My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 226 Scandal
After seeing off those three families, Chen Ling's own family returned to its usual peaceful life.

Every day, I either stroll leisurely from home to the farm or stroll leisurely from the farm back home.

Anyway, apart from my wife giving birth, there hasn't been anything particularly important happening lately.

Wang Susu's physical condition far exceeded that of ordinary pregnant women. She had been pregnant for more than eight months without any adverse reactions. With Gao Xiulan taking care of her at home and Chen Ling occasionally preparing some nourishing food for her, she didn't need to stay at home with her.

Therefore, Chen Ling and his son-in-law Wang Cunye still had time to go to the county town and the countryside to go to the market and sell their chicken and duck eggs.

The chickens at home now include those raised by Chen Ling's family before, those brought by Wang Zhenzhen, and those bought from Erwazi's chicken farm in the countryside a while ago. In total, there are about eighty chickens. When they start laying eggs, we can collect more than half a basket every day.

In addition, there are also quite a few duck eggs.

You can't save them up for more than a few days before you have to sell them; you simply can't keep them at home.

Although people from the county town still come to buy, they only buy a small amount; two days' worth of eggs is enough for them to share. Meanwhile, Chen Ling's chickens continue to lay eggs, so they have to go to the market in the county town to get them.

As for the township, he and Wang Cunye went there twice, but since the price couldn't be raised, they didn't go back.

Prices this year are significantly higher than in previous years.

Although it cannot be compared with the high prices after last year's floods, the impact can still be felt in all aspects, including food, cooking oil, and meat.

Last year, due to the shortage of grain and oil, peanuts and soybeans, as the main oil-producing crops, soared to three yuan per kilogram. But this year, they are only a little over one yuan per kilogram. However, even this price of one yuan per kilogram is two mao higher than in previous years.

The normal price of pork last year was 2.5 yuan per jin, but this year it has remained at around 3.8 to 4 yuan.

Egg prices have risen even more, from 2.3 to 2.5 yuan per jin last year to 3.1 or 3.2 yuan this year.

Chen Ling took the eggs to the market to sell, and people bought them even if he asked for three yuan and fifty cents.

Good heavens, egg prices are almost as high as pork prices?
This is no coincidence.

The reason is that the high price of meat last year led to a surge in pig and sheep farming this year, while chicken farming has decreased significantly.

Many farms even sold off large quantities of chickens and ducks before the Lunar New Year and replaced them all with piglets.

As a result, there are fewer eggs on the market, and the price naturally becomes higher.

Based on the daily egg production of Chen Ling's family, excluding the eggs they usually eat, they average eighty eggs a day.

Because the eggs are large, free-range eggs are comparable to factory-farmed eggs. If we calculate based on eight eggs per pound, that's at least ten pounds of eggs per day.

He goes to the market every five days, selling over 50 kilograms of eggs for 3.5 yuan a month. By going to the market six times a month to sell eggs, he can earn 1,200 to 1,300 yuan.

It doesn't sound like much, but these days, the highest daily wage for a skilled worker in the county is only twenty yuan, and for a laborer it's only ten yuan. Chen Ling's income is more than half as much as that of a skilled worker.

If we wait a while longer until the chicks and ducklings have fully grown up, the number will at least double again.

Wang Cunye was initially worried that his son-in-law's farm would lose money, but recently he did some private calculations and realized that if things went smoothly, the gross profit from selling chicken and duck eggs alone would be enough to break even in a year.

Surprised, the father-in-law became even more interested in the farm.

This led to many villagers making fun of him.

They said he was working so hard for his son-in-law, since his son-in-law didn't give him any money and wouldn't take care of him in the future.

Wang Cunye wasn't annoyed, but he secretly laughed at these people for their narrow-mindedness and ignorance of his son-in-law's abilities.

Chen Ling didn't care about any of this. After the chickens, ducks and geese had adapted to the environment, he let them all out to find insects to eat all over the mountains and fields. He also sent two dogs to watch over them. Every night, he would bang on a basin or tin bucket to call them back, and then take the dogs to collect eggs.

He's quite free at other times, spending his time at the farm tending to his fish.

Now that we have more space, we can really run wild and cause trouble.

In addition, after a year, the fish population in the cave has grown larger and larger, to the point of overpopulation.

At the beginning of the year, he opened up two more ponds in the woods, but it still couldn't keep up with the expansion of the fish population. Now that he has space, he simply stopped messing around in them and started secretly releasing fish out every day.

After a few days, the farm's lotus pond, irrigation ditches, and the small streams at the foot of the mountain were filled with the fish fry and half-grown fish he had released.

As for the large fish that are raised, very few are released outside; they are kept at home for occasional consumption.

