My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 174 The Ox's Stomach

The night wind howled in the early morning, and countless glittering stars were scattered across the night sky, twinkling incessantly in the moonless night. The faint starlight sprinkled on the trees and woodpile, as if draped in a layer of hazy frost.

Chen Ling changed into a coat and went out, following the Chen brothers to the house of Fourth Grandma in the north of the village.

Fourth Grandma is from Grandpa Gan's family.

That's Chen Gannian, the one who narrowly escaped death from the jaws of a wolf.

She is also the mother-in-law of Wang Xiuhua, the village's women's team leader.

The two elderly people treated the younger generation very well in the past.

He was simply worn out by the heavy physical labor.

Fourth Grandma has difficulty walking and has been bedridden for the past two years.

Chen Gannian had also experienced mental health issues in the past.

Therefore, their children and grandchildren usually don't let them go out much, and they bring them three meals a day to the old house.

Unexpectedly, it's only been a few years, and he's already failing.

They all belong to the Chen family.

Neither weddings nor funerals should be missed, both out of sentiment and reason.

The old house where Fourth Grandmother lived was next to Chen Sangui's house. Behind the house was a hillside with jujube trees, thorny bushes, and other miscellaneous trees. The old house had been repaired after the flood, but the courtyard wall and courtyard were not rebuilt.

When the three arrived, the courtyard was brightly lit, and many people had come to keep watch in front of the old house, talking in hushed tones. The eldest son, Chen Yongsheng, was still sobbing silently with tears streaming down his face, and the air was filled with a sorrowful atmosphere.

"My mother was perfectly fine yesterday at noon, she even ate a big bowl of noodles, how could she just suddenly become unwell..."

"But a few days ago she dreamed that the King of Hell came to call her."

"These past few days I've been alternating between being clear-headed and confused, just talking about chickens and dogs from my childhood."

"It was repaired quickly and efficiently, without any suffering."

Clearly, by this time, Fourth Grandmother had already passed away.

Wang Xiuhua, the eldest daughter-in-law, came out wiping away tears to prepare for the funeral.

Wang Xiuhua is timid and has been afraid of ghosts since birth.

Ever since Fourth Grandmother fell ill, she had been taking meticulous care of her, fearing that Fourth Grandmother might hold a grudge against her and come back to haunt her as a ghost after her death.

This made everyone in the village say that she was virtuous.

She has now taken out the prepared funeral clothes and is taking advantage of her mother-in-law's still-warm body temperature to go inside and change her into the clothes.

Her husband, Chen Yongsheng, the eldest son of Fourth Grandmother, was still kneeling beside his mother, taking the paper money handed to him by his uncles and burning it one by one while crying.

"Mom, it's dark at night, please drive carefully."

The paper money, once burned, should weigh nine jin and four liang (approximately 4.6 catties), which should be weighed and prepared in advance.

Because only items weighing this much can be taken away by the deceased; this is called "farewell money," and it cannot be taken lightly.

After the paper offerings burned out, they started setting off firecrackers.

Three cannon shots rang out late at night, announcing to the villagers that someone had died.

Chen Ling and his fellow younger colleagues basically do this kind of work.

Some carried firecrackers to set off outside the courtyard, while others became the Eight Immortals.

The Eight Immortals were eight strong young men. Four of them cleaned the inside and outside of the coffin, while the other four carried the person into the coffin.

However, according to local custom, the body cannot be placed in the coffin after midnight; it must wait until the third day.

It was already past 2 a.m., so the Eight Immortals placed Fourth Grandmother on the spirit bed, and that was the end of it.

Chen Ling and Chen Ze are mostly grandchildren.

The grandchildren didn't need to do much help on the first night. They weren't really needed to do much; they just had to set off firecrackers, tidy up the house, clear out the clutter from the main room and living room, and set up a mourning hall.

However, Chen Ling is still a bit different from the other grandchildren.

His performance over the past six months has been well-received by the villagers, who feel he has become capable and are willing to ask him to help share the burden.

In the eyes of many elders, this is a sign of respect.

So after setting off the cannons, Chen Dazhi called him to go find a tailor to make mourning clothes.

The others went to call the village's paper-making craftsman to bring over paper money, paper flowers, door hangings, and other items.

After a flurry of activity, everything was ready by 4 a.m.

A hanging banner, also known as a paper banner, was hung outside the courtyard.

The sounds of cannons booming rang out again.

