My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 414 Parenting Tips

Wang Wenchao often goes into the mountains to catch weasels and photograph squirrels. In the past two years, he has also gone into the mountains as a guide with the old hunters from Kinmen Village. He has accompanied Professor Han and his group, and he has also followed Li Hongqi and his gang of thieves.

Naturally, he had also heard many legends from Liu Guangli, and knew what things in the mountains could be provoked and what things should not be provoked.

So when Chen Ling said that the jackals had escaped from the deep forests of the Qinling Mountains, he immediately backed down and gave up the idea of ​​becoming a guide to earn extra money.

That morning, he also notified several acquaintances.

With Chen Ling going to the brigade to inform them and Wang Laishun making a call, more than half of the people who went with them last time didn't dare to go this time.

Most of them came to Chen Ling's house to help pick apricots.

Picking apricots today was similar to the process of fishing at the reservoir.

After picking several baskets, they were weighed on a 500-pound scale, then lifted onto the transport vehicle and poured directly into the truck, basket by basket.

The truck was covered with a thick layer of wheat straw, and felt cloth was hung on both sides to prevent the apricots from being excessively bumped during transportation.

Those who came to help today, besides Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng, were mostly young people around the same age as Chen Ling.

While picking apricots, he kept talking.

"Fugui, what kind of treasure do you think is in our mountains? Those thieves have just recovered from their injuries and they're already rushing into the mountains. The loudspeaker is already shouting that there are jackals in the mountains, but they still insist on going. This treasure must be something special."

“Yes, yes, Baoshuan, didn’t you say last time that they brought a compass?”

"Yeah, they all have compasses with them. These thieves can't be looking for ordinary treasures, can they?"

"Oh right, you guys talk about this all the time, at home, outside, at work, even at the dinner table. Aren't you afraid those thieves will find out?"

"What are you afraid of? They won't understand our local dialect if we speak too fast. And that bastard Chun Yuan is in the county hospital right now, so we can't communicate with them. If we don't consider their perspective when we speak, they won't know what to say at all."

"..."

Chen Ling had no idea what treasures these people had discovered in the mountains.

All I know is that they pay a lot of money to the villagers who are willing to be their guides.

At that time, the people in the mountains were superstitious.

The last time something happened, everyone thought it was because they had offended the local earth god and learned their lesson.

After all, they were chased by wolves, got lost in the mountains, and suffered various injuries.

This perfectly matches the legend of the Earth God's anger.

Even so, given the recent resurgence of jackal packs in the mountains, some people still dared to go with them.

They must have spent enough money.

It allowed them to overcome their fear of those things.

Money makes the world go round.

"There's no point in talking about that. They've been messing around here since last year. First, they wandered around the old Taoist temple in Donggang, and then they bought jars and bowls from various households. They've been doing this for so long and haven't found any treasures. What's the point of talking about them?"

"Hehe, let's talk about Fugui. Isn't Fugui going to play Wu Song on TV? I wonder if Pan Jinlian is pretty enough, hehe, hehehe..."

"That's right, Aunt Susu and the others are preparing to cook at home. Can't you hear me? Uncle Fugui, tell me quickly, how about Pan Jinlian? Can she hold your hand, or... kiss you?"

"..."

When the young men said this, even Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng, who were not far away, quietly pricked up their ears.

Chen Ling had just jumped down from the tree, carrying a large basket of apricots in one hand. Hearing this, he glanced at them speechlessly and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I just fought the tiger for Wu Song and that was it. There's no Pan Jinlian involved. You're talking about Ximen Qing. I don't play Ximen Qing."

"Hey, what's Ximen Qing compared to Wu Song? He can beat a tiger while drunk, so why can't he beat Jinlian while drunk?"

"Yes, when they send the tiger, they should send Jinlian over with you too, so you can perform together."

"Hehe, I used to watch a videotape of Wu Song at the county video arcade... Sister-in-law, Wu Song has something to say... Hehehe."

In the novel *Water Margin*, Pan Jinlian, the sister-in-law, is even more memorable than Wu Song fighting the tiger.

Everyone had been wanting to catch Chen Ling and ask him this for a long time.

But he was too embarrassed to ask in front of his wives, and now that he finally had the chance, he got more and more excited, spouting all sorts of bawdy jokes about Wu Song and his sister-in-law.

No matter how Chen Ling explained that his Wu Song was a fake, they just wouldn't believe him.

They're practically bringing a tiger over for you to fight, and you still call him a fake Wu Song? Who would believe that?

This is what the men working in the orchard look like.

The women preparing meals at the farm were equally talkative, saying things like Chen Ling was good-looking and could make money, and that Wang Susu should keep a close eye on him so that he wouldn't be seduced by Pan Jinlian while playing Wu Song.

If Wang Susu hadn't known that her husband was only helping out with the scene of fighting the tiger on Jingyang Ridge, she might have actually been worried.

In rural areas, everyone enjoys hearing such novel and exciting stories.

Just look at how radiant these young wives' faces are!

