ours, if they were a bit bigger, they'd be at least fifteen to twenty yuan each, but my purchase price was only two yuan, which saved a lot of money right away."

"Of course, money isn't what I'm concerned about. The key is the growth in numbers. If this batch of seedlings can be raised to adulthood, then our future purchases of breeding stock will be much more convenient. We won't have to specifically go out to buy those half-grown chicks that are easy to keep alive, which will save a lot of energy."

"Not bad, not bad. That's for the best. Then let's observe them closely for these two days. If the survival rate is no problem, I'll find a way to produce even more cockroach meat."

Ye Tian nodded, suddenly feeling energized.

However, with Li Ming and the others present, he certainly couldn't let the Termites load the cargo.

He directly began manually processing the cockroach meat.

Before long, a truck was filled, and Ye Tian followed Li Ming to the Chicken Farm.

Having not been here for a few days, the first chicken greenhouse here had already been completed.

Chicken cages were neatly stacked under the greenhouse.

Between the chicken cages, various conveyor belts, drainage pipes, and the like were also neatly arranged.

However, in order to maintain the chickens' activity levels...

During the day, the chickens were free-roaming in the woods. Only at night would they be lured into the cages with cockroach meat to sleep.

At this moment, the woodland outside the greenhouse had been completely fenced off.

Groups of chickens, large and small, were scattered throughout the woods.

The larger ones already weighed four or five pounds, with full plumage that was sleek and glossy.

The smaller ones were only the size of a fist, but they moved like startled rabbits and were very clever.

"Brother, the 5,000 I mentioned are up there. Want to go take a look?"

Li Ming watched Ye Tian's expression as he observed the chickens with a face full of smiles and couldn't help but ask.

"Sure! Brother Li, these chickens are being raised well."

"Haha, brother, whether these chickens are raised well or not really doesn't have much to do with me; it mainly depends on your cockroach meat. Just like I said earlier, I've inquired with breeders of all sizes around Copper City, and not a single one can achieve the survival rate of our Chicken Farm. No matter how great an expert is, there will be losses once they start raising them, let alone on a scale like ours."

"So, aside from the feed, I can't think of any other reason."

Li Ming shook his head with a laugh.

Ye Tian nodded, not disagreeing with this statement.

He followed Li Ming up the mountain.

The workers and mechanical equipment that had been building the Chicken Farm had all moved here.

In the woods halfway up the mountain, the sound of chirping could be heard.

Compared to the larger chickens, these seedlings liked to chirp more.

Ye Tian walked into their midst.

He saw individual chicken seedlings, each smaller than a fist, staying in the clearings among the trees.

Compared to the ones he saw down the mountain, their spirits were indeed a bit poorer, and they didn't like to move much.

But they didn't have that sickly feeling anymore.

"Brother Li, when were these chickens bought?"

"They were delivered yesterday afternoon."

"Then this size... it doesn't seem like they've grown much. Generally, seedlings that just hatched a few days ago look like this, right?"

"Haha, brother, don't compare chicken seedlings with chicks. The seedling stage can be considered the hardest part of raising chickens; they eat little and grow slowly. But chicks are at that age where they're just reaching their prime—they can eat and they can grow. It's just like us humans; isn't there a saying? 'A half-grown boy can eat his father into poverty.' That describes the state of chickens at the chick stage."

Ye Tian thought about it and couldn't help but smile. "That's true. It's mainly because I saw the growth speed of that batch of chickens we used for the experiment, and my perspective hasn't quite shifted yet. So, how long does Brother Li think this seedling stage will last?"

"About a week or so. To go from seedling to chick, and chick to adult—if there's an unlimited supply, four days. If limited, about a week. Then from adult to large chicken, the speed will slow down again."

"Slow down again? How so?"

"The growth speed of those chickens kept behind the restaurant has already started to slow down these past two days. Before, they could grow two or three pounds a day, but these past two days, except for the dongtao chickens, the other chickens only gain a little over a pound no matter how much they eat. However, this growth process is quite stable, so I estimate that if we feed them unlimited cockroach meat, our chickens can all reach the maximum size, around ten pounds or so."

"Is there a difference between an adult chicken and a large chicken?"

Ye Tian asked after calculating for a moment.

"Yes. Haven't you been having me help stew two chickens every day to send to the hospital? I've fished out a few pieces of meat to taste every time I finish stewing. The larger the chicken, the richer and more mellow the fragrance. Especially the two I stewed today at noon; they were both around nine pounds. The soup from one chicken is even more flavorful than soup made from several ordinary chickens. After drinking a bowl, you can clearly feel a sensation of heat in your limbs."

"In other words, the longer they're fed, the higher the nutritional value."

"Yeah, that should be the logic. So I want to try keeping them on this feed to see if there are any new discoveries."

"Sure, and it's good to record it to see when it's most cost-effective to stop feeding."

"Right. Looking at it comprehensively, if we raise them normally, it takes about 21 days from seedling to large chicken. If the supply of cockroach meat is sufficient, it should be possible to accelerate that to half a month."

"Well, put that way, it's not too shocking."

Ye Tian laughed.

"Haha, other people raising chickens hope they grow faster; only we are terrified that they'll grow too fast."

