My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 365 Birdcage and Thief Bird

感谢淡茶柸香大佬在起点包场（包场时间12月1日、12月11-17日），请大家免费追读！

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"Oh, it's Bao Shuan."

"I thought someone had caught a kite, but it's just a paper kite."

Two days ago, Wang Lishan said that if Baoshuan knew that Chen Ling wanted paper kites, he would definitely send them to him.

I didn't expect it to actually arrive.

Paper kites are made by attaching bamboo strips to a frame and then pasting colored paper on them.

It sounds simple, but it requires a certain level of skill to do.

Chen Baoshuan had this skill. Seeing that some people had been setting up stalls at the reservoir for the past two days, he followed suit and set up a stall to sell paper kites. He sat behind the stall, making kites and selling them at the same time. Every day, he attracted a bunch of children from the village and outside the village to watch, and he made some money.

The money isn't much, but it's definitely better than staying at home doing nothing.

"It's just a paper kite, I don't have your skill, Fugui, to catch a real kite..."

Chen Baoshuan smiled and followed Chen Ling to the eaves of the bamboo house, where he took out two exquisitely crafted kites. "The wind is strong in the mountains in spring. When the weather clears up, take the kids to fly them."

After putting down the kite, he emptied the contents of the bamboo basket and snakeskin bag with a clattering sound, piecing them together to form a simple wooden box.

"What are you doing now, Bao Shuan?"

“This is a beehive that I made. Do you think it’s usable? I heard from Uncle Cunye that you’re planning to keep two beehives at home this year. I happened to have some leftover wood at home, so I made this thing when I had nothing else to do.”

"If you think this is usable, I'll bring the rest over to you once it's finished."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling and his son-in-law, along with Zhou Weijun and Yu Qi'an, gathered around the simple beehive and examined it. They had to admit, it was indeed the work of an old carpenter; there wasn't a single flaw in it.

"Not bad, not bad, this beehive is quite nice."

"Hehe, as long as you're satisfied, I'll bring it over for you tomorrow. This beehive is quick to set up."

Chen Baoshuan squatted on the ground, his purplish-red face turned up as he chuckled.

Wang Lishan was right about one thing.

Chen Baoshuan caught Chen Ling's fish fry and now knows their price. While appreciating Chen Ling's generosity, he also feels quite embarrassed.

Later, after discussing it with Chen Sangui, they learned that Chen Ling was planning to raise two beehives this year. So the father and son decided to make some beehives for him first, and if he needed any more carpentry work in the future, they would not charge him if possible.

Chen Ling hadn't thought of that, and simply said, "Hey, why are you still sending this? Just call me when the time comes and I'll come and get it."

"It's alright, it's alright. It's just starting to rain, so I can't set up a stall at the reservoir anymore. I'm just sitting at home anyway, so I might as well come and play cards with you for a while."

Chen Baoshuan smiled.

At this moment, Yu Qi'an asked, "Is there no one at the reservoir now? When we came out of Jusheng's house, we saw people going there to kowtow and burn incense."

"Yes, people still go there to kowtow, but it's mostly people from our village. It rained quite heavily last night, so not many people from other villages came."

A light drizzle is still falling, but it doesn't dampen people's enthusiasm for worshipping the Turtle King. This worship must last for seven days, and the villagers go without fail, just like last year.

Of course, it's not appropriate to burn incense in weather like today; at most, you can just light a few pieces of paper money.

At this point, Chen Baoshuan looked at Yu Qi'an and said, "By the way, boss, didn't you have someone help you catch birds a couple of days ago? Do you need a birdcage? My neighbor and I both know how to make birdcages."

"Yes, definitely a birdcage. The red-billed leiothrix I caught is still kept in a small iron cage meant for quails."

Yu Qi'an's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "Do you have a birdcage at home?"

"I don't have any at home, but my neighbor might have some. Shall I take you to see them?"

The neighbor Chen Baoshuan was referring to was naturally Chen Dazhi.

Their two houses were quite close. In the past, Chen Baoshuan would stand on the roof and throw bricks into Chen Dazhi's well.

In the past year or so, Chen Baoshuan has become much more honest and well-behaved, and Chen Dazhi and his wife are known for their kindness and generosity. Out of respect for Chen Sangui, these neighbors have gradually started to interact again.

Otherwise, in the past, Chen Baoshuan would never have dared to say that he would take people to visit Chen Dazhi's house.

