My 1995 Small Farm.

492. There are fewer octopuses.

"Is it a crane?"

Chen Ling narrowed his eyes, and before he could see clearly, the two dark figures on the wall spread their wings and flew towards them.

The way this big bird flies is quite different from how the small bird flies.

When you're in the air, it doesn't look like anything.

But now we're so close to the ground.

Good guy.

Once those two large wings spread out, a gust of wind blew towards them with each flap.

It sounds exaggerated, but it's really true when you get up close.

Zhao Yubao and his group had never encountered such a large bird swooping down on them before.

One by one, people exclaimed in surprise, "Oh dear, oh dear..."

He yelled and dodged away.

Rui Rui, nestled in the lynx's arms, was so frightened that she tightly closed her eyes.

"What kind of bird is that? How dare it attack people like that?"

"Let's stew it and eat it."

The two old men shouted.

Only then did Chen Ling get a clear look at the two large birds, and he was dumbfounded: "Damn, they're red-crowned cranes?!"

"What? Red-crowned cranes?"

The two old men were about to pounce on them and catch the two audacious birds.

Hearing Chen Ling's words, he immediately stopped in his tracks and looked closely.

The two large birds that flew down from the top of the wall were none other than two slender and elegant red-crowned cranes.

Moreover, these two red-crowned cranes were clearly not afraid of people.

After landing on the ground, it strutted confidently to the ditch with its wings on its back, lowered its head and stretched its neck, and skillfully used its long beak to catch small fish.

They seemed to ignore them completely.

"Huh? Could this be the red-crowned crane that landed in your village last year?"

Seeing how bold these two red-crowned cranes were, Lynx suddenly had an idea and couldn't help but blurt it out.

After Chen Ling clearly saw what the two guys looked like, he put down the bamboo pole in his hand.

He shrugged and said helplessly, "That's right. Look at how they fly down and immediately look for fish to eat. Apart from those two cranes last year, none of the others would do that."

swallow.

crane.

Wild geese.

These migratory birds have very strong memories.

When they fly back next year, they will still remember the place they used to live.

As Chen Ling spoke, he kicked the two shameless, rogue birds.

The two rascals did indeed remember him and were not afraid of strangers at all.

It dodged away with a quick movement, then spread its wings and squawked loudly as it fled.

"Get out of here, you're not allowed to eat."

"Hey, Fugui, don't chase them away. They must have traveled a long way and are hungry and tired. Let them eat something."

"No, there aren't any big fish left in here, just newly hatched fry. We can't let them cause trouble."

"Oh, I see. Then we can't let them harm us. Let's go out and catch some fish for the red-crowned cranes."

As the two old men talked, they smiled and reached out to touch the two red-crowned cranes, trying to take them out to catch fish.

The two red-crowned cranes were convinced that the fish at the farm was delicious, and they refused to eat it.

It kept spreading its wings, squawking and hopping to avoid the attack.

Rui Rui found it amusing, and struggled to get down from the lynx's arms, whimpering, and ran over to join in the commotion.

Chen Ling quickly called his wife and the others over, saying that the red-crowned crane had returned.

"Croak, croak, croak..."

Two cranes on the ground are calling, and a flock of cranes in the sky are also calling.

However, upon seeing the two red-crowned cranes on the ground, the flock of cranes in the sky clearly dared not fly down. Instead, they landed one by one on the farm's wall, facing the light.

A flock of large birds stood in a row, and when viewed against the lamplight in the night, they looked like human figures wearing coats, which was quite frightening.

Chen Ling brought a flashlight and shone it over, and everyone stared intently at it.

"Aren't some of those red-crowned cranes? There seem to be only two or three on the wall!"

"Yes, there are mostly white cranes and gray cranes, which should have flown in with the red-crowned cranes. Wasn't it the same last year?"

"Tsk tsk, I guess there must be flooding downstream again, and they couldn't stay still, so they flew over here."

"may be."

Red-crowned cranes do not migrate on a large scale like geese, which usually number in the dozens or hundreds at a time.

It's quite common to see five, six, or even ten red-crowned cranes during their migration.

Moreover, it is not impossible for red-crowned cranes to mix with other flocks of cranes along the way during their migration.

They are like geese.

They don't always stay in their nests to sleep at night; they also migrate and fly.

They keep flying until they reach their destination.

On clear autumn nights, you can often hear them chirping joyfully high above your head.

It's only the sixth month of the lunar calendar, which is the breeding season for large waterfowl such as cranes and herons. They generally don't move to different places or undertake long-distance migrations easily.

Of course, this breeding season doesn't mean they've just started laying eggs.

This means that they may have reached the final stage of incubation, or they may have already completed incubation and are currently raising their young.

How could one possibly leave so easily under such circumstances?

So it really is possible that they were affected by the floods again and flew in from the east. "If this happens for two years in a row, they'll probably learn their lesson next year and fly directly here, right?"

Wang Qingwen picked up two cicadas that had been knocked unconscious under the light and threw them over; the two red-crowned cranes actually ate them.

It snatched it up with its long snout and swallowed it whole.

"Who knows? Anyway, the white crane usually only comes back on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month."

Chen Ling looked at the large birds on the wall, which were eyeing him menacingly. He was a little worried about the fish fry he had just released. These fish fry were small red-lipped barbs and fine-scaled salmon, which were worth a lot of money. He was not about to let these big-beaked birds cause trouble for them.

If you let them eat as much as they want, the fish fry in the ditch will probably be completely devoured overnight.

So he said to the two old men who were playing around with the red-crowned cranes with great interest, "Uncle Zhao, Uncle Zhong, let's go outside and catch some fish for them. There are no fish for them to eat at home."

"Alright, let's go, let's catch fish to feed the red-crowned cranes."

