My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 324 Heiwa's Child

Inside the Sun and Moon Cave, Chen Ling squatted by the lotus pond, feeding the water while carefully observing the changes.

Colorful koi and goldfish swarmed around the lotus pond, vying for food.

After Chen Ling finished feeding them, he rinsed his hands in the water. The animals thought he was feeding them again and followed his hands back and forth, looking for food.

Seeing this, Chen Ling smiled and became interested, reaching out to slowly ripple the surface of the water.

As he slowly moved his hand eastward, the fish followed his hand, swimming eastward with their heads and tails swaying.

He moved his hand westward, and the fish followed suit.

After playing for a while, Chen Ling dried his hands, beckoned over a bucket, and scooped up some fish fry.

In a couple of days, we'll take them out and keep them in the fish tank at the farm so we can easily observe the changes in these fish fry.

As the fish fry grow, their colors and physical characteristics will gradually become more prominent, slowly transforming them into beautiful ornamental fish.

Within the grotto-heaven, this change is extremely drastic.

Chen Ling now wants to see if he can use spiritual water to cultivate ornamental fish in the outside world, and repair their defects and remove their flaws.

If it works out, then we can openly and legitimately keep ornamental fish in the future.

For him, it was like playing a game, and he could even make money from it, which seemed pretty good.

After catching the fish fry, I watched them quietly for a while.

The koi fish are alright.

Although she is prettier than before, Chen Ling couldn't explain in detail what made her more beautiful.

In contrast, the changes in the goldfish were far too obvious.

When Chen Ling bought them, he specifically chose several pairs of goldfish of different shapes: a pair of lionheads, a pair of white pearls, a pair of dragon eyes, a pair of phoenixes, and a pair of red-crowned cranes.

Lionhead and Dragon Eye are very common goldfish varieties.

The changes that occurred within the grotto were also extremely noteworthy.

Lion's head refers to the fleshy growth on the forehead of a goldfish.

This type of fish is relatively short and stocky, unlike the slender and long body of ordinary goldfish.

The pair Chen Ling bought were red lion head lion heads.

When I first bought it, there was only a small lump on my forehead, about the size of my little finger.

The tumor has now grown into a strawberry, covering the eyes and noses of both fish.

Chen Ling bought books on ornamental fish farming in the city.

He understood that this change in the lion's head was a good sign.

The eyes and mouth were both sunken into the tumor.

Furthermore, the anal fins are paired and must be hidden under the caudal fin, not exposed.

These are the two basic conditions for raising high-quality goldfish.

As for the Dragon Eye goldfish, they are goldfish with puffy eyes. The two Dragon Eye goldfish that Chen Ling chose were entirely black, and their color hadn't changed much, but their puffy eyes and fins had become even more beautiful. Their puffy eyes were grape-shaped, and their fins were showing a tendency to develop into the long, sparse tail of a phoenix.

"That's good, all signs of a good omen. I'll let the fry out to roost for a while and then see."

When the fish fry grow to a month or two, they will gradually become more colorful and start to show some obvious characteristics.

The book says that raising goldfish in a pond is better than raising them in a water tank, because a spacious pond allows them to stretch out during their growth.

Chen Ling didn't care about that; as long as the spiritual water was useful, nothing else mattered.

After leaving the cave, they carried a large basket of eggs down the mountain.

I'm collecting eggs today for no other reason than that I was busy with farming the past few days and didn't have time to sell them. Now that I've accumulated enough, it's time to go to the market to sell them.

"Ah Ling, the persimmons are warmed up and the dried persimmons are dried. When you go to sell eggs, please bring some back for Sister Qiu Mei and Sister Xiao Yun's families."

"it is good."

Just as Chen Ling finished cleaning the eggs, Wang Susu came downstairs.

This year, Chen Ling's family was still unable to attend the temple fair, unlike their two families who were also there.

We can only go after the Lunar New Year.

"Then I'll go get it for you."

As she spoke, Wang Susu put her son in the stroller and took a basket to the back to pick up persimmons.

"Ah um..."

