My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 366 The Farm's First Guests

After dinner, the sun had already risen above the mountain ridge, bathing the farms and orchards at the foot of the mountain in spring sunshine.

Early morning is when fish are most active. As you walk out of the farm, you can see fish playing and frolicking on the surface of the lotus pond and irrigation canals, and some big fish even leap out of the water, splashing up sprays of water.

The ornamental fish in the pond are also exceptionally energetic; as soon as you walk over, you can see colorful fish swimming all over the surface of the water.

These fish are mainly goldfish, with slightly fewer koi, since goldfish are more popular nowadays and are more suitable for keeping in glass aquariums.

Adding some stones and aquatic plants can create a unique ambiance when placed indoors.

Now, in the farm's three small ponds, two are for goldfish and one for koi, and they are all almost half a hand's length long.

They can be sold by the end of the month.

These things are easy to raise and can be sold all year round, even in big cities. There is no fixed off-season or peak season for ornamental fish.

It's selling extremely well right now.

When Chen Ling was in the city a while ago, he saw many stalls selling ornamental fish at intersections. They weren't flower, bird, insect and fish markets. They would just set up their stalls wherever there were a lot of people and start hawking their wares.

Sometimes, at busy intersections, the entire market is filled with stalls selling fish, along with fish larvae, fish food, large and small nets, and square and round fish tanks, creating a lively scene.

Moreover, they are sold extremely cheaply, with ten or twenty for just one yuan being common, such as those small loaches, which are priced at this level.

Goldfish and koi costing hundreds of dollars are already considered extremely high-end and rare.

According to Chen Ling's observations and comparisons in books, the goldfish currently on the market are all traditional varieties.

Later varieties like Rancho, Thai Lion, and Crown Pearl are nowhere to be seen.

The dragon and phoenix koi and butterfly koi, among other types of koi, have also disappeared without a trace.

The most common goldfish are those with various colors, such as butterfly tail, dragon eye, bubble eye, sky eye, pearl, lionhead, etc., covering almost all colors, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

It can be said that the local area has a complete range of traditional goldfish varieties.

If there's a wide variety of fish, then there must be many people buying and raising fish.

As for why so many people are buying ornamental fish these days?

The reason is simple: there are few entertainment options available at this time of year. Keeping a fish tank at home and raising some fish can bring joy to both adults and children, and it's both fun and interesting.

Later, the ornamental fish market gradually declined, partly because the internet was so developed at that time, and there were so many other things to do that people didn't have the inclination to keep fish anymore.

Think about it, if you don't even cook, how will you have time to raise fish?

From this perspective, starting ornamental fish farming at this time is indeed very beneficial, ensuring a steady income for the next few years.

After strolling around the pond and canal to check on the fish, Chen Ling released the chickens, ducks, and livestock.

We don't need to worry too much about the chickens, ducks, geese, and sheep. We have a lot of dogs at home now, so they can run around freely without any problems.

The main thing is to keep a close eye on the little blue horse. This guy is too restless and always wants to go out and run around. It would be best if Chen Ling rode it out and let it gallop around everywhere.

"You play by yourself for now, and I'll take you out to run around in a bit."

After stroking the smooth nose of the little blue horse twice, Chen Ling quietly went to the edge of the orchard to see what kind of bird was causing trouble in the vegetable garden.

Magpies are usually the most common thieving birds that damage crops and seedlings. However, when Chen Ling went to check before breakfast, the fresh footprints on the damp soil were much smaller than the claws of magpies.

Now, he sneaked over unexpectedly and saw a large flock of sparrows around the vegetable garden. Not far from the sparrows, there were also wild tits, magpies, and gray pheasants pecking at the bare vegetable and sweet potato vines.

Several stinky aunties were also among them, their sharp, slender beaks nibbling out the vegetable seeds buried in the soil, picking them up and flying away to enjoy them.

This infuriated Chen Ling, who pulled out his slingshot and fired: "Damn it, you stinky aunt, even you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, have betrayed us..."

