My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 410 Seeking the Tiger-Slaying Hero
Chen Ling wasn't surprised that Han Chuang's family owned a cannery, so he could make the connection to canned fish.

"Chuangzi, you've got a really sharp mind! You actually came up with such a great idea. Canned fish, it sounds like a great business opportunity."

Chen Ling's compliment made the big, dark-skinned man so happy he almost lost his bearings.

"Really, really? If it works, let's do it together!" Han Chuang said excitedly.

"Hehe, I'll pass. I'm busy enough with everything at home. If you really want to make this seafood canned goods, you should go home and discuss it with your brother first. After all, meat canned goods and fruit canned goods are not the same thing."

"If you want to do this business, you'll need to add another production line specifically for canned meat."

"Yes, yes, now that you mention it, I need to discuss it with my brother. Hey, opening another production line will cost money, and my parents might not agree..."

"I, I, I'll listen to you. Let's raise fish first, and let my brother figure out the canned food issue."

"Yes, that's right. Once you've made some money raising fish, your family will trust you, and everything will be much easier then."

"Hey, okay."

The two chatted as they walked.

I had drinks at Han Chuang's house yesterday, so I'm not really in the mood for alcohol today.

We strolled back to the farm, picked a few bright yellow apricots, ate them, and watched the fish in the irrigation ditch and the pond at the foot of the western mountain.

"Hey, the water from your spring is so cold, how come there are wildflowers growing on this rock face?"

Upon reaching the spring on the northwest side of the mountain wall, Han Chuang scooped up some water to wash his face and drank a couple of mouthfuls of the refreshing and sweet spring water. Suddenly, he noticed several small, purplish-red flowers that looked like little bells growing on the stone wall above.

"This isn't a wildflower, it's a medicinal herb, wild rehmannia. We call it 'dog's milk honey' here. Pick one and try it; its flower core is sweet, just like honey."

Chen Ling plucked two small flowers, handed one to Han Chuang, and then taught him how to suck the nectar from the flower.

"Mmm, it's so sweet, but the name is a bit strange, why is it called Dog Milk Honey?"

After tasting it, Han Chuang picked another flower, held it in his hand, and looked at it from left to right, completely puzzled.

Chen Ling smiled and said, "It's named after its own appearance, what else could it be? Look at its flowers, they're purplish-red, like the milk dangling from a mother dog after giving birth to puppies. And the flower core is as sweet as honey. What else could it be but dog milk honey?"

"Really? How come I've never heard of this before?"

Han Chuang took a couple more sips of the flower in his hand and said dejectedly.

"Alright, stop worrying about this. Look up and see what's in the cracks in the rocks above..."

Chen Ling pointed to the upper side of his head.

Han Chuang looked closely in the direction he was pointing and was immediately stunned: "My goodness, these are watermelons, right? How come they're all growing in the cracks between the rocks? How did they survive?"

Hidden beneath the lush wild grass and vines above the stone wall were several thick, sunken crevices. Surprisingly, several oddly shaped watermelons were growing in these crevices, crammed together and stubbornly surviving. Many of them had even emerged halfway out of the crevices, resembling round mushroom heads.

"The roots of the watermelon seedlings are at the bottom, and the watermelon vines climb up," Chen Ling explained, pointing to a row of watermelons at the foot of the mountain.

"I only discovered it these past two days when I was working on the spring. It's usually well hidden. If it weren't for the water tower being built here and me walking around here so often, I really wouldn't have noticed it."

He didn't specifically plant melons this year, but a lot of scattered watermelon seeds still grew near the farm.

He didn't usually pay much attention to it.

Normally, growing watermelons properly requires vine training, pinching off the growing tips, and so on. But he relied on the good soil and water environment in his area and never paid much attention to it, treating them as wild watermelons that would grow on their own.

A few days ago, when I was watering the wheat, I discovered that the watermelon vines were climbing everywhere, even up the mountainside.

It also produced quite a few melons.

"Fugui, are you planning to tinker with your little water tower?"

Upon hearing Wang Laishun's voice, Chen Ling didn't turn his head but replied, "Not yet, I'll do it in a couple of days."