When they used to go out at night to catch cicada nymphs, they would also stop by the old river bend to set traps or stick a couple of eel hooks in, and then come back early the next morning to collect them.

The red-crowned cranes have arrived tonight, so they definitely have no interest in catching cicada nymphs or going all the way to the old river bend to catch fish.

They forcibly held down the two rogue birds, dragged them out of the farm, and went to catch fish in the ditch behind the farm.

However, these two large birds have become familiar with people and are not afraid of them.

Other cranes won't do.

Seeing the two red-crowned cranes being dragged away, they were so frightened that they flew away from the top of the wall.

Judging from the direction they were heading, they were probably heading towards the mountain lake, so Chen Ling and the others didn't pay much attention to it.

They simply dragged two red-crowned cranes out of the farm.

The whole way was chaotic, with Rui Rui excitedly screaming, which scared the small animals and wild birds that came to the orchard to hunt for food, causing them to fly and jump around in panic.

A group of fluffy kittens were chasing after a bunch of black moorhens running around in the tall grass.

"Wow, these little raccoons are pretty clever; they're catching baby moorhens to eat."

"Cats are definitely smart. A few days ago, they even ran into the farm and waited under the electric light to catch cicadas. These past two days, the baby moorhens have hatched, so they'll have plenty to eat."

The two dens of civets that Chen Ling raised, along with the wild civets outside, are the natural enemies of these chicks, so the orchard has been quite lively these past two days.

They were talking.

The two red-crowned cranes, however, were restless.

It was just getting dark, and 7 to 9 pm is the best time to catch fish. Summer days are very hot, and many fish will surface to look for food at this time.

The two rogue birds have very sharp eyes.

They spotted the school of fish floating on the canal at a glance, jumped up and down to avoid being touched by people, and went inside to catch the fish.

They looked really hungry, eating any fish they saw.

These fish aren't worth much, and most of them are small, miscellaneous fish, so Chen Ling wouldn't feel bad about eating two of them.

However, they still lead them to the small stream at the foot of the mountain, where there are many small fish that the ducks and water birds eat all day long, so it doesn't matter.

These two big birds are really friendly; they become close to whoever feeds them.

The two old men, Zhao Yubao and his wife, fed the fish to them. They would give them fish whenever they caught one. After eating and drinking their fill, Zhao Yubao, like the two old men, put on his wings and slowly walked home with them.

The two old men were so happy they almost lost their bearings.

Carrying a small bucket of fish, she feeds them as she walks, treating them even more affectionately than if she were taking care of her own grandson.

After luring the two cranes to the village, a group of villagers who were enjoying the cool evening air gathered around in surprise, saying that the cranes were sentimental and had actually returned this year.

These cranes are so beautiful; we should take them home and pamper them with good food and drink for a few days.

Actually, it was the same last year. Every family in the village was vying to raise red-crowned cranes for a few days. Red-crowned cranes are considered celestial cranes, and everyone wanted to absorb some of their divine aura.

After learning about this situation.

Zhao Yubao and his companion were happy to join in the fun.

Over the next few days, the two red-crowned cranes not only enjoyed being fed by the villagers, but their companions were also attracted to them. A total of six red-crowned cranes would fly to the village at dawn every day, carrying their wings and strolling leisurely around the village.

They all act like big shots, freeloading off the villagers in their homes.

That guy really enjoyed himself.

Chen Ling took his wife and children to the village a few times to follow the cranes, feeding them and playing with them, and also taking some photos with everyone.

It is now the sixth month of the lunar calendar, and half of it has already passed.

Next month, on the eighth day of the seventh lunar month, will be the first annual temple fair in Chenwangzhuang.

Although the various strange things that happened in Chenwangzhuang attracted tourists, it was no less than those at temple fairs.

But nominally, everyone did take it quite seriously, after all, it was the first time, and it was a formal temple fair.

The crane's early return at this crucial juncture is a very auspicious sign.

Moreover, while there have been floods every summer in the past two years, things have been very peaceful here. This is all thanks to the protection and blessing of the "Turtle King". The villagers all feel that it is only right to build a temple and that it is something that deserves attention.

So, besides busying themselves with farm work like weeding and pest control, every household talked about the temple fair this year.

Chen Ling had known about the temple fair for a while, but he hadn't paid much attention to it. Recently, apart from going to the reservoir at night to look for the strange fish, he had been releasing horses and pigeons. When releasing horses, he would also visit Wang Jusheng in the hospital. There wasn't much else to do.

After his brother-in-law and his wife arrived, he had some free time again.

The only frustrating thing is that the big fishing net was woven, but the big fish in the reservoir disappeared without a trace, and they couldn't be found no matter how hard they looked.

I don't know if they ran away or what happened.

On the contrary, the sturgeon fry he bought from the cave are getting bigger every day, and they are now more than a meter long.

If we raise it for another two years, it might even grow to the size of that strange fish in the reservoir.

"When they don't contact you, they'll try to get close to you, but when they do contact you, they'll disappear."

Chen Ling sighed in frustration. It was true. The giant fish seemed to know he was going to catch it. Before, when he took garlic to that area of ​​water, he would be attacked. Now, there was no movement at all. No matter how he provoked it or tried to lure it with raw, bloody meat, it was no use.

It's as if they've completely disappeared.

"Lingzi, come and take a look. I feel like there are fewer fish in the ditch..."

Chen Ling was getting meat from the water tower when his brother-in-law suddenly called him over.

"What's wrong, bro? Which ditch has fewer fish?"

Wang Qingwen was herding sheep at this time. He squatted on the west side of the farm, not far from the mountain fox cave, and pointed to the two intersecting irrigation ditches, saying, "It's all empty here, and you can't see any fish in the water."

(End of this chapter)