My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 235 Children's Carnival

On the 29th day of the sixth lunar month, two days before Chen Ling's family was to hold a full-moon celebration, Zhao Dahai and Shanmao, these guests from afar, arrived unexpectedly on this day.

Even the families of Wang Qingwen and Wang Qingzhong arrived in the afternoon. The summer weather here is unpredictable, and if they encounter bad weather, they might get delayed on the way if they have to arrive right on time.

So it's better to do it two days in advance.

Meanwhile, the farm was already bustling with activity.

Regardless of gender, the first thing they do upon arrival is rush to the nursery to see the baby. After learning that the baby has been named, they gather around and call out "Rui Rui" repeatedly.

It was quite lively for a while before everyone dispersed.

……

"Susu has recovered so well, she looks even more beautiful after giving birth."

After the men left, Xiang Wenxia reached out and touched Wang Susu's deflated belly, her face full of envy.

She gave birth to her daughter just two years ago. After giving birth, not to mention the stretch marks on her stomach and legs, she also developed freckles on her face. For a young woman, this is quite a troublesome thing. Everyone loves beauty, even though the social atmosphere was still relatively conservative at that time.

"It must be because Fugui takes good care of you."

Du Juan squatted down beside the crib, teasing Rui Rui, and said with a smile.

Wang Susu blushed and shyly changed the subject, saying, "Sister Juan, why aren't you and Zhong Lin married yet?"

"We'll have to wait until next year for the wedding. It's not going to happen this year. You can bring Rui Rui over then, and I'll show you around the city. We can have a few more days together."

Du Juan laughed generously, saying that she and Shan Mao got engaged last year, but something came up and they had to postpone it for another year.

“Okay, Ah Ling said before that she would take me out for a trip, but there are so many things to do at home that I can’t leave. I can’t bear to leave the dog and the cow, so it’s been delayed until now. I’ve even had a baby, and I still haven’t been to our city.”

Wang Susu smiled slightly, then sighed with a hint of helplessness.

Then, seeing that her son was awake, she took him into her arms and gently patted his swaddling clothes: "Rui Rui, do you want to go out and play? When you can walk, your dad will take us to the city, okay?"

"Ah...ah..."

The little guy stared at Wang Susu with his big, dark eyes, grinning and making unconscious noises, as if he were really responding.

"Wow, Rui Rui is speaking so early!"

Xiang Wenxia exclaimed in surprise.

Many babies around one month old can actually make syllables, but these days, due to insufficient nutrition for mothers, fewer of them can.

"No, he only started whimpering in the last couple of days. The doctor said before that once he starts sucking his thumb, his whimpering will be much more energetic."

Wang Susu chuckled, "But he recognizes people, he's recognized them a long time ago, and he only doesn't cry when he's with me."

Seeing her son holding her without crying or fussing, Wang Susu felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"It's alright if they recognize people early, this little kid is so nice."

Xiang Wenxia and Du Juan bent down, holding up animal toys that made a squeaking sound when squeezed, and squeezed them on Rui Rui, making a squeaking sound.

Sure enough, it attracted the little guy.

Unfortunately, he was still too young, and his attention would get sleepy quickly if he concentrated too much. So he yawned and fell asleep in Wang Susu's arms.

Then the three women continued chatting and whispering in the nursery.

As for Su Ligai and Guo Xinping, as Wang Susu's eldest and second sister-in-laws, they were already following Gao Xiulan to tidy up the rooms and prepare places for people to stay.

Chen Ling led Zhao Dahai, Shanmao, and his brothers-in-law around the farm. Zhao Dahai and Shanmao had been there before, but Wang Qingwen and Wang Qingwen had never visited Chen Ling's farm before. They followed behind with great interest, looking around and exclaiming in admiration from time to time.

"My brother-in-law really knows how to make things happen; this farm looks amazing from every angle."

The farm cannot be seen from the outside unless you climb to the top of Nanshan Peak on the other side of Laohewan for a distant view.

The entire farm is nestled among the orchards at the foot of the mountain, with stone pavilions, streams, birdsong, and fragrant flowers. In this season, the lotus pond is also in full bloom, with lotus leaves of all sizes crowding the water surface, and bright lotus flowers and plump lotus pods everywhere.

Standing by the pond or walking across the wooden bridge, smelling the fragrance of lotus flowers and watching the fish swimming on the water, one feels relaxed and is a rare enjoyment.

Not only that, the exquisite and uniquely elegant bamboo and wooden houses are also very eye-catching.

Wang Qingzhong said that it was even more beautiful than the bamboo houses in the Miao villages.

"The northern and southern Miao styles are quite different. I made a lot of changes to this one for practicality, otherwise it would look even more beautiful. I'm not exaggerating."

