My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 205 Visiting the New Home

After spending a good while removing lice from his sister-in-law's body, Chen Ling caught three wild pigeons in his hands and, as usual, trimmed their wings first.

Most of the wild pigeons here have blue feathers and two black stripes, one large and one small, on their wings. Although they are not white pigeons, they are much prettier than doves.

"These wild pigeons are much smaller than our pigeons."

Wang Susu held the wild pigeon in one hand and tore open its wings with the other for him to cut. "It feels thin and doesn't have much meat on it."

"Yes, those wild pigeons that fly around all day can't compare to our pigeons. Our pigeons are fed, while wild pigeons outside have to worry about food every day. It would be strange if they could grow up properly..."

Chen Ling snipped off more than half of the wild pigeons' wings with a few quick snips, so they couldn't fly away.

The rest involves keeping the males and females together and artificially pairing them up, essentially acting as matchmakers.

Otherwise, unfamiliar pigeons will not be able to integrate into the group when they first enter the house. The pigeons in the house will easily bully them, especially the male pigeons, who have a bigger temper and may even lead the way in pecking weaker wild pigeons to death.

However, it would be much better to put a male and a female together.

As the saying goes, "Two tigers cannot share one mountain, unless one is male and the other female." The same principle applies to pigeons.

"Brother-in-law, all the cages in the woodshed are broken. Why don't we let the birds out of the chicken coop?"

Wang Zhenzhen ran over and asked what was wrong. She and Liang Hongyu had been looking for a cage in the woodshed for a long time, but none of them were usable. The rabbit cage they used to have was also broken long ago.

"Don't release them, those birds are still useful."

Chen Ling planned to use those birds to lure hawks after the twelfth lunar month, when there would be less food in the wild.

I didn't really care about kites before, but I became interested in them after accompanying my wife to her parents' home a few days ago.

Firstly, he was quite envious after witnessing the skills of several kite hunters.

Secondly, what my brother-in-law said makes a lot of sense. Training hawks can deter birds. Although we don't grow grain, the farm is at the foot of the mountain after all. If we raise chickens and ducks in the future, we will inevitably be targeted by eagles and falcons.

Besides hawks and falcons, magpies are also prone to stealing eggs, which is difficult to prevent. Having a hawk to help keep an eye on things can make things easier.

After all, two dogs can only keep an eye on thieves running on the ground, not thieves that can fly.

"What should we do then, brother-in-law? What else can we use to keep the pigeons in place?"

Chen Ling thought for a moment, "If we don't have a cage, we'll use baskets. Bring two baskets over."

Wang Zhenzhen and Liang Hongyu took out two bamboo baskets from the woodshed.

By this time, Chen Ling had finished trimming the wings of the three wild pigeons.

When you put them on the ground, they panic and try to fly away.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried to flap their wings, it was no use.

It kept flapping its wings, sending its clipped feathers flying far away, but it just couldn't take off.

Even if it tries to avoid people, it can't get very far away; its ankles are still wrapped with rope, which, although not tightly, still affects its balance.

They were so anxious that they started making a series of cooing noises.

The three wild pigeons were making such a racket that the pigeons from the house gathered around, tilting their heads and observing their fellow pigeons with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

"Oh, you're watching the show now? Come here."

Chen Ling was just about to catch them when he unexpectedly found himself approaching them and, without saying a word, reached out and grabbed one.

The pigeons in the house had no defenses against him, and he caught this pigeon in his hand, after which it struggled and fluttered for a while.

Ignoring everything else, Chen Ling spread the wings and looked inside. There were no marks, so it was a female pigeon, which would be perfect.

Since there was only one male pigeon in the house, Chen Ling used ink to leave two handprints on the pigeon's wing as a mark, making it easier to identify.

"How is it? Will it work?"

The old lady was a little worried as she watched the wild pigeons struggling so hard.

“Yes, we can do it. Let’s go and catch them.”

Chen Ling grabbed the female pigeon in his hand, then picked out a male from the wild pigeons and headed towards the barn.

The grain and rice in the storeroom were all in jars, placed close to the wall. There was a lot of empty space left in the room. Wang Susu and the other two came over to help him. They used bamboo baskets to put the two pairs of wild pigeons on the ground, and then weighed them down with two stones. Every day, they would sprinkle some corn kernels in the baskets and give them some water. That would be enough.

