Chapter 157

Chapter 157

On the last day of the sow deliveries, there were still fourteen sows left to give birth. Although the previous days had gone smoothly, with Ye Qing in control and leading her four apprentices to carry out the deliveries without any mistakes, everyone was on edge on this final day. The television crew had set up cameras to film Ye Qing’s work, as the footage would be essential for the upcoming news broadcast. Both the military farm and the reporters were worried that something might go wrong during the filming.

The apprentices had never dealt with anything like this before. Seeing several cameras placed in the corner of the birthing pen, aimed directly at the delivery room, made them nervous. They lost their usual calm and efficiency.

Ye Qing had to take over and guide her nervous apprentices through each step. Ye Qing’s calm demeanor gradually put the girls at ease, and slowly, they regained their focus and became immersed in the delivery work. They soon forgot about the cameras and focused entirely on the sows awaiting delivery.

The filming proceeded without any issues. The television crew didn’t film the entire process but spent one to two hours capturing the necessary footage. Once they had what they needed, they packed up and left.

The final day ended earlier than the previous ones, with everything completed by around 1 PM.

After compiling the statistics, excluding the two sows that were later added, all the sows on the farm had given birth safely. A total of 1,604 piglets were delivered, a staggering number. The people on the farm were excited, and even the reporters who had come for the interview were astonished and found it hard to believe.

If they hadn’t witnessed Ye Qing delivering the piglets with their own eyes, they might have suspected some fraud, as the numbers seemed unreal. Even if the data were shared abroad, it would likely be met with disbelief.

Afterward, the television station recorded a short interview with Ye Qing. Zhao Yuliang also participated in the interview. The questions and standard answers had been prepared by the television station in advance. Ye Qing only needed to adjust the language to her own words. For an official news broadcast, this was the standard procedure, and Ye Qing didn’t find it strange. She just followed the reporters' lead and cooperated fully.

Once the interview was completed, the entire reporter team didn’t linger on the farm. They had gathered enough material for their stories and left immediately, rushing back to Ji City as quickly as possible.

After seeing them off, Zhao Yuliang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

To celebrate the successful completion of the deliveries, Zhao Yuliang generously arranged for a platoon of soldiers to go hunting in the mountains. That evening, they added the game to the meals for the tens of thousands of soldiers on the base. In addition, he arranged for the kitchen staff to prepare a special feast to reward Ye Qing and her team. Zhao Yuliang also gave Ye Qing an envelope with vouchers as extra compensation, allowing her to distribute them as she saw fit.

Ye Qing was always generous with her team. Whenever she got something from the farm, she always shared it with her team. On the way back, she proudly showed the items to the girls, letting them pick what they wanted first, and then they divided the rest equally.

This time, the compensation included not only money and vouchers but also some coupons for the Friendship Store, a special government-run shop. Although there was no Friendship Store in Jiaotan County and the items could only be exchanged in the provincial city, Ye Qing was interested in one thing: a camera from a Japanese brand listed on the coupons. She took that for herself and let the girls divide the rest.

The girls weren’t greedy. Each took one or two coupons they wanted and pushed the rest back to Ye Qing. Ye Qing then divided the remaining coupons into five equal shares and handed them out. Each girl received a stack.

"Everyone has worked hard this time, and we’ve gained a lot of insights from the harvest over the past few days. When we return, take the time to reflect on your experiences and document what you've learned. Additionally, the sow postpartum care project I mentioned earlier can now be put on the agenda. The over thousand piglets and the newly delivered sows on this farm will be your subjects for observation and experimentation. The next month will be the optimal time to research this project."

Ye Qing let the girls run the project themselves, only stepping in to guide the big picture. She wouldn’t get involved in the details.

Less than two days after finishing the sow delivery work at the farm, Ye Qing received several phone calls from Old Comrade Yang, Gu Weidong, and Chen Youde from Shen City, all congratulating her.

Since Kaoshan Tun was remote, news often arrived late, but those in Jicheng City and Shen City had already seen the front-page headlines in several major newspapers about the scientific breeding at Qingshan Farm early that morning. Old Comrade Yang had also received news that the latest progress in Ye Qing’s scientific breeding plan for the farm would be officially broadcast on the evening news of Jicheng Television that night. So, he called to remind Ye Qing to watch the television.

During the call, Old Comrade Yang praised Ye Qing in various ways, clearly extremely satisfied with her performance after going to the countryside. He felt immense pride in having confidently recommended Ye Qing to the higher-ups. After all, he had personally discovered and recommended this young girl to the leaders, and now that she had become so capable, he naturally felt incredibly honored.

As for appearing on television, Ye Qing was certainly happy about it, but it didn’t excite her or make her nervous to a great extent. Mainly because, in her previous life, she had seen it all before on social media, so appearing on TV was just icing on the cake and wouldn’t cause any major changes in her current life. She just laughed it off and put it aside, focusing on her work.