Chen Ling pointed out some places to the group and then led them to the wooden building at the back. "Brother Dahai, when you and Shanmao left last time, these rooms were still empty. Now I've cleaned one up and turned it into a hunting tool room. Come and take a look."

The main purpose of the previous tour was to show the brothers-in-law around, but now it was time to take care of Zhao Dahai and Shanmao, so Chen Ling led them to the leftmost room on the second floor of the wooden building, which had better ventilation.

As soon as the door opened, Lynx exclaimed in surprise, "Good heavens, you even hid a shotgun."

"What is 'hidden'? It's something the village committee gave us. It's good for self-defense if we live at the foot of the mountain."

Chen Ling smiled, and then pointed to the bows and arrows, hunting knives, steel forks, long knives, blowguns and other items hanging on the wall next to him, showing them one by one.

"Wow, this is so complete! My goodness, what is this? It looks so strange, with iron hooks and leather pads. It looks like a torture device in prison." Zhao Dahai stared at it for a moment, then suddenly stopped, looking frightened.

"This stuff was given to me by a relative. There are eagle training tools, some for training eagles, some for letting eagles rest, eat, and sleep, and some for stepping on shoulders and wrists. Oh right, it's the one called Wang Lixian, you've all seen it before."

Chen Ling picked up these tools and showed them to them.

Eagles and falcons have powerful talons. When releasing eagles or kites, you must not let them land directly on you, otherwise the eagles and falcons will scratch you.

Unless you're wearing thick winter clothes, you'll need hawk gear at other times.

For most falconers, tripods or five-foot stakes are essential to tether the falcons' feet.

An eagle hat, also called a sunshade, is used to prevent newly hatched eagles from flapping wildly when they return to their cages, thus preventing them from damaging their feathers and wings. It is also an essential item for beginners.

In addition, there must be scaffolding and falconry platform.

As the saying goes, "The eagle stands on the bar, and the falcon stands on the platform."

It sounds like an insult, but it's actually just a saying passed down by people who train falcons.

It is based on the habits of eagles and falcons.

Don't listen to the old folks who often talk about Eagle Cave. Eagles don't actually live on cliffs; they mainly roost in the treetops.

Falcons are the birds of prey that primarily inhabit high-altitude cliff platforms. And the eagle perch and falcon platform are not as simple as they appear on the surface.

The purpose of the eagle perch is not only to allow the eagle to rest and stand, but also to wipe its beak, as eagles need to wipe their beaks and trim their nails after eating.

Without a perch, the eagle would wear out its claws, and its sharp, hooked beak would become dull, greatly reducing its attack power.

The falcon platform serves a similar purpose. If a falcon doesn't stand on the platform, it's prone to leg problems. Ninety-eight percent of a falcon's skill lies in its talons, and a leg problem is tantamount to rendering the entire falcon useless.

Another essential item is leather gloves, shoulder pads, and arm guards, which are necessary for both beginners and experienced users.

If it's a small hawk, it doesn't matter much. But for larger falcons, their claws can easily pierce flesh with a light scratch, so it's essential. Traditionally, this is called a cage sleeve, which functions like a leather glove. Chen Lingxun's hawk only needs this protective pad; nothing else is required.

"You have such a complete set of eagles, but where are your hawks? We've come twice and haven't seen one."

Not to mention Zhao Dahai, even the lynx was eager to see Chen Lingxun's kite.

"It's not that I don't want to show you, but once the weather gets warmer, the kites go into mating season and go looking for mates everywhere. They're gone for seven or eight days at a time and don't come home much. I haven't seen one in a long time either."

Chen Ling said helplessly.

"Huh? You actually managed to train the hawk?"

Wang Qingzhong asked in surprise, "How did you train them? Did those two hawkers teach you that method?"

"No, I used birds and mice to lure them. Traditional eagle training methods are too torturous for both people and birds, I can't do it."

Chen Ling gave a brief explanation, which surprised everyone. Eagles and falcons are difficult to approach, and food enticements are almost impossible to use unless they are raised from a young age. Even those raised halfway through are very difficult to manage. Raptors are the most wild and untamed.

After his initial surprise, Wang Qingwen said, "Although I don't like this kind of training, I know that your methods are not reliable. Don't let him stay away for too long and then run away on his own."

"It should be fine. Falcons that have pledged allegiance to their owners usually don't run away."

This was the least of Chen Ling's worries. His food-luring method involved adding spiritual water, and the hawk had already gained intelligence; how could it compare to an ordinary eagle?

After he said that, no one else said anything more and continued to follow him. After looking at the hunting tools in the hunting tool room, they went to look at the collection in the cabinets of the hunting tool room.

He preserved all sorts of strange and unusual items, including wolf skins, wolf teeth, wolf claws, wolf skulls, wild boar tusks and bones, deer antlers, even badger fur and teeth, and feathers from various birds. Anything that was beautiful or unique was preserved by him.

