My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 503 Alert
"What? Qingzhong had an accident? We can't go to the zoo?"

"...Visiting the tiger is a minor matter; the key question is, what happened to Qingzhong?"

"Huh? We're being held in the Miao village, and they won't let us leave without compensation?"

"Okay, okay, you call Uncle Han first, Dahai and I will be there right away."

In the morning, Chen Ling made a phone call to Shanmao and others, and then called Professor Han.

While he was on the phone, his brother-in-law and Wang Jusheng arrived. They weren't going to stay in the city with Chen Ling; they were heading home today, eager to make a big splash.

Upon hearing the news about Wang Qingzhong, everyone became restless.

Wang Jusheng and his brother-in-law, in particular, reacted even more fiercely than their elder brother Wang Qingwen, yelling and shouting that they were going to grab weapons and storm the Miao village to snatch people away.

Chen Ling stood up for them and helped them make money.

I was just wondering where I could help Chen Ling.

When faced with something like this, wouldn't you rush in more frantically than anyone else?

Chen Ling told them to calm down and finished his call with Professor Han.

Then, after Zhao Dahai and Shanmao arrived, they had a brief discussion.

“Fugui, I heard you say on the phone that Qingzhong ruined someone else’s hunting trip. When I came here, I picked out two nice hunting dogs from the dog farm. I’ll see if I can apologize to them first.”

After Lynx finished speaking, Zhao Dahai immediately added, "Perfect timing, Lynx brought his dog, and I brought money and a letter of introduction."

Everyone chimed in, and everyone was very engaged and enthusiastic.

In addition, Chen Ling had inquired with Professor Han beforehand about how to deal with the Miao village there.

Without further delay, they took the waterway back directly.

Without transporting large quantities of goods, waterways are definitely faster than land routes. Moreover, the Miao village is not in this county but in another county under a different province, so going directly to Fenglei Town by waterway is the best option.

After all, Fenglei Town is located at the intersection of three provinces.

There's no need to detour through Tenghe Township anymore.

We set off in the morning and arrived in Fenglei Town around 8 or 9 pm.

Rested overnight.

The group then rushed to the Miao village mountain area in a neighboring county of a neighboring province.

Actually, once you arrive at Fenglei Town, the Miao village is quite close by.

During major festivals, such as the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, or before the end of the twelfth lunar month, there are market days in Fenglei Town, and many Miao people come to attend.

Chen Ling encountered this once when he first took his wife back to her parents' home for a market day.

At the time, I thought these Miao people weren't afraid of being robbed after traveling such a long distance over mountains and valleys.

I later learned from Wang Qingzhong that it is also possible to travel to the Miao village by water.

It's similar to the county where the crested ibis gather; there are many rivers and paddy fields.

Of course, most Miao villages are located in the mountains.

After all, when they first fled from the southwest region, they hid and lived in caves in the mountains.

Needless to say, Fenglei Town is located at the intersection of three provinces, and everyone shares many similar backgrounds in terms of survival.

War, bandits, all sorts of chaos, and countless legends.

"Fugui, when Uncle Cunye called, he said that Qingzhong was being held captive somewhere?"

"I told you, it's supposedly a place called Ranjiazhai. It's called Ranjiazhai, but it's not just one village. It seems like several villages went hunting together, holding some kind of hunting event."

After departing from the dock outside Fenglei Town, the journey follows the surging Xisha River, offering breathtaking views of the lush trees on the steep cliffs and the winding plank roads along the riverbank.

Several people, accompanied by two mountain dogs, one yellow and one white, sat at the bow of the boat talking.

"Hunting? I've heard that it's the custom of hunters in the mountains not to go hunting in the summer, and the Miao people are the same, right? How could there be hunting at this time of year?"

"Brother Qingwen, when we came here the year before last, didn't Uncle Cunye say that even if there were many venomous snakes for medicinal use in the summer, we wouldn't catch them? If we're like that when catching snakes, shouldn't we follow the rules even more when hunting?"

"That makes sense, but..."

Wang Qingwen frowned slightly.

He didn't show it on his face, but he was actually very worried about his brother. He had been thinking about it since yesterday. Now, when he heard Shanmao ask him this, he suddenly realized something and hurriedly looked at Chen Ling and said, "Lingzi, do you think this is because there are suddenly more wild boars in Lutou Mountain this year? Otherwise, there is no custom of hunting in the Miao village in the summer."

"Hmm? That's actually quite possible!"

Chen Ling also snapped out of his daze and his eyes widened suddenly.

Yesterday, he was worried that there might be strange taboos in the Miao village, fearing that his second brother-in-law might be mistreated there. He kept asking Professor Han and his friends to inquire about the customs and how to interact with people in the Miao village. In the end, he managed to resolve the matter peacefully.

However, he overlooked what his father-in-law had mentioned: Wang Qingzhong had accidentally interfered with someone else's hunting trip and caused some trouble, which was why he was detained in the Miao village and not allowed to leave.

"What do you mean? Fugui, I heard from my dad that there are fewer wild boars around here this year, aren't there?"

Zhao Dahai asked in confusion.

Wang Jusheng was also a little puzzled. Yes, he hadn't seen any wild boars this year, and hadn't encountered any in the mountains either.

Why are we bringing up wild boars again?

Chen Ling chuckled: "You said it yourself, the wild boars are fewer in our area. Our area is the Wuyun Mountain region, which is separated from here by so many mountains and rivers..."

Fenglei Town is located at the tri-provincial border, within the Lutou Mountain area. Given how far apart we are, how can everything be the same?

Zhao Dahai was stunned, but then he realized that made sense.

Wang Jusheng thought to himself that wild boars used to be like wolves, sometimes causing trouble in various places, and sometimes disappearing for years.