Chen Ling loaded the chicken and duck eggs onto the oxcart, while the baby's cooing could be heard from the stroller next to it.

He knew the brat was talking to him, but he pretended not to hear and deliberately ignored him.

Sure enough, the more we ignored him, the stronger his reaction became.

This baby is really energetic while nursing.

She actually stretched out her little hands, grabbed the stroller, turned over inside, opened her mouth, made a soft "ah" sound, and giggled at him.

At this point, Chen Ling sternly shouted at him, "What are you laughing at? I think you want to get beaten up."

Chen Ling paid him any attention, which made the kid laugh even harder. He squinted his eyes, wiggled his little feet, and looked incredibly smug.

This made Chen Ling unable to keep a straight face and laugh along.

She reached out and picked him up, holding him above her head and spinning him around to play.

This brat loves it when Chen Ling teases him; he's so happy he dances around on Chen Ling's head and squeals.

Chen Ling teased him for a while, then sat down next to him and put him on his lap. The little guy kept kicking and bouncing in his arms, his two short legs were very strong.

"Oh, look how well Rui Rui is dancing! Come here, let Grandma give you a hug."

Just then, Gao Xiulan came from the village. The old lady was preparing to make another set of cotton clothes for her eldest grandson before she left. Besides taking care of the baby every day, she was busy with chores all day long.

“Our child is so strong. Look at his arms and legs. Compared to Rui Rui, the other children in the village look like mouse claws. They are not as strong as ours.”

After the mother-in-law held the little one in her arms, she would praise him.

As the old saying goes, "Three months to roll over, six months to sit, seven months to crawl, eight months to walk."

Chen Ling's son is a fast learner. Before Chen Ling went to the city, he couldn't laugh out loud, but after he came back, he would show his little baby teeth and giggle with his eyes narrowed.

Chen Ling was overjoyed.

Now she's five months old, and she can roll over very easily. But when she pinches someone, it hurts terribly.

Sometimes she can even sit up in the stroller.

But I'm afraid he's too weak, so I usually don't put him in the stroller. Otherwise, with that little rascal's restlessness, he can be quite a handful when he starts making a fuss.

There are actually quite a few kids like him outside.

There are even faster ones than him.

So it didn't stand out much.

The biggest difference between him and other dolls is that he is strong and robust.

"Mom, we're going back in a few days, so don't bother with all this work. Take a rest. If you can't finish this cotton-padded coat, you can make it slowly later and wear it next year too."

Chen Ling saw that his mother-in-law had put an unfinished cotton-padded coat in the bamboo basket next to her, and couldn't help but say something.

"What do you know? Babies grow so fast, they change every few days. Don't be fooled by the fact that the cotton-padded coat I made for Rui Rui is big. This kid grows so fast, he won't be able to wear it next year at this time."

"Besides, I only have one last thing left to finish, so I can just rush to complete it."

Gao Xiulan always talks about wanting her eldest grandson to wear the new cotton-padded coat she made this year, saying that the one she made before was too thin and had too little cotton.

Chen Ling glanced at the new cotton coat. The cotton padding was so thick that Rui Rui would probably look like a little bear in it and wouldn't be able to walk at all.

However, since the old man had shown his good intentions, he didn't bother to say anything more.

After Wang Susu took out the persimmons, she drove to the county town to sell eggs.

Today isn't actually a market day or a temple fair.

But Chen Ling already has some long-term clients.

Driving an oxcart slowly through the streets and alleys, calling out as he went, people would come out to buy eggs.

Chen Ling didn't bring many duck eggs this time; he saved them to make salted eggs at home. He just brought chicken eggs.

Perhaps it's because of the cold weather that eggs keep longer than usual, so everyone is buying quite a lot.

Some people, seeing the iconic white water buffalo pulling a cart, knew that the egg seller had arrived again.

Friends and family gathered around to sell eggs, while little children took the opportunity to play with the little white calf.

The oxcart only stopped for a very short time, and all the eggs were sold out.

