At two in the morning, Jiang Ye woke up needing to pee. He got up to relieve himself.
After finishing, he headed straight for the chicken coop.
The chickens were all awake, clucking noisily. The floor of the coop was covered in their droppings and urine.
Jiang Ye cleaned it all up with a shovel and flushed it down the toilet.
Then, he carefully observed the chickens on the racks.
The chicks had clearly grown a size, no longer as small as when he first put them in.
Their growth rate astonished Jiang Ye; times had truly changed, even chickens grew fast.
Then he looked at the hens.
"What the heck!" Jiang Ye exclaimed aloud.
Many of the hens were already laying eggs, transforming into egg-laying chickens!
The eggs were white and brown, quite small, lying quietly in the egg troughs. Some looked freshly laid, still with damp chicken feces attached.
Jiang Ye became excited and quickly ran back to the base.
He opened the Livestock Assistant and searched for egg cartons.
A large number of results popped up, all sorts of egg containers with different price points.
Jiang Ye selected a large egg case, made of white plastic, with many indentations inside, capable of holding fifty eggs.
It was incredibly cheap, costing fifty yuan each.
He placed an order directly, purchasing six of them.
The transaction bay flashed with light, and all six egg cases emerged.
Jiang Ye, carrying the egg cases, went to the chicken coop to start collecting eggs.
One, two, three...
Eight, nine, ten...
After collecting them all, there were a total of 58 eggs!
Jiang Ye carried the egg cases back to the base and placed them next to the transaction bay.
He picked up an egg and gently placed it inside the transaction bay.
After a brief scan, information appeared:
[Item: Fresh Egg]
[Item Description: Still warm!]
[Estimated Value: 8 Yuan]
Jiang Ye's spirits lifted!
They were so valuable!
He remembered going to the supermarket before, where eggs were only a few cents each, and anything over a dollar was considered a good egg.
He hadn't expected the price of eggs to skyrocket like this; such a small egg was worth eight yuan!
He quickly put all fifty-eight eggs into the transaction bay and sold them!
464 yuan were credited to his account.
He then opened the base upgrade function. "Livestock Products" indeed had a green checkmark. He was still 4 million yuan short of upgrading to a Level 10 base.
Jiang Ye bought two bags of feed and carried them back to the chicken coop.
He poured an entire bag for the egg-laying chickens first. These chickens seemed to have been waiting, as they immediately stretched out their necks to snatch the feed once it was scattered.
Jiang Ye then poured half a bag for the chicks. He didn't dare to give them too much, fearing the little ones might overeat and die.
The chicks hesitated at first, having never seen the feed before, but gradually, a few bold chicks began to peck at it, and soon, all the other chicks were scrambling for it.
Jiang Ye returned to the base and bought ten more bags of feed, carrying them all to the chicken coop and placing them in a corner. This way, he could grab feed to give to the chickens anytime, saving himself the trouble of running back and forth.
Just as he was about to go back to sleep, he suddenly noticed that the egg-laying chickens had started laying eggs again!
In the blink of an eye, there were dozens more eggs!
Jiang Ye brought the egg cases and collected them immediately.
Taking them back to the base to sell, he earned another 408 yuan.
He felt something was off and returned to the chicken coop to check. He saw over thirty new eggs again!
These chickens were laying eggs too frequently.
Their egg-laying speed was completely abnormal.
Jiang Ye was no longer sleepy and decided to stay up and observe.
He squatted beside the chicken coop, staring into the eyes of the egg-laying chickens.
Occasionally, he would turn around and stare into their rear ends.
He stayed there for over four hours, until dawn broke.
Jiang Ye finally discovered the secret of these egg-laying chickens.
Their egg-laying speed was entirely dependent on their feeding speed!
When the feed was insufficient, they wouldn't lay eggs and would crane their necks, clucking.
When the feed was abundant, each chicken would lay a small egg on average every half hour!
This egg-laying speed was truly demonic.
Jiang Ye was shocked. He strongly suspected these were alien chickens, even though they all looked very similar to Earth's native chickens.
He did a quick calculation: if one hundred egg-laying chickens were fully fed all day, they could lay an astonishing 4800 eggs per day.
At eight yuan per egg, that would be a profit of 38,400 yuan.
That was quite considerable.
However, for Jiang Ye, this amount of money was still too little.
It was too much work; he had to serve these chickens almost 24 hours a day, feeding them, collecting eggs, and cleaning their waste, just to earn this little.
After a moment of thought, a bold idea suddenly struck him.
Hire someone!
Working for others wouldn't earn much money; it was better to be a boss!
He returned to the base and opened the chat channel.
Jiang Ye hesitated for a moment, then clicked on an old friend's interface and sent a message.
Jiang Ye: How have you been lately?
The Cap Cannot Be Twisted: Not good, I'm trapped by the blizzard.
Jiang Ye: Life is tight, right?
The Cap Cannot Be Twisted: More than tight, if this continues, we'll be starving soon.
Jiang Ye: I have a job here. If you do well, you can get rich and won't have to worry about food. Are you willing to do it?
The Cap Cannot Be Twisted: Is that true? Of course, I'm willing. What exactly is it?
Jiang Ye: I'll give you a chicken coop, two heat lamps, and twenty egg-laying chickens. I'll provide you with some feed every day.
The Cap Cannot Be Twisted: So, I'm just responsible for raising the chickens? When they lay eggs, we sell them, and I hand over the profits to you, keeping a small portion for myself?
Jiang Ye: That's right, exactly. I'll provide the equipment, and you'll do the work. We'll split the profits from selling the eggs fifty-fifty.
The Cap Cannot Be Twisted: But twenty chickens, twenty eggs a day, won't earn much money, will it?
Jiang Ye: If you keep feeding them, you can earn up to 3840 yuan a day.
The Cap Cannot Be Twisted: Holy crap, how is that possible? Are these chickens laying golden eggs?
Jiang Ye: Are you in or not? If not, I'll find someone else. If you are, you must promise never to hide anything from me and never to underreport the profits.
The Cap Cannot Be Twisted: I swear, I'll follow Big Brother Jiang from now on! I will never hide anything from Big Brother Jiang, and I will never underreport profits! I'll tell Big Brother Jiang everything!
Jiang Ye nodded with satisfaction.
Immediately after, he began the handover.
First, he transmitted the parts for the iron frame chicken coop.
Then, he transmitted the chicken coop heat lamps.
Jiang Ye: You first dig the earth and build a windproof chicken coop next to the base. Although there are heat lamps, if it's drafty, the chickens will still freeze to death. Once you're done building, install all this equipment, then send me a message, and I'll give you the chickens.
The Cap Cannot Be Twisted: Understood, Brother Jiang, I'll get to work right away!
Jiang Ye was hungry and decided to have chicken for breakfast.
He went to the chicken coop and selected a plump hen.
He yanked it out directly!
All the chickens were terrified, staring at Jiang Ye in fear, letting out a cacophony of clucking. A great sense of dread permeated the chicken coop.
The chicken he grabbed also struggled desperately.
Jiang Ye carried it out of the chicken coop and closed the door behind him.
Quickly and cleanly, he twisted the chicken's neck!
This chicken had remarkably tenacious vitality; even after its neck was twisted, it struggled for a long time before finally dying.
Jiang Ye began to process the chicken.