They are all within the same county, all in the Qinling Mountains, so it's not a matter of one place having more and another having less.

There has never been such a big difference.

“Yes, things can’t always be the same. Last time Lingzi came, we encountered people hunting wild boars in a village near the plank road. The wild boars ran into people’s houses during the heavy rain at night…”

As Wang Qingwen spoke, he pointed to the southwest: "My father-in-law's family, and Qingzhong's father-in-law's family, go out to hunt pigs every day in the spring. If they don't hunt them, they go out in the middle of the night to damage the crops and seedlings. After one group is finished, several more groups come. Can you imagine how many pigs there are this year?"

Everyone was secretly astonished upon hearing this.

At the same time, I feel that the two mountain dogs that the lynx brought might actually be the right choice.

……

Heading northwest along the surging Xisha River, besides the beautiful scenery of high mountains on both banks, boats constantly pass by. Most of them are cargo ships, and only when you approach the Miao village area can you see a few fishing boats.

Around noon, we finally arrived near the county seat of this Miao ethnic minority area.

When Zhao Dahai came, he brought a letter of introduction from the city government, fearing that there might be some perfunctory treatment here. He also clearly stated his current position and his identity as Zhao Yubao's son.

really.

The letter of introduction was delivered to the county government quite smoothly.

What they didn't know was that Professor Han had asked someone to call the county government in advance.

This time, there was no more pretense. After a quick bite of lunch, they immediately set off for the Miao village settlement southwest of the county seat.

Talk about it.

Their county town is quite unique, built on both sides of a river, and like Fenglei Town, it has a touch of the charm of a Jiangnan water town.

Boats come and go on the river, and paddy fields are scattered on the outskirts of the county town, where water birds frolic, creating a very peaceful scene.

However, once we entered the mountains and headed towards Ranjiazhai, the experience was different from that in the county town.

Once you enter the mountains, the terrain becomes much steeper.

The terrain is almost identical to that of Fenglei Town.

They are all the same: high mountains and deep valleys, deep ravines and dense forests.

Given how treacherous this place is, it's no wonder that it became a refuge for a Miao people back then.

"Wow~"

We went into the mountains, crossed rivers, passed through bamboo forests and forests, and also passed by 'Dushu Village', which was undergoing the fastest transformation.

About half an hour later, the two hunting dogs that Lynx brought, one white and one yellow, raised their heads and barked loudly, constantly pulling on their chains, trying to rush out.

"What? Something's happened?"

Zhao Dahai immediately wanted to reach for the gun; they all carried those things, hidden in their backpacks.

"It's okay, don't be nervous, there are just wild monkeys in the trees ahead."

"It's a wild monkey. What's with all the noise from a wild monkey? Looks like you're not very good at training your dog."

Zhao Dahai breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

I heard what Wang Qingwen and Chen Ling said on the way, and I know that wild boars are rampant here this year, and it is very likely that the same is true in the Miao village.

Therefore, everyone is very cautious when entering the mountains.

"Nonsense, I've only just trained one dog king. I haven't even had time to train the rest of the dogs yet. I don't have Fugui's ability to get them all sorted out in half a month or twenty days."

Last year, Lynx took Chen Ling's advice and trained a dog king in order to manage these dogs.

Otherwise, if there are too many aggressive dogs, or dogs used as hunting dogs, they will like to fight. Even if people don't rank them as number one or two, they will fight to establish a leader and a dog king.

In particular, injuries and deaths can occur when female dogs are in heat.

So last winter, a core group was established for the dog pack.

The lucky one chosen was a tall, strong, and highly capable 'Taihang Dog'.

The so-called Taihang dog, as the name suggests, is a mountain-chasing dog from the Taihang Mountains region, and it is also a type of native hunting dog.

However, because they were born in the north, they are larger and more robust than southern breeds.

They can typically grow to a maximum weight of around 120 pounds.

It's more than a size larger than a typical tiger-head yellow tiger.

But this kind of dog doesn't have a tiger's head and cat's ears.

Instead, it has a pair of distinctly curved folded ears on its large head...

Imagine, a tall and muscular figure with big, thick, folded ears. People who see him for the first time will naturally find him a bit strange and subconsciously take a second look.

But at the same time, it can be very impressive.

The reason for saying this is that, apart from the dog king of the dog farm, the two dogs that were selected and brought were also Taihang dogs, but their bloodlines were not very pure.

"Huh? It looks like this wild monkey was chased here by someone?"

As soon as Lynx finished speaking, Chen Ling looked up.

Several short gunshots rang out in the distance.

A sharp, piercing cry came from the tree, then the branches shook violently as the monkeys darted toward them.

"Yes, it's the people from Ranjia Village chasing the monkeys."

At this moment, two county leaders, one fat and one thin, who were following behind Chen Ling and the others, wiped the sweat from their faces and said breathlessly.

"Huh? People from Ran Family Village? Is Ran Family Village nearby?"

Everyone's eyes lit up.

"Yes, the direction these wild monkeys came from is the hill where Ranjia Village is located."

The fat leader was speaking, panting.

"Then hurry up and go pick up our people."

Just then, not far behind the group of wild monkeys in front, two young men dressed in Miao clothing walked over carrying guns.

They were clearly taken aback when they saw so many of them there.

The thin leader then said to Chen Ling and the others, "Don't rush, I'll go over and say a few words to them and ask about the general situation."

After saying that, he shouted twice in Miao language and walked forward, whispering with the two young men.

Upon hearing this, the two young men from Ranjia Village immediately looked at them with extremely wary eyes.

"Hmm? This guy seems a bit difficult to get along with!"

Chen Ling and his brother-in-law exchanged glances and frowned.

If they still have such strong emotions towards them after understanding the situation, this trip probably won't be as smooth as they imagined.

(End of this chapter)