My 1995 Small Farm.

Chen Ling had assumed that Li Lianjie would arrive in three to five days.

Unexpectedly, the next morning, he had just been looking at the hydroponic plants transplanted into the aquarium when his cell phone in the living room rang.

Gao Xiulan called from the kitchen, "Lingzi! Phone!"

Chen Ling quickly went out to answer the phone.

As soon as the call connected, Li Lianjie's hearty laughter came from the other end: "Boss Chen, I've arrived in the county town!"

"What? We've arrived in the county town? So fast?!"

Chen Ling was stunned. What kind of incredible speed was this?

Is this kind of decisive action still possible in this day and age?
"Mr. Li, didn't you say next week?"

"Hey, I was just in a hurry!"

Li Lianjie laughed on the other end of the phone: "I told my agent last night, and since he was free these past two days, I booked a ticket overnight and flew over early this morning. I took the waterway and have arrived in the county town now!"

Chen Ling glanced at the wall clock; it was only a little past nine. "You're incredibly fast. Okay, so when will you arrive in the village?"

"The driver said it would take an hour to get there from the county town, and I estimate we can get there before 11 o'clock."

"Okay, then I'll wait for you at the village entrance."

"Alright! See you later!"

After hanging up the phone, Chen Ling shouted into the kitchen, "Mom, prepare a few more dishes for lunch, Li Lianjie will be here soon!"

Gao Xiulan poked her head out from the kitchen: "Isn't it next week? Why so soon?"

"They were in a hurry, so they flew over overnight."

As Chen Ling walked out, he said, "I'll go to the village entrance to greet them. You tell Su Su to vacate the guest rooms in the wooden building."

"understood!"

Chen Ling changed into clean clothes and strolled towards the village entrance.

This winter is still somewhat mild.

The early winter sun was warm and pleasant, making people feel comfortable all over.

The wheat seedlings in the fields have turned green, stretching as far as the eye can see, a sight that brings a sense of peace and comfort.

In front of the reservoir dam at the village entrance.

There's a small platform that's been built on one side of the old greasy entrance.

Several old men were squatting there, basking in the sun and playing chess, including Wang Cunye.

Next to them are Kang Kang and Le Le playing, and Heiwa Xiaojin.

"Father, Li Lianjie will be here soon. I'll wait for him here," Chen Ling said as he walked over.

"Wow, so fast?"

Wang Cunye looked up and said in surprise, "Okay, you wait here, I'll take Kang Kang and Lele to the greenhouse to pick some vegetables later."

Chen Ling strolled along the reservoir dam.

Recently, there have been a lot of people here.

Those setting up stalls, those enjoying leisure activities.

He rarely goes this way.

Looking at it now, the changes are truly remarkable.

The reservoir dam was raised and renovated, and a cement road was built on top of it.

Many trees on both sides have been replanted.

There is one slight inconvenience.

With the dam higher, it's not as convenient for him to go down into the reservoir to fish or play.

Despite the repair of the steps leading up and down.

It's still not as convenient as before.

I strolled around, watching the water birds playing in the reservoir and the shimmering water.

After waiting for about half an hour, the sound of a car engine came from afar.

A black sedan turned from the mountain road.

Now that the mountain road has been widened and renovated into an asphalt road, it is very smooth and stable.

Driving into the village is no problem at all.

Compared to before, it's definitely a bit of a detour.

The car stopped at the village entrance, and as soon as the door opened, Li Lianjie, wearing sunglasses and dressed in sportswear, jumped out, looking very energetic.

"Boss Chen!" He waved from afar.

Chen Ling greeted him with a smile: "Mr. Li, your arrival is quite unexpected."

"I just wanted to give you a surprise!"

Li Lianjie took off his sunglasses, revealing that familiar face.

This person loves to laugh.

He was smiling happily.

"Besides, I really can't wait to see your precious dogs."

The two shook hands, and Li Lianjie turned around and took two large suitcases out of the car. He said a few words to the driver, who nodded and turned the car around to go back.

"Isn't the driver going in?" Chen Ling asked.

“I sent him back to the county town. I’ll stay here for a few days, so I don’t need a car.”

Li Lianjie readily agreed, "Let's go, let's go to your house first. I've been thinking about your food all this way!"

As the two were about to head towards the village, a commotion suddenly arose from the direction of the reservoir in the distance.

"Look! What's that?"

"My God! Jiang Pig! It's actually Jiang Pig!"

"He's out again! Haven't seen him for half a year!"

Chen Ling and Li Lianjie turned their heads to look at the same time.

On the surface of the reservoir, several gray-black dorsal fins were cutting through the water, sometimes disappearing and sometimes appearing.

Occasionally, a finless porpoise leaps out of the water, spouting a jet of water that traces a beautiful arc in the air.

"Finless porpoise?"

