My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 439 Rain
"Let me see, let me see..."

The interior of the water tower wasn't small, but because there were many things hanging inside, it could only accommodate a maximum of three people. Upon hearing Wang Siyi's words, Ding Haidong, who hadn't entered yet, called out anxiously.

Seeing this, Chen Ling made way for him, and he also reached out and touched a lamb leg.

When you touch it, it feels hard and cool, with a layer of ice crystals on it, like snowflakes.

"Wow, it really is frozen! Is it that extreme? How can the temperature inside the water tower be so low in the middle of summer?"

"Yes, that's how low it is inside."

Chen Ling nodded: "I measured it with a thermometer a couple of days ago. It was about 30 degrees outside, but only 6 or 7 degrees inside the water tower. It was even lower in the morning and evening. If we were wearing only summer clothes, we could catch a cold if we stayed in here for too long."

"But it's great for storing meat. You'll see when you try it tonight. Fresh meat doesn't taste good after freezing in the refrigerator, but it'll stay in this water tower for three or four days without any problem. It'll still taste just like fresh meat when you take it out."

"Wow, from what you're saying, this is much better than a refrigerator."

Zhou Weijun laughed and said, "I just don't know if your water tower will be like the groundwater, cool in summer and warm in winter."

"Haha, you never know."

Chen Ling pointed to the southeast: "My great-uncle learned about my water tower a while ago and told me that before the steep slope in the village was leveled, there was a well on top. The deeper you went into the well, the colder it got. Even in summer, you could still draw ice from it."

They ate ice from that well several times when they were kids.

"Wow, there are so many strange things here. No wonder it's a treasure land that can produce giant turtles that are thousands of years old."

Everyone praised it.

Wang Siyi then pressed on, "Does that well still exist?"

"There should still be water, but it's been dried up for a long time. I don't know whose yard it ended up in after the whole village was rebuilt."

Chen Ling thought for a moment and figured that the old well might be near Er Mao Lu's house, right next to the old livestock shed.

Then he said, "What do you want to eat? Pick it now. We have beef, lamb, chicken, duck, pork, and everything else."

He then stepped back and let them go in and choose.

There's not much to see inside the water tower, but some people are seeing it for the first time and find it novel because it can also be used as a refrigerator.

He looked it over from all angles.

I even wanted to try climbing the spiral staircase inside the water tower, but the staircase wasn't very big, only big enough for one person to go up and down, and there were lots of meat hanging on the side, so I didn't go up rashly.

However, because the temperature was quite low, the group couldn't stand staying in the water tower for too long and quickly finished their selection.

"Oh, it's so warm outside..."

Ding Haidong came out carrying two lamb legs: "Brother Ling, I think your farm is cooler than other places, no worse than that summer resort, and the scenery is even better."

Wang Siyi nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, it's very cool, and it's so comfortable to take a nap."

Zhou Weijun chuckled upon hearing this: "You two are so slow to realize this. You know the great writer Zhao Yubao, right? Just because this place is fun and cool, a perfect place to escape the summer heat, he built a house in the village and decided not to leave."

"Oh my god, no way, Teacher Zhao Yubao is here too! I'm really scared. Brother Ling, tell me quickly, what else do I not know? Otherwise, you keep making a fuss, and I'll seem like a country bumpkin."

"Hehe, there's a lot you don't know. Teacher Zhao even said he wanted to take your brother Ling as his godson. I heard about this at the beginning of the year, but your brother Ling refused."

"...What? You didn't agree to that either? Brother Ling, you're amazing. Today I finally know what it means to be a hidden master."

Afterwards, the group of men and women pestered Chen Ling with questions. Chen Ling first joked with them a few times, and then said that he actually only knew Zhao Yubao's son, Zhao Dahai, and had no idea about their family situation before. It was all by chance.

Even so, everyone admires and envies him greatly.

Wang Siyi is alright, but Ding Haidong and the others all admired Zhao Yubao because they studied his articles in school.

They begged Chen Ling to introduce them to someone.

Chen Ling said it was a minor issue, and since Zhao Yubao's family needed to repair their thatched house, and the festival would be over by tomorrow, everyone could go over and help with some small tasks.

Hearing Chen Ling say this, the group was overjoyed.

After cleaning up, they marinated the meat to be roasted, skewered it with bamboo skewers, and then fed the horses and cows. After having a great time, they even wore straw hats and went out with Wang Cunye to herd sheep.

Zhou Weijun, on the other hand, was very interested in the spring outside the water tower. He would fill a bucket with water and feel that it emitted a faint chill. He would drink a sip of the water in the middle of summer and find it cool and refreshing.

Seeing this, Chen Ling didn't pay them any more attention.

After enjoying a delicious barbecue in the evening, they went to bed early after playing until they were exhausted.

Chen Ling sat under the grape trellis with his brothers-in-law, drinking tea and enjoying the cool air, and discussed doing business.

Although nothing was finalized, Chen Ling's knowledge and experience, along with some of his suggestions, were indeed quite sound, putting the two brothers at ease.

The two sisters-in-law were also very happy when they found out.

