Chapter 69

Wang Xiaoqiang brought the forty-six mountain chicken eggs he had bought back to the old village committee courtyard and placed them with the fifty-two mountain chicken eggs he had saved. Now he had ninety wild mountain chicken eggs.

Ninety mountain chicken eggs, by common sense, would not all hatch into chicks. Wang Xiaoqiang decided to incubate the ninety eggs first, and see how many would hatch. Then he would use the spare time to catch more wild mountain chickens.

In Wang Xiaoqiang's earliest memory, the villagers used the body heat of hens to hatch chicks. Nowadays, chicken farms use incubators.

Using hens for incubation was more troublesome. First, the hen had to be fed cornmeal mixed with alcohol to make her half-drunk so she would sit quietly to incubate the chicks. This method was inefficient, while incubators were much more convenient. Moreover, buying an incubator didn't cost much, about fifty to sixty yuan.

Wang Xiaoqiang thought about buying two incubators in the county town the next day. As he was thinking, he stroked the mountain chicken eggs. Suddenly, the Five Elements Spirit Spring in his heart quickly moved to his palm and emitted five streams of heat, which overflowed from the tips of his right hand's fingers and infused into the mountain chicken eggs under his hand.

These were five streams of red energy. After they infused into the five mountain chicken eggs under his hand, they spread out from those five eggs, radiating to the surrounding eggs. Immediately, a red network of spirit energy formed, connecting all ninety mountain chicken eggs.

Wang Xiaoqiang stared at the web-like red spirit energy, feeling excited. This must be fire element spirit energy. The color of the fire element in the Five Elements is red. Red spirit energy should be fire element spirit energy.

As Wang Xiaoqiang's fire element spirit energy spread, the ninety mountain chicken eggs gradually became warm, and then they started to move...

No way! Could fire element spirit energy really hatch chicks? Wang Xiaoqiang stared at the gently moving mountain chicken eggs, his face full of surprise.

Suddenly, there was a soft crack, and one of the mountain chicken eggs broke open, revealing a yellow chick. The newly hatched chick was not weak like a typical newborn chick; it looked very strong, pecking at the remaining eggshell with its sharp beak...

Heaven! They hatched so quickly!?

Just as Wang Xiaoqiang was marveling, there were two more cracks, and two more mountain chicken eggs broke open, revealing newborn chicks...

Then...

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack...

The cracking sounds continued, and more chicks hatched out...

In the end, the ground was littered with broken eggshells, and sixty-three newborn chicks were chirping noisily in front of Wang Xiaoqiang. The remaining twenty-seven mountain chicken eggs remained still, clearly containing no fertilized eggs, which was in line with natural laws.

But the speed at which the chicks hatched was truly unbelievable!

Fortunately, there was no one around, or they would have been frightened. Normally, it takes 21 days to hatch chicks, but now they hatched in less than five minutes.

After a moment's thought, Wang Xiaoqiang didn't find it strange. The "fire" element in the Five Elements represents the south direction, the summer season, and the heart organ. Thinking about these things, one can associate them with temperature. The fire element is a symbol of temperature. It made sense that fire element spirit energy could "hatch" mountain chicken eggs. Moreover, fire is associated with rituals and is quick in nature, so it was not surprising that the fire element spirit energy hatched the chicks so quickly.

Wang Xiaoqiang put the sixty-three yellow chicks into a large basket and called the old yellow dog to watch over them, to prevent them from being harmed by mountain cats or weasels.

The old yellow dog wagged its tail and lay down in front of the basket. It was becoming more obedient, and Wang Xiaoqiang felt that the dog's intelligence had improved significantly. Indeed, the old yellow dog didn't leave the basket all day and didn't harm the chicks.

Dahei and Xiahei grew very quickly. In just a month, their bodies had almost doubled in size, and their heads were now higher than Wang Xiaoqiang's knees. Since Wang Xiaoqiang had infused them with spirit energy, the two little guys not only grew fast but were also very obedient, like the old yellow dog. Although they were young, they seemed to understand Wang Xiaoqiang's words. When Wang Xiaoqiang spoke, they would act.

Now with over sixty chicks, Wang Xiaoqiang was not satisfied. To build a chicken farm, he needed hundreds or even thousands of chickens. Otherwise, he wouldn't be interested.

Wang Xiaoqiang decided to go up the mountain to catch wild mountain chickens, and to take Dahei and Xiahei for some exercise. Keeping them in the courtyard all the time would waste their potential.

That day, he found about ten pounds of cornmeal at home, mixed it with half a bottle of liquor, and put it in a woven bag. He also brought a slingshot and steel balls, and took Dahei and Xiahei with him to Mantou Mountain.

Mantou Mountain was barren, and apart from wild mountain chickens and some wild birds, few other animals went there, so there was no need to worry about wolves or hunters.

The slope of Mantou Mountain was gentle, making it easy to climb. In about fifteen minutes, Wang Xiaoqiang reached a platform halfway up the mountain. Looking at the large open area, he thought it was a good place to catch wild chickens. He took some cornmeal out of the bag and scattered it on the ground, then continued climbing. On the way from the halfway point to the top, he saw wild mountain chickens flying out of their nests from time to time. The top of the mountain was also a flat area, and Wang Xiaoqiang used the same method, scattering some cornmeal.

Then he returned to the halfway point. When he got back to the platform, he saw about ten wild mountain chickens eating the cornmeal. Seeing them eating happily, Wang Xiaoqiang did not disturb them and kept Dahei and Xiahei from acting rashly. He had them hide nearby and observe quietly. In less than the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, the ten wild mountain chickens were full and started to stagger, looking ready to fall over.

Wang Xiaoqiang then ordered Dahei and Xiahei to catch them.

Although Dahei and Xiahei were small, they were very agile and fierce. They pounced, pinned down a wild chicken, and bit its wings lightly to break them before moving on to the next one. They quickly subdued nine wild chickens. The last one tried to escape but was shot down by Wang Xiaoqiang's slingshot. After capturing all ten wild chickens, Wang Xiaoqiang tied them up with a rope, strung them together, and tied them to a small tree, leaving Dahei to watch over them. Then he took Xiahei to the top of the mountain.

When they reached the flat area at the top of the mountain, they saw about fifteen or sixteen wild chickens lying there, as if they were asleep. It was clear they had eaten a lot of the cornmeal mixed with liquor.

Although he had one less fighter this time, the wild mountain chickens were so drunk that capturing them was even easier than before. In the end, all sixteen wild mountain chickens were captured.

What Wang Xiaoqiang didn't expect was that there would be so many wild mountain chickens on Mantou Mountain. This had never been the case before. But he immediately realized the reason: the young and strong laborers in the village had all gone out to work, and after Liu Chunxiang's husband, Wang Baoshan, was killed by a wild boar, hunting in the area had completely disappeared. The nearby mountains were almost deserted, and Mantou Mountain had become a paradise for wild mountain chickens. Although Mantou Mountain was more barren than Daxing Mountain, the grass seeds and insects on the surface were the favorite food of mountain chickens, which was why there were so many mountain chickens on Mantou Mountain. This was a great benefit for Wang Xiaoqiang.

In one day, Wang Xiaoqiang caught forty-two wild mountain chickens and transported them back to the old village committee courtyard in batches before it got dark. He did this to avoid being seen by others. If someone saw such a profitable opportunity, the next day Mantou Mountain would be bustling with people, and a mass chicken-catching movement would likely ensue.