After counting the money, Chen Ling checked the time. It was around eleven o'clock, which wasn't lunchtime. He decided to deliver some persimmons to Qin Qiumei's family. Before he left, Wang Susu also gave him some wild yams to take with him.

They delivered the persimmons to both families, and were surprised to see that Chen Ling had brought so many.

The dried persimmons and wild yams were fine, but they gave us too many warm persimmons; they won't keep well.

"Fugui, the persimmons that have grown in your garden are so beautiful, but we can't possibly eat them all at home."

Zhong Xiaoyun didn't live with her parents-in-law. Seeing these crystal-clear, yellow-red persimmons, which were both beautiful and tempting, she liked them but was also in a dilemma.

I feel it's such a waste to not be able to finish these good persimmons.

"It's okay. If you can't finish them, take some to your school's teachers and students. If that's not possible, you can make them into fried persimmon dumplings or persimmon buns."

Seeing her in a daze, Chen Ling knew she didn't know how to do it and said disdainfully, "You two are finished. I just finished teaching Qin Qiumei, and now I have to teach you too? If you don't know how to do it, go ask her. You two idiots."

"Pah, who's stupid? No one else can eat as much as you. By the way, don't leave yet, help me get something for Susu."

"..."

It's no wonder Chen Ling disliked them; persimmon dumplings and persimmon buns are the simplest and easiest foods to make.

It's made of both dough and steamed buns; just from the name, you can tell this thing isn't rare.

You can even dip it in sugar and eat it as a dessert.

Persimmon buns are simply made by peeling persimmons, kneading the persimmon pulp into the dough, and then baking them into pancakes.

Or you can mix it into a paste like making pancakes and spread it on a griddle.

Fried persimmon dumplings are similar to pan-fried persimmon buns, except you use more oil and don't break the persimmon flesh into too small pieces or turn it into a paste when mixing the dough.

Just like making dumpling soup, you just put them in a pot of oil and fry them over high heat.

It just consumes a lot of fuel.

Rolling them in sugar after cooking makes them both simple and delicious.

The persimmons that Chen Ling's family dried this year were mostly warm persimmons.

Warm persimmons are what are commonly referred to as persimmons ripened artificially.

After picking nearly ripe persimmons, dip them in white wine, then put them in a sealed jar. They will be ready to eat in about a week.

In the past, people didn't use persimmons that had been ripened in the mountains; they would just pick the persimmons that were ripe and eat them.

However, there are a lot of birds in the mountains this year. There are huge flocks of birds in Chenling Orchard alone. Every evening, when the birds return to their nests, the sky above the fields is covered with clouds, which is quite spectacular.

This bird spends all day in the mountains and forests, and it has caused quite a bit of damage to the persimmons.

They would specifically target the ripe ones to eat, choosing whichever was ripe and whichever tasted best. By the time people went to pick them, there were no ripe persimmons left.

They were all half-eaten by birds, or half-eaten and rotted in the trees, leaving piles of things on the ground.

There was no other way, so people could only pick some half-ripe or nearly ripe persimmons and ripen them themselves.

Actually, the persimmons you warm yourself are also very delicious; they are fragrant, sweet, and have no astringency at all.

Once the persimmons have warmed up, when they are taken out of the warming pot, they are crystal clear, with a shiny skin, incredibly bright red, and quite beautiful.

They look like little red lanterns.

"After this period, once we've had enough of the warm persimmons, we'll dry them into dried persimmons or make them into persimmon vinegar."

Chen Ling smacked his lips, "But dried persimmons are still the best."

Among the snacks made from wild fruits in the mountains, such as hawthorn cake, sour jujube cake, jujube cake, fried walnut cake, persimmon buns, and dried persimmons, his favorite is the dried persimmon.

I've loved eating since I was a child.

On my way home, it was almost noon, lunchtime, and the more I thought about it, the more my mouth watered.

I'll have to do a little bit of everything when I get back.

"Wang Wang Wang..."

