Chapter 137

Previously, Fan’s mother wanted to exchange some newly weaned baby rabbits. Shuiqing agreed.

Fan’s mother exchanged a lot of baby rabbits for an old hen and was extremely pleased as she carried the baby rabbits home.

But then she discovered they were all male rabbits!

Angry, she went to the old village chief to demand justice, but instead, the old village chief scolded her harshly and reiterated that it was forbidden to send rabbits to maternal families!

Anyone who violated village rules had to return home on their own.

This was agreed upon by all villagers, and everyone kept each other in check, so Fan’s mother dared not say anything.

Sun Jinhua was miserable. Her in-laws were in decline, and the promise from her maternal family had not been fulfilled. On top of that, she ended up with a chicken for no reason, which caused quite a stir.

Since raising all male rabbits was pointless, Fan’s mother had no choice but to send them back and wait patiently for the rabbits to mature before trying again.

When villagers from Shanshui Village saw Fan’s mother exchanging rabbits, they thought since she was their biological mother, it was understandable that she would benefit from the baby rabbits.

So no one thought anything was amiss.

After Fan’s mother returned several male rabbits, she was scolded by the old village chief, and the villagers had a hard time holding back their laughter!

At the same time, they were glad they hadn’t harbored any ill intentions.

And so they waited and waited until March.

By March, the number of rabbits at Shuiqing’s home had become quite impressive.

And they were still increasing at an astonishing rate!

It had to be said that rabbits reproduced too quickly. Just two months after giving birth, they could have another litter, ranging from a few to over a dozen each time.

The meat rabbits Shuiqing bought from the market were mostly males and had been born nearly four months ago.

The first batch of baby rabbits had grown to around six pounds for the heavier ones and about four pounds for the lighter ones. In another couple of months, they would be able to reproduce again.

Villagers from Shanshui Village brought their old hens one by one to exchange them.

Auntie Li grabbed Shuiqing and hesitantly said, “Shuiqing, I only brought five old hens. Can you check how much they weigh and exchange them for four-pound rabbits?”

She could exchange more of the lighter ones.

Each old hen weighed about two to three pounds, so she picked the biggest ones from her house, weighing a maximum of fifteen pounds for five hens. It was better to exchange for more four-pound rabbits so there would be more baby rabbits later.

But she also understood that other villagers knew, and if everyone did the same, Shuiqing would have a hard time.

Smiling, Shuiqing asked, “Is it Auntie Dayan pregnant again and wanting to keep a few more hens to lay eggs for her body?”

Feng Dayan was Auntie Li’s eldest daughter-in-law. This time was not her first birth, but no matter which daughter-in-law was pregnant, Auntie Li would try to feed them well to make up for their bodies.

“There’s nothing good at home. They suffer from everyday life after marriage. They’re in poor health and have no appetite when they’re pregnant. If they don’t eat well, they’re afraid it’ll be difficult to have children.

So I want to raise a few more rabbits. The old hens at home are also incubating eggs. After this period, things will be better.” Auntie Li sighed.

Shuiqing liked the mother-in-law Auntie Li.

She didn’t say that her daughter-in-law’s pregnancy was precious or that her daughter-in-law had a craving. Instead, she said there was nothing good for them to eat.

I also want to make my life a little better with limited material conditions by piecing together various ways.

“Well, yes, by the way, if there are too many roosters, you can also exchange them, just like hens.” Shuiqing agreed readily and added a sentence.

With so many people coming to exchange, it is impossible to keep a rooster and not eat it.

Since some want to eat, roosters and hens are almost the same.

The villagers’ hens can also stay and lay eggs.

Auntie Li was pleased and couldn’t help but ask, “Can roosters? Can’t, can’t roosters be dearer than hens?”

She didn’t finish, isn’t that more difficult?

Shuiqing found a suitable reason: “Look at all these hens I have. We were short on roosters before. Adding a few roosters will allow the eggs to be fertilized.”

Commonly known as fertilized eggs.

Upon hearing this reason, Auntie Li breathed a sigh of relief. She patted her chest and assured Shuiqing, “You can rest assured. Our roosters are strong! There’s absolutely no problem. I’ll go back and fetch the roosters. We’ll count the rabbits together later.”

They had raised many roosters last year, a total of six!

And roosters are heavier than hens, so bringing over four might get them two or three rabbits.

After Auntie Li finished speaking, she hurried back home.

Shuiqing repeated the same to others.

Those who had many roosters at home immediately went to catch them.

At that moment, there were many rabbits and even more hens at Shuiqing’s house!

Unlike commercial chickens, these were authentic local chickens raised on worms and vegetables from eggs.

The steamed eggs were golden yellow.

Absolutely pure!

Purchase price at the market: two yuan each.

Sell per piece!

This led Shuiqing to pick eggs every morning, muttering, “Two yuan, two yuan, two yuan…”

During lunch break, Fan Jin watched Shuiqing counting today’s eggs and chuckled, “The kids have been gossiping lately. Why do you shout ‘two yuan’ when picking eggs?”

Only he knew the reason.

“They haven’t noticed the eggs are more yellow now?” Shuiqing asked in return.

Previously, with fewer chickens and fewer eggs, most of what they ate were cheap and affordable foreign eggs bought from the market.

Since they started exchanging rabbits a few days ago, the number of old hens had increased daily, and so had the eggs.

After deducting their own consumption, they could still sell quite a few to the market.

This was all money, which could be exchanged for rice, flour, and meat rabbits~

“How would the kids notice that? They just know it’s nice to have eggs to eat.” Fan Jin replied gently.

Shuiqing thought about it and agreed. They had only been living comfortably for a few months.

Moreover, she herself enjoyed foreign eggs, which were undoubtedly delicious food for the children.

Fan Jin thought for a moment and couldn’t help but ask, “What about those rabbits you exchanged?”

They were still rabbits, but he felt the ones they exchanged were different now?

Shuiqing didn’t deny it. “Hmm, I exchanged rabbits about six to seven months old from the market for villagers. By the time they return, they might already be pregnant!”

Rabbits needed to be about six months old to breed, and although the first batch had similar weights, their ages differed. It would still take another two months or more after they returned.

But these rabbits had already been in the rabbit pen for several days; they might already be pregnant…

Fan Jin calculated the time, “After about a month of pregnancy, rabbits will give birth. If it’s fast, they’ll have a litter by this time next month. By October, they’ll be able to breed again.”

Compared to old hens, rabbits were much more profitable in terms of breeding, feeding costs, and selling price.

Their only disadvantage was not laying eggs, but hens couldn’t lay eggs from the beginning either.

By the time the hens started laying, rabbits could already be sold to make money.