This stinky aunt is actually called a hoopoe. This bird has a small fan on its head, a long and thin beak, and its feathers are covered with black and white horizontal stripes, making it very beautiful.

When Chen Ling was a child, he always mistook it for a woodpecker.

Later, when I grew up and became more sensible, I realized that although this thing wasn't a woodpecker, it was a good bird that ate pests. Who knew it would come and steal seeds?

This really infuriated Chen Ling.

After firing the slingshot, it hit nothing, only startling a flock of birds into taking flight and fleeing into the sky.

After taking a few steps closer, the trap they had set did not fail to catch them.

They were two unlucky wild tits and a gray pheasant.

Chen Ling immediately called over his puppies, and they tore off the feathers of the three unlucky birds and scattered them on the ground as a warning to the thieving birds.

"Er Tu Zi hasn't come back yet, so you guys can stay here and keep watch for now. We'll give you extra food tonight."

Chen Ling patted Erhei's head and told it to take the puppies in turns to guard the vegetable garden so that the birds could be driven away.

Then I went back to the farm to get vegetable seeds and replanted them, and I also had to gradually fill in the seedlings.

"What's wrong, Lingzi?"

The father-in-law led the white calf from the village. When he saw Chen Ling busy in the vegetable garden with the dog, he let go of the calf and hurried over.

“Our vegetable garden has been ruined by birds, so I’m going to replant all the vegetables.”

Chen Ling pointed to the old man and showed him the situation, then said helplessly.

"What happened? Did the birds cause this?"

Wang Cunye bent down and glared at him, gritting his teeth in anger.

"Can we leave Erhei and the others to watch over things? Or we can plant a couple of scarecrows to scare these thieving birds."

"That's right, we can't keep an eye on the dog all the time, so let's try planting a couple of scarecrows and see what happens."

Chen Ling nodded, then went back to get his tools, two tattered straw hats, and a straw cap, and set up two scarecrows in the vegetable garden.

After it was all set up, two light red ribbons were tied on it. When the wind blew, they would flutter back and forth, also to scare away the birds.

Everything was ready. The little white calf also ran to the vegetable garden and lay down without moving, guarding it with the puppies.

They chase away any birds that come near.

By noon, in just half a day, the puppies had caught more than twenty birds, neatly arranging them on the ground without eating them, using this as a way to curry favor with Chen Ling.

In the afternoon, the kitten also joined in the fun. It played with the puppies all day long and was quite good at hunting. By nightfall, it had caught two sparrows.

The cat was just too silly; after catching the bird, it didn't know how to boast about it and ate it on the spot.

The next day, we need to spray herbicide in the wheat field. Since there are people around, we don't need to have the dog lean against us.

However, the puppies seem to know how to guard the garden now. Without being told, they go and watch over it on their own, leading the kitten in groups of three or five around the little white cow. If birds come, they rush out to chase them away; if no birds come, they roll around and play in the vegetable garden. It's quite amusing.

Before long, Heiwa Xiaojin led several foxes running over from the orchard and joined them, making the group even larger and more lively.

The sight of Yu Qi'an and his two companions, who were leisurely strolling over with birdcages, made them envious.

Yu Qi'an hung the birdcage on a tree at the edge of the orchard and exclaimed, "My goodness, Fugui, how come you have a fox here?"

As he spoke, his legs were already moving uncontrollably toward several bright red foxes.

The foxes were very alert; when they saw strangers approaching, they would dart away with their bushy tails held high.

Little Jin was having a great time playing with the foxes when he was disturbed. He barked fiercely at Yu Qi'an twice and continued to chase after the foxes with glee.

After catching up, the big golden-furred dog and four beautiful red foxes ran side by side, sometimes rubbing against each other as they ran, sometimes touching noses, very affectionate and happy.

Yu Qi'an was so frightened by Xiao Jin's fierce appearance that he dared not move. Then, seeing this scene, he asked in surprise, "Isn't this a fox? Is it a puppy that Xiao Jin gave birth to? It looks like a fox?"

"No, this is a fox, just a wild fox from the mountains. It only gets along well with my dog; it's not usually friendly."

