My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 109 Visiting Relatives

Of course, Chen Ling didn't just play around with the kids. In the process, he also stuffed a lot of things into the cave, such as tadpoles, loaches, eels, catfish and other miscellaneous little things. He put them into the newly opened water channels behind the thatched hut. The tadpoles simply became food, while most of the other fish survived and lived well with the red eels.

After Chen Ling released the two old red eels into the cave, they indeed began to grow. Now they are both 60 centimeters long and incredibly thick. If it weren't for the fact that their whiskers have also grown to nearly 10 centimeters long, they would really look like two bright red pythons at first glance.

Chen Ling squatted by the ditch and watched. The fish eggs had all hatched into new red eel fry, a messy clump, swimming around in the ditch next to the big eel. They were avoiding the other ordinary yellow eels and loaches that had been put into the water. With the big red eel guarding them, they wouldn't be eaten.

"These red eels are multiplying, I wonder if they taste good. Maybe we should catch one and try it another day?"

"I've eaten blood eel a few times in my past life, this time let's try this red eel that costs around ten thousand yuan..."

Chen Ling was smacking his lips when the little pigeons lined up and came over, pecking at his hand and cooing at him. The pigeons, which were a little over a month old, had just learned to fly, but they couldn't fly very high. However, after Chen Ling tried letting them out a few times, they were quite clever and had learned to find food on their own. These days, they often looked for insects to eat around the yard, and Chen Ling didn't need to feed them anymore. He only needed to let them out for half an hour every day.

"What? Want to go out again?"

When Chen Ling saw the little pigeons swarming around him, flying onto his palm with a simple reach, he knew what they were thinking. Although the environment inside the cave was better, after seeing the wider sky outside, they still couldn't resist going out for a stroll, flying around a couple of times, and seeing different scenery.

"Stay put for now, we'll let you out later."

Then he picked two handfuls of green beans from Dongtian and went out to cook. Now that the green beans he grows at home are ready to eat, he has no worries about taking them from Dongtian.

“Ah Ling, we still have a large empty plot of land in our field. I think the soil quality isn’t very good. The grass isn’t as tall as in other places. Why don’t we plant some beans or peanuts?”

At the breakfast table in the morning, Wang Susu made the suggestion.

"Okay, I'll go and clear the ground first. The weather hasn't been great these past few days, so I'll wait until the weather is better before planting."

So after breakfast that morning, Chen Ling shouldered a hoe, rode his ox, and took his dog out the door. Actually, this was just for show, to appease Wang Susu. The weather had been really bad lately, and he figured the floods would come soon. Chen Ling didn't want to waste his energy, so he made up an excuse to fix up that vacant lot first.

This place was reserved by Chen Ling for building houses and lotus ponds. It hadn't been used for planting much, and the soil hadn't been significantly improved by the stream. Compared to other places, it was quite barren, so it was perfectly normal for Wang Susu to want to plant some soybeans and peanuts.

Soybeans and peanuts are both legumes, which can improve the soil to some extent. In addition, these are crops that almost every household grows, just to varying degrees. Besides eating them, most of them are used to make oil.

Chen Ling strolled leisurely to the field, walked through the grove, untied the cow's rope, released the pigeons, and then picked up a hoe to start weeding in the open space. Although the fertility of the few acres of land was poor and the grass was not tall, it did not mean that there was not much grass.

Now it is overgrown with weeds that grow close to the ground, such as tribulus, plantain, and horsetail. These kinds of grasses are very resilient and drought-resistant. They can survive the sun no matter how much it scorches. Even on hard dirt roads that are frequently used by people, they can grow in large patches as long as there is a little bit of space.

The most annoying thing is the tribulus. This thing is close to the ground and is usually hidden in the weeds. It is hard to see them. Sometimes if you walk on it without paying attention, it will stick to the sole of your foot, or even fall into the seam of your shoe, making your feet bleed.