As the oxcart circled the dirt road outside the village and passed Er Mao Donkey's yard, it saw Heiwa and Xiao Huang Gou leading a pack of dogs from the village, running wildly from the direction of the old river bend through the wheat field. Heiwa and Xiao Huang Gou each had a rabbit in their mouths.

The two dogs tilted their heads as they ran, initially intending to just run straight over, but when they saw Chen Ling waving at them, they reluctantly led the pack of dogs to the oxcart.

Seeing this, Chen Ling reached out and slapped them twice: "Good heavens, after a few days of neglect, they've become increasingly audacious, acting like they don't recognize me."

They dare to ignore me? They've gone too far!

"You rabbits don't eat well usually, do you? You don't, do you?"

These two guys are used to being beaten and scolded, so they act like nothing happened. They put down the rabbit and wagged their tails in front of him, trying to fool him.

Chen Ling didn't think much of it. The two guys were used to being unreliable, and the family was used to it. He left the two rabbits on the oxcart and continued walking home.

However, a few days later, he and his son-in-law Wang Cunye realized that something was wrong.

Nothing else, that kid Heiwa has started going out early and coming home late again, and every day he makes himself look travel-worn and dirty.

Moreover, they hunted like madmen, catching all sorts of things like rabbits, pheasants, squirrels, and mice. They would catch anything they saw, but they wouldn't eat it; instead, they would secretly take it into the mountains.

Upon seeing this, the father-in-law and son-in-law did some quick calculations and concluded that it must be Heiwa, that unreliable fellow, who had become a father.

It's already the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, so those mother wolves must have given birth to their cubs long ago.

Otherwise it wouldn't be like this.

Most ordinary people are too far removed from wolves and don't understand their habits.

Wolves have a much larger appetite than dogs, an exaggeratedly large one.

In a typical wolf pack, only the alpha female has the right to reproduce.

When she gives birth to wolf pups, the other wolves in the pack will help her hunt, so she no longer needs to go out and participate in hunting and can focus on raising her cubs.

But the situation is different now.

The female wolf that got pregnant with Heiwa's offspring wasn't just one; all the female wolves in the pack got pregnant.

When this wolf reaches its breeding season, everyone else is busy raising their cubs, leaving only the male wolves in the pack to hunt. These wolves have large appetites and are in the process of raising their young, so they desperately need nutrition, which the male wolves cannot afford to provide.

In the end, it still had to be Heiwa's biological father who stepped in.

Heiwa is indeed a real man; he raises his own child, carries on his own lineage, and takes full responsibility.

This is just too tiring.

Chen Ling was exhausted just watching. These past few days, Heiwa had been catching prey everywhere and running into the mountains to deliver it to the wolf den. Damn it, Chen Ling couldn't help but feel sorry for it as it ran around busily.

"It's not easy for a man to support his family."

"Come here, Heiwa, let's talk about something."

One evening, Chen Ling stopped Heiwa, who was hurrying home, halfway home. He stroked Heiwa's dirty fur and said, "Don't be nervous. I don't blame you or beat you. I just see that raising a cub is not easy for you. I'll give you two choices. Either you don't come home for a while and go live in the mountains, guard the wolf den, hunt when you need to, and rest when you need to, so you don't have to run back and forth."

Or you could take me to see where the wolf den is, and I'll go and catch a few wolf cubs for you to raise at home.

"Don't worry, this has its advantages. In the wolf den, some cubs might starve to death because they don't get enough milk; the mother wolf doesn't care for the weaker cubs. But if I go and catch a few for you, I can raise them. The mother wolf will have fewer cubs left, but she can still raise them well. You choose."

Heiwa could still roughly understand what he was saying.

When he first heard that he had brought back wolf cubs, he immediately started whimpering and paced anxiously.

After he finished speaking, she immediately lowered her head and licked his hand with her tongue, starting to fawn over him.

"Hmph, you change your tune quickly. You're smart enough. Tomorrow morning, take me there. I'll bring a few of your dolls back to raise."

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PS: This chapter is to make up for the missed updates during the National Day holiday.

Thank you everyone for your support during the double monthly pass period; I am already very satisfied.

(End of this chapter)