My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 574 Mini World

Chen Yongsheng is right.

No normal family could tame such a large male wild boar.

"Do you want to raise Lishan? If so, let Fugui help you catch it."

"That's right, Old Pig, your pigsty is so full of pigs, it's like a pig farm. You don't need this wild boar for a bit of food. Just get rid of it."

"Forget it, that's nonsense. If I take it back, it'll ruin my perfectly good pigs. Whoever wants it can go back to their own home."

"..."

“Hey, these ones, nobody wants them, so why don’t we just kill them? Yong Sheng can sell them to the slaughterhouse and get some money.”

"Alright, then kill it. It's not our fault for running down the mountain and into our pigsty."

Chen Yongsheng gritted his teeth and prepared to let Chen Ling release the tiger to catch the pig.

But at that moment, the old boar, which had been motionless and even showed signs of protecting its herd, suddenly let out a loud "Ooh!" and jumped out of the pen, screaming and charging wildly out.

Everyone was startled and hurriedly tried to chase after it, only to see the old boar running haphazardly across the cesspool behind the old house, using it to jump to the other side of a collapsed section of the old house's earthen wall.

Drip, drip, drip, covered in black excrement, it rushed into the rain.

"Fugui, hurry up and let the tiger chase you! Why did it suddenly stop moving?"

But Afu and Ashou suddenly stopped, staring blankly at the wild boar covered in dung. They immediately lost their momentum, shook their muddy paws, and slowly returned to Chen Ling's umbrella.

It licked its rain-soaked fur again and again, showing no intention of chasing after it anymore.

"Well, they thought the wild boar had rolled in the dung pit, it was too dirty and smelly, so they didn't want to chase after it."

Chen Ling scratched his cheek and smiled sheepishly.

It's not like a hungry wild tiger that will disregard everything for a bite to eat.

Ah Fu and Ah Shou are tigers who have gained intelligence and are now capable of understanding human nature, so naturally they are very hygienic and clean.

How could they possibly chase after a stinking wild boar?

"Oh dear, why are you two tigers being so fussy? You're just going to let us down at the crucial moment."

Wang Lishan was so anxious he stomped his feet, even more so than Chen Yongsheng.

As a pig farmer, he knows the price of pigs best. If such a big wild boar is caught and sold to the slaughterhouse, Chen Yongsheng should at least prepare a feast to thank them.

That's just his taste.

Chen Yongsheng shook his head: "Forget it, don't chase after it. That old pig has already run far away. Once it disappears into the cornfield, it's very hard to find on a rainy day."

"If you don't want to pursue it, then don't."

"You guys think this old boar is really cunning. It didn't move at all before, and even dared to glare at people. But as soon as it heard that it was going to be slaughtered, it immediately jumped out of the pigpen and ran away."

"Of course. The pigs at home know they're going to be slaughtered at the end of the year. People are cunning when they get old, and horses are slippery when they get old. Things in the mountains are all very clever when they get old."

"..."

The crowd stopped chasing the wild boar. By this time, everyone had finished breakfast and had nothing to do, so they all stood under the eaves of Chen Yongsheng's house, sheltering from the rain, and discussed how cunning the wild boar was.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling greeted his fourth grandfather, then took the umbrella and led Afu and Ashou back to the village courtyard.

It's raining, I need to go back and check if there are any leaks in the house.

Since no one has been living in the yard recently, all sorts of things have come to the house, causing trouble here and there, and who knows what they might do to ruin something.

As the old saying goes: A house with people living in it will stand for a hundred years; a house without people living in it will collapse in three years.

A house with human presence will not easily collapse, no matter how old or dilapidated it is.

This popularity is largely due to the fact that people live in their homes regularly, and the amount of snakes, rats, insects, and even weeds that breed there is less, thus reducing the damage to the house.

But once no one lives there...

Various snakes, rats, insects and ants came to make their home, and wild grass and trees grew everywhere on and under the house. As a result, in less than two years, the house was destroyed and on the verge of collapse.

Rui Rui didn't come with us today, so Chen Ling didn't need to worry about him. When they arrived at their house in the village, Chen Ling took A Fu and A Shou and unlocked the door to go inside.

Believe it or not, Chen Ling was right to come back today.

After Ah Fu and Ah Shou entered the house, they wandered around and each caught a large rat from the kitchen and the granary, respectively.

It's quite fat.

As soon as Chen Ling saw the rats, he checked along the base of the wall and the corners of the wall.

Sure enough, they found a mouse hole.

There's nothing more to say now.

It is not watered or smoked.

They released the weasels directly from the cave and let them go back in to catch prey.

The mouse hole is too big for the cat to fit through.

But this is not a problem for weasels.

Although Little Yellow and Little Fatty's family looks rounder and cuter than the common slender, shifty-eyed weasels, they look more like little yellow ferrets.

