My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 258 Earning a Million a Month
As the sun rose higher and higher, the last days of summer had just passed, and autumn was not yet in sight in the mountains and forests. Cicadas and various insects were still chirping loudly, trying their best to make the sounds of the last stage of their lives. These sounds intertwined with the melodious birdsong and the babbling of water, creating a lively and vibrant atmosphere throughout the mountains and forests.

The only downside was that the mountain roads were difficult to traverse and there were many poisonous insects. Although Chen Ling had applied pepper juice to repel insects, leeches and other such creatures were still impossible to avoid, so he had to speed up his journey through the mountains.

With Er Tuzi leading the way, and Xiao Jin, the little tyrant of the mountains, they finally found the Ganoderma lucidum nest, even though it was far away.

"Good heavens, what a bumper harvest! This one spot has grown twelve Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms."

Standing before a massive, decaying tree trunk, Chen Ling couldn't help but gasp in amazement.

Behind the parted thicket of grass, large and small red Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms were growing at the base of the dead tree.

The big ones are as big as a fist.

The smallest ones are only the size of a thumb.

This proves that they are not all fully mature, and there is still a considerable gap between them and the large Ganoderma lucidum that Er Tu Zi picked and that Chen Ling is holding.

"How did you find this place?"

Chen Lingchong asked Er Tuzi a question, and it immediately flapped its wings and flew to the tree next to him to show him.

"Oh...it's a hanged rat."

It turned out that there were several mice hanging on the branches of the tree nearby. It was unclear whether the owl or the shrike had done it, but it had attracted Er Tuzi over.

He glanced around but didn't see any tree holes or bird nests in the trees; they were probably well hidden. He didn't look for them any further.

"Okay, that's not bad. When we get back, I'll teach you how to identify medicinal herbs, and I'll let you come to the mountains to collect herbs whenever you have free time."

Chen Ling looked up and smiled at it, then put down the bamboo basket, walked to the big tree with the red Ganoderma lucidum, and took some spiritual water to ripen them all.

Otherwise, we can't harvest these immature Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms, and we'll have to come back in a few days, which would be too troublesome.

It would be better to ripen it now and harvest it, leaving the seedbed for next year to continue growing; that would be enough.

As he sprinkled the spiritual water, Chen Ling watched as each Ganoderma lucidum transformed from a half-red, half-white color into a glossy, reflective crimson. Each one was as big as a small fan, and Chen Ling felt an indescribable satisfaction.

Wild Ganoderma lucidum has become increasingly rare in recent years.

The reason is that many people do not follow the rules and are too greedy. After discovering the Ganoderma lucidum nest, they are afraid that others will take it away, so they often saw the Ganoderma lucidum and the tree stump together and take it home to keep for themselves.

Over time, wild red and purple Ganoderma lucidum have become very difficult to find in the area.

So, he was really lucky this time when he went into the mountains.

"This nest must be protected; we must preserve it."

Chen Ling picked all the mature Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms, looked around, and realized that they were already halfway up the mountain, on the edge of a broad-leaved forest. A little further up, they would encounter pine and cypress trees.

There are relatively few people here, so I can relax for now.

Afterwards, two Ganoderma lucidum plants were kept in a bamboo basket, and the rest were taken back to the cave.

Wild Ganoderma lucidum is very uneven in size, with some large and some small. The artificially ripened ones look too uniform, and it would be too illogical to take them all out.

"Let's go, we've had a good haul, it's time to go home for dinner."

Chen Ling glanced at the bamboo basket already piled high with herbs, then contentedly called for the dog and the hawk, and headed back along the long road.

"Chirp chirp..." Several grayish-brown shadows darted among the branches and leaves; they were squirrels, quite active in the forest.

Upon seeing someone intrude, it panicked and fled, leaping several times from tree branches to hide deep in the forest.

Chen Ling took out his slingshot and fired a few shots haphazardly, but he didn't care. He just walked around playing with it.

In the mountains, besides pheasants and rabbits, squirrels are the most common creatures.

