My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 266 Flying Fork Fish
One advantage of autumn over summer is that, although it's still quite hot, at least there's a breeze.

When the autumn wind blows, the sky turns a deep blue, covered with fish-scale-like clouds.

As the car traveled along the mountain road, everyone opened the windows, enjoying the cool mountain breeze and gazing at the blue sky and white clouds outside. Amidst the laughter and chatter, they felt a sense of tranquility and joy.

They had a great time today. Although they ate lunch at a local restaurant, it was just a very ordinary meal.

After finishing their meal, they enthusiastically set up a stall to sell eggs.

And you know what? Although the price isn't as high as in the county town, it sells very quickly at the market.

There's nothing else to it; Zhao Dahai and Shanmao helped Chen Ling sell eggs by driving their car to the village's archway and setting up a stall.

This guy drives a car and sets up a stall to sell eggs.

In those days, in the countryside, the simple and honest people had never seen anything like this.

It immediately attracted a large crowd of onlookers.

Seeing that more and more people had come, Zhao Dahai discussed with Chen Ling about cooking the eggs on the spot using various methods, such as steaming, boiling, and pouring boiling water over them, so that the people coming to the market could taste them.

Moreover, every time they cracked an egg, they would hand the eggshell to them so they could see the difference between the eggshell and that of a regular egg.

Is it bigger and harder?

Afterwards, they even said that eggs are much more expensive in the county town, but they're selling them cheaply now.

After all that effort, the results were surprisingly good.

Anyone who wasn't short of money tried to buy some.

Later, more and more people came, including those with a little wealth who came to watch the spectacle. They included people from the township government, factory owners, and those living in small villas.

But no matter how rich they are in the village, they still can't afford a car.

Now I see two guys selling eggs here in cars, and the eggs are pretty good. They're buying way more eggs than the average person.

After all, I've never encountered anything like this in the countryside before.

Now I can brag to people that I've eaten the eggs from the car.

And just like that, in a lively and bustling manner, all the chicken and duck eggs that had been accumulated over many days were swept away.

Riding this wave of enthusiasm, everyone is determined to have a blast outside today.

They returned to the farm together, grabbed fishing rods and other tools, packed the wild boar cubs into sacks, and headed straight for the county town.

Besides the Nansha River in the south of the county town, there is also a river in the north of the town called the Dumb River.

It is said that the frogs in this river do not croak, hence the name.

The Dumb River is outside the city and quite far away.

On a tributary of this river, there is a large lake called Dumb Lake.

Although the names aren't exactly pleasant to hear, the scenery is stunning and the water is crystal clear.

When the water level is low, you can swim in the river and play on the riverbank. On weekdays, you can also enjoy the beautiful scenery of the lake and observe the water birds. The environment is quite nice and quiet, much better than Nansha River.

After arriving here, they first got out of the car and strolled around the area around Dumb Lake, enjoying the beautiful scenery.

At the same time, Du Juan took out a camera to take pictures of everyone.

They gave special attention to Chen Ling and Wang Susu, a family of three, and had them take turns holding their son and taking pictures of him.

The little guy ran around with them all day without getting tired, and he's still full of energy. When we were taking pictures, he opened his eyes wide, looked around, and babbled away, drooling all over the place.

Seeing this, Wang Susu wiped her son's drool with a handkerchief and said happily, "Rui Rui is two months old now. When he turns 100, let's take more pictures."

"Yes, it's been two months already, and the 100th day will be here soon."

Chen Ling teased his son, and now he understood what his mother-in-law meant. Having a son really didn't feel like much; it was like he was already two months old in a daze.

"Yes, babies grow so fast, they look different every day. It's a pity we can't come for Rui Rui's 100th day. Otherwise, we could come again. We haven't been here to play in winter yet."

“Hey, it’s okay if you can’t come. We’ll come after the baby turns one year old. Lynx and Azalea, you two should hurry up too. After we finish celebrating Rui Rui’s birthday with Fu Gui, we’d like to be able to attend your baby’s one-month celebration next year.”

