How to Save a Failed Farm

The morning mist has not yet dissipated, and the cold winter air is filled with the smell of the fields, mixed with the smell of earth and the simple taste of those dry and sleeping plants.

The fields were covered with unmelted snow, the lakes were frozen, and in the little garden all the flowers had withered and left only their bare leaves, waiting to bloom again next spring, and only the cypresses and oaks were still green in the whole farm.

But this has surprised these young people who grew up in the city enough.

"From here, as far as you can see, it is the boundary of Hunter Farm." Ye Qun stretched out his hand and gestured, introducing with a little pride.

"The scenery is beautiful." Feng Ke put his hands in his pockets, looking back at the white mansion that looked like it was submerged in corn leaves, and a bird with gray wings was parked on the pointed roof, "It's a pity that There's nothing around, it's so desolate."

"This is the price of living in seclusion." Ye Qun replied with a smile, the breath condensed into white mist, "You came at the wrong time, there is nothing in winter, next time you come in summer, the farm has everything, and you can also hunt What."

"Come on, I see that there is nothing on your farm, not even two chickens. Those who don't know think you two are trying to survive in the wilderness."

Ye Qun choked for a moment and rubbed his nose: "Isn't this just the beginning? Let's renovate it in the spring, and the Jedi will not be like this when you come next time."

The half-person-high cornfield became an excellent shooting scene. Xiaoshu and Zuer held a shawl in their hands and were blown high by the wind. The camera recorded their youthful faces and energetic figures, together with the distant The blue-gray sky is frozen together in the picture.

Feng Ke and Fan Zhou were assigned by them to act as photographer and prop boy in turn. After a while, Fan Zhou found an opportunity to sneak out and asked Lance to take his place for a while.

Lance was very talkative, and Ye Qun knew that Fan Zhou had something to say to him, so he also nodded.They walked towards the barn, and Ye Qun climbed up the tall straw stack in front of the barn door, motioning for Fan Zhou to come up as well.

Ye Qun and Fan Zhou sat side by side on the straw stack and had a panoramic view of the entire flat farm.Fan Zhou took out the lighter and lit a cigarette. He threw the cigarette case to Ye Qun. Ye Qun shook his head.

"Quit." Fan Zhou smiled, his eyes were a little vicissitudes in the smoke: "We will go back in the afternoon and fly to New York."

Fan Zhou told him before coming that he would only stay for a day or two, Ye Qun was not surprised, he quietly looked into the distance and spoke to Fan Zhou patiently.

"I asked at the airport...but now I have to ask again seriously, are you really determined to stay here? Are you not going back to China?" Fan Zhou exhaled a puff of smoke ring, his tone unprecedentedly serious.

"I'm also serious." Ye Qun smiled lightly, "How many times can there be such a fate in a person's life? Just take it as my conviction...you can say it like this."

"I don't discriminate against homosexuals, but you are in the United States, buddies are really worried." Fan Zhou pressed his shoulders and pinched the space between his eyebrows, "You have never been so far away from me, and I will never come to see you again in the future." easy."

"I'm 30 years old, Old Fan." Ye Qun said.

"When I was young, I thought about where I would be and what kind of life I would have when I was 30 years old. I planned. At the age of 30, I was married to Gao Tiantian, had a child, and traveled abroad twice a year. , a physical examination every six months, and a [-]-square-meter house on the Second Ring Road in Beijing."

"I'm going from a project manager to a partner, I'm going to go public, I'm going to own 40% of the equity. Then I'm 50, and I'm going to start my own company. At 55, I'm getting old, but I'm still working. Every weekend and You guys get together, play golf in the backyard, go on a cruise on your wedding anniversary. At [-], I'm completely retired, travel around the world with my wife, buy a house and settle down in a place I like, raise a dog, Plant some flowers."

He smiled softly: "Breakup, illness, everything is messed up, but what does it matter? I will always live well and will not look back. When you move forward, those assumptions, those goals, are not important Yes, they change. I don’t think about where I’m going to be, what I’m doing when I’m 40, 50, they’ll always come.”

