My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 284 Taking Mother and Daughter for a Stroll Through the Forest

"Listen to the doctor. We're already here, and look, the doctor has already prepared the injections. Let's just get it done."

Chen Ling comforted his wife and took his son into his arms.

The doctor glanced at Wang Susu, picked up a cotton swab, and walked over to Chen Ling, gesturing, "Unbutton the baby's clothes and expose the entire left arm."

Even in summer, infants need to wear thick clothes. Chen Ling had a lot of effort to take off her son's thick coat and gently pull out her son's chubby little arms from his close-fitting long-sleeved shirt.

Fortunately, Chen Ling had changed her son's diapers and clothes quite often at home; otherwise, she would have been clumsy and unable to do it for a long time, which would have made her a laughing stock.

However, the noise he made while taking off his clothes was still a bit loud. The little guy, who had just fallen asleep after playing with Wang Zhenzhen all the way, groggily lifted his eyelids and looked at Chen Ling through his long eyelashes.

Perhaps he was already familiar with his father's face. After staring blankly for a couple of seconds, he leaned against Chen Ling's chest in a daze, letting him do as he pleased.

The doctor was very pleased with the little one for not crying or fussing. As she wiped the little one's arm with alcohol using a cotton swab, she praised, "Your baby is very well-behaved."

"Yes. At first, they were being difficult, but now they're becoming more and more obedient."

Chen Ling smiled with a touch of pride. His son's well-behaved behavior was all thanks to him.

Otherwise, they'll sleep during the day and be restless at night; how can anyone stand that?

He still had the nerve to be proud.

Wang Susu's situation wasn't so easy.

As soon as the doctor applied alcohol to her son's face, she smelled it and her heart tightened instantly. She hurriedly reached out and crossed her hands to form a barrier between her son's head and the doctor, afraid that her son would be frightened by the gleaming needle.

Although the doctor was a bit stern, she was actually very gentle. She gently pinched Rui Rui's little arm, and before Chen Ling could react, the needle in her hand had already pierced the little guy's arm.

The silver needle is thin; it's the kind of immunization needle used on infants.

But even after being stabbed, Rui Rui still felt something.

The little guy opened his eyes groggily, trying to look towards his arm, but Wang Susu's hand blocked his view.

"uh-huh……"

Rui Rui frowned slightly, glanced at his mother, and thought she was just playing a prank on him again.

When they were at home, Wang Susu would often wave her hand back and forth in front of his little face because she thought he wouldn't sleep.

It's just like hypnosis.

Swaying back and forth, swaying back and forth, she fell asleep in no time.

The little guy also likes to play with Wang Susu like this.

But today, for some reason, I felt that when my mom played with me, my little arms felt cold and stuffy, and I just felt very uncomfortable.

Just then, just as he was about to realize what was happening.

The doctor quickly and steadily administered the vaccine, and before the little guy could even tense up from the pain, she deftly pulled out the needle and replaced it with a new cotton swab on his arm.

"Here, take this and hold it down for a while. The baby's flesh is tender, so you have to hold it down for five minutes."

The doctor gestured to Chen Ling, saying that she was very happy to have found a child who didn't cry or make a fuss, because some children's crying and fussing could really give you a headache.

however……

Just then, Rui Rui, who had fully woken up from her drowsy state, suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Anyone who has had an injection knows that it doesn't actually hurt much during the injection process.

Once the medicine is injected into the meat.

That guy, when he feels pain, it can be several times worse than before.

Wang Susu then lowered her hands, and the little guy finally saw what was behind them. It turned out that his little arms were sticking out, and the place his father was pressing on felt sore, numb, and painful.

This isn't an ant bite at all!

It was clearly a sting from a giant bee, and the pain was excruciating.

The little guy immediately protested, burst into tears, and then looked at Chen Ling with teary eyes and a pout, his little eyes filled with utter grievance.

"Don't cry, Rui Rui. We've already had the shot, it's all over now." Chen Ling gently comforted him, with one hand holding a cotton swab on his son's little arm and the other hand carefully around his son's fair little shoulder.

"Let me hug you, let me hug you..."

Wang Susu was already immune to her son's crying at home, but this was his first time getting a shot. When she heard her son's aggrieved cries, she suddenly felt like crying too, and quickly took her son from Chen Ling's arms.

I held my son myself and applied the cotton swabs myself.

She took the crying little one outside.

"This brat, he didn't cry when he got his shot, but he cried so loudly afterward."

Chen Ling smiled apologetically at the doctor, whose son was crying so loudly he almost blew the roof off the building.

The doctor smiled understandingly, then had him register his information and gave him a vaccination booklet.

When she came out, Wang Susu was still holding and comforting her son outside the epidemic prevention station.

"Don't cry, Rui Rui, be good. Later, your dad will take us to the forest farm east of the county town. Don't cry, okay?"

The mother and daughter's crying and coaxing had not only alarmed Chen Ling, but even the little white calf next to them perked up its ears, looked over with its big, dark eyes full of worry, and bleated softly.

