My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 159 Congratulations
Chen Ling spent most of the night in the cave, planting the things that had been piled up in the thatched hut since he came into the mountains.

Now, follow the stream through the woods, walk onto the ancient stone arch bridge, cross the huge lotus pond, and smell the fragrance of lotus flowers. As you walk a few more steps, the fragrance becomes even stronger.

The area around the former stone pavilion has been transformed into a small garden, with a rainbow hanging in the sky above and clusters of flowers below. All kinds of flowers and plants are vying for beauty, some as white as snow, some as pink as the sunset, and some as vibrant as fire.

The variety is diverse yet orderly, the fragrance is rich yet not pungent, and the splendor is dazzling, like being in a fairyland.

Chen Ling opened his arms and took a few deep breaths. He felt that the fragrance of flowers was layered, some were light and delicate, some were refreshing and invigorating, and some were strong and pure. Inhaling them made him feel relaxed and his mind and body were unconsciously soothed.

Besides flowers and plants, he also planted several wild fruit trees around the pavilion, among the flowers and plants. There were 'sugar bubble' trees that can make people drunk if you eat too much of them, as well as sweet and sour wild cherry and hawthorn trees. They were scattered around and complemented the flowers and plants.

Returning to the front of the thatched cottage, there were orchids planted there, and wild grapevines on both sides of the cottage. The vines leaned and climbed up the roof, hanging with bunches of purplish-red grapes, which even had a slight frost on them. When you eat them, they are sweet and sour, juicy and delicious.

As for herbs, kiwifruit, akebia quinata, wild sunflowers, tobacco leaves, and other things, Chen Ling scattered them among the trees. Of course, some sunflowers were also planted behind the thatched hut; they were golden and very beautiful, but there were only a few scattered plants.

He also planted two hawthorn, pomegranate, and goji berry trees in front of and behind the thatched hut, right next to the house. The red and green trees complemented each other, creating a lively scene.

"Not bad, very good."

Chen Ling circled around again, quite satisfied with the layout of the cave.

Then he caught the two geckos, put them in an earthenware pot in the thatched hut, covered them with gauze to keep them from running around. He also closed the door to keep the pheasants and other birds out, otherwise the two little creatures would be eaten if he wasn't careful.

...In the early morning, Chen Ling woke up to the crisp and melodious chirping of birds. Although he had only slept for half the night, he was still refreshed. At this time, the two fires had been extinguished, leaving only a little smoke and lingering fragrance mixed with the faint scent of pine resin.

"Let's go, Fugui, let's slip over and see what we've gained over the trap."

He got up and moved around for a while, then Wang Lixian called him to go check the harvest near the stream.

"Haha, let's go. It's been a whole night, how's it going, Brother Xian? What do you think you'll get out of him? Any ideas?"

"Yes, of course we have it. But we can't tell anyone, or we'll lose everything."

"You still believe in this?"

"You can't deny it. Hunting in the mountains and fishing in the water are all very risky."

The two chatted casually as they walked down the mountain. Whether this was truly mysterious or not was not worth investigating. In any case, when they got there, the trap closest to the stream did not fail.

They caught a few water camels, also known as pheasants, or great egrets. The nickname "water camel" comes from the fact that these water birds often hunch their necks, have slumped shoulders and hunched backs, just like camels.

The water camel's feathers are either yellowish-brown or covered in reed fluff with black and white stripes, and it has a pointed snout.

Compared to the slender egrets and blue-and-white egrets, this waterbird looks strong and plump, with plenty of meat on its body, making it quite a haul.

After these animals were caught, two had their heads bitten off by wild beasts, while the others were still struggling.

Not far away, several snares had been bitten through, and the area around the snares was a mess. The traps hidden near the snares had also been taken away, leaving a bloodstain on the ground.

Wang Lixian examined the traces and said, "It was left by either a fox or a gray wolf..."

After walking a few more steps, they let Chen Ling go over and take a look. There were also snares, traps, and pitfalls in that place, but the bait was too little, and they didn't catch any prey.

