My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 396 Telephone and Road Construction

The main reason Chen Ling's family came to the city was to take advantage of attending Lynx's wedding and bring Wang Susu and the children out for a trip.

Now that the wedding is over and they've had their fun, the young couple sees no need to linger in the city any longer, so they start packing to go home.

Before going home, the two of them had to take care of something for Qin Qiumei. It wasn't anything big, just taking their documents to the post office to pick up her husband's remittance.

It's just that the amount is quite large, so it's more convenient to handle it in the city.

For Chen Ling, this was no troublesome matter; he could take care of it on his way and leave as soon as it was done.

However, the elders from the Shanmao and Zhao Dahai families, as well as Han Ninggui and his group, were too enthusiastic and tried their best to persuade them to stay.

Just then, Rui Rui had just learned to call him "Dad," and Chen Ling was in high spirits because of the happy occasion, so he didn't refuse.

They spend all day with Wang Susu, taking their son to eat at different houses, visiting other people's homes and cooking for them.

This stay lasted another four or five days.

We really had a blast.

But after staying in the city for about ten days, Wang Cunye and Gao Xiulan at home became worried, thinking that something had happened to them in the city.

……

That noon, Chen Ling and Wang Susu were busy making dumplings in the kitchen.

Rui Rui crawled around in the living room surrounded by a bunch of toys that his newly acquainted uncles, aunts, grandparents, and other relatives had bought for him.

After staying here for about ten days, the house, with the lady of the house and her children moving in, is becoming more and more like a warm little home.

As a result, Chen Ling and Wang Susu gradually got used to this rhythm of life and were no longer as eager to go back as they had been at the beginning.

The young couple also called Liang Yuemin's family today, inviting them to come over for dumplings at noon.

After all, I've only met them once in all these days, and since it happened to be the Lynx wedding, we didn't get to catch up properly. We should get together again.

It's not too late to leave tomorrow after we've finished our get-together.

The two of them were making dumplings and chatting. After noon, not long after, Liang Yuemin and his family of three arrived.

After entering the room, Liu Yinhuan washed her hands to help make dumplings, and praised Chen Ling, saying that he had done a good job this time, and had taken Susu and the child out to play well.

Liang Yuemin also said that if he had known they would be out for so many days, he would have taken them to Beijing to see Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall.

The adults were making dumplings and chatting animatedly, while the chubby boy took his newly adopted white dog to play with Rui Rui. He put food and drinks on the table, and the two little guys played and fed the dog at the same time.

Just then, the phone in the bedroom rang.

"Uncle, the phone is ringing, let me answer it for you."

Hearing the phone ring, the chubby boy jumped up from the ground and shouted.

He often helped answer the phone at home, and at those times he really wanted to show off.

"Okay, then you answer this for me first, make sure the call isn't disconnected. I'll wash my hands and come right away."

Chen Ling was talking to Liang Yuemin and his wife when he heard this, so he responded and quickly got up to wash his hands.

Liang Yuemin poked his head out of the kitchen and reminded his son, "Xiaoming, be polite when answering the phone for your uncle..."

"I know, I'm the most polite person."

The chubby boy responded loudly and ran to the bedroom to answer the phone.

Seeing this, Rui Rui hurriedly crawled on all fours and followed quickly. A little white dog followed behind him, wagging its tail, and happily went into the bedroom.

At this moment, the chubby boy picked up the phone and asked in very standard Mandarin, "Hello, who are you looking for?"

This immediately stunned the person on the other end of the phone: "Huh? Isn't this the Fu Gui family? Why is a child answering the phone?"

“Uncle Cunye, the phone number Fugui gave you must be wrong. When you call it, it's not Fugui, it's a child talking.”

"No way, this phone number is correct. Lingzi gave this number to other people too."

Wang Cunye held up a piece of paper and asked in confusion, knowing that Chen Ling had given Little Sheep this phone number.

The chubby boy heard the familiar voice and immediately knew who was on the other end. He shouted into the phone, "Grandpa Wang, it's me, Xiaoming! It's me, Xiaoming! Uncle is making dumplings in the kitchen. He has flour on his hands and is washing them."

The chubby boy babbled on and on, his voice too loud and close to the microphone, creating a lot of noise on the phone. The person on the other end couldn't hear him clearly, but when Rui Rui crawled over, he curiously joined the chubby boy in making all sorts of babbling noises, which the other end heard.

Wang Cunye became especially excited: "It's Rui Rui, my eldest grandson, speaking on the phone. I knew there was no way the phone number could be wrong."

He then snatched the phone.

Just then, Chen Ling came over after washing his hands. Hearing his father-in-law's voice, he quickly took the phone. He thought something had happened at home, and his father was so worried that he called him.

After a couple of sentences, he realized that his family was worried because he had been staying in the city for too long.

So he quickly said he would go back tomorrow and called Wang Susu over to talk as well.

"You two are really something, letting a little kid answer the phone? We thought we had dialed the wrong number and almost hung up, but luckily we heard Rui Rui shouting on the other end. Hehe, as soon as I heard my grandson's voice, I knew we hadn't dialed the wrong number."

