Chapter 98: One-year three-step plan
After receiving this crucial first pot of gold, the plan to raise mussels at home needed to be replanned.
During the family meeting at dinner, Fang Wei and his family of three focused on discussing this matter.
According to the calculation that every ten mu of sea farmland requires an investment of six to seven thousand yuan, if one is really determined and grits one's teeth, one can directly expand the breeding scale to one hundred mu in one go.
But this approach is quite irrational. Not to mention whether it would be too eye-catching, the most important thing is that this is the first time you are breeding fish and you lack experience. If you take too big a step at once, you may end up losing all your money.
After some discussion, Fang Xianfeng finally decided to expand the scale of the first phase of mussel farming to 30 acres.
There are two seasons for mussel seedling cultivation in a year, October and April or May of the following year.
Now it is already October, so the first phase will be expanded to 30 acres, 20 acres more than the original plan of 10 acres;
If everything goes well with the breeding, we will expand the area by another 30 acres by April or May next year, bringing the total area to 60 acres.
By August or September next year, the first batch of seedlings planted in October this year will be ready for harvest and market. By then, with the funds raised and savings, we will expand the scale by another 40 mu to 100 mu.
It took exactly one year.
This is the 'three-step-a-year' plan for mussel farming set by Fang Xianfeng.
"What do you think? This is my general idea. We can't invest too much in the early stage. Firstly, we have no experience, and secondly, we need to reserve funds in case of any variables."
"I think it's okay."
Fang Wei nodded. The old man was very thoughtful. During this period, his father had been learning some basic financial management knowledge and had also made a detailed investigation of mussel farming. He had a mature idea of doing this in different periods over a year.
Perhaps for other families, a child of Fang Wei's age would not be qualified to participate in such family meetings, but Fang Wei's family is an exception.
Although in Fang Xianfeng's eyes, Fang Wei is still just a brat, he has to admit that most of the times the ideas given by this brat are extremely forward-looking.
Fang Xianfeng had just proposed this idea, which Fang Wei had casually told him on the way back yesterday. He thought about it all night, made some minor adjustments, and felt that it was indeed feasible.
"I think it's okay too."
Tian Xilan nodded, then frowned after thinking about it, "But thirty acres seems to be a lot in the early stage. Although our family conditions are acceptable, won't it seem a bit eye-catching?"
"Hey, it doesn't matter anyway. If someone in the village asks about it out of curiosity, just say that it's all the savings you've accumulated over the years, plus some money borrowed from your relatives on your mother's side."
"What if someone from my mother's family asks about it?"
"Just say that someone from my husband's family borrowed some money."
"..."
Fine.
No one in the family ever mentioned the fact that they won the lottery to anyone else.
No matter from what perspective, it is always right to be low-key, which can save a lot of unnecessary trouble.
The specific breeding plan has been determined, so the next step is to take action.
"Awei, if you have nothing to do, go to bed early tonight. We can get up early tomorrow and go to Haitian to help with the seedling packaging." Fang Xianfeng said.
"Have you bought the shellfish seedlings?" Fang Wei asked.
"Well, the first batch of ten acres of shellfish seedlings will be delivered tonight." Fang Xianfeng lit a cigarette and looked at the time. It was about time.
"Why are you delivering the seedlings so late at night?" Tian Xilan asked curiously.
"What do you know? The temperature is high during the day! The transportation of seedlings cannot withstand the heat. In this kind of weather, the seedlings can only be transported at night."
"You're the only one who knows! After studying for a month, you haven't learned even half of Professor Xu's knowledge, but you've learned all of the professor's knowledge!"
Seeing his parents getting on their motorcycle and getting ready to go out, Fang Wei turned off the lights, closed the door, and followed them.
"I'll go with you to take a look!"
……
It has been a long time since a family of three rode on a motorcycle together.
Like when he was a child, Fang Wei sat in the back seat, sandwiched between his parents.
When he was younger, if he was carrying luggage, he would sit on the fuel tank at the front of the car and hold the rearview mirror handle with both hands.
Now he can’t sit on the fuel tank. Even if he hasn’t grown taller yet, Fang Wei is already meters tall. Only little kids can sit on the front of the car…
The night wind is cool, and the orange-yellow car lights illuminate the country road ahead.
In the quiet island village, there is only the rumbling sound of motorcycle engines. Occasionally, when passing by other people's houses, it will cause a burst of dog barking, and then other dogs will start barking too, turning it into a chorus of barking dogs.
In fact, it was still very early, only eight o'clock in the evening, but after dark, almost no one was hanging around outside.
When passing by Shayang Village, Fang Wei also saw Liu Zhiyi.