Fish that grow relatively fast, such as grass carp and black carp, will grow even faster after being put into the cave. In just half a year, they can grow to about ten pounds.

The meat is firm and delicious, with no muddy or fishy taste.

After eating it a few times, the father-in-law and mother-in-law repeatedly exclaimed that it was no wonder Chen Ling cooked fish for his daughter every day, and she never got tired of it.

Fish is delicious and can be prepared in many ways; it's truly a dish you can never get tired of.

These are the big fish in the cave. While they are used for food, they also continuously reproduce and breed small fish, which helps them replenish their energy.

Release the small fish, keep the big fish.

After a few days, the irrigation ditches and ponds in the cave became much emptier.

Chen Ling then entered the cave and reorganized the layout.

Common fish are in one pond, ornamental fish in another, and rare fish such as fine-scaled salmon and red-lipped barbs in yet another.

Of course, the fine-scaled salmon are too small to be kept in one place at present and cannot be kept with other animals. We are just trying it out to see what changes will occur after they are put into the cave and whether they can be raised to be larger.

After making the plan, Chen Ling caught some baby turtles and released them into the ditch at the foot of the mountain.

He owned the mountain, so the ditch was naturally his too. He could put whatever he wanted in it, and he wasn't afraid of people finding out.

Other types, such as red eels, are not suitable.

Aside from the few he keeps at home, he hasn't let any of them out.

Garlic and those big turtles won't work either.

Chen Ling thought that once the year was over and there were no more strange occurrences at the reservoir, he would take Garlic and the others to the mountain lake, where there was plenty of space and they wouldn't feel cramped.

"Shhh, shhh..."

In the morning, Wang Cunye was herding sheep in the orchard, constantly chasing away birds that flew to the irrigation ditch to steal fish fry.

This is the downside of only releasing small fish and not large ones.

However, the big fish are very wild and fierce. For example, the grass carp is originally like an old turtle, lying at the bottom of the water and not liking to move. But the grass carp raised in the cave are very fierce. They eat snail shells and small fish, and often leap out of the water to eat some small birds that come to drink.

If it were released, even small birds wouldn't stand a chance against it.

It would be troublesome if others saw it.

"Why don't we bring the hawk over? More and more thieving birds are coming to steal fish."

Wang Cunye said.

"We can't bring all the kites with us, they're busy flying around looking for mates right now."

Chen Ling was taking his dog around collecting chicken and duck eggs when he heard this and smiled at his father-in-law: "I'll go and re-tie up the bird-catching net." Actually, eating small fish is no big deal, because there are just too many small fish.

Recently, even magpies and crows have been flying over to the ditch to catch small fish. By the time people arrive, they have already nimbly snatched the fish and flown away.

This is partly due to the allure of the fish fry in the grotto, and partly due to Chen Ling's daily practice of pouring buckets of spiritual water from the grotto into the lotus pond and mountain stream.

Now, two irrigation canals surround the farm and flow throughout the orchard. A few buckets of spiritual water are poured into the stream at the foot of the mountain, and the diluted spiritual water flows through the orchard with the canals, irrigating the fruit trees and bringing life to this barren land, where wild grasses and shrubs grow rapidly.

Therefore, it is perfectly normal for it to attract many birds and small animals.

It's fine for them to eat fish and drink water, as long as they don't damage chicken or duck eggs. You know, magpies and crows are experts at stealing eggs and meat. Now that the small fish can feed them enough, they won't bother to steal eggs.

Actually, the reason is that fish prices are low right now, transportation is bad, and no one is coming to buy them. If the fish could be sold, Chen Ling would have already started shooting, let alone using bird nets.

But even though he couldn't sell it for money, Wang Cunye still felt a little heartbroken. "Give me your slingshot this afternoon. I get angry just looking at these thieving birds."

"Row."

Chen Ling smiled and continued collecting eggs with his two dogs.

When he reached the small stream at the foot of the mountain, he found that because he had released fish into it, there were more water birds along the stream, including wild ducks, water hyacinths, and moorhens, foraging and playing on the water.

Upon noticing someone approaching, the wild ducks immediately took flight, the water hyacinths submerged themselves in the water, and the moorhens also quickly fled, causing a splashing sound on the water's surface.

Frogs in the grass by the river also jumped into the river with a splash.

However, the stream was still a bit murky and not clear enough. Only when you got closer could you see the green water plants swaying at the bottom of the stream through the emerald green surface, and small fish and shrimp occasionally flashing and disappearing among the plants.

Suddenly, his gaze froze, and he stared at a spot before slowly widening his eyes. "Good heavens, the duck egg has fallen into the water."

The bottom of the ditch was covered with lush aquatic plants, and several duck eggs were hidden among them. Around the eggs were a dense layer of small fish fry, nibbling on something on the eggshells.

