My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 544 Female Star
"Many patients in the hospital have light breakfasts. Many just eat our salted duck eggs and have a bowl of plain porridge, or at the very least, a flatbread and a steamed bun..."

College students typically eat simple breakfasts, mainly for convenience; they usually just grab something quick and easy.

Chen Ling's words were rather crude.

Actually, it's because the salted eggs they make at home are delicious and nutritious that people never get tired of them.

Otherwise, if the taste is bad, who would want to eat it again after one or two meals?

"Oh, no wonder those farms in the city insisted on raising prices and making deposits when they saw that our farm was called Fugui Manor. It turns out they know that our salted eggs are already famous."

"Yes, it was Brother Yuemin's idea to give it a name. Now it seems to have many benefits. Otherwise, people will only know that it's salted egg and won't know that it's from our 'Wealthy Manor'."

Chen Ling only wanted a peaceful and stable life, content with a modest life. There were some things he wouldn't do unless he was forced to.

Unless it's for Susu and the children, or for family and friends, I'll do something and offer advice.

Normally, I wouldn't have the mind to think about these things.

"Sigh, Aunt Hongyu and her family have been so good to us. I wonder if they'll be back soon."

Wang Susu sighed softly.

"They said they were coming back from National Day. I sent them a letter, but they haven't replied. I'll go to the city again in a couple of days to make a call, otherwise they won't answer regular calls."

Chen Ling said.

"Well, that's fine too."

Wang Susu nodded, "By the way, are those eggs ordered by the farms in the city any good? I saw that the deposits they gave in the accounts are quite a lot. We can't afford to run out of eggs from our chickens."

"Don't worry, it'll work. We'll definitely be able to get enough people."

Chen Ling smiled and said, "Let Liu Jiancheng wait a bit. Salted eggs are mainly salted duck eggs now, which are more expensive than chicken eggs, but they can still be sold."

Whether they're from the local area or the city, the main purpose is to buy eggs to hatch chicks.

What they valued was the quality of Chen Ling's chicks.

Not many people buy duck eggs.

If they're made into salted eggs, Liu Jiancheng's side can hold out for a while.

The main reason was that the farms saw so many people scrambling for eggs, and when they came, they saw the size of Chen Ling's chickens, ducks, and geese, as well as the quality of their eggs, and finally, they were drawn in by the reputation of Fugui Mountain Villa.

They wanted to buy everything at once.

However, there was more than one party wanting to buy everything, so after a few words, they started raising prices from each other.

This is a big deal.

This immediately raised the price of fresh eggs by a significant amount.

It's much more expensive than the local egg price.

In order to compete for the goods, people not only compete on price, but also have to pay a deposit in advance.

Chen Ling didn't say much throughout the whole process, and the other party just handed over the money to him.

Finally, he did the math himself and realized that it might take more than a month to supply the eggs needed by these farms.

Moreover, due to the long distance, rugged mountain roads, and numerous steep slopes, it is difficult to transport fresh eggs along the mountain roads.

We still need to take the waterway from Tenghe Township.

The waterway is farther than the mountain road, and the goods have to be transported from the farm, so there will inevitably be some losses.

Therefore, the price is higher when losses are taken into account.

"How will we deliver the eggs? Aren't they requiring us to send them to the city every day?"

Wang Susu was worried about things at home, and she only felt at ease after asking about many things.

“I’ll deliver it. Summer vacation is almost over, and my older brother and sister-in-law need to go back to prepare their lessons. Dad is just staying home to look after the house, so I’ll feel more at ease delivering it myself.”

Chen Ling smiled, not taking it to heart.

This is a piece of cake for him. He can deliver the eggs after collecting them in the morning, and he can also take the kids to graze the horses and walk the dogs, just like playing.

Moreover, by delivering it himself, he can minimize losses.

Kill two birds with one stone.

At the very beginning, Chen Ling wasn't actually that enthusiastic.

But later on...

He found that more and more of these eggs, which were used to hatch chicks, were being sold.

Inside the Sun and Moon Cave, the tender new leaves of that small jade tree are growing rapidly.

It will soon grow to its full size, shed, and be consumed by people.

This greatly encouraged Chen Ling.

He had originally planned to use these magical leaves to nourish his wife's body.

To soothe emotions.

It can be said that they came at the perfect time.

"I wonder if my puppy will sprout a new leaf after I give it away. It used to sprout one leaf a year, but this year it might sprout two."

Chen Ling's mind was filled with random thoughts.

Wang Susu didn't know what he was thinking, and just sighed: "Since I got pregnant, none of you have been able to have a moment's peace. A-Ling, you're always busy. People think you're carefree and having fun all day, but actually you have to run around every day, doing chores in the village and then cooking when you get back."

