My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 522 Discrimination
"Alright, Uncle Fugui, we're just waiting for you to speak."

Wang Wenchao swung his arm, grinned, and ran home to get some beer.

Wang Lishan laughed when he saw this: "These guys, as soon as they hear they're going to a rich man's house for a drink, they get all excited, right?"

Okay, I'll bring some cured meat later.

"My kid caught a whole basin of cicada nymphs that we haven't eaten yet, so I'll take them over and fry them up."

"We also have cicada nymphs, eels, and loaches at home..."

"I...I don't have much with me, but I'll bring some eggs."

Everyone was having a lively time, just like when we shared a meal in the production team back in the day.

Back then, we were poor and rarely ate meat. We would chip in from one neighbor to another to share a meal and have a little something to satisfy our cravings.

"Bring something if you want, and if you don't have anything, just bring an empty stomach. I'm going back to pack now."

Chen Ling smiled and waved his hand, first picking some vegetables from the village's yard, and then returning to the farm to kill quails.

Some of the quails this year are about two years old, nearing the end of their lives and the time when they will die of old age.

And it has already stopped laying eggs.

Chen Ling couldn't stand seeing the pets he kept at home slowly die of old age.

This will make me feel bad.

Rather than waiting for them to die of old age, it's better to eat them sooner rather than later.

The quail I raised myself tasted very good.

Pair it with the old yellow quail caught by Chen Baoshuan and his son, and cook a big pot of it – it's absolutely delicious!

……

Speaking of Lao Huang quail, this is a delicious quail.

Its deliciousness needs no further explanation.

The only thing worth mentioning is that this thing is extremely rare and hard to find.

It has only recently reappeared locally this year.

Unlike ordinary wild quails, they don't run around in the wild.

Unlike the wheat field turtle, it can't reproduce in large numbers all at once.

Chen Ling had specifically searched for it several times during the wheat harvest, but unfortunately he didn't find much; it was too hard to find.

Unlike ordinary wild quails, they don't have a fixed place to live and wander around the wild all day looking for food.

I don't know where I'll go tonight.

Moreover, they all disappear when it rains, and we don't know where they go.

They are not as easy to catch as ordinary wild quails.

As for now...

Let alone the old yellow quail, even ordinary wild quails are hard to catch now.

It is now the last period of summer heat.

The weather is still very hot.

However, judging from the solar terms, autumn has already begun.

After the start of autumn, the corn in the fields begins to head.

At this time of year, the corn grows extremely fast, changing every day.

Small corn cobs will soon appear.

Therefore, we can no longer go to the fields to search for wild animals.

It was quite lucky that Chen Sangui and his son Chen Baoshuan managed to shoot an old yellow quail while irrigating the corn.

Chen Ling was killing quails at home when his brother-in-law brought back sheep and let them drink water by the irrigation ditch.

Recently, Wang Qingwen and his wife have been going into the mountains to pick mushrooms at dawn, and during the day they help Chen Ling herd sheep, collect eggs, and look after the farm.

Those bird photographers from the provincial TV station are still there.

We cook for them and pay for their meals.

Of course, the couple didn't do all the work.

Chen Ling would come back every morning.

Wang Qingwen took off his shoes, emptied the contents of the shoe shells, tucked his buttocks in, and sat down on the ground.

Looking up at Chen Ling, he said, "The corn should be watered by now. I think the fields east of the village have been mostly watered."

Corn requires a lot of water during the tasseling stage. To be more specific, the water requirement is greatest in the ten days before and after tasseling.

However, most people can't predict it accurately.

If the rain doesn't come by then...

Then just water the corn as soon as you see it tasseling.

"It's time to water it. I'll clean it up tomorrow and do it myself."

Chen Ling didn't seem to care at all. He usually didn't have much to do and rarely did any physical labor, so he wasn't against it.

"Are you really going to do it yourself? Or are you trying to conscript those bird photographers as laborers again?"

Wang Qingwen looked at his brother-in-law and joked.

"How could that be? Brother, you think too badly of me. They paid for their lodging at our farm. How can we expect them to work for us after they've paid? I'm not a skinflint..."

Chen Ling immediately protested his innocence.

Accommodation at one's own farm is considered expensive these days.

Of course, the accommodations for everyone from the provincial TV station were paid for by the public funds, especially after they successfully filmed the wild boar king and sent it back to the station, the public funds were paid even more generously.

These people also spend money like crazy.

They asked Wang Qingwen and his wife to come up with all sorts of delicious food for them.

I've had the cured pork and cured duck in a hanging pot several times now.

I still can't get enough of it.

"Didn't you notice? Those guys are a bunch of gluttons. If you invite them for drinks tonight, they'll go get food for you tomorrow."

Wang Qingwen smiled and raised his eyebrows, giving Chen Ling a crooked idea.

He's always been serious, so he rarely shows this side of himself.

"Come on, even if they really wanted to help me, I wouldn't take them. They're a bunch of lazy bums who don't know anything about farming; they'd only make things worse if they went into the fields..."

Chen Ling deftly killed and cleaned the quail, then put it into a bamboo basket.

