Chapter 141: The Market Teaches You a Lesson

Following Niu Guangming’s advice, Cao Shujie ordered enough strawberry seedlings to plant 20 mu of land, based on a planting density of 8,000 seedlings per mu.

At 0.6 yuan per seedling, this alone cost him 96,000 yuan.

Cao Shujie paid Niu Guangming a 20,000 yuan deposit upfront. After signing the agreement, Niu Guangming took responsibility for delivering the seedlings in batches to Cao Family Village.

Cao Shujie then hired 16 villagers to help plant the strawberry seedlings.

With 16 people planting at a maximum rate of 4 mu per day, it would take five full days to finish planting all 20 mu. And that was just the beginning—there was still mulching and other follow-up work to be done.

When Niu Guangming saw that next to Cao Shujie’s orchard there was a livestock area with 50 cows roaming freely, and a separate section where fully decomposed cow manure was being stored, he was thoroughly impressed.

This kind of self-sustaining cycle was simply genius.

It took the 16 workers a full week to finish planting all the strawberry seedlings across the 20 mu and complete the rest of the related tasks.

During this time, Cao Shujie also contacted Chen Lei to expedite the installation of an integrated sprinkler and drip irrigation system. Because the land had already been prepared for strawberry cultivation, the groundwork was done, making the installation even easier.

The infrastructure had already been laid in the earlier phase. All that was needed now was to connect the pipes to the nearby pressure pump to divert water to this section. This made the construction simpler and less costly, with the irrigation system costing less than 4,000 yuan per mu.

Adding up labor, seedling costs, and other hidden expenses, the total investment per mu for planting strawberries exceeded 8,000 yuan.

And that was only part of the picture. For example, using decomposed cow manure as base fertilizer didn’t cost anything extra, saving Cao Shujie around 500 yuan per mu.

As mid-October gave way to late October and temperatures began to drop, Cao Shujie didn’t take a break after finishing the strawberry planting. During the day, he worked in the orchard on the mountain alongside his father, Cao Jianguo, and Cao Shuchao.

At night, after spending time playing with Mengmeng, he would settle down and read a large number of books on agriculture and livestock farming. He wasn’t just reinforcing what he had already learned—he was actively absorbing new knowledge.

The people of Cao Family Village could see the results of Cao Shujie’s efforts, but they had no idea how much work he was putting in behind the scenes.

Still, after this round of strawberry planting, many villagers became aware that there was now a full-time worker named Cao Shuchao working in Cao Shujie’s orchard.

When this news got out, some people even wanted to follow suit and apply for a job there. But whenever someone came to inquire, Cao Jianguo would quietly tell his son that these folks were all talk and no work—lazy freeloaders who would only cause trouble if hired.

So Cao Shujie ended up closing recruitment for the time being, claiming the orchard didn’t need more hands.

What he really needed wasn’t just extra bodies, but someone with actual technical skills.

As for the villagers, hearing that Cao Shujie had invested another hundred thousand-plus yuan into strawberry farming barely raised an eyebrow anymore. Compared to the rumors of him investing hundreds of thousands—or even over a million—this was nothing new. They were no longer surprised. Still, in private conversations, many couldn’t help but worry: with such a huge investment, could he really make it back?

While Cao Shujie was thriving, things weren’t going so well for Cao Jianhua.

Back in September, he had gone to the Yiling Rural Commercial Bank’s Qingshi Town branch to apply for an interest-free loan from Ma Changrong. Based on his overall repayment ability, the bank approved a 360,000 yuan interest-free loan—the same type of loan Cao Shujie had received. He would pay interest monthly, and then repay the principal in full after three years. At that point, the bank would refund all the interest he had paid over the three years.

Supporting rural economic development was a major initiative for the Rural Commercial Bank, so the loan approval and disbursement process was swift.

Once he had the money, Cao Jianhua immediately bought piglets to raise. His plan was to fatten them up first, then consider infrastructure improvements once he had more cash in hand.

But this year, piglet prices were high. In September, the price per kilogram was 45.8 yuan.

The piglets he bought weighed an average of 13 kilograms, which meant each one cost about 600 yuan.

Cao Jianhua wasn’t too worried about the price. It was roughly the same across the country. Plus, pork prices in September weren’t low either, having risen to about 14 yuan per jin.

