My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 225 Ocean Legacy
The tall, dense trees on the mountain blocked out the sun, so it wasn't hot to play around. Plus, the mountain breeze made the whole trip quite cool.

Picking wild berries, gathering mulberries, and eating goat's milk fruit, while occasionally chasing after various mountain birds and small animals that dart out, adults and children alike are all startled and excited as they play freely, shouting and laughing excitedly all the way, fully enjoying the wild fun of the mountains.

When they got into the mood, even Zhao Dahai, a big fat man who would be out of breath after just a few steps, didn't feel tired anymore.

After exploring Beishan, Chen Ling took them to the mountain lake, also known as Yeren Gou by the villagers.

Once you get here, the scenery changes again.

The dense bamboo forest is lush and green. Sunlight shines down from above the bamboo leaves, blocked by the layers of bamboo, with only a few slivers of light filtering through the gaps. When a gentle breeze blows, the bamboo forest rustles and the spots of light on the ground move in unison, as if a ribbon of light is flowing.

Several women subconsciously slowed their pace and exclaimed in surprise.

"It's so beautiful. Is this the bamboo forest that Dahai mentioned?"

Du Juan held up her camera and took several photos.

"No, we're not there yet. The bamboo forest over there is much bigger than this."

Chen Ling shook his head. Almost no one goes through the bamboo forest by the lake in the mountains. It would take at least twenty minutes to cross it. If you wanted to explore the entire bamboo forest, it would take most of the day.

Zhao Dahai then recounted the fun they had last time, chasing geese, digging for bamboo rats, and grilling fish and shrimp, making everyone even more excited and eager to go.

After walking through most of the bamboo forest, the surrounding scenery became richer again.

On one side is a lush green bamboo forest, and on the other side is a small ravine filled with pebbles, with crystal-clear water flowing gurgling through the bottom.

"This is a stream I brought to the farm. Further ahead, there's a mountain spring with even cleaner water that tastes sweet," Chen Ling said, pointing diagonally in one direction.

The group picked up the baby and quickly followed him. Sure enough, they saw a spring gushing water, which gathered in the ravine and flowed down the mountain.

Beside the spring, moss, large trees, and strange rocks complement each other beautifully.

"Everyone, wash your faces and have a drink of water here. This spring water is full of spiritual energy. Men who drink it will become strong and powerful, and women who drink it will become beautiful."

"Uncle, you haven't told us about the children yet. What will happen if the children drink it?"

"Oh, little kid, the little kid got diarrhea after drinking it."

"Huh? No."

The chubby boy immediately looked miserable.

The adults burst into laughter upon seeing this and joined in teasing the chubby boy.

Then they all went to the spring, washed their hands and faces in the stream, and then went to the spring to scoop up water to drink.

The spring water was cool and refreshing, washing away everyone's sweat and fatigue from the journey, bringing a sense of comfort to the core.

"Wow, it's so refreshing, and the spring water is really sweet."

"Mmm, it's very sweet, and it tastes delicious."

Everyone immediately praised it highly.

After tasting the spring water from the mountain spring, and walking to the lake in the mountains, seeing the calm, mirror-like lake water and the surrounding scenery, adults and children alike held their breath and were completely stunned.

After a long while, Liang Yuemin was the first to come to his senses and murmured, "No wonder you wanted to book this place, Fugui. This place is as beautiful as a paradise on earth. It's a secluded sanctuary."

For a time, even with his sensitive nature, he couldn't find suitable verses to recite.

Not to mention him, even Zhao Dahai and Xiang Wenxia, ​​who had visited once before, were once again attracted by the beautiful scenery and couldn't bear to look away.

……

"Susu is pregnant this year, and the farm has just been built, so I don't have much time to tidy up here. Otherwise, we could bring a small boat up and cruise on the lake, enjoying the scenery."

“Good idea, Fugui. Many of your ideas are to my liking.”

"Yes, that suits me just as well. I'd like to invite my teachers and junior students to come and sketch."

Natural beauty is most captivating, and this mountain lake is even more stunning. Perched high on the mountaintop, its waters and sky reflect each other, creating an ethereal beauty that truly soothes the mind and body and cleanses the soul.

No wonder even a big shot like Zhao Dahai praised it highly; once you've been here, you'll never forget it.

People enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the mountains and lakes. Heiwa and Xiaojin, along with their little yellow dog, frolicked by the water. Heiwa and Xiaojin were especially excited when they saw the water, rolling around in the lake and then jumping and splashing water everywhere.

The little yellow dog wasn't as good a swimmer as the two of them, so it whimpered and paced anxiously back and forth on the shore, too afraid to swim into deeper water.

Wang Zhenzhen ran over and pushed it several times, but it was no use. The little yellow dog, who was fearless, became timid when it came to water.

After a while, they had played enough and then came out of the water to follow the people and continue to play along the lakeside.

But it still couldn't stay still. It would catch some small fish from the mountain stream, but it wouldn't eat them. It just watched the little fish jumping and struggling on the ground, finding it interesting.

Wang Zhenzhen and her two little children joined in the commotion. Suddenly, as they crossed a wider stream, Heiwa shouted excitedly and plunged into the water. From the rocks in the stream, he pulled out a strange, pitch-black fish. This fish looked like an enlarged gecko, with four legs, a long, thin tail, and was slimy and slippery.