The lights were on in the girl's house. With the light coming through the house and the moonlight, she was hanging clothes in the yard. It seemed that she had just finished taking a bath.
"Thump, thump, thump..."
The sound of a motorcycle outside attracted Liu Zhiyi's attention. She looked up, but unfortunately it was pitch black outside and she couldn't see clearly who was on the motorcycle.
Fang Wei could see her clearly, after all, she was standing in the dimly lit area.
"Hey, is this girl the granddaughter of Uncle Liu?" Tian Xilan asked curiously.
"Yes, her name is Liu Zhiyi, and she's sitting at the same table with me now." Fang Wei introduced.
"Did you remember to bring this girl a portion of the fried chicken and French fries you ordered yesterday?" Fang Xianfeng asked.
"Yes, Ah Sheng Cailing knows what I mean. I have sent them all to them."
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Fang Wei and a few friends went to the beach to release sky lanterns. Fang Xianfeng and Xu Zhiyuan also came to Uncle Liu's house to drink tea and chat, and they talked about many things.
The matter had already passed, so Fang Xianfeng did not mention it any more. Then he thought of something and said:
"Didn't you have dinner at Uncle Liu's house during the last Mid-Autumn Festival? If you have time some other day, ask Zhiyi and the others to come over to our house for dinner."
"Cai Ling will definitely come whenever you call, but Zhi Yi might be too shy to do so."
"Reciprocity is always necessary."
"decide as things go."
……
We left Shayang Village on a motorcycle and arrived at the pier soon.
The breeding office's nursery base is on a nearby small island. The purchased shellfish seedlings are first transported to the dock by fishing boats, and then transported to the breeding farm at Pineapple Beach by small pickup trucks.
After waiting for a while, we saw the fishing boat carrying goods, and the small truck hired by Fang Xianfeng also arrived at the dock.
The three parties met and delivered the goods here at the dock.
Fang Wei curiously grabbed a handful of mussel seedlings and took a look. Compared with adult mussels, they were naturally much smaller.
Except for the mussel fry breeding stage, when they are fed some feed artificially, they no longer need artificial feeding after they are put into the sea. They rely entirely on the mussel fry to filter plankton or other nutrients in the seawater to grow.
Therefore, a sea area with suitable aquaculture conditions is crucial.
The waters around Pineapple Island are most suitable for mussel farming. It only takes ten to eleven months for these mussel seedlings to grow into finished mussels that can be sold on the market. This is why Pineapple Island will be called the hometown of mussels in the future.
Mussel seedlings are transported dry and cannot be left out of water for a long time, otherwise it will cause unnecessary losses. After weighing and checking the number, they are quickly transported to the farm.
The family of three got back on the motorcycle and led the way, while the small pickup truck carrying Bei Miao followed behind.
Soon, we arrived at Pineapple Beach.
Different from the small white sand beach where Fang Wei and his friends usually play, Pineapple Beach is very large. This vast sea area of tens of thousands of acres is a planned aquaculture area, and other ships are usually not allowed to pass through the aquaculture area.
In September, after working for half a month, Fang Wei's ten acres of breeding land were almost ready.
Under the bright moonlight, one can vaguely see the structure of the rafts. The white floats are clearly visible, swaying gently with the gentle waves.
Of course, it is impossible to plant the seedlings at this time of night.
Several people helped to lift the mussel seedlings from the car and put them in a temporary holding pond built by the sea. They would then be fished out when needed tomorrow.
"Thank you for your hard work. Let me have a cigarette."
After the work was done, Fang Xianfeng took out cigarettes and distributed them to the masters.
"Then let's go first."
"Okay, thank you for taking the trouble to run this trip so late at night."
"Hey, that's right."
After the masters left, there were only a family of three and a motorcycle parked behind them left on the beach.
Fang Xianfeng took a deep puff of his cigarette. The red dot on the cigarette butt turned redder and brighter as he inhaled, becoming particularly conspicuous in the dim night.
"Tomorrow, we will officially plant the seedlings!"
As he spoke, smoke came out of his mouth, a thick cloud that was blown away by the oncoming sea breeze, lingering and drifting into the high night sky...
……
October 4th.
The fourth day of vacation.
Fang Wei woke up early in the morning.
But today he did not go out for a run. He had breakfast with his parents, changed his clothes, put on a straw hat, and rode his bicycle to the farm together.
Putting mussel seedlings into the sea is the biggest event in the breeding process.
In fact, from another perspective, Muhai and Mutian are similar. After the Haitian is "plowed", it is necessary to "plant the seedlings".
