My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 302 Flying Over Walls, A Cinematic Extravaganza

In short, after resolving the leopard issue, Chen Ling was quite relaxed.

In the morning, I dry the yeast and brew wine; in the afternoon, I take care of the kids.

In the morning or evening, sometimes I would water the vegetables, and sometimes I would take Er Tuzi out for a special training session on the grassy slope.

This so-called special training was mainly to protect Er Tuzi from the harm of human hunting guns and arrows in the future.

"Erbald, go."

Chen Ling stood on the slope and pointed at a large flock of wild pigeons flying overhead. Er Tu Zi suddenly took off and flew past the pigeons, like a fighter jet crashing into the flock.

At that very critical moment, Chen Ling drew his bow and shot an arrow at Er Tuzi.

Er Tu Zi let out a loud cry, his wings suddenly flapped forcefully, and his body instantly rose into the air, easily dodging the arrow.

Meanwhile, the wild pigeons that it had shot down finally fell to the ground.

"Well done, Baldy. With this performance, I can take you to perform acrobatics and make a living from now on."

Chen Ling gave him a compliment.

Seeing the bald man circling in the sky, letting out triumphant cries.

He continued to draw his bow and shoot arrows, making the task more difficult.

Er Tuzi is very smart.

It hasn't been trained for more than a few days, yet it already understands Chen Ling's purpose and has adapted to the pace he set.

It traced a few trajectories in the sky and easily dodged all the arrows.

"Well done, try again."

Chen Ling clapped his hands in encouragement, and the two of them, one shooting arrows on the slope and the other drawing dazzling trails in the sky, dodging continuously.

"Hey, bald guy, do a somersault, do a somersault in mid-air, like that fighter jet, show us a few tricks."

They were having so much fun that no birds within a two-mile radius dared to fly over there.

Unfortunately, at this stage, besides dodging arrows and bullets, Er Tuzi can only perform a few very simple tricks.

The man and the eagle played for half a day.

Er Tu Zi finally got tired of playing and slowly descended from the sky, landing on Chen Ling's shoulder. Its pair of clear, bright eagle eyes looked at Chen Ling, gently flapped its wings twice, and let out two soft calls.

It's as if it's saying, "I'm tired today, I'm not playing anymore."

"Okay, then we won't play today. We'll take out our hunting rifles for training tomorrow morning."

Chen Ling stroked its warm, soft feathers and said.

Hunting rifles are powerful, and many people in the mountains use them to hunt geese and eagles in the autumn.

Many families in the village even hunt eagles every year, because after the harvest, the eagles like to catch poultry in the village in the autumn.

Chen Ling was afraid that Er Tu Zi would be accidentally injured, so he gradually trained it, starting with bows and arrows and then moving on to hunting rifles.

This allows it to avoid unexpected situations.

"Let's go take a walk in the field and see how many mice they've dug up."

After the autumn harvest, the corn from each household had not yet been delivered to the grain station, and the winter wheat had not yet been planted.

Every day, villagers carry shovels and hoes and wander around the fields, digging up rat holes and looking for the grain that rats have stored in them.

Some people wander around the water's edge, carrying baskets to collect goose droppings.

Of course, the main activity was still digging mouse holes.

Because of the floods last year.

The land is exceptionally fertile this year.

The summer and autumn harvests were much better than in previous years.

The mice also stored a lot of food in their holes.

Some people can dig up 20 to 30 kilograms of crops in half a day, including corn, sorghum, peanuts, and soybeans.

This fueled their unprecedented enthusiasm.

Chen Ling was too lazy to dig this year, but seeing that they were having a lot of fun digging in the field, he decided to join in the fun.

While we're at it, let's catch a few rats for Er Tuzi to play with.

"Fugui is out flying kites again."

"Yes, Baoliang, he dug out a few rat holes."

"They dug up two in my field. There wasn't much stuff, but it was mostly peanuts and some cotton."

"Wow, there's cotton too."

"Yes, we've moved to a new place to live."

Chen Baoliang took his dog and dug a hole in the field. When a rat ran out, the dog chased after it, and he continued digging until he found grain.

"This move is very clever; look how clean this place is."

Chen Baoliang dug open the rat hole on the edge of the field, and several granaries inside were neatly arranged and exposed.

"Wow, the wheat harvest from summer hasn't been finished yet; there's still half a granary left."

Chen Ling was greatly surprised when he saw the situation inside; this rat hole was formidable.

No wonder the locals call ground rats "granary movers"—they really do move the entire granary!

Ground rats are different from house rats.

Field mice, also known as ground mice, are cleaner than house mice, smaller in size, and have slightly yellowish fur.

Because of their tiny eyes, they are locally called "blind mud hoes," meaning they are blind but excellent at digging and burrowing.

