My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 141 Rhymes

This is the threshing ground.

The four men were all stunned as they watched the wild boar carrying Chen Baoshuan charge madly into the village.

They stared at each other, wide-eyed, for a long while before they came to their senses.

...What just happened was terrifying.

A wild boar with piglets going berserk is far more terrifying than encountering a frightened large animal.

Humans are too fragile to withstand it all at once.

Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.

Sure enough, just as he relaxed, Chen Baoliang collapsed to the ground, clutching one leg and groaning in pain, his face covered in cold sweat.

"Baoliang, is your leg alright?"

The three men stepped forward and helped him up.

"I got a big bite taken out of me by a wild boar. I didn't feel anything at first, but now it hurts so much that I can't stand up."

Chen Baoliang stood on one leg, leaning against a tree trunk beside him, wincing in pain.

"Luckily I dodged quickly and wasn't hit. I'm lucky to be alive."

"..."

"Stop talking and go see my father first."

"Come on, I'll carry you across."

When Chen Yuqiang saw that Chen Baoliang's right leg was bleeding, he quickly carried him on his back and strode towards his father's residence.

"Uncle Fugui, you and Shuiwazi should go check on Baoshuan's situation quickly, just in case something really happened."

There are priorities.

No matter how bad Chen Baoshuan is, he still came with them on night patrol. It would be terrible if someone died because of this.

This is the truth.

But after Chen Yuqiang had walked away, Chen Ze couldn't help but start cursing.

They said that Bao Shuan deserved to die. If he hadn't been looking for trouble, the five of them would have stayed together peacefully and never provoked the wild boar.

Then, instead of rushing back, he dragged Chen Ling to the thatched shed to ambush the wild boar cubs.

Unfortunately, those piglets had long since disappeared.

These little creatures are quick to run away when they encounter danger, especially since this place is right next to a cornfield. It's not fully light yet, so once they burrow into the cornfield, it will be difficult to catch them.

Unable to catch the wild boar cubs, the two men had no choice but to carry their guns and head towards the village.

At this time, the village was bustling with activity.

With such a commotion, who could sleep?
Wang Susu also ran out with her two dogs, worried that Chen Ling might be in danger.

When they went outside, they discovered that Chen Baoshuan had gotten into trouble.

That bastard is really lucky.

Although he was tossed around by the wild boar and felt completely disoriented, he managed to save his life.

It turns out that although the wild boar was furious and rampaging around, its instincts were still intact.

When I feel uncomfortable, I instinctively bump into trees and rocks, just like when I'm scratching an itch.

As a result, he exerted too much force and rushed into the middle of several trees, where his thick body got stuck.

This time, Chen Baoshuan was finally thrown out.

Fortunately, he didn't fall too hard, but unfortunately, the fall sent him flying into a latrine in someone else's alley.

When Chen Ling and his companion arrived, Chen Sangui had just pulled the person out of the water.

Let's not even go into the details of that scene.

Chen Ling didn't dare to stay any longer.

After saying goodbye to Chen Ze, he hurriedly took Wang Susu home.

As for the wild boar stuck in the middle of the tree and unable to move, he had no interest in it; whoever wanted to catch it and take it home could do so.

We're not short of that kind of food.

……

"That was too dangerous. Next time something like this happens, we should bring the dog with us."

"Even if I'm home alone, it's fine. I'll just lead Xiaobai back to the cowshed at night. Strangers won't be able to enter our yard."

Back home, Wang Susu felt a wave of fear and held onto Chen Ling's hand tightly for a long time.

There are many wild boars in the mountains, and they often come down from the mountains in autumn and winter to look for food.

Encountering a herd of wild boars is actually not too bad. There's no need to be too afraid if there are sows with piglets. Usually, firing a few shots will scare them away.

On the contrary, you have to be careful when you encounter a sow raising piglets alone, like today.

These wild boars are highly aggressive; if they are even slightly frightened, their protective instincts will be triggered, making them extremely dangerous to provoke.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll definitely bring them with me when I go hunting in the mountains in a while."