His thinking was simple: even though the upfront investment was high, pork prices might keep rising. If that happened, he’d make even more money.

So he gritted his teeth and bought 300 piglets in one go, using up half of his loan right there. He didn’t splurge with the rest either, spending it only on feed like corn and soybean meal.

Every day, he watched the 300 piglets running around, growing bigger and fatter on the mountain land he had leased. The sight filled him with joy. He imagined that in three or four months, they’d each weigh around 200 jin, ready for market. He planned to sell them just before the Spring Festival, when prices were high, and make a big profit.

If he had more money, he would’ve bought even more piglets.

Then he could go home and show off in front of his wife, proving he had what it took.

He also wanted to set an example for his son, showing that his old man was the real deal and making his son, Cao Shuming, proud.

In a few years, he could buy a house for his son’s wedding—no need for loans, just pay in full.

Cao Jianhua had it all planned out, and he was full of motivation.

Since he couldn’t handle feeding all the pigs alone, he copied Cao Shujie’s method and hired two workers at 35 yuan per day. It was dirty and tiring work, and they had to endure the stench of pig manure, but otherwise, it was manageable.

What he didn’t expect was how fast the market could change.

In September, piglet prices were still at 45.8 yuan per kilogram. But by October, prices had plummeted, dropping sharply to 36 yuan—and even that price wasn’t stable. It looked like it might fall even further.

When Cao Jianhua heard the news, he was completely stunned.

In just a month, the batch of piglets Cao Jianhua had bought was losing him over 9 yuan per kilogram. That meant an average loss of around 110 yuan per pig. With 300 piglets, he had already lost a total of 35,000 yuan in less than a month.

And that wasn’t even counting the cost of feed and labor. Once those were added in, the losses were even more staggering.

Cao Jianhua was completely thrown into panic.

And this was only the beginning. As the supply of pigs entering the market kept increasing on a massive scale, the earlier rise in pork prices had already slowed down consumer demand. Instead of prices continuing to climb, they plummeted. The prices of both live pigs and piglets dropped sharply, so much so that it left breeders trembling with fear.

During that time, Cao Jianhua’s emotions went from the euphoria of taking out a loan to buy piglets, to the chaos and anxiety of watching prices fall. In less than two months, he felt like he’d experienced the highest highs and lowest lows of his life.

All those grand ideas he had—buying a house outright for his son’s wedding, showing off in front of his wife—were gone. Now, all he could think about was the argument waiting for him when he got home.

His wife, Gao Hong, wasn’t stupid. When Cao Jianhua’s loan was approved and he started buying piglets, she had been excited too. She thought maybe their family was finally on the verge of a big change.

But no one had expected the market to shift so fast, catching everyone off guard.

At first, when the wholesale price of pork in their supermarket dropped from 12 yuan per jin to 11, Gao Hong didn’t think much of it. But when it kept falling to 10 yuan per jin, she realized something was wrong.

As pork prices fell, so did the prices of piglets and live pigs. From that point on, Gao Hong couldn’t even force a smile.

In just over a month, they had lost more than 30,000 yuan.

Even though they ran a general supermarket, they couldn’t absorb that kind of loss.

But it wasn’t over. By late October, Cao Jianhua had been constantly asking around about piglet and pig prices. The latest quote he heard from others was just over 32 yuan per kilogram for piglets—another drop of 4 yuan.

Cao Jianhua was nearly in tears.

And to make things worse, the most unreliable person in Cao Family Village, Cao Shujie, had started growing strawberries. He had built a pigsty but never raised pigs in it. Instead, he kept raising cattle, and the market price for cattle had remained stable. Not only had it not dropped, it had even gone up slightly.

It was enough to make him cough up blood.

That morning, Cao Jianhua put on a dull gray jacket and rode his motorcycle to the pig farm on the southern mountain.

Unlike Cao Shujie’s place, Cao Jianhua didn’t have money to build a road. When he reached the base of the mountain, he had to leave his motorcycle there and hike up a rough, uneven trail—not too steep, but definitely not easy to walk.

Inside the wire mesh fence, over 300 white pigs were snorting and running around. The two workers he’d hired were inside, dutifully feeding them.