All the male and female descendants of the Chen family wore mourning clothes.

They lined up in a long queue according to seniority, following behind the elders who were sending off the souls, and walked westward into the village while crying under the cover of night.

The old man who sends off the soul carries a bamboo basket containing scissors, joss paper, incense, candles, and firecrackers. He leads the procession out of the village and to the vicinity of the local earth god temple. There, he cuts a few pieces of joss paper, burns incense and candles, sets off firecrackers, and then kneels on the ground and cries again.

This is called "sending paper" or "reporting to the temple".

But in many rural areas, even at the source of this tradition.

The most common name for it is "paper press".

She cried when she went to press the paper, but didn't cry when she came back.

Don't cry when you leave after removing the paper, cry when you come back.

Legend has it that in the early Tang Dynasty, the Medicine King Sun Simiao traveled the world, treating the poor and even bringing them back to life.

To prevent people from going back and forth looking for him, he told his patients, "Don't look for me everywhere. Just write down the patient's name and address on a piece of paper and leave it at the crossroads. When I pass by and see it, I will go to their home to treat them."

Everyone followed the Medicine King's advice, and sure enough, many patients were cured.

People usually go to press the paper with great sorrow, but return feeling hopeful; they go to peel the paper with hope, but return with their illusions shattered.

Because it embodies the impermanence of life and death, it gradually evolved into a rural funeral custom.

After this trip is over.

The two brothers, Chen Ling and Chen Ze, took off their white mourning caps and returned home.

Tomorrow at dawn, the women from each household will come to offer condolences and will distribute different kinds of gifts.

There are also specific customs and traditions for holding funerals and practicing filial piety in rural areas.

For example, the style of the mourning cap, and the length of the mourning scarf and sash, vary according to the generation of the children, cousins, sisters, married daughters, and daughters-in-law.

Some employers are often not thorough in their considerations, and it is not uncommon for quarrels to break out on the spot over a small amount of filial piety gifts.

There's a saying in the village: "A person who is not filial."

It's easy to make a fool of yourself.

The next day.

After Chen Ling and Wang Susu returned home with the daughters and wives of the Chen family from the funeral, they marked the bowls, chopsticks, tables, and chairs and helped carry them over.

After that, he got on his bicycle and left the village.

This time, since Fourth Grandmother is of a higher generation, Chen Sangui from the same clan was in charge of the arrangements, and Wang Laishun and Chen Guoping also went to help record the gift list.

Chen Ling originally intended for him to be a cook.

He didn't want to do it.

There are people in the village who specialize in cooking for weddings and funerals, and they can earn a lot of money from it. Why would he steal someone else's job?
This job is tiring, and you end up offending people for no reason.

In the end, Chen Sangui had no choice but to send him to inform relatives in various places of the death.

That's good; we don't have to tie him up anymore.

Braving the autumn wind, Chen Ling rode his bicycle over mountain ridges and across water bridges, arriving at Kinmen Village first.

Kinmen Village is built against the mountain and has only two or three hundred households.

Chen Ling rode his bicycle across the bridge into the village, and after only a few steps, he encountered Er Ni'er and her husband.

The two were digging a sweet potato well outside the courtyard when they saw Chen Ling, so they stopped what they were doing and smiled.

"Uncle Fugui, it's been a long time since I've seen you. If you're not too busy, come over to my place and have a drink of water."

Erni'er's husband, Liu Hongxing, came up from the sweet potato well and walked to the car.

Ernier also followed suit and moved into the house.

"No, I won't go inside. Our village's Fourth Grandmother has passed away; I've come to deliver the news."

Chen Ling shook his head and said.

He then pulled a list from his breast pocket and asked, "Which family is Liu Guangjun? This is Fourth Grandmother's eldest nephew. I need to go and inform him right away."

Kinmen Village is mainly inhabited by people with the surnames Jin and Liu. Most of the people living along the Jinshui River are surnamed Jin, while the rest are surnamed Liu.

So we need to walk a little further into the village.

After the two men pointed out the location to Chen Ling, he went to the door.

In the old days, when delivering a death notice, one had to be quick and leave without entering the house. One could only shout loudly outside the door, and after delivering the notice, ask for a mouthful of water to rinse one's mouth to ward off bad luck, and then return immediately without lingering for even a moment.

But it's not that strict anymore.

As long as you don't go inside, there are no other taboos.

