My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 177

Even Wang Susu, who had heard Chen Ling describe the situation here in detail a couple of days ago, still couldn't help but feel shocked and amazed as she stood here in person.

The lake in front of us is like a giant mirror, nestled among the mountains.

The azure sky is reflected in the water, and the white clouds seem to sink to the bottom, making it impossible to distinguish where the water ends and the sky begins.

Several eagles circled high in the sky, sometimes soaring into the air against the wind, sometimes remaining still, looking like tiny insects frozen in amber.

If it weren't for the occasional cry of an eagle, people would have thought it wasn't a living creature.

On the lake, large flocks of waterbirds flapped their wings, playing and fighting, or swooping down into the lake to hunt.

The stillness and movement of the eagles in the sky made the scene appear even more ethereal and serene.

"This place is so beautiful."

"I never imagined there would be such a beautiful place in the mountains so close to the village. It's like a painting."

Qin Qiumei murmured to herself, looking around at the lake and mountains, the forests ablaze with color, as if splashed with oil paint, beautiful everywhere, dazzling and overwhelming, she didn't know where to look.

Xiang Wenxia, ​​carrying her little girl, walked along the lakeside, pointing to the eagles in the sky, the birds on the water, and the beautiful maple forest for her daughter to see.

The little girl was completely captivated, struggling to get down from Xiang Wenxia's arms and running around happily.

But no matter how amazed or delighted they were, everyone was very careful, moving very quietly and speaking very softly, as if afraid of disturbing every blade of grass and every tree here.

The mountains and rivers are beautiful, like a poem or a painting.

A sudden bark from a dog snapped everyone out of their awe at the beautiful scenery.

Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw Heiwa and Xiaojin leading Zhao Dahai's greyhound. The three dogs, covered in mud, ran from the bamboo forest to the group.

The greyhound was incredibly excited, but Heiwa and the other two were a bit dejected, lying beside Chen Ling and Wang Susu, unwilling to move.

The reason is that there are fewer geese in the lake. Although there are still geese today, they are far away and run away as soon as you get close. They don't react when you try to provoke them because they are not the same flock as before.

The two dogs were completely helpless.

Now he can't even vent his anger.

Seeing this, Chen Ling told everyone to stay where they were and quietly slipped through the bamboo forest alone, carrying a steel fork.

As he got closer to the flock of geese, he gripped the steel fork tightly and hurled it with all his might.

Unfortunately, although the force was strong, the distance was still too far, and the accuracy deteriorated, so he didn't hit a single goose.

"There are fewer geese now, making them harder to hunt..."

Looking at the flock of geese scattering in the middle of the lake, Chen Ling called the dog to retrieve the steel fork.

I know in my heart that the geese will soon fly away as the weather gets colder, and now we can no longer see migratory birds like cranes, which leave much earlier than the geese.

He said, "Come on, if we can't catch the wild goose, I'll take you to catch something fun. If we can catch it, it'll be lunch."

So he stood up, gripping the pitchfork, and walked towards the bamboo forest.

By this time, it was almost noon. The women were a little tired and had sweated a lot. After entering the bamboo forest, they stopped by the stream, squatted on the pebbles by the water to wash their faces, and then sat down to rest.

Chen Ling and Zhao Dahai, carrying pitchforks and hoes, continued deeper into the bamboo forest with their dogs.

"What are we doing, Fugui?"

Seeing Chen Ling walking and stopping intermittently, deliberately picking through the dead bamboo groves, Zhao Dahai asked curiously.

"Catching bamboo rats, huh? Didn't you say you ate some last time? Can't you tell?"

Chen Ling also looked at him strangely.

"Yes, I've eaten it, but I've never caught it."

Zhao Dahai shook his head, following beside him and searching around: "How did you find this thing? Can't you use a dog to find it?"

"Sure, why not? We even have people in our village who train rat-hunting dogs. They spend all day in the mountains looking for rats and bamboo rats. They're pretty good at it."