I picked up the hoe, gathered two blades of grass, and found it to be fairly easy to handle. So I rubbed my hands together and started working.

Chen Lingyuan wasn't exactly a skilled farmer, but after being exposed to farm work for so long, he gradually learned to do almost anything. However, he was still slow at working, and since he was mainly there to appease his wife, he leisurely weeded half an acre of land in the morning before starting to hoe and turn the soil.

However, he was only a novice. When he hoeed the ground, the soil would run under his feet, and the soil would be turned into piles, making it uneven. Even he frowned when he saw it.

"Alas, it's because I haven't done enough farm work."

He had seen many elderly farmers in the village hoeing the fields, and it was a real visual treat to watch them work.

The hoe is raised overhead and gently dropped into the soil. With a light pull, the soil immediately loosens. Then, the back of the hoe is pulled out and turned over, sometimes sideways, sometimes flipped, skillfully tapping the large clumps of soil, rising and falling like a dragonfly skimming the water. By the time the old farmer realizes what's happening, he has already moved forward and continued digging the soil in front of him.

A straw hat for shade, dripping sweat, a hoe turning over, muddy rubber boots, a water bottle on the ridge, a few rough bowls, the chirping of crickets, the sound of grasshoppers, the sound of the wind, the rustling of leaves... it's like a beautiful rural painting.

Such scenes are common in the fields after the summer harvest.

Chen Ling thought back and slowly tried to get a feel for it, which took him quite a while to finish turning over the half-acre of land.

After tilling and preparing half an acre of land, we can't just leave it unattended.

Chen Ling took out a few watermelon seedlings from the cave. These watermelon seedlings were not planted by him, but rather seedlings that grew outside the yard after the watermelon seeds were eaten by chickens and ducks and then excreted.

After seeing it, he pulled it out and threw it into the cave, intending to grow some watermelons so he could sell them when he went to the county town next time. The last time he went to the county town to sell scorpions, he went to the small courtyard in the south of the city and found that there were far fewer small pieces of paper behind the door. Apart from an oil mill owner who asked him to deliver two thousand catties of peanuts, there were only four or five other people who said they wanted to buy vegetables.

After all, it's summer now, and the market has all kinds of vegetables. Even if the vegetables he sells are delicious, the price of two yuan per kilogram will definitely reduce the number of buyers. That's normal. So, I'll plant some watermelons and bring them over next time. It'll be good to have some seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Moreover, after the flood, fruits and vegetables will definitely be scarce, so you can make a lot of money without having to raise prices.

However, after planting the melons and bringing them into the cave, Chen Ling thought for a moment and also brought a lot of vegetables from the vegetable patch into the cave.

"The flood is coming soon, and these vegetables can fetch a good price. It's a shame to leave them here, so let's sell them together with the watermelons."

Muttering to himself, Chen Ling brought out several bundles of mulberry branches and leaves from the cave.

After finishing all that, it was past noon. Chen Ling whistled twice to call the pigeons back so he could go home for lunch. But the little guys had gone wild playing outside. After finding food and filling their bellies, they flew around the woods, chasing birds and playing, refusing to come back.

The weather these past two days has indeed been quite bad. The swallows and swiftlets in the sky are all densely packed, blocking out the sun, which is quite a spectacular sight. When the little pigeons see this amazing scene, they fly up to chase after them. However, they are still too small and lack strength. They often fly for a short while before returning to Chen Ling's shoulder or landing on the cow's back to rest for a moment before continuing to fly over and play.

Seeing this, Chen Ling ignored them and rode the ox home.

Just after crossing a steep slope, Heiwa Xiaojin started barking loudly at the sky. Chen Ling looked up and heard a sharp bird cry from the sky. Then, with a "whoosh," a dark shadow darted past against the flock of swallows, like a black lightning bolt ripped through the sky. In an instant, several swallows were knocked down, swirling as they fell from the sky into the distant farmland.

