My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 66 Medical Treatment
Damn, a duck eggshell!
What's the situation?
Chen Ling hurriedly went into the thatched hut to see the basket full of duck eggs placed against the wall.

Upon closer inspection, the basket was already full of broken shells.

"This thing, I just left it here and didn't touch it, and it actually hatched ducklings?"

Chen Ling was both surprised and helpless. These were the duck eggs he had collected while fishing last time. After leaving them in the cave, he had forgotten to take them out.

Unexpectedly, after being left in the thatched hut for over a month, they hatched on their own.

"It seems I know far too little about the wonders of the Sun and Moon Grotto. Not only can it flower and bear fruit without pollination, but it can even hatch eggs directly..."

Surprised, Chen Ling went out of the thatched hut to find the hatched ducklings.

It didn't take much effort to find it in the woods in front of the hut.

There, clusters of small, yellow-orange, furry creatures were huddled together, lying in the tree pit, dozing with their eyes half-closed.

The leaves of Solomon's seal and the stalks of gastrodia elata near the tree pit were severely damaged.

Although the damage can be repaired in time within the cave, many leaves and stems that have been pecked off by these ducklings can still be seen among the grass.

"Let's release them. Ducks can't be kept in the cave. They'll cause trouble everywhere, and if they go swimming in the pond, they'll probably end up in the bellies of fish and turtles."

Not to mention that the turtles are getting bigger every day, the fish caught from the Nansha River are also growing well.

Originally wild river fish, they became even more ferocious and wild after entering the cave, often leaping out of the water to chase and bite each other.

These freshwater fish, which are not inherently fierce, have become aggressive and combative under the nourishment of the cave, even the fry have become so.

If the ducklings dare to swim, they are very likely to die in the mouths of fish and be eaten by increasingly ferocious large fish.

"Choo Choo Choo……"

As soon as Chen Ling approached, the ducklings opened their eyes wide warily, raised their little heads to look at this strange creature, huddled together, chirped, and backed away in unison.

These tiny creatures have never seen any other living beings since they hatched.

Despite his instinctive wariness, he didn't immediately hide when he saw Chen Ling.

So Chen Ling calmly took off his coat and covered the group of ducklings with it.

Then, ignoring their startled chirping, he wrapped them in his coat and put them in the bamboo basket in the thatched hut.

He threw in some more vegetable leaves, put the lid on, and then carried the bamboo basket out of the cave, placing it next to the oxcart.

Then he opened the small door on the first floor facing the street, ready to start selling vegetables at his stall, only to suddenly realize that he hadn't even prepared a sign.

After thinking about it, I could only go to the county middle school diagonally across the street and ask for a small blackboard and two boxes of chalk.

There weren't many people at the county high school on Sunday.

Chen Ling carried a bundle of vegetables over, and coincidentally, he recognized the old man on duty—it was his former high school math teacher.

After retiring, I came to the new school to manage logistics. Although it's called managing logistics, I actually do the work of guarding the gate as well.

Upon seeing Chen Ling, the old man immediately recognized him.

Because this guy was very handsome and stood out from the crowd of students, but he messed up his studies terribly and was extremely unbalanced in his subjects.

He can score around 90 in Chinese, but he always gets single digits in math, and sometimes even zero.

The old man had a very deep impression of him, and upon seeing him, he glared at him and said, "What are you doing here, kid? The new Lingzhong building is already finished, and you're still here to steal the pliers?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling was both amused and exasperated. The high school he used to attend was the old Lingyun Middle School, which was on the same street as the old hospital in the county town and next to the City God Temple. It was now known as the old Lingyun Middle School.

When he was in high school, the new Lingzhong Middle School here had just been built.

Every Sunday after school, I would go with a bunch of boys to steal things like pliers and steel bars from the construction site of the new school. Once we had enough, we would sell them for money and then eat, drink, and have fun.

Later, he became more and more addicted to stealing, and he would climb over the wall to steal even before Sunday.

After only a few times, he was reported by a girl in his class and received a severe scolding from the teacher. Fortunately, he wasn't caught in the act, otherwise he probably would have received other punishments.

"Teacher Liang is bringing up old news again. We were young and ignorant back then. How could we do such petty things now?"

"I came to the school to see if I could borrow a small blackboard and two boxes of chalk. I opened a shop across the street and I'd like to hang up a sign."

"Hey, you've opened a shop now? This guy used to be cursing the convenience stores outside of school, and now he wants to make money off students?"

Old Liang stood with his hands behind his back at the entrance of the security room, squinting at him with a smile.

The old man's full name was Liang Jinke. He was almost sixty years old, not very tall, about 1.65 meters, with a square face, wearing glasses, and a clean-cut, scholarly appearance.

When she smiles, she has a kind and gentle look that makes people feel good about her.

"No, no, I just opened a fruit and vegetable shop, not to make money off students."

Chen Ling waved his hand and carried a bundle of green beans to Old Man Liang: "Teacher Liang, look, these are greenhouse vegetables. They've become popular in the last two years. Take them back for you to try..." "Good heavens, greenhouse vegetables? I dare not take these. The vegetable market in the western suburbs only sells them three or four times a month. Every time a whole truckload is brought in, it's all gone in the blink of an eye. I heard they cost more than two yuan per pound. They're expensive."

Old Liang pushed the green beans away, refusing to take them, and then said, "If you want a blackboard and chalk, I'll get them for you. Take the green beans with you. We have a vegetable garden at home, and spinach and other vegetables are growing. We have enough to eat."

Then, after telling Chen Ling to wait, he went to the school's equipment room and brought back a small blackboard and two boxes of chalk for him.

"You little rascal, you've started growing your own greenhouse?"

"No, I bought this from someone else."

Chen Ling opened this shop in the county town to cover his tracks, so naturally he wouldn't repeat his previous story.

"I knew it. You don't look like someone who's good at farming. But I heard that greenhouse vegetables sell pretty fast in the county town. Do your job well and don't go astray."

Old Liang gave his instructions.

Chen Ling smiled and readily agreed, then placed the green beans on the table in the security room.

"It's been a few years since I last saw Teacher Liang. Consider this a small token of my appreciation. If you ever crave it, just go across the street and get it. Don't be shy."

After saying that, he waved to Liang Jinke, picked up the blackboard, and strode away.

"This kid..."

Liang Jinke glanced at the shop across the street and couldn't help but smile.

……

Back in the courtyard, Chen Ling wrote the words "greenhouse vegetables" on a small blackboard and hung it outside the door.

Then he laid out four kinds of vegetables: cucumber, tomato, eggplant, and green beans, and put the steelyard balance, which had been gathering dust in the backyard for a long time, aside for use, and began to hawk his wares.

Before long, people started asking about it.

It was the small shop and book rental shop next door. On Sundays, