My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 62 Reservoir
After having lunch in the front yard, by 2 p.m., the sun still hadn't shown any signs of appearing and the thick fog hadn't dissipated.

Chen Ling drove the oxcart out from the backyard and waited on the reservoir dam for more than half an hour.

As expected, no one came to deliver the saplings, so he didn't wait any longer and turned around to drive the oxcart to his own field.

Then, taking advantage of the thick fog, there were few people in the fields and no one went up the mountain.

They planted several more acres of peanuts and vegetables, which will indirectly improve the soil after the harvest.

By evening, Dongtian had more than 7,000 catties of peanuts and bundles of vegetables piled up in the thatched hut.

These vegetables weren't for their own consumption; Chen Ling was delivering peanuts to the oil mill and planned to sell them as well.

After all, they need to eat vegetables themselves, and they can't even finish eating all the vegetables in Dongtian.

After tidying up the cave, Chen Ling drove the oxcart home.

When passing by the village pond, I found my two dogs and a bunch of local dogs attacking a rat snake that was about a meter long.

The snake's thick body was wet and covered in mud, as if it had swum from a pond. It was extremely annoyed by the dogs, hissing and flicking its tongue, looking very angry, but it was surrounded by a pack of dogs and couldn't escape.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling stopped the oxcart and watched with great interest.

Today was a foggy day. It was the first time the two puppies had ever encountered such weather, and they excitedly went out to run around with the village dogs early in the morning.

I came back for lunch and then went out again. Taking advantage of the white fog, I wandered around the village streets and alleys, having a great time.

And now it's fighting with snakes again. This rat snake is really unlucky to have met them.

"Wang Wang Wang..."

Upon seeing Chen Ling approach, the two puppies immediately became eager to show off, leaping out from the pack and attacking the rat snake with extraordinary speed, biting its belly.

The vegetable snake, already enraged by the pack of dogs, naturally refused to back down and retaliated by raising its head and flicking its tongue, even coiling around one of Little Gold's legs.

But these two puppies were no match for ordinary dogs. No matter how much it resisted, it was all in vain. It was bitten to death after only a couple of rounds and rolled on the ground belly, no longer moving.

Then Xiao Jin grabbed the snake by the neck and dragged it to Chen Ling. Together with Heiwa, they barked at the little white ox in a provocative and boastful manner.

"You've been out having a blast all day, and you're still not behaving yourself. Do you want to get a beating?"

"Hurry up and head home..."

Chen Ling glared at the two little creatures, picked up the rat snake, and threw it onto the cart.

Rat snakes are very common in mountain villages, especially in spring and summer. They often appear in homes to eat mice or swallows under the eaves.

Sometimes they even make their homes on roof beams or in wall cracks, living in a single litter for life.

When farmers see this, it usually becomes meat on their dining table. Whether it's fried, deep-fried, stewed, or boiled, it's delicious.

Not only does it satisfy cravings, it also has the effect of clearing heat and reducing internal fire.

After returning home, Wang Susu quickly skinned the snake, removed its gallbladder, tied the bile duct with thread, and hung it under the eaves along with the snake skin. The snake meat was soaked in a basin of water.

Chen Ling then went to fetch two pieces of Polygonatum. Last time he went into the mountains, he had collected a lot of Polygonatum and Gastrodia elata, which were still drying on a bamboo tray.

Chen Ling used the pretext of going to the backyard to actually retrieve the Huangjing from the cave.

After harvesting them, I planted two plots of Solomon's Seal and Gastrodia elata in the woods in front of the thatched cottage in the cave. Now they have grown into a large patch under the trees.

So Chen Ling made a large pot of snake meat soup for dinner, adding two pieces of Solomon's seal rhizome to stew it. The snake meat was tender and flavorful. He fed a bowl to the two puppies, and the couple enjoyed the rest with relish.

Most of the delicious snake meat was eaten, and not even a drop of soup was left.

After nightfall, the young couple enjoyed a wonderful evening.

……

The next day, the sky was clear and cloudless.

The sky was a deep, clear blue, possessing a unique cohesive power that compelled people to look up and gaze upon it intently.

With nothing to do today, Chen Ling moved a recliner to the yard and lay back to read a novel.

It is a book called "The Knight Errant".

