My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 200 Shameless

"Fluffing cotton!"

"Fluffing cotton!"

As the sun gradually set in the west, the melodious shouts echoed through the village in the dim sunlight.

Chen Ling drove the oxcart slowly down the dam and into the village. There he saw an old man and a young man, dressed in dark gray cotton clothes, one in front of the other, carrying a large wooden bow on their backs and a load on their shoulders, shouting as they walked.

These are two cotton carders who travel from village to village, carding cotton.

They entered the village, but before they had gone far, they were stopped by the village women.

"Is that Old Du the ballerina from Pigeon Camp?"

"It's me."

"Your hair has turned so white, old man, I almost didn't recognize you."

"Haha, what else can it be but worry?"

"You earn so much money from cotton ginning every year, what's there to worry about?"

"Sigh, the harvest is bad, we can't make money, and now that the kids are grown up, no one can find them wives. How can we not worry?"

"Look at what you're saying. Every single family in our village is waiting for you, Old Du. They won't play for any other ballad makers. You'll earn enough just from ballad making this year. Finding a wife for your kid won't be a problem then."

"Haha, it would be great if it were that simple."

While chatting idly, Liang Guizhen, who lived closest to her home, led the two cotton carders into her house.

Fluffing cotton is time-consuming.

Even the most skilled cotton carder can only produce no more than ten pounds of cotton in a day.

This kind of work can't be rushed, and no one is vying for it.

After the previous player finishes playing, the next player plays, one after another.

It was the off-season for farming, so people had nothing to do and could afford to wait.

"Hey, Fugui, Susu, you're back?"

No sooner had the cotton fluffer left than Chen Ling arrived, swaying along in his oxcart.

When the elderly women saw that it was the young couple returning, they all gathered around with smiles, teasing and joking with each other.

"Zhenzhen, did your brother-in-law get beaten up?"

"Of course not. My parents are so good to my brother-in-law. My mother even made him brown sugar and egg tea, and she boiled six eggs in it."

"Wow, Fugui, that's impressive. Your mother-in-law is really something."

After accompanying Wang Susu to her parents' home for a few days, we returned to the village, where the villagers became quite friendly.

"By the way, the couple across the hall from you are back. They just cleared out all their odds and ends a couple of days ago and built a makeshift shack in their house. They're going to find someone to renovate it soon."

“I also heard from Brother Guoping that Chunyuan is planning to open a pharmacy at home. I went to talk to him about it the night before last.”

Wang Lishan's wife huddled up to their oxcart and whispered something.

……

When they returned home, Wang Chunyuan and Qin Dongmei were indeed back. Their previous gate, courtyard walls, and main room had all collapsed in the flood. Only a small open space in the center of the courtyard had been cleared, where a woodshed had been built with a curtain hanging over it, and a simple stove was set up outside.

Hearing the commotion outside, Wang Chunyuan came out to see what was happening. When he saw that it was Chen Ling and his wife, he smiled and spoke to them first.

This was a young man under thirty years old. Although he was not tall, he was quite good-looking.

Thick, long eyebrows, dark and bushy, a square face, big eyes, and a very dignified appearance.

Wearing leather shoes and with her hair parted in a side part.

He doesn't look like a village man at all.

Indeed, this man was very popular with women when he worked at the township health center.

Her mouth is also very good.

Young women and married women alike would fawn over him like stray dogs seeing fresh, warm excrement, always eager to rub against him.

So he was very popular with women. Within two years of working at the township health center, he had become friends with all the young women and wives in the surrounding villages.

However, he wasn't a very good person. Not only was he a flirtatious talker, but he also liked to visit widows at night.

The young woman didn't touch a single one.

It is said that the younger one she raised was also a delicate little widow.

Their hobbies are rather unique.

Before Chen Ling got married, he had heard a lot of stories from the villagers.

When he came out to greet me, I could only smile slightly and reply.

Just as Wang Susu unlocked the iron lock on the gate, Chen Ling was about to drive the oxcart home when this person unexpectedly came over.

"Fugui, you've done a great job this year. The house you built is so nice; it's one of the best in our village."

"Hengchazi" is a local dialect word that is similar to the later meaning of "arrogant and domineering".

However, in those days, it was mostly used to indicate who was rich.

It means to praise someone.

Chen Ling looked at Wang Chunyuan, who was grinning and joking in front of him, and didn't know what to say for a moment.