"Haha, I'm just kidding. I'll water it with you tomorrow. Otherwise, with these twenty acres of corn and the heat, you won't be able to finish watering them all by yourself in a whole day..."

Wang Qingwen smiled.

Just as Chen Ling was about to speak, his brother-in-law took out a letter from his pocket: "Your second brother has some good news to send over. Thanks to your connections in the Miao village, he's really making it big there. People are scrambling to buy our clothes. In just a few days, he's already earned nearly ten thousand yuan."

Look, he's even found quite a few skilled needleworkers! They embroider very quickly, and our collection of T-shirts is growing rapidly.

Chen Ling took the letter and read it; it was indeed so.

No wonder my brother-in-law is so happy; he's made a lot of money.

"This is great news, we should have a good drink to celebrate tonight."

"Haha, what great news is it this time, Fugui? Are you about to strike it rich again?!"

Just then, Chen Baoshuan and Chen Dazhi arrived, carrying two already-killed yellow quails.

"Yes, we've struck it rich! We'll buy a car and drive it home tomorrow."

Chen Ling stood up with a smile and shook the water off his hands.

At this moment, Wang Lixian, Wang Jusheng, and their group also arrived behind them, standing on the dirt road outside the orchard, pointing and talking about Chen Ling's cornfield.

Some people even reached out and plucked a corn husk, holding it in their hands to examine it closely.

They came over after a while.

Upon reaching Chen Ling, he said, "I see that not only the wheat, but also the corn in your yard looks better than the ones in the village. It's tall and strong."

"Yes, yes, the corn we grow has thin, tender stalks, green with a hint of yellow. Your corn stalks are tall, thick, and large, dark green, and look very robust."

"Yes, it's really strong. One of these leaves is as good as two of mine. It's thick and sturdy... The other day, I used corn leaves to wipe my butt when I pooped in my own field. Those leaves were so thin that they would tear as soon as you touched them, and they would irritate my butt. They're not as good as yours. They're as thick as kraft paper."

"..."

"Ha, if you think my seeds are good, that's easy. We can exchange them after the autumn harvest. I've kept quite a few wheat and corn seeds in Fenglei Town."

"Wow, this is truly a place of wealth and openness." "Absolutely, they don't hide anything at all."

Chen Ling left behind a lot of high-quality wheat seeds in the Miao village as a gift, because corn cannot be grown on the mountains there, or rather, it cannot be grown in large quantities.

We can only plant wheat in the spring and buckwheat in the autumn.

Chen Ling's wheat seeds were plump and round, and large in size, which they liked very much.

"But Fugui, I think you should water your corn. It hasn't rained much here since the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. The only rain is a few drops at midnight, which doesn't really help."

"Your corn is growing so well. If you water it too late and it dries out, the harvest will be at least half gone."

"Yes, it's time to water it. We'll start watering tomorrow. I was just talking to my brother about it."

"Oh, right, right, and Qingwen is also taking care of you. Look at that brother-in-law, tsk tsk..."

"Hey, Wenchao brought beer! Wow, so much! And you even brought it by donkey cart. Did you steal it from the brewery after work?"

It turned out that Wang Wenchao and Wang Xuecheng had brought over a donkey cart, carrying at least twenty or thirty bundles of beer.

"Haha, Uncle Dazhi, you're so clever, you see through things but don't say anything."

Stealing beer from breweries is a favorite summer activity for young people—it's fun, exciting, and you get to drink free beer.

However, it's usually just a few bottles, as Han Chuang had told Chen Ling before.

Tie a wire loop to a rope, swing it over the wall to hook the beer, and then pull it up.

After drinking this, it has to be put back, and urine or water has to be used to make up the difference, otherwise the brewery staff will find out and stop putting it against the wall.

"You really stole it? How did you steal so much? Teach us!"

"Come on, you actually believed Xiao Chao? It's his brother-in-law who works there, hehehe, he got some for him..."

"Wow, this is even better than stealing! I'm going to have some good beer today."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Chen Ling then opened the water tower door and had everyone carry the beer inside to ice it.

Then, together with Wang Qingwen, Wang Lixian, and a few others, they stewed quail and old yellow quail. After checking the time, he went to the vegetable garden and picked some green beans, tomatoes, pumpkins, and other vegetables.

"You guys stay home and tidy up first. I'm going to the county to make sure the mother and son have dinner early."

"My goodness, really? You still have to take care of Fugui?"

"There's no way around it, the brat is too troublesome, and there aren't enough people to keep an eye on him. We have to keep a close eye on him. Su Su and her daughter don't have time to cook."

As Chen Ling spoke, he also brought along the wild melons, peaches, and watermelons he had picked from the cave, to make juice.

Then he mounted his little blue horse and galloped towards the county town.

These past few days, if there's work to be done, Rui Rui stays in the county town with Wang Susu and her son. If there's not much work to do at home, like picking up eggs or cutting grass, Chen Ling brings him back to keep him from running around and causing trouble in the city.

……

This is not.

As soon as Chen Ling arrived on horseback, two large dogs, one black and one yellow, blocked the entrance to the courtyard.

