My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 255 The Pharmacy Enters Autumn
The young couple walked towards their home in the village while talking.

Recently, Mr. and Mrs. Wang Cunye moved here with Wang Zhenzhen. They no longer have to worry about feeding the pigeons, and the two elders also lead the little white calf out and back at night.

So the two of them haven't come back much lately, and now they've come home to visit.

But what they didn't expect was that their conversation had been overheard.

Most of the villagers are on the dam outside the village, and there are not many people in the village. The two of them did not pay attention to controlling their voices.

However, the man's reaction to their conversation was quite strange.

This was a very thin man with a slightly purplish-red face and a somewhat sickly appearance. He was carrying a red cloth, and it seemed that he was also going to the dam to worship the "Turtle King".

But then, after Chen Ling and Wang Susu walked past, he suddenly stopped, frowned and thought carefully for a moment, then hurriedly turned around and walked back in silence.

Chen Ling and his wife didn't notice this strange man at all. Once they got home, they were too busy holding their son and circling around the flowers, plants, and grape trellis in the yard.

"Next year, when Rui Rui is older and can run around in the fields, I'll open a pharmacy in the village..."

Wang Susu held her son, a bunch of grapes that were starting to turn red in one hand, and said with longing in her eyes.

Wang Chunyuan across the street has already opened a pharmacy, but there aren't many customers. Villagers with minor ailments like headaches or fevers all go to Chen Guoping.

People from outside, from the county town and other places, all came to find Wang Susu.

Even after she got pregnant and gave birth, she still had a lot of people coming to see her.

Many people came last year, and she only needs to examine them once or twice, so even those who live far away will make a special trip when the weather is nice.

This made her feel a little proud.

It's inevitable that I'll keep thinking about this.

“Okay, now that winter is here, there’s not much to do. I’ll go find Uncle Sangui to get you two Chinese medicine cabinets.”

Chen Ling looked at the son in her arms and thought to himself that with his son's character, it was a pipe dream for him to open a pharmacy next year. But he couldn't bear to discourage her, so he smiled and said, "When Rui Rui can run, I'll take care of him for you. When you're free, come to the village to see patients."

"Yeah."

Upon hearing this, Wang Susu became even more hopeful, her eyes lighting up.

“If I’m not too busy, I can go up the mountain to gather herbs for you. Last time my dad and I went into the mountains, there were herbs everywhere…”

"After we harvest them, I learned from my dad how to dry them, grind them into powder, and process them. We won't need to buy medicinal herbs anymore."

Chen Ling continued talking, making his young wife very excited.

Then she chattered on and on, holding her son and turning him around, her face beaming like a little girl.

On the way back to the farm, she was humming a little tune as she walked along the path outside the village, taking light steps. Her cheerful appearance made Chen Ling chuckle to herself. She thought to herself that if she hadn't been holding her son, she would have skipped and hopped all the way back.

In a good mood, the young wife's appetite increased, and she devoured three of Gao Xiulan's newly steamed buns in one go.

But by evening, she was no longer happy.

Nothing else, Rui Rui, who had finally been quiet for two days, started causing trouble again.

Putting him in a stroller won't work either; he only feels comfortable when someone holds him and walks around in his arms late at night.

"It's not like we didn't take him out to play today. His little eyes have been busy looking here and there. He should be tired of looking at things by now, so why isn't he sleepy yet?"

Chen Ling held her son with a worried expression, feeling a pang of regret for the first time.

He regretted bringing the little thing to the cave too early. This energetic creature was constantly watching him and Wang Susu, causing them endless suffering.

"How would I know? Ah Ling, do you think he'll behave himself if he runs away?"

Wang Susu also looked worried. She was most afraid of her son crying. She felt very anxious whenever her son cried, as if the sky was about to fall.

Although in most cases, the son prefers to tease Chen Ling.

But in situations like this, it's impossible for her to fall asleep.

"Rui Rui is so mischievous, I feel like my pharmacy will never be able to stay open."

In modern terms, opening a small pharmacy and treating patients is her life's dream...

But dreams are not as important as my son, so thinking about those things is useless.

"You brat, look how worried you've made your mother. Can't you just get some sleep at night?"

Chen Ling pinched his son's small body, lifted him into the air, and glared fiercely at the little guy as he spoke.

The little guy wasn't scared at all; on the contrary, he was very happy. He babbled and grinned as he looked at Chen Ling, his little legs constantly wiggling. He was really restless and didn't behave like any other little baby.

"Put him down quickly, his little body is so soft, don't hurt him." Wang Susu frowned worriedly when she saw Chen Ling lifting her son up.