"Sure, take me there to take a look. It's okay if there aren't any ready-made ones; just make a couple to make do."

Birdcages are not complicated. Just select a few suitable pieces of wood or bamboo sticks or strips, drill holes, grind out smooth, round bamboo skewers, and assemble them together.

However, when it comes to keeping ornamental birds, it's all about whether the cage is aesthetically pleasing or not.

Anyone who knows a little bamboo weaving can usually make a birdcage that doesn't look too bad.

Chen Dazhi already knew how to weave bamboo.

Chen Baoshuan's work was something he made while learning carpentry from his father. He didn't study properly and just played around with it. He couldn't make any proper bamboo products, but he could make kites, birdcages, and bamboo whistles, which was considered pretty good.

Yu Qi'an didn't care whether it was good or bad, it was just a temporary bird cage. After saying that, he waved his hand and said, "Come on, Fugui, we're just killing time on a rainy day, come with us and get a couple of birdcages."

"Forget it, I won't go. You guys go ahead."

Chen Ling pointed outside the farm, "It rained all night, and the poultry and livestock in the orchard haven't been tended to yet."

"Okay, then you go ahead and get busy. We'll be right back and help you out when we get back."

"Hey, it's nothing, I just have a few things to do, you guys go ahead and have fun."

With that, Chen Ling and his son-in-law saw them off at the farm.

The raindrops became finer and finer, gently pattering against my face like a misty spray.

Being in the orchard, you can hardly feel the rain.

The two went to check on the chickens and ducks, and they were all in good spirits, seemingly unaffected by the thunderstorm the previous night.

They opened the door and let the chickens and ducks out. Sure enough, they were all lively and jumping around, clucking and squawking as they gathered around the father-in-law and son-in-law, begging for food.

Some of the hens, perhaps hungry, flapped their wings and pecked at the two men's feet.

Even after being kicked away by Chen Ling, it still stubbornly lingered around them, refusing to leave no matter how hard they tried to shoo it away.

Seeing this, Chen Ling had no choice but to call out the dogs and drive them away, letting them go into the orchard to find food.

As for the ducks, having failed to find food, they had long since followed several large white geese and jumped into the ditch, where they frolicked freely in the gentle breeze and drizzle.

Before long, it clucked and flapped its wings as it jumped out of the ditch, pecking at the small crabs and snails that crawled from the ditch into the grass. Needless to say, snails are a common sight; they multiply in large numbers wherever there is water, both inside and outside the village.

It's mainly crabs.

These little crabs are only the size of a fingernail, crawling back and forth in the damp grass. If you don't look closely, they can easily be mistaken for a bunch of large spiders.

Chen Ling hadn't really noticed this before.

So when I saw it, I was quite puzzled: "When did so many little crabs appear in this ditch? Did mountain crabs come down with the rainwater?"

I picked up a few and held them in my hand. My father-in-law also came over to look and said that these were newly hatched baby crabs. They were either just crawled down from the mountain or were the offspring of old crabs that had been in the irrigation ditches and streams at the foot of the mountain last year.

The farm's irrigation ditches connect to the mountain streams and the riverbeds at the foot of the mountain, and there is never a shortage of crabs, shrimps, clams, snails, and the like.

There have never been so many small crabs of this size before.

They were crawling all over the ground, just like those scorpions that were in the orchard cluster last year.

Crabs are quite different from fish. Whenever it rains, they frantically crawl ashore, especially in the summer when it's about to rain heavily. Crabs will even climb up trees and cover them completely. Even baby crabs, which are not yet fully grown, are like this, crawling around everywhere in the rain.

The duck was in for a treat. It waddled around its plump body, its beak probing the ground, and it popped two or three small crabs into its mouth in one go, eating with great relish.

Before long, the chickens were also attracted. These chickens roamed around in the mountains all day long and were very wild.

Upon discovering food, they clucked and flapped their wings one after another, flying to the ditch and pecking furiously at the small crabs and snails.

They ate their fill of chicken and duck.

The little crabs, however, suffered the consequences. They scattered in panic, like headless flies. Some crawled back into the water, while many others hid in the grass. Sometimes, if Chen Ling wasn't careful, he could stomp on three or four of them.

It was such a waste, so Chen Ling and his father-in-law brought a small bucket, picked up some crabs, and planned to fry them for lunch.

On rainy days with nothing much to do, it's quite pleasant to prepare some snacks and have a few drinks.