As soon as Chen Ling finished speaking, Xiao Jin came running over, pattering on the fallen leaves. He had a chubby little gray-black fury in his mouth and placed it in front of him. The little dog had a round body, bulging cheeks, and was all fleshy. It had small ears, small eyes, a pair of big front teeth, and four short legs. It looked even more adorable than a mouse.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling immediately laughed: "Look, we've caught one!"

My dogs never need to be commanded; they go looking for prey on their own.

"However, bamboo rats are timid. They run away very quickly at the slightest disturbance. In this season when the weather gets cold, they dig their burrows very deep, making them very difficult for dogs to catch."

"That's why Xiao Jin is able to catch bamboo rats before they run back to their burrows after spotting them. Even Heiwa would have a hard time doing the same thing."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dahai gave Xiao Jin a thumbs up, praising its excellence.

Then he looked at the bamboo rat that Chen Ling had grabbed by the tail and lifted up.

The little creature wasn't killed by the bite, and now it's baring its sharp, large front teeth, making a 'whoosh-whoosh-' sound to show off, while its four short legs are still kicking and struggling.

Zhao Dahai was amused by the bamboo rat's silly appearance: "Hahaha, this thing looks so fat, like a little piglet."

"It's alright, it's just that the fur is a bit thick, but there's not much flesh on it."

Chen Ling weighed it in her hand; it was about two pounds. She then handed it to him.

Zhao Dahai took it with great interest, holding the tail in one hand and stroking it with the other, clearly quite fond of it.

"To be honest, I've eaten bamboo rats a few times, but this is the first time I've seen a live one. Can I take it home and keep it as a pet? It looks like a lot of fun."

"You can keep them, but they won't live long if you keep them at home. These things are timid, prone to illness, and very difficult to take care of. You might as well catch a couple of ground squirrels and take them home."

"Then forget it. I thought this little thing was as tough as a mouse."

Zhao Dahai shook his head and continued to follow Chen Ling in search of bamboo rat burrows.

The bamboo forest was quite large, and after walking a short distance, we found a bamboo rat burrow.

Near a clump of withered bamboo, there was a pile of yellow soil. The entrance to the hole was about the size of a fist. After clearing away the thick layer of bamboo leaves, the exit was relatively smooth.

Zhao Dahai raised his hoe to dig, but Chen Ling stopped him: "There used to be bamboo rats in this hole, but they've left now. If they were still living in there, they would have sealed the entrance with mud."

"No? I was wondering why even my dog ​​wasn't looking this way..."

Zhao Dahai scratched his head and sighed.

Dogs would indeed ignore such burrows, knowing there's nothing inside.

The next few holes were all like this.

"I don't believe it yet, I'll keep looking."

"Wang Wang Wang..."

Not far ahead, Heiwa found a cave and stood guard there, shouting loudly.

Zhao Dahai handed the bamboo rat to Chen Ling, then hurriedly ran over, examined it carefully, and looked up to ask, "Fugui, look, surely there's one in here?"

Chen Ling glanced at it and smiled: "I've got it! The soil blocking the entrance is still very fresh and damp. The bamboo rat must still be inside the burrow."

"Then I'll start digging."

As Zhao Dahai spoke, he used a hoe to dig along the inside of the hole.

All three dogs ran over and started digging furiously at the hole.

Within a few minutes, a ditch about 30 centimeters wide was dug out.

Zhao Dahai was already covered in sweat and panting heavily.

"Keep digging, Brother Dahai. The bamboo rat's burrow is really deep after the frost. It'll probably run out from underground soon."

"I can't take it anymore, I need to rest for a while."

Zhao Dahai waved his hands repeatedly, leaning on his hoe and panting again.

What are you two up to now?

At this moment, several women also came over.

"Digging for bamboo rats, have you all ever eaten them?"

Chen Ling shook the chubby bamboo rat in his hand and said with a smile.

Seeing that Yaya in Xiang Wenxia's arms was staring wide-eyed, she tied its hind legs with a straw rope and let Yaya lead it around.

"Sister-in-law, keep an eye on it. It bites really hard, and this rope isn't very strong."

"it is good."