However, their bodies are still very flexible, making it easy for them to enter mouse holes.

Soon, all the rats, big and small, inside the two rat holes were slaughtered by the family of five, dragged out of the holes, and neatly arranged under the eaves.

"Well done, Baldy's got food again."

Chen Ling put the rats away. On rainy days, Er Tu Zi stayed at home and couldn't go out to hunt, so these rats were a good opportunity for him to have a good meal.

"Let's go back, let's find a few more nests of rats."

After dealing with the rats, Chen Ling opened a pocket, and the weasels ran over and crawled up his trouser legs into his various pockets.

There were even two little weasels, one on each of his chest pockets, peeking out with their little heads, round ears perked up, and their big black eyes looking around.

Inspired by the yellow-throated marten, Chen Ling has recently been training these weasels.

And the cave was opened to them, giving them some territory, just like the black dog, Xiao Jin, and Afu and Ashou in the family, they enjoyed a baptism of spiritual water.

Once we catch a yellow-throated marten cub, we'll let them train it.

There's not much to do on a rainy day.

Aside from helping his father-in-law cut and process some medicinal herbs, Chen Ling took the weasel family of five around, messing around and tinkering with things.

As for Afu and Ashou, all they do is eat and sleep.

Of course, they eat very little on rainy days, have little appetite, and just stay in their dens and sleep soundly.

The tigers clearly liked the den Chen Ling built for them and were very comfortable there, so they were reluctant to come out.

After leading the weasel to catch most of the rats, Chen Ling began to tidy up and arrange the fish tank.

Fish tanks are inconspicuous things.

But once you start setting it up, it's not something that can be done in a short time.

Especially with glass fish tanks, which are large and contain small, scattered items, it's a problem to figure out how to match them with aquatic plants and greenery.

Where to place it also needs to be carefully considered and arranged.

As for the celadon jar, it's simpler to turn it into an eco-friendly jar.

Transplant lotus flowers, lay down some riverbed stones and stream stones, place some uniquely shaped driftwood, and finally add some fish.

This will take up most of the day.

Needless to say, the glass tanks are another story.

So Chen Ling set aside half a day each day to clean the fish tank.

The rest of the time was spent either doing chores with his father-in-law, feeding the muntjac deer that were gradually adapting to the environment, or going around collecting stones with an umbrella.

I'll ride my horse back to the county town after dark.

He's so relaxed.

Chen Yongsheng and his group were harassed by the wild boar again.

That's not entirely accurate. It should be said that in the village, all the pig-raising households that kept sows experienced varying degrees of disturbance to their pigsties.

Some sows really enjoy being harassed.

For example, at Chen Yongsheng's house, the wild boars not only weren't afraid when they came, but they also actively approached them, being very friendly and affectionate.

Some sows, however, hate being harassed.

As soon as the wild boars approached the pigpen, they would squeal loudly, so much so that some families would often be awakened from their deep sleep in the middle of the night by the pig-like screams.

After putting on his clothes, he came out, but the old pig had already run far away.

The old boar seemed to be frightened by the two tigers, Ah Fu and Ah Shou, and dared not see anyone. Upon hearing human voices, it ran away before anyone could get close.

Fearing being trapped and becoming food for a tiger, they continued like this for three or four days. The wild boar dared not meet anyone, and often sneaked into the pigpen in the middle of the night. It did not hurt anyone or cause any trouble. After figuring it out, they set several traps and wire snares. If they could hit it, they would; if not, they would let it go.

……

It rained for seven or eight days in a row after entering the eighth month of the lunar calendar.

The lingering summer heat vanished without a trace.

Even the air is moist and cool, and autumn is deepening.

It's been raining non-stop these past few days.

No wild animals came down from the mountain to harm the crops.

This is a good thing.

But the young people in the village were not happy; in fact, they were quite depressed.

It's so relaxing not having to stay up all night to watch over the crops when it rains.

But it's no longer possible to ask Chen Ling to take the tiger on night patrol.

They were also looking forward to Chen Ling unleashing tigers to wreak havoc when they came to see Qinghai. At that time, they didn't care about wild boars, deer, or sheep; once they came, they wouldn't be able to leave.

Let the tigers pass by and wipe them all out—just thinking about it is exhilarating.

Unfortunately, our hopes were dashed.

The rain has stopped, and Chen Ling should take the tiger back to the zoo soon.

We'll probably have to wait until after October in the lunar calendar, when winter is approaching, to bring them back.

Alas, the weather is truly uncooperative.

Chen Ling, on the other hand, was quite relaxed. Taking advantage of the rain these past few days, she cleaned up both large fish tanks.

He was quite satisfied.

The two fish tanks that Feng Yi gave us were both quite large.

The celadon jars, with their jade-like blue color, have openings with diameters approaching 1.3 meters.

The glass tank was enormous.

It's already two meters long, and the height is probably over one meter, since there's a lot of decoration at the bottom, with many small ancient building models.

If the height is not right, there will be too little water for raising fish.

Chen Ling placed the celadon jar outside the main room in the front yard.

The jade-green celadon, adorned with swaying lotus leaves, complements the central hall where guests are received perfectly.

Even though the glass fish tank contains a model of an ancient architectural complex, its overall feel is quite fitting for the farm.

But Chen Ling still refused to put it in the living room.

First, the area is small.

Secondly, it's too conspicuous and overshadows the main subject.

So he moved to the wooden house in the backyard.

The wooden building has three floors and many rooms, but it is actually for guests to stay in, that is, for rent.

But...

There is still an empty large room on the first floor.

These days, Chen Ling has turned it into a central hall for receiving guests.

Place the large fish tank here.

Compared to the front yard, this area has far fewer TVs, sofas, tables, chairs, and other clutter.

It's empty, but having such a large fish tank is just right. I can enjoy it myself, and it looks nice and comfortable for guests.

In the large central hall on the first floor of the wooden building in the backyard, a large fish tank with a simple and elegant style and a unique aesthetic was placed in the middle against the wall.

Push open the door and walk in; it's the first thing you'll see.

Within the clear, transparent glass tank, the bottom layer depicts undulating 'mountains and rivers,' amidst which 'vegetables' grow in abundance. Scattered among these 'mountains and rivers' are ancient buildings with carved beams and painted rafters. Opening the door, faint light shines into the room, and colorful lights ripple and shimmer within the tank…

It felt like an ancient fairyland.

At this point, Chen Ling had not yet released the fish.

It wasn't intentional that he didn't put them in; it's just that he had only recently managed to get the plants in the water tank to a satisfactory state.

The main reason is that Professor Feng Yi's jar is excellent in every way, but when it was transported back, the artificial rocks that were used to fix the ancient architectural model had to be removed.

Otherwise, there is a risk of scratching or breaking the fish tank.

Furthermore, Chen Ling was not actually satisfied with the rockery designs. Those stones were nowhere near as beautiful as the ones he found in the mountains himself.
So they were all lost.

I arranged it myself when I came back.

However, bare rocks and boulders, even those with natural, unusual shapes resembling mountains and ranges, don't look very good in a fish tank.

There still needs to be some greenery.

So Chen Ling set up the fish tank in the wooden building these past few days.

They arranged the collected rocks into the shape of undulating mountains.

First, create the shape.

After that, they planted grass and trees on these rocks.

Choosing and matching these 'plants' really took a lot of effort from Chen Ling.

Select aquatic plants from rivers and streams outside.

They also selected small, miniature dwarf trees suitable for hydroponics from the cave.

It took two or three days to choose the right one.

In general, mountains and rivers first need a layer of lush grass, and then various trees grow on top of that.

The role of this little grass is played by water plants.

The various types of trees were miniature tree species selected by Chen Ling.

First, lay water plants on the rocks.

Do not add water to the fish tank.

Spray them with diluted spiritual water every day using a spray bottle to encourage their growth.

When the mountains and rivers are covered with a layer of green.

It's time to transplant the miniature tree species.

These are simply digging up tree roots, along with a little soil, and smearing them into the crevices of the mountain landscape.

Then spray the sacred water.

Within two days, the vegetation quickly transformed into a beautiful landscape.

With grass and trees, the mountains and rivers finally look real.

Moreover, Chen Ling deliberately designed these mountains and rivers to have both shady and sunny slopes.

That is, one side of the mountain is covered with dense vegetation.

The other side is sparser, and some areas don't even grow anything, just the original blue-green color of the mountains and rivers.

Such use of white space is also extremely pleasing to the eye and beautiful.

The final step is to fix the ancient building model on top.

The arrangement is well-organized, instantly giving it an ethereal feel.

Now, when you fill the aquarium with water, it feels like looking at another miniature world through the clear walls of the tank.

To be honest, Chen Ling really felt a sense of pleasure and accomplishment as a creator.

Even Ah Fu, Ah Shou, and the weasel family of five couldn't help but stop and stare at the large fish tank.

Ah Fu and Ah Shou's two large tiger heads were pressed tightly against the jar wall, staring intently into the jar.

The five little guys, Xiao Huang and Xiao Pang, nimbly jumped to the top of the fish tank, stood on the edge of the tank wall, and curiously looked into the water.

"Alright, it's time to release the fish. Come with me to catch some."

Chen Ling couldn't help but smile at their curious expressions.

Then they took the buckets and went out to catch fish.

The weather has finally cleared up. I was so busy building the tank before, so I need to pick out the fish properly.

(End of this chapter)