Wang Susu was already used to it, so she simply didn't bother to explain further.

Even if you explain it, they might not understand what a stunt double is, or why filming only one scene doesn't mean they're really playing Wu Song.

"Susu, we've been so busy talking about wealth and status, where did your Rui Rui go?"

While they were picking and washing vegetables in the front yard, Chen Ze's wife suddenly realized that the little baby who had been playing with the two big dogs on the sand pile was nowhere to be found.

Upon hearing this, Wang Susu quickly got up and looked around. After searching for a while, she couldn't find him. She called Gao Xiulan twice, but no one answered. She then said, "My mother must have taken him out."

Today, while picking apricots in his orchard, Wang Cunye drove his poultry and livestock out early in the morning.

The chickens, ducks, and geese are used to roaming around the farm and up and down the mountain, so they don't need much attention. What you need to take care of are the cattle and sheep at home.

So the old man went to herd sheep as usual, while Gao Xiulan stayed home to take care of the children.

Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, the old woman's voice drifted in from outside the farm, along with the sound of a baby crying.

The old woman walked in, gritting her teeth and carrying a small baby covered in mud.

The baby was struggling and crying loudly.

Behind the old man and the child followed two large, gray-faced black and yellow dogs. Hearing the baby's cries, they looked ashamed and dared not utter a sound.

"Just like your dad, you're so young, you can't even walk properly yet, and you're already trying to steal birds. And if you keep letting the dog run around like that, I'll spank you."

"What's wrong, mother?"

Wang Susu quickly went to greet him, and then saw Chen Ling walking in with a helpless expression, so she asked, "What's wrong? What did Rui Rui do?"

Gao Xiulan said her son was trying to steal birds' nests. He's so young, he can barely walk properly. How could he possibly climb a tree to steal birds' nests?

"Hey, this brat took advantage of his mother's inattention and directed the dog to carry him to the ditch to catch water birds. But before they even got to the ditch, he saw a bird's nest in the grass and climbed off the dog to dig it out. When I went to find him, he had just pulled a featherless little creature out of the nest and was about to put it in his mouth..." Chen Ling said helplessly. Her son's memory was really good. The ditch was quite far away, but he knew there were water birds there at such a young age. He rode the dog and made them catch birds. He was really a handful.

Of course, this is also because the water birds keep calling. For example, the moorhens, once they start calling, sound like frogs, calling day and night, which is annoying and makes it hard to fall asleep at night. That's why Chen Ling took him to chase them away twice.

"Hmph, Lingzi, you'd better give these two big dogs a good talking to. They really dare to listen to Rui Rui, that little brat. They go wherever you tell them to go. How can you take a kid running around like that?"

The old lady glared at the two meek dogs and said to Chen Ling and his companion, "If it weren't for your father keeping snakes at home and sprinkling some medicine every now and then so that poisonous insects wouldn't dare to come over, it would be terrible if you were bitten by a snake or insect in the grass."

"Even if there are no snakes or insects, what if he falls into the ditches or streams outside and drowns?"

No wonder the old lady was anxious and angry.

It's not fair to blame her for not taking good care of her grandson; Rui Rui is simply smarter and more clever than his peers. Every time they go out, two big dogs follow him. He just points his little hand forward, and the two dogs obediently run out.

Even though he hasn't learned many words, he can communicate with the two dogs, especially Heiwa, without any problems.

Let alone Gao Xiulan, an elderly woman, even Chen Ling and Wang Susu have to keep a close eye on him when they are taking care of the child. If they don't see him for a moment, the little guy can crawl on the ground and run around the yard on his own, even without the dog.

Hearing her mother say this, Wang Susu felt a wave of fear. She gritted her teeth and slapped her son's bottom twice: "This brat deserves a beating. He's even learned to climb up and down the stairs recently. If you can't see him for a second, he'll sneak downstairs by himself."

The little one was beaten until he cried out "Daddy~, Mommy~", looking extremely aggrieved.

Seeing this, Chen Ling called the two dogs aside and scolded them, telling them not to spoil Rui Rui too much and let him run around everywhere.

Although these two big guys are intelligent and perceptive, they spoil Rui Rui too much, letting her go wherever they want, probably thinking that with the two of them protecting her, there won't be any problems.

However, dogs are not human after all, and their thinking is not as thorough as that of humans, so they still need to be restrained.

The women and young wives in the yard were quite fond of him, surrounding Rui Rui and coaxing and teasing him.

"This kid is really strong. He'll definitely grow up to be as tall as Fugui."

"That's right. This little guy is so tiny, yet he already knows how to raid bird nests. Didn't you hear Susu say that he can even climb up and down stairs? Could other kids this age do that?"

"Hehe, my little one is a few months older than Rui Rui, but he looks much smaller than him. It's not as good as the food of the rich, but how bad can a baby's food be? My baby drinks formula and eats eggs every day, which is worse than what we adults eat."

Although there was an element of praise in front of Chen Ling and Wang Susu, it was also the truth; Rui Rui was indeed quite robust and had strong bones and muscles.