"Has it found its nest? We need to dig it up quickly, or it will run away soon." Wang Susu walked up and looked at it, and said the same thing.

Bamboo rats are just as clever as mice. They like to build several burrows. While people are digging at one burrow, the bamboo rat may escape through another. Sometimes, even a single burrow can allow it to get away.

If it weren't for the dog watching nearby, Chen Ling would have already gone to find another hole to block it up.

But the dog is still guarding this place, which proves that the bamboo rat is still inside.

So Chen Ling found a thin bamboo branch and tried to insert it into the cave, but after inserting the bamboo branch for about two meters, he could no longer push it in.

He stopped and put the bamboo branch down, but it looked like it was trembling a little.

Seeing this, Chen Ling said, "The hole is a bit deep. This guy is starting to block it up with mud from the bottom. Look, the bamboo branches are shaking violently."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dahai stopped resting and put all his effort into digging again. However, he was too fat and could only dig for a couple of minutes before he couldn't continue.

Let's switch to Chen Ling.

Now the speed has increased.

Before long, everyone saw a small pile of yellow soil being pushed out of the burrow by the bamboo rat.

The dog immediately stared intently at them and started barking.

Chen Ling dug a few more times with his hoe, and then he saw a furry little thing pushing the soil out of the hole.

Sensing the approaching danger, the bamboo rat immediately twisted its clumsy body and desperately tried to burrow into the hole. However, Chen Ling had already grabbed its tail, pulled the front half of its body out of the hole, and held it upside down in the air.

Watching the bamboo rat struggle to move its clumsy body...

His comical appearance made everyone laugh.

"This little gadget is quite fun."

Xiang Wenxia watched her daughter happily playing with the bamboo rat rope on the ground and found it extremely amusing.

"That's right, they're quite lovable, but they're so hard to catch. It took all this effort to get just two, and one of them was caught by Fugui's dog."

Zhao Dahai nodded, his lips pursed, his breathing still a little uneven.

Just as he finished speaking, by sheer coincidence, Xiao Jin also spotted a bamboo rat burrow and started calling out in their direction.

The whole group of men and women ran over to see.

However, this hole was deeper than the previous one, with three or four entrances, making it even harder to grab onto...

How to become rich and powerful?

"It seems we have no choice but to use fire!"

Chen Ling took out matches from his pocket, cleared a space, then grabbed some dry bamboo leaves from the side, rolled them into a ball, lit them, and stuffed them into the front hole. He then pulled out a handful of dry bamboo branches from the side, broke them short, and used them to block the entrance of the hole.

Everyone choked and retreated.

Chen Ling endured the smoke and kept blowing air into the cave.

At this moment, a plume of black smoke billowed out from the back cave. Chen Ling quickly got up and moved to the back cave, wedging his right hand above the entrance. A bamboo rat peeked out from inside the cave and then retreated. As the smoke grew thicker, the bamboo rat eventually escaped.

Chen Ling reacted quickly, grabbing the bamboo rat's tail above the hole and pulling it out. The bamboo rat reacted violently, struggling and squeaking.

As soon as the bamboo rat was caught, the women cried out, "Look, look there! Another one has come out!"

Probably choked by the thick smoke, the bamboo rat reluctantly poked its head out, looking a little dizzy. Before it could recover, the two dogs pounced on it and pinned it firmly under their paws.

"This is a pretty good haul. With these bamboo rats, we can have a good meal at noon."

"Huh? We're really having this for lunch?"

"Hey, have a taste. If you don't like it, I'll make you something else when you get back."

They then cut down some dead bamboo for firewood and left together.

The group gathered firewood and walked towards the lake, chatting as they went.

As we were leaving the bamboo forest, we discovered that several women had placed a bamboo trap in the stream to block the water, which had already caught quite a few small fish and shrimp.

This stream is rather shallow and narrow, only about 20 or 30 centimeters deep, but the water is exceptionally clear and of very good quality, with plenty of fish and shrimp in it.

Chen Ling knew at a glance that it was his wife's idea.

Seeing a catch under the bamboo trap, the women and children played and caught fish there.