"Hmm? Why are you saying this again? I've already told you, I'm enjoying it."

Chen Ling frowned. "Besides, we both wanted to have two more babies. It's a happy occasion that you got pregnant so quickly... The whole family is happy for us. Why did I just send some eggs? It's just a small thing, what's the big deal?"

"Nothing."

Wang Susu put down the account book, rested her chin on the armrest of the chair, and said, "If the Jinshui River and Nansha River could be connected to the city, that would be so convenient. We wouldn't have to travel all over the place to go out."

"Yes, it will happen in the future. The Yangtze River Bridge can be built, so this is no big deal."

Chen Ling reached out and tidied her hair at her temples.

I thought to myself that the roads in the mountains would get better and better in the future, and that highways would be built in a few years.

However, seeing that she was in a bad mood, I changed the subject and asked, "Did you calculate it just now? How much did you earn this month?"

"Hmm... not much, just over 20,000, less than 30,000."

Wang Susu leaned back listlessly in her recliner and handed him the ledger.

Chen Ling was taken aback. Goodness, his wife's tone was getting more and more arrogant.

However... look at how listless she looks.

Chen Ling swallowed back the joke he wanted to make.

Thinking to himself: I still need to use the newly grown leaves of the jade tree in the cave as soon as possible tonight.

Let's replenish Susu's energy and spirit.

Take care of your mind and body.

Otherwise, having two pregnancies in two consecutive years would inevitably cause some psychological problems for a person.

He recently discovered that Wang Susu had become a little more talkative and also a bit clingy.

I want him and Rui Rui to always be by my side.

If his grandparents and parents were still alive, that would definitely be fine. There would be enough people in the family to take care of him. He could spend his days eating, drinking, having fun, and doing chores with his wife.

But now there are a lot of things to do at home that Chen Ling needs to take charge of, and Rui Rui is at a very fussy age, so it's difficult for the father and son to stay by her side all the time.

So her mood fluctuates.

……

The Autumn Tiger, the Autumn Tiger, it's hot for a while after autumn every year.

Sometimes it even feels hotter than the height of summer.

Many children in the village also get prickly heat in autumn.

It's hot, and people are suffering, as are the dogs and cows at home. Especially since the county town isn't as cool as the area around the village.

Chen Ling would rush back to the county town every noon to pump some cold water from the well and sprinkle it in the yard, on the roof, and on the floor of the rooms to cool down the house.

Otherwise, if the sun shines all day, it's unbearable to stay at home. If there's no wind, it's like a steamer.

There have been far fewer outsiders in the county town lately; they've all gone to Chenwangzhuang. It's said that someone spotted a turtle in the reservoir one night, but I don't know if it's true or not.

With fewer outsiders in the county town, Little White Cow finally decided to go out during the day.

As a water buffalo, I prefer to stay by the water when it's hot.

So these days, the little white calf often plays in the Nansha River. Sometimes it will even dive underwater and swim all the way to the Dumb Lake, or swim from the Nansha River to the Jinshui River and then back to Chenwangzhuang Reservoir.

Sometimes, it also attracts many water buffaloes from the east of the county to follow and play.

A tall, strong white water buffalo led a herd of dark water buffalo swimming around in the river.

It often brings surprises and shocks; when people learned that it was Chen Ling's cow, it attracted many tourists to take pictures.

It's quite a unique sight.

These days, besides photo studios, phone booths are the only other profitable businesses in the county town.

As the summer vacation draws to a close, countless people are gathering here with their friends and family.

Some had wanted to come for a long time, but arrived late because of the long distance. They brought newspapers and photos of Chen Ling from the news, asking where Chen Ling lived so they could go see him.

Among them were news reporters from other television stations.

For example, from Beiji.

We need to conduct a special interview with Chen Ling.

There are also those who come to inquire about things, though their motives are unknown.

They inquired about the mountains and location where the Wild Boar King had appeared, looking like they were about to go treasure hunting.

Although Chen Ling wouldn't turn everyone away, he limited discussions to those held within the village.

They are not allowed to go to the county town.

Of course, given his lazy nature, when it comes to dealing with things, the information these people get from him is less than what they get from the villagers.

That morning, Chen Ling took Rui Rui in a horse-drawn carriage to Tenghe Township to deliver two baskets of eggs.

Upon returning, a young man claiming to be a CCTV reporter was chatting with Little Sheep.

Little Sheep changed into clean clothes today, and he looked much more normal than when he first came to the village. It is said that he is going to take San Ni'er home soon, and he probably came to discuss something with Chen Ling today.

I don't know how we ended up chatting with this reporter.

