"How did it go, head of the household?"
Wang Kaihui stepped forward and asked somewhat excitedly.
"Sold for seven yuan."
Zhang Fusheng said with a face full of pride.
"Nobody in the family should talk about this outside. They want to buy more—as much as we can provide. Clear out the east room too. Next time I'll take seventy jin over. The city folks really like them and want as many as we can bring."
"Tomorrow you all go to work as usual. Your mother and I will go up the mountain ourselves. You can help out at home after you finish work."
Zhang Fusheng looked at his son and daughter-in-law as he spoke.
Hearing this, the whole family immediately broke into happy smiles. They never expected the wild grapes that nobody in the mountains wanted could actually be sold for money, and such a small amount had fetched seven yuan.
Seven yuan could buy a hundred jin of grain, enough to feed the family for over half a month.
Nowadays, with less oil in their diet and high labor intensity, everyone—men and women alike—had big appetites. One person could eat nearly a jin per meal at minimum, and some could even consume several jin of grain in a single meal.
"Dad, did you sell them in the city?"
"No, Xiao Yi took me along mountain paths. We walked for four or five hours before reaching the city. We didn't check the county town—there are fewer workers there."
Zhang Fusheng explained.
Very few people knew the route from Wangou Village to the city. If they had taken the highway, they'd probably still be on the road now.
"Oh right, quickly put the chicken in the coop."
Zhang Fusheng seemed to remember something and hurriedly brought out the hen that Zhao Yi had given him.
"Why did they just give us a hen for no reason?"
Wang Kaihui looked at Zhang Fusheng and asked.
"They want to raise piglets. They said they have too many hens. Each household is only allowed to raise three animals. Since our eldest and second sons are going to establish separate households, each family will keep three hens. This actually saves us some money."
Zhang Fusheng nodded.
Zhang Jun and Zhang Qiang looked completely confused. When did they decide to establish separate households? They didn't know anything about it.
"Dad, when did we decide to set up separate households?"
Zhang Jun looked at his father with a hurt expression. Just when the family was beginning to see hope of making money, his father already wanted to kick him out.
The two daughters-in-law also looked unhappy. With the family about to earn another ten-plus yuan in seven or eight days, separating them now seemed like a way to prevent them from sharing in this money.
"You fool! Setting up separate households doesn't mean you have to move out. With your own household registration, you can raise three hens. When the second son establishes his own household too, our family will have seven or eight hens laying eggs."
"Every month we can sell eggs to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative—wouldn't that mean more income?"
"Also, I'm telling you all, we can't spend any of the money we earn this time. We'll use it to buy piglets to raise. Our future prosperity depends on this."
Zhang Fusheng recalled what Zhao Yi had said when they were resting in the mountains.
Thinking it over carefully, it made perfect sense. Separating household registrations didn't mean breaking up the family. Doing it this way would naturally increase the family's income considerably.
A hen could lay at most 170-180 eggs per year, and that only if well cared for. As hens aged, their egg production would decrease.
"With six extra hens laying eggs for no additional cost, wouldn't your lives be better?"
Zhang Fusheng explained.
The Zhang family members thought about it and realized he was right.
"We're separating households, not the family. We'll still eat together, and the family income will still be shared by everyone. So don't think about unnecessary things. After a couple more trips to the mountains, the wild grapes will be gone anyway."
With only two months a year, we can't rely solely on this income.
Raising a piglet can bring in dozens of yuan annually. By then, won't all of you be able to afford new clothes? I'm doing this for your sake," Zhang Fusheng lectured with an air of profound wisdom.
In truth, all these ideas had been analyzed for him by Zhao Yi. The reason the pigs in the village farm never reached 200 jin was due to insufficient grain—the pigs weren't getting enough nutrition. If they mixed other bran with wild greens, the pigs would grow faster.
Drying and grinding wild chestnuts from the mountains into powder to add to pig feed would also provide high nutritional value. It's just that those wild chestnuts were small and troublesome to process.
Except during famine years when people had no choice but to forage for such things as staple food, now that everyone had enough to eat, only children would bother gathering them for snacks—adults had no time for it.
If one were determined to collect these, a person could gather at least several dozen jin a day. After drying and grinding, the daily yield would still be over thirty jin.
When raising their own piglets, half would go to the slaughterhouse upon delivery. The bigger their pigs grew, the higher their income would be.
The Zhang family listened to Zhang Fusheng painting this grand vision, growing more captivated with each word. They felt their father was simply brilliant and decisive—they would start gathering wild chestnuts after work from now on.
"Dad, how do you know all this?" Zhang Jun's eyes held a trace of admiration for his father.
"Before, we had no source of income, so these ideas were just empty dreams. Now that we have a chance to implement them, of course I'd share them with you," Zhang Fusheng explained without blushing or his heart racing.
"You old fool, if you actually thought of these things yourself, I'd fry an egg in my palm for you," Wang Kaihui retorted, rolling her eyes at Zhang Fusheng.
"Mom, what's going on?" Zhang Jun quickly turned to his mother.
"Your father spent one day at your brother-in-law's place and came back all eloquent. Who thought of the wild grapes? Who found the buyer? Who insisted on splitting the household right after getting married? Do you really think your little sister has that much capability? With her temperament, would she dare urge her husband to divide the family?" Wang Kaihui said without hesitation.
After hearing this, the family looked back at their father. Sure enough, Zhang Fusheng's face reddened slightly, though in the dim evening light, no one noticed.
After the wild grapes sold for seven yuan, Wang Kaihui had come to trust Zhao Yi's analysis and judgment. Combined with Zhang Fusheng's lengthy explanations, she felt this could work.
Even setting aside the piglet matter, just being able to raise six more hens meant the family could earn dozens of extra yuan per year.
With eggs at five fen each, and each hen laying about 180 eggs annually—worth nine yuan—this division plan alone would bring in 54 extra yuan.
Rural income largely depended on hens laying eggs, with little other sources of revenue.
An additional 54 yuan would make their lives considerably easier—at the very least, there'd be no pressure affording the annual new clothes Zhang Fusheng mentioned.
"Dear, don't you think Zhao Yi's mind works differently from ours? He's just too clever," Wang Kaihui mused, still unable to fathom how household division could be managed this way.
Zhang Fusheng coughed twice but remained silent. Noticing a subtle shift in Wang Kaihui's expression, he quickly nodded.
"Nobody breathes a word about today's matters. Let's just focus on living our own lives well."
Wang Kaihui looked at everyone and said.
The two daughters-in-law quickly nodded. With the family's income increasing in the future, their lives would naturally become easier. How could they possibly go out and talk about it everywhere?