"Chen, Chen Yang, this, how much is this in total?"
Wang Jianguo's heart pounded like a drum. He twisted the Guangming Daily in his hand and looked at the donkey carts packed full behind Chen Yang.
At this moment, he had a very strong premonition.
That pounding wasn't fish, it was his incredibly bright future!
"Big fish and small fish combined, the gross weight is fifteen thousand nine hundred jin!"
"Though it's been bumpy on the road, and I haven't seen how many have flipped over, it's definitely over ten thousand jin."
Chen Yang, seeing Wang Jianguo trembling and unsteady, quickly signaled to his cousin.
When Wang Station Chief took him to see Liu Fuchun, Chen Yang thought his composure was excellent.
What was wrong now?
Chen Yang was genuinely afraid something would happen to Wang Jianguo. If something happened to him, and the aquaculture station got a new station chief who didn't understand the situation as well as Wang Jianguo, he'd have nowhere to cry.
"Station Chief, you're rushing too much. Take a breath, let me help you."
Zhao Wukang was also quick-witted. Seeing Chen Yang's signal, he immediately supported Wang Jianguo.
This small gesture instantly earned him many points in Wang Jianguo's mind.
He also realized he had lost his composure a bit.
No matter how many fish there were, he had to store them properly and deliver them to the municipal aquatic products company to complete the task.
Just seeing this much fish had overwhelmed him. How would he handle bigger scenes in the future? Indeed, he had been station chief for too short a time; his mindset hadn't yet shifted from that of an ordinary employee.
"Xiao Liu, Old Zhang, Accountant Hu, where are you all?"
"All staff of the aquaculture station, come out immediately! Quickly divide the fish, weigh them, and send them to the ponds. Start up the aerators sent by the city."
Even after calming down, Wang Jianguo immediately summoned all the aquaculture station employees he could command. These fish would have losses.
He had to get the fish into the ponds quickly.
It was because the last shipment of fish was so large that the municipal aquatic products company had specially equipped them with impeller aerators.
These things were great. It was said they were developed by the Fishery Machinery Institute of the Aquatic Products Science Research Academy only a few years ago. With these aerators, the survival rate of fish could be improved.
If it weren't for the Qinghe City Aquatic Products Company seizing the opportunity to earn foreign exchange this time, he, Wang Jianguo, would never have had access to such good equipment.
Seeing Wang Jianguo so excited, Chen Yang, along with Shen Guangfu and others, also quickly helped to sort and weigh the fish. More fish had suffocated at the bottom of the buckets this time than before.
Even though the villagers kept the fish in net bags filled with river water, Liu Jiawan, Zhenfang, and Gang Shang, being farther away, might have taken one and a half to two hours on the road.
Except for the fish collected by Shen Xue and her father, which had hardly any dead ones, Chen Yang, Shen Guangfu, and Zheng Weiguo's buckets all had quite a few flipped-over fish.
After half a day of busy work, with Master Zhang on the scales and Accountant Hu recording the accounts on-site, the figures were finally tallied.
"Big fish, twelve thousand jin. Small fish, two thousand eight hundred jin."
"These still ones, probably over a thousand jin."
Everyone felt a sense of pity, especially Wang Jianguo. He felt even more distressed than Chen Yang, the person involved. This was over a thousand jin of fish!
Remembering that before meeting Chen Yang, Wang Jianguo might not have collected this much fish in a week.
These flipped-over fish, in this hot weather, would start to smell if left out for a while, and he wouldn't be able to deliver them to the aquatic products company.
Wang Jianguo felt heartache!
"Yangzi, although these fish have flipped over, it's only been an hour or two. If we just throw them away, it would be a sin. Let's take them back, gut them in the river, and dry them into fish jerky."
"These can be eaten even during the New Year."
Shen Guangfu looked at the pile of dead fish, which resembled a small mountain, and his heart ached.
They were all honest farmers. This was meat, meat more precious than grain!
Before, they would only catch fish in the river when they were starving. Fish were not easy to catch, and they didn't dare to catch too many.
If they caught too many and couldn't eat them, they would spoil. If you dared to dry fish jerky, it was fine to dry one or two in secret, but if there were too many and someone saw,
A few years ago, you would be arrested for re-education.
It was only now, with the support of the old village secretary, Director Liu of the commune, and the big leaders of the food factory for Chen Yang's fish collection, that he dared to bring this up.
In the past, he wouldn't even dare to speak such words.
"What this brother says makes sense!"
"Drying fish jerky, how did I not think of that? I only thought about not delivering live fish, but the aquatic products company also slaughters live fish to make canned fish. Aren't canned fish also made from dried fish? Maybe the aquatic products company will also accept it!"
Hearing Shen Guangfu's words, Wang Jianguo also slapped his forehead.
Mainly, Chen Yang's previous shipments of fish had no such significant losses, so he hadn't paid any attention.
Today, with losses of over a thousand jin, he felt the pain, and Shen Guangfu's reminder made him remember that they could dry fish jerky.
"Second Uncle, let's take them back and process them quickly to dry them. If they sit any longer, they'll smell."
Chen Yang had already prepared for the loss of these fish. He had paid for fifteen thousand nine hundred jin of fish, and the aquatic products station weighed out fourteen thousand eight hundred jin of live fish, a loss of eleven hundred jin.
Although it stung a little, the money earned was definitely much more than when he only collected from Shenjiaba Village.
Now that he could make fish jerky to reduce some of the loss, he was naturally willing.
Even if the municipal aquatic products company didn't accept them, he could sell them at a lower price to the state-run department store in the county supply and marketing cooperative, or simply to the county food factory. Chen Yang was confident that Wang Jianguo would help him find a way.
"There's no time to lose."
"Chen Yang, go with Accountant Hu to settle the accounts. Have this elder brother quickly lead people to take the fish back for processing, don't let them smell."
Wang Jianguo was also decisive. Chen Yang had given him a big surprise today.
If there was such a large volume of aquatic product purchases every day, he could apply for the factory's Liberation brand truck to deliver goods to the municipal aquatic products company in two or three days.
This month, he would surpass Ning'an, Qingyuan, and other counties. This time, his Liuhe County Aquatic Products Station would win the title of first in aquatic product output among all counties under Qinghe City!
"Weiguo, Maosheng, go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy salt. It will be needed for drying fish jerky later."
"Wife, you go with Second Uncle and Uncle Laifu to take the fish back, and mobilize the women in the village."
"Process one fish and dry it into jerky, I'll give one fen. Quickly process the fish, don't let them spoil."
Chen Yang quickly instructed Shen Xue. One fen per fish. For these more than a thousand jin of fish, even if there were small fish under one jin, there wouldn't be a thousand of them.
The total would be about ten yuan.
For Chen Yang, it was certainly not a lot, but it was different for the villagers.
Gutting a fish and drying it into jerky for one fen!
Ten fish would be one mao!
Nowadays, a man's work points for a day of labor were only ten, which translated to money at the end of the year, basically one mao.
Gutting ten fish and drying them into jerky was equivalent to a day's work. No one would refuse!
"Yangzi, you are a great benefactor to our village. You always think of the village in every good thing."
When Shen Laifu heard Chen Yang's words, the fifty-something-year-old man's heart was warmed. Wasn't he the one Chen Yang led to make money?
"Uncle Laifu, this is nothing. You and my Second Uncle, hurry up and get it done for me. These fish can't go bad."
Chen Yang waved his hand. For these more than a thousand jin of fish, he had already paid out one to two hundred yuan for the acquisition price. Compared to that, giving the villagers ten yuan for processing fees was truly nothing.
If they were processed well and the aquatic products company accepted them, he would easily earn it back.