He said, "I also like Shen Jiayi. I like listening to her sing and watching her TV dramas. I look for wives like her."

"Wow, that's impressive. I was saying you must like her if you have her poster in your car."

The reporter smiled, then sighed, "I like her too, but I heard from people in our industry that Shen Jiayi is in trouble. I don't know if it's true or not. She debuted in Hong Kong, so it's not easy for us to find out the exact details."

"Huh? Something happened? What happened?"

The little lamb suddenly looked very nervous.

Chen Ling drove over in a carriage at this moment. When he saw him like this, he was immediately amused: "Hong Kong actresses, when they get into trouble, it's nothing more than the same few things: drug use, cheating, being a mistress, or being sued for taking nude photos."

The little lamb immediately blushed and shook her head in protest, "No, definitely not. Shen Jiayi is from the mainland, she's a good girl, very pure."

The CCTV reporter shook his head with a grim expression: "I vaguely heard it was a relationship problem, but I don't know the specifics. Sigh, if I hadn't seen your poster of her, I wouldn't have remembered this at all."

The scenery here is so beautiful, I finally managed to forget about it.

"Huh? It's really a relationship problem? You've got it wrong!"

The little lamb was instantly struck dumb, its mouth agape, its face ashen.

"Xiao Fang, did you come to see me for something?"

Chen Ling didn't want to listen to them, because it was as if she were seeing her own foolish self in the past.

"Uncle Fugui, my dream goddess is gone, I'm not in the mood to talk business."

The little lamb said, looking lost and dejected.

My mind is filled with the CCTV guy's relationship problems, and what Chen Ling said about cheating, being a mistress, and being a concubine.

"..."

Chen Ling's face darkened, and he couldn't be bothered to pay any more attention to him.

No wonder this guy is so infatuated with Sannier; it turns out Sannier resembles the female celebrity he's been pursuing.

Of course, the fact that Sannier later completely controlled him was due to Sannier's own abilities.

"Rui Rui, call your aunt and let's go work on our little tribe and little castle."

When they got home, Chen Ling first put Rui Rui at the door and told him to go and call Wang Zhenzhen.

He threw down his basket, untied the carriage, and let the little green horse roam freely. Then he went to the Pig King to prepare to build his little tribe.

The small tribe is now only half-finished.

Surrounding the enormous skeleton of the pig king was a ring of low thatched huts, mostly yurt-shaped.

It was built of yellow mud and straw, and was more than half a person tall.

Besides the thatched huts, there was also a row of equally small livestock sheds, the roofs of which were also thatched.

Thatched huts are about half a person's height, while livestock sheds and similar structures are slightly shorter.

Add some small stone pots and small stone mills around it.

The pig king was among them, making it seem like a savage behemoth had broken into a primitive tribe.

It has an inexplicable harmony with the atmosphere of the farm.

This style of stuff is primitive and rugged. Wang Zhenzhen likes to help Chen Ling tidy up, and tourists from other places also like to bring their children to help and have some fun.

It feels like playing house.

There's a unique kind of fun in it.

really.

Chen Ling and the two little ones had just started getting ready.

A group of children, big and small, came to play with their parents.

"Uncle Chen, we're here again! What kind of house are we building today?"

"We're not building a house today. Today we're building a fence around the perimeter. Uncle will plant some low shrubs and vines inside it later."

"Wow, building a fence! We want to build a fence too!"

The village has many fences covered with lush green vines, which are very beautiful. Chen Ling led them to make them by hand, which excited them immediately.

There are many open spaces in the orchard, and this particular area has been fenced off separately next to the livestock pen.

By surrounding it with a low fence, creating what's known as a tribal wall, and planting some unique low-growing vegetation and climbing plants, it can become a standalone landscape.

"When I first heard you talking about it, Brother Chen, I thought you were just messing around, but now it actually looks surprisingly good."

"Haha, well, the main thing is to get the size ratio between the Pig King and the building, and the placement of the building, right? We have a great painter here, so we can design it ourselves and these things won't be a problem."

"Hey? Brother Chen, look, isn't that a bird's nest in this little livestock shed?"

Suddenly, the people's eyes stopped. They saw some whitish bird droppings next to the low thatched hut. Following the droppings upwards, they saw a hastily made bird's nest, shaped like a small semi-circular bowl, hanging in the corner of the hut.

"Uh, it's a bird's nest. It must have been built by swallows."

Chen Ling bent down and looked at the dark, messy mass of mud, grass, and feathers that was stuck in a corner under the small thatched shed.

I immediately knew what it was.

"A swallow's nest? Why would a baby swallow build a nest in such a low place?"

"Hey, never mind it, that's just how grass swallows are, they don't care about such things."

(End of this chapter)