"Guangjun's family, which village is this young man from? Is he married or not? If he's not married, tell my daughter about him. Look at him, so fair and handsome, he's a perfect match for my daughter..."

"You're kidding me, sister-in-law. This is from my aunt's village, a young man from the Chen family. He's already married."

"Oh? You're already married at such a young age? I don't even look twenty."

"What do you mean 'not even twenty'? That's because they don't do much work and have tender skin, so they look young. They're different from us who are exposed to the wind and sun."

"Speaking of this young man, you must know him. He used to be a messenger named Chen Juncai. He was really handsome and tall, with a very good appearance."

"Ah, I see. Chen Juncai's lazy son from Chenwangzhuang, no one dares to propose marriage to him."

"You know, with such fair skin, and being so lazy and doing no work, isn't that fair-skinned?"

"How can a kid like this find a wife?"

Chen Ling rode his bike silently, but he could hear the two women behind him whispering, which made him chuckle.

Then, they continued to inquire in the next village and visited people's homes.

And so, they traveled from Kinmen Village and Taoshugou, going south and east, visiting more than a dozen villages.

I just finished informing my great-grandmother's brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, and cousins.

This is no way.

In the past, families had many children, resulting in a large group of relatives, both close and distant.

Some went but weren't home.

This was told to his family.

That way, there's no need to go to the funeral home to offer condolences and gifts.

As the saying goes, "Gifts for weddings are appreciated, but gifts for funerals are not accepted."

Funeral gift money should not be given by family members on their behalf.

Insincerity brings bad luck.

Chen Ling's pockets were also stuffed full of cigarettes.

Nowadays, when people go to announce a death, they no longer drink water or rinse their mouths.

But there was a lot of smoking.

Some people give one, while others give a whole box.

That's what matters.

There's no need to politely decline.

It was almost noon, so Chen Ling put the cigarette away in the cave and prepared to notify the last family to have lunch in Huangni Town.

Today, the messenger was traveling in a southeast direction, getting further and further away from Changle Township, but closer and closer to Huangni Town.

Huangni Town is small, but it has plenty of food.

Roast chicken, beef soup, guokui (a type of flatbread), paomo (pita bread soaked in mutton soup), mutton he luo (a type of noodle)...

Chen Ling could smell the fragrance from afar.

When we arrived in town, we ordered a large bowl of mutton noodles.

This was his favorite food when he was in school.

But you can't usually eat it.

My family doesn't have the means.

I really wanted it. The mutton noodles were served.

The mutton sauce, the red chili oil soup, and the bluish-gray noodles are steaming hot and fragrant.

It was incredibly satisfying to slurp it up in big gulps.

One bowl wasn't enough for Chen Ling, so he asked for another.

He was eating his second bowl when he suddenly heard someone calling him...

"Brother Ling, what brings you to Huangni Town?"

Looking up, he saw Jiang Xiaoqing, Han Chuang's girlfriend, staring at him in surprise.

"Oh, I came here to take care of something. Aren't you going to work today?"

"I wasn't busy today, and my mother said there was something going on back home and I needed to go back and visit, so I secretly ran back."

"Brother Ling, is this enough for you? I know you have a big appetite. If you're still hungry, I'll get you more noodles. This is my family's restaurant, so please feel free to eat whatever you want."

"Your restaurant..."

"There's plenty to eat, the portions are very generous, and the noodles are delicious, much better than those in the county town."

Chen Ling quickly agreed.

I thought to myself, what a coincidence! I guess I haven't been going out much in the past.

I went out for a long walk today and kept running into acquaintances.

Jiang Xiaoqing thought he was just being polite, so she went inside and called her father out. He then ordered another bowl of mutton, which was glistening with oil and made up of large chunks.

This guy made Chen Ling feel embarrassed.

“Since you’re classmates with Chuangzi, you’re not an outsider. Eat in peace. You’ll know this is our family’s restaurant in the future. Whenever you’re in town and hungry, just come over. I don’t have any other skills, but I can still make sure you have a good meal.”

Jiang's father was not tall, but a sturdy and robust man with a pockmarked face and triangular eyes. He looked a bit intimidating, but when he was warm, he made people feel close to him.

A little later, Jiang Xiaoqing also brought out bowls and chopsticks.

It was noon, and since it wasn't market day, there weren't many people eating, so the three of them sat down together and ate.

I've talked too much.

Chen Ling gradually relaxed as well.

