"Woo woo..." Hearing Jiang Hai's words, the Caucasian white dog couldn't help but make two very depressed sounds, then looked at Jiang Hai pitifully. Meanwhile, the blue wolf mastiff Xiao Huang just looked at Jiang Hai before turning away.
Seeing that Xiao Huang had left, Xiao Bai didn't stay for long either, glancing back every few steps.
"Boss, are these chickens of yours for eating or raising?" At this time, Robbins parked the car, got out, and looked at the three cages in Jiang Hai's hand, asking curiously.
In fact, if this were in China, holding such a small chicken would naturally mean it's for eating, but in the United States, a chicken weighing about three pounds is just considered a chick. Ordinary white-feathered chickens must weigh at least six or seven pounds before they're deemed suitable for consumption.
Take the white-feathered broiler chickens that Kaifeng dishes talk about every day, for example. When these chickens are 24 weeks old, meaning four months old, they weigh about five pounds. By the time they're 68 weeks old, they can reach six pounds. This is the case in China. In the United States, hybridization technology is so advanced, and the yield is higher. Otherwise, why do you think hamburgers are so cheap here?
So, to them, a three-pound chicken is really not edible.
"Of course, it's for eating." When he heard Robbins, Jiang Hai raised his eyebrows and responded seriously.
"But such a small chicken? Okay, then, boss, do you want to kill it now?" Robbins, though slightly reluctant, was ready to handle the chicken, as killing chickens, cattle, and sheep was all in a day's work for cowboys.
"No, I'm not going to kill it now." After thinking for a moment, Jiang Hai realized he wasn't planning to kill the chicken right away.
He hadn't originally planned to buy chickens. If the old man hadn't suggested it, he wouldn't have thought to buy them.
Now that he had bought them, he could clean them easily, but how to go about it? Well, he really didn't know.
"Then let's raise it first. It's so small, there won't be much meat after killing it." Hearing Jiang Hai's hesitation, Robbins thought Jiang Hai also felt the chicken was too small and smiled, offering his suggestion.
If Robbins knew that this type of chicken could only grow this big, he would probably be shocked.
Speaking of raising it, a chicken coop was necessary. Robbins was quite skilled at such tasks. According to him, he could get some wooden boards, nail them to the ground, build a small chicken coop, and use wood to make a small house, then hang a fishing net around it so the chickens couldn't escape. It would also be easy to catch and feed them.
There was a forest nearby, and Robbins had saved a lot of wood over the years. Making a chicken coop would be no problem. Hearing his words, Jiang Hai's eyes lit up—this was indeed a solution.
"Hey, boss, the horses you bought this time are amazing. They're all adult Quarters. You know, maintaining such horses is much more expensive than buying a car. Only you, boss, have the courage to buy six horses at once." At that moment, Philemon came over from a distance with a smile. He and Burke had just driven the horses back to the stable. In the next few days, they not only had to take care of the cattle, but also the horses. These were all adult horses. Taking care of foals would be much easier; they only needed to adapt for a few days. When the cattle went out to graze, these horses would prove useful.
"Of course, the boss is the most generous boss I've ever seen." Robbins heard Philemon's words and chimed in. Although Jiang Hai knew they were flattering him, it was still nice to hear. After all, he had always been the one doing the flattering in the past. When had anyone ever flattered him?
"By the way, boss, my wife asked what you want to eat later—fried steak, fried fish, stewed beef, stewed lamb, and can white bread be the staple food?" Seeing Jiang Hai's look of contentment, Philemon didn't forget the real purpose of his visit and asked Jiang Hai. But when Jiang Hai heard the list of foods, he couldn't help smacking his lips.
Although he didn't dislike these foods, eating them every day was becoming tiresome.
"Tell your wife that I want to change the taste today, so she doesn't need to cook my usual dishes in the evening." After thinking for a moment, Jiang Hai realized that foreigners might not understand the twists and turns of Chinese tastes, so he decided to be straightforward.
"Well then, boss, what do you want to eat? I'll go back and tell her." Philemon was surprised at Jiang Hai's request to change the menu.
"No, no, no need to tell her. I'm giving her a day off today. You don't need to cook what I want to eat; it's my hometown food." Shaking his head, Jiang Hai didn't want Mrs. Philemon to try those modified Chinese dishes. It would be better for him to make it himself. He just wanted to change the taste, as he needed to learn to adapt since he was living here now.
"Oh, I see. What do you need for your hometown dishes? I'll help you find it," Philemon said, laughing and excited to help.
"No, I want to make river fish, but you won't eat it. Since you're here, help me make the chicken coop!" Hearing Jiang Hai mention river fish, Robbins and Philemon couldn't help frowning, before smiling awkwardly.
They had heard that Chinese people liked to eat river fish, but for them, it wasn't appetizing.
First, the bones were overwhelming. Americans who preferred large bites of meat weren't used to eating fish with so many bones.
Second, river fish often had an earthy smell. Some people might like the fishy smell but couldn't tolerate the earthy one, which made these fish unappealing.
There was also a third reason. A few decades ago, the United States was developing rapidly, just like China. The pollution of rivers and land was severe at the time, and although the government started improving the situation, older generations still believed river fish were unclean.
Even if the government reassured people that these fish were safe, many still refused to eat them. But it was heard that the West Coast had started catching these fish, drying them, and shipping them to China.
In China, these wild fish were quite popular, though dead fish could never be sold at a high price. In Jiang Hai's opinion, this problem was easy to solve. All he had to do was issue visa-free permits to China, let tourists come to fish, and set up small villas they could rent cheaply. Within a year, the fish in the Great Lakes would be gone, and he could also make extra money.
Of course, solving problems between countries wasn't easy. If Jiang Hai's idea were feasible, he wouldn't be discussing it here.
Although Robbins and Philemon weren't interested in river fish, they were good at building things. With Jiang Hai's help in passing the wood, a simple chicken coop was built in less than an hour. Then they covered it with a broken fishing net. Jiang Hai placed the three chickens through the door, and they quickly ran into the coop, curiously inspecting their new home. But soon, their limited attention span kicked in, and they started walking outside to look for food.
As for Jiang Hai, he rode the all-terrain vehicle and left the manor with his hand rod.
When it came to sea fishing, Jiang Hai wasn't confident, but when it came to using a hand rod, he was quite skilled.
Boston, the largest city in New England, was also the main colonial city for Britain when the United States was first established. The British favored it due to the region's developed water infrastructure. To the west was Massachusetts Bay, connected to the Atlantic Ocean, with abundant freshwater resources.
Although there were only two named rivers—the Charles River and Chelsea Creek—the area was full of freshwater waterways, many of which were unmarked on Google Maps but could be easily identified in person.
The freshwater rivers of the U.S. were undergoing many tests, with the most significant issue being the Asian carp invasion. The term "Asian carp" referred to several species, including silver carp, bighead carp, and crucian carp, which Jiang Hai considered river fish.
Though not skilled at sea fishing, Jiang Hai was confident in fishing for these species. Having fished wild river fish in China, he knew the ropes.
To the north of Jiang Hai's manor, there was a freshwater river that was a mere ten-minute bike ride or half an hour on foot. He'd passed it before and knew it was teeming with fish.
Jiang Hai had many ideas for these fish, but when it came to sea fishing, he found it more interesting. At least the fish were worth looking forward to. Still, given his lack of skill in sea fishing and the meal he planned for that night, Jiang Hai decided to shelve his ideas for now. As a boss, he couldn't always come up empty-handed—it just wouldn't do.