"Haha, Brother Yuemin is so impatient! He hasn't even had his wedding banquet yet and he already wants to have his baby's full moon celebration."

After taking photos and chatting, the men took out fishing rods from the car, dug up some earthworms, and each found a spot by the lake to start fishing.

Although the scenery at Dumb Lake is beautiful, it is not very popular. Only in the summer do some mischievous kids come here to secretly play in the water and take a bath.

After all, this place is a bit far from the county town and far from residential areas, so the water is much clearer and the water quality is quite good than the Nansha River in the city.

Therefore, there are many fish and shrimp in the lake. As soon as you sit down to start fishing, fish keep biting the hook, and the fish are all quite big.

"My goodness, there are so many big fish here! They're all vying to bite my hook, I can't catch them all."

Zhao Dahai exclaimed in surprise.

Not only him, but Liang Yuemin and Shanmao were the same, catching one big fish after another.

They don't even bother with smaller fish anymore.

Chen Ling said, "Few people come here. Do you see any farmland around here? This place is very barren, and the grass on the road is all overgrown. There are plenty of big fish in this kind of wild lake."

They fished, while Wang Zhenzhen and the other two ran back and forth, sometimes chasing after the wildcats hiding in the reeds, sometimes throwing stones at the water birds by the water's edge, having a great time.

The women cleared a clean space nearby, preparing to start a fire and cook later.

Gradually, the sun set in the west, disappearing beneath the western mountains.

A red glow filled the sky, dyeing most of the lake surface like a red silk ribbon.

Gradually, the afterglow of the setting sun deepened, and the lake surface presented a beautiful scene of half fiery red and half emerald green.

Just like the poem says, half of it is green and half is red.

It's so beautiful it's breathtaking.

At that moment, an unusual noise suddenly came from the water.

First, a few small fish splashed and leaped out of the water, and then more and more of them gradually appeared, jumping out of the water in groups of three or five, hopping and splashing on the surface.

Finally, a whirlpool larger than a millstone was formed. Within the whirlpool, countless small fish leaped wildly on the surface of the water, as if a nest had been disturbed.

Seeing this, everyone was startled and hurriedly stood up, fearing that some strange thing might emerge from the water.

"What's going on? Could there be a lake monster in this lake too?"

Zhao Dahai gripped the fishing rod tightly, the red glow of the setting sun casting a blush on his face that made his complexion alternate between pale and flushed.

Lynx frowned. "It's hard to say whether it's a water monster or not. The way these little fish are scattering like this is like during an earthquake. This place is a bit scary. No wonder no one comes here."

"Fugui, Fugui, what's going on? Has anyone around here encountered this before?"

At this moment, the woman and child also noticed the commotion and looked at Chen Ling with some fear.

Chen Ling was still a little dazed at this moment.

He wasn't scared out of his wits; he was just staring intently at the inside of the whirlpool.

The commotion was quite loud, and he wondered if it might be another water monster.

He just stared intently at the whirlpool.

His eyesight is far superior to that of ordinary people.

His physical abilities are not obvious on ordinary days, but when he gets nervous at crucial moments, his physical fitness will suddenly increase dramatically, and his vision and hearing will also reach a new level.

After staring at it for a while, the things in front of him gradually became clearer, and he could see what was under the eddy.

He immediately breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at everyone, saying, "Don't be afraid, I've seen this before. It's just a big fish chasing away small fish, like wolves and tigers hunting in the mountains, only it's a bit more noisy."

"No way, look at all these little fish jumping around in the water, there are so many of them, if we scoop them all up, it must weigh dozens of pounds, what kind of fish can be so powerful?"

Liang Yuemin was still a little skeptical, fearing that Chen Ling had made a mistake, so he said, "Why don't we leave? Let's not stay here any longer, especially since we have children with us."

Wang Susu also said, "That's right, A-Ling, let's listen to Brother Yuemin and go somewhere else. This commotion is a bit strange. Could it be something that was washed in by last year's flood?"