But it is different from the real seedling planting. Planting mussel seedlings in the sea is much more complicated. It is not as simple as directly scattering the mussel seedlings in the sea field like sowing seeds.
Of course, this is also possible, but it is not called breeding, perhaps it is more appropriate to call it releasing...
The ten mu of sea fields that my father had prepared earlier are where we need to plant seedlings. After planting the seedlings in these ten mu, we will continue to expand the breeding scale to thirty mu. This is the first step in the "three-step one-year breeding plan."
In terms of breeding, ten acres is not a lot, but from the perspective of work, a family of three alone cannot finish the work.
"Aunt Yun! Aunt Fang!"
Fang Wei greeted the two fishermen's wives who came to help with the work today.
They are all from the village, and my father specially invited them to come and help. The men in the family either go out to work or go out to sea to fish, and these fishermen's wives in the village find some odd jobs to do in their spare time to supplement the family income.
"Awei is here too! And he's here so early. He's a very sensible guy! My kid hasn't even woken up yet!"
"No, it's our own work. I will definitely help if I can. If there is work to do at Aunt Yun's house, doesn't Ah Qing wake up early in the morning to help?"
"How can we count on him? He is not good at studying and only causes trouble at work!"
After Aunt Yun finished speaking, she smiled and said to Fang Xianfeng and Tian Xilan, "Your Awei is sensible and has good grades. They both went to the same primary school, so why is there such a big difference? You two must have taught him well!"
"Haha, a child will become sensible when he grows up. I don't have the time to take care of him, so just leave him alone!"
Fang Xianfeng also laughed when he heard this. When people of the same generation and the same village met, they often talked about their own children. Every time this happened, the old father couldn't help but straighten his back.
"Have the two sisters-in-law had breakfast?" Tian Xilan asked with a smile.
"I've eaten, I've eaten. Alan, your Afeng is really promising. He has such a big piece of sea farmland..."
"Just raise it casually, we don't know if it will work or not."
The two fishermen's wives nodded when they heard this.
Everyone knows that the village has set up a breeding office to encourage everyone to breed mussels, but not everyone has the courage to do it like Fang Weijia, who is ready to start in October.
After all, the previous cases of breeding failure are still vivid in our minds. It is true that breeding has profits, but not everyone can bear the risks.
Therefore, most people in the village are still waiting and watching, partly due to lack of funds and partly due to lack of experience. Even if there are plans to engage in breeding, most of them will probably not start until April or May next year.
Fang Xianfeng was almost the only one in the village who had acquired ten acres of land at once...
If they knew that they would continue to expand to 30 acres, and then to 100 acres a year later, I wonder how they would react...
The first person who tries to eat crabs is always not favored.
Of course, I won't say this in front of you. Anyway, what other people do is their business. I can just wait and see...
Fang Wei could see what the villagers were thinking, including his own uncle. His father did try to persuade his uncle to raise the baby together, but his uncle decided to wait and see.
But how long can you wait and see? Perhaps by the time you really decide to enter the market, the dividends have already been taken up by those who seized the opportunity first.
"Ah Feng, A Lan, don't be polite. If there is anything you need us to do, just tell us!"
"Two sisters-in-law, you will be responsible for helping to wrap the seedlings in the next two days. Have you done this before?"
"No..." "No way..."
"It's okay! It's very simple. Ah Wei, come over and learn. I'll teach you how to make it."
During those days, Fang Xianfeng went to the breeding office every day and learned these things.
The so-called seedling wrapping is to take out the shellfish seedlings brought back last night from the temporary holding pond, and use a net to wrap the shellfish seedlings on the seedling rope according to a certain number and fix them. Finally, hang the seedling rope wrapped with shellfish seedlings under the raft rope and sink it into the sea field.
There is really no technical difficulty, but the process is quite cumbersome. You need to constantly wrap the shellfish seedlings into the mesh and then tie them tightly to the seedling rope with ropes.
This was also Fang Wei's first time doing this kind of work, and he quickly got the hang of it, though his speed was not very fast.
For the two fishermen's wives, this job is much simpler than repairing fishing nets. As for being tedious and boring... For people who come from a small fishing village, what kind of work is not tedious and boring?
Today's seedling planting work has officially begun.
Fang Wei, his mother and two fishing wives were responsible for the seedlings, while Fang Xianfeng was responsible for transporting the mussel seedlings to them from the temporary pond.
As time passed, long ropes filled with shellfish seedlings were carried over by Fang Xianfeng and temporarily placed on the small fishing boat.
The dawn in the east illuminates the world before our eyes.
That's when you look up.
Today I saw the sunrise as promised, but the feeling was very different from before.
(End of this chapter)