Chen Ling sighed softly, put his son down, and realized he really couldn't do anything with the little thing.

"I took him out for a walk. It's almost the beginning of autumn, and the nights are quite cool now, with hardly any mosquitoes flying around."

"Okay, go for a couple of laps and then come back quickly, it gets chilly at night."

"I know."

Chen Ling greeted his wife and then carried his son down from the bamboo house.

The farm was quiet at night. At this time of year, autumn was not far away, and it would get quite cool in the mountains after nightfall. Even the chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs became much fainter.

Fortunately, there is a moon tonight. The moonlight is serene and silent, as if it knows that autumn is coming soon, and it falls on the ground with a touch of coolness.

The waterway and lotus pond were also reflected in the shimmering water.

You can even see a snail slowly crawling on the bluestone slab in the courtyard.

The farm under the moonlight is also very beautiful.

After Chen Ling carried her son downstairs, Heiwa Xiaojin heard the noise and happily ran over wagging its tail.

With their intelligence, they naturally knew that Rui Rui was their little master.

Upon seeing Chen Ling carrying the little one out, the two creatures hopped and skipped around Chen Ling, jumping high as they looked into his arms, as if to say they wanted to see the baby too.

"Here, you can watch it if you want."

Seeing this, Chen Ling smiled and squatted down, patting the heads of the two dogs to let them get close to her son in her arms.

"The little guy can't run yet. Once he can run, I can hand him over to you to take care of, and I can save some trouble."

As soon as he said that, Heiwa Xiaojin was overjoyed. He looked at Ruirui with his eyes, hummed and hawed, and his ears were practically hanging back, his tail wagging so hard it was about to break.

Heiwa was overjoyed and rolled around on the ground. This silly dog ​​was very funny and made Rui Rui grin from ear to ear, babbling in his baby talk.

Little Jin was more composed, but it was also happy, wagging its tail and humming incessantly.

If it weren't nighttime, it would definitely bark excitedly.

Now, he's just squatting in front of Chen Ling, his mouth wide open, his eyes narrowed, and a smile is on his face.

"Yes, that's very sensible."

Chen Ling reached out and vigorously rubbed their big heads, but dared not let her son play with them anymore.

This guy is already enough to keep him and Wang Susu busy. If he starts to think that having two dogs is fun and won't sleep without them to play with, then they're doomed.

"Go to bed."

After gently patting them, Chen Ling led his son into the cave.

The weather here is neither too hot nor too cold, and it's completely under his control, which makes me feel very at ease.

Upon arriving at the grotto, he made a surprising discovery. He found that the little one became very well-behaved here, neither crying nor fussing, and would quickly fall asleep in his arms.

"Could it be that this brat is trying to find a way to mess with me so he can come to the cave?" Chen Ling suddenly wondered in astonishment.

Thinking about it again, it really is possible.

I waited patiently for about ten minutes before taking the little guy out of the cave.

He didn't wake up; he was still sleeping soundly.

Chen Ling chuckled upon seeing this, "I'll try again tomorrow."

The night passed peacefully, and Wang Susu was amazed by her son's well-behaved behavior.

When I woke up this morning, I kept muttering to myself, "When did my husband become so capable? He can even handle our son, who is so difficult to deal with."

However, she soon stopped caring about it.

Because today was a lively day, after dinner, many people came to the village noisily, which even affected their family.

Because many of the people who came were acquaintances, such as Qin Qiumei and Zhong Xiaoyun, Han Chuang's family, and Liang Hongyu's family, who were the quickest to arrive since they had nothing else to do.

No need to ask any more questions, everyone's here to see the old turtle.

This is similar to the "Turtle King's Parade" of the past. Whenever the Turtle King appeared, people would spontaneously spread the word and go to the place where the Turtle King appeared to offer incense, pray for blessings, and pay homage.

People from all over the country, from townships and villages to even the county seat, came to Chenwangzhuang one after another after hearing the news.

This was only the second day after the turtles appeared, and they had already surrounded the reservoir completely.

Not to mention the third and fourth days, that guy started coming from all over the county, from the east and south, and even from neighboring counties.

The sheer scale of the scene left Chen Ling speechless, thinking to himself that it rivaled the atmosphere in Chaozhou.

As for whether to bring Garlic and the others back as the number of people increases, he had thought about it, but considering the unidentified creatures in the reservoir, he decided to leave them there for now.

Anyway, these people won't harm them; they just worship them as gods.

Indeed, most people would feel awe upon seeing such a large turtle.

And under such rumors and atmosphere, not many people went to fish.