The five days spent at the military farm had indeed taken too much time, resulting in a backlog of three to four hundred patients at the health station. If she didn’t work overtime, the backlog of patients would lead to complaints.

Although Ye Qing didn’t take the television appearance to heart, Wu Yongbing and the others were understandably excited about it. As soon as they heard that Ye Qing would be on the evening news, the people in Kaoshan Tun became more excited than Ye Qing herself. They immediately started preparing, moving the black-and-white TV that had been awarded to Ye Qing by the authorities to the threshing ground and setting up a stage. The TV channel was pre-tuned, and they spread the good news to several nearby production teams, inviting everyone to witness this exciting moment.

By the time Ye Qing and her team finished seeing the last patient of the day and returned to the yard to eat and rest, they were taken to the threshing ground by the villagers. By then, the threshing ground was packed with people from the village and nearby production teams, all squeezing into the large area. Everyone had their necks stretched, eyes fixed on the fourteen-inch black-and-white TV placed on the stage.

For over twenty minutes, no one in the crowd of hundreds made a sound. Everyone listened intently, eyes glued to the TV screen, afraid to miss the moment when Ye Qing appeared.

When Ye Qing was brought to the threshing ground, everyone immediately gave her a look of respect and automatically made way, leaving the spot closest to the TV for her. Wu Yongbing and the old party secretary were waving at her from the front. With no other choice, Ye Qing led her apprentices inside.

Television news during this period aired from 7:00 PM to 7:20 PM, a twenty-minute slot usually dedicated to broadcasting leaders' meetings and major parliamentary events, with occasional international news mixed in. Ye Qing had previously watched it out of curiosity when she first got the black-and-white TV, so she was generally familiar with the news broadcasting process of this era.

Ye Qing was surprised when the news broadcast that evening ran for forty minutes instead of the usual twenty. The longest segment focused on the scientific pig breeding program at Qingshan Farm. Not only were her and Zhao Yuliang’s interview segments included, but also footage of Ye Qing using acupuncture to induce labor in sows and her assisting with the delivery of piglets with her apprentices.

For over twenty minutes, from the onset of labor to the final delivery of over twenty piglets, everyone in the threshing ground held their breath, not daring to blink. Even after the last piglet was born, the crowd remained in awe, still processing what they had just witnessed. "

Even though these people had already heard that Ye Qing's scientific breeding plan was a significant achievement, and even various production teams had followed the steps of Kaishan Tun by adopting Ye Qing's artificial insemination technology for breeding sows, they hadn't had the chance to witness the final delivery of the piglets. As a result, they still didn't have a fully clear understanding of what Ye Qing's scientific breeding entailed.

But at this moment, with the footage broadcast on television, everyone gained a deeper understanding of Ye Qing's new pig breeding technology. They began to realize, albeit vaguely, just how powerful this breeding reform technology was! The people present might be witnessing history in the making!

If every production team could master this technology, even if each sow could steadily deliver ten piglets per litter, it would be a game-changer. From then on, domestic pig production would skyrocket, shifting from insufficient supply to surplus. At that point, having meat on every family's table every meal would no longer be just a dream!

The entire room fell silent, and it was unclear how much time had passed before someone finally spoke up, asking loudly:

"Ye Qing, is it true? Did the neighboring farm really produce over a thousand piglets?"

Before Ye Qing could respond, someone from the back of the crowd called out, "There's no mistake! Several newspapers published the news this morning. After I received the news, I went to the farm to verify it myself. This time, a total of 78 sows gave birth, producing over 1,600 piglets in total, and not a single one was stillborn during the delivery process!"

The person speaking was none other than Lai Guochang.

Lai Guochang had received a phone call from the county office in the morning, and soon after, the post office had delivered the newspapers. When he saw the headline news, he realized the scale of what Ye Qing had accomplished at the neighboring military farm. He immediately went to find Zhao Yuliang to confirm the details.

After witnessing those lively piglets with his own eyes, even at his age of thirty or forty, Lai Guochang couldn't help but feel his heart race, as if a tidal wave had crashed over him.

He immediately understood that his decision to have the production teams under him follow Kaishan Tun's lead was the right one. Now, those production teams had all adopted the artificial insemination technology developed by Ye Qing. If everything went smoothly, the sows in those production teams would soon deliver their litters. His expectations weren't high—if each sow could deliver around ten piglets per litter, the pig production targets for the Red Flag Commune would be exceeded without a doubt this year.

Under his leadership, the production teams under him were working together harmoniously and delivering such impressive results. This was a tangible achievement that belonged to him.

Moreover, since Kaishan Tun was part of the Red Flag Commune, now the village had uncovered such a talented individual, which reflected well on him as the commune secretary. This achievement was one that no one could take away from him.

In short, Lai Guochang now saw things clearly. If he wanted to advance and enter the county committee, the best and fastest way would be to closely align himself with Ye Qing's success. As long as he held tightly to this girl's coattails, he wasn't worried about not being able to rise smoothly in the future.