My 1995 Small Farm.

Before Chapter 434
Sun Yanhong came here in high spirits.

The popularity of lobster restaurants in the city has surprised many people.

And incidentally, it also made the local aquatic products in Chenwangzhuang extremely popular.

After all, the crayfish restaurant offers more than just crayfish; it also serves other dishes made from aquatic products sourced from Chenwangzhuang.

It had only been a little over a week, and she was making money so fast that even someone as worldly as her couldn't contain her excitement. She couldn't help but come back to Chen Ling to show off her latest share of the profits.

"So, am I much more reliable than that old Tian?"

Sun Yanhong squatted in the yard, helping Chen Ling and his wife tidy up the medicinal herbs while raising her eyebrows smugly.

“That middleman is an outsider after all. As for me, I can share the profits with you and I won’t cheat our fellow villagers. Isn’t that a good thing?”

"Speak your mind quickly. You were just shouting about a big deal, and now you're bragging about yourself. You're not eyeing something at my place again, are you?"

Chen Ling glanced at her, feeling that this woman was lowering his guard and laying the groundwork for them to talk business.

"Cough cough, no way! You just have a huge misunderstanding about me."

Sun Yanhong coughed awkwardly and said to Wang Susu beside her, "Sister-in-law, do you think I have bad intentions? Your Fugui is so shrewd, I wouldn't dare to fool anyone. Count this money, I wouldn't dare to shortchange him by a single penny."

Wang Susu counted the money, looked up and smiled at her, but didn't reply.

Qin Qiumei and Zhong Xiaoyun, on the other hand, were at the base of the east wall, watching birds with Wang Zhenzhen and Rui Rui, while occasionally glancing back in their direction. They were clearly quite surprised that Chen Ling's family had such an extra source of income, and that the amount was so large.

However, despite their surprise, they came from well-off families, had broad horizons, and got along very well with Chen Ling's family, so there was no question of them being envious.

"Sister Mei, don't get distracted. Don't let the scorpion crawl into your pants and sting you."

Seeing that Qin Qiumei was listening intently to Chen Ling and the others' conversation, Wang Zhenzhen quickly reminded her.

"oops."

"Why do you, a young lady, always play with these insects?"

It turned out that the little kids had caught scorpions from somewhere, put them in a circle of stones, and were playing with them like crickets, poking them with a straw to make them fight.

Scorpion fighting is indeed different from cricket fighting.

Scorpions have a certain characteristic.

This thing is divided into families.

One scorpion colony is a large family, but another scorpion colony is not; they have no relation whatsoever.

Furthermore, the two sides will engage in a fierce fight when they meet.

Stronger scorpions will eat weaker ones.

But some scorpions are so strong that after winning, they still have energy left, and they either slip through the cracks in the rocks or quickly flip over the rocks and run out.

The little ones are used to this and aren't afraid at all.

Even Rui Rui isn't afraid.

He squatted down next to Wang Zhenzhen and watched the fierce fight with amusement.

"Zhenzhen, pinch off the scorpion's stinger before you play with it, don't scare your two older sisters."

Wang Susu frowned and called out.

"Okay, I get it now."

Wang Zhenzhen verbally agreed, but in reality, she couldn't bear to pinch the scorpion's stinger.

A group of little kids huddled together and whispered, "Let's catch the scorpion and put it in the stone trough. Otherwise, after we pinch off its stinger, the scorpion won't be fierce anymore and will die quickly. It won't be fun at all."

"Okay, Auntie, we'll listen to you."

Rui Rui also started babbling incoherently, drooling all over his mouth.

Qin Qiumei and her companion quickly followed to wipe him clean, while keeping an eye on the little guy to prevent him from grabbing the scorpion.

……

"That's the gist of it. They're jealous of how much money our lobster restaurant makes. Some come to eat here to learn our recipe, while others figure out the basic formula and open their own shops or stalls. But none of them have the same booming business as our restaurant. I've heard that the taste is also much worse."

They had no other choice, so they asked me to join them and work with us, meaning to open a chain store.

Otherwise, my shop gets people from around 11 a.m. every day until 3 or 4 a.m., and there are even long queues.

In the past few days, I've received several calls from people in the provincial capital, but I haven't responded yet. Right now, I'm thinking of trying out a collaboration with one of my reliable old partners, like Old Yu, the one I brought over to see the dog last time—Yu Bangjin from that instant noodle factory.

Sun Yanhong didn't try to hide anything and told the story casually in the courtyard.

"What I mean is, I wanted to ask Fugui what your opinion is..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling grinned and said, "I don't understand business and I won't get involved. Do whatever you want. Chain stores or branches are fine, I can't worry about that."

"No, I mean, you gave me the recipe for the dish. I'm still hoping you'll give me new recipes. When opening a chain store, we need to add more flavors and specialty dishes. Otherwise, over time, someone will figure out the recipe for crayfish one day."

And the wine from your farm is also a significant reason why people recognize our talent.

Without your protection, where would I get my confidence...?

