My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 397 Natural Mini Refrigerator

But then I thought, wolves can travel a thousand miles, and leopards can travel ten thousand miles.

Leopards are solitary creatures, unlike wolves which hunt in packs. When they encounter a formidable opponent, they will avoid it from afar. Therefore, they often travel hundreds of miles at night to hunt for food, and their hunting range is quite extensive.

How can we just stay obediently in the same place and not move?

Although I saw a leopard cave in Mopan Mountain last year, I can't just assume that it was the leopard's regular den.

Sigh, I guess I'll just have to leave it to fate.

Anyway, now that there is a pack of wolves that is friendly to us and whose hunting range covers the mountains and forests near the farm, it is definitely not a bad thing.

When Chen Ling thought of this, he felt proud: "Having a pack of wolves around is the true symbol of my identity as a forest ranger."

He had originally planned to go up the mountain to pick two more buckets of wild fruit today, but many villagers came looking for him.

They either come to ask about road repairs or inquire about how to raise fish fry.

Some people, after selling their first batch of fish and receiving the money, would excitedly come to his house for drinks; there were all sorts of people.

Chen Ling wasn't being disrespectful; he just said he'd been drinking every day in the city lately and couldn't drink anymore, so he postponed it.

"The rapeseed is in bloom, and the wheat is filling out. To still have the mood to drink during such a busy time shows that everyone has made money this year."

After seeing the villagers off, Chen Ling came out carrying two wooden buckets. Looking at the golden rapeseed flowers on the slope and the thriving wheat in front of him, he muttered something and headed up the mountain.

Summer is approaching, the weather is getting warmer, and the sun is getting hotter.

Sure enough, as soon as we crossed the ditch, it became lively, with all sorts of things flying and jumping around from the water and the mountains.

On both sides of the river, wild ducks and various water birds took flight or fled along the water's surface.

Wild pheasants, mixed in with native chickens on the mountain, led their foals of chicks and ran wildly everywhere.

Chen Ling had been wondering why these pheasants weren't incubating their eggs.

After their trip to the city, each of them was followed by fluffy, round little chicks, whose origins remain unknown.

He's too lazy to bother with these things now.

After returning, I placed two stone troughs on the north mountain and mixed them with wheat bran and distiller's grains every day, using water from home, to give them an extra meal.

I hope to keep these pheasants by feeding them well and integrating them into my flock.

Now all the chicks, ducklings, and goslings in the house are in their rapid growth phase, growing up alongside wild chickens and ducklings. This is their home, so there's no need to worry about them running away.

"It's another beautiful day. The harvest on the North Mountain is bountiful this year, and it's sure to be good in the fall as well."

Chen Ling put down the two wooden buckets, took a few deep breaths in the bright sunshine, and began picking wild fruits from the surrounding trees.

The North Mountain is steep, with many poisonous insects and wild animals that often enter the village from here. In the past, the villagers considered it to be rather desolate and gloomy, and the wild fruits and mushrooms there were not as plentiful as those on the West and South Mountains.

But this year is obviously different. Wild trees of all sizes grow on the North Mountain, and all kinds of colorful wild fruits are everywhere, some on the trees and some in the bushes and grass. Chen Ling comes to the mountain several times a day, but there is no decrease in the number of times he comes.

Now, besides using them for brewing and soaking in alcohol, he also has the urge to make these fruits into dried fruit and canned goods.

These are all top-quality wild fruits. It would be a waste to let birds and beasts eat them all, and we wouldn't be able to finish them anyway.

There are also many on the West Mountain and South Mountain.

Chen Ling shook his head regretfully: "Once the village roads are repaired this year, let's try to sell the fruit from the orchard first."

Then he slipped into the Sun and Moon Cave.

High-priced wines inevitably require medicinal herbs from Dongtian.

That's how the medicine works; once you drink it, you'll immediately feel a noticeable effect.

Of course, he wouldn't go too far, making the drug's effects astonishing or bizarre as possible.