While chatting with Jiang Xiaoqing and her father, he learned that Jiang Xiaoqing had been called back because her grandfather's cow had fallen ill.

She works as a technician at the county agricultural bureau. Her family wanted her to ask around and find a veterinarian, but nothing came of it.

Huangni Town is too small. Many people here, like Han Chuangjia, run factories and businesses, such as paper mills, canneries, and coal mines, all in pursuit of making money.

The livestock station wasn't making any money, so it's been shut down for a long time.

That's why finding a veterinarian isn't easy.

Those who know a little about it just ask for medicine to feed the cows, and they don't want to go to the countryside because they think it's too much trouble.

If a sick cow cannot be cured, the price will be significantly reduced if you want to sell it.

Moreover, if the illness is not cured, the patient will become increasingly thin and lose a lot of weight.

This can't go on.

"Have you found a veterinarian? If not, I'll go take a look."

“Brother Ling, you…”

“I am now a veterinarian at our township’s animal husbandry station. Except for serious illnesses that require medication or surgery, I can treat most minor ailments.”

"Oh dear, isn't this perfect? ​​My family's cow isn't seriously ill, it just has been having diarrhea for almost two months. At first, we fed it some herbal medicine and didn't do much else, but now it's getting thinner and thinner. It doesn't want to lie down when it sleeps, and it doesn't move much when it's herding cattle. It's getting skin and bones."

Old Jiang sighed in distress: "These are beef cattle, how can this be okay? Tell me..."

Chen Ling said, "That won't work, but diarrhea problems vary in severity. Whether it's pigs, horses, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, or geese, diarrhea often occurs when they are sick. Some diarrhea is easy to treat, while others are serious problems. Let's go and see what's going on first."

"Is it far?"

"It's not far, just in Pigeon Camp, but will it interfere with your business, Brother Ling?"

“The matter is settled. Let’s go to Pigeon Camp. I can go home from the county town on the way. Let’s go.”

Anyway, once the news of the death has been announced, there's no more to it than that.

"If I can't cure him, I'll find you an old veterinarian. I know two or three in our village, the closest one isn't far from the county seat, but they usually have other jobs..."

"Okay then, it's good that I ran into you today."

...At 2 p.m., we arrived at Pigeon Camp, the home of Jiang Xiaoqing's grandfather.

This is a small farmhouse surrounded by mud houses and low walls made of scattered stones. In the cowshed outside the courtyard, there are three old yellow oxen.

One bull and two cows.

Among the two cows, one yellow and white spotted cow stood in the corner of the shed, its rear end facing outwards, looking sickly and noticeably thinner than the other cows.

"Da, Mom, Xiaoqing and I have found a veterinarian."

Old Jiang shouted as he entered the door.

Then, a thin elderly couple dressed in light blue coarse cloth came out. After exchanging a few words with the father and daughter, they looked at Chen Ling with some surprise, probably because they thought he was too young and didn't quite believe it.

However, he didn't show any disdain on his face and took them to the cowshed.

Once inside the cowshed, Chen Ling walked around the sick cow.

Feel the belly, check the teeth, examine the cow dung...

After a brief moment of contemplation, he said to Old Jiang, "Uncle, do you have any magnets at home? Find me one."

"Magnet?"

The crowd was puzzled, but they still found him two or three pieces, big and small.

After Chen Ling got his hands on it, he picked out a piece with strong magnetism and tested it by holding it close to the cow's belly.

This test revealed that the magnet reacted on the left side of the abdomen.

“Come and see, the magnet is reacting. It’s obvious that iron has been ingested, and it’s probably already damaged the stomach.”

Chen Ling pointed and invited the old man and woman, as well as Jiang Xiaoqing and her father, to come forward and try it.

And it turned out to be true.

They were all astonished.

"You're quite capable, young man. You really figured out what the problem was."

"Grandpa, Grandma, how can a cow eat iron? Can it chew it and swallow it?"

Jiang Xiaoqing couldn't understand it.

"Well, cows aren't like us humans. They don't chew their food slowly. They just roll their tongues and swallow it whole. They don't even know there's iron in it."

As the old man spoke, he asked Chen Ling, "Young man, is this ox having diarrhea because it has iron in its belly? Can you think of a way to use some medicine to make it pass the iron?"

Chen Ling shook his head upon hearing this: "The iron is in the rumen. When the rumen is ruminated and chewed, the fodder softens and it goes up, but the iron doesn't soften and it stays in the rumen. It can't get into the stomach for proper digestion at all. You can't get it out even if you take medicine. You can only use a magnet to suck it out."