Like wild boars, these creatures are a nuisance, frequently coming down from the mountains to ravage crops. However, their damage is relatively minor and remains within the villagers' tolerance range.

Moreover, the meat of this thing tastes pretty good; if you know how to prepare it, it can be considered a delicacy.

"Woof, woof woof..."

Suddenly, Little Gold's fur bristled with alertness, and it growled softly, its tail standing straight up as if to indicate that something was approaching.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling immediately put down his slingshot, retrieved his hunting rifle from the cave, and became fully alert.

Sure enough, just two minutes later, a group of wild boars appeared at the bottom of the ditch ahead. If you don't count the small wild boars following behind, there were more than a dozen large wild boars.

It's even larger than the wild boar herd I saw last time.

Good heavens, when did wild boars become so rampant in the mountains?

Chen Ling frowned slightly in surprise.

Wild boars have extremely keen hearing and vision, and had already spotted him by now, but he still strolled around the bottom of the ditch with an air of nonchalance, looking for food on the ground as he went.

They clearly didn't take him seriously.

"Wow, pretty arrogant."

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling immediately laughed, put down the bamboo basket, and whistled at the dog and eagle, "Little Jin, Baldy, come at us together! How dare they look down on us! Let them taste our power!"

Having said that, he took the lead, grabbed his hunting rifle, and charged towards the wild boar herd, shouting loudly.

No one accompanied him on this trip into the mountains, so he completely let loose and had a rare opportunity to unleash his true nature and indulge himself.

Moreover, his control over the Sun and Moon Grotto is becoming increasingly stronger, and he is fearless even when he encounters the most ferocious beasts.

"Go—ga—"

Chen Ling waved his arms and roared loudly at the wild boar herd.

Wild boars are easiest to drive away when they are in herds. On the contrary, lone wild boars are easily frightened and will fight to the death with people.

So Chen Ling didn't even fire his hunting rifle. He just ran over and shouted loudly, and the wild boars started squealing and panicking, running away with their heads down.

Like headless flies, no one cares about anyone else, and they all run away in different directions.

Almost as soon as the boar ran away, the sow lost her anchor and immediately scattered and fled, not even caring about the wild boar piglets.

So at this time, the wild boar piglets are the most panicked, not knowing which sow to follow. A large group splits into several groups, grunting and squealing as they try to escape.

But they were too small, and some slid down the slope while running, while others fell into the water.

Chen Ling ignored the little guys and just led the dogs and eagles, chasing after the wild boar herd, shouting wildly, and then firing shots at them from behind.

He wasn't after any prey; he just wanted to have some fun, a rare treat to let loose and roam freely through the mountains.

Xiao Jin and Er Tu Zi also let loose, and the barking of dogs and the cries of eagles echoed through the mountains and forests as they launched an attack on the wild boar herd.

Little Jin barked excitedly, whirling through the grass and trees like a whirlwind. When it encountered a steep slope, it leaped over it in a flash. No wild boar could match its speed.

Interestingly, it uses its tail and hind legs to maintain its balance throughout the entire jump. When it jumps, its tail spins rapidly like a helicopter propeller, disappearing in a flash, leaving the wild boar herd terrified.

Er Tu Zi's abilities were limited by the mountains and forests, but it was not discouraged. It calmly followed Chen Ling, seizing any opportunity to ambush. When a wild boar was injured by Chen Ling and panicked, that was its moment to strike. Its sharp claws aimed at the wild boar's eyes, and it glided past like a glider. Before you could even see its shadow, the wild boar was already blinded and howling and thrashing about in the mountains and forests.

"Boom-boom-"

Chen Ling raised his gun to finish them off. A blind wild boar is like a toothless tiger. He aimed specifically at the wild boar's vital points, and two or three shots would take their lives.

"Haha, that was awesome!"

After killing three wild boars in succession, Chen Ling felt refreshed. He walked over and took the three old sows lying in a pool of blood into his cave. Then, seeing that the wild boar herd had all scattered, he called Xiao Jin and Er Tu Zi back.

"You did a great job, Er Tuzi. I'll take you guys into the mountains in winter and have a good time."