Two minutes later, the crying finally subsided. The little one stopped wailing and just sipped tears intermittently, sobbing softly in Wang Susu's arms.

"This kid, he didn't cry when he got his shot, but he started crying afterward. Hmm? Trying to be cute with his mother on purpose, huh?"

Chen Ling smiled and poked her son's little face.

Wang Susu glared at him immediately: "I told you to wait until Rui Rui is older before getting the injection, but you insisted. Look at how he's crying. That needle is so long, it must have hurt a lot."

These words stunned Chen Ling, leaving him speechless and unsure whether to laugh or cry.

He thought to himself, "Silly wife, I also feel sorry for our son."

But he's still so young. We can't just give in to his tears and stop doing anything.

We went through the same thing when we were kids.

He thought this in his heart, but dared not say it aloud. After all, his wife was still very sensitive after giving birth.

He said, "Let's go play in the forest. The brat likes to play, and the pain will go away after a while."

Wang Susu's expression softened. "Well, Xiaobai came along today, so let's go find Aunt Hongyu and the others to herd cattle at the forest farm."

"Okay. Let's go to the forest farm to graze our cattle together."

The two yellow oxen that Liang Yuemin bought are now being herded by Liang Hongyu and Qin Rongxian every day.

A while ago, Chen Ling also fed the two yellow cattle medicine and gave them vaccinations. Now they are fat and strong and growing very well.

……

When they arrived at Liang Hongyu's house, they stopped the oxcart.

The two elderly people usually have nothing to do, and their front door is often left open during the day.

As the family of three entered, Qin Rongxian was just coming out of the east room with two kittens in his arms. He was taken aback when he saw them. "Hey, what brings you here? Yueru just took the kids to your place. Didn't you see them on the way?"

"Oh? Sister Yueru came to my house?"

Chen Ling was also surprised and shook his head, saying, "We didn't run into them. We came here today to get our child vaccinated. We went to the epidemic prevention station after dropping Zhenzhen off."

"Well, what bad timing."

Qin Rong smiled helplessly, then picked up the two kittens and showed them to them: "Our house cat has given birth to kittens. Look how much prettier they are than those wild kittens."

"It's because the big raccoon was restless after giving birth and ate the myna bird you caught for Little Chestnut. That's why her mother took her to find you."

"The civets ate the myna? How did they do it? Weren't the myna in its cage?" "Putting it in a cage wouldn't have worked either. Ever since we fed them mice last year, these big civets in our house have become more and more wild. They're always climbing trees and onto the roof. Your aunt and I were quite happy about it, but look at what they've done this time. They even pulled the birdcage down from the tree."

"Once the birdcage was pulled down and fell to the ground, it broke open, and the birds inside couldn't escape."

Indeed, let alone wild raccoons, even domestic cats in the countryside and birds in birdcages cannot stop them from spying.

Even hanging up the birdcage won't help.

They still try every means to jump onto the birdcage, using their weight to knock it down.

Neither bamboo cages nor iron cages can stop them from causing trouble.

Even if the cage can't be broken or scratched open, the birds inside still won't be able to eat and will be tormented to death.

As they were talking, Liang Hongyu came back from outside. When she saw the family of three, she smiled and said, "I was at the neighbor's house when I heard Fugui talking. I knew it must be you, so I ran home as fast as I could."

"Oh, Rui Rui, why are your eyes still wet with tears? Come here, sweetie, let Auntie hug you."

The old lady didn't say more than a few words before she started teasing the child.

Qin Rong first went to fetch chairs and benches for them to sit down.

After learning why they had come, he said, "Wait a bit. When Yue Ru and her daughter come back, we'll go herd the cattle together."

Chen Ling and the others weren't in a hurry; they had just finished getting their injections and brought the kids out to play. So they sat down, chatted, and waited.

Qin Yueru returned quite quickly.

Seeing Chen Ling and his family of three sitting in their own yard amused them.

"Xiao Li and I went to the epidemic prevention station to look for you, but they said you had already finished your vaccinations and left. I thought I didn't run into you on the way, so I went to the small courtyard in the south of the city to look for you, but you weren't there either."

"Xiao Li said, 'Don't tell me it's coming to our house.' When we came back, it really was. Xiao Bai was right outside."

Her words made everyone laugh. Even the little one in Wang Susu's arms started babbling and making noises when he saw the commotion in the yard, completely forgetting the pain of the injection.

Only Little Chestnut was still pouting, her face full of concern as she tugged at Chen Ling's sleeve, "Uncle, Uncle, you're the best! Please save my myna birds! They've been eaten by the cat, please save them!"

"Xiao Li, the myna bird was eaten by the cat, and there's nothing your uncle can do to save it."

Chen Ling patted her little head: "Let's go to the forest later, and Uncle will catch some birds for you then, okay?"

"But... but won't my myna bird come back?"

The little girl looked at Chen Ling with pitiful eyes, as if she was about to cry.

Upon seeing this, Wang Susu quickly said, "They'll be back, they'll be back. In a couple of days, your uncle will be able to rescue the myna bird."