"Uncle Jiang, go and buy two more new ones, the ones with strong magnetism."

"Huh? These few aren't enough? You want to buy new ones?"

The old lady thought it was troublesome, as the store was too far away.

Chen Ling wasn't surprised and explained, "Iron has a salty taste, and cows like that taste. Many cows have eaten iron, but if a cow is this sick, it's not ordinary iron in its stomach. It's probably something sharp or thorny like a nail that it ate."

"If you use a weak magnet to pull something like this out, it might get stuck halfway in the rumen and not only won't come out, but it could fall back into the rumen and hurt the cow. That could easily cause trouble."

The old lady finally realized what was good for her and hurriedly took Jiang Xiaoqing to buy it.

Old Jiang and his son were left to help Chen Ling.

"It's stuck in a nail. Is its stomach injured? Can you tell?"

Old Jiang asked.

"Yes, I can tell. If there are no other symptoms, then there's no injury."

Chen Ling nodded.

Cows have four stomachs: rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum.

The abomasum is the cow's true stomach and the only one with digestive function.

Cows eat quickly, and their food goes into their rumen without being chewed.

Iron that you accidentally ingest also ends up in the rumen.

After rumination and chewing, other food enters the abomasum, is digested and absorbed, and then excreted.

The iron in the rumen still cannot be expelled.

It's fine if it's not sharp iron.

Sharp objects like nails are not suitable; they would be dangerous over time.

In severe cases, it can lead to gastric perforation, puncture of the rumen and reticulum, etc.

Or traumatic pericarditis, which is when the heart is pierced and the person dies.

When this happens, the cow will have swollen areas and abnormal reactions such as varicose veins.

By then it would be too late...

There's no need to treat it at all. Just kill it and sell it for meat as soon as possible; you can make more money that way.

The cow only has gastritis now; it was caught early, so it's nothing serious.

Later, Jiang Xiaoqing and her companion bought the magnets back.

Chen Ling then instructed them to prepare warm water, which they would need to retrieve the iron nails.

Extracting iron from a cow's stomach is not difficult.

First, tie a sturdy rope to the magnet, then feed it warm water and let it be swallowed by the cow.

If a cow is willing to open its mouth, it will actually swallow it subconsciously.

The reason for constantly feeding water is to prevent the magnet from getting stuck in the esophagus.

The cow that Jiang Xiaoqing's grandfather raised from a young age also had a nose ring on it. It was led by two elderly people and even though it felt very uncomfortable, it still mooed and swallowed the magnet completely.

Once the magnet enters the rumen, do not rush to pull it out.

First, lead the cow around for a while.

Walk uphill and downhill, wander around everywhere.

This allows the iron in the rumen to be completely attracted to the magnet.

"Brother Ling, how long are we going to walk him?"

"An hour and a half to twenty minutes is fine."

"okay."

Soon, Jiang Xiaoqing returned from walking the cow, and it was time to take it out.

However, be careful when removing the magnet to avoid injuring the cow's stomach.

At this time, you must not be impatient, nor should you use too much force.

You just need to follow the cow's natural stomach reaction, which is like rumination or vomiting, and slowly pull it out.

This process has an interesting name: "Qian Niu Wei" (牵牛胃).

Chen Ling had the two old men press the bull's head against the pillar to secure it, and then slowly pulled it outwards. It took two or three minutes before he felt a sudden relief in his hands.

This is when it leaves the rumen and reaches the esophagus.

Then, carefully pull the magnet out of the cow's mouth.

After pulling it out and holding it in my hand, I saw that it had indeed sucked out two crooked iron nails.

Besides the two iron nails, the magnet also had small pieces of iron scraps stuck to it.

"My goodness, there really is a nail in the cow's belly."

"With such a long nail stuck in the cow's stomach, no wonder it had been having diarrhea and was feeling unwell. It's terrifying to think about..."

Jiang Xiaoqing and her family were both surprised and terrified.

After regaining his senses, he kept thanking Chen Ling, saying, "Good young man, you're really capable!"

They then warmly invited him into their home, serving him tea and cigarettes.

The family later wondered where the nails came from.

It's probably something that was accidentally eaten by a cow during the rebuilding of the house after the flood.

Congratulations to "I like roasted chicken wings" for becoming the discipline assistant for this book!

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(End of this chapter)