My 1995 Small Farm.

"Wealth and honor, I... sigh..."

Although Wang Laishun took the initiative to come to him, he was still clearly a little resentful.

So much so that he gets stuck as soon as he opens his mouth.

Seeing Chen Ling looking up at him without getting up, he could only sigh.

“Fugui, I don’t blame you for standing up for the boss, but there are some things I still want to say to you.”

"Row."

Chen Ling nodded.

Seeing that her son was quietly grumbling to himself while guarding the little moorhen in the bamboo cage, and wasn't moving an inch, she called her brother-in-law over to take him away.

Listen to what Wang Laishun has to say.

"Before I married Jusheng's mother, I had been married once before, you know that?"

"know."

Everyone in the village knows that Wang Laishun and Liang Guizhen are in their second marriage.

However, the Wang brothers were indeed born to Liang Guizhen and Wang Laishun after Liang Guizhen married into the family.

Chen Ling had no idea what the old man meant by saying this.

Just as I was wondering...

Wang Laishun began to ramble on and on.

It is said that his first wife had a similar temperament to Liang Guizhen.

He was young then and couldn't stand it; he found it very distasteful.

They argued and fought all the time, and life was very difficult for them. They couldn't go on like this, so they eventually broke up.

Later, he came to Liang Guizhen's place.

Come on.

Everything went well when the matchmaker was talking.

Once married, she was even worse than the first wife.

The first one is better.

Once, a group of young men went to Wangbacheng to pick up lime and met an old man who could tell fortunes.

People say this is his fate.

That's the kind of woman I married.

Actually, people in that society didn't believe in this, and they didn't actually do this kind of work; they were just chatting about it while traveling at night.

But Wang Laishun believed it.

He had been married to the same woman twice, so he couldn't help but believe it.

In addition, given the social atmosphere at that time, people took important life events very seriously.

How could I get a divorce just because I'm not satisfied?

So he felt that this was his fate.

Accepted.

His acceptance of his fate has turned out to be a good thing.

Liang Guizhen became even more outrageous.

However, adhering to the principle that harmony in the family brings prosperity, Wang Laishun avoids arguing whenever possible, and generally goes along with his wife unless it's a major issue.

One day it goes smoothly, two days it goes smoothly...

Now, so many years have passed, and Liang Guizhen's temper has naturally developed.

When Wang Laishun married his first wife, she was also short-tempered and very stubborn.

They argue all day long over trivial matters, physically assault their wives, and cause chaos and disorder.

What has become of him after all these years of marrying Liang Guizhen?

He said he had accepted his fate.

I guess I've really resigned myself to my fate.

Since my life is destined to be with this woman, what's the point of all the trouble I can cause? I'll just let her be and ignore her.

Otherwise, how can we live together if we keep arguing and making a fuss all the time?
The result is what it is now.

“Fugui, with what has happened to my family, I have no face to be the Party Secretary anymore. You should take over from now on. You know people everywhere, and everyone in the village respects you. You will definitely do a better job than me.”

It's clear that Wang Laishun is extremely upset about this incident.

"Don't mention that, I can't do it."

Without thinking, Chen Ling replied.

"If you can't do it, I can't do it either..."

Wang Laishun shook his head and sighed again: "Also, don't worry about anything else, those two won't dare to cause you any trouble."

Chen Ling chuckled upon hearing this, neither confirming nor denying.

Wang Laishun said that there's nothing unbelievable about accepting one's fate.

If this hadn't happened in his family, he probably wouldn't have told anyone.

But as for how to treat his two sons...

He wasn't much better than Liang Guizhen.

When Wang Jusheng's first child, Dandan, was born, he disliked her very much and never held her even once.

The second major problem is the boy. Surely we should take some responsibility for him, but we haven't done anything about him for a single day.

If it weren't for the Chen Ling and Wang Jusheng families helping out during the busy farming season these past two years, the two children alone would have been enough to worry Wang Jusheng and his wife.

Although Chen Ling's attitude wasn't cold, he wasn't talking as much as before.

Wang Laishun knew that even if this kid had no problem with him, he definitely had a lot of problems with Juxiang and his mother.

So after exchanging a few more random words, he didn't stay long and walked away with his hands behind his back.

……

No sooner had he left than Chen Gannian, who was herding sheep on the hillside, arrived.

After Chen Ling and Wang Laishun's family caused such a commotion recently, the villagers have stopped coming to the orchard for lunch.

If Chen Gannian hadn't seen Wang Laishun come over today, he certainly wouldn't have come here rashly.

As the fourth grandfather of Chen Ling's family, even if the two families were not as close as when Chen Ling's grandfather, his old brother, was alive, he would definitely side with his own family.

After arriving here, I chatted with Chen Ling casually.

Later, the conversation gradually turned to the story of Wu Song fighting the tiger.

"You're amazing, kid. You can even tame a tiger. If the old hunters saw this, they would worship you like a mountain god."

"Mountain God? Don't we worship the Earth God here?"

“There used to be a mountain god too. Our village used to have three temples: the Guanyin Temple for Giving Children in the east, the Earth God Temple in the west, and the Mountain God Temple in the north…” Chen Gannian carefully wiped the peach Chen Ling had given him. “Later, the tigers disappeared, and so did the Mountain God Temple.”

"Huh? Why is that?"

Chen Ling thought to himself, "Aren't mountain gods usually associated with mountain spirits and monsters? How come they're involved with tigers?"

"Tigers are the king of beasts. The mountain gods of the Qinling Mountains ride tigers to patrol the mountains and command all the beasts. If the tigers are all gone, everyone will say that the mountain gods have left."

