My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 346 The Mountain Fox's "Gift" [Bowing in gratitude to the generous monthly ticket giveaway from "Water of Four Directions"]

In the slightly chilly night breeze, the mournful cries of owls drifted from afar.

Under the pale moonlight, a group of lively puppies wagged their tails and jumped around two motorcycles that were pushed out from the orchard path, whimpering and barking. They were clearly excited, knowing that they were going on another hunting trip.

"What should I do? Should I just sit down?"

Zhou Weijun watched as Chen Ling and the other man pushed the motorcycle out and asked, "Should I just walk down here and see?"

He had never seen anyone hunt directly in farmland on a motorcycle before, so he was a little hesitant to get on.

"No, just sit behind me and run one lap first. You can get off when you want after you've finished the lap. Otherwise, you won't be able to keep up with us if you walk down here."

Chen Ling patted the back seat of the motorcycle, "Don't worry, it's very stable, get on."

Having said that, he straddled the seat first.

Han Chuang straddled him and grinned, "Don't worry, Ling Zi's skills are top-notch."

Zhou Weijun then cautiously stepped onto the seat.

He then asked, "Won't the people in your village blame you for riding a motorcycle in a wheat field?"

"Oh? This? It's fine now, it doesn't affect the wheat. But after a while, once the wheat has started to stalk and grow taller, you won't be able to ride your bike around and trample on it."

As Chen Ling spoke, he turned on the motorcycle, the engine roared to life, and the bright headlights instantly emitted a blinding white beam of light, shining outwards.

Han Chuang followed closely behind, starting his motorcycle. Two beams of light dispelled the darkness, and amidst the bright lights and engine noise, a group of puppies barked excitedly.

Han Chuang has been coming to Chen Ling's place a lot lately. The two of them often go hiking and dog hunting. He rides his brother's big motorcycle, which has plenty of horsepower and can be ridden on the ground. Walking the dog is a lot of fun for him.

At this moment, Chen Ling whistled, pointed forward, and said, "Go."

A bunch of lively puppies suddenly darted out, running and looking left and right in the light, searching for prey.

Chen Ling and his companion slowly started their motorcycle, their headlights sweeping in two directions.

"Old Zhou, hold on tight, we're about to get down to the ground."

Chen Ling gave a shout and drove into the wheat field along the ditch. The headlights flashed, and several small dark figures flashed past in front of the lights, followed by the piercing whistling sound of a kettle boiling water.

"What's that?"

Seeing the puppies barking and rushing off, Zhou Weijun perked up and quickly asked them what was going on.

"It's a bunch of wild quails."

Chen Ling narrowed his eyes and recognized his target: "The weather is getting warmer, the wild quails are back."

"A quail? Do quails fly?"

Zhou Weijun was stunned. He had just seen those dark figures fly up in the light of the headlights.

“Of course it can fly. These things fly very high, especially during migration, as winter turns to spring,” Chen Ling said.

Quails are migratory birds; when it gets cold, several quails will gather into a large flock and migrate south of the Yangtze River.

Like geese and cranes, they like to move their homes in the middle of the night.

However, except during migration, they rarely fly that high. They either run in groups of three or five on the ground or fly low close to the ground.

This is the case now.

Sure enough, while they were talking, the puppies in front had already captured it.

When there were no small prey such as mice or rabbits, Chen Ling often trained them to catch birds, so catching a few quails was naturally no problem for them now.

"Wow, that was fast! You caught it already!" Old Zhou was a little surprised. He thought that even the most skilled hunters needed time to learn.

Chen Ling twisted the accelerator and drove towards where the puppy had caught the quail, saying, "What's so difficult about this? Chuangzi's dog has been running around with us a few times, and now he's quite good at catching rabbits. You can ask him if you don't believe me."

Zhou Weijun then turned to look at Han Chuang.

Han Chuang smiled憨厚ly and told him about the hunting trip they took together around the county town during the first month of the lunar calendar.

Zhou Weijun wasn't fond of this, but after listening to what they said, he couldn't help but feel a little envious.

He felt that the two men's conversation had a sense of wandering the world with swords, which was very unrestrained and dashing, and his heart gradually warmed.

"It's a pity that the quails aren't fat this spring."

Chen Ling stopped his motorcycle, picked up a quail that one of the puppies had brought him, looked at it, reached out and patted the heads of the puppies who were eager for praise, then waved his hand, telling them to divide and eat the quail they had caught.

Quails that have survived the winter are so thin they barely have any meat left, so they're not worth taking home to eat.