“Dad, that little kid is Yuemin’s son, Xiaoming. We were making dumplings in the kitchen and didn’t have time to answer, so we let him answer first. Didn’t you recognize his voice?” Chen Ling explained. This phone number is usually not used because he is not often in the city and he has never given his phone number to outsiders. So most of the calls are from his friends, such as Shanmao and Zhao Dahai. It’s not a big deal for the little fat boy to answer for him first.

I never expected my father-in-law to call.

"Oh, it's that chubby boy. I thought he was someone's little kid."

The old man chuckled.

This made the chubby boy, who had been eavesdropping nearby, extremely annoyed. He stood on tiptoe and shouted indignantly, "Grandpa Wang, I recognized your voice immediately! You didn't even realize it was me speaking..."

"Haha, now you can tell, Grandpa can tell! Xiaoming, eat more dumplings today. Next time you come over, Grandpa will catch you two birds to play with."

After teasing the chubby boy a couple of times, the old man started talking about his eldest grandson, whom he hadn't seen for over ten days and missed terribly.

Chen Ling and Wang Susu quickly brought their son to the phone so the old man could hear the sound. Chen Ling even proudly had his son call him "Dad" a few times, showing off to his father-in-law.

"Alright, alright, I'm not talking to you anymore. Phone calls are expensive. Dazhi and I came to the county town for the market today. They're going to build roads in both the county town and the village. You guys should come back soon, or it'll be a hassle if you get back late and the roads are under construction."

"Okay, Dad. We'll head back tomorrow."

……

Regarding the road construction in the village and the county town, even if it doesn't happen for the next two or three years, it will start after the turn of the millennium.

However, Chenwangzhuang Reservoir has been featured in news reports and on television in the past two years, gaining increasing fame and attracting a large number of tourists, which has brought forward the road construction project.

They say they've started road construction, but in their area, these days, don't expect the roads to be any good.

There are no paved roads like those in big cities, or even smooth cement roads. The roads are made from local materials, such as small stones and pebbles sifted from river sand, mixed with some coarse sand.

In the local dialect, it's called a "mortar road".

The surface was bumpy and uneven, making it unsuitable for drying grains. Frequent vehicle traffic would also damage it. However, the advantage was that there was little mud when it rained or snowed, making it safer and easier to walk on than the current mountain roads.

Once it's repaired, at least the road will be open to traffic.

Whether it's outsiders coming here or locals going out, it will be more convenient than before.

After Chen Ling, his family of three, and Zhao Dahai returned to the village the next day, there was still no activity in the village, but the area around the county town was already bustling with preparations to get things started.

The villagers were both happy and worried.

The good news is that the road is finally going to be repaired.

The worry is that the ornamental fish they raised have just started to be sold and they've just started to make money. If road construction starts, it definitely won't be completed in a short time, which will affect transportation.

Some clever villagers wanted to see how Chen Ling would react.

After all, Chen Ling's family was sending both fish and salted eggs, so any negative impact would have a greater effect on him.

When Chen Ling returned home, he remained the same as always, taking his time, either picking wild fruits in the mountains or watering the wheat in the fields, showing no interest in the road construction.

By the end of spring, he had surprisingly started brewing fruit wine at home again.

Well, they didn't take it seriously at all.

Some impatient people even come to our house to ask.

Chen Ling told them, "The mountain road to the south is difficult to repair. The first road to be repaired is the dirt road that runs from Donggang to the old city wall of the county town. It will not affect the transportation of fish out."

They were sent away.

He's been living a very fulfilling life lately, so he hasn't had time to care about the road repairs.

After returning from the city, the two beautifully colored raccoons and the female cat paired up, and the female cat's belly gradually swelled up. After Chen Ling saw that they were familiar with the farm environment, he released them.

They've already dug a burrow in the orchard, and they're always so affectionate, either catching birds or fishing. I bet they'll have kittens soon.

Aside from the cats, the wolf pack's performance was the most gratifying to Chen Ling. While they maintained their wildness towards outsiders, they remained very affectionate towards their own kind.

According to my father-in-law and mother-in-law, after they went to the city, the wolf pack stayed in the surrounding mountains for two or three days before leaving.

But they would occasionally return at night, knowing that the farm's poultry and livestock reacted strongly to them, so they didn't stay long.

But at night, they would secretly guard the farm.

Sometimes, Erhei would lead a pack of puppies up the mountain in the middle of the night to play with the wolf pack.

Wang Cunye said he had seen it once.

To confirm this, Chen Ling went for a walk in the mountains at night after returning from the city, and sure enough, he found traces of them near the lake in the mountains.

They would come running as soon as he waved to them, but they only kept watch nearby at night. Chen Ling searched for the wolf den's lair, but it was still in the same old place.

"The wolf cubs have grown up, the wolf pack has grown in size, and their territory should have expanded as well, including the area around the farm. That's actually not bad."

Chen Ling pondered, then thought with a touch of regret, "If this happens, I wonder if the female leopard I'm thinking about will be scared away."

(End of this chapter)