Chapter 357: Lin Guohuai Gains Some Insight

At this time, Zhou Yimin returned to the village with the huge sum of money he earned from selling chickens.

He first went to find the old Party secretary. From a distance, he saw the old secretary accompanying a young man the entire time. Judging by the scene, the visitor didn’t seem like an ordinary person—otherwise, the old secretary wouldn’t be tagging along in person.

He quickly went up to greet him, “Old Secretary.”

When the old Party secretary saw Zhou Yimin, he warmly said, “Yimin, this is Lin Guohuai, a livestock technician from the commune.”

Lin Guohuai had also heard of Zhou Yimin’s reputation. “Hello, Comrade Zhou!”

“Hello, Technician Lin!”

The two exchanged brief greetings. Over the past couple of days, Lin Guohuai had been observing and found that the chicken-raising methods in Zhoujiazhuang Village were slightly different from those in other villages, though not by much.

It shouldn’t have made such a huge difference. However, they did have a chick incubator room, and that alone could be a decent explanation. If necessary, he could simply attribute the high success rate to the incubator room.

Starting from the eggs, the villagers would pick out those with poor appearance or other issues, ensuring that only healthy chicks were hatched.

The villagers of Zhoujiazhuang knew the true reason but would never share it with outsiders.

The three chatted for a while—though, in truth, it was mostly Zhou Yimin and Lin Guohuai talking, while the old secretary didn’t really get a word in. They were discussing things like the reason for inventing the chick incubator room.

Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was already past five in the afternoon.

Zhou Yimin extended an invitation, “Brother Lin, why don’t you join us for dinner at my place tonight?”

“Maybe next time. I still have to rush back to report to the leadership,” Lin Guohuai declined directly—not because he actually needed to report, but because he hadn’t brought any food with him. If he ate someone else’s food, someone else would go hungry, and he didn’t want that. His family wasn’t lacking in food, so there was no need to trouble others.

If he had known what kind of meals Zhou Yimin’s household had, he might’ve regretted it.

Lin Guohuai took his leave and rode his bicycle toward the city. By the time he got back to the commune, everyone would already be off work, so he figured he might as well go home. He planned to head back the next day and report to his uncle.

By then, they could promote the chick incubator room. It would count as a major achievement—it had massively increased the chick hatch rate.

Once Lin Guohuai was out of sight, Zhou Yimin finally took out the money from selling the chickens and handed it to the old secretary.

“This money is from selling the chickens—1,500 yuan in total. Please count it, Old Secretary.”

The old secretary trusted Zhou Yimin and didn’t want to count it at first, but Zhou Yimin said, “Even blood brothers keep clear accounts. If a villager happens to see it, and rumors start flying, it wouldn’t be good.”

The old secretary felt that made sense, so he counted the 1,500 yuan in front of Zhou Yimin.

It was all in large-denomination black ten-yuan bills, so it wasn’t hard to count. He counted twice just to be safe, in case he made a mistake the first time.

“Alright, the amount is correct.”

Zhou Yimin nodded, “Good, as long as it’s right. Then, Old Secretary, I’ll head home.”

If he didn’t get back soon, and Grandma started cooking, he might end up with nothing to eat.

When Zhou Yimin got home, he saw that Grandma had just started making dinner.

The old man saw him and shouted, “Wife, put in some extra rice, Yimin’s back.”

When she heard her precious grandson was back, Grandma quickly came to check. Confirming it was really Zhou Yimin, she immediately added more rice to the pot, afraid he might go hungry.

The old man asked, “Yimin, why didn’t you come back earlier? Any later, and we’d have already finished cooking.”

Normally, when Zhou Yimin came back for a meal, he would’ve returned earlier. Today was cutting it close.

“I came back early today. I was giving the chicken money to the old secretary and saw someone from the commune, so we ended up chatting for a while.”

The old man nodded. He’d heard that someone from the commune had come, though he hadn’t seen them himself.

As grandfather and grandson chatted, Grandma finished cooking.

The two of them quickly helped bring the food to the table.

The old man eagerly took out his liquor. “Wife, since Yimin is back today, can I drink a bit more?”

“It’s been so long since I drank with Yimin.”

“Grandpa, we just drank together a few days ago,” Zhou Yimin exposed him without hesitation.

Grandma wasn’t easy to fool either. “Exactly, Yimin’s right.”

“This time you tried to trick me—no liquor for you today. If you try again, I’ll ban you from drinking for more than just one day.”

With that, she snatched the liquor right out of his hand and placed it beside her.

The old man looked at his now-empty hand in despair and could only turn his gaze to Zhou Yimin for help.

But Zhou Yimin supported Grandma on this. Alcohol should be consumed in moderation. He shot his grandpa a helpless look, indicating he wouldn’t help.

Then they all started eating. The old man, seeing there was no hope, channeled his frustration into his appetite and ended up eating an extra bowl of rice compared to usual.

After a good night’s sleep, it was already the next day. The first thing Zhou Yimin did upon waking up was check the shop. He immediately bought 100 jin of peanut oil, 100 jin of Wuchang rice, 100 bolts of fabric, and 100 jin of pork.

While Zhou Yimin and his grandparents were eating breakfast, the old secretary arrived with Zhou Zhiming.

Seeing they were eating, the old secretary wanted to leave, but Zhou Yimin stopped him. “Old Secretary, you brought Zhiming here—was there something you needed?”

“Yimin, didn’t you mention before that vegetables can be grown in a greenhouse? I wanted to ask how that works,” the old secretary explained the purpose of his visit.

“Have you both had breakfast?”

“We have,” both the old secretary and Zhou Zhiming replied.

Not wanting to keep them waiting, Zhou Yimin quickly finished a little breakfast and went out with them.

Soon, the three arrived at the riverside, where a greenhouse had already been set up.

When they walked in, it was noticeably warmer inside. No wonder the kids liked playing in there—the space was big and cozier than outside.

“Yimin, how do we grow vegetables in this greenhouse?” the old secretary asked directly.

It was still too cold outside to grow vegetables. Leaving the greenhouse empty would be a waste. Better to make use of it and bring in some extra income for the village.

Zhou Yimin felt around. “The temperature here isn’t high enough. Looks like we’ll need to install some heating equipment.”

Both the old secretary and Zhou Zhiming thought the temperature felt fine, but since Zhou Yimin said so, it must still be lacking.

“Yimin, how do we install this heating equipment?” Zhou Zhiming asked.

Just hearing the name “heating equipment” made it sound expensive. If it really cost that much, they weren’t sure if the village could afford it!

(End of Chapter)