"Hey, don't worry, it's nothing weird, just big fish causing trouble underwater. But it's not just one big fish, it's a group chasing each other, so it's making quite a commotion."

Chen Ling smiled at them and said, "Wait here, I'll catch two for you to see."

"what?"

Seeing his confident assertion and gazing at the strange sight on the water, everyone wondered, "Could it really be a big fish causing trouble?" Wang Zhenzhen, who was bolder, looked at the layer of small fish still jumping on the surface of the water and couldn't wait to run over and ask, "Brother-in-law, you said there's a big fish underwater, but what kind of big fish is it? It looks really fierce."

"Shhh."

Chen Lingchong held up one finger to his sister-in-law, signaling her to be quiet.

Then he took off his shoes, rolled up his trousers high, picked up the steel fork, and slowly walked into the lake.

As the lake deepened and he got closer to the whirlpool where the fish were leaping wildly, he flicked his wrist, and the steel fork flew out with a splash, plunging into the water. The surface of the water seemed to be smashed open by a huge force, splashing up water droplets.

Chen Ling then took another step and pulled on the tail of the steel fork, and a large, bright white fish was pulled out of the water, thrashing about wildly.

"My goodness, a harpoon fish."

Zhao Dahai's eyes widened in surprise. "Fugui, you're amazing! You've been hiding this incredible skill?"

At this moment, Chen Ling had already taken the fish off the bank and casually tossed it onto the shore. Without bothering to talk to the others, he flicked his wrist again, sending another steel fork flying and piercing into the water.

Unsurprisingly, another large, white fish was tied up.

"There really are a group of big fish underwater."

Liang Yuemin breathed a sigh of relief, and everyone else relaxed as well.

As long as it's not something weird, it's fine. Otherwise, it's really a bit creepy to be in this deserted lake where hardly anyone comes.

"I know, it's a whitefish. It's amazing how big it can grow. This one must weigh about ten pounds."

The lynx stared blankly at the fish Chen Ling had thrown up. "Zhenzhen, Xiaoming, don't touch it, or you'll get bitten."

"Huh? What's a white fish? This fish looks fierce and kind of scary." The women were still a little confused.

"Hmm, this fish is quite fierce, but the meat is delicious."

The lynx then explained to them what the white fish was all about.

Whitefish is actually a type of "upturned mouth fish".

The mandarin fish is a very ferocious carnivorous fish.

However, unlike ferocious fish such as the water tiger and the firehead, it mainly feeds on small fish.

Moreover, they are very fast in the water. If they grow to a certain size and catch small fish in groups, they will drive the small fish from underwater to the surface, resulting in the situation just described.

This is because they are fast and fierce underwater, and small fish simply cannot escape. In their panic, they can only jump to the surface of the water.

However, this situation is not common.

Only in such remote, wild lakes is it possible to encounter one or two such encounters.

Moreover, there are different kinds of mandarin fish, including red, green, and white ones. Among them, the white mandarin fish is the most likely to produce large fish, which can grow to about 30 pounds.

Today's baby is of medium size, weighing about seven or eight pounds, or maybe ten pounds.

The other two types weigh no more than three to five pounds at most, and they wouldn't cause such a commotion.

Chen Ling speared two feet, then put away the spear, slowly walked back to the shore, and washed his feet in a cleaner spot.

"Hey, Fugui, keep spearing the fish! Why did you stop?"

"What are you still spearing? These are two fish this big, isn't that enough?"

Chen Ling shook the water off his hands, stood up and said, "This thing dies as soon as it leaves the water, it's not easy to preserve, and having too much of it would be a waste."

"These two big fish weigh almost 20 pounds together, and we also brought two wild boars with us. That's enough for our group to cook tonight."

"Yes, yes."

"We saw that the fish was quite big, and we also saw how good you were at spearing fish, so we wanted to see it a few more times, hahaha."

Everyone laughed and nodded repeatedly. At this moment, the strange phenomenon in the water dissipated, and everyone gathered around the two bright white fish, looking at them with great delight.