The swallows in the sky suddenly erupted in chaos, screeching and scattering in all directions, while the little pigeons quickly flew back.

"Wow~"

Upon seeing this, the two dogs barked and tried to rush over to snatch the fallen swallow, but Chen Ling stopped them, knowing that it was the hawk hunting for food.

It's interesting how this hawk is. Perhaps because it saved his life, it often hovers not far from him, but at the same time it's very wary, never getting too close, but never really leaving either.

Sometimes when Chen Ling walked home at night, he could feel something following him. He would shine a flashlight around to look, but he couldn't see anything. This situation would probably scare a timid person half to death. It was only after Chen Ling checked several times that he confirmed that it was just this hawk quietly following him, but it was wary of people and rarely showed itself.

"Alright, stop bullying it. It's not easy for it to catch something to eat."

Chen Ling patted the heads of the two dogs, then put the pigeons into the cave.

It was just the beginning of June in the lunar calendar, and corn had been planted in the fields. On the steep slopes along the dirt roads between the fields, some people had planted soybeans and cotton. To the south was Chen Erzhu's greenhouse, which was not yet fully completed and was now abandoned. Apart from the village children who went there to play, other villagers rarely went there anymore. Anyway, they had already received the rent for the first three years, and they would just take it back when the lease expired.

Riding on the back of the ox, Chen Ling glanced south twice before looking away.

...Days passed by, and on the fourth day of the sixth lunar month, the young couple noticed that the silkworms in their backyard seemed to have shrunk overnight. They were wriggling around in the tray, their heads tucked in and out, each one plump and shiny, almost translucent. When they picked them up, they could see faint silk threads under their feet. The couple knew that the silkworms were about to spin their cocoons and were now crawling around in the tray looking for a suitable place to do so. So they hurriedly brought over the silkworm rack made of wheat straw, cleaned out the silkworm droppings, and then placed the silkworms in the tray.

Before spinning their cocoons, silkworms eat very little, and gradually they stop eating mulberry leaves altogether. However, the silkworm excrement they produce becomes very large and needs to be cleaned up promptly.

Once everything was ready, the couple caught the silkworms and placed them on silkworm frames made of bundles of wheat straw, helping them "climb the mountain" and finding places where they could spin silk so that they could form cocoons.

After having breakfast in the front yard, Chen Ling was surprised to find that the sky had cleared up again. He was a little disappointed that the heavy rain hadn't come. With nothing to do at home, he couldn't concentrate on his studies, so he decided to go to the county town again to sell his vegetables and watermelons. Although vegetable prices would rise a lot after the flood, he was confident that he could easily stock up on goods whenever he needed them. He didn't care what happened.

In addition, they had a lot of chicken and duck eggs at home, and he and Wang Susu couldn't finish them all, so they had to sell some of them.

Just as he drove the oxcart to the reservoir dam, he heard someone calling him. Looking into the distance, he saw that it was Qin Rongxian and Liang Hongyu, the elderly couple.

Qin Rong first rode a 28-inch bicycle with Liang Hongyu on the back. The two of them swayed and walked over. When they saw him, they waved to him from a distance.

"This won't do."

Chen Ling sighed inwardly.

Think about it carefully. This old couple has even more free time than him. He gave them their address before, so it's only a matter of time before they come looking for him.

Putting aside these thoughts, Chen Ling stopped the oxcart and smiled, "Uncle Qin, Aunt Hongyu, what brings you here?"

"Haha, your aunt and I stayed at our in-laws' house in the countryside for a few days. We were just passing through here on our way back, so we thought we'd come and see you."

Qin Rong stopped the car first and said with a smile.

Liang Hongyu jumped down from the back seat, her face beaming with joy: "Fugui, what are you doing? Are we going to the county town again?"

Chen Ling nodded: "Yes, let's go get more goods."

"Oh dear, we've come at an inopportune time. We hope we don't delay your business."

