Chapter 41

Leaving Uncle at the edge of the pit to wait for the fish vendor, the rest of the group, including Second Uncle, crossed the fruit-laden orchard and arrived at the chicken farm.

"Wow! What beautiful chickens!"

"Really, they are so pretty!"

"Look at that little chick, so cute!"

"Bro, is this the surprise you were talking about?"

Several girls chattered excitedly, while Wang Yong was somewhat stunned.

He hadn't expected that, at some point, a group of wild chickens had entered the farm. Five large wild chickens were leading about a dozen half-grown wild chickens, mingling with the domesticated chickens to find food. He hadn't seen them yesterday, but they had suddenly appeared today. Could it be because of a lack of food in the wild? Or was it the attraction of the spiritual spring water?

"Bro, I want a little chick to raise at home, can I?" Wang Qian pulled Wang Yong's arm, shaking it persistently, as if she would keep doing so until he agreed.

"Me too, me too. I want a fighting chicken!" Xiao Ming was particularly eager for a fighting chicken.

"Me too, bro, give me one too." Wang Han joined in the fun.

Xiaoxia, standing nearby, also looked eager, clearly moved by the idea.

Wang Yong felt a headache coming on. These girls, how could they come up with such ideas so spontaneously! Fortunately, someone stepped in to help him out.

"You girls, stop dreaming. Do you have the time to take care of them? Besides, where would you keep them? Your living places would be stinky all the time, and I bet you'd be annoyed within three days." Second Uncle said with a smile.

Hearing Second Uncle's words, the girls fell silent. Yes! A stinky place would be unbearable, and if raising chickens made their homes like that, they all shook their heads and gave up the idea. These weren't ordinary pets like cats or dogs.

"Hey, Wang Yong, you should give me a few. I can take them home to nourish my wife. It'll count as your dowry, how about that? As an old classmate, I'm taking care of you, right? Otherwise, you'd have to give me at least two or three hundred, but now a few chickens will do. You're the one getting the better deal, right?" The fat man said shamelessly, eyeing the fattest chicken.

Wang Yong rolled his eyes and said, "Fatso, these are wild chickens! Not the ones you buy at the market that are fed on feed. Forget about wild chickens, even the ones I raise here won't be sold for less than a hundred. These are purebred free-range chickens, absolutely green and organic."

"You're just boasting. How do we know you're not feeding them feed? And a hundred? Fifty might not even sell." The fat man said confidently. He had seen this many times in recent years. Everyone claimed their chickens were free-range and not fed on feed, but only after tasting real free-range chickens did he realize that most of them were just bluffing.

Wang Yong smiled but didn't argue with the fat man. However, an idea came to him.

"Fatso, how about a bet? If my chickens can't sell for more than a hundred each, I'll supply your family with chickens for free. If they can sell for more than a hundred, I won't ask for much, just come and help me catch the chickens when I sell them. How about that?"

"Ha!" Wang Qiang couldn't hold back and laughed, spraying saliva on Wang Han and Wang Qian. The two girls glared at him. Wang Qiang clearly remembered how Wang Yong used to trick the fat man into practicing catching chickens when they were young, and he couldn't help but laugh. The others didn't understand why catching chickens was so funny, so Second Uncle explained the story, which made everyone laugh, even Uncle, who almost fell over and had to be steadied by a guard.

Seeing the fat man's resentful look, Wang Yong said with a smile, "I can give you a chicken, but you have to catch it yourself. If you can't catch it, don't blame me. And if you get pecked, don't cry!"

"Ha ha ha!" Wang Yong's words caused a burst of laughter. The fat man, however, remained unperturbed. He must have been teased about this many times over the years and was now immune to it. Besides, with his thick skin, he wouldn't change his expression over such a small matter. Ignoring everyone's teasing, he opened the door and headed straight for the group of wild chickens.

As the fat man approached, the chickens scattered. He must have killed and eaten many chickens over the years, and the chickens could sense the danger. However, there was one exception among Wang Yong's chickens.

"Fighting chicken, fighting chicken!" Xiao Ming, holding Xiao Keli, pointed excitedly at a chicken that was clearly larger than the others and shouted.

Wang Yong smiled. He had just been thinking about the odd chicken in the farm, and now it had encountered the fat man. This was going to be interesting. Wang Yong didn't warn the fat man and just stood aside, ready to watch the show.

The fat man was heading towards the large wild chickens when he suddenly felt a chill on his back. Turning around, he saw a rooster much larger than the ordinary ones, leading a dozen other roosters, staring at him menacingly. Some of the roosters had their neck feathers fluffed up, staring straight at him. The fat man felt a chill and remembered being pecked by chickens as a child. He involuntarily took a step back, then another, until he reached the door and closed it, sitting down and breathing heavily.

Wang Yong came over and patted the fat man's shoulder to comfort him. It seemed that the fat man's chicken-catching skills hadn't improved, and he still had a phobia.

"Looks like you haven't improved at all these years! Watch me." Wang Yong walked straight to a wild rooster that was foraging on the grass. When he was about two meters away, he suddenly lunged forward, his right hand darting out to grab the rooster's wing as it tried to fly away. He lifted the rooster easily and walked over to the fat man.

"Great skills!"

"Bro, well done!"

"Awesome!"

"Nice job!"