Chen Ling comforted his wife and then said, "Go and wake Zhenzhen up. After she eats, you still need to take her to school."

Only Wang Susu and Xiao Yatou were home last night, so Heiwa and Xiao Jin were not allowed to come along.

Looking back now, if the two dogs had gone with them, not to mention the big wild boar, at least those wild boar piglets would definitely not have escaped.

"I wonder if the wild boar cubs that Liu Nier and Xiao Sen caught are from the same litter as these."

As Chen Ling chopped vegetables in the kitchen, he couldn't help but think to himself.

Of course, he didn't take it too seriously.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he'll forget about it in two or three days.

Who knew that while he was catching up on sleep at home that afternoon, he heard a baby crying heartbreakingly, so he went outside to take a look.

Good heavens, Chen Yuqiang was giving Xiao Sen a good beating in his own yard.

Needless to say.

It must have been the theft of wild boar piglets that led to the discovery.

How could a few four- or five-year-old children possibly hide their little thoughts from their parents?

Chen Ling had already guessed this outcome.

However, seeing Chen Yuqiang beating the child, he still went over and tried to persuade him. In this day and age, rural children are bound to be beaten if they make a mistake. Every family beats them from childhood to adulthood, because they believe that they won't amount to anything without being beaten.

"Grandpa Uncle..."

Seeing Chen Ling walk in, Xiao Sen felt extremely wronged, tears welling up in her eyes, her bottom covered in red marks.

It was Chen Yuqiang who smoked it.

"Uncle, don't stop me. This kid fooled my mother last time and almost drowned her. He's even more disobedient this time. I told him this morning that there are wild boars in the cornfield and he shouldn't go there to play. He agreed at the time, but then he secretly ran over there."

Chen Yuqiang grew angrier as he spoke, and swung his belt to whip the child again: "I'll teach you to disobey me, I'll teach you to disobey me."

Before he could hit the child twice, Chen Ling grabbed his arm: "Stop hitting him! Stop right now! What if you hurt the child?"

Xiao Sen almost sobbed uncontrollably, looking at Chen Ling through teary eyes and saying, "Grandpa Uncle, our wild boars can't survive, they're starving to death..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuqiang was so angry that his eyebrows shot up: "You dare to mention wild boar cubs? You're lucky you didn't run into any big wild boars. Xizi's uncle almost got gored to death by a big wild boar this morning."

"If you misbehave again, I'll lock you in a dark room, chain you up, and let you live with the dog."

After scolding his son, Chen Yuqiang said to Chen Ling, "Uncle, you don't know, those guys are really bold. They followed Liu Ni'er and stole all the wild boar cubs from Uncle Lixian's trap, and kept them in the burial pit for several days."

“Those wild boar piglets are no bigger than two human palms. They haven’t had a sow to take care of them for days. They’ve been cooped up in the earthen pits in the graveyard. They won’t eat anything we feed them. They just drink a little water every day. They’re almost starving to death.”

Actually, if it weren't for Chen Baoshuan's incident today...

After hearing that a wild boar with piglets had gone mad, Xiao Sen and his friends were worried about the piglets they had captured. So they secretly went to check on them, only to be caught by Wang Laishun. The adults in the family were still kept in the dark.

"Where's the little wild boar? Is it still inside the tunnel?"

Chen Ling asked.

"No, it was delivered to Uncle Lixian's house."

Chen Yuqiang shook his head: "Uncle, the piglets are too small and can't eat from the trough yet. They're hard to raise without the milk of the adult pigs."

As for the sow with piglets that morning, the villagers had already tied her up and taken her to the slaughterhouse to sell her for money. The village suffered heavy losses after the flood, and they didn't want to let go of the opportunity to make money.

It's quite difficult to find breast milk these days.

There were no livestock giving birth in the village.

"They're too small to sell or keep alive. In that case, we might as well roast them and eat them."

Chen Ling suggested.

Wild boar meat is tender and has no gamey smell. After marinating, it is roasted over a fire until it turns golden brown. It smells delicious and is juicy.