After Chen Ling parted the water plants, the small fish fry scattered in all directions.

Free-range chickens and ducks save on feeding, but that's the downside—they lay eggs everywhere, in all sorts of nooks and crannies. I don't know what they're thinking.

I don't know if the duck laid its eggs on the bank and slipped into the water, or if it laid them while playing in the water.

They picked them up one by one and put them in the basket.

Chen Ling continued to take the dog with him and let the dog help him search, otherwise he would definitely not be able to find everything by himself, as he would miss too many things.

After finding all the chicken and duck eggs, he would pick up a hoe and go to the vegetable garden and wheat field to weed, and he would also have to pull out the withered ears of wheat.

After finishing all that, we'll trim the watermelon vines and let the cattle graze.

In the evening, they would bang on a basin to call the chickens, ducks, and geese back.

I've had the dogs help chase them away a few times recently, and they've gotten used to it, knowing that it's calling them home.

Every time the sun sets, Chen Ling stands outside the orchard and bangs his iron basin on it.

Chickens and ducks of all sizes gathered in flocks and ran wildly toward the orchard from the woods on the mountain, in the grass at the foot of the mountain, and in the rapeseed fields. The big chickens and ducks flapped their wings and led the way, while the little chicks and ducklings, led by the goslings, waddled and ran very fast.

Once inside the orchard, these creatures became restless, playing in the water along the irrigation ditch before swimming back to their respective dens.

A few wild chickens were mixed in with the chicks, and they would occasionally peck at the snail shells on the edge of the ditch.

After being chased away by the dog's barking several times, it finally obediently returned to its den.

……

Life went on peacefully like this, but in the last few days of the fourth lunar month, Chen Ling's leisurely days were disrupted again by Wang Lixian's family affairs.

He hadn't been home for several years, and Sanni'er, who had been out of contact with him, suddenly returned.

Moreover, he didn't come back alone; he brought a young man in his twenties with him.

An unmarried young woman brought a young man home with her.

In this day and age, it's quite alarming that something like this is happening.

Soon, the whole village knew that Wang Lixian's third daughter had someone else outside the village, causing quite a stir.

There were all sorts of rumors: she was living with someone else before marriage, she had had multiple abortions, and so on.

After this incident, it is unknown how Wang Lixian felt, but it is said that Liu Yuzhi fainted from crying that day, and Aunt Wang also had tears in her eyes, pointing at Sannier and cursing her until she was breathless.

"Li Xian is such a good man, how come he ended up with such a daughter?"

During breakfast, Wang Cunye rubbed his legs and sighed.

"That girl is a real handful."

Chen Ling shook his head. San Ni'er had also played around with him. That wild girl was very fierce. Even boys older than her didn't dare to mess with her. Back then, everyone was still young and didn't know any better. One boy called her mother mute, and San Ni'er almost bit off his ear.

When the parents came to her door, she hit them on the head with a stone, leaving them covered in blood.

Anyone who sees this girl says that her temperament is unlike that of Wang Lixian's family.

As expected, he grew up to be a disobedient child, running away from home early and declaring that he would never come back.

I never expected that after a few years, this would happen again.

“I heard that she brought back a boy who is six years older than her. San Ni’er met him while working outside. People in the village say that the boy looks like a fairy, with slicked-back hair and a face full of powder, and he even wears earrings. He doesn’t look like a decent person at all,” Gao Xiulan said.

She's recently started hanging out with the women in the village, and she's very well-informed.

“Who says otherwise? He’s neither man nor woman, he doesn’t look like a man in charge. How can such a young man be able to support the family?” Wang Cunye sighed again.

"But this shameful and disgraceful girl has taken a fancy to that kind of man and insists on marrying him. Her mother was almost driven to her death by anger."

Although it was someone else's business, Gao Xiulan became angrier and angrier as she talked.

“With something like this happening, Li Xian is in a difficult position. Ling Zi, you should go and take a look. Call Ju Sheng too, and the two of you can go together.”

Wang Cunye looked at Chen Ling and said.

Although this is a troublesome matter, given the relationship between the son-in-law and Li Xian's family, how can they ignore it? If they avoid trouble, they might as well cut off all contact in the future, and the village will say that the son-in-law is inconsiderate.

"Yes, I was just saying I was going to go take a look."

Chen Ling was at the farm last night, replacing Wang Cunye. Little did he expect to hear about Wang Lixian's family affair as soon as he got back.

"Eat breakfast first, then we'll go."

Wang Susu and Gao Xiulan reached out and stopped him one after the other.

He said he was stopping him from eating, but he was actually taking the opportunity to tell him not to be impulsive and hit someone if he encountered something upsetting later. The villagers had been talking about it that morning, saying that the kid from outside was very sharp-tongued.

(End of this chapter)