My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 237 Rain and Fish

After all the dishes were served, Chen Ling became even more excited, toasting people one after another, from one table to the next. He accepted every drink offered to him without hesitation, downing his drink on the spot, which drew loud cheers from the crowd.

The women cheered enthusiastically and laughed along, while the children were busy playing and running around the banquet.

The full moon celebration was truly a joyous occasion for both hosts and guests.

However, the only downside was that a few uninvited guests arrived at the farm when the banquet was in full swing.

It turned out that several county leaders had come, accompanied by a villager, to find Wang Laishun.

They rushed over because several neighboring provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River had experienced severe flooding again this year. City leaders had instructed them to prepare for flood prevention in advance and to personally supervise the work in each village.

Chenwangzhuang, which is adjacent to the reservoir and relatively close to the county seat, was naturally the first stop.

Unexpectedly, when I came to find Wang Laishun, the Party Secretary, he was happily enjoying a meal here.

As soon as the group explained their purpose, Chen Ling, who was in high spirits, invited the county leaders to sit down and arranged a separate table for them, letting them sit at a separate table with Wang Laishun to discuss matters.

Chen Ling's enthusiasm and courtesy prompted several leaders to step forward and shake hands with him.

Wang Laishun then introduced Wang Jusheng to various people, explaining which one was in charge of flood control, which one was in charge of public security, which one was in charge of people's livelihood, and which one was in charge of propaganda. The leader even gave him a special introduction, revealing that he was actually a deputy county head named Liu Xiangqian.

Since they were guests, Chen Ling treated them as such and, as usual, offered them a toast.

"This is Chen Fugui, a very promising young man from our village. He is very talented in writing. Last year, he came up with the family planning slogan for our county." Wang Laishun also introduced Chen Ling to these people.

"Oh, I know, I know. I've heard Township Head Liu mention this young man from your village. He's very good," Liu Xiangqian said with a smile, but he remained seated, neither getting up nor offering a toast in return.

On the surface, this man has a big nose, wears a white shirt and dark blue trousers, speaks slowly and calmly, and has a smile on his face, perfectly embodying the demeanor of a leader.

However, he soon saw Liang Hongyu upstairs coldly scolding her grandson, and his expression immediately changed, slightly taken aback.

Then, taking the opportunity, he continued talking to Chen Ling: "Did you have a baby boy or a baby girl in the family?"

"A boy."

“It’s good to have a boy, it’s good to have a boy. If you ever have any problems that you can’t solve, you can come to the county town to find me. Just tell the gatekeeper you’re looking for Liu Xiangqian.”

At this point, he even stood up, raised his glass, and toasted Chen Ling in return.

Chen Ling keenly noticed the change in his attitude, so she smiled and nodded, saying okay.

After that, he lost interest in talking to people at other tables and went to toast them.

He arranged the banquet for these people only because of Wang Laishun's influence. Otherwise, it wouldn't be right for Wang Laishun to leave halfway through after working so hard here.

His attitude towards these incompetent leaders has always been to avoid contact with them as much as possible, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble.

However, the less he cared, the more cautious these leaders became, and they inquired about the relationship between Chen Ling and Liang Hongyu from Wang Laishun and Wang Jusheng.

Just after I finished asking around, I saw a huge fat man dancing and gesturing wildly at a banquet in the distance, his fat jiggling all over.

Liu Xiangqian looked completely bewildered. "Who is this kid? He knows Zhao Dahai too?"

“What’s wrong with Dahai? I know him too. Isn’t he from the Municipal Power Supply Bureau?” Wang Jusheng asked curiously.

“His father is Zhao Yubao, a nationally renowned writer and professor at a provincial university. You know him, but you don’t know this?” Liu Xiangqian said in a low voice.

At that time, the titles of writer and professor were very valuable, especially professors, who had extensive connections and knew all sorts of people.

"Oh, is he that famous? I've never heard him mention him."

Wang Jusheng shook his head. Hearing this, he was no longer surprised. He thought to himself, "I thought it was something scary, but it's just this."

Even Wang Laishun didn't react much, he just smiled happily.

There was no way around it; far too many outsiders had visited Chen Ling's home over the past year.

People from Beijing and the city used to cars coming and going every day when the farm started construction last year; the villagers were already used to it.

These days, anyone who can afford a car can't be an ordinary person. Even a fool would know it's not easy.

"Huh? How did you meet? We met when they came to the village to install high-voltage power lines. Yeah, we'd never met before, that's how we met."

Faced with Liu Xiangqian's persistent questioning, Wang Jusheng told the truth. He wasn't stupid; he knew Liu Xiangqian was inquiring about Chen Ling, but didn't Chen Ling know him too? He was just an ordinary person; what was there to be afraid of asking about?

"Oh, is that so?" Liu Xiangqian clearly didn't believe it. "Secretary Wang, they're having a full moon celebration. We can't just eat and drink here for free. We should give them a gift."

He took the lead in paying his share as a gift, and Wang Laishun, who was in charge of keeping the gift list, accepted it and added it to his record.

As they talked, the other villagers also curiously looked at the table.

But they only glanced at them a few times; their arrival didn't affect the atmosphere of the banquet. Country folk don't care about leaders or anything like that. They just ask a few hellos, but they don't get paid or exempted from grain tax. Who knows who they are?

They continued to drink and eat in a lively atmosphere.

After Chen Ling finished toasting and went back, Liang Yuemin, Zhao Dahai, and Shanmao pulled him to sit down and continue drinking. Yesterday it was wine, which wasn't enough to satisfy his cravings, but today there was baijiu (Chinese liquor) and several large bundles of beer bought from the Huangni Town Brewery, so they had to drink to their hearts' content.