Sun Yanhong is telling the truth.

She's not afraid of being targeted. Things are chaotic outside now. Even in the city, if you go for a walk after dark, you can see fights everywhere on the street. She has many friends and connections, so she's not afraid of that.

She's afraid that someone will come in a legitimate way and use proper methods to steal her business.

"Oh, so some people are starting to figure out how to cook crayfish now, right?"

Chen Ling thought about it and realized that there was nothing mysterious about it. A skilled chef could figure out how to make it after a few tries.

"Okay, I'll write you a new menu, with some new dishes and new ways to eat it."

Take these items out slowly. These things are for two reasons: to keep guests entertained, and also to help you compete with other customers.

Sun Yanhong was both happy and surprised when she heard this. She thought she would have to give her a long and earnest talk, but she didn't expect it to be given to her so easily.

"Alright, alright, I originally planned to use the wine from your farm as a powerful weapon, but since you're unwilling to brew more, I have to be careful with what I give away..."

"I'm relieved that you've written the new menu."

"By the way, I drove here and brought some things. Should I leave them here in the village or at the farm?"

Chen Ling laughed and said, "If you're here to give money, then give money. We're partners now, why do you need to buy anything else?"

"Look at what you're saying. I have younger siblings and a baby. It wouldn't be right for me to go empty-handed."

Sun Yanhong now realizes that as long as she doesn't act recklessly and interacts with this guy properly, it's quite comfortable to be around him.

It's also clear that Chen Ling cares a lot about his family.

So he always smiled at Wang Susu and kept saying nice things to her.

Wang Susu just doesn't know how to talk to people like her. She always feels that they are very slick and fake, which makes her feel inexplicably tense.

But now that she's partnered with Chen Ling in some business, she naturally treats him as a normal customer.

When she went outside and saw what was inside Sun Yanhong's car, she was even more shocked: "Oh my, so much stuff, in the middle of summer."

These bags and packages contained food, toys, and some that looked like beef, probably because they had heard that Chen Ling's family liked to eat local yellow beef.

This food could fill the small water tower.

Sun Yanhong smiled upon hearing this: "This does look like a lot, but a small portion of it is not for us to eat. I bought it because I saw a lot of leftover rotten meat from the butcher shop to feed Heiwa and the others."

Goodness, besides things for adults and children, there are even things for dogs.

Wang Susu couldn't help but slightly open her mouth, her eyes revealing surprise.

Chen Ling, standing to the side, was quite speechless; this woman was too good at catering to his preferences.

If you bring this kind of thing to someone's house, they'll probably be unhappy, or at least have some reservations.

But Chen Ling's family loves dogs and has many of them. Those dogs have bottomless stomachs. If they didn't hunt for food on their own, feeding them every day would be a huge expense.

Sun Yanhong brought meat to feed the dogs, which was exactly what the family wanted.

After returning to the farm and making a fuss for a while...

Besides writing down several new menu items for this woman, Chen Ling also made her take away more than a dozen jars of persimmon wine that she had brewed last autumn.

Of course, she paid for it herself. But this persimmon wine is quite potent; it would definitely be enough for a lobster restaurant.

For the next two days, the old men from both Zhao Dahai's families were busy building thatched huts on the hillside.

A lot of manpower was used, and Qin Qiumei came over every day. However, since Zhao Dahai and his children were all there, she couldn't help much. So, she would help Wang Susu take care of the child and play with them at their two homes inside and outside the village for a while.

Chen Ling naturally had the opportunity to slack off.

So he took this opportunity to bring his dog into the mountains under the pretext of collecting herbs.

Once in the mountains, besides gathering herbs, he also went to fight the earth dragons that roamed around the miasma mountains and wetlands.

However, on this trip, the earth dragon was indeed seen.

In a very secluded spot in the wetlands, they built a large nest, which was actually no different from a bird's nest. It was just a nest made of grass, and the eggs inside looked like snake eggs, about thirty in total.

Chen Ling was quite satisfied with this.

This proves that the surrounding environment is indeed improving, and the Yangtze alligator can quickly adapt and reproduce.

However, there are still no clues or new discoveries regarding the Miasma Valley.

He's not an expert in ancient tombs and the like; he can't tell anything about them.

On the way home, however, they encountered a pack of jackals.

These guys have been unusually active lately, and it seems they're also in their breeding season.

Unusual excitement, restlessness and unease.

Chen Ling didn't linger with them or harm them further. He simply caught another male jackal and threw it into the cave, letting the dog chase them away before continuing on his way.

After two days of such leisure, the fifth month of the lunar calendar has finally arrived.

Once the fifth month of the lunar calendar begins.

On the first day of the fifth lunar month, the atmosphere in the village felt very different.

People were constantly in the village, making it lively all at once.

This is the start of preparations for the Dragon Boat Festival.

This year's Dragon Boat Festival is unusual.

The county is going to hold a dragon boat race in their village, which is treating this place like a temple fair.

It made the whole village feel proud.