In short, the whole family had a very pleasant Dragon Boat Festival with Chen Ling this year.

It's a happy ending for everyone.

Well, for the first few days after the Dragon Boat Festival, it would drizzle a little at night. It was alright, though, because the rainfall was very light and only fell at night. The sun was still very strong during the day, so it didn't do much harm to the wheat.

After the festival, the village began harvesting wheat starting from the sixth day of the fifth lunar month.

Because of the arrival of Wang Siyi and others, a considerable number of people who came to Chenwangzhuang for sightseeing are not in a hurry to go back after the holiday.

For example, those two groups of reporters, and some families, have become addicted to staying here.

After learning that Chen Ling's family did not prohibit outsiders from coming to play,

They would come over every day to catch fish and shrimp, and climb trees to pick peaches.

They also went to the villagers' fields to pick watermelons in the melon fields and vegetables in the vegetable gardens.

Some people, when they got into a playful mood, volunteered to lead the children to guard the melon fields for the villagers at night, while others helped drive donkey carts and oxcarts during the day, transporting wheat. It was quite lively and fun.

Of course, some of these require payment, such as melon fields and peach orchards, which are like picking gardens. They can have fun, eat, and gain a sense of accomplishment from labor and play, making them very happy.

I certainly won't help with things like harvesting wheat, since that's just helping with the work.

In addition, there were those who heard rumors about ancient tombs and wanted to go up the mountain to explore, including the reporters, but they were all stopped.

In short, because they made money, this year's wheat harvest was busy yet joyful for every household in the village. Some elderly people even sang songs while harvesting wheat, and their spirits were different.

As for Chen Ling's family, due to the urging of his brothers-in-law, who said they needed to finish harvesting the wheat quickly so they could rush back, they also started harvesting the wheat on the sixth day of the fifth lunar month.

Zhou Weijun and his gang, along with Zhao Dahai and Shanmao's families, all came to help.

Wang Siyi's portrayal of Pan Jinlian is indeed very unlike that of Pan Jinlian.

After getting acquainted with Chen Ling's family, he hurriedly changed into Wang Susu's old clothes, put on a straw hat, and draped a towel around his neck. After Chen Ling started the tractor, he sat in the driver's seat and drove into the wheat field. After they harvested and bundled the wheat, he loaded it onto the tractor's trailer.

While working, he learned to sing folk songs from Wang Cunye, which was very unrestrained and carefree.

This left some men who had come specifically to spy on Pan Jinlian completely dumbfounded. They stood by the wheat field, stunned and speechless for a long time, as if something inside them had shattered.

Actually, let's not talk about them.

Even the Wang Qingwen family and the Zhao Dahai family were quite surprised. They said she didn't seem like someone from Taiwan at all.

Upon hearing this, Wang Siyi proudly raised her head and said that her hometown was originally in mainland China.

"Besides, I'm also surnamed Wang. We were one family five hundred years ago. Your village was called Chenwangzhuang. When I make money in the future, I'll also follow Teacher Zhao's example and build a house here to live in, hahaha."

Upon hearing this, Ding Haidong hesitated for a long time before finally managing to say, "Me too."

This elicited laughter and expressions of disdain from everyone.

In the past two days, everyone has noticed that he has a bit of a crush on Wang Siyi, but the latter is too carefree and seems unaware, making it difficult for him to reveal anything further.

Judging from Wang Siyi's current behavior, she doesn't seem to care about any of this.

Like Wang Zhenzhen, she only kept an eye on which wheat field had rabbits or pheasants. Once she found one in a wheat field, she would jump off the tractor and chase after it with Wang Zhenzhen and the other children.

Of course, a woman like her, though somewhat fierce in character and likely to be called a tomboy in later generations, was actually a fair-skinned, beautiful, and delicate woman, unlike Wang Zhenzhen, a tough country girl.

It's only when we don't encounter this kind of chasing of small animals on ordinary days that we get so excited and don't feel tired at all while running.

But if you actually let her chase them, with her lack of skill and speed, she wouldn't be able to catch a single one.

The final catch of rabbits, pheasants, quails, and the like was all thanks to Wang Zhenzhen, Xiao Dong, and their pack of dogs.

Even so, she found it extremely fun and kept asking Wang Zhenzhen to take her out to play during her few days off.

……

As the old saying goes, many hands make light work.

Regardless of how skilled Zhou Weijun and his fellow farmers were at farm work, the fact that they were able to work in the wheat fields for two days was better than sitting idly by without going to the fields. This year, their group and Zhao Dahai's family did indeed help Chen Ling a lot during the wheat harvest.

They worked and played at the same time, and finished harvesting the wheat in two days.

On the eighth day of the fifth lunar month, Wang Qingwen's family returned to Fenglei Town. Zhou Weijun and his family also wanted to leave the next day, but unfortunately, it started to rain heavily that evening.

The next morning, it was still raining heavily outside. Wang Cunye, holding a steamed bun and a salted duck egg, watched the swallows fly in and out under the eaves of the living room. Seeing that the rain showed no signs of letting up, he couldn't help but sigh, "The weather this year has been really good. When the wheat was ripe, it only drizzled at night. After everyone had finished harvesting the wheat, it finally rained heavily. It didn't cause any trouble at all. It's really good."