Moreover, when the turtle doesn't show its face, they don't do anything drastic. After worshipping once, they will come back again, all hoping to see the true face of the turtle king. They are very devout.

As time went on, the legend of the Turtle King spread far and wide, attracting more and more people to the area.

but……

These bustling and lively days didn't last long, only about half a month, before being interrupted by continuous torrential rains.

This was a torrential rain before the start of autumn. The rain was quite heavy and frightening at the beginning.

The thunder at night can wake people from their deep sleep. The rain falling on the roof tiles sounds like countless people forcefully hitting the tiles with small stones, crackling and clattering, making people worry that the rain might break the roof tiles.

Fortunately, the downpour only lasted for half the night, and the rain continued in bursts afterward, with relatively light rainfall.

This situation made countless people even more aweful of the "Turtle King," saying that the torrential rain must have been stopped by the Turtle King, otherwise, their area would have suffered disasters for two consecutive years, just like the surrounding provinces and cities.

Surprisingly, quite a few people believe it.

Chen Ling, who initially found it funny and felt a secret sense of pride and accomplishment, has now become numb.

After listening to his father-in-law, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law enthusiastically recounting the story of the turtle, he even felt rather bored.

That's just how people are; they find it hard to maintain long-term interest and interest in things that hold no secrets for them.

After all, he raised this turtle himself; he knows everything about it and understands it very well.

After the initial smugness wears off, it would be better to tell him a story of "wolves chasing pigs," which would be more appealing to him.

However, encountering a "wolf chasing a pig" situation is not something that happens often.

However, rooster fights have been a frequent occurrence these past few days.

The rain had just stopped, and it was a rare sunny day.

Actually, it's been raining on and off lately, and it's hard to say how long the sunny weather will last.

Early in the morning, Chen Ling got up and was about to go to the kitchen to cook when he heard chickens crowing incessantly in the orchard.

I went outside and took a look.

Two roosters stood on the chicken coop, ruffling their feathers and flapping their wings, engaged in a fierce battle.

He then picked up a shovel and went over to drive them away.

Roosters are aggressive.

If there are too many roosters in a flock and they are not castrated, they are more likely to fight when they reach adulthood.

Dogs will fight over who is the leader.

Even chickens fight for the top spot.

There's a saying, "Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix," and that's what being the head of a chicken means.

To put it more nicely, all the roosters wanted to be the leader of the flock, so they often fought until they were bloodied and battered until the other roosters had to admit defeat.

This situation is very common in the countryside.

If you don't want the roosters to suffer losses due to fighting, you should select a few of the weaker roosters and castrate them.

A castrated rooster is no longer a rooster. Naturally, it won't be as aggressive as a male. It will eat and grow fat obediently.

This practice is very popular in rural areas.

As a result, castrating chickens, like castrating pigs, was once a very profitable business.

"We've been feeding them too well. It's only been half a year, and they've already started fighting."

Chen Ling frowned, leaning on his shovel, feeling a bit annoyed.

When he was a child, he loved watching roosters fight. He would even take a stick and drive two big roosters together to fight.

Sometimes it won't work, and the rooster will hold a grudge and chase after him to peck him when he sees him on the road.

He was tough and fearless from a young age, and would fight the rooster with a stick or slingshot, often making a mess of feathers.

But now, we've switched to raising chickens ourselves, and including last year's, we have six or seven roosters.

The roosters that grew from this year's chicks are now six months old and are almost indistinguishable from adult roosters. Plus, they run around in the mountains all day long and are exceptionally wild.

These are the ones who fight the most frequently now, specifically targeting last year's rooster leader to fight. They get beaten terribly but still refuse to admit defeat; they have quite the temper.

They played two matches yesterday, and today they switched to other roosters.

Unfortunately, the rooster had been eating and drinking well since last year, and its body was stronger than anyone could imagine. Its comb was big, its beak was like an iron hook, and its big feet were so thick that they were almost as big as one and a half of the others. It was simply incomparable to these newcomers. Once it got going, it would take them all down in no time.

Chicken feathers were flying everywhere, and chicken blood was splattered all over the chicken coop. There were bloodstains all over the chicken coop.

"You really need to be taught a lesson. You're so unruly, I'm not going to keep you around causing trouble."

Chen Ling picked up the defeated rooster and headed home, thinking that if any more disobedient roosters were to rebel, he wouldn't bother to castrate them and would just stew and eat them.

Autumn has arrived and the weather is getting cooler. We'll stew two chickens with gastrodia elata to nourish the whole family.

(End of this chapter)