Chen Yuqiang's eyes lit up immediately, and he couldn't help but laugh: "Haha, this seems reliable, but it's still someone caught in Uncle Lixian's trap after all..."

"It's okay, I'll go tell Brother Xian."

Chen Ling bent down to wipe away Xiao Sen's tears and whispered some comforting words to him.

Once he stopped crying, she looked up and asked, "Yuqiang, are you still sleepy? If not, let's go return the gun."

"Okay, then go to the brigade and return the gun."

Chen Yuqiang responded, took out his hunting rifle, and told his son to stay at home and not to run around. Then he went out with Chen Ling.

As I walked through the village, the news of what happened this morning had already spread throughout the village.

Half a day has passed, and people are still talking about it.

I've never seen anything so interesting in my entire life.

Chen Baoshuan has become a legendary figure whose every three sentences are inseparable from his life.

Not only did he ride a wild boar, but he also got thrown into a dung pit by the boar, which was absolutely hilarious.

Almost everyone was watching Chen Baoshuan make a fool of himself.

Chen Ling wasn't in a mood for gloating; the main reason was that the thought of Chen Baoshuan being pulled out of the cesspool made her feel disgusted.

Because of this incident, neither he nor Wang Susu had much of an appetite for breakfast, and they only drank a bowl of porridge.

They had no time to gloat.

"Water Boy, is the brigade going to return the guns or not?"

"Go, let me eat something first, I just woke up."

When they arrived at Chen Jiang's house, they also called Chen Ze to come along.

Today is Chen Ze's father's birthday, and everyone is here. After calling Chen Ze over, the three of them went to the brigade to return the hunting rifle.

When we go hunting in the mountains later, Chen Ling will get a share, but they might not be able to get their hands on him.

When they talked about what happened this morning, the two of them sighed repeatedly.

Chen Baoliang's left leg was bitten by a wild boar, but it wasn't a serious injury.

Chen Baoshuan was in a terrible situation.

Not only did he fall into the cesspool, but his arms and legs were also badly injured. He has now been sent to the county hospital and should be much more well-behaved in the future.

Ultimately, he provoked the wild boar himself, so no one else is to blame.

The three of them chatted briefly at the brigade headquarters before going their separate ways.

They both went home to catch up on their sleep.

Chen Ling slept for most of the day and was in good spirits. He stayed home and helped his wife with some chores.

They trimmed the pigeons' feathers and then released them all.

These pigeons, having been kept in captivity for a few days, have indeed learned their lesson. After being released, they don't run outside the yard but stay in the yard, occasionally running up behind Chen Ling and pecking at his shoes while cooing.

I guess they want to go back to the cave.

Chen Ling ignored them and simply placed their food bowls in front of the pigeon coop built against the wall, letting them form their own families in the future.

After cleaning up the pigeon coop, Chen Ling went to clean up the quail coop.

Seeing him busy, Wang Susu came over to help him.

While cleaning the rabbit hutch, Wang Susu saw that the big rabbits had dug holes in the fence again.

He said, "Ah Ling, come quick and see if our rabbit is pregnant again."

Punching holes and biting the hair on its chest.

This is a sign that the rabbit is pregnant.

"Guess so."

Chen Ling walked up to it, observed it carefully, but still couldn't be sure.

"It's alright. Even if they're pregnant, it will take more than a month for them to give birth. By then, the previous batch of baby rabbits will be ready for market."

Generally, meat rabbits grow quickly and can be sold at four or five months old. Chen Ling's rabbits are wild rabbits, but they are fed well and grow no slower than farmed meat rabbits. In another month or so, the chickens, ducks, and quails don't matter, but the rabbits will definitely be sold.

Otherwise, if another twenty or thirty rabbits are born, the smell will be unbearable, and cleaning up their droppings every day will take a lot of time.

Rabbits may look cute, but they eat a lot and poop a lot, which makes them smell bad. Rabbit droppings are okay, but rabbit urine has a really strong odor, and you can't clean it up all the time.