In a few years, these will all be things that can be used for punishment.

But for now, they're all just ordinary and unpretentious, and don't hold any special significance for people who aren't particularly fond of hunting.

"Huh? What kind of skull is this?"

The lynx suddenly picked up a grayish-white skull. It looked like a mouse, about the size of a mongrel's head, and had two fan-shaped protrusions on it, like elephant ears. It looked quite nice, but the lynx couldn't tell what kind of creature it was.

"I don't know what it is. Heiwa brought it back from the mountains a while ago. I thought it looked strange, so I kept it."

Chen Ling shook his head. He was telling the truth. It was indeed Heiwa who brought it back. It looked like a small dinosaur bone. He thought it was quite fun, so he snatched it from Heiwa's mouth.

"I have a feeling this looks a bit like the bones of a water monkey," Zhao Dahai said, frowning with a serious expression.

"You're just talking nonsense. Don't you know what my teacher does? I've been with the team for years and I've never seen any water monkeys." Lynx sneered.

"Don't laugh. There are mandrills, and there are definitely water monkeys too. We're always setting up high-voltage power lines, so we've heard just as many as you have."

Zhao Dahai gestured with his hands while describing the scene aloud.

Finally, he affirmed, "This thing looks like a water monkey's head."

"Alright, alright, a water monkey it is. Anyway, keeping Fugui won't be a loss. What if it's really something valuable..." The lynx rubbed the skull a couple of times and then put it down, not arguing with Zhao Dahai.

The conversation between the two men amused the Wang brothers.

Then Wang Qingwen began pointing at the Hunter's Notes in Chen Ling's drawer, saying, "It's well-written, quite realistic and not exaggerated. I think this is the most valuable thing in the whole room."

"Hey, this is just for fun. I wrote down all the experiences because I was afraid I would forget them."

Chen Ling said nonchalantly.

At this moment, Lynx and Zhao Dahai also came over to take a look. After reading it, they said that with this "Hunter's Notes", the hunting tool room really had that feel.

The group lingered in the hunting equipment room, reluctant to leave.

Meanwhile, the children outside were having a great time. Today, Zhao Dahai's Yaya came, as did Wang Qingwen's Xiaotongtong and Wang Qingzhong's Xiaodongdong. The arrival of her new playmates made Wang Zhenzhen very excited. She proudly led her two little nephews around the farm, showing off her little room and the toys that others had given her.

Her two little nephews were very envious, but Ya Ya wasn't interested in toys; she preferred to play outside.

So Wang Zhenzhen led them to fish for frogs and catch cicadas. After they had their fill of fun, they even took off their shoes and went down into the ditch to look for snails and catch loaches.

Ya Ya is only two years old and can't go into the water, so she stays on the shore watching intently. Whenever Wang Zhenzhen and the other two pick up snails and throw them up, she grins and runs around picking them up non-stop.

After collecting snails, they took their dog to the orchard to collect eggs and duck eggs.

Wang Cunye wasn't idle either. He kept an eye on the children, leading the sheep at a distance behind them, and occasionally shooting birds with a slingshot.

Every time he hits a bird, his two grandsons cheer, put down the eggs, and run over to snatch them back, having a great time.

The boys were a bit mischievous. While Wang Cunye was talking to the villagers who were passing by on their way up the mountain, the two little ones took advantage of their grandfather's inattention to tease the lambs and prepare to climb onto their backs to ride.

These are the sheep that the village children left here. They bring the sheep with them every day when they want to play with Wang Zhenzhen. There's plenty of grass near the farm, so they can graze the sheep. Often, they forget about them while playing and leave the sheep here.

These lambs are two or three months old, a time when they are lively, active, and full of energy, and they love to butt each other's horns.

If a person grabs their horns, they will take it as a sign of resistance and will exert all their strength to push against the person. Some young boys cannot withstand even one push from them.

The two little devils had no idea about any of this. They had just grabbed the ram's horns and hadn't even mounted it when they were hit on the head.

This terrified them, and they scrambled to their feet and ran away. The two lambs chased after them relentlessly, making them cry loudly in fear.

It wasn't until they saw Chen Ling and the others come out that they felt they saw hope.

As she ran, she cried out loudly, "Waaah, Uncle, help! Your little lamb keeps butting people!"

However, the lambs had already turned away and stopped chasing after the adults.

The two mischievous kids got a scolding, but they didn't learn their lesson. They followed Wang Zhenzhen around like crazy, and when other kids from the village joined in, they played even more wildly. In just two days, they were both tanned to a deep black.

This guy hasn't even had his full-month celebration yet, but he's already making the farm look like it's hosting a summer children's carnival.

(End of this chapter)