Li Ming couldn't help but laugh as well.

As they spoke, the two of them set down the cockroach meat they had carried up and began tossing handfuls of it in front of the little chickens.

In an instant, the little chickens that had been somewhat dazed just now sprang into action.

They rushed toward the cockroach meat, vying for it.

Flapping their tiny, bud-like wings, they jumped up and down, trying to squeeze their way in.

With his eyes shining as he watched this scene, Ye Tian quickly picked up a box and began scattering it downward.

Following his movements, the little chickens' scramble became even more intense.

There were even some bolder ones that directly followed the waterfall of cockroach meat and jumped straight into the box.

This left Ye Tian somewhat between laughter and tears.

Fortunately, with five thousand seedlings and each only weighing an ounce or two, two boxes of cockroach meat were completely enough for them to share.

The feeding was finished in just a few moments.

Seeing the energy with which the little chickens ate, Ye Tian no longer had the slightest reservation.

"Brother Li, if there are more of these seedlings in the future, we can definitely buy them in large quantities. I believe it won't be long before the amount of cockroach meat on my end can increase several times over."

"Several times? Brother, is your processing plant about to be finished?"

"Still a little while longer, but the sterile cockroaches the old man is in charge of breeding will likely reach scale one step ahead of me. We'll be able to ship in large quantities then too."

"Where is the old man breeding them?"

"Didn't Brother Wu tell you? He helped me secure a Pharmaceutical Factory over on the west side. There are many empty large factory buildings inside. The old man plans to turn them into sterile breeding rooms. When the time comes, for the bait, I might need some feedback from your side."

Li Ming was stunned. "Holy crap, brother, you're amazing. You've quietly started another big business. Compared to you, I've lived half my life in vain. Not bad, not bad. With your momentum, I'm afraid it won't be long before Copper City can't contain you anymore. Haha!"

"Brother Li, don't praise me so much; I'll get a big head."

Ye Tian said with a wry smile.

"Then what did you mean by 'feedback' just now?"

"The old man is doing sterile breeding, so he can't use things like kitchen waste for feeding. That's why I've been thinking lately about how to supply the bait for those cockroaches. As of now, the best way I can think of is self-sufficiency."

"Brother, I still don't quite understand."

"To put it simply, it's using chickens to feed cockroaches."

"Chickens... to feed cockroaches? Brother, isn't that a bit extravagant?"

Li Ming was startled and swallowed hard.

"Haha, of course I don't mean actually using chickens to feed cockroaches. Brother Li, you remember that topic we discussed before, right? How to maintain the high-end position of our chicken meat. At our current growth rate, the output of finished chickens will definitely be explosive. Once too many flow into the market, the price will definitely drop. At that point, it might take selling ten of our chickens to match the value of one when they were rare and expensive."

"That shouldn't be the case, right? Just our Chicken Farm alone couldn't possibly handle the chicken meat for the whole country. As long as it's spread out, it shouldn't cause much of a stir."

"Not right now, of course, but what about the future? When my Cockroach processing plants open in every major city, and when your Chicken Farms open in every major city, what will happen then? So, we must think about the problem of overcapacity right now."

"I see. But using chicken meat to raise cockroaches... no matter how I think about it, it feels painful."

Li Ming said with a bitter smile.

"So, what I'm planning is to use chicken bones and such to raise the cockroaches. We'll set up another slaughterhouse specifically to process the surplus chicken meat for fine processing, which will ensure the safety and timeliness of the bait source."

"Then what about the processed chicken meat? What do we do with it?"

"Give it to people who need it."

"For example?"

"For example, children in mountain areas who can't even get enough to eat, or for example, soldiers."

Ye Tian narrowed his eyes and spoke the words he had long held in his heart.

Li Ming's expression changed. He stared straight at Ye Tian for a good while before swallowing. "Brother, for your vision, I can only say I'm full of admiration."

Ye Tian let out a laugh. "Actually, this has been a wish of mine since I was a child. Coming out of the mountains, I've seen too many children in mountain areas living in misery. Back then, I swore that when I had the ability, I would definitely contribute my humble effort. And soldiers... they are the people I truly feel deserve this chicken meat."

"Good! I support your idea with both hands. Compared to those foreign countries that dump milk into rivers just to stabilize prices, you're putting things where they belong. And for our career, there are only benefits and no drawbacks."

Li Ming took a deep breath, speaking with deep agreement.

"So, in the future, Brother Li, you can just go ahead and raise them boldly. Once this internal cycle is formed, we will never lack cockroach meat, and thus we will never lack chicken meat. We can even use this as a foundation to find more ways to utilize it."

"Right, right, right. Now that you've put it that way, I also feel our previous outlook was too narrow. In this life, if one can earn money while also getting things done, then it's not a life lived in vain."

Li Ming also spoke with a face full of yearning.

After speaking, he seemed to remember something and led Ye Tian down the mountain.

They came to the woods below and walked straight through them.

Ye Tian discovered that at some point, another greenhouse had already been built here by the reservoir.

Of course, this greenhouse was much smaller than the one at the Chicken Farm. However, a section of the water surface outside the greenhouse had been fenced off.

On the rippling surface of the lake, individual little ducklings that only had down feathers growing on them were swimming around.