Wang Yong tied the rooster's legs with a rope and threw it to the fat man. He then turned and went back into the chicken farm, with Xiaohei and Xiaobai following. The others watched in confusion as Wang Yong bent down to pick up something yellow and then turned to leave. Suddenly, Xiaohei barked and tugged at Wang Yong's pants, leading him in another direction. Xiaobai ran along, sniffing the ground and occasionally looking back at Wang Yong.

Wang Yong understood immediately. The little guys were leading him to find eggs! He didn't have to walk far before he found a nest of golden eggs in a patch of wild grass. He counted seven and put them all in his pocket. Free-range chickens laid eggs all over the place, with no pattern. But with today's performance from Xiaohei and Xiaobai, he wouldn't have to worry about collecting eggs in the future.

When Wang Yong came back, everyone surrounded him.

"Bro, what's that yellow thing? Is it a golden egg?" Xiaoxia asked excitedly, her face flushed. She was a big fan of golden eggs from fairy tales.

"Here, see for yourself if it's the golden egg from the story." Wang Yong took a golden egg from his pocket and handed it to Xiaoxia.

In the afternoon sunlight, a golden egg shone in Xiaoxia's white, delicate hands. The contrast between the golden egg and her fair skin was striking, making it seem almost unbelievable: Could this really be a golden egg from a fairy tale? Wasn't that just a story? How could it appear in real life?

"Hey, Wang Yong, I'm not seeing things, right? This, this is a golden egg?" Wang Gang asked in surprise.

"It must be my eyes playing tricks on me. How could this be possible?" The fat man rubbed his eyes, unable to believe it.

"Let me touch it. Is it really gold? How much is it worth? Bro, you're rich, really rich!" This was the money-loving Wang Han.

"You're all being fooled, it must be fake." This was the smart Wang Qian.

Wang Yong took out the other golden eggs from his pocket and showed them to everyone, explaining:

"These are just eggs, but they have a special color, so I call them golden eggs."

"What do they taste like? Are they good?"

"Do you want to try?"

"Yes!"

"Go and pick them yourself. Whatever you pick is yours. Fair enough?"

As soon as Wang Yong finished speaking, the fat man shouted and rushed into the chicken farm, ready to collect as many of these strange golden eggs as possible. Wang Gang, Wang Qian, Wang Han, and Xiaoxia, leading Xiao Ming, Xiaohei, and Xiaobai, also ran in quickly to join the egg-collecting frenzy. Uncle Liu Jiang couldn't resist and rushed in as well. His luck was good, and he found a golden egg just a few steps in. He picked it up and held it high, showing it off to everyone like a child.

Wang Yong, who hadn't thoroughly searched before, was amazed by the constant discoveries. How many eggs could there be? With the help of Xiaohei and Xiaobai, the girls kept finding new nests. In no time, they had collected so many that they had to pile them up. A rough estimate put the number at around four or five hundred, a huge pile. The fat man, with all his pockets full, carried as many as he could and carefully walked out, asking Wang Yong for a bag so he could go back in and continue. Uncle Liu Jiang, after picking a few, came out and carefully examined a golden egg, even taking a photo with his phone. It was unclear what he intended to do with it.

At this moment, Uncle called to say the fish vendor had arrived. Wang Yong left the others to continue collecting eggs and hurried to the fish pit. A man in his forties was talking to Uncle.

"Wang Yong, let me introduce you. This is Old Huang from Shuangjing, Huang Tianbao. Old Huang, this is my nephew Wang Yong. These fish are all his. You have to give him a fair price, don't try to cheat us!" Uncle introduced them.

"Uncle Huang, hello."

"Hello, hello. Wang Yong, how did you find these fish? Such large wild fish are rare around here! You're in for a fortune!"

"Uncle Huang, what price do you think is fair?" Wang Yong was most concerned about this.

"I just checked, and the fish are fine, all wild. I'll give you the best price. Catfish are very popular right now, so I'll give you thirty yuan per kilogram. Carp will be twenty-one, grass carp twenty-five, and the most expensive will be the large crucian carp at thirty-five yuan per kilogram. Large crucian carp are very popular in the market, but they don't grow big, especially wild ones. They are almost in high demand but short supply."

Wang Yong looked at Uncle, who nodded, indicating that the price was acceptable.

"Alright, let's go with this price. Get started!"

Huang Tianbao had a pickup truck and a specially modified fish transport vehicle. The vehicle was converted from a box van, with three water tanks welded inside to separate different types of fish. Each tank had its own oxygenator to increase the survival rate of the fish during transport.

Four helpers, two on each side, pulled the net forward, while one wore a full-body rubber suit and entered the water. Another was on the shore, ready to load the fish. They were well-organized and clearly experienced.

In no time, the two pulling the net had brought it to the other side. The net was full of fish jumping and trying to escape. Seeing the large catch of wild fish, Huang Tianbao was overjoyed. Even if this deal wasn't profitable, he was willing to do it. This would boost his reputation, and he would attract the attention of high-end restaurant chefs, which would lead to more profitable business.

After more than an hour, a total of 1,700 kilograms of fish were loaded onto the truck. The most were catfish, totaling 600 kilograms, which sold for 18,600 yuan. Carp, 180 kilograms, sold for 3,780 yuan. Grass carp, 400 kilograms, sold for over 10,000 yuan. Crucian carp, nearly 500 kilograms, sold for over 17,000 yuan. There were also some loaches and eels, which sold for 5,000 yuan in total.

Thick-skinned, I beg for recommendations and collections. No more words!

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