He handed the one he was holding to the back of his hand, saying, "Old Zhou, you can play with this one."

"Okay." Zhou Weijun had been watching the quail closely. Upon seeing it, he quickly caught it, his face beaming with joy. He held it in his arms as if it were a little chick, stroking its soft feathers and laughing happily.

Then, without a firm grip, the quail flew away with a "whoosh."

Iron Man exclaimed "Ouch!" and was completely dumbfounded.

Fortunately, the dog quickly jumped up again, pounced on him, and pinned him to the ground.

This is also why the puppies didn't kill the quail before. They are now becoming more and more adept at controlling their strength and have learned to slowly play with their prey.

So the quail slowly recovered.

"Damn it, how embarrassing! I caught a bird and it flew away." Zhou Weijun was annoyed, thinking to himself, "I'm not drunk, so why is my hand so unsteady?"

Chen Ling and the other man laughed heartily, saying it was alright, they would catch him another rabbit later.

Just then, a small, dark shadow was seen bobbing up and down on the slope, indistinct in the light.

However, since they were not far away, and the puppies' keen hearing and sense of smell were not to be underestimated, they spotted their prey in time even without the aid of lights, and immediately barked and rushed up the slope.

The three were drawn to the sight. They turned the car around, and under the headlights, a wild rabbit was seen running frantically up the slope in a panic.

It is very fast.

But today it's its turn to be unlucky.

Surrounded and intercepted by ten fierce puppies, there was simply no way to turn the tide.

Finally, exhausted from running, it lay down in the withered, yellow grass, letting the playful yet fierce puppy poke at it and bite it, too lazy to resist.

After playing happily for a while, the puppies got bored, picked up the rabbit, and ran back to the motorcycle.

But Zhou Weiguo watched the process with great interest, and only then did he begin to appreciate the fun Chen Ling usually provided.

This guy looks really fun.

It seems nice to spend a few days like this during my free time each year.

"Old Zhou, take this rabbit back, kill it, and smoke it. Tomorrow, you can try our roasted rabbit."

Chen Ling's words almost made Zhou Weijun drool.

He immediately grabbed the rabbit by the ear and hurriedly asked, "Did the puppy kill it this time? Don't run away again."

"Dead, completely dead. Hold on tight, we're going to take a detour south. There are fewer wild animals here, but more over at the old river bend." We've been hunting a lot lately near the farm and in the fields west of the village because the farm has so many good things that it attracts a lot of wild animals, which have gathered in large numbers.

But ever since Chen Ling disciplined this bunch of puppies, they've quieted down considerably.

They were all driven to the old river bend and the vicinity of the reservoir, where there are more birds and small animals.

Because it's close to the river, the puppies can't easily chase it.

They have a high chance of escaping.

……

Braving the night wind, Chen Ling and his two companions sputtered along their motorcycles near the old river bend south of the village and near the reservoir east of the village, their headlights blazing as they drove back and forth across the fields, chasing pheasants, rabbits, and quails...

There were a whole bunch of sparrows flying around the reservoir.

Many villagers who were still awake knew that Chen Ling had gone hunting again as soon as they heard the sound of the motorcycle.

Many young people also joined in the fun, calling out their dogs and crowding around the motorcycles, sweeping around outside the village.

The group had grown large, and everyone was both excited and happy, especially when chasing prey in the wheat fields. They ran and shouted as they went, running wildly with their dogs under the night sky, their spirits were very high.

Zhou Weijun returned from his run, hands on his hips, panting heavily, his face full of excitement: "You guys had so much fun!"

For some reason, after arriving at Chen Ling's place, he felt a deep sense of belonging and immersion. When the puppies rushed out just now, he saw how the villagers were playing, and without saying a word, he rushed out as well.

How to describe the feeling? It felt like I was freed from all constraints, very refreshing and exhilarating.

That night was truly exhilarating.

At the same time, it was a very rewarding night.

On the way back, besides the wild animals we fed to the dog, there were still many pheasants and rabbits left.

Zhou Weijun suddenly asked with some concern, "Brother, if we keep catching them like this, won't we end up catching all these wild creatures?"

"Find them all? No way."

Let's not talk about anything else, just talk about pheasants and rabbits, they reproduce incredibly fast.

One night before the Lunar New Year, I caught twenty-seven or twenty-eight pheasants in one place. That was a huge flock! I brought them all home and didn't release a single one...

But do you see them less now? No.