After rewarding the dog and the eagle, he looked at the wild boar cubs that Xiao Jin had caught along the way, which numbered four or five, and nodded in satisfaction.

It's never a good thing for any wild animal to become overpopulated.

This is especially true for wild boars.

This thing is incredibly destructive. A single adult wild boar can wreak havoc on half an acre of corn under the cover of night. If it comes in a herd, it would be a catastrophic disaster for farmers.

Half a year's harvest was completely ruined.

Moreover, it is very dangerous to encounter a wild boar alone, especially a lone wild boar or a sow with piglets; losing one's life is a common occurrence.

"When I'm bored at home, I'll come to the mountains more often to prevent wild boars from becoming too rampant and causing havoc down the mountain. Coming to the mountains more often will also give me a treat." Chen Ling thought to himself as he took a burlap sack from the bottom of the bamboo basket and put all the squealing wild boar babies inside.

This thing is incredibly prolific; it can mate and reproduce year-round, producing at least eight or nine offspring per litter, and sometimes as many as twenty. The number of offspring it produces is quite frightening.

"When we get back, we'll have roast suckling pig for a few meals. The fire pit I built outside the kitchen hasn't been used yet."

With so many wild boars in the mountains, Chen Ling was too lazy to raise them on the farm; he might as well just eat them.

He had never eaten such a small and tender wild boar cub before.

On his way back, he picked some wild mushrooms and wood ear fungus. Lately, he had his eye on his own rooster, which was free-range in the mountains all day long, and its meat was really delicious.

There's no need for any fancy methods; just use the traditional local methods of stewing and stir-frying chicken, and the taste is unforgettable. At first, my father-in-law felt bad about wasting the chickens, but after eating them once, although he still felt bad, he stopped objecting to eating one every now and then.

Anyway, Chen Ling didn't eat the laying hen; he ate the rooster. The rooster didn't have much of an impact.

After descending the mountain and returning to my family's farm, I could hear voices coming from inside the farm before I even stepped inside.

It was noon by then, and usually very few people would come to our house during lunchtime.

As you walk further in, you can see Wang Cunye sitting with his legs crossed in the corridor, watching the lotus flowers with a large group of people outside the lotus pond. Among them is a familiar woman, Li Min.

Judging from the looks of it, they're probably here to buy alcohol again.

"Little Chen, you're finally back! We've been waiting for you for ages. If you hadn't come back, your father-in-law wouldn't have dared to make the decision to sell the wine for you," Li Min said loudly with a smile as soon as she saw him approaching.

"Huh?" Chen Ling looked at his father-in-law in confusion. What was there to be afraid of selling? His father-in-law wasn't illiterate.

Wang Cunye just smiled and didn't say anything.

He's too honest and doesn't really want to serve those in leadership positions, but he's also incapable of scheming against people.

It still requires the son-in-law to come.

The son-in-law is cunning; he raised the price for them without hesitation.

Moreover, they are eloquent and persuasive, making people accept the price increase in a convincing way and buy happily.

Sure enough, this woman has spent money here several times, and now she's brought people back to buy more wine.

He can't sell it if you ask him to.

I'd better not get involved.

"Hey, Xiao Chen, you're all dressed up like a dog and a falcon, looking quite impressive."

At this moment, Li Min laughed again, but focused her attention on Xiao Jin and the bald man on his shoulder.

Li Min was surrounded by men and women, all of whom looked at him with surprise and envy.

Several young men, in particular, were eager to come over.

But with his superiors around, he seemed a little restrained and kept glancing at the eagle on Chen Ling's shoulder.

They were just ordinary people who didn't understand dogs; to them, eagles were far more appealing than dogs.

After all, this thing is not common and is quite impressive.

It's something many men find hard to resist.

"Brother, what kind of eagle is that? Its eyes look so fierce."

The younger ones didn't dare to say much, but a middle-aged man who looked like a leader asked a question out of curiosity.

"This is a sparrowhawk, also known as a hawk."

Chen Ling pointed, and Er Tu Zi flapped his wings and flew off his shoulder, landing on the eagle perch under the eaves of the bamboo house, where he "bang bang bang" washed his mouth back and forth on the perch.