"I don't know what will happen tomorrow, whether tomorrow or the accident will come first, but I know my attitude, and that's enough, Lao Fan. Why should I assume the future? I only respect my heart now."

"I can take it all, I can take responsibility for myself, I have 30 years of life experience to back me up in this decision."

Ye Qun lowered his head and showed a gentle smile: "And Lance, he is very good, he is really a good person. I think nothing you worry about will happen."

He patted Fan Zhou on the shoulder: "It's not that I won't come back. When you get married, when Lao Feng gets married, when Xiao Zhou gets married, when your child is full moon, I have to go back to Beijing to visit my parents' graves Ah. Besides, communication is so advanced now that there is nothing that cannot be solved by a telephone line."

"Fuck!" Fan Zhou said, "Fuck!" He casually extinguished the cigarette butt on the stack of straw.

"Damn it, you're an idiot!" Ye Qun scolded.

Fan Zhou extinguished the spark with his fingers like a normal person: "Okay, I know, you are fascinated now. In fact, the United States is also very good. After my buddy retires, I will come here to have sex with you." Neighbor... This farm is also very good, but it is a bit barren, hey, I heard that the price of corn has plummeted, can the boy support you?"

"I'm rich, can't I raise him?" Ye Qun glared at Fan Zhou, and said helplessly, "Well, this farm...does have some financial problems."

"How to say?" Fan Zhou lit another cigarette.

"Shut less, and be careful of lung cancer." Ye Qun said, "Food is monopolized by large farms, and the profit of growing corn is meager, all relying on government subsidies." He shook his head, "The planting area is too small, and it is difficult to make a profit."

"Organic vegetables." Fan Zhou said, "Recently, they have become very popular in China. They claim to be planted in an all-ecological and pollution-free manner, and their prices have doubled. They are specially sold to middle-aged women like Teacher Fan who are over half a century old. I don't know if there is a market in the United States. ? Do middle-aged and elderly Americans love health care?"

"It's hard to say." Ye Qun looked at the white clouds flowing in the distant sky, his eyes were a little confused.

On this point, after Brand refused to cooperate, he and Lance discussed the future development of the farm.Although they have no financial pressure for the time being, the farm cannot continue to lose money endlessly.

Hunter Farm covers an area of ​​about 150 acres, of which [-] acres are planted with corn.Except for a natural lake of ten acres, the remaining plantable area is less than twenty acres.And unless the area of ​​[-] mu is planted with gold, it is difficult to generate considerable income.

There are now few small farms growing corn because of falling prices caused by the monopoly of large farms.In Woodlands, the main crop of most farms is wheat, and the income per acre is [-] to [-] dollars higher than that of corn.

But the cornfield was planted by Lance's father when he bought the farm. Even though the profit from planting is Weibo, it still has an unshakable position in Lance's heart, and it is even the most important part of the farm in his heart.This means that the entire hundred acres of land cannot be used for other output.

They also have other options, such as raising livestock that Lance mentioned, expanding the shed in the backyard, raising a batch of chicks, selling them as broilers when they mature, selling some of the eggs, and keeping the rest for incubation.

But raising livestock also faces the problem of scale. Small-scale raising brings little income and can only be self-sufficient.

About 1000 chickens can be raised in a five-acre area. A chicken costs about 2 dollars, and eggs are sold at a price of [-] dollars a dozen. After removing the feeding costs, each batch has a net profit of about [-] dollars.

The remaining 75 mu of land is used to raise cattle or sheep. It can raise about 100 cows or 500 sheep. It takes 2 months for a cow to be slaughtered. The profit is about [-] knives. The sheep grow faster and the profit is relatively low. Low.After a year, the average income can be about [-] knives.

But correspondingly, the energy required to raise a large number of livestock is also huge.Caring for livestock is physical work, and there is no way for the two of them to do it alone.They have to hire workers, and labor costs are very high in the United States.

"We plan to expand the farm." Ye Qun said, this is the result of their final discussion. The advanced agricultural technology in the United States makes it easier to take care of thousands of acres of land, and the most important thing in Texas is land.