"Oh dear, oh dear, another fish is coming from above."

"Hey Yaya, what are you doing? You splashed water all over your aunt's face."

"Susu, is this a mountain loach? Oh, it's so slippery, it's run away! Wenxia, ​​catch it quickly!"

Chen Ling and Zhao Dahai bled, removed the fur, skinned, and cleaned the bamboo rats.

Then he took out seasonings from his basket, built a fire pit around the lake with stones, and started roasting bamboo rats.

The dead bamboo had long been dried out, and after being broken into shorter pieces, it was piled together with dry leaves and grass. When lit with fire, it quickly burst into flames, making the two people sweat profusely.

"What kind of seasoning is this? It smells like herbs. I've never seen it before. Could this be the secret recipe you've been working on?"

Zhao Dahai watched with curiosity as Chen Ling applied the seasoning to the bamboo rat and skillfully roasted it with a stick. He then sniffed and asked curiously.

Chen Ling laughed: "What secret recipe? It's something you can just grab a handful of from the mountains. If you don't believe me, try selling it in the city..."

"Sure, as long as it can be sold for money, I won't take a single penny. I'll send it all back to you. Just treat me to a good meal every time I come here."

Zhao Dahai wiped the sweat from his forehead and chuckled.

"That's hard to say. Take some with you when you go back."

Chen Ling smiled and didn't take it seriously.

He got up, found a few clean stones, and threw them into the fire pit.

He then went to his wife's side and scooped out the mountain loach, mountain catfish, and wheat ears. After tidying them up briefly, he went to the fire pit, pulled out the red-hot stones, applied seasonings, and started grilling the fish.

This is much faster than bamboo rats; soon the aroma of meat fills the air.

Several women gathered around without being called.

Pick up two small, golden-brown roasted fish with bamboo chopsticks, blow on them, and pop them into your mouth. After a slight chew, your mouth is filled with a delicious aroma.

The woman and child finished eating quickly, still wanting more.

"Okay, stop sucking your fingers. The bamboo rat is ready too, come and eat."

Roasted bamboo rats look remarkably similar to roast suckling pigs.

The skin is golden and reddish-brown, glistening with oil, and the meat is extremely tender.

Grilled over a bamboo fire, it's chewy, fragrant, and delicious—truly a delightful treat.

Zhao Dahai cut the food into small pieces with a knife, and after it cooled down a bit, he and Chen Ling shared it with the women and children first.

Qin Qiumei and Xiang Wenxia, ​​who had previously thought it looked a bit like a rat and were hesitant to eat it, were now tempted by its appearance and kept swallowing their saliva.

Knowing that his wife was shy, Zhao Dahai picked up a piece of food and stuffed it into her mouth.

Xiang Wenxia was initially a little embarrassed and annoyed, but as the fragrant meat with skin entered her mouth, she couldn't help but squint her eyes the next moment.

"How is it? Delicious, right? What did I say when I came? Don't doubt me, everything Fugui makes is delicious."

“Taking him to the city would be no problem for him to take down a bunch of top chefs, but he just won’t go.”

"Well, it's delicious."

Xiang Wenxia glanced at her husband, then at Chen Ling, smiled and nodded slightly, then fed the crispy roasted bamboo rat skin to her daughter.

“Fugui, let me give you a suggestion.”

Zhao Dahai, his face glistening with oil from eating, gestured with his hands and said, "This place is so beautiful, and it's so close to your orchard. You're thinking of building a farm, right? Why don't you just buy up the whole area around this lake and build it together with the farm? That would be amazing!"

"Sister, don't you think so?"

"That makes sense, Chen Fugui, what do you think?"

Seeing everyone looking over, Chen Ling and Wang Susu exchanged glances and shook their heads: "I can't even find anyone to build a farm for me right now, it's too early to talk about this..."

"Furthermore, the lake here is very beautiful, and I can't bear to damage it."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dahai slapped his thigh and said, "You should have said so earlier if you couldn't find anyone. There are several construction teams in the city that are idle. Tell me when you want to start work, and I'll call them over right away."

(End of this chapter)