Looking at those pigs made Cao Jianhua’s heart bleed. But there was nothing he could do. Even if he was losing money, he had to keep feeding them. He had to raise them until they reached market weight, then sell them off as quickly as possible. That was the only hope of making any money back.

Now, he was pinning all his hopes on the upcoming Spring Festival. He was counting on the seasonal demand for pork to drive prices back up.

He had calmed down a lot. He wasn’t even hoping to make a profit anymore. If he could just break even, that would be good enough.

The brutal swings of the market had completely beaten him down. Looking back now, he finally understood what Cao Shujie had tried to tell him during their earlier conversation.

The difficulty of raising pigs wasn’t just about disease and illness.

The real problem was the market.

He had only himself to blame for not understanding, for not listening to what Cao Shujie had said. He had no idea the market could be this ruthless.

When the two workers inside saw him arrive, they paused their work and looked up to greet him.

“Jianhua, how’s it going? Are pig prices starting to go back up?”

The other chimed in, “Yeah, prices can’t just keep falling forever, right? That wouldn’t make sense.”

“Jianhua, I figure by New Year’s, once you sell all these pigs, you’ll make a good profit.”

He didn’t say it out loud, but he was hoping for a little bonus when that time came.

But the moment Cao Jianhua heard the word “profit,” the frustration he’d been holding back surged up again. He snapped, “Don’t talk nonsense. Get back to work. I’ve lost a fortune.”

“…”

The two workers looked at his furious face and fell silent. They lowered their heads and got back to work.

From his attitude alone, they could tell the truth: pork prices hadn’t improved. If anything, they’d probably gotten worse.

“Damn it, he’s the one who failed, and now he’s taking it out on us. Look at Shujie, he’s doing just fine.”

“Jianjun, you’d better shut up if you still want to get paid.”

“Damn, making money like this is just suffocating.”

But reality was reality. They had no choice but to keep working.

After making a round through the farm, Cao Jianhua joined in mixing feed. The more work he did himself, the fewer people he had to hire. Over time, that would save a decent amount of money.

Another day passed in the blink of an eye. As the moon rose into the sky, Cao Jianhua, along with Cao Jianjun and Cao Shuai, finished spreading the last round of feed. After cleaning the pig manure off their hands and rubber boots, they left the farm and headed home.

Anyone who passed them on the road could smell the stench from a distance. Luckily, Cao Jianhua was on his motorcycle and had no interest in stopping to chat with anyone.

When he got home and was about to push his motorcycle through the gate, he suddenly spotted three familiar figures. He stopped the bike and stood there waiting.

A moment later, he called out to the people approaching from the north. “Brother Jianguo, Shujie, busy today?”

Sure enough, it was Cao Shujie, his father Cao Jianguo, and Cao Shuchao. They had just finished their own work and were heading home for dinner.

Hearing Cao Jianhua call out, Cao Jianguo smiled and greeted him. “Brother Jianhua, how have things been lately?”

It was a perfectly normal greeting. Cao Jianhua knew there was no hidden meaning, so he didn’t take offense. He just shook his head with a bitter face. “Brother Jianguo, it’s really tough out there.”

“Oh?” Cao Jianguo stopped and looked at him.

Cao Jianhua wasn’t afraid of being laughed at. He told them all about the current pork market and sighed deeply. “I never expected things to change this much in just over a month.”

“Uncle Hua, that’s completely normal. Pork prices go through cycles,” Cao Shujie said. He clearly remembered times when pork was cheaper than vegetables, and other times when it was as expensive as beef.

There was no predicting it. Unless you had control over market pricing, there was no point worrying over a few thousand yuan here or there.

After two months in the business, Cao Jianhua had come to understand that too. He turned to Cao Shujie and asked, “Shujie, do you think pork prices will go up around New Year’s?”

He probably already had an answer in mind, but he still wanted someone to give him a little reassurance.

Cao Shujie hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “Uncle Hua, I can’t say for sure, but during the New Year period, every household buys pork. The demand is high, so logically, the price should go up.”

“Ah, you’re thinking the same as I am.” The expression on Cao Jianhua’s face visibly relaxed.

He said, “Shujie, when you have some free time, let me treat you to a drink. Just the two of us, we can sit down and have a good chat.”

(End of chapter)