Heiwa dragged it out and threw it on the ground, where it rolled around in the mud.

"My goodness, what is this thing?"

This strange and ugly appearance startled several adults.

"Huh? Is it a giant salamander?" It was Lynx, Han Ninggui's student, who made the judgment based on the characteristics of the strange fish.

Chen Ling stepped forward, picked it up, looked at it, and then shook his head: "It's not a giant salamander, it's a goby fish from here. People call it that because it looks like a gecko. Its scientific name should be 'woodfish'. These things are quite common in the mountains. In the summer, if you come up to the mountain at night and shine a light on the stream, a lot of these things will crawl out."

The cedarfish, also known as the Qianghuo fish, belongs to the family Salamanders. It is generally only about 20 centimeters long. The meat is not very tasty, but it is mainly used as a medicinal material. After being drunk and dried, it is soaked in alcohol to treat chronic stomach problems and replenish qi and blood.

The giant salamander belongs to the family Andrias davidiana. It tastes better than the tiger goby and has delicious meat. It is said that its cry sounds like a baby's and that it comes out at night to look for food. Its cry can frighten many timid people.

Since this thing wasn't rare, after everyone was surprised, they let the children and dogs play with it.

The goby is really nothing special.

But after everyone had walked around the lake for a while, Chen Ling was pleasantly surprised to find fish in the stream on the northwest side.

Not only him, but the lynx also recognized him.

"Qinling fine-scaled salmon, this kind of thing is very rare nowadays."

Hearing the surprise and caution in his tone, the whole group gathered around.

"These are all small fish, they don't look very impressive."

Zhao Dahai, supporting his leg, bent down to examine it closely, then blinked curiously, "Is this thing very precious?"

"I guess so. I heard my teacher say that the Qinling fine-scaled salmon is a sea fish that stayed inland."

The lynx smacked its lips and gave a simple explanation to everyone.

The Qinling fine-scaled salmon is not large, mostly only about a hand's length long, or about ten centimeters. This fish was originally a marine fish, but its migration was blocked by the Qinling Mountains during the Ice Age. Due to environmental changes, it grows slowly in the streams of the Qinling Mountains, resulting in very small individuals.

However, the meat is very delicious, and it is especially tasty when dried.

“This is a good thing! You should hurry up and catch some to raise, you’ll make a lot of money from it in the future.” Zhao Dahai slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “Something from the sea has survived in the mountains for tens of thousands of years, that’s amazing.”

"We didn't bring anything with us, so why don't we come back tomorrow?"

Chen Ling was also tempted; now that he had run into them, he certainly couldn't let them go.

Even if this thing is difficult to raise, it won't be a problem for him.

Besides, he had been planning to put fish into the ditches around the farm anyway, and this was exactly what he wanted.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring anything with me when I went up the mountain today. After all, we came here just to have fun. Who would bring a bucket specifically for this purpose?
"Alright, you can run away but you can't hide. We'll come back with you again tomorrow. We could come to this place a hundred times and never get tired of it."

Zhao Dahai shouted that the three families were reluctant to leave today and wanted to stay for two more days.

This is easy to arrange. The farm has plenty of rooms, and there's enough furniture and beds. They can stay for as many days as they like.

Since they weren't planning to leave that day, they had a great time in the mountains that afternoon.

In the evening, after having dinner at the farm, Chen Ling took them to do some of the most exciting activities of the season: catching scorpions. Nighttime is when scorpions come out to hunt, so each of them took bamboo tongs, bottles, and torches, fully armed, and followed Chen Ling into the mountains to hunt for them.

On the mountain road, under the rocks, and later running down the mountain, they searched everywhere in the wheat fields and outside the village, searching with great enthusiasm until midnight.

The next morning, she didn't feel sleepy at all, so she dragged Chen Ling to the mountain early to catch fish. They brought down a bucket and caught a small half-bucket of fine-scaled salmon. Watching the densely packed little fish swimming around in the bucket, their enchanting figures, green backs dotted with blue-black spots, and soft pink sides, they could truly be called the spirits of the mountain stream.

However, they were too small to be kept with the big fish, so Chen Ling specially selected a section of the stream from the foot of the mountain to the lotus pond, about ten meters long, and enclosed it with wire mesh to keep them there.

Too few fish make it monotonous.

Since they're all here, we might as well use their free labor.

Chen Ling led a few people to catch fish from their home, the reservoir, and the mountain streams, and then released them into the lotus pond and irrigation canals of the farm.

Over the last two days, eels, loaches, and catfish were introduced into the irrigation ditch, while the lotus pond contained the four major freshwater fish species, as well as ornamental fish such as red-lipped barbs, peach blossom fish, and fighting fish that had been kept at home before.

She caught and released the fish, and also helped Chen Ling plant flowers in the yard.

The three families were having a great time, arriving on the ninth day of the fourth lunar month and reluctantly leaving on the fifteenth.

It wasn't just playing around; they also helped Chen Ling with chores while playing. Before they left, the women even spent two days helping him tidy up the farm's nursery.

Strollers, cribs, all kinds of clothes and toys—it all saved Chen Ling a lot of trouble.

(End of this chapter)