My 1995 Small Farm.

People like kite hunters still hold a certain mystique for ordinary people.

Hearing that a kite hawker is coming would excite them even more than seeing a street performer.

The children are especially drawn to the kites, as the kites that fly from the kite poles or land on the shoulders of the kite flyers are what attract them the most.

As soon as the hawkers arrived, the children of Chenwangzhuang surrounded them on brand-new, shiny old bicycles that were much bigger than them.

Then they looked up at the kites carried by the kite hunters and started chattering away.

If these kite flyers go to other villages, they will inevitably show off their classic kite flying skills.

The idea is to first find a place with birds, throw stones or something to scare the birds away, then release a hawk to catch them, and command the hawk to perform all sorts of dazzling maneuvers.

This attracts people to come and watch.

But...

This tactic naturally stopped working when they arrived at Chenwangzhuang.

The children had already witnessed how mighty and magnificent Chen Ling's second bald hawk was, so they had no interest in these ordinary kites.

Unless the kite hunters are willing to give them one for free to keep.

But the hawkers clearly refused; this was their livelihood.

However, some kids still surrounded the kite hunters, pointing and comparing their kites to Chen Ling's bald-headed kite.

This group of kite hunters had also witnessed the prowess of Er Tuzi.

So, upon hearing the children's innocent words, the old man with the gray hawk perched on his arm, instead of getting angry, smiled and bent down to ask them, "What's Chen Fugui from your village up to lately? We've heard a lot of people talking about him on our way here..."

"Huh? Outside? That's all nonsense, don't believe it. My brother-in-law is perfectly fine." Wang Zhenzhen immediately pouted and said loudly, "He even caught a lot of sika deer last night."

"That's right, Uncle Fugui is a very good person. Outsiders don't have his abilities, so they talk badly about him."

"Uncle Fugui is the best. He can now use a weasel to hunt in the mountains. He caught a lot of sika deer, and also caught some muntjacs and deer."

"..."

The kite riders hadn't paid much attention to what the children said before, but the old gray kite listened with a smile.

But when they heard that Chen Ling was hunting with weasels, they were all surprised and, like the old man with the gray hawk, rushed forward to ask him questions.

But how much do these snotty-nosed kids really know about all this?

Even Wang Zhenzhen only knew that Chen Ling took five weasels around to catch mice and train them to play.

Taking a weasel hunting.

This is hard for a normal person to believe.

But since this happened to Chen Ling, the hawkers dared not disbelieve it, nor could they simply dismiss it as childish nonsense.

I was just about to say that I was heading to Chen Ling's farm.

At this moment, Chen Ling brought Rui Rui and followed behind Chen Baoshuan.

Chen Baoshuan has really made a lot of progress this year. In addition to repairing the rabbit-catching nets for everyone, he also helps the kids fix their cars, add a few parts, add a few mats, and so on.

So when the kite hawker arrived, he was the first one to know, besides these snotty-nosed kids.

They found out even faster than Erhei.

He hurriedly went home to call Chen Ling.

"Brother-in-law!"

"Uncle Fugui is here!"

"..."

When the children saw Chen Ling carrying Rui Rui over, they scattered from the hawker and surrounded Chen Ling.

Then they all started chattering, urging Chen Ling to tell these kite hunters how to hunt with weasels.

"My good friend, it's been a long time."

The old man with the grey hawk took off his felt hat and greeted us warmly in his thick Qinghai-Tibet accent.

"Haha, long time no see."

Chen Ling smiled and squeezed through the crowd of children, put Rui Rui down, and went to shake hands and hug the kite riders.

"Dad, dad~"

When Rui Rui saw this group of strange people, she was very curious. She struggled to break free from the snotty-nosed kids' embrace and ran to Chen Ling. She tilted her little head up to look at the long kite-flying poles held by the kite flyers, the kites standing on their shoulders, and their strange costumes.

“Good girl, what’s so interesting about what we have here? Your dad is much better than us.”

Amidst a thick Qinghai-Tibet accent, a burly, dark-skinned hawker, grinning with white teeth, squatted down and patted Rui Rui's little head.

