My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 299 Things Recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas
Chen Ling's new identity as a forest ranger is quite good.

It doesn't conflict with my life, and I can even receive a monthly salary. My family was quite happy when they found out.

"Professors, have you eaten yet? If you haven't had lunch, let's eat together."

Seeing that they had come in a hurry and that it was only lunchtime, Wang Cunye invited them to sit down and eat.

"No need, no need, you all eat yours, there are many of us, we brought cooked food..."

Han Ninggui waved his hand. There were about ten people who came this time, not just him and Feng Yi. If it were just the two of them, he wouldn't have been so polite.

Wang Cunye could tell they were a bit embarrassed with so many people, so he pulled Han Ninggui to sit down: "Oh, it's alright, sit down. The food you brought from walking such a long way is already cold. Sit down and have something hot. If it's not enough, we'll make some more."

Gao Xiulan was also there, serving them bowls of rice.

Today's lunch was just a regular home-cooked meal; I made some dumpling soup with bok choy.

One pot yielded exactly eight bowls.

Even with Chen Ling's large appetite, the dumpling soup wasn't enough to fill him up. He would eat steamed buns and fried bread slices, and he would still need to drink three or four bowls of soup in one meal.

"If it's not enough, I'll make another pot. It'll be quick." Seeing this, Chen Ling got up and walked towards the kitchen.

Han Ninggui hurriedly followed, took out a bag of cooked food from his bag, and prepared to cut it up and arrange it on two plates in the kitchen.

Chen Ling glanced at it; it was a piece of cooked beef, along with lungs and liver.

Nowadays, people rarely eat intestines.

It will take another ten years for dishes like pork intestines to become popular.

Intestines and stomach are very cheap these days.

Things like lungs and livers are actually very popular.

People who travel frequently often really enjoy this.

Once inside the kitchen, Han Ninggui was cutting meat, while Chen Ling went to pick and wash vegetables. She ladled out two bowls of flour, poured them into a basin, cracked in eggs, added sweet potato starch, and stirred it into a batter.

"Hey, Fugui, weren't you making dumpling soup? Why did you stir it all into a paste?"

Han Ninggui was very puzzled when he saw his actions. This was not how dumpling soup was made. He had lived half his life and he knew this.

"Oh, to save some trouble, I won't make dumpling soup. I'll just make a pot of noodle fish soup instead."

"Noodle fish? What's a noodle fish?"

"Actually, they're just doughy dumplings. Haha..."

Chen Ling chuckled twice, quickly stir-fried the tomatoes, added sweet potato leaves, bok choy, and water.

"There are many ways to make this in the north, I just wanted to save time."

As he spoke, the soup in the pot boiled, so he took out an aluminum round-hole strainer, held it in one hand and a spoon in the other, and used the spoon to scoop a spoonful of batter onto the strainer.

The batter would then leak through the small round holes of the strainer and fall into the boiling soup.

Chen Ling poured the batter into the strainer with a spoon while constantly scraping it with the spoon.

To prevent the batter from piling up and causing the dough fish to leak into the soup in a large clump.

Wait until all the batter has dripped into the soup.

When Han Ninggui came over to take a look, he saw that the dough balls in the pot were big at one end and small at the other, rolling around in the boiling vegetable soup, and they really did look like little fish.

"Oh, so this is what noodle fish looks like. It looks like a tadpole and even has a little tail."

"Yes, actually, after ordinary families make the batter, they use chopsticks to scoop it into the pot, which is called 'scooping fish'."

Chen Ling said, "There are many ways to make this. Some are a paste, while others are made into a dough before cooking. You can boil it in water, rinse it in cold water, and make it into fried noodle fish, braised noodle fish, or mung bean flour and starch to make jelly fish. There are many ways."

"After cooking, add some vinegar and two spoonfuls of chili oil. It's sour and spicy, and very delicious. Here, we eat it this way. Further north, we pour two spoonfuls of hot meat sauce on top, and it's very fragrant."

As Chen Ling spoke, she scooped half a bowl for him to taste.

Han Ninggui took two slurps and smacked his lips, praising it highly: "So this is what noodle fish is! It tastes even better than dumpling soup. I have to say, the noodle culture in the North is truly profound. I still haven't recognized them all after all these years."

"Hey, that's because you haven't researched this, Uncle Han."

As they talked, they ladled the noodle soup into the pot.

Although Han Ninggui didn't know it was fish soup, someone else recognized it.

He's the young man I saw last year at Lutou Mountain in Fenglei Town, the one who vomited from being surrounded by wolf carcasses.

"I've seen this before. In my hometown, we call it Liangxia. It's made by grinding rice into a paste and straining it out with a sieve. In the summer, we put it in mint water or plum juice, which is very refreshing."

Chen Ling nodded: "Oh, you call that Liangxia? We have something similar here called Liangfen Yuer. It's the kind of mung bean jelly."