If that's the case, even if no problems are detected, the drug's strong and effective nature will still cause a lot of trouble.

“The ginseng from Dongtian is comparable to wild ginseng from outside the area after only six months. We just use ginseng slices and ginseng rootlets to make wine.”

"We also need to have Solomon's Seal Wine, but Solomon's Seal is not easy to process, so we need to ask my father-in-law to teach us how to make it."

"..."

"Finally, the medicinal herbs brought by the hawkers have also grown, so we can add a few more new types of wine."

After selecting a few medicinal herbs with suitable effects in the cave, Chen Ling carried two full buckets of wild fruit down the mountain.

I stopped by the orchard to check the beehives and then looked at the burrows dug by two wildcats. Satisfied, I went to the farm's backyard to wash the fruit.

In fact, according to Chen Ling's original intention, after the two raccoons and the female cat were each paired up, they would be kept at home.

But the dog at home wasn't happy, and neither was the kitten.

The kitten arrived first, and the adult cats bullied it. The dogs in the house couldn't stand it, so they chased them out and wouldn't let them into the house.

This little kitten is really strange.

After being captured by that big, fat thief, the mountain fox, it grew up with the family dog ​​from a young age, so much so that its daily habits and even its every move are similar to a dog's, making it a perfect little cat-like dog.

This naturally made the other civets find it strange, and it's not hard to understand why two civets and two female cats bullied it.

The dog at home, however, seems to like the kitten very much and is very affectionate towards it.

Only then did they protect it and drive the two pairs of big cats away.

"Clap."

After washing the fruit, Chen Ling planned to go upstairs to find a place to spread it out to dry. He hadn't gone far when he heard a "thud" as a yellow apricot fell from the branch and hit him on the shoulder.

Looking up, he saw that it was Er Tuzi who had landed on the apricot tree, staring straight down at him.

"Damn, that scared me." Chen Ling picked up the apricot that had fallen to the ground, wiped it, took a bite, and found it to be crisp but not sour at all; it was actually completely sweet.

It seems that before the road is repaired, this family will have to send their apricots out a few more times.

After finishing the sweet apricot in a few bites, Chen Lingchong waved to the hawk in the tree: "What are you looking at? Come down here."

The large, cuddly bird landed on the edge of the wooden bucket he was carrying from the tree, chirping softly, fluttering its wings, and scooping up wild fruit from the bucket to eat.

Recently, this guy has only been coming home once every two weeks or so, and we often don't even see him.

It only settled down and behaved itself after the family of three returned from the city.

According to Wang Cunye and Gao Xiulan, Er Tuzi returned four or five days after they left.

At first, nothing happened, but after they found out they weren't home, they got anxious and started barking every day. They even flew back and forth between the farm and the village. They had only seen Er Tu Zi outside the village courtyard.

They must be looking for them, worried that they've gone missing.

Birds have a poor sense of smell and can only search for things while flying in the sky.

The two elders found it very amusing, saying that their son-in-law raised very conscientious things.

Just as the two elders said, Er Tu Zi has been staying at home for the past two days since Chen Ling and the others returned. Just like it was two years ago before it was tamed, it quietly follows behind him. Wherever he goes, this big, silly bird follows silently, but it often appears and disappears unexpectedly, which can be quite startling.

While drying wild fruits on the wooden building, Chen Ling grabbed Er Tu Zi's wing, lifted it up, and felt its heavy weight and the strong, firm muscles on its body...

Chen Ling couldn't help but laugh, reaching out to stroke the smooth wings and chest, saying, "You're becoming less and less like a hawk. If you let this out, people would believe you're a goshawk."

It truly resembles a hawk in appearance and has the size of a large eagle. It grew bigger and bigger, just like Heiwa and the others, breaking through species limitations.

Especially after learning to go into the mountains and destroy beehives, they often eat bee pupae and even eat the medicinal herbs that are dried at home. How could they not grow up?