Seeing the two pairs of pigeons trapped under the basket, they cooed in panic and thrashed about, bumping against the bamboo basket.

He wasn't worried either.

If a pair of unfamiliar male and female pigeons are kept together like this, it won't be long before they become a couple.

Moreover, one of the male and female pairs were originally wild pigeons caught in nets. After being kept in captivity for a while, the two pigeons will pair up and be domesticated, which is a win-win situation.

Pigeons are generally gentle creatures. Once you let them out, trim their wings a few times and they won't fly away.

……

"Zhenzhen, I'm going to the county town to fill up the gas tank and buy some things. Do you want to come along?"

After locking the pigeons up, Chen Ling washed his hands and prepared to go to the county town to refuel.

"Yes, I want to go, brother-in-law. I also want to see the yard you mentioned, is that alright?"

"Sure, why not?"

Chen Ling laughed and said, "Go and call your sister. We can go see our new home in the county town today."

Before the farm was built, Chen Ling told Wang Susu about buying a courtyard in the county town.

Hearing that there would be a middle school right next to the county town, which would make it easier for her child to attend school, Wang Susu was overjoyed.

However, since we had just started work, even though I said I wasn't too busy, I had a lot of odd jobs at home and couldn't leave, so I hadn't been able to go see him.

"Shall we go now? We're just about to make lunch."

Wang Susu and Liang Hongyu came out of the kitchen.

"Let's not cook anymore. Let's eat in the county town. We can bring some back for our uncle and Brother Yuemin."

Chen Ling said.

Upon hearing this, Liang Hongyu laughed and said, "Alright, then we won't do it. Susu, since you have time today, let's go take a look at the new house. I'll come along too."

"Okay, let's go see if it's close to Auntie's house."

Wang Susu smiled, winked happily at Chen Ling, wiped her hands, took off her apron, and went to change her clothes.

So at 11 a.m., the family got into their car and headed to the county town.

When they left the village and reached the dam, Chen Ling stopped the car and called out to a few weasels.

After calling "Little Yellow" and "Little Fatty" for a while, they finally came out from the withered reeds below the dam.

Needless to say, they're probably here to catch birds again.

"Come on, get in the car, I'll take you to the county town for a nice meal."

Seeing that they were just frolicking around his trouser legs, Chen Ling picked them up one by one and put them in the car.

"Have these little creatures molted?"

Liang Hongyu had seen these little guys at home before, so it wasn't surprising that she saw them again.

"It was replaced a long time ago, but it's always causing trouble everywhere, always getting hurt here or there, so it grows slowly."

The three little weasels used to look like gray rats, but two months ago they gradually started to grow brownish-yellow fur.

"It's good that it's lively. I didn't expect that this weasel would come running like a puppy when it gets close to people. It's even more lovable than our little raccoon."

Liang Hongyu looked at the little creature crawling around and sniffing everywhere in the car, and said with some envy.

They chatted casually along the way and soon arrived in the county town. Chen Ling drove to a gas station to refuel.

At that time, the gas stations in their county were privately owned, small factories located on the outskirts of the county, storing many large oil drums containing both diesel and gasoline.

Chen Ling filled the two large oil drums. The diesel fuel was used more for the generator, while the gasoline was mainly used by the chainsaw and the rammer, and was used less.

After filling up the gas tank, I drove to the small courtyard in the south of the city.

It was already noon, and the school gate was full of students. It was Saturday, and they were going home for the day. They were all pushing their bicycles and carrying their bags, making a noisy scene as they came out.

Chen Ling honked the horn and drove over, stopping in front of the courtyard gate. There were quite a few students buying miscellaneous books and snacks in front of the small shops around the area. They all looked over, curiously examining the car, their eyes filled with surprise and envy.

Wow, so many people! Are they leaving school?

When Wang Zhenzhen saw that there were many people, she immediately got excited and peeked out with her little head.

Then, noticing that the students were all looking at them, they proudly raised their chins, feeling quite important that they were riding in a car.

"It must be the holidays. In junior high, we lived at school."

Wang Susu said that she didn't think there was anything to be proud of, after all, it wasn't her own car.

But she was very happy to see the students, and looked forward to the day when her own child could come and attend junior high school. She and her husband would stay in the courtyard, cook for them every day, and wait for them to come home from school. Just thinking about that scene made her feel very happy.

After stopping the car, I saw two female students walk over after picking out a few hair clips, and she was smiling and talking to them.