All around were messy footprints, shaped like plum blossoms, divided into five petals, each about the size of an egg.

"That's a lynx, even more cunning than a fox. Unless it's a young, immature creature, it's hard to catch. I guess it came because it smelled blood. Let's keep looking ahead, I wonder if it's stolen any big catches..."

Wang Lixian stepped on the footprints, stood up and said to Chen Ling.

Lynxes are highly wary, and snares and traps are ineffective against them.

Chen Ling secretly made a note of it. He could now identify the tracks of many kinds of wild animals. When he came, whether it was yesterday or today, there were actually many fresh hoof prints left nearby.

He thought he could catch deer or camphor trees again, but he caught none.

Fortunately, two half-grown wild boars wandered into the surrounding traps. They were not yet fully grown and weighed only about 70 or 80 pounds.

They were still alive, but covered in blood. Upon closer inspection, the two men realized that the two wild boars had traps on their legs and were trapped, so they were too weak to struggle.

"Good heavens, they brought in a trap. Luckily we set another one, otherwise these two rascals might have run away with the trap."

Chen Ling stepped forward, pulled the two wild boars out of the traps, and gave each of them a knife.

"Haha, but this harvest has really exceeded my expectations."

"No rush, there are still two traps in the ravine, and they've been set. If they don't fail to catch anything and aren't stolen by lynxes or anything, we'll have an even bigger haul."

Wang Lixian helped carry the two half-grown wild boars on his back, and with a few water camels in hand, continued towards the final trap.

"Awooo, awooo..."

One trap failed, but another emitted a pitiful, hoarse cry, soft, like the mournful whimper of a kitten.

The two hurried to the side of the ravine to take a look, and were stunned to find that it was a fox, the most common spotted fox in China, scientifically known as the red fox or fire fox. Its fur is light yellowish-white all over, with light brown or brown fur on its limbs and a white tail tip.

However, the animal in the trap had multiple injuries, some from the trap itself and others from other wild animals.

Upon seeing Chen Ling and the other person approach, it immediately stopped chirping and looked over warily. Around it were feathers stained with blood, bone fragments, and a messy pile of dirt and fallen leaves.

It clearly stole more than one or two prey.

"Ha, you greedy little fox, you stole some food and didn't want to leave, so you fell in, didn't you?"

Chen Ling snapped out of his daze, put down the prey on his back, and raised his gun to finish it off.

Unexpectedly, Wang Lixian reached out and stopped him.

"Forget about Fugui, we can't kill this fox..."

"Ah? What's wrong?"

Chen Ling paused for a moment, somewhat puzzled.

“This is a pregnant fox cub. Catch it and release it.”

Wang Lixian shook his head slightly and sighed.

"Pregnant?"

Chen Ling was even more surprised, wondering how he could tell that the fox was pregnant. However, he also knew that it was a rule not to kill pregnant foxes when entering the mountains, so he quickly pulled the fox out of the trap. Seeing that its injuries were quite serious, as if it had fought with other wild animals, he cleaned its wounds and applied some medicine powder.

Ignoring the fox's struggles and its constant hissing threats tinged with extreme fear, Chen Ling applied the medicine and released it. The fox shrieked, leaped to the side, and limped away into the dense bushes and weeds.

"Let's go, it's time for us to go back."

Wang Lixian glanced at them twice, then looked away, helped Chen Ling carry the two half-grown wild boars onto his back, and then removed and put away the traps one by one.

The two then hurried back.

"Actually, hunting is also a skill. Before we had guns and cannons, our ancestors were able to live well by relying on the mountains because they followed the rules of the mountains."

"Now that we have guns and cannons, these things are very powerful. Whether you know the rules or not, you can come into the mountains to hunt. I really don't know if there will still be any wild animals in the mountains in a few decades?"

Chen Ling deeply agreed with what Wang Lixian said. In just a few decades, or even ten or twenty years, the wild animals in the mountains will be either endangered or extinct.

The two went down the mountain for a stroll and then carried back two half-grown wild boars and some wild birds. Everyone was pleasantly surprised and said that this time they were sure to be safe and could leave the mountain today.