The two of them started the conversation, and everyone tasted the fish soup with noodles. While praising it, they also exchanged information about the special dishes from their respective regions.

That's how we quickly became familiar with each other.

Or rather, Chen Ling became familiar with them.

These people already knew about Chen Ling from Han Ninggui and had a very clear understanding of him.

I've heard of all sorts of things, like dogs and hawks.

So someone asked Chen Ling, "Brother, we just saw a sign at the entrance of your farm saying it costs 2,000 yuan per dog mating. Does that guarantee mating or not?"

"I don't care if they mate. As long as the female dog comes to my door, my dog ​​will take a liking to her and mount her to mate. Each mating costs two thousand yuan, but I can't guarantee that they will mate."

In fact, with Heiwa's abilities, there's no one he can't be with if he's willing to be.

Heiwa's appearance is naturally majestic and imposing, making him a very attractive male dog.

Even if people don't know Heiwa's abilities, just by looking at his appearance, there are dog lovers who would buy him.

So when Han Ninggui heard him say that, he laughed and said, "If you ask the lynx, this is not expensive at all. But here in your remote mountain village, the price is a bit shocking."

"Yeah, that's right. I only posted it because I was annoyed by all the calls..."

After Chen Ling explained what happened with Heiwa, everyone understood what had happened and could comprehend Chen Ling's feelings.

While understanding, I was also shocked by Heiwa's bravery.

It actually mated with a female wolf.

And it wasn't just one wolf, it was a pack of female wolves.

Good heavens, can this dog be this powerful?
"Shortly after they were paired up, the pack of wolves moved away."

Chen Ling recounted his father-in-law's initial guess and then asked Han Ninggui, "She must be pregnant, right?"

"She is pregnant. Wolves are very cautious; they give birth to their cubs after two months of pregnancy. Do you think they would give birth so close to human settlements?"

Han Ninggui smiled and asked a question in return.

"Oh, I knew it. Just a few days ago, she and Heiwa were getting along really well, but then on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, she suddenly moved out overnight."

"So, after the 15th of the tenth lunar month, there will be several litters of wolf puppies."

Then inevitably the conversation turned to things like cats and dogs, with dogs having a four-month pregnancy being too slow, and wolves being faster, only needing two months, and so on.

Han Ninggui said, "You've got that wrong. Wolves, dogs, jackals, and foxes mostly give birth after about two months of pregnancy." "As for the folk saying that cats take three months and dogs four months, it means that day and night are combined. It says that dogs take four months, but in reality, it's about two months."

When he said this, Chen Ling and his family were a little stunned.

"Fugui, you keep a dog, and you take such good care of it, how come you didn't know this?"

"I don't know, I haven't had a dog for very long."

Chen Ling looked at his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Wang Cunye shook his head: "Who knows? Everyone says cats are three months old, dogs are four months old, pigs are five months old, and sheep are six months old. After a while, who would bother to remember when a dog gives birth? Besides, we've never raised a female dog before. Our old yellow dog was a male."

Gao Xiulan also said, "Yes, if it's chickens or ducks, I know that clearly, there's no mistake. Every year we have to hatch them, and they all go through my hands, being taken to Fenglei Town to sell the chicks at the market. Our family doesn't keep dogs much. After that big yellow dog died of old age, your eldest and second eldest brothers stopped keeping dogs too."

The old lady had previously been influenced by folk sayings and always thought that dogs were four months pregnant.

Chen Ling responded with an "oh".

He had previously thought that wolves had short gestation periods due to the harsh living environment in the wild.

Then she stopped dwelling on that and asked Han Ninggui, "Uncle Han, wolves, dogs, jackals, and foxes are all about two months pregnant and they all look quite similar. You said that if a dog can mate with a wolf, can it mate with a jackal or a fox?"

"Haha, you little rascal, you really dare to think that way."

Han Ninggui and his group were stunned when they heard Chen Ling's words. Han Ninggui even smiled and pointed at Chen Ling, then said to Feng Yi and his companions, "What did I tell you? This kid's ideas are different from others. Don't look down on him just because he lives in the countryside. He dares to think more than anyone else."

"Hey, professor, does what you're saying really work? Besides wolves, dogs can breed with jackals and foxes?"

But Wang Cunye also became interested.

"Ahem, brother, what's wrong with you..."

Han Ninggui, seeing that the old man had also become curious, almost choked on his food and had no choice but to say, "Dogs and foxes won't work, but dogs and jackals will."

Dogs, wolves, and jackals all originated from the same ancestor.

Foxes have their own ancestors, and they are not the same as these.

They're not the same thing; putting them together won't result in pregnancy.

Now you all understand.

Chen Ling also gave up the idea of ​​making use of the female fox outside the farm, otherwise he really wanted to try and see what kind of magical offspring a dog and a fox could have.