What grade are you in?

"You're in the second year of junior high, sister. This car is so nice, is it yours?"

The two little girls mustered up their courage and went forward to touch the car's windows and door handles.

"It's not ours, it belongs to a friend." She was talking to Wang Zhenzhen and two female students when she suddenly heard someone calling her from the crowd not far away.

Looking over there, she saw Zhong Xiaoyun waving at her with a look of surprise on her face.

Wang Susu was also very surprised to see her, but the students at the surrounding book stalls suddenly scattered, some shouting that the book-buying maniac was coming, which made Zhong Xiaoyun quite embarrassed.

Just then, Chen Ling opened the gate to the courtyard and tidied up the clutter in front of the door. Upon seeing this scene, he couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Goodness, you're almost becoming a nun! One of these days, could you help me collect a few books to read, so I don't have to come to the county town to buy them?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Xiaoyun spat at him, "What are you saying? It's as if I deliberately took their books and didn't give them back. I did it so that they could focus on their studies without distractions."

"Yes, yes, I appreciate your good intentions as a teacher."

Chen Ling nodded repeatedly, and then the group walked into the courtyard chatting and laughing.

"I didn't expect you to have bought a small courtyard here. When are you going to move in? If you can move in, it will be so convenient for Amei and me to visit you in the future."

Zhong Xiaoyun said happily, linking arms with Wang Susu.

Wang Susu chuckled and shook her head: "Then you'll have to wait a while. I reckon we can only move here when your kids come to the county town to go to school."

"Oh? It's been so long. I was just thinking that you could open a clinic here. There's a small entrance outside the hospital. You could just put up a sign and start seeing patients. Wouldn't that be great?"

Zhong Xiaoyun adjusted her glasses and said seriously, "If you ask me, you are much better at treating patients than the doctors in the county town."

The county hospital didn't have a good solution for her grandmother's bedsores, but Wang Susu gave her two packets of medicine powder and cured her. You don't know until you compare. Sometimes people can't explain the principles behind those folk remedies, but they can cure people in a daze.

Hearing this, Wang Susu blushed and shook her head, saying that she was actually still a novice, and that it was the prescription that was good, while she herself was still far from being good enough.

……

"Hey, Susu, what's that following Fugui? Is it a squirrel?"

Suddenly, Zhong Xiaoyun was attracted by the weasel jumping around behind Chen Ling, but she had lived in the county town since she was a child and had never seen one before, so she couldn't recognize what it was for a moment.

"It's not a squirrel, it's a weasel."

"Huh? This is a weasel?!"

Zhong Xiaoyun was startled.

Wang Zhenzhen turned around and asked, "What's wrong, Xiaoyun? Are you afraid of weasels?"

"I...I'm not afraid, it's just that I've heard people say it's not good to keep this at home."

"What's good or bad about it?"

Liang Hongyu smiled and said, "As long as it doesn't harm the chickens and ducks at home, it's good."

Wang Zhenzhen nodded and said, "Yes, that's right. Little Huang and the others are very obedient, but they never let me touch them."

"But they're really good at catching mice and birds. My brother-in-law brought them here to catch mice..."

Zhong Xiaoyun's face grew even paler upon hearing this. This creature was both a weasel and a rat; it was terrifying. Her legs even trembled slightly.

At this moment, Chen Ling had already scooped out half a bucket of water from the pond in the yard, and then aimed at a rat hole at the base of the east wall and poured water into it.

The holes dug by house mice in the yard are different from those of ground squirrels; it's not so easy to distinguish between open and closed holes.

However, because the holes are connected and the area is not large, there is no need to block the hidden entrances like in the field where rat holes are located to prevent escape.

This is relatively simple; as soon as water is poured in, the mice will quickly scatter.

At that time, all the rats in the rat hole will panic and run out in all directions.

At this moment, Chen Ling poured half a bucket of water down, and bubbles began to bubble from the rat hole.

But there was no movement inside, so it seems the water hasn't flooded the lair yet.

So he fetched another half bucket of water and continued to pour it in.

He poured water into the mouse hole, and a group of weasels watched curiously from the side.

Wang Susu and the others stood nearby, watching the movements of the other rat holes. Although Zhong Xiaoyun was a little scared, she was also attracted and curiously moved closer.

After Chen Ling poured the whole bucket of water down, a large area around him was soaked, and even the rat hole was filled to the brim.

Only then did any movement come from the area.