We exchanged a few simple, polite words.

Unexpectedly, after this polite exchange, the man continued, "I'm planning to renovate my house on the 21st of this month. If you have some free time, could you come over and help me out?"

"The 21st of this month? That's a bit unfortunate..."

Chen Ling didn't expect him to say that. He scratched his cheek and said awkwardly, "I also need to build a manor on the land. I've already found a construction team, and construction will start in a few days."

"what?"

Wang Chunyuan's smile froze. "I heard you swapped land with Erzhu. Are you going to build a manor there?"

"Yes."

Chen Ling nodded.

"Is that place alright? The elders say that doing things there would offend our ancestors."

Wang Chunyuan frowned: "The old graves there are where our Wang family and Chen family's ancestors are buried. Erzhu Tada just wouldn't listen to advice and built a lime factory there, and in the end, he lost everything."

"Oh, you mean this? Well, it's nothing serious."

Hearing this well-intentioned tone, Chen Ling shook his head and smiled, "You don't come back to the village often, so you probably don't know that the old graves were destroyed by the flood this year, and it's impossible to tell which family's grave it is anymore."

"Just recently, after our fourth grandmother passed away, my fifth uncle called the elders of both families to the brigade, looked through the family genealogies of both families, discussed it, and then moved all the graves to the mountain."

"what?"

Wang Chunyuan exclaimed "Ah!" again, clearly not expecting it.

The people buried in the old graves could be traced back to the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, which was already quite ancient. After being destroyed by a flood, they became even more unrecognizable. Based on the family genealogy, the two families erected new tombstones and moved all of them to the mountain.

"Why didn't anyone in the village inform us about this?"

Wang Chunyuan's expression was rather unpleasant.

Notice?

Who should we contact? You? Or your dad?
Your father and Chen Erzhu's father did such terrible things back then that they didn't even acknowledge their ancestors.

Now I'm holed up in the county town and dare not come back.

Is there anything else to notify?

Chen Ling really didn't know what to say.

After saying a few more polite words, he turned around and went home.

Before entering the courtyard, Chen Ling glanced across the way and saw the curtain of the woodshed tremble slightly, which amused him.

This was clearly Qin Dongmei peeking through the curtain.

Back home, the yard was clean and tidy everywhere.

As the villagers just mentioned, Liang Hongyu and her companion come over every morning to clean, feed the sheep, chickens, and ducks, and take very good care of them.

"Chunyuan never talks to you before, is there something wrong today?"

Once inside, Wang Susu poured him a glass of water and asked curiously.

"Yes, they want my help to renovate their house."

Chen Ling then recounted what had just happened.

"I see. It seems that the couple can no longer stay in Qinwan."

Wang Susu pouted, "Sister Qiumei said last time that Dongmei had a hard time at her parents' home, and she didn't dare to go out all day..."

Normally, when people go back to their parents' home, they don't stay like this, the couple staying for almost half a year at a time.

At first, she made up an excuse that she was pregnant to avoid the family planning policy.

At first, the people in my mother's village believed it.

She quickly realized something was wrong; her sister, Qin Qiumei, was the director of the family planning office.

This whole family planning policy is a load of rubbish.

Later, people learned about Wang Chunyuan's affair and the news spread.

The couple became a complete joke.

Her family also felt ashamed.

Even Qin Qiumei couldn't help but mention this to Wang Susu, which shows how worried her parents were.

The couple endured it for a long time, but they simply couldn't stay there any longer.

So, after gritting his teeth, he went back to the village.

That's true. Rather than being laughed at at her parents' home, it's better to go back to Chenwangzhuang.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. I'm going to pick out a few old quails and kill them. Tomorrow, when Aunt Hongyu and the others come over, we'll make fried quails."

Chen Ling got up and went to the yard. "Zhenzhen, haven't you put the things away yet? Come out and help me kill the quail."

"Alright, alright, brother-in-law, wait a minute."

Soon, Wang Zhenzhen ran out of the east room and went with Chen Ling to pick out quails from the pigeon coop.

Quail are not as valuable as chickens and ducks, so they don't fetch much money.

They stop laying eggs in winter, so keeping them is a waste of food; it's better to kill and eat them. Besides, quails have an extremely short lifespan, living only about two years.

It's said that quail chicks start laying eggs less than two months after hatching, and they do so for seven or eight months straight.