Now the spring water on this mountain wall is flowing more and more, and it is no different from the clear and sweet mountain spring water. It can be drunk by people and animals. The villagers are increasingly convinced that his family has a treasure to protect the house. Otherwise, why would this place have changed so much in just two or three years since he moved here?

At this moment, another voice rang out: "Why is Fugui building a water tower? You don't lack water here, why do you need a water tower to store water?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling turned around and exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, Lao Zhou, what brings you here again?"

Behind Wang Laishun, however, were Zhou Weijun, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, and several unfamiliar men and women.

"Haha, I missed you so I came to visit. What are you doing fixing the water tower again?"

Zhou Weijun had visited the village three times and was very familiar with the farm. He and Chen Ling were not ordinary friends. After walking over, he asked in a very casual manner.

"We're building a water tower for summer. A spring suddenly appeared here, and the water flowing out is ice-cold. Building a water tower will make it easier to keep the fruits and meats at home fresh..."

Chen Ling gave a brief explanation.

"Sounds good, I'll try this spring water."

Zhou Weijun rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.

The men and women who came with them were also very surprised. They had never heard of water emerging from such a hard mountain wall.

They all followed suit and stepped forward.

"Wow, it's so refreshing and has a hint of sweetness. It's much better than iced soda."

Zhou Weijun squatted by the spring and drank a handful, then another, until his thick beard was soaked with water.

The same was true for the men and women who were traveling with them.

Living in the city for a long time, such clear and sweet natural spring water is quite attractive to them.

"Hurry up and repair the water tower, Fugui. It's such a waste to let such refreshing and sweet spring water flow into the irrigation canals and fishponds."

"Haha, since you like it so much, I'll bring you two pots when you leave."

After exchanging a few words of laughter and banter, Zhou Weijun, upon learning what he and Han Chuang were doing there, also hurriedly craned his neck and tilted his head to look up at the watermelons growing in the cracks between the rocks. "Goodness, these watermelons really know how to pick their spots, always growing in the cracks between the rocks. I don't know how they grow so big in such narrow cracks."

Zhou Weijun exclaimed in admiration, and said to his companions, "See? What did I say when I came here? Even if we don't get anything done, it's definitely not a wasted trip. My brother's village is full of wonders. Coming here is more fun than you guys going on a special trip."

"Putting everything else aside, have you ever seen a watermelon growing in a crack in a rock?"

"never seen it."

Several men and women shook their heads in unison. They had seen watermelons growing on the ground, but they had never seen one growing in the cracks of rocks.

When I first saw it, I found it very strange and kept looking up at it.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling went back and carried out the ladder. The mountain wall here was very steep, with some places almost at a 90-degree angle. Without the ladder, one could not climb it by hand.

Seeing this, Zhou Weijun hurriedly stepped forward with a grin, saying, "Hehe, let me do it, let me do it. I've never picked this kind of watermelon before."

No one tried to take it from him; they let him climb up the bamboo ladder.

"Oh my, there's a square-headed watermelon in this stone trough, and it's quite big. Square watermelon, flat watermelon, and these two in the crack in the stone look like mushroom heads that have squeezed out..."

Zhou Weijun observed that these watermelons came in all sorts of strange shapes, some flat, some square, some completely hidden by wild vines, and others nestled in crevices or uneven stone troughs.

They were all firmly embedded in the cracks of the rocks, like strangely shaped green mushrooms that had sprouted from the mountainside, making them seem even more peculiar.

I have no idea how watermelons can grow in a place like this.

However, when he reached out to pick them, he couldn't get any off: "Goodness, they're really stuck tight, they're practically grown into the rock."

I kept trying to pick one of the watermelons, but even after cutting my palm, I still couldn't manage it.

Helpless, he climbed down the ladder, wiping the blood from his hands, and said to everyone, "No, it's really growing into the crack in the rock, I can't pull it out."

"Old Zhou, go wash your hands, I'll go up and try."

Chen Ling then climbed up the bamboo ladder and tried picking the various oddly shaped watermelons, finding that these watermelons growing in the cracks of the rocks were indeed quite difficult to harvest.

He was strong enough to easily pick watermelons from the vines, but he couldn't pull them out of the cracks in the rocks intact.

These watermelons were firmly embedded in the cracks of the rocks, and they couldn't be picked unless the watermelons were broken open.

