Now, because the little chicks were too young, they did not have the ability to hunt for food on their own. They relied on Lan Dazhuang to feed them every day.
There were more than a hundred little chicks, and they had to eat a lot of food every day. Half of the wheat that their family had gotten from the union last year and the wheat bran that they had saved from when they were peeling and grinding the flour had already disappeared.
As these little chicks slowly grew in size, the remaining bran could not last long!
Therefore, the biggest problem at hand was that the little chicks were running out of food.
Lan Shu did not realize that this would be a problem.
She had no idea about the food storage situation at home, let alone the amount of bran stored.
Now that she heard her brother say that it would be difficult for them to continue like this, she should resolve the issue soon.
When Lan Dazhuang returned at night, Lan Shu took out the remaining 1,400 yuan that the siblings had invested and handed it all to Lan Dazhuang.
"Big Brother, we don't have any bran in our house. Let's go and get some from the others in the village."
Previously, this money was all managed by Lan Shu.
This was the first time Lan Dazhuang had seen so much money.
If it were anyone else, they would have been stunned. However, Lan Dazhuang was not interested in money. He was only focused on the problem of food for the little chicks.
He took out a few bills and stuffed the rest back into his sister's hands.
"Bran is cheap. We can get it for 60 to 70 cents per catty. This money is enough to buy a lot. You can keep the rest. I won't be able to spend it even if you give me more."
Lan Dazhuang said that, but Lan Shu didn't see a relaxed expression on his face.
"Brother, is there something else?" She looked at Lan Dazhuang in confusion.
If there was nothing else, Lan Dazhuang wouldn't be frowning.
Lan Dazhuang sighed.
"Even though we have money, it's not easy to get bran."
"In the past few years, every village has been short of food. A large portion of the annual harvest of the farmland in the village has been handed over to the public. The rest are distributed according to the social credits that everyone accumulates from working in the fields.
"Children don't have the ability to work, and women are weak and don't do much work, so they don't collect many social credits. Because of this, many people's families don't have enough food to eat at all, so they mix bran into their rations. Although the texture is a little coarse, it can fill them up!"
So, the bran in their house was food for the chicks, but in someone else's house, it was food to fill their stomachs.
Upon hearing this news, Lan Shu immediately understood the reason for her brother's worries.
A family that could sell bran must have good conditions and not have to worry about food.
However, there were not many families like this in the village.
"I'll try my best to gather bran over the next few days." Lan Dazhuang sighed again.
From his tone, it was not hard for Lan Shu to tell that her brother did not have much hope.
Lan Shu was more far-sighted about this matter.
Their free-range chicken farm only had more than a hundred chicks now, and they already had to worry about food. In the future, when they expanded their scale and raised a thousand, 10,000, or even more chickens, they would need an astonishing amount of bran!
Without low-priced bran to feed the chickens, their free-range chicken farm plan would not go ahead.
Therefore, this problem had to be resolved!
Given the current situation, if they could not harvest it in the village, they would go to the other villages to harvest it. Perhaps the chicks would still have food to eat for the time being, but that might not be the case in the future.
The hundred or so chicks on the mountain could not starve.
Suddenly, Lan Shu thought of a solution.
It was actually not difficult to collect a large amount of bran. As long as they went to the county where every family did not lack food, they could gather as much as they wanted.
Lan Shu had already planned to go to the county because of the sanitary pads.
Now, she could use this opportunity to prepare to go ahead of time!
Knowing that his sister was going to the county, Lan Dazhuang was worried.
At night, when Lan Shengli and Chang Chunfang came back, they also heard that their daughter was going to the city.
The two of them were immediately worried that their daughter would have no one to rely on if she went to the county alone. What if she encountered trouble and was bullied?
Lan Shu had already thought of a way to deal with this.
"I'm not going alone. Xiao Bai, come with me," Lan Shu said in front of her family.
Xiao Bai only found out about this from Sister Lan tonight before Lan Shengli and Chang Chunfang came back.
Even he was worried about Sister Lan going to the county alone. Hence, when Sister Lan suggested that he could accompany her, Xiao Bai agreed immediately!
As for the fact that he had relatives in the county, he did not have to worry.
The county was so big. As long as he did not take the initiative to walk near the other party, the chances of him meeting someone he knew were negligible.
With Xiao Bai around, the old couple of the Lan family was instantly relieved!
Lan Dazhuang took a deep look at Xiao Bai and muttered in his heart. Although Xiao Bai didn't seem to have much flesh on him, he was really strong. If his little sister went to the county with him, there shouldn't be any problems with her safety.
The next morning, Lan Dazhuang drove the tractor to the county with his sister and Xiao Bai.
He still had to go back to take care of the fruit saplings at the back of the mountain and plant the next round of wheat in the village, so he could not delay for too long.
Hence, he agreed to meet his sister in the county in three days.
Three days were almost enough for Lan Shu to gather a cart full of wheat bran…
…
The county was much more prosperous and lively than the village.
This place was not like the village where many families lived in mud-walled houses mixed with straw and clay.
Here, green brick houses could be seen everywhere.
Although Lan Shu was already used to living in the village during this period of time, after coming to the county, she still felt that the environment in the county was more comfortable.
Although she was an orphan in the past, she grew up in the city. She had been used to this kind of environment for more than 20 years, and that couldn't be changed in just a month.
This feeling was not only limited to Lan Shu.
Beside her, Xiao Bai also felt that he was more familiar with the county's environment.
Was the place he used to live in the county?
No, he vaguely remembered that the place he used to live in was even better than this place!
As Lan Shu and Xiao Bai had to stay in the county for at least a few days, they had to settle the accommodation first.
If they were going to stay at a guest house, they had to have a recommendation letter from the village.
When Lan Shu came out, she did not plan to stay in a guest house. She was going to rent a house in the county.
Renting a house was not expensive. It only costs a few yuan a month. It was also convenient for her to have a place to store the bran after she collected it.
Moreover, it was a long-term business for her to collect bran. As long as her free-range chicken farm kept raising chickens, the need for bran would not stop.
Therefore, it was not a loss to rent a house.