The sight left everyone mesmerized, unable to look away.

"It's so obedient. Aren't you afraid it will fly away if you don't tie its feet?"

A young woman mustered up the courage to ask.

"Don't worry about it flying away, it's been trained," Chen Ling explained.

"After you train it, will it be able to hunt?"

Seeing that even the women were asking, the young men couldn't help but gather around.

"Sure, I just took them hunting."

"Look, these are the wild boar cubs they caught. Eagles are watching from the sky, and dogs are catching prey on the ground. No prey can escape them."

"Wow."

Everyone was amazed.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the little wild boar kicking haphazardly in the sack in Chen Ling's hand.

Chen Ling was unwilling to talk to them any longer. After running into the mountains, he was already hungry and just wanted to sell the wine and eat as soon as possible.

So he closed his pocket and asked, "What kind of wine are you coming to buy this time?"

"Yes, we're planning to buy a little of everything. Could you let us try some more? It's their first time buying this."

Li Min asked.

Chen Ling was a little confused by the question, thinking that since they had come all this way to buy wine, hadn't they drunk it before?
However, he nodded and led them to the back of the farm.

During this time, he handed the medicinal herbs in the bamboo basket and the wild boar in the burlap sack to his father-in-law. As a result, people saw the two Ganoderma lucidum plants and gathered around to watch.

"This Ganoderma lucidum is huge, like a small fan, it's as big as two of my hands. Brother, are you selling this Ganoderma lucidum?"

"Haha, Lao Jiang, you'd better not ask. Xiao Chen definitely won't sell it. He only uses the herbs to make medicinal wine, right, Xiao Chen?" Li Min answered first. She knew that Chen Ling had tricked them last time by adding Ganoderma lucidum and Panax notoginseng to the wine, so she believed it.

"Yes, these are all for making medicinal liquor."

Chen Ling replied that he indeed had no intention of selling it, because the price of freshly harvested Ganoderma lucidum was very low, far from maximizing its value.

"Wow, wow, so this medicinal wine really does contain Ganoderma lucidum."

Everyone praised him again, and seeing that Chen Ling's attitude was firm and that he never intended to sell, they all believed him.

When they arrived at the barn at the back of the farm, Chen Ling opened the wine jars one by one and offered them bowls to taste, which dispelled even the last trace of doubt.

"Commander Li should have told you that these two kinds of fruit wine taste great when served with rock sugar, but they have a very strong aftereffect, so you can't be greedy and drink too much, right?"

Seeing several young women holding up bowls and wanting more, Chen Ling reminded them.

Wild fruits are used to make wine.

Wild bayberry wine, in particular, is only sour and not sweet if it is not mixed with herbs.

However, if you add rock sugar, it will immediately become sweet and sour, and the aroma of fresh bayberries will be brought out, resulting in a very good taste.

Those who have never drunk this kind of wine before may unknowingly drink too much on their first try, and when the effects kick in, they will get completely drunk.

"Oh, I know."

Upon hearing Chen Ling's words, they smiled awkwardly and put down their bowls, looking rather embarrassed.

Actually, they had never tasted the wine from this farm before. Such expensive wine is something that ordinary people wouldn't dare to drink. Most of them were just accompanying Li Min to buy it as a gift.

Now that I've tasted it, I think it's really delicious, so I wanted to have another glass. But the wine is really strong, so I had to reluctantly suppress my desire to take advantage of it.

Then they followed Li Min, counted their money, and waited in line for Chen Ling to pour them drinks.

It's true that people buy all kinds of alcohol, which proves that not all of them are rich; there are significant differences in their spending power.

Even so, Chen Ling still earned over ten thousand yuan. After dinner, when he returned upstairs and counted the money with Wang Susu...

He was still feeling frustrated. "I didn't even intend to start a business, so why is my income skyrocketing? In the past month alone, I've made over 20,000 yuan from selling alcohol. If more people buy alcohol in the future, will I be earning a million yuan a month?"

(End of this chapter)