Unfortunately, the weather turned bad; it started raining just after 2 p.m.

At first, no one paid much attention. The tables were set up either on the first floor of the bamboo house or under the long corridor by the lotus pond, where they wouldn't get wet. But the rain got heavier and heavier, with lightning and thunder, the raindrops becoming more and more frequent, and the sky darkening.

Before long, the ground was covered with splashed bubbles and mist, and you couldn't see anyone outside, only a white expanse in the rain.

And so it rained for almost two hours straight, and the rain still didn't stop.

"Damn it, these damn leaders are a jinx. They said they came for flood control, but damn it, if they hadn't brought this up, there wouldn't have been such heavy rain. They're such jinxes."

As the rain intensified, the villagers cursed angrily. They had just suffered a disaster last year and were barely catching their breath this year; no one wanted to go through that again.

Some people tried to find humor in the situation, saying to Chen Ling, "Fugui, it seems we really will have to eat a couple of meals here with you."

"Hey, not only can you stay for two meals, you can even stay here tonight," Chen Ling said with a smile.

He knew there wouldn't be a flood this year, and the cave was well-prepared with everything he needed, so he wasn't worried even if there were deviations in the parallel universe.

Sure enough, the rain gradually subsided by evening.

The villagers dared not stay any longer. They exchanged a few jokes with Chen Ling, saying that the baby's one-month celebration at his house had almost turned into a continuous feast, and then they all left.

Wang Laishun also left with several leaders.

The rest, including Liang Hongyu's family and Han Chuang, stayed overnight at Chen Ling's farm, as the roads were now impassable.

Around midnight, it started raining again, with strong winds and torrential rain.

It was still raining in the morning, but the rain was much gentler now.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, get up quickly! The fish have escaped! The yard is full of fish!"

Chen Ling was sleeping soundly with his wife and son when he heard his sister-in-law's voice from outside.

He hurriedly got up and dressed, and when he went outside, good heavens, the little girl wasn't exaggerating, there really was a yard full of fish.

The farm is situated on higher ground, which allows for better drainage. However, this rain was even heavier than the last one, causing the lotus pond and irrigation ditches to overflow. The water in the farmyard was ankle-deep. When you waded in, you could see fish splashing and darting around with the current.

At this moment, Wang Zhenzhen, wearing a straw hat and with her trousers rolled up, led her little yellow dog around the yard catching fish, and then threw the fish she caught into the water vat under the eaves.

They grabbed him and called for him to come down.

"Here it comes, here it comes, don't rush, the fish won't get away."

The farm is surrounded by ditches and canals, so Chen Ling isn't worried about the fish escaping. Besides, they're all within the mountain area he's contracted, so wherever they go, they're his fish.

"Damn, how did the fine-scaled salmon escape?" When he got downstairs, he panicked. He had spent a lot of time and effort raising these fine-scaled salmon, and it would be a huge loss if they got away. So he quickly grabbed a bucket and waded into the water to catch fish everywhere.

The fine-scaled salmon are extremely lively and slippery, rushing everywhere along the water flow. Some of them even rush onto the steps under the eaves, splashing and jumping on the ground with their tails.

"What are you doing? Catching fish?"

The Liang Yuemin family was startled by the commotion outside. When they opened the door, they saw Chen Ling and the little girl wading around in the yard with their dog, catching fish.

"Good heavens, even the slender-scaled salmon have escaped."

Liang Yuemin quickly picked up the small-scaled fish from the steps and put it in the water tank, afraid that it would die.

Then the whole family rolled up their trousers and waded into the rain to catch fish.

Soon, Wang Qingwen and his brother, Shanmao, Zhao Dahai, and Han Chuang were all alerted. A group of people, along with the little boy, joined in. Wang Cunye also wanted to come over, but was persuaded not to by Wang Qingwen and his brother.

"Dad, your legs aren't good, don't go into the water, you'll catch a cold and it'll be bad."

"Yes, we can handle it, there are so many of us."

Even with so many people, adults and children alike, they still couldn't catch all the fish in a short time.

For more than two hours, without even having breakfast, the fish in two tanks and the crabs and shrimp in most of a bucket were still surging to the surface.

The fish in the lotus pond and canals still struggle to break free of the water as if they were fighting tooth and nail, as if they didn't care about their lives.

The water is teeming with slippery fish of all sizes, including crucian carp, grass carp, eel, loach, and catfish. They stir up whirlpools in the stagnant water, forcing people to wade through the water to avoid accidentally stepping on and injuring the fish.

Chen Ling looked around and saw that all the fine-scaled salmon had been caught and put into the water tank; only a few had escaped.

He didn't want to care about the other fish.

"There are quite a few shrimp. Let them clean out their intestines later, and we'll have drunken shrimp for lunch."

Chen Ling told everyone to stop, then carried the bucket of shrimp to the kitchen and brought out breakfast for everyone to eat.

As a result, these people went wild with their fun. By then, the rain had gradually subsided, and they were all splashing around in the puddles in the yard, catching fish non-stop.

"Uncle, your fish are practically free! Let's play a little longer!" the chubby boy exclaimed.

However, it voiced the thoughts of several adults, especially several women, who became more and more excited as they played. They even called out Wang Susu to help take pictures, saying that she was out of confinement and that even if she couldn't touch cold water, she should come out for some fresh air and have some fun. It wasn't good for her to stay cooped up in the room all the time.

Chen Ling agreed, so he stopped eating and started teaching his wife how to use the camera, taking pictures under the eaves.

(End of this chapter)