With a soft thud, a small, grayish-black head peeked out from the mouse hole in the south corner of the wall. It was wet and peeking out of the hole, probably because it couldn't stand being held in there any longer and had come out to check the situation.

As a result, after seeing the situation in the courtyard, it was obviously frightened and darted out of the hole in an instant, trying to escape.

The little creatures around Chen Ling had been waiting for their chance. Seeing this, they rushed out without saying a word, easily bit the rat's tail, and dragged it back despite its squeaking.

That rat was even fatter than a weasel. When its tail was bitten, it screamed in panic and tried to run forward, but unfortunately, no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't break free and was quickly bitten to death by the weasels.

Chen Ling walked to the entrance of the hole and poured in some more water. The rats inside couldn't hold their anger any longer and started to scatter like madmen.

The weasels chased and bit him, and Chen Ling also took a shovel and tried to swat them.

These five weasels often came to the house to freeload, and they grew stronger and stronger. They also developed their skills and could all be called good at catching mice. In no time, more than a dozen mice of various sizes were killed, and even those that escaped outside the yard were caught and brought back.

Only a handful of fish escaped the net.

"These rats run so fast, I can't even catch them in a picture."

Wang Zhenzhen also grabbed a small shovel to try and swat the mouse, but the mouse was too fast, and she couldn't catch it in time.

"It's okay if we don't get a good shot, there are probably more upstairs. Let's go check it out..."

"But it's agreed that you shouldn't touch these mice with your hands, and you shouldn't touch Little Yellow and the others either, so you don't get bitten by lice again."

"Okay, I get it now."

Upstairs, Chen Ling opened the outermost door and let Xiao Huang and the others go inside to find the mice.

It took less than a minute to find it; it was inside a worn-out sofa.

As soon as you get close, you can hear squeaking sounds coming from inside.

Liang Hongyu listened carefully, then said somewhat uncertainly, "Fugui, listen to this. There should be a nest of baby mice inside this sofa, right?"

"I reckon so."

Chen Ling nodded; he had heard it too.

But when they lifted the cushions and removed the sofa cover, they couldn't find anything.

Just then, Little Yellow and Little Fatty suddenly started scratching the sofa armrests with a "shush-shush-shush" sound, whimpering and sniffing with their noses, just like two little puppies.

"Seriously? Making a home in the sofa armrest? Can this guy even live in that?"

Chen Ling was greatly surprised and bent down to look, but he couldn't see any hole.

Then he patted the handrail.

This slap had no effect; immediately, a soft, pink little mouse fell under the sofa armrest with a thud, kicking its little legs and squeaking.

Seeing this, three little weasels rushed forward, snatched the little mouse into their mouths, and crunched it into their bellies.

"They actually live in the handrail?"

Wang Susu was also very surprised, and she and her sister bent down to look under the sofa.

Zhong Xiaoyun also kept glancing at it.

Watching Chen Ling's family catch mice, even the weasel helped them catch them, she was no longer afraid; instead, she found it quite interesting.

"Where did this little mouse fall from?"

As she was wondering, Chen Ling patted the sofa armrest twice more.

Thud, and there's another pink and tender little mouse, its eyes still closed.

It was snatched up and eaten by the little rascals again.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Ling kept patting the armrest.

Every few taps, a little mouse would fall out, squeaking as it landed on the ground.

Wang Zhenzhen squatted down and carefully counted; a total of nine little mice fell down.

They were all eaten by the three little weasels.

Finally, filled with doubt, Chen Ling found a piece of wire, made a hook, flipped the sofa over, and poked around in the gaps in the armrest.

Soon, a large pile of cotton wool and feathers was pulled out, a messy clump with a faint smell of rat urine. This was the rat's nest inside.

Damn, they really know how to pick a location.

Unfortunately, the big rat searched both rooms upstairs but couldn't find it; it must have escaped.

The group then tidied up the new home.

The main task is to clean the entire room thoroughly.

As for the door corners, window screens, and electrical wires that were chewed by rats, we'll have to come back and deal with them later.

"Alright, we've caught the rats and the weasels have eaten their fill. It's time for us to find somewhere to eat something too."

Chen Ling clapped his hands, locked the door, got into the car, and drove away with everyone.

The sun was shining brightly today. We visited our new house, got rid of the mice, and went out to eat. The whole family had a great time and didn't return home until 2 p.m.

(End of this chapter)