It's only the first day of the Lunar New Year, and they're already busily preparing, as if it's almost Chinese New Year.

The reservoir and the old river bend were full of village aunties and grandmas, searching for and picking large, thick reed leaves in the reed beds by the shallow water.

The little children followed behind, pulling out reed shoots and putting the core inside into their mouths to whistle.

Some people also catch fish and shrimp.

The women ignored them, chatting leisurely as they went. They would pull over this reed to look at it, then pull over that one to look at it. If they saw a wide and good one, they would just gently pull it down, and the petiole would break cleanly off from the reed.

Chen Ling walked around the reservoir; there were a lot of people there.

Go to Laohewan; there are quite a few people there picking reeds.

"Third Aunt, are you here to prepare reed leaves for wrapping zongzi too?"

"Yes, we should prepare early. This year, our village is having a big event, and we're sure to have a lot of relatives coming."

"That's true."

"Fugui, don't you pick more reeds?"

"Let's let the horses roam around first, and then we'll see."

Chen Ling had intended to take out the reed leaves from the cave, but there were too many people at the moment, so it was inconvenient and he had to wait.

Anyway, he's out herding horses.

There are quite a few lotus roots growing in the Laohewan area.

This is the season when lotus flowers bloom. The white lotus flowers and pale yellow stamens look exceptionally enchanting against the backdrop of green lotus leaves.

Large flocks of waterbirds lingered in the distance.

The scenery is beautiful.

Chen Ling let the little green horse roam freely, then found a spot under a big tree by the river, spread out some grass, lay down comfortably, and closed his eyes contentedly, using the protruding old tree roots as a pillow.

The women finished picking the reeds and their voices faded away.

Chen Ling suddenly felt a darkness before his eyes, and his nose became itchy. He couldn't help but sneeze twice in a row.

He opened his eyes and immediately laughed in exasperation. It turned out that his own hawk had its wings spread wide and was standing on the tree trunk to the side of his head, as if it were shielding him from the sun.

But in reality, this big, silly bird wasn't so kind.

It had just finished bathing somewhere, its feathers were still wet, and it was sunbathing with its wings outstretched.

"Well, you bald guy, you've got some tricks up your sleeve now, haven't you?"

Chen Ling reached out and flicked its forehead.

Er Tu Zi let out a loud "ga!" and hurriedly jumped away with his wings spread, but his pale yellow eyes revealed a very happy expression. He tilted his head to look at Chen Ling, and then came closer to play with him.

Chen Ling playfully wrestled with it a few times, and when he saw that there was no one left in the old river bend, he got up, took off his shoes and clothes, and jumped into the water with a splash, ready to have a good swim.

Seeing this, the little blue horse in the distance also galloped over and rushed into the water with a thunderous roar.

Er Tuzi stood obediently on the riverbank stone, and after his wings dried, he suddenly soared into the sky and crashed into a wheat field.

Then, grabbing a prey, as if to show off, it circled over the old river bend for a while before dropping it onto the riverbank.

When Chen Ling and his little blue horse came out of the river after playing happily, they found four old yellow quails lying quietly on the riverbank.

"Wow, Baldy did a great job, he even knew to specifically target Old Yellow Quail."

Praise this big, silly bird.

Chen Ling also took out the reed leaves, then mounted his horse, hung the prey and reed leaves on the side of the little blue horse, and called the falcon to gallop home together.

After returning home, you should wash the reed leaves slightly, because the back of some leaves is quite dirty and may attract insects.

Although the cave was cleaner, Wang Susu and her son didn't know that.

Furthermore, scalding the cleaned reed leaves in boiling water makes them more flexible and less prone to breakage.

These reed leaves naturally have two or three indentations on them, which are formed during their growth process, so they are not afraid of being folded.

Don't worry if the reed leaves are dried; they can still be used, and the aroma won't be lost after wrapping zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).

The only problem is that reed leaves are quite narrow, so they can only be used to wrap triangular rice dumplings. It would be a bit of a stretch to use them to wrap four-cornered rice dumplings.

Fortunately, we have an elder in the family; it's like having a treasure.

Since Chen Ling and his wife didn't know how to do it, Gao Xiulan solved the problem for them.

Besides the short and thick triangular zongzi, there are also tall and slender long-legged zongzi, plump and firm axe-shaped zongzi, and supposedly, after being cooked, they can be hung on the hooks of mosquito nets to repel mosquitoes.

Even old ladies can make them.

Even Chen Ling said that the old lady could try wrapping zongzi with lotus leaves.

The ingredients used to wrap zongzi are also numerous and varied.

There are red beans, peanuts, red dates, red bean paste...

The most common fillings for rice dumplings every year are red dates, red beans, and peanuts.

There are also plain rice dumplings without any fillings.

Like Chen Ling's family, once May arrives, every household in the village stops doing anything else and stays at home boiling reed leaves and wrapping zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), just waiting for the Dragon Boat Festival.

Many families even say that they start receiving relatives two days before the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

(End of this chapter)