Li Lianjie was stunned for a moment, then said excitedly, "Mr. Chen, is this the finless porpoise I saw when I came here last time?"

Chen Ling was also taken aback: "Probably, but I don't know for sure. Finless porpoises don't often appear around here..."

As he said this, he suddenly remembered something, turned to look at Li Lianjie, and said with a strange expression, "Mr. Li, you're quite something."

"Huh?" Li Lianjie didn't understand.

“When you came last time, you encountered a finless porpoise. In the six months since then, the finless porpoise has not been seen again.”

"They've already come out again since you arrived today."

Chen Ling gave him a thumbs up as she spoke.

Upon hearing this, Li Lianjie's face lit up with surprise: "Oh? What a coincidence! I'm so lucky!"

He turned to look in the direction of the reservoir, where a number of villagers and several tourists had already gathered.

Others were taking pictures with cameras and shouting loudly.

"Come on, let's go take a look!"

Li Lianjie became interested and picked up his suitcase, heading towards the reservoir.

Chen Ling quickly followed: "Let me help you take the suitcase home first?"

"No need, no need, it's not heavy, I can carry it myself. I'm in good health lately, I have plenty of strength!"

The two walked quickly to the edge of the reservoir, where a group of twenty or thirty people had already gathered.

Some were from the village, and some were tourists; everyone craned their necks to look into the water.

Wang Wenchao was standing at the front when he saw Chen Ling coming over and excitedly shouted, "Uncle Fugui! Look! Jiang pigs! There are several of them!"

Chen Ling approached the water's edge and saw four or five finless porpoises swimming around in the shallow water.

They are smaller than dolphins, gray-black in color, with short, round mouths, and look adorable.

The most eye-catching creature was a baby finless porpoise, which appeared to be newly born. It stayed close to its mother, playfully leaping out of the water every now and then, splashing water everywhere.

“I haven’t seen this smaller one before; it must be a newborn this year,” Chen Ling said to Li Lianjie.

Li Lianjie stared intently, not even blinking: "These finless porpoises are even rarer than dolphins. I'm so lucky to have seen them twice in a row." "That's why I said you're amazing," Chen Ling laughed.

"Six months ago, the reservoir dam was renovated, and there was also road construction next to it, which probably startled them. I haven't seen them for a long time."

"There are fewer tourists lately, not many people are playing here anymore, they probably just came out."

As they were talking, the little finless porpoise suddenly swam toward the shore, popping its head up less than ten meters from the crowd, its dark eyes curiously observing the people on the shore.

"Oh my! It's looking this way!" A female tourist exclaimed excitedly, stamping her foot.

The baby finless porpoise tilted its head and leaped happily out of the water.

Li Lianjie quickly pulled a small camera out of his pocket.

These days, not many people carry cameras with them.

He happens to have that ability.

I took several photos of the finless porpoise.

"This trip was definitely worth it."

After taking the photos, he put away his camera with satisfaction.

"Mr. Chen, do you think I have a special connection with this place? I saw a finless porpoise last time I came, and I saw it again this time."

Chen Ling laughed and said, "That must be fate. But Mr. Li, you not only have a connection with finless porpoises, I think you are blessed with good fortune and you can encounter rare things wherever you go."

“I love to hear that!” Li Lianjie laughed heartily.

The two watched the reservoir for about ten minutes.

The finless porpoise slowly swam towards the deeper waters and gradually disappeared from sight.

The crowd dispersed reluctantly, still discussing the matter as they left.

"This is the second time we've met this year, isn't it?"

"Indeed, last time it was summer, this time it's winter. It seems our place is truly a blessed land, a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery."

Chen Ling was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.

On the way back to the farm, Li Lianjie asked with great interest about the farm's recent situation.

"Mr. Chen, I read the newspaper. How are your two tigers doing now? And what about the injured mother bear?"

"Everything is fine. Afu and Ashou are in the back mountain. The mother bear's injuries are almost healed, and she can now run all over the mountain."

"Where are the dogs? Are your puppies really like the news reports say, able to play with tigers?"

"How could it be fake?"

Chen Ling smiled and said, "You'll see for yourself in a bit."

As they were talking, the two had already arrived at the entrance of the farmhouse.

Erhei and his pack of dogs had heard the commotion long ago and ran out of the yard, wagging their tails at the door.

Several half-grown puppies came forward and curiously circled around Li Lianjie.

They are over six months old now, a time when they are very active and playful.

They weren't afraid of strangers and sniffed around Li Lianjie's feet.

"Wow, these little ones are in pretty good condition!"

Li Lianjie touched each one: "Boss Chen, are these all for sale?"

"These are my breeding dogs."

Chen Ling laughed and said, "If you want it, you'll have to wait for the next litter, or I can help you find one from the villagers."

"I've reserved one for you at the dog farm."

"Okay, no rush, let me take a look first."