"If your uncle can't save them, your aunt will help you. After all, the two mynah birds were eaten by the cat, so it will be quite difficult to save them."

As she spoke, she winked at Chen Ling, implying that he could catch two more for the little girl. She was so young that she didn't even know whether small animals were dead or alive, so how could she tell if they were the same two as before?

Chen Ling saw his wife wink at him and immediately understood, "Alright then, Uncle will do his best to bring your eighth brother back, okay?"

Upon hearing this, the little girl's eyes filled with anticipation again. She nodded expectantly at the young couple and said "okay."

Seeing that the young couple had appeased their daughter, Qin Yueru turned around and smiled at her parents.

Her daughter was still young, and she couldn't bear to tell her that the myna bird had died, so she went to the farm to find Chen Ling to save it.

Her parents blamed her for not teaching her child properly, saying that she should have just said the myna bird was dead and couldn't be brought back to life.

Now look at that young couple, they didn't say that anymore, did they? They've helped appease their daughter.

As for life and death, my daughter will naturally understand when she grows up.

Now that everyone was present, the whole family started packing their things, fetching the ox, fishing rods, and buckets, and loading them onto Chen Ling's oxcart.

The elderly couple led two yellow oxen, while Chen Ling's family of three and Qin Yueru and her daughter sat on the oxcart, slowly making their way to the forest farm in the east of the city.

There are relatively few mountains to the east of the county seat; the terrain is mainly hilly.

The forest farm in the east of the city is located on a long, earthen ridge, which stretches intermittently, section by section, all the way to Huangni Town.

However, Tubao Ridge is quite special in the east of the city, with a noticeable protrusion that looks like a giant, winding snake raising its head.

In the old days, there was a popular saying that this was the head of an earthen dragon, and that if it was properly enshrined, great figures would emerge from it. As a result, a wealthy family built a temple here, and people often went to the temple to burn incense and make offerings.

Even the temple fairs in the county town originated from this place.

Before Lingyun was renamed, it was called Wuyun County.

It is said that: Donggeda Terrace in Wuyun County, and Longtoutou below Geda Terrace.

Geda Terrace refers to the large protrusion of Tubao Ridge, which is covered with clods of earth and is uneven.

People say that this is because the dragon's head is buried below; after the dragon died, its scales turned into uneven clods of earth.

Some people also say that people were poor in the old days.

It was said that someone was holding a wedding or funeral, but they didn't have enough bowls and chopsticks, or enough tables and chairs to entertain the guests.

He then went to the temple at Geda Terrace to burn incense and chant some prayers.

The next day, all kinds of tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks will be delivered to your home. After you've used them, you can take them back to the temple, offer incense, and that's it.

However, later on, many people were greedy for small gains and borrowed money without repaying it, so the temple stopped being effective.

In any case, this is just a folk legend.

In fact, this Gedatai Forest Farm was established in the 1960s and covers a considerable area. Initially, it was not under the jurisdiction of Lingyun County, but was administered by another county to the east. It was not until 1982 that it came under the jurisdiction of this county.

“Fugui, do you know you’ve been on the news? You were on it along with that big turtle from the reservoir outside your village. It was in the newspapers and on TV.”

As they walked toward the forest farm, Qin Yueru leaned swaying against the oxcart, holding Xiao Lizi, and said lazily.

"Really? What are they saying outside? Does anyone believe it?"

Chen Ling asked, and Wang Susu also turned to look at him.

"Of course they don't believe it. Even things on TV can be fake. Otherwise, how could Journey to the West be made into a story? But even so, relatives and friends have been calling my brother and sister-in-law to ask. People from Beijing and CCTV have also asked. My brother dismissed them all with one sentence: 'If you don't believe it, come and see for yourself.'"

"Are they coming to see it too?" Wang Susu asked.

"What's the point of coming now? Even the big turtles aren't coming out anymore, so coming here would just be pointless. The roads are difficult to travel, so they definitely won't come."

"Oh, that's true. Nobody comes to the dam anymore, not even people from nearby come to burn incense and paper money."

They were talking, engrossed in their conversation.

Liang Hongyu shouted from behind, reminding them, "Slow down in front, we'll be going downhill soon."

As soon as she shouted, it was indeed time to go downhill.

The little white calf let out a soft moo, and the oxcart trembled slightly, tilting downwards.

Once you leave the county town, the road begins to go downhill.

This novel experience made Xiao Lizi cry out "Wow!" and climb out of Qin Yueru's arms, shouting happily.

"Haha, this is so much fun."

The little one in Wang Susu's arms also opened his eyes wide and looked around.

On both sides of the slope, there were dense bamboo groves. The tall bamboos bent down at the top and formed a sunshade on the slope.

A gentle breeze blows, bringing a refreshing feeling.

"Yes, it's so beautiful and fun here."

Chen Ling drove the cart, while Wang Susu and Qin Yueru, holding their children, lay down on the oxcart, enjoying the comfortable and fun journey. Their joyful laughter filled the air the whole way.

(End of this chapter)