Chapter 359: The Pioneer of Chicken Raising

“Guohuai, how many spots do you think would be appropriate?”

If there were too many, it wouldn’t be suitable. The people working on the canal construction were already close to the limit—if they suddenly added a bunch more, it wouldn’t be ideal.

“Twenty people should be reasonable,” Lin Guohuai replied.

Director Huang nodded as well. Twenty people were still within the acceptable range.

Then someone was told to prepare a silk banner. There were plenty of such banners in storage at the commune, so it didn’t take long before one was ready.

Zhou Daming was leading a group preparing to head into the mountains to catch wild rabbits when he happened to spot Zhou Yimin. He called out, “Sixteenth Uncle, we’re going into the mountains to catch wild rabbits—want to join us?”

As soon as Zhou Yimin heard that, his interest was piqued. Though he’d eaten his fair share of rabbit meat, it was his first time going out to hunt them himself.

“I’ll go. Are we heading out now?”

“Yeah! Look, we’ve already got everything ready,” Zhou Daming replied.

Zhou Yimin took a look and saw that their preparations were indeed thorough—animal traps, cages, even guns. If they ran into any larger wild animals, they’d be able to shoot them for an extra meal.

Soon, Zhou Yimin followed the group into the mountains.

The old village secretary saw them heading out and knew there was no stopping Zhou Yimin, so he said, “Be sure to stay safe!”

It might be winter, and most large wild animals should be hibernating, but there were always exceptions.

“Don’t worry, Old Secretary. With us here, we’ll definitely keep Uncle Sixteen safe!” Zhou Daming patted his chest in assurance.

“Alright, go on then!”

And with that, the group headed into the mountains in high spirits.

“Daming, want me to help carry some of the stuff?”

“No need, Uncle Sixteen! It’s not that much—we’ve got it covered,” Zhou Daming replied quickly.

Zhou Yimin didn’t push it. Judging by how they were acting, no matter what he said, they wouldn’t let him carry anything.

Feathery snowflakes drifted through the air, covering the ground in a blanket of white. The biting north wind cut through to the bone. Even though the group kept walking, their feet were numb with cold. The wheat seedlings in the fields had turned to icicles, snapping if brushed even slightly.

The snow was deep, and the vast open fields had become a sea of white. In places, the snow reached above their knees, making it hard to walk.

Thankfully, only a place like Zhoujiazhuang could afford to go hunting in such weather. Any other village wouldn’t have sent people into the mountains. The cold consumed a lot of energy, and hunting only added to the exhaustion. If they managed to catch something, that was fine—but if they didn’t, they’d need a lot of food just to recover the energy spent.

Zhou Yimin felt cold and found walking difficult, but standing in the middle of the vast snowfield filled him with joy. Thankfully, he’d built up more “resistance” to the snow lately. Otherwise, he might’ve just flopped down in the snow and started rolling around like a happy kid.

Soon, someone spotted rabbit tracks in the snow and shouted excitedly, “I see rabbit tracks!”

They followed the footprints toward the rabbit’s den, hoping to catch them all in one go.

Unfortunately, their luck wasn’t that great. They soon reached the end of the trail.

Zhou Daming reached into the hole to check, but there was nothing left inside. The rabbit had already escaped.

“No rabbit in there.”

Everyone was a little disappointed.

Zhou Yimin said encouragingly, “It’s just the beginning. I’m sure we’ll catch some wild rabbits.”

Sure enough, after Zhou Yimin’s pep talk, their spirits lifted again, and they continued deeper into the mountains.

Meanwhile, Director Huang arrived at Zhoujiazhuang with Lin Guohuai.

At the village entrance, the security team saw a tractor heading their way. When they spotted Lin Guohuai, whom they recognized, they let it pass.

“Technician Lin, here to see the old secretary again?”

“Yes,” Lin Guohuai replied.

Hearing that, another man ran off into the village to find the old secretary.

Soon, he found the old secretary and explained the situation.

When the old secretary heard that a tractor had come, he figured it must be commune officials. Not wanting to be rude, he quickly headed to the village entrance.

There he saw Lin Guohuai standing beside a middle-aged man wearing a military overcoat. The buttons were undone, revealing the Zhongshan suit underneath.

The old secretary immediately recognized him—it was none other than Director Huang from the commune. He hurried over. “Director Huang, you should’ve let us know in advance. I would’ve prepared a proper welcome for you.”

“Secretary Zhou, no need for all that formality. That’s not how things are done these days.”

“I’m here today to thank your village for your contributions. We’ve brought you a silk banner, and also—do you know if Zhou Yimin is around?”

This visit was partly to build a closer relationship with Zhou Yimin. After all, such a capable person had come from his jurisdiction.

“Director Huang, you’re just a bit unlucky today. Yimin just headed into the mountains with some villagers to catch wild rabbits. No idea when he’ll be back,” the old secretary explained hurriedly.

If they’d been notified earlier, they could’ve stopped him before he left.

Director Huang was a little disappointed to hear this. It was such a coincidence that Zhou Yimin had gone into the mountains just now. But he didn’t have the time to wait around.

“Well, this banner is for your village. Also, the commune is building a water canal—see if you can send twenty more people to help.”

He gave a subtle signal, and Lin Guohuai quickly retrieved the banner from the tractor.

Director Huang took it and, with a serious expression, handed it to the old secretary.

The old secretary saw the words “Pioneer of Chicken Raising” written in bold on the banner and was overcome with emotion.

This was a silk banner—not something you could get easily. In these times when reputation meant everything, it was a rare and precious thing. And it had come from a superior official, no less.

But when he heard about the water canal construction needing twenty more people, he began to frown internally. The village already had its hands full—where were they going to find more people to help?

If this had happened in the past, he would’ve been thrilled. But now the village wasn’t short on food. It made more sense to keep more people back to help locally.

Besides, the village’s meals were even better than the commune’s—something they’d heard from the folks over in Shuangtian Village.

So their villagers had even less desire to go.

Still, they couldn’t refuse. This was a reward from the leadership. And the village couldn’t stand out too much either—otherwise, other villages might start coming around to borrow food, and that would be a headache.

“Thank you very much,” the old secretary said, putting on an expression of sincere gratitude.

Seeing the old secretary’s grateful face, Director Huang was very satisfied. Sometimes, it really wasn’t a bad thing to listen to his nephew’s advice.

“No need to thank me—you’ve earned it.”

Then the old secretary took Director Huang to tour the chick incubator room. It was just as his notes had described.

(End of Chapter)