Li Lianjie stood up: "By the way, where is the tiger? Can I go and see it first? I didn't dare to touch it last time I came, but I heard from the reports that tigers are very friendly, so I must touch it."

"It's in the back mountain. Come on, I'll take you there."

The two put their luggage in the yard, greeted Gao Xiulan who came out of the kitchen after hearing the noise, and then headed towards the back mountain.

Just as I stepped out of the backyard, I bumped into Rui Rui and Xiao Ming leading Kang Kang and Le Le out.

When the four children saw strangers in their home, they all stopped and looked at them curiously.

“Rui Rui, this is Uncle Li, call him Uncle,” Chen Ling said.

Rui Rui blinked and stared at Li Lianjie for a few seconds, then suddenly his eyes lit up: "You're Wong Fei-hung!"

Li Lianjie chuckled: "Little guy, do you recognize me?"

"I've seen it on TV!"

Rui Rui ran over excitedly: "You know martial arts! Can you teach me?"

Chen Ling quickly interrupted, "Don't talk nonsense. Uncle Li is a guest. How can he come up here and ask to learn martial arts?"

Li Lianjie didn't mind. He squatted down and smiled at Rui Rui, saying, "You want to learn martial arts? Learning martial arts is hard work. You have to get up early every day to practice horse stance. Can you stick to it?"

"I can!" Rui Rui puffed out her little chest.

"Okay, then I'll teach you a couple of simple tricks later."

Li Lianjie patted his head, stood up and said to Chen Ling, "Mr. Chen, your son is quite interesting."

"You're really cheeky," Chen Ling said, but his eyes were filled with laughter.

The two continued walking towards the back of the mountain. Before they even reached the tiger's den, they heard a deep tiger's roar coming from the forest.

Li Lianjie paused, "This is..."

"Afu and Ashou heard voices," Chen Ling said, whistling.

From deep within the woods came the rustling of grass and trees, and two figures in yellow and black stripes leaped down the slope, arriving in a few bounds.

Afu ran ahead, and Ashou followed behind. When the two saw Chen Ling, they affectionately nuzzled him with their big heads.

Upon seeing Li Lianjie, they stopped what they were doing and tilted their heads to examine the stranger.

"Oh my God……"

Li Lianjie looked at the two massive Siberian tigers in front of him, his breathing quickening: "These...they're huge! They've grown a lot since I saw them half a year ago!"

"People eat well and have plenty of space to move around in the mountains, so they naturally grow strong."

Chen Ling patted Afu's neck: "Afu, Asheng, these are guests, don't frighten them."

Afu gave a low "roar" as a greeting, then walked over to Li Lianjie, circled him, and sniffed him.

Li Lianjie stood frozen, too afraid to move. Only after Afu had finished sniffing did he whisper to Chen Ling, "What...what is this..."

"Let it recognize your scent," Chen Ling said with a smile. "It's alright, it won't attack you."

After Ah Fu finished sniffing, he seemed uninterested in Li Lianjie and turned back to Chen Ling, lying down beside him.

Ah Shou was even more direct; he had already been lying on a large rock yawning.

Li Lianjie finally breathed a sigh of relief, sweat beading on his forehead: "Good heavens, the sense of oppression is too strong when you see it up close. Boss Chen, you are really amazing to have raised a tiger like this."

"You develop feelings for someone after spending a lot of time together."

Chen Ling said, "Let's go see the mother bear again. It's all because tourists want to report on this; otherwise, the news about the bear won't get out."

The mother bear's den was not far from the tiger's lair; the two of them arrived in just a few minutes.

The mother bear was sunbathing at the entrance of her den, while Huanghuang and Zhuanzhuan were playing around her.

Seeing someone approaching, the mother bear looked up and saw that it was Chen Ling. She looked at him docilely and then lay down again.

"Is this the injured mother bear?"

Looking at the scabs that hadn't completely fallen off on the mother bear's belly, Li Lianjie said, "The injury was really bad, but it looks much better now."

"The stitches can be removed in another ten days or so." Chen Ling walked over, and the mother bear raised her head to let him pet it.

Li Lianjie mustered his courage and moved closer. The mother bear glanced at him but didn't react.

"It's not afraid of people either?" Li Lianjie asked in surprise.

"It's very smart; it knows I saved its life. It doesn't do that with other strangers."

When Huanghuang saw Chen Ling, she ran over excitedly and hugged his leg.

Zhuanzhuan ran over as well, with the two little bear cubs hanging on his legs, one on each side.

“These two kids are even funnier.” Li Lianjie laughed heartily. “Mr. Chen, this place is practically a zoo.”

"It's still a long way off."

Chen Ling picked up the two bear cubs and said, "Let's go back for lunch. I'll take you to the forest dog farm this afternoon."

"Okay!" (End of Chapter)