Chatting and laughing, they packed their things, carrying or lifting them, and slowly descended the mountain, heading towards the village along the stream.

Heading out of the mountains, there's no need to stop and search for prey tracks, which speeds up the journey considerably.

They set off in the morning and soon arrived at the mountains near Langdiao Rock after noon. The group rested for a while, ate something, and then crossed Langdiao Rock around three or four in the afternoon. They went hunting in the mountains for four days and returned with a full load.

The village was now in sight, and everyone was overjoyed, singing folk songs at the top of their lungs.

The dogs knew they were close to home, so they barked and rushed down the hill.

"Oh, the ones who went into the mountains are back already..."

"Where are they? Where are they? Which teams have returned?"

"Seventh team, right? The rich family dog ​​is so conspicuous, can't you recognize it?"

The villagers working on the hillside were the first to spot them, stopping their work one by one and craning their necks to look.

"Oh, Auntie, look! Team Seven has caught so much stuff!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's only been a few days, how come there are so many?"

"You know what, with seven teams, there are so many people, I wonder if there will be enough to go around."

When Chen Ling and his group got closer, the villagers finally saw how many prey there were and immediately surrounded them.

Villagers working in the fields, both near and far, all came over to watch the spectacle and kept asking questions.

"That guy is something else..."

Chen Dazhi stood in the crowd, spittle flying as he recounted the thrilling events of the past few days in the mountains. He described everything from chasing wild boars to encountering stray dogs and leopards, as if he had been involved in the entire process.

Everyone was engrossed in listening, but when asked one last question, it turned out that the first gunman was Chen Ling, which immediately caused a group of people to surround Chen Dazhi and laugh at him.

"Huh? Where's Fugui? I don't see him."

“Uncle Fugui went home a long time ago. He misses his wife and can’t stay here.”

Everyone was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.

“That Fugui, even when he married a beautiful wife, he didn’t treat her this well. If you ask me, he should just tie his wife to his belt and take her with him wherever he goes.”

"Let's go, let's not worry about wealth or risk for now. Let's carry the game to our house and sell it at the market tomorrow!"

...Chen Ling carried a sika deer on his shoulder and a musk deer in his other hand, following behind two dogs back home. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw a woman in a gray dress squatting by the well, washing Wang Zhenzhen's hair. The woman had fair skin and a plump figure. She was washing Wang Zhenzhen's hair and chatting and laughing.

There was a pile of freshly washed clothes next to the two of them.

The scene stunned him.

"Sister Qiumei, what brings you here? Where's Susu?"

"what?"

As soon as Qin Qiumei looked up, she saw Chen Ling walking into the yard, covered in dirt, carrying prey in his hands and on his back, with two dogs helping to carry the package.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, you're back?"

Wang Zhenzhen was overjoyed to see him. She ran over, still holding her hair which was covered in white foam, and her excited appearance made Chen Ling smile.

When the little girl saw the prey he was holding, her eyes lit up, and she reached out to touch it, ignoring the foam all over her head.

Wow, a sika deer!

"Is this a baby sika deer? Why did you kill it? If we had caught it alive, we could have raised it!"

"Just like wild boar piglets, you feed them grass, and when they grow up, you can sell them for money and they can even have piglets."

Wang Zhenzhen chattered away, circling around the sika deer and musk deer, looking at them intently.

Chen Ling put down his prey, pinched her little cheek, and then asked, "Where's your sister?"

"My sister just went out; she went to find Sister-in-law Xiufen."

The little girl's mind was entirely on the prey he brought back. She squatted down in front of it, touching and examining it without looking up.

Seeing this, Qin Qiumei smiled and walked over, whispering, "Susu went to get her medicine. Actually, she's in pretty good health, she just can't get chilled these days."

Chen Ling found this statement a bit strange and was about to press for more information...

Qin Qiumei smiled and winked at him, "Congratulations!"

Congratulations? Congratulations on what?

Chen Ling was filled with doubt and was about to ask what was going on.

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened in surprise.

(End of this chapter)