Behind the two large dogs was a chubby little boy with a delicate, round face, babbling indignantly and pushing the two dogs away, trying to run out to play.

The two dogs lowered their heads and moved gently, but they stood in front of the door, refusing to budge an inch.

Gao Xiulan and her son sat on small stools inside the door, weaving sandals and pillowcases, glancing at the brat every now and then.

Seeing Chen Ling return, he chuckled and said, "That's good, your dad's back. Go out and play with him."

The two big dogs stopped blocking Rui Rui and excitedly came to greet him, wagging their tails.

These two are here to look after the kids. With them around, Wang Susu and her baby have much less to worry about.

Chen Ling was relieved.

"Dad~"

Rui Rui shouted excitedly and ran over, then craned his hand to see what was inside the basket he had brought.

Then she reached out her little hand to help Chen Ling take it out.

Since there are no vegetable gardens in the county, Chen Ling picks some fresh vegetables from the village every day to cook for them.

"This hasn't been washed yet, don't eat it."

Seeing the brat reach out and grab some wild sweet potatoes to stuff into his mouth, Chen Ling quickly stopped him.

"Huh? Wild sweet potatoes? Aren't sweet potatoes supposed to rot around the Ghost Festival (July 15th of the lunar calendar)? How come there are still some?"

Gao Xiulan asked, puzzled.

She wasn't surprised to find grapes and kiwis, but wild sweet potatoes were probably out of season.

"Yes, this is the only one left, and it smells wonderful."

Chen Ling smiled and didn't say much. In short, the wild melons in this cave are even sweeter. If you mix them into juice, they are several levels better than passion fruit.

"You're always messing around. Alright, you don't need to worry about cooking. Just make some juice for the mother and son. I'll go make two bowls of dumpling soup and a couple of cold dishes."

Gao Xiulan picked out the vegetables and went to wash and prepare them for cooking.

Chen Ling cut the watermelon, took out the juicer to make juice, made several cups, and put them on the table. The couple sat around the baby, the two adults and the little one, drinking the sweet and sour juice and chatting.

"We need to water the corn tomorrow, so let him stay here. If he goes back, his wife won't be able to stand him."

"Hmm, here it is. As for the salted eggs, why don't you bring some over so Mom and I can pickle them here?"

"No need, I can do that at home. My older brother and sister-in-law are doing it too. They even learned how to pickle vegetables from Jusheng and the others. It's very quick."

"Mom, it's hot in the kitchen. Come out and have a couple of glasses of juice after you've finished cooking. I have to go back again. The village is discussing the autumn harvest today, and someone wants to drink with me."

"...Alright, nobody was looking for you when Susu was around, but now that you're in the city, everyone's starting to ask you to drink."

"Don't rush back yet. After Rui Rui finishes eating, take him back with you. I need to give Su Su a bath tonight. It's much hotter in the city than at home. She's sweating all day and can't stand it without a bath."

"Hey, I see."

Chen Ling used to bathe his wife, but since he was drinking, he definitely wouldn't be back soon.

The brat can't be left alone at home, so I'll just take him back with me.

……

Dinner was a fragrant dumpling soup with poached eggs, sprinkled with chopped green onions, and the aroma wafted out. Chen Ling couldn't resist having a bowl.

Only then did he mount his horse and take the brat back to the village.

sunset.

In the past, the farm would be filled with the smoke of cooking fires at this time of year.

But today, the chimneys were spewing out plumes of smoke, and the bellows were making a loud whooshing sound.

Outside the kitchen, the hearth was also lit.

A crowd gathered, some squatting, some standing, all happily smoking and talking.

Loud laughter filled the air, and the farm was bustling with activity.

After a while, as darkness fell, the sound of a baby crying came from outside the farm.

Besides the crying, there were also shouts from Liu Nier and others.

"Hey? Fugui, is Rui Rui crying? Go out and see."

"No way, this sound doesn't sound like a baby crying."

Although Rui Rui also plays with Liu Ni'er and the others, with his aunt Su Ligai looking after him, he is usually fine.

Chen Ling and Wang Qingwen quickly walked out.

When they went outside, they found that it wasn't Rui Rui crying. He was standing next to Su Ligai, holding her hand, staring blankly ahead.

Ahead was Liu Nier and a group of others, pointing at a little boy and shouting.

"Go away. I've told you so many times, we're not playing with you."

The little boy was small, only three or four years old, with a pout and tears welling up in his eyes, standing there pitifully.

This is Wang Juxiang's son, Chou Dan.

"What's going on here? You can't bully such a small kid like him."

Chen Ling didn't know what was going on, but in the village, the older children would take care of the younger ones, and three or four-year-olds would run and play with six or seven-year-olds.

I thought the older one was bullying the younger one.

“We didn’t bully him, we just wouldn’t play with him.”

“His parents are unreasonable. They bully Uncle Jusheng because he is honest. Even Xizi and Niuniu don’t play with him.”

"Exactly, his grandma and his parents are both awful, we don't want to play with him..."

(End of this chapter)