It is because of their short lifespan that they quickly enter old age after overwintering.

Even Chen Ling didn't have a good solution to this.

All he can do is make them taste better when he eats them.

...The next day, around nine o'clock in the morning, the elderly couple Liang Hongyu arrived.

I was overjoyed to find them back.

Upon learning that Wang Zhenzhen had brought them a lot of delicious food, they couldn't stop smiling.

"My mom was so happy when she found out that my sister and I had a new aunt. She specially made steamed meat cakes, fried walnut and date cakes, and pear syrup for me to bring to you. Hehe."

"Good girl, your aunt has not spoiled you for nothing."

Liang Hongyu happily hugged the little girl tightly.

But in my heart I was thinking, how could I call you an aunt? Considering your sister and brother-in-law, you should be calling me aunt.

However, there are many things that cannot be said.

Now that they've gotten to know each other better, they've become closer, and as the aunt, no one will have any doubts about how good she is to the children.

Qin Rongxian also smiled.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he said to Chen Ling, "Fugui, there's something wrong with the pigeons you're raising. I don't know if you've noticed?"

"Pigeons? Just wild pigeons that you caught, is there any other problem?"

"It's not about wild pigeons. It's that your pigeons have an uneven number of males and females. There's only one male, and the other five are all females."

"Oh no!"

Chen Ling was stunned for a moment.

Then he and Qin Rong went to the pigeon coop to take a look.

Chen Ling grabbed a handful of corn from the jar and whistled.

The pigeons fluttered to Chen Ling's arm and pecked at the corn kernels in his palm.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chen Ling picked them up one by one, grabbing their wings and looking at their tails.

Sure enough, it was a male pigeon.

"Right? I noticed it when I was feeding them the other day. Your pigeons aren't afraid of people, and they keep flying towards my hand."

"I just grabbed the wings and looked at it, and it was quite strange. I thought you knew."

Qin Rongxian said.

Distinguishing between male and female pigeons is very simple. Grab the pigeon by its two wings, just like you would grab a chicken. If its tail is raised, it's a female pigeon; if its tail is lowered, it's a male pigeon.

Besides this, you can also identify a pigeon by pinching its beak. Pinch the beak and pull it forward. If it struggles backward and its head swings back, it's a male pigeon. If it doesn't react much or makes smacking noises with its lips, it's a female pigeon.

"Uncle Qin, you can tell male and female pigeons too?"

Chen Ling smiled.

"I just learned it. I flipped through a few pages of your book on animal husbandry and disease prevention, and that's where I found it."

Qin Rong pointed towards the kitchen and said, "The book says that pigeons are paired with one female and one male. I saw that you have a lot of female pigeons, so I thought you were raising them to eat as meat."

"No, I never really noticed before."

Chen Ling responded and then looked at the six pigeons walking around and cooing beside him, waiting to be fed.

"No wonder they became a pair, while the other four each took up a nest."

"I thought they hadn't adapted yet."

As he spoke, he smiled at Qin Rongxian and said, "Let's leave them for now. I'll catch a couple more wild pigeons another day and mate them with a few more males."

Pigeons live much longer than quails, so they are worth raising.

We will train a few homing pigeons and racing pigeons in the future.

That guy can be released to compete in matches or something when he's free, and he can be sold for a good price, so raising him isn't a waste of effort.

So the old man and the young man went into the kitchen, heated the oil in a wok, and started frying the quail.

In six months, the quails hatched and bred continuously, one brood after another, totaling about thirty quails of all sizes.

I picked out ten large ones this time, and after killing them yesterday, I marinated them.

Now coat the quail with batter and seasoning paste, and fry it using the same method as frying chicken.

It tastes better than the traditional method of frying quail.

The meat will also be more tender.

The oil in the pan is boiling hot.

Chen Ling grabbed a marinated quail, dipped it several times in the seasoning in the porcelain basin, coated the whole quail with a paste made of eggs, starch, flour, and various seasonings, and then put it into the oil pan.

There was a sizzling sound.

The oil in the pan bubbled and churned.

Quails were put in one by one, and a rich aroma quickly wafted out.

Outside the courtyard, Wang Chunyuan's family, who had just returned to the village, couldn't help but swallow hard as they smelled the delicious aroma wafting out.

"What did that kid make? Why does it smell so good?"

Wang Chunyuan found the fragrance increasingly enticing and couldn't help but sniff it intensely.