Zhao Dahai even gestured with his hands, indicating "one hand span, two hand spans, three hand spans" on the fish.

"Good heavens, this big one is five or six hand spans long, including the head and tail. It must weigh over ten pounds."

Zhao Dahai has a large hand, about 12 or 13 centimeters in length, so this big fish must be 60 or 70 centimeters long.

The lynx also came over and measured the smaller one; it was about four or five hand spans long.

"What a bumper harvest! Even if we burst our bellies from eating these two big fish, we still can't finish them."

Adults and children gathered around the two large fish, chatting and praising Chen Ling's skill in spearing them.

Soon, it got dark.

Chen Ling led them, took out knives and cutting boards and began to kill fish and slaughter pigs, while the women gathered firewood and started a fire, and everyone busied themselves together.

Because the fish were quite large, two large bonfires were lit.

After gutting the fish and removing its head and tail, Chen Ling took out a bamboo tube containing seasonings and oil, brushed a layer of oil all over the fish, sprinkled a thick layer of seasonings on top, and finally spread the whole fish out in a fan shape on both sides and smoked it over a fire with a wooden stick.

The same method applies to wild boars.

Once the aroma of the grilled fish and roast suckling pig filled the air, Chen Ling brushed on more oil and sprinkled on seasonings, while also flipping them over.

"Mmm, it smells so good! Just smelling this delicious aroma makes me feel like I could eat two big steamed buns."

The fish was grilled first, and the aroma was so enticing that everyone, ignoring the scalding heat, tore off two pieces of fish and shared them with the others.

"It's delicious, so delicious! I still have to come along and mooch off Fugui's meal, haha. Jusheng didn't come with us, so he's missing out on this good food today."

The men were having a great time, and the women didn't care about their image anymore. They ate the fish and meat with gusto, their mouths greasy.

The adults and children shared one fish, and they didn't eat the remaining one; they took it home.

Just then, the roast suckling pig was ready, and everyone turned their attention to the fire.

The two roast suckling pigs were now a glistening golden brown, sizzling with oil, and their aroma wafted out on the night breeze, making them incredibly tempting.

It made everyone swallow hard; their stomachs, which were almost full from eating fish, suddenly felt hungry again.

The little child, like a greedy cat, licked his lips and clung to Chen Ling, urging him to take it down.

Chen Ling smiled and used his knife to chop the two roast suckling pigs into several pieces, one piece for each adult and child.

This is because the baby wild boar is too small.

No one cared about size anymore; they just lowered their heads and devoured the crispy, tender, and fragrant roasted suckling pig in their hands.

After finishing the last bite of meat, everyone let out a satisfied sigh. They took out the grapes from lunch, washed them, and enjoyed them with the low-alcohol fruit wine brought from the farm.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, they played by the lake for a while, put out the fire, and then drove back to the county town.

Chen Ling and his family will not return to the village; they will stay in the small courtyard south of the city tonight.

However, the house wasn't fully furnished, just enough for their family to live in. So Zhao Dahai and his family went to Liang Yuemin's new house, where they had more things.

After everyone had left, Chen Ling and his wife brewed some tea and watched the stars with their son in the yard.

"Zhenzhen, did you have fun today?"

Wang Susu asked as she breastfed her son.

"Hehe, I'm so happy, incredibly happy."

"It's good that you're happy. School starts tomorrow, so listen to your teachers and study hard when you get there. Got it?"

"Okay, sister, I'm so sleepy."

Before Wang Susu could finish speaking, Wang Zhenzhen yawned, rubbed her eyes, and shuffled upstairs in her slippers. "It's already past nine o'clock, I need to go to sleep quickly."

Wang Susu was both amused and exasperated, and looked helplessly at Chen Ling, "Look at this girl, look at her now..."

----

This is the second update, an extra chapter to make up for it. Today's update is 10,000 words.

Thank you to "Kel'Thuzad III" for the generous donation.

There are still eighteen chapters to repay.

(End of this chapter)