After dinner, we sat together and talked.

Just then, someone brought a female dog over that afternoon. When they arrived at the farm, they were first startled to see Han Ninggui and the others' car. Then they learned that it would cost two thousand yuan to breed a dog, regardless of whether the dog was a good match or not.

He didn't linger, and left with his dog, cursing and swearing.

"You're really going to offend people like this."

"There's no way around it if we offend people. Otherwise, someone will come looking for us every few days, which is really annoying."

Chen Ling then laid out two more plants for them to study.

Feng Yi said, "If we can't find this thing that grows like banana leaves when we go into the mountains this time, then we're out of options and can only take these few plants from you for now."

"There might not be much benefit for you at that time, because we're running out of funds this year. I need to save my own money to buy your fish next year, haha."

He fiddled with the banana leaf plant, whose leaves were becoming increasingly thick, as if it were about to bloom.

After looking at him carefully, the man with the mustache looked up and continued to say to Chen Ling, "Don't worry, you are now one of our non-staff members. We have received attention and strong support from the country in the past two years, and we will not treat our own people unfairly."

Chen Ling nodded.

He didn't care about that.

Instead, he suddenly realized that the seasons were not distinct inside the Sun and Moon Grotto, and he still didn't know when the flowers, plants, and trees that didn't exist outside would bloom or bear fruit.

Its function is not fully understood.

Because only a small number of two items are being taken out now, and they haven't even been growing in the outside world for a full year.

We'll just have to study it slowly later.

However, if we simply consider the plant growing inside the cave, Chen Ling discovered that this plant, which looks like a banana leaf, can not only repel insects and be used as a seasoning, but some birds also like to peck at its fruit.

Chen Ling had tried eating the fruit that grows on this tree. The fruit looks like a prickly pear, but is slightly larger, and its texture and taste are very similar to a crisp persimmon.

After eating it, you feel a strong, choking sensation, similar to chewing betel nut, followed by a strong feeling of fullness.

He once wrote to his pen pal, asking about a plant he had read about in an unnamed book, which was just an excuse.

The other party replied according to his description, saying that he had only seen this plant and fruit in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, which had some similar functions, and had never seen them in reality.

Remembering this, Chen Ling told Feng Yi about it. After hearing it, the man with the mustache looked at him in surprise: "You have a wide network of connections. It's not enough to have me and Lao Han as friends, you also have a professor as a pen pal."

"However, what they said makes sense. Your description is too far-fetched. Although this thing is a newly discovered tree species, it could also be a variant that has not adapted to the local environment. After all, it is not impossible for oranges to turn into trifoliate oranges when planted in the north. Given that there are no relevant records at present, we still need to see mature trees."

Han Ninggui agreed with the idea of ​​"Little Mustache" and suggested that Chen Ling should come along this time when they go into the mountains.

Chen Ling wanted to go along and have some fun.

However, considering that the leopard roams in the nearby mountains, he was not entirely at ease leaving his family at home if he went into the mountains like that.

If we want to go into the mountains, we still need to solve this hidden danger and lock ourselves in a cave to solve the problem once and for all.

So I politely declined, saying that Wang Lixian and Chen Dazhi were fine.

Last time, Wang Lixian and Chen Dazhi led them on a trip into the mountains, and both sides were quite satisfied, so it was only natural to seek them out this time.

Han Ninggui shook his head: "We mainly want to use your dogs and eagles. With you by our side, one of you is worth ten."

Unfortunately, Chen Ling was worried about his family and couldn't go with them.

So they took them to the village to find Wang Lixian and Chen Dazhi.

It went smoothly to visit them at this time. Although Wang Lixian had built two earthen sheds this year, intending to grow mushrooms and vegetables together in the winter, the autumn harvest had just ended and he hadn't gotten busy yet. It was a good time to go into the mountains with Han Ninggui and the others.

And so, the next day, four or five people from the village gathered, and together with Han Ninggui and his group, more than ten people set off into the mountains.

As usual, Chen Ling went for a walk in the mountains in the morning to fulfill his duties as a newly appointed forest ranger.

In the afternoon, I'll accompany my wife for a nap and take care of the baby.

I lay in the yard at night watching the stars and shooed away the red-crowned cranes that came to steal fish a few times.

They looked completely idle and incredibly relaxed.

In reality, he had been going up the mountain every day for the past few days, circling around the lake in the mountains, and had completely figured out the leopard's activity range, making preparations to make his move.

All is ready except for the opportunity.

Even the Sun and Moon Cave Heaven has opened its doors wide; all that's missing is a leopard to come in.

Thinking of the idyllic living environment in the cave, he couldn't help but feel happy for the leopard.

"Little leopard, you've really caught a lucky break. Not only can we not kill you, but we'll also let you live in this blessed land. It's outrageous!"

(End of this chapter)