My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 54 The Golden Beetle

I got home and went into the yard.

Chicken feathers littered the ground, stained with blood.

It appeared before the two of them.

Something happened to the chickens at home!

Wang Susu hurriedly counted them and found that one old hen was missing, and about ten chicks were missing as well. The rest were all hiding in the corner of the henhouse, trembling with fear.

Upon seeing the two approaching, it chirped in panic and helplessness, clearly quite frightened.

The two puppies sniffed at the lingering scent in the air and began barking incessantly.

"Damn it, this is definitely a case of a weasel coming to our door."

Chen Ling's face was gloomy. "First they harmed Qin Dongmei's family, then they harmed Wang Ershen's family, and now they've come to our house."

"They must have taken advantage of the fact that neither we nor our dog were home to steal our chickens."

They went up the mountain early this morning without having breakfast, collecting herbs and digging bamboo shoots. They were quite happy with their harvest, but this happened when they got home.

It was really hard for the two of them to be happy again.

"Ah Ling, we can't find the rooster either."

Wang Susu searched inside and out, only to find that even the big, strong rooster with its glossy feathers was gone.

If nothing unexpected happens, it will inevitably fall victim to the weasel's clutches as well.

She was both angry and upset: "These chicken thieves, we didn't do anything to them, why are they stealing our chickens?"

The rooster and hen in our house, which we had raised for over a year and were reluctant to eat even during the Chinese New Year, were ruined by a weasel.

Anyone would feel terrible in that situation.

Seeing his wife's eyes redden with anger, Chen Ling gritted his teeth and said, "These weasels have been causing trouble for several families around here recently, and they'll definitely come back again. I'm going to Cui the Cripple's shop to buy some rat poison to kill these bastards."

"Would rat poison work?"

Wang Susu asked uncertainly.

Chen Ling replied affirmatively, "It's definitely possible. You start cooking the porridge first, and I'll be right back."

……

After a while, Chen Ling not only bought rat poison, but also a small piece of fresh meat.

After soaking the fresh meat in the Dongtian Creek water, it was cut into several pieces.

They were covered in rat poison, either placed on the walls around the chicken coop or hung from nearby trees with ropes.

At this moment, the two puppies had already smelled the aroma, and came running over barking, circling around the pieces of meat, their mouths watering.

"Alright, get out of the way. This isn't for you to eat."

Chen Ling chased the two puppies aside, then caught the chicks and put them in a bamboo basket, placing them inside the house.

Then they covered the henhouses of the remaining two hens with wire mesh.

Only then did he sit down to eat breakfast.

"Will this work? Should we use two clips?"

Wang Susu felt that Chen Ling's arrangement was too simple, just a few pieces of meat laced with rat poison. Would a cunning creature like a weasel fall for it?

"Don't worry, it will definitely work."

"As long as they dare to come again, these few pieces of meat will be enough to ensure they never leave."

Chen Ling took a sip of porridge and said confidently.

Upon hearing this, Wang Susu asked, "Are you still going to the county town today?"

Chen Ling originally planned to go to the county town today to sell the medicinal herbs and order a batch of fruit tree saplings.

But then a weasel appeared in his house, which immediately dampened his spirits.

"I'm not going. I won't be able to get over this until I poison those two weasels to death."

Actually, she was also worried that if the meat soaked in the Dongtian Creek water attracted something else, Wang Susu wouldn't be able to handle it at home.

After all, the Dongtian Creek water is extremely attractive to both animals and plants.

Even the water used to wash the pots after cooking porridge in the Dongtian Creek, when poured into the flower bed of the crabapple blossoms, has grown much more abundantly this year than last year. Not only does it have a richer fragrance, but the flowers are also thicker and fuller. They've bloomed over half the yard, attracting bees and butterflies to fly all over the place every day.

Chen Ling even suspected that the weasel had discovered the unusual features in his yard.

Otherwise, they would have just killed the chickens at Qin Dongmei's and Old Lady Wang's houses, but why did they start eating them right away when they got to his house?

Most likely, they realized that his chicken was more delicious.

To ensure his hens lay eggs properly and the chicks grow up quickly, Chen Ling would always chop up peanut vines from the cave and spinach, or mix them with cornmeal or bran before feeding them.

How can an ordinary chicken compare to this?

It's normal for a weasel to eat the food immediately after tasting it.

After breakfast, Chen Ling cleaned up the medicinal herbs that needed to be dried, put them in bamboo trays, and took out the remaining herbs from last year that hadn't been sold, arranging them one by one in the yard to dry.

We'll sell them together when we go to the county town.

"Uncle Fugui, are you home...?"

Just then, a few little kids peeked in through the door.

Chen Ling looked over and saw that it was Liu Nier who had brought Xizi and the boy from Chen Yuqiang's family in the front yard.

Chen Yuqiang is Chen Guoping's youngest son. Although he is over thirty years old, he is of a lower generation and has to call Chen Ling "Uncle Fugui".

However, his child is still young, two years younger than Liu Nier, and the generational order is still unclear. He should call Chen Ling Uncle, but he always calls him Uncle Fugui along with Liu Nier.

Chen Ling let him call him that.

"You lot, here to see the cows again?"

Chen Ling stood up with a smile and waved, saying, "Come in quickly."

After the little water buffalo was brought back, it quickly became a favorite among the children because of its snow-white coat and its cute and adorable appearance.

As for Heiwa and Xiaojin, they have grown so much that they are no longer the chubby, cute little puppies they used to be, and the children have lost interest in them.

"No, we came here to feed the chickens."

Liu Nier and her two companions entered the courtyard, each carrying a wine bottle.

Upon closer inspection, Chen Ling exclaimed, "Wow, where did you catch so many golden beetles?"

The bottle was swarming with golden and black beetles.

"Hehe, we caught them in the field..."

Liu Nier held up the bottle and handed it to Chen Ling: "Uncle Fugui, look, if the chickens eat this, they'll lay more eggs."

Chen Ling took the bottle and looked at it. He saw beetles crawling around on the smooth bottle wall. They were plump and round. These insects contain rich protein. If an old hen eats them, it will indeed lay more eggs.

Why don't you take it back to feed your chickens?

“My chickens don’t lack these. I catch a lot of them on my way home from school every day.”

Liu Nier sniffed, "Xi Zi's bottle is from Black Old Bao, she caught it for her grandfather's chickens. Xiao Sen and I fed our golden beetles to Uncle Fu Gui's chickens."

Black Bun is a black scarab beetle, scientifically known as the dark scarab beetle. It is nicknamed Black Bun because of its jet-black body.

The little girl blushed slightly and said, "Uncle Fugui, I'll definitely come and give you the bugs I catch next Sunday."

Chen Ling patted the little girl's head and said gently, "No need. We had a weasel attack this morning, and we don't have many chickens left. You can take them back and feed them to your grandfather's chickens."

"Huh? A weasel? Isn't that Huang Daxian?"

The three children's expressions changed, clearly influenced by the adults and having heard the legends about Wong Tai Sin.

"There's nothing to be afraid of about weasels. In fact, they are beneficial animals, as they are good at eating rats. It's just that they hold grudges and are vengeful, which is why people don't dare to mess with them."

"Actually, as long as there is a dog at home, weasels generally don't dare to come near."

Chen Ling explained the science to the children.

"Is it really?"

"But my grandfather told me that someone in Kinmen Village killed a Weasel spirit, roasted it and ate it. As a result, he suffered retribution in less than half a month and died at his doorstep."

Chen Yuqiang's son, Xiaosen, said with a serious expression.

(End of this chapter)