If Chen Ling hadn't come up with a solution—using the water from the cave to grow some enhanced mugwort and fumigating it every two days—the yard would have long since become unbearably smelly from all the rabbits defecating and urinating.

"That makes sense, but let's not sell our chickens and ducks this year."

Wang Susu nodded and looked up at him as she spoke.

"Hmm. I definitely won't sell it."

Our own chickens and ducks lay a lot of eggs, so even if we need to feed them grain in winter, it's not a big deal.

How much grain can you buy with the money you make from selling chicken and duck eggs each month?

That's enough to feed them for half a year.

When it comes to daily life, everyone has their own set of accounts.

Given Wang Susu's frugal nature, she would naturally choose whatever was most cost-effective.

Over the past six months, Chen Ling has been influenced by her in this regard quite a bit. While she's not exactly meticulous about budgeting, she's become much more frugal than before.

……

Wang Wang Wang!
In the evening, chaos erupted at Chen Ling's house.

It turned out that three little weasels had somehow attracted two big white geese. Good heavens, the geese had pecked off many of the feathers on the backs of the two geese, leaving them bald in patches, making them look quite pathetic.

After escaping home, Heiwa and Xiaojin managed to chase the goose away.

But these three little weasels were still restless. As soon as they caught their breath, they ran to the chicken coop to provoke the free-range chickens that Wang Zhenzhen had brought.

They can't stay still for a moment.

Unfortunately, they ran into Chen Ling's chickens and ducks coming home after dark, and the three of them were pecked at.

Even after scrambling onto the wall, it was still chased by two roosters flapping their wings.

It was quite a lively scene.

Little Yellow and Little Fatty arrive every night without fail, but when they see the three little rascals being chased and bitten, they don't even give them a second glance.

In the kitchen, she squatted down at Chen Ling and Wang Susu's feet, rubbing against them and acting coquettishly.

She probably thinks her three little brats are too useless.

Compared to other cunning and treacherous weasels, these three little devils are truly an anomaly, constantly teasing cats and dogs, and extremely mischievous.

Although he grew up in Chen Ling's family, he wouldn't go around harming poultry.

But these three little creatures can be quite annoying when they're playing around.

So normally, as soon as Chen Ling enters the house, he has the two dogs chase them out because they are just too noisy.

"Sister, I'm back."

The two were eating when, less than five minutes later, Wang Zhenzhen rushed in.

"Look, Sister-in-law Yuzhi made wind-blown gourds for us. We each have one. They're so much fun!"

The wind gourd, also known as the rattling gourd, is a type of diabolo.

However, the toys for children are much smaller, about the size of a clothing button, and make a whistling sound when the two ropes are stretched back and forth.

"Not bad, what kind of meal did your sister-in-law Yuzhi cook for you?"

"Hehe, these are dumplings I made..."

"I ate a small bowl and came back. There was a lot of meat, but it didn't taste as good as my brother-in-law's cooking."

Wang Zhenzhen moved a chair and sat down next to her sister, then grabbed Xiao Pang and rubbed him on her lap.

But the weasels never got close to her.

He broke free and started yelling wildly at her, baring his teeth and claws.

It wasn't until Wang Susu picked it up and held it on her lap that it calmed down and comfortably closed its eyes.

"It's certain that your brother-in-law's cooking is better. Who cooks like him? He uses half a pot of oil when he cooks..."

Wang Susu gave Chen Ling a reproachful look as she spoke.

If my parents knew what I was doing, they'd probably say a lot about it.

Upon hearing this, the little girl leaned on Wang Susu's shoulder and giggled foolishly.

"Brother-in-law, let me tell you another riddle."

"Okay, let me and your sister see what riddle you've learned today."

The young couple didn't have a good breakfast, and their lunch was also very light, so they stewed a fish for dinner.

Now that we've finished eating, let's play a riddle to help digest our food.

"Then listen carefully..."

"A thin vine yields a melon; pigs won't root it up, and cats won't scratch it. When an ordinary person buys a melon, their house is bright; when a blind person buys a melon, their money is wasted."

"Hit something."

Can you guess?