"Hehe, what are you saying? If it rained at the wrong time like in previous years, wouldn't the Turtle King have come out for nothing? This year's weather proves that the Turtle King is effective and has blessed everyone with good weather and a bountiful harvest."

Gao Xiulan held the bowl, gently slurping the porridge, and said.

Actually, ignoring the so-called "turtle king," what she said makes a lot of sense. For ordinary people, if it rains when it's supposed to, without delaying the farming season, that's what constitutes good weather and abundant harvests.

"Good morning, Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang."

At this moment, Wang Siyi walked over with an umbrella and greeted them.

"Siyi, go get some rice, it'll get cold soon."

Gao Xiulan and her companion had gotten used to these people greeting her in the morning these past few days. Seeing her come straight over here after coming downstairs, they reminded her to go eat breakfast.

"No rush, Auntie. It's not even seven o'clock yet. We eat breakfast late... I'll go outside and check on the little rabbits we caught. Brother Ling said rabbits are afraid of water, so we don't want them to drown."

Wang Siyi responded with a smile, then picked up her umbrella and headed out of the farm.

Ding Haidong had a lot of scenes, so the others were in a hurry to leave. She had already finished filming and wrapped up her scenes. The filming location wasn't as interesting as this one, so she wasn't in a rush to go back.

I just want to stay here, leisurely escape the summer heat, and enjoy life to the fullest without any rush.

These past two days I've been following Wang Zhenzhen around catching rabbits, chasing pheasants and quails, and we've caught a whole bunch of little things. It's been so much fun!

I especially love little rabbits.

They watch over it every day, remembering to feed it water and grass, never forgetting it for a moment.

That girl, if this weren't her own home, she might have brought that litter of baby rabbits into her room and raised them.

I went to the livestock pen outside and checked on the little rabbits; they seemed fine.

Wang Siyi returned, but when she got to the living room, she found Wang Zhenzhen fiddling with a rectangular iron box under the eaves outside the living room.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a rusty household toolbox, the kind of iron box usually used to store wrenches, pliers, hammers, and the like, now covered with lush green leaves.

What are you up to now, Zhenzhen?

"Oh? It's Sister Siyi! You startled me."

When Wang Zhenzhen looked up and saw her new playmate, she picked up the box and showed it to her: "Look, these are the silkworms I raised."

"Wow, these are silkworms! I didn't see you take them out the other day."

Wang Siyi took the tin box and asked with great curiosity.

“I keep them at my home in the village. Otherwise, there are too many birds here on the farm, and Rui Rui always brings the dog around to rummage through things. I wouldn’t dare put them here.”

Wang Zhenzhen pouted and looked around, then asked, "Sister Siyi, have you seen my mother?"

"Huh? I was just having dinner with Uncle Wang here. What's wrong?"

"My silkworms have stopped eating."

The little girl said with distress, "I still have to compete with Xizi and Liunier to see who raises the biggest and best silkworms. If I win, all their silkworms will be mine. If I don't eat, I'm bound to lose."

Wang Siyi was taken aback when she heard this. How would she know about this?

Just as I was about to go check if Gao Xiulan was in the kitchen, since the old lady should have gone to wash the dishes after finishing her meal, I saw Chen Ling coming down from the east side of the building.

Wang Zhenzhen immediately shouted, "Brother-in-law, come quick! Something terrible has happened! My silkworms aren't eating the leaves!"

"...What are you yelling about? Why are you shouting so loudly so early in the morning? I'm not deaf."

Chen Ling glared at her. This girl will be in fifth grade in the second half of the year, but she hasn't made any progress at all. She's always on the go, like a bouncing monkey, and can't sit still for a moment.

Despite saying that to her, Chen Ling still quickly walked over to take a look.

Upon closer inspection, the original twenty or thirty silkworms had grown round and plump.

Chen Ling let out a soft exclamation, reached out and picked one up to examine it closely, "This silkworm grows so fast, it's about to spin silk."

He then said to the two of them, "They're about to spin their cocoons and begin to spin silk, so they won't be so willing to eat. Let's find some wheat straw and make a silkworm mountain."

"Wow, I knew it! It turns out the silkworms are about to spin silk."

Wang Zhenzhen's eyes widened, and she excitedly clenched her little fists, exclaiming, "So, the silkworms I raise must be the fastest and best-growing!"

Then, like a little pony, he hopped and skipped into the rain: "I won again! I won again! I'm going to build the silkworm mountain!"

Seeing this, Wang Siyi was not to be outdone and hurriedly chased after him with an umbrella, saying, "Zhenzhen, slow down, wait for me."

"Sister Siyi, wait for me at home. I'll go to the village and call Xizi and the others to bring all their silkworms over, and then we'll build the silkworm mountain together."

Wang Zhenzhen casually grabbed a straw hat from under the corridor, put it on her head, and shouted without turning her head.

In the blink of an eye, they rushed out of the farm and ran outside the orchard.

(End of this chapter)