If you speak quickly, "blind mud hoe" will be pronounced as "blind rice chu".

Moving a warehouse can also be called moving a hall or moving a storage.

Chen Ling stood here with his eagle on a leash, watching Chen Baoliang dig a rat hole.

Soon, a few young people gathered around.

"Hey Uncle Fugui, out flying kites! We finally caught you, tell us how you caught the leopard that day?"

"You're talking about catching a leopard again. What's so interesting about catching a leopard? Didn't I tell you several times the other day? It's just about shooting the leopard a few times and chasing it into the ravine."

The story of Chen Ling shooting the leopard has been circulating in the village for the past two days.

Some busybodies even combined his stories of raising dogs and cattle, hunting wolves and pigs, and rescuing red-crowned cranes into a whole, almost turning him into a legendary figure.

Not to mention the adults, even the little kids are bragging about it to people from other villages at school.

They said that's my Uncle Fugui, and that I can take you to his farm sometime on Sundays.

His tone was incredibly arrogant.

She even considered it an honor to know him.

The key point is that when the other children heard this, they were very envious and took out all sorts of food to try and win them over, hoping to be taken to the farm for a visit.

"Tell us, Uncle Fugui, tell us about it."

Seeing the enthusiasm of these teenagers, Chen Ling never expected that he would be admired by young boys. It felt quite strange.

So he raised his hand, released the kite, sat down on the edge of the ground, and started chatting with them.

After talking about leopards, we talked about hunting wolves, and after hunting wolves, we talked about the various wild animals in the mountains now.

Wild beasts repaying kindness, wild beasts seeking revenge—all sorts of strange and wonderful tales. Chen Baoliang, engrossed in their stories, stopped digging the mouse hole, stuck his shovel in the ground, and sat down to join in.

Finally, they told old stories from the local past.

There are swordsmen.

There are strong people.

There is a Buddhist temple.

There is a nunnery.

It is said that women should not pass in front of Buddhist temples after dark, and men should not pass in front of nunneries after dark.

There was also a swordsman who single-handedly seized a horse, scaring a group of bandit leaders so much that they dared not come down from their mountain stronghold.

As they were talking, an old man drove his sheep over.

When everyone saw that it was Chen Gannian, they all stood up and called out to him.

"What are you all talking about here, all this talk about wealth and status?"

Chen Gannian looked at them and asked.

Upon hearing the words "wealth and honor," everyone knew the old man was conscious.

Let's say that we were talking about something that happened at some point in time.

"Fourth Grandfather, were there people like Fugui back then, with the strength of an old ox, so fierce that they could fight a leopard?"

Chen Baoliang asked.

"Yes, there are definitely extraordinary people and events. I've even seen some back then."

Chen Gannian stood on the edge of the field, leaning on his tall sheep-driving whip, and said.

"Yes, there really is! Fourth Grandfather, please tell us about it."

Everyone immediately perked up.

Chen Ling's curiosity was piqued, and he quickly asked, "Fourth Grandfather, have there been any strongmen like that who can scale walls and leap across rooftops before?"

"Yes, that's true, that's true too."

Chen Gannian nodded and said, "But this kind of flying and scaling is not like you say, it's like flying. He has to grab onto the beams and rafters on the roof, or grab onto trees or the eaves, and he can zip up to the roof. He also has to hold onto something, otherwise he will fall down."

"And then there's that wall-climbing, walking on the rooftops of those tiled houses, just like walking on flat ground, running from one house to another, running like crazy."

"Wow, that's amazing."

"Fourth Grandfather, do you think this is true?"

“It’s true. There’s a small temple on the eastern hill in the east of the village. An old Taoist priest used to live there…”

Chen Gannian, leaning on his sheep-driving whip in one hand, pointed east with the other and said.

This refers to going east along the reservoir dam; there's a small dirt road to the east that leads to the old city wall of the county town.

In this area, besides the reservoir, there are earthen and rocky hills further east. There used to be a temple on the hills, which was actually a Taoist temple.

People in the countryside usually call it Chengmiao.

Further east of the temple, down the slope, all that remains is farmland, farmland near the county town.

"At that time, there was a family living next to the small temple. They farmed the land that the old Taoist priest cultivated. They helped the old Taoist priest raise chickens and ducks, and cleaned the temple in the morning and evening. At other times, they set up a tea stall. Passersby who were thirsty or hungry would come here to drink some tea and eat something, earning a little money."

“Back then, there were people in our village who carried charcoal. When it was cold, they would carry the charcoal to sell in the city. One day, it snowed heavily, the wind was howling, and it got dark so we couldn’t see the road. The charcoal carrier from our village stayed at the house near the tea stall.”