Then he took out some small bone ornaments to give to Rui Rui.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling's expression changed, and he quickly tried to stop him.

Upon seeing this, the old man with the gray hawk laughed heartily: "It's nothing, it's just an ordinary bone ornament, not what you're thinking of. Even a little kid can wear it."

At the same time, he admired the young man in his heart, thinking that he was indeed extraordinary and that his expression clearly showed that he knew a great deal about their side.

Chen Ling's expression softened, and he patted Rui Rui's head, thanking the burly black hawk on behalf of the little guy.

The other hawkers noticed the change in Chen Ling's expression and not only had no objection to him, but even chuckled and felt closer to him.

There's nothing else to it; they like to use human bones to polish ornaments.

Not many people in the inland areas know about this.

Chen Ling's reaction clearly indicates that he knew.

Of course, he wouldn't want his child to wear human bones.

"Don't overthink it, my good brother. This is a whistle made from bear bone. I also have a few bone knives. Hehe, I'll bring them to you next time and give you one as a gift..."

"Good brother, quickly tell me about your hunting trip with the weasel."

"Yes, tell us quickly."

"..."

Amidst the repeated urging, many villagers came out to watch the excitement.

Chen Ling had worked with these kite hunters before, and had even received gifts from them last time.

Furthermore, many people in the village know about these things.

So they made no attempt to hide anything, telling each other how they encountered the yellow-throated marten and how they were inspired by it.

Yellow-throated marten hunting.

Especially when hunting large prey, such as sika deer, they don't just go in groups of a few.

Instead, it consists of more than ten or twenty members, and sometimes even more than thirty.

And what about the weasel?

It is much smaller than the yellow-throated marten.

Taking all factors into account, it is difficult to win.

Chen Ling only brought five animals. Even if they could kill small to medium-sized grass beasts like musk deer, how could he catch large grass beasts like sika deer?
Besides, they managed to capture several of them alive.

Chen Ling then explained the reason.

"You know the saying wolves chase pigs, right?"

When the hawker heard "wolves chasing pigs," he was a little confused.

But the villagers who came out to watch the commotion all laughed and told them they knew.

"Could it be that you, Fugui, are involved in hunting with wolves and herding pigs?"

Old Niwai, wearing a blue jacket, lit a cigarette and chuckled.

"Uncle Niwai, you guessed right. It really is almost like a wolf chasing a pig."

After saying this, Chen Ling turned to the hawkers and said, "You've only ever seen wolves stealing livestock from herders' homes, but you've never seen wolves sneaking into villages to steal pigs, have you? Wolves are incredibly cunning..."

The wolves chasing pigs refers to wolves coming down from the mountains to the pigsty in the village. They first bite the pigs' tails, and the pigs, in pain, will jump out of the pigsty or break down the door to escape.

After leaving the pigpen, the wolf grabbed the pig's ear and used its broom-like tail to shoo it away.

The front hurts, the back drives; the wolf bites the pig's ear and pulls it in whichever direction, the pig will walk in that direction.

The weasel's method of driving away the sika deer is similar in principle.

They first bit the deer's tails to scatter the herd.

Then it quickly ran to the sika deer's head and bit its ears.

Like deer ears, they are sensitive and prone to pain.

Once the weasel bites, it's like it's controlling a steering wheel; whichever direction it pulls, the deer runs in that direction.

Several times, before and after.

Chen Ling brought in seven or eight live deer without lifting a finger.

Those who died were simply beyond saving.

It's very simple in theory.

Actually, there are so many things to be careful about. Different deer herds are different, and the environments on different mountains vary. Chen Ling and his five little ones failed countless times. Fortunately, there are a lot of deer in the mountains this year.

They can always train the little ones.

"Wow, you're amazing, bro! You're really incredible."

“We’d only ever heard Uncle Nima talk about this before, we never imagined someone would actually train a weasel…”

The kite riders all gave a thumbs-up.

"Hmm? Uncle Nima has seen this situation before?"