Er Tu Zi let out two loud cries in his hand, his chest bulging like a big pigeon, his head tucked in, and his eyes half-closed, looking like he was thoroughly enjoying Chen Ling's caress.

"You're so fat, and you still don't know how to find a mate to build a nest for. Looks like I'll have to get you a bird box that's warm in winter and cool in summer."

Chen Ling reached out and scratched the big, clumsy bird's chest a few more times, then released it and went downstairs to find some wooden planks to nail together a bird box for it to live in.

Er Tuzi was still not satisfied. After being thrown off the building by Chen Ling, he didn't fly away. Instead, he landed on the ground and waited for him. Like an old hen, he followed behind him, wobbling and following closely, while tugging at his trouser leg. He still wanted him to pet and tickle him.

"Go away, you're addicted? Go play somewhere else."

Chen Ling grabbed it, threw it into the air, and released it again.

"Lingzi, what are you doing now? Come out here for a second."

Just then, his father-in-law's voice came from one side of the farm, and a group of puppies barked loudly, crowding together at the waterway on the west side, wagging their tails at him from afar, beckoning him to come out.

"Hey, it's coming."

Chen Ling glanced at Er Tuzi, who was about to fall behind again, made a gesture, and then quickly walked out.

Upon seeing this, Er Tu Zi let out a loud cry and suddenly took to the air again, hovering above his head, and flew out of the farm with him.

"What's wrong, Dad?"

Every morning, Wang Cunye would lead a pack of dogs to graze sheep and cattle around the orchard. After finishing his walk around the orchard, he would head up the slope and to the old river bend, wandering quite a distance.

It's almost noon now, and we've turned back again.

"Come quickly and look, water is flowing out of the western mountain wall."

Upon seeing Chen Ling emerge, the old man quickly waved him over, beckoning him to come and see.

"What? Water's seeping out of the mountainside? Hasn't it always been there?"

Chen Ling was a little confused when he first heard this. He had diverted water from the west and used it as running water to build irrigation canals on the farm.

“It’s not what you brought down; it’s water that’s come out from a crack that opened up on its own at the foot of the mountain, as if there’s a spring inside.”

"Huh? When did it become like this?"

"Who knows? Come with me and take a look."

As the father-in-law and son-in-law talked, they walked to the foot of the steep mountain wall on the west side.

The sound of the babbling water here is extremely pleasant, but the place the old man mentioned is not at the source of the canal, but about twenty meters to the north.

On the damp mountainside, many small wild trees, shrubs and weeds grow. Here, a crack has opened up in the stone, which is only about two fingers wide, and a trickle of clear water is gushing out.

"Oh my, it really is! What's going on? Why is water suddenly coming out of this mountain wall?"

Chen Ling was greatly surprised when he saw it. He reached out and scooped up a handful of water to test it. The flow rate was not slow, and it was extremely cool, even a little icy to the touch. It seemed that the water was indeed flowing from inside the mountain.

The father-in-law leaned over and asked, "How was it? Did I tell you something?"

"Hmm, this water looks pretty clear. I don't know if it's drinkable. Erhei, go home and bring a small bucket over."

Upon hearing the order, Erhei yelled and ran back to the farm, grabbing the bucket by the handle and carrying it back.

"Good dog."

Chen Ling praised him, then he and Wang Cunye, father-in-law and son-in-law, took some water and wanted to let it settle in the bucket to see if it was clean.

As soon as I filled half a bucket, I saw small water droplets condensing on the outside of the bucket. When I touched them, they were very cold.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling's face lit up with joy: "Goodness, putting aside whether it's clean or not, just look at how cold this water is! In the summer, this place will be a natural mini-fridge. Put some watermelon and fruit in here, and they'll freeze very quickly."

After saying this, Chen Ling had another thought. Since it's already a natural mini-fridge, wouldn't it be even better to build a small pool or water tower here with stones to keep things fresh?

Well, a small water tower is better. With the water temperature there, you can hang meat or something in it and preserve it for a long time.

It's definitely no worse than a refrigerator.

(End of this chapter)