"Unexpectedly, we encountered a heavy snow that blocked the mountain, and we ended up staying for three days. The weather cleared up on the third day, and the coal carrier was just about to leave when he heard someone laughing outside early in the morning. When he went out to see what was going on, he saw the man who ran the tea stall in the snow, holding a rope with two big stones tied to it, swinging it back and forth in his hand."

"Swinging and swinging, using the momentum of the stone egg, whoosh, and you're up on the roof. It's all from swinging the stone egg that you get up there in one go."

Everyone was stunned: "They got on the roof?"

"Of course. When the man landed on the roof, that guy was still holding the stone egg, standing there laughing. Damn it, he scared the coal carrier half to death."

Chen Gannian stared wide-eyed and mimicked the gestures: "Later, I heard from the charcoal carrier that the family that ran the tea stall were learning their skills from an old Taoist priest in a small temple. That day, the heavy snow stopped, and he was happy, so he went out to play."

"When the people in our village heard about this, a huge crowd came to see it. I went with the adults too. The man who ran the tea stall was easy to talk to. When he saw that there were so many people, he asked the old Taoist priest in the small temple. Only after the old Taoist priest agreed did he dare to come out and show us a few moves."

"This man can not only jump onto the roof, but he can also snap wires. A wire as thick as a pea wrapped around his body will snap with a snap."

Hearing this, everyone felt as if they were listening to a fairy tale.

"A pea-thick wire, is it really that powerful, Fourth Grandfather? What if the wire is fake, just to fool you?"

"Then you're wrong. They let you see and touch, using the same wire to wrap around the two people. The people from our village are tied up tightly, and they can easily break free."

As Chen Gannian spoke, he patted Chen Ling's arm and laughed, "Didn't you all see Fugui lift a 300-jin sledgehammer? That person might be as strong as Fugui, or maybe not as strong. Fugui could train and be even stronger than him."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately became interested and surrounded Chen Ling, shouting, "That's right, Fugui, you're so strong, why don't we find a coil of wire for you to try?"

"Yeah, if you practice a few moves, you might be able to leap onto a roof and snap a wire. If you master that, you can hunt leopards or tigers in the mountains, that would be so exciting."

"Go away, you guys can practice, I'm not going to practice."

Chen Ling pushed them away, stood up, and patted the dirt off his bottom. "It's such a beautiful sunny day, let's fly some kites for a while. I won't chat with you anymore. Fourth Grandfather, come to my house for lunch."

"No, no, I need to herd the sheep a little longer."

"Then you must not go up the mountain alone again."

Chen Ling gave the old man a few instructions, then summoned Er Tuzi to continue wandering around the field.

In autumn, the fields are open and the view is unobstructed, making it a perfect time for Er Tuzi to swoop down and catch field mice and birds every now and then.

Chen Ling walked and stopped intermittently, aiming at the wild geese and cranes flying overhead, nocking his bow and firing wildly.

Unfortunately, these birds fly very high. Although they look close to the ground, they actually fly even higher than eagles, making them very difficult to shoot. After shooting, you have to search the whole world for arrows.

This made Chen Ling lose interest.

As we strolled around, we arrived at the reservoir dam.

The weather is nice today, and the reservoir is teeming with all kinds of birds. Migratory birds like geese have come, and waterfowl have also come. If you throw a clod of dirt at them, they all fly up in flocks.

Two red-crowned cranes often wander around here during the day, playing with flocks of migratory birds. They also waddle around in the shallow water with their long legs, catching small fish and shrimp.

When they get excited, they will dance gracefully, attracting many people to stop and watch, praising the good luck of the people in Chenwangzhuang.

Now, the red-crowned cranes haven't come over, and I don't know which family in the village they're living with.

However, many geese were playing and frolicking on the water in the distance, and some mallards were flying around on the water.

Chen Ling was delighted at the sight of the prey and was about to go down and row the boat for a bit, and then take out his bow and arrow to shoot a couple of ducks.

Then he saw Wang Jusheng riding his bicycle from a distance, waving at him.

Chen Ling stopped and waited for him to ride over.

"Great news, Fugui! Our village is going to show a movie tonight. The township said they'll show the movie tonight, and in a couple of days they'll find an opera troupe to come and put on a big show for us."

"Let's hurry back with me to get a stool before the loudspeaker announces it, and grab a seat!"

The first thing Wang Jusheng said as he rode over was this.

He looked beaming with joy, very happy.

"Good heavens, they're showing a movie and performing a play, is there some happy occasion?" Chen Ling asked curiously.

Wang Jusheng grinned and fiddled with the cart bell twice: "Of course there's good news! A while ago we had a turtle king here, and now we have a crane that has landed here. All sorts of good things are settling down here. Isn't that good news?"

"The township and county officials were also happy to hear about it, saying that our place is a treasure land and a blessed land, and they had been preparing to celebrate for a long time."

(End of this chapter)