Chen Gannian, holding his sheep-driving whip and munching on a peach, said matter-of-factly.

Chen Ling was a little stunned; he had never heard of this before.

It seems that these elderly people know more than what's in the magazines.

"There's not much to say about this. Your father-in-law's family in Fenglei Town still worships the mountain god. Every place has its own customs. Let's talk about Wu Song fighting the tiger. You must have read Water Margin, right?"

"Yes, I've read it. What's gotten into you today? Why did you come all the way here to talk about Water Margin?"

"Yeah, let's talk about Wu Song fighting the tiger in Water Margin."

Chen Gannian chuckled, revealing several missing yellow teeth, and the scars on his old face trembled along with him.

"Wu Song could fight a tiger, Fu Gui, do you think you could beat a tiger?"

"If this is really a big tiger from the mountains, I definitely can't beat it."

"Right? Wu Song could fight, so he must be really powerful. But even the most powerful person can't protect himself from being tricked by others. You've read Water Margin, so you must know that Wu Song was tricked by that Supervisor Zhang using a maid named Yulan, right?"

"Uh, I know."

Chen Ling was taken aback when he suddenly heard the old man mention this.

Then he finally realized what was going on.

Fourth Grandfather saw Wang Laishun coming and specifically reminded him.

They feared that if he stood up for Wang Jusheng, Wang Juxiang and his mother would be unable to stand up to him on the surface, and would plot against him behind his back.

No wonder they immediately brought up the story of Wu Song fighting the tiger.

"Wu Song is from a storybook, don't take it seriously. You've probably heard of the Taoist priests who lived in that small temple on Donggang Hill east of our village. Those Taoist priests were really powerful. They couldn't bind him with iron wire as thick as a pea. They wrapped him up a few times with his bare chest, and it snapped off with a snap."

Clinging to the rafters under the eaves, one can jump onto the roof.

They were eventually chased away.

Even the small temple's farmland has been seized by others.

Why?

They know you're capable, so they won't confront you head-on. If force doesn't work, they'll try softer, more underhanded tactics. Can you defend against that?

"I understand, Fourth Grandfather."

Chen Ling understood the old man's good intentions and nodded quickly.

"Yeah, we all know your dog is reliable and usually doesn't cause any problems. I'm just giving you a heads-up."

Chen Gannian said with a smile.

……

Fourth Grandfather is right.

Chen Ling and Guang Yunzhai were famous for their fight at home last year, where they even made homemade explosives, only to have them blown up by their own dog.

Such a mysterious thing sounds unbelievable at first glance.

At the time, the villagers all said it was retribution, or that the auspicious energy of Chen Ling's family had 'hindered' them.

Later, as Chen Ling's dog became increasingly intelligent, people began to have some doubts about it.

But no one has any evidence.

However, the lack of evidence does not mean that people will not speculate.

For example, Wang Juxiang and his mother were like that; at first, they were still gritting their teeth and hating Chen Ling while they were in the hospital.

Later, the eldest daughter-in-law's family made a fuss, and then the children of the two brothers made another fuss because of their father who had broken his leg. The mother and daughter were so upset that they couldn't sleep.

They finally managed to get some sleep, but their dreams were filled with Chen Ling tormenting them with dogs.

With the Guang family serving as a cautionary tale, the mother and daughter had clearly considered the consequences of seeking revenge against Chen Ling.

In addition, Chen Ling has been doing better and better this year. Today he's filming a TV show, and tomorrow he's a consultant for raising military dogs.

We can't afford to offend them anymore.

This person is afraid of scaring themselves.

After a moment of anger, all that remained was lingering fear.

in the afternoon.

I herded sheep with my great-uncle for a while and cleaned up the livestock manure in the pen.

Then we went to have dinner.

With a young child at home, dinner is served exceptionally early.

Dinner was ready just after five o'clock.

Even in the summer, Wang Susu and her son don't worry about the food getting cold; they chase after the child all over the yard to feed him.

Chen Ling had already eaten dinner.

I went to the storage room to tidy up the fishing nets, preparing to go to the reservoir again tonight to check on the situation.

Unexpectedly, just as it got dark, Chen Ling and his brother-in-law were outside calling the dog to bring the chickens and ducks back when Zhao Dahai and Shanmao came over with two old men, saying they wanted to catch cicada nymphs.

Let them go, they won't be staying here for more than a few days anyway.

"Fugui, Fugui, don't move, there's something behind you."

When I went home to get the bottle, as soon as I came out, the two old men whispered furtively in low voices.

"What? Uncle Zhao, how old am I? You're not going to play these tricks on me. You'd be better off scaring Rui Rui."

Chen Ling immediately realized that these two old rascals were up to no good.

"Don't be so loud. It really is there. Look, it's on the wall."

"Holy crap, what's this?"

The lynx carried Rui Rui into the backyard and was also startled.

His commotion was even bigger than Chen Ling's, alarming the other side.

Under the cover of night came a loud and piercing cry: "Caw, croak, croak..."

Chen Ling quickly turned his head to look over.

Two huge dark figures were seen standing on the west wall. Because they were behind the light, they were indistinct and it was impossible to see what they were.

"An owl? Its hooting is so awful."

"It's not an owl. How could an owl grow that big? It's probably a water bird from nearby."

As Chen Ling spoke, he casually picked up a bamboo pole to scare the two large birds away, when he heard urgent cries of "caw caw, caw caw" coming from overhead.

His night vision was much better than that of ordinary people. When he looked up, he saw a flock of large gray-white birds spreading their wings and slowly circling in the sky.