Chen Ling and his wife exchanged a glance, then Chen Ling frowned and pondered deeply.

He thought for a full two minutes before shaking his head and saying, "I can't guess."

"Oh dear, brother-in-law, how can you be so clumsy?"

Wang Zhenzhen gave him a disgusted look, then asked Wang Susu, "Sister, have you guessed what it is?"

Wang Susu chuckled and shook her head: "Even your brother-in-law couldn't guess, so I certainly couldn't."

"What on earth is that?"

"It's an electric light!"

"You two are so stupid, you couldn't even guess that."

The little girl pouted and shook her head.

"You're young and quick-witted, so give us another easy one."

"Okay, then listen carefully..."

The young couple didn't rush to clean up after dinner; they just sat in the kitchen playing with their little girl.

Faint laughter could be heard coming from within.

……

After guessing several riddles and getting tired of laughing, Wang Susu and her younger sister washed the dishes in the kitchen, while Chen Ling went to feed the chickens and cows.

Just then, Liu Nier led a group of children into the house.

They brought half a basin of dumplings with them when they arrived.

This kid happens to share the same birthday as Chen Ze's father.

After school today, Liu Yuzhi made him some meat dumplings and also called over the kids he plays with all day.

"Auntie, please put the dumplings away."

After handing the dumplings to Wang Susu, Liu Nier rushed over to the chicken coop and gave Chen Ling a fawning smile.

"Uncle Fugui, can we talk about something?"

"What's wrong? Tell me."

"Hehe, it's just that the wild boar piglets at home are almost dying. My fifth grandfather brought them home this morning, and my sister made some porridge for them. They ate it, but they keep having diarrhea and now they can barely move..."

"I know you have a plan. Can you feed them for me for two days? I'll definitely share the profits with you after we sell them."

So that's what happened. That kid's pretty cunning.

Chen Ling chuckled upon hearing this: "Why bother with all that effort? I'll talk to you about it tomorrow. This little wild boar smells delicious. Roasting it would be better than anything else."

"No, you can't eat it."

Liu Ni'er's expression immediately changed, and she hurriedly waved her hand.

"Why can't we eat it? Last time we ate badger meat at your house, didn't you say you wanted to eat wild boar meat?"

"It's different. I want to eat a big wild boar. These wild boar piglets are too small and don't have much meat."

"Oh dear, you don't know what's good for you. Wild boar meat is best when it's young. When it's roasted into suckling pig, it's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Not only is the crispy skin fragrant, but the tender meat inside is so good that you don't even need to chew it. You can just swallow it down with a slurp. It's so delicious."

"No, absolutely not, I still want to raise them to sell for money."

Liu Ni swallowed hard, forcing herself not to agree.

Everyone in the village knows that Uncle Fugui's cooking is delicious, and after eating it once, everyone wants to eat it a second time.

Just listening to him talk about it, Liu Nier could already imagine the wild boar piglets turning into golden, fragrant roast suckling pigs.

"Alright, then bring the piglets over tomorrow. I can't guarantee I can raise them for you."

"It's alright, Uncle Fugui. I believe in you. The little rabbits I sent you last time hadn't even opened their eyes yet, but you managed to raise them. Piglets will definitely be no problem."

Liu Nier led the children away in a flurry of activity.

After feeding the chickens, Chen Ling went to feed the pigeons, chatting with the children playing in the yard.

Then he discovered that Wang Zhenzhen already knew about the wild boar cubs.

Although she didn't go with them, she went to school with Liu Nier and the others every day. How could she not tell her about something as boastful and worth bragging about as catching wild boars?

"You silly girl, why didn't you tell me when you knew?"

“I wanted to tell you too, but as soon as I got home you kept urging me to do my homework, and I forgot all about it.”

"That's true, now that you mention it, it seems you haven't done your homework yet..."

Chen Ling slapped his forehead and said.

"..."

Wang Zhenzhen's smile froze instantly, then she wrinkled her little nose and yelled as she tried to bite him.

"Alright, alright, you don't have school tomorrow, so have fun. I won't rush you anymore."