When Chen Ling reads other novels by Jin Yong, he always reads the novels first and then watches the TV series.

The only book I read was "The Knight Errant" which I watched the TV series about before reading the novel.

So much so that now, when reading the novel, I picture the face of actor Dong Jian in my mind when depicting the protagonist. Unfortunately, that TV series adaptation of *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer* won't be made for several more years.

He was reading a novel on the recliner, while Wang Susu sat quietly beside him, making new clothes for spring. Her slender, white fingers were incredibly skillful as she threaded the needle.

Every now and then, she would glance at him gently with her moist almond-shaped eyes, a sweet smile playing on her lips.

Indeed, Wang Susu was even more beautiful than usual today, with a unique charm amidst her purity, her fair skin rosy, like a delicate flower blooming in the spring breeze.

Her eyes were like water, her eyebrows like spring mountains; every frown and smile exuded charm, captivating and mesmerizing.

The two of them basked in the warm spring sun, quietly enjoying an indescribable sense of warmth.

Around noon, the village committee's loudspeaker suddenly blared.

They said the people from the forestry seed station had arrived and asked Chen Ling to go to the reservoir dam to pick up fruit tree seedlings.

"You're here way too early today, three hours early..."

Chen Ling got up, put down the book, and stretched.

"After all, the foggy weather yesterday caused a delay."

Wang Susu also got up, "I'll go with you."

"No need, you cook at home, I'll be right back."

Chen Ling went inside to change into yesterday's old clothes, then drove the oxcart out.

When we arrived at the reservoir dam, two young people from the forest seed station were standing there, talking and watching people below fishing with nets.

Seeing Chen Ling driving the oxcart over, she went over and helped him load the saplings onto the cart.

"I'm sorry, brother, it was very foggy yesterday and I couldn't come over. These twenty fig saplings at the top were a separate gift."

After they finished moving, the two young men apologized to Chen Ling.

"It's alright. Have you two had lunch yet? Why don't you come to my house for a meal before you leave?"

After handing them the money for the five hundred saplings, Chen Ling smiled and said.

The two young men repeatedly said no, and said they would try to come at 2 pm sharp the next day so as not to cause him any trouble, and then drove away.

"Fugui, are you planning to plant fruit trees this year?"

At this moment, Wang Lixian and a group of people carried a large bamboo basket of fish up to the reservoir dam.

I greeted him when I saw him.

"It's Brother Xian! I didn't recognize you at first because you were wearing a straw hat. Are you guys making lunch?"

Chen Ling glanced at the bamboo baskets behind them and found that they were filled with fish, shrimp, and clams.

"Yeah, nobody wants the fish and shrimp in the reservoir, so they just come and catch some every day to cook. Erzhu's son is trying to save money."

Wang Lixian responded.

The others laughed, saying that Erzhu was being a hypocrite; yesterday it was foggy, and he said he would double the wages, but he only gave him an extra five yuan.

Of course, this was echoing Wang Lixian's words, not speaking to Chen Ling.

They had little contact with Chen Ling. Some of the people who had worked with Chen Ling in the past even had grudges against him, so naturally they wouldn't take the initiative to talk to him.

Chen Ling didn't mind and said, "These fish don't look very big. They're not even as big as the two you gave me a few days ago, Brother Xian."

"Yes, there are fewer and fewer big fish in the reservoir. About two years ago, sometime during the year before last, some guy from out of town came here to do some kind of survey. He released some damn crayfish into the reservoir, and now the reservoir is full of them. There aren't as many fish as before in the last two years, let alone big ones."

Wang Lixian said angrily.

The Chenwangzhuang Reservoir covers an area of ​​over 1,000 mu. It was first built in the 1950s and 1960s as part of water conservancy projects. Initially, it was mainly used for flood control and irrigation, irrigating farmland in the north, south, and west directions through the river bend at the foot of the southern mountain.

Later, it was contracted out to people in the county, and the contract lasted until the late 1980s.

Since then, the reservoir has been neglected and is now almost a wild reservoir, where anyone who wants to eat fish can come and catch a net.

Chen Ling wasn't particularly interested in the reservoir, but the mention of crayfish made his mouth water: "There are so many crayfish, don't the people in our village eat them?"

Wang Lixian shook his head upon hearing this: "That stuff doesn't taste good, it's bitter."

(End of this chapter)