"That bastard has never had a good life. He doesn't know what to do with a little money. He'll eat his head out of the house one day."

Qin Dongmei cursed under her breath, her face ashen.

When I looked up again, Wang Chunyuan had already lifted the curtain and gone out.

……

Chen Ling never expected that someone would come to visit right at mealtime.

Although I had heard people say before that Wang Chunyuan was a shameless person despite his respectable appearance, I have now witnessed it firsthand.

Indeed, he spent his days visiting widows' homes and was secretly laughed at. Even after hearing that his wife might be cheating on him, he could still act as if nothing had happened.

You can't be that thin-skinned.

"Fugui, do you have an air pump? I want to go to the county town to see if there are any construction teams that can start work, but my tire is a little flat."

Wang Chunyuan asked this question as soon as he entered the courtyard, and then went straight to the kitchen.

Chen Ling had just finished frying the quail when he saw this and was completely stunned.

But since he's shameless, Chen Ling naturally won't give him any face either.

"Hey, Fugui, what delicious food are you making? It smells amazing!"

At this moment, Wang Chunyuan's gaze fell on the fried quail in the bamboo basket, drawn by the aroma.

"I fried some quail."

Chen Ling smiled gently, carrying a bamboo basket as she brushed past him, and called out to the main room, "The quail is fried, Zhenzhen, come and get it quickly."

When Wang Zhenzhen heard her called, she immediately skipped and hopped out of the house and ran over.

"It smells so good, brother-in-law."

"Here, take it inside and eat it. Let your sister eat less."

He then said to Liang Hongyu and her aunt, who were sitting on the threshold, "Uncle, Aunt, if you think it's too spicy or salty, you can eat it together when the steamed buns are ready."

"I know, don't worry, doesn't your aunt know how bad you are at cooking?"

Liang Hongyu naturally saw through Wang Chunyuan's intentions for coming to the door at this time, so she pretended to glare at Chen Ling with annoyance: "Hurry up and get the air pump for them, don't just think about food."

"Okay, I'll go get it right away."

Chen Ling gave Wang Chunyuan an apologetic smile and went to the woodshed to get him an air pump.

Wang Chunyuan was truly surprised that Chen Ling wouldn't even give him a courtesy or say a word of politeness when he came over at mealtime.

So he could only stare blankly, swallowing hard.

He cursed Chen Ling in his mind for a moment.

When Chen Ling took out the air pump and escorted Wang Chunyuan to the gate, the man actually parked his bicycle in front of the gate.

That's pretty good.

"Brother-in-law, this fried quail is so delicious! Look, as I tear it open, the meat inside is still steaming hot."

At this moment, Wang Zhenzhen ran out with a fried quail in her hand, followed by a shameless, silly dog ​​named Heiwa, who stared at her longingly.

Especially when he saw Wang Zhenzhen tear open the golden and crispy fried quail to reveal the tender, juicy, steaming quail meat inside, Heiwa immediately started drooling and wagging his tail wildly.

Wang Chunyuan couldn't help but swallow a large mouthful of saliva.

"Wang Wang Wang..."

Dogs have better hearing than humans, and perhaps hearing the sound of him swallowing, Heiwa suddenly barked at Wang Chunyuan.

"What are you doing, Heiwa? Get out of the way."

Although Chen Ling disliked this person, he was also afraid that his dog would scare the person.

Hearing Chen Ling's reprimand, Heiwa immediately stopped barking and went forward to sniff around Wang Chunyuan's bicycle.

"Fugui, your dog..."

Wang Chunyuan froze, suddenly realizing he'd come over because of Heiwa's size.

Heiwa sniffed his bicycle, then swaggered up, lifted his hind leg, and peed a huge puddle onto the wheel.

Wang Chunyuan's face turned green instantly.

After Heiwa finished urinating, he swaggered down and sat on the ground, blocking Wang Zhenzhen's way. He stared at the quail meat in Wang Zhenzhen's hand, sticking out his tongue, still looking simple and honest.

"Hahaha, Heiwa, you're so cunning..." Wang Zhenzhen was amused. She tore off a bone and held it to Heiwa's mouth. Heiwa was overjoyed and quickly put it in his mouth, crunching away with great relish.

Seeing that Wang Chunyuan's expression was not good, Chen Ling kicked Heiwa and cursed him.

"I've spoiled this dog, don't take it to heart."

(End of this chapter)