After a while, Chen Ling raised his hands in surrender.

Liu Nier then brought the wild boar cub over.

The baby wild boars were small and didn't take up much space, so Chen Ling simply put them into an old, empty water vat. The vat was quite large and had smooth walls, so they definitely couldn't escape.

I fed them some diluted stream water from home and didn't do anything else.

When I got up early the next morning, I saw...

Five wild boar piglets were running around in the yard.

He thought they had escaped from the water tank, but when he went over, he found that the eight piglets in the tank were still there.

They were much more energetic than yesterday, lying on top of each other at the bottom of the tank, humming and trying to run out.

He turned around and glanced again at the wild boar cubs running around in the yard.

This……

"Wang Wang Wang!"

Alright, no need to guess anymore, the two dogs have already run over to claim credit and ask for a reward.

They must have captured the wild boar cubs.

When I told Wang Susu about it, she was quite surprised.

Together with Chen Ling, they caught the two piglets and locked them inside the fence.

I just let the pigeons out yesterday, and today I'll put the piglets in.

"Those two little devils probably heard you say you wanted to eat them, so they ran out to catch them early this morning."

Wang Susu never underestimated her dogs' intelligence, knowing they could understand simple words.

Even now.

Hearing their mistress say that, the two creatures stuck out their tongues excitedly and wagged their tails even more enthusiastically.

"Look at how smug you all are."

Chen Ling chuckled and rubbed their big heads: "The weather's nice today, come on, show me where you caught these little wild boars."

A few days ago there was fog in the morning, but these past two days there has been no fog, and the weather has been completely clear.

The sky was clear and the sun was fiery red. It wasn't too cold in the mountains on this early autumn morning; the temperature was pleasant.

Chen Ling followed the two dogs out of the village.

They were then taken to a familiar place—

The small cemetery not far from the local earth god temple.

"What happened? You arrested them here too?"

Chen Ling walked into the cemetery with some doubt and looked around.

Immediately afterwards, they found several piles of animal droppings near the roots of the grass without much effort.

The feces were long and thin, slightly loose, and contained some greenish-yellow particles, which were probably seeds like pine cones.

This is standard wild boar droppings, but the several piles are distributed in different locations and have different colors and dryness levels, which likely means that wild boars have visited the area more than once.

He followed the trail of grass and found rows of messy footprints of varying sizes, stretching crookedly towards the southwest.

I don't know if it was attracted by wild boar piglets.

He didn't have Wang Lixian's skills and couldn't tell that the tracks were left by several wild boars.

But one thing is certain: it wasn't just the wild boar with its young that visited this place.

It must be a herd of wild boars.

"Fifth Uncle saw Xiao Sen and the others here yesterday, so he should have noticed what was going on..."

"Never mind, I'll tell him when I get back, remind the villagers that the corn is almost ripe, and they mustn't let the wild boars do anything to it."

Then they took the dog and walked around the area again, but found no other unusual traces.

The grass and trees are lush and green, the dewdrops are crystal clear, and the corn cobs look different every day.

Chen Ling walked out of the cornfield and followed the dirt road toward his own fields at the foot of the mountain.

The bok choy in the field is ready to eat; let's pick some and stir-fry them.

……

The sun rose, shining brightly, and the mountains were ablaze with color.

Wild persimmons, wild hawthorns, black dates, and other wild fruits are about to ripen. Their red, yellow, black, and green colors, illuminated by the sunlight, create a beautiful autumnal scene.

After picking the bok choy, Chen Ling also cut some grass for the rabbit.

They led the dog on a leisurely walk, stopping frequently to enjoy the scenery of the autumn morning.

When he arrived at the edge of the village, a rhyme recited by the children caught his attention.

Chen Ling stopped and listened carefully, and finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The saying goes: "Chen Baoshuan has a long nose, he forgot his parents after getting married, he slept while others patrolled, and the wild boars panicked when angered. Chen Baoshuan forgot his parents, and drank dung soup from the dung pit, drank dung soup."

(End of this chapter)