The three little foxes have grown up now. Because they were saved by Chen Ling when they were young and later often went to the farm to freeload, they are only close to his family.

They remain very wary of other humans.

If it sees someone approaching, it will quickly run away.

Upon learning that the fox liked to play with the farm's dogs and cows, Yu Qi'an and his companions marveled, "These little creatures you raise are so fun; they even make friends on their own. It's so endearing."

"What are you doing today? Spraying pesticides?"

"Yes, spray some herbicide to get rid of the weeds."

"Weeding? Won't that kill the wheat seedlings?"

"Haha, what are you saying? Of course not. The dosage isn't that high; it's just to kill off those newly sprouted weeds."

Anyone who has ever farmed knows that when crops sprout and grow in the fields, all sorts of weeds also grow along with them.

For example, the wheat, although it is winter wheat, the land was plowed before sowing, and the weeds seemed to have disappeared, with only rows of tender green wheat seedlings, which were very neat and clean.

But once the weather warms up, that won't work anymore, and all sorts of little grasses will gradually sprout up again.

At first, it was inconspicuous, far less tall and robust than the wheat seedlings.

But as long as there is a little rain, even a light rain, they will grow tenaciously and wildly, and after a few rains, they can surpass the wheat seedlings and overtake them.

Especially after such heavy rain, the weeds in the farmland really change every day.

If left unattended for a month or two, allowing weeds to run rampant and steal soil nutrients, farmland will soon become barren.

Therefore, timely eradication of weeds not only saves time, effort, and pesticides, but also reduces the amount of pesticides used, which is beneficial to the soil and wheat.

"Qi'an is young and missed the rural slumber. He doesn't know anything. He used to think that farming was just about scattering seeds in the ground and then not having to care about it. He had no idea how harmful weeds and insects could be in the fields. If left unattended, the harvest could be completely lost."

Ma Wei smiled and said, "Qi'an, do you know what those scarecrows over there are for?"

"Old Ma, you've gone too far. Do you think I don't know about scarecrows? They're for keeping birds away."

Zhou Weijun chimed in, "That's right, Lao Ma, you've gone a bit too far. Qi'an isn't that stupid; he doesn't even know what a scarecrow is for."

Then he turned to Chen Ling and asked, "Fu Gui, why did you make two scarecrows? Is it because there are too many birds here?"

"It's not that I dislike the number of birds; having many birds isn't actually a bad thing. It's just that those birds have wreaked havoc on my vegetable garden. I had no choice but to put two scarecrows there."

As soon as Chen Ling mentioned this, Yu Qi'an perked up and volunteered to look after Chen Ling's vegetable garden.

It's such a waste for the dog to eat those birds; it's better to give them to him.

Everyone knew his little scheme, but they didn't say anything and let him do whatever he wanted.

Zhou Weijun and Ma Wei picked up hoes and shovels and helped Chen Ling and his son-in-law remove some of the larger weeds.

While working, he discussed with Chen Ling that their film crew would be arriving tomorrow, and there were quite a few people coming. He asked if Chen Ling could arrange for some of them to stay at the farm.

Since it wasn't Zhou Weijun's own film crew, he made it clear to Chen Ling that the accommodation fees and all sorts of miscellaneous expenses would be charged in full.

The farm has a great environment, with beautiful mountains and clear waters, and pleasant scenery. As long as Chen Ling allows him to stay, it's no problem to pay more for food and lodging.

"Sure, since it's your friend's film crew, I'll definitely give them face."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling agreed without hesitation, since the farmhouse had so many rooms, which were originally intended for people to stay in.

The family farm occupies a large area, with a two-story bamboo building and a three-story wooden building.

Zhou Weijun explained that there wouldn't be too many people, and they could stay in wooden buildings.

Now that the child is older, and with his parents-in-law also around, everyone is being taken care of, and it won't disrupt their normal life.

Furthermore, these people don't stay for long.

The farm will eventually come to this point, and it's time to host some guests.

(End of this chapter)