Fortunately, the family dog ​​has never been interested in crabs and the like, finding the smell too strong. It usually sniffs at them a couple of times and then walks away. Otherwise, if the dogs got interested, and considering that chickens, ducks, and people eat them, these little crabs would probably not survive.

……

A light drizzle fell all day, sometimes heavy, sometimes light.

The activity didn't completely stop until evening, when smoke began to rise from the chimneys of every household in the village.

On a rainy day like this, it's more comfortable to stay home.

At noon, we fried some crabs and had a couple of drinks. In the evening, after picking up Wang Zhenzhen, we had another hot pot of pure beef stew with flatbread on top.

Eating and then going to sleep, it was so comfortable and relaxing.

The night after the rain was very quiet, and the mountains shrouded in mist seemed to have fallen silent as well.

Chen Ling and her family of three had a good night's sleep. The next morning, they were still sound asleep when they were woken up by the noisy chirping of birds outside.

Looking out the window, he saw a flock of miscellaneous birds on the nearby rooftop, chirping terribly, even louder than magpies. As soon as they saw Chen Ling looking over, they fluttered away.

"Pah, that unreliable Er Tu Zi, he hasn't been home for days. When he comes back, he'll have to teach those noisy birds a lesson. Those birds are getting more and more outrageous."

The family's kite was still there on the first day Zhou Weijun and Yu Qi'an arrived, but it disappeared that night, and no one knows when it left.

Otherwise, these birds wouldn't dare approach the farm.

Chen Ling went downstairs, blew a few bamboo whistles in different directions towards the mountains in the backyard, and called out to Er Tu Zi.

The flowers, plants, and trees inside and outside the farm were still dripping water.

The clattering sound, accompanied by the long whistle, creates a unique atmosphere at the foot of the misty mountains.

"The birds outside are hopping and jumping around; it's definitely going to be a nice day today."

Chen Ling put down the bamboo whistle and looked around. In the east, a faint red glow was already appearing. The sun was about to rise but had not yet risen. The mist shrouded the crimson dawn, creating a hazy, ethereal beauty.

The family dog ​​has long been running around happily with the kitten.

This little tabby kitten is a offspring of a mountain raccoon. Unlike ordinary domestic cats, it is growing more and more beautiful, with its fur displaying a golden-red hue, which is quite lovely.

He grew up with dogs and picked up their habits.

When it runs around in the yard, stretches, or is even given food, it behaves like a little dog in a cat's skin.

Especially when it's being fed, it catches things in mid-air, just like a dog.

After making breakfast, Wang Susu brought Rui Rui out, and Chen Ling swept the yard before going out to let the horses roam and walk the dogs.

But after leaving the orchard, Chen Ling hadn't gone far when he suddenly realized something was wrong with his vegetable garden.

He immediately released the reins, allowing the dog and horse to roam freely.

He went to the vegetable garden to check on the situation himself.

In fact, when planting vegetables, if it's not transplanting seedlings, you shouldn't water the seeds too much; that is, you need to let the seedlings harden off.

However, it rained heavily right after they were planted, which was unavoidable. Anyway, half of them were transplanted seedlings, so it's fine.

Furthermore, with the powerful weapon of spiritual water, Chen Ling was not worried that the vegetables in the garden would not grow well.

So I haven't come for a check-up in the last two days.

But now that I look at it, it's incredible!

The vegetable seedlings and sweet potato vines have been damaged by something, and there are no green leaves to be seen, only bare stems.

Even the vegetable seeds that had been planted were dug up, leaving only small holes in the soil, but the seeds were nowhere to be found.

"Damn it, it must have been those thieving birds who did it."

Upon seeing the footprints on the damp ground, Chen Ling knew they weren't the work of pheasants or quails, but rather the work of some other bird. He just didn't know what kind of bird had come here to cause trouble.

They put a lot of effort into cultivating these two acres of vegetable garden.

This has caused a complete mess, and many places will need to be replanted; it's such a hassle.

"These footprints don't look like magpie footprints, so I don't know what kind of bird it is."

"No matter what you are, if you dare to cause trouble in my vegetable garden, you're finished."

Chen Ling looked at the messy vegetable garden and was furious.

Without saying a word, he went back to the farm and took out a few snares, which he set next to the planted vegetable seeds. No matter what kind of bird it was, if it dared to come and steal the food, one snare would be enough to catch it and it would never come back.

(End of this chapter)