The elderly couple exchanged a glance and felt a little embarrassed to go home. They knew that it wasn't easy for Chen Ling to make a living in the countryside, and they couldn't let their presence hinder his efforts to earn money.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling smiled and waved his hand, "It's alright, it's alright. What's wrong with the timing? Since you two are here, how can we not come to our house for a meal?"

"I can go to get supplies whenever I want. I only go two or three times a month anyway, so it's no problem."

Liang Hongyu was a little skeptical: "Are you sure it's alright?"

"It's really no trouble. Come on in. My family didn't plant much grain this year. We just set up the silkworm racks this morning and there's nothing else to do. Come in and have a seat."

As Chen Ling spoke, he turned the oxcart around and called for the old couple to follow.

The two were still a little embarrassed, feeling that they had come at the wrong time. After Liang Hongyu got on the back of the bicycle, Qin Rongxian kept muttering, "I told you not to come but you insisted. Now look what, what good impression can you leave?"

Liang Hongyu pinched him from behind and said, "I just missed the children and stopped by to visit them, so what?"

"Oh, Fugui, is this your father-in-law and mother-in-law? You'd better treat them well today."

As soon as we entered the village, people started making jokes about us.

Upon hearing this, Liang Hongyu retorted, "No, I am his aunt, and this is his uncle. They are here to visit relatives."

"Haha, Auntie, isn't that my wife's aunt from her maternal family?"

"..."

This left the elderly couple speechless.

Chen Ling didn't think much of it. After all, "uncle" and "aunt" were the terms used outside the village. In the village, it was normal to call them "aunt" and "uncle." Then, seeing the man pulling a cart of manure with a manure scoop sticking out, he covered his nose and said, "Brother Lishan, haven't the corn all been planted? Why do you still need to fertilize it now?"

The man was Wang Lishan, Wang Lixian's brother and also Zhuwa'er's father.

"We're raising pigs this year, and the manure is taking up space, so we'll use it to water the vegetable garden."

Wang Lishan said something, then teased him, "You really can't stand hardship, kid. You can't even stand this little bit of stench. Be careful your family tells on you when you get back."

Chen Ling was speechless and didn't know how to explain, so he said, "Brother Lishan, it's better if you say less."

The smell of pig manure was so strong that not only Chen Ling but also the little white calf couldn't stand it. It kept mooing and kicking its hooves, urging him to leave quickly.

Wang Lishan, however, laughed heartily and made a couple more jokes before slowly pulling the manure cart towards the field.

However, during this brief pause, many villagers overheard them and genuinely believed that Wang Susu's family had arrived to cause trouble for Chen Ling again. They all excitedly rushed out to watch the spectacle.

Liang Hongyu was quite pleased to see him and explained with a smile to everyone she met, "I am Fugui's aunt, and this is his uncle."

As a result, no one thought of anything else; they all assumed it was Wang Susu's aunt from her maternal family.

Before they even got home, Wang Susu ran outside to check. She genuinely thought that someone from her family had come after the letter was sent back, but when she found out it was two unfamiliar elderly people, she was a little stunned.

"Ah Ling, what's this?"

Seeing his wife come out, Chen Ling jumped off the oxcart: "Susu, come here, let me introduce you. This is Uncle Qin, and this is Aunt Hongyu. Last time I brought back such a big basket of zongzi, it was Aunt Hongyu who made them..."

As Chen Ling introduced her, the elderly couple also looked Wang Susu over and nodded repeatedly, showing their approval.

Liang Hongyu couldn't help but step forward and grab Wang Susu's hand, praising her beauty repeatedly. She said that none of the girls she had seen over the years were as beautiful as Wang Susu, and her eyes showed a very satisfied look as she spoke.

While feeling embarrassed, Wang Susu also felt strange. She felt that the aunt's gaze was like that of a mother-in-law sizing up her daughter-in-law, which made her start to overthink.

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P.S.: The parents won't appear in the main story. If any friends want to see them, I'll add a side story after the story is finished.

(End of this chapter)