When Chen Ling heard the second half of the hawkers' words, he was stunned. Uncle Nima was referring to the old man with the gray hawk.

At this moment, Chen Ling looked at him with great surprise.

He thought he was the first person to train a weasel to hunt, and he was quite proud of himself.

just now……

"Haha, it's not what you think. Actually, the thing I saw wasn't a weasel, but it looked remarkably like one. Remarkably, remarkably like one."

Uncle Nima sat on a roadside stone, tilting his head slightly back, a look of reminiscence in his eyes.

"At that time, we didn't go inland; we went towards XJ."

...and so Uncle Nima began his narration.

Chen Ling and his group then learned that, in addition to the yellow-throated marten, there was another small creature that looked like a weasel but was even more ferocious, rivaling the yellow-throated marten in ferocity.

It is XJ's weasel.

Upon first hearing the name, Chen Ling thought that Old Hawk had made it up, creating a name specifically to correspond with a skunk.

Later, after hearing his explanation, which was quite logical and reasonable, I finally dispelled my doubts.

Weasels and ferrets are similar in size and appearance, only slightly larger than mice, but they are extremely ferocious.

They can attack large argali sheep on the cliffs.

The old hawker claimed to have witnessed this strange sight. He said that on their way to XJ, they were walking in the upper reaches of the river valley when they saw a weasel-like creature lying on the back of a argali sheep weighing over 100 pounds, tearing and biting it everywhere.

However, after a few rounds, the burly argali sheep fell off the cliff.

In the Northwest region, pikas are abundant, wreaking havoc on grasslands and running rampant. Normally, small animals like foxes and weasels primarily hunt pikas.

Because they are numerous, easy to catch, and easy to obtain food.

It is extremely rare for animals to actively attack large herbivores like argali sheep.

The old hawker initially thought it was a weasel, and in his surprise, he asked the local herders.

Only then did I realize that this thing was a weasel, also called a fragrant rat. Weasels fart smell bad, but weasels, as their name suggests, fart with a fragrant smell.

But don't be fooled by the fact that this thing smells good when it farts. Besides being bold and ferocious enough to attack argali sheep and goats, it also dares to steal poultry from herders.

"We'll bring you a few when we have the chance; they're pretty easy to find."

Seeing that Chen Ling seemed somewhat skeptical but mostly interested, the old hawker chuckled and said, "I'll catch it for you when the time comes, and you'll know once you hold it in your hand."

From a distance, it looked like a weasel, but when you held it in your hand, it felt like a mouse.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling snapped out of his daze and quickly nodded, "Okay, okay, I am indeed quite curious about this weasel. Bring it to me when you catch it."

At the same time, I was thinking that when I got to the city, I would ask Professor Han what the stoat and the stoat rat were all about, whether they actually existed or were variants of the weasel.

Thinking to himself, Chen Ling continued to invite the hawkers with a smile to his home for dinner, saying that he had just stewed a large pot of venison and that since they had come from afar, they could rest and have a good meal.

The kite hunters were very curious about Chen Ling.

This time, I agreed to his offer as well.

However, it wasn't easy for the kite hunters to visit Chen Ling's house; they were surrounded by onlookers along the way.

The villagers are alright.

Zhao Yubao, Chen Xiaoer, Wu Fei, and the others were extremely curious about the kite riders.

I just can't understand how these people make money by traveling such a long distance.

What sustains them as they wander through the deep mountains and forests year after year?

They all talk a lot.

In the end, they all got annoyed with the questions.

They found Wang Cunye and took them to the farm to see the livestock.

……

That day, Chen Ling's farm was bustling with activity.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the two Japanese soldiers in the village had actually started searching everywhere for traces of giant turtles like Garlic Head under the pretext of going to the county town market.

The water levels of rivers and lakes are now dropping significantly this season.

They believe that traces of aquatic life are now relatively easy to find.

Although their purpose in coming here was not simply to see these big turtles.

But now the Chinese themselves don't pay attention to these strange creatures, which is a perfect opportunity for them to take advantage of the situation.