So a pregnant young woman asked Wang Susu how she usually fed her baby and how many meals a day were appropriate.

In this way, not only did Rui Rui's daily menu become highly sought after, but she also wrote down all the meals Wang Su Su ate during her pregnancy and postpartum period.

Most of the men who came to help today were around the same age as Chen Ling.

The women, all young wives, some with children, some without, and some pregnant, all asked for paper and pen to carefully write down what Wang Susu said, so they could use it later.

“Now Susu doesn’t feed him milk much anymore, and he won’t drink the goat milk that Lingzi cooks for Susu either. He only likes to eat steamed eggs and meat. Just now when he was digging out a bird’s nest, he even grabbed a featherless baby bird and stuffed it into his mouth…” Gao Xiulan said.

The old lady felt quite proud and accomplished to see so many people surrounding her daughter asking for parenting advice.

Overjoyed, she tried to take the little one from her daughter's arms, but the little one ignored her at that moment.

As soon as she reached out, the little guy turned his head to the side. When she squatted down to hug him, he buried his head in Wang Susu's shoulder and didn't even look at his grandmother. He threw a tantrum, making the old lady extremely embarrassed.

He said helplessly, "This brat has a terrible temper. Your dad caught you, and your mom spanked you, but I didn't even touch you. I just said a few words to you, and he got angry."

This made a group of young wives giggle non-stop, finding Rui Rui's reaction adorable and endearing.

"Uncle Fugui, come out quickly, your cat has had kittens."

Many people knew that Chen Ling had been searching the whole village for female cats because he wanted to catch wildcats for breeding. At the time, everyone laughed at the kid for playing such a trick.

Only some young people, or those who often visited Chen Ling's house, knew that the two wildcats Chen Ling had caught had already paired up with two female cats and made their homes in very deep burrows dug on the east and west sides of the farm.

At the time, they were quite puzzled, wondering what tricks Chen Ling had used to pair the mountain fox and the house cat, and how he had managed to make them so reluctant to leave.

Everyone in the mountains knows how wild the mountain weasel is.

These two, even when left alone, didn't run away; they actually settled down in the orchard.

"Which litter of kittens was born?" Chen Ling asked as he walked out.

"Right here by the apricot tree, we heard kittens meowing inside. When we got closer, the mother cat was whining and scaring us from inside the hole."

"Come and take a look quickly."

The orchard has three kinds of fruit trees: peach, apricot, and pear. The apricot trees are on the far west side, and the pear trees are on the far east side.

The peach tree is in the very center.

This arrangement was made to prevent wild monkeys from the mountains from stealing the peaches.

"Huh? Did they eat a bird?"

When Chen Ling got closer, he saw feathers all over the grass, but there were very few large tail feathers and wing feathers; they were all very small feathers that looked like down.

"Yes, it looks like it ate a magpie that had just hatched from its nest. Its feathers had only just grown in. Look how short those few tail feathers are," Wang Lixian said.

Chen Ling took a look and it was indeed a magpie, with both black and white feathers. But magpies are known for their long tails, so such a short tail meant it must be a baby magpie whose feathers had just fully grown in.

Perhaps because they made a lot of noise picking apricots today, they fell from the magpie's nest in the tree and suffered an undeserved misfortune.

Upon reaching this point, Chen Ling could already hear soft, faint meows coming from the earthen burrow among the weeds, as well as the hoarse growls of two large cats.

Wang Jusheng stepped forward and stood beside him, saying, "If we hadn't seen these bird feathers, we wouldn't have known this was a cat's den. Before the grass grew tall, we could see it at a glance, but now the grass is too tall and dense, and we can't see it at all."

After saying that, he pulled Chen Ling down to squat down and looked into the earthen cave. The earthen cave was like a rabbit burrow, surrounded by tall and dense weeds, but the edge of the cave entrance was very smooth, with some fallen leaves mixed in, blocking the entrance completely and making it very hidden.

Just as the two squatted down, parted the surrounding grass, and peered into the cave.

Just a short distance from the cave entrance, a pair of bright green eyes suddenly met their gaze...

The two men's hearts skipped a beat. Just as they were about to speak, a sharp, piercing meow rang out in their ears, like a cat's cry of alarm when its tail was stepped on. It was filled with anger, and a straw-yellow cat paw suddenly lashed out.

"My goodness!"

The two quickly got up to avoid it. Wang Jusheng was so startled by the sudden attack of the mountain fox that he fell flat on his backside.

He lay sprawled out in the grass.

This caused the men to burst into laughter.

"Jusheng, you're as timid as a moorhen; you can scare even a cat."

"Pah, pah, pah, it's easy for you to talk when you're standing there. Try lying down and see what happens, or I'll scratch you."

Wang Jusheng spat twice, brushed the grass off his mouth and face, still feeling a bit shaken.

"Fugui, this cat is fierce. I don't want the kittens to be corrupted by it. My dog ​​is about to give birth to puppies. Should I take them over and let them drink dog milk?"

(End of this chapter)