Wild rabbits are the same; these two, like wild boars, are among the species that breed excessively. The crackdown is only temporary and won't have much of an impact.

We mountain people also have our rules; we don't hunt in summer and autumn, and we don't harm wild animals during their breeding season.

Chen Ling was telling the truth. In later generations, many places in his hometown implemented the policy of returning farmland to forest and relocating residents to fallow land.

At that time, there were no natural predators in the mountains, and it became a breeding ground for wild boars, pheasants, and rabbits.

Especially after people became afraid of being punished and stopped hunting, the situation worsened.

And now.

With its own farm's water source nourishing the surrounding land, the nearby wild animals will reproduce at a rapid pace.

So he never worries.

"Oh, so you have this rule."

"Yes, we live off the land and the water, but we can't just starve ourselves out of resources, can we?"

The three of them rode their motorcycles, chatting as they went. The headlights illuminated the dirt road ahead, and on both sides of the road were small dogs huddled together, running and playing.

And so we hurried back to the farm.

After returning, they didn't linger. The three of them went on a small hunt, and after their drunkenness had subsided considerably, they went to the farm to skin and process the game.

We need to smoke the rabbit tonight.

The three of them were busy with their work with great enthusiasm when they suddenly heard two women shouting in panic outside. The barking of Heiwa, Xiaojin, and the little dog echoed throughout the farm and faded into the distance.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Chen Ling rushed out.

"It's alright now. A stray cat came to steal our food. It was probably a civet cat; it was really big and gave us quite a fright..."

Wang Susu, holding her son, gestured with lingering fear, "It should be the same one from before the New Year, the straw-yellow one with its shifty, green-glowing eyes."

"What happened? Xiaoqing, are you and your sister-in-law alright?" Han Chuang rushed over anxiously, followed by a bewildered Zhou Weijun.

When they found out what had happened, Han Chuang and Zhou Weijun were both stunned.

Zhou Weijun was confused.

Han Chuang exclaimed in surprise, "How did such a big mountain weasel grow like this?"

Chen Ling smirked: "Heh, that thieving cat, I've dealt with it a few times. It's just fat, always round and plump in winter. It must have stolen a lot of other people's food."

He then asked Wang Susu, "What did that thieving cat steal from us to eat?"

"I didn't see clearly. When our dog chased after it, it was running along the fence with something in its mouth."

Being close to the mountains has its downsides; it's easy to attract wild animals at night. We need to keep more dogs for protection, otherwise, even if Heiwa and his companion are very skilled, they won't be able to handle it alone.

Especially when you encounter something that can fly or climb trees and roofs.

It's hard to manage when Er Tuzi isn't home.

After they finished talking, Zhou Weijun asked in confusion, "Brother, what is this 'mountain weasel' you're talking about?"

"It's a wild cat, much bigger than a domestic cat. It should be a leopard cat. Anyway, there are several kinds. Some are straw-yellow, some are leopard-spotted. In some places in the north, it's called a stone tiger."

Chen Ling explained for a moment, and then carefully told him about the power of the mountain fox.

Zhou Weijun was stunned by what he heard, and kept saying that there were so many interesting things in the mountains.

As the group was talking, the pack of dogs came back. Little Jin had a small trinket in its mouth and placed it in front of Chen Ling and Wang Susu.

Upon closer inspection, everyone realized it was a small tabby cat with stripes.

"Wasn't the thief a big fat cat? How come he brought back a kitten?"

Hearing the questions raised by the crowd, Chen Ling poked the kitten for a closer look.

The kitten was about two months old, with black and yellow stripes, but not many. It was similar to the two male kittens that Chen Ling had taken into the cave, with a combination of golden red and black stripes, which was much prettier than the straw-yellow fur and brown-red markings of ordinary mountain cats.

Xiao Jin wouldn't bring the kitten back for no reason; it must be related to that mountain fox.

Damn it, this thieving cat is so slippery, has it become a cunning old cat?
Several times, it has managed to escape even when surrounded by its own formidable pack of dogs. The only consolation is to capture its offspring and bring them back.

That's infuriating.

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P.S.: Thank you so much to "四方之水" for the monthly pass! This month has been incredibly busy. With the changing seasons and the drop in temperature, my dog ​​and birds have both fallen ill. My dog ​​has been coughing and having bloody diarrhea every day for a week without any improvement. He's a long-time companion, and as he gets older, he needs treatment – ​​it's a real hassle. I apologize for not being able to add any extra chapters this month.
(End of this chapter)