Finally, having no other choice, they picked a square watermelon that grew in a concave stone trough and broke off more than half of a watermelon that had squeezed out of a rock crevice. Holding it in both hands, they slowly took the watermelon and half off.

Many rural children can climb up and down ladders without holding onto them, so Chen Ling was naturally no problem with it.

However, when Chen Ling took the watermelon down, everyone was surprised to see the half-watermelon: "Good heavens, this watermelon growing in the cracks of the rocks is actually ripe! The flesh looks so red and moist, you can even smell the sweet, watery aroma of the watermelon."

They found it strange, and Wang Laishun found it even more unbelievable.

Although Chen Ling's two watermelon vines are rooted in the ground, according to farmers' experience, if the watermelon vines don't grow close to the ground but instead grow upwards, the watermelons won't grow very big...

It will only grow to the size of two fists at most, and then it will stop growing. Over time, it will fall off on its own.

This happened in Wang Lixian's greenhouse last year. The greenhouse is warm and sunny. A melon vine growing in the corner was neglected for a while and climbed very high up the bamboo poles in the greenhouse. The watermelons that grew from it turned out like this.

Those watermelons never grew big enough, and they kept falling down, scattering unripe watermelons all over the ground.

The watermelons grown from Chen Ling's two melon vines are surprisingly large.

It's one thing to grow this big, but the real problem is that it's still a raw, unripe melon with a pale white flesh.

Moreover, the half-watermelon that Chen Ling had violently broken open had extremely red and delicate flesh, and as people looked at it, they even felt the urge to swallow.

Chen Ling didn't hesitate either, breaking the pieces apart again with his hands and giving each person a piece to taste.

"Damn, this watermelon looks so ugly, but I didn't expect it to taste so good..." After spitting out two watermelon seeds, Wang Laishun finished the watermelon in big bites, casually broke the watermelon rind into small pieces, and threw them into the ditch, attracting a group of fish to leap out of the water and fight for them.

Seeing this, Zhou Weijun and his friends followed suit, feeding the fish with the melon rinds after eating the melon, and having a great time.

After eating the melon and feeding the fish, a woman whispered a few words to Zhou Weijun, and then Zhou Weijun asked Chen Ling on her behalf.

It turns out the woman thought the square watermelon shape was unusual and wanted to bring it back for her child.

It's just a watermelon, Chen Ling doesn't care, let him take it.

Perhaps seeing Chen Ling's generosity, the woman thanked him a couple of times and then said to Chen Ling, "Young man, the reason we came with Lao Zhou this time is actually to ask you for help..."

"Our crew is filming Water Margin this year, and we're still missing a suitable tiger-fighting hero. We're currently looking for the right person because the scene of fighting the tiger on Jingyang Ridge will involve filming with a real tiger..."

Even if this tiger is borrowed from the zoo, no one would dare to fight with it.

Later, we heard about you from Lao Zhou. We learned that you had hunted leopards in the mountains and that you often went hunting. We were overjoyed and rushed over immediately.

"...The reason we're saying this is because we're having a really hard time finding suitable people. We wanted to ask if you would be willing to act in it? We'll pay you."

To be honest, Chen Ling was a little confused after hearing the woman's purpose. He had no problem buying some local specialties from her, but she was asking him about acting. How could he not be confused?

It's completely unrelated.

“Fugui, don’t just stand there! Think about it, this is Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels, featuring the tiger-slaying hero Wu Song. Others don’t have this opportunity…”

Zhou Weijun nudged Chen Ling with his elbow and whispered encouragement.

Others may not know, but how could he not know?

When she arrived, the woman was still skeptical, but after asking around among the villagers and seeing Chen Ling in person, she was immediately impressed. He had the courage to fight a leopard and was so tall and heroic. Wasn't he the perfect candidate to be a tiger-fighting hero?

"What? You're looking for Ling Zi to play... to play Wu Song?"

Han Chuang, who had been mostly silent, almost popped his eyes out. He didn't understand a lot of what the woman said, but he did understand what Zhou Weijun said. This group of people had come to find Ling Zi to act in a TV series, specifically to play his favorite character, Wu Song.

Goodness, Lingzi is already this amazing?
(End of this chapter)