In fact, they believe that the Chinese nation has never lacked talented people, such as Chen Ling, but they are ultimately limited by the times and lack a vision for development.

Or perhaps their people have been backward for too long, and they simply don't understand what the two of them are doing in their country.

They wouldn't understand even if I explained.

Thinking of this, Miyoko Chishima felt a surge of inexplicable pride.

As for Li Zhongyi, this was even more true.

Having witnessed the development outside and received so-called "elite" education in so-called "advanced" societies, he finds it difficult to reintegrate into this country.

Despite being born here.

He agreed with a viewpoint more than his companion, Miyoko Chishima, that this ancient and backward land did not deserve so many treasures.

Just like some overseas returnees, they have an arrogant attitude and look down on ordinary people... His efforts to show off in the village are for ulterior motives.

……

If the villagers of Chenwangzhuang knew about their thoughts, they would probably be shocked. They never imagined that these two Japanese devils were so good at disguising themselves.

That day, Li Zhongyi and Qiandao Meiyako traveled all over the area around the county town from morning till night, from Nansha River to Beisha River, from Yaba River to Yaba Lake, leaving their footprints in many places.

After dark, they prepared to leave Dumb Lake.

"This giant turtle is really hard to find; we don't have a single clue to follow."

“Those locals are also very bad; they just talk nonsense and never tell the truth.”

The two of them didn't expect to find it so easily when they came out.

But those locals were just too good at bragging.

Each of us claimed to have seen them somewhere, and they all spoke with such conviction, practically swearing oaths to the heavens.

Under such circumstances, they couldn't hold out much hope.

As a result, after searching every location, they found nothing. The huge disappointment made them extremely frustrated.

"What turtle king? He's just a giant turtle that's lived for a long time. Once I find him, I'll show you how I'll deal with him."

"You big turtle, you big turtle, come out here! Aren't you so clever? Aren't you supposed to understand human speech? You can't understand anything!"

Standing by the Dumb Lake, Li Zhongyi cursed loudly to vent his frustration. He was also thirsty and hungry, so he drank water while munching on braised beef he bought at the county market. He kept saying how delicious it was, saying that it tasted even better than the Wagyu beef from Xiao Ri Zi, and that if it were from Xiao Ri Zi, it would definitely be a thriving braised beef business.

Chishima Miyoko, the pretty Japanese girl, was in a terrible mood and had no desire to talk. It wasn't because she hadn't found the turtle, but because there were just too many mosquitoes by the lake after dark.

They're much more dangerous than the mosquitoes in the village.

Even covering her head with her clothes didn't help; she just felt covered in bites and itchy all over.

He was so angry that he was throwing his clothes around and cursing in Japanese. He had no appetite at all.

She just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

But just as the two were leaving Dumb Lake one after the other, they suddenly heard a series of turbulent sounds coming from the lake.

The two were taken aback, initially startled.

After all, Dumb Lake was desolate and deserted, with wild grass and reeds taller than a person. It was also dark, and when there was any unusual noise, the two of them were immediately frightened. Their hearts trembled violently, and they were quite frightened.

Only then did I remember to go and see what was going on.

At this moment, the sound of the water surging in the lake became more and more intense, like standing on the seashore and listening to the rolling waves, or like countless big fish stirring up the water.

Then it seemed like the wind was blowing again, and the surrounding reeds swayed and rustled.

"Won't there be a water ghost?" Chishima Miyoko shrank her neck and removed the clothes covering her head.

One second, two seconds... but there was no sound from Li Zhongyi.

Turning to look at Li Zhongyi, I saw the big guy staring blankly, still stuffing beef into his mouth, his eyes glazed over and his face pale.

Chishima Miyoko followed his gaze, her body swayed, and she almost cried out in surprise before quickly covering her mouth.

All they could see were enormous beasts emerging from the center of the lake, creating swirling eddies around them. Their heads were huge, their eyes were scarlet, and they lined up on the water, pushing the waves as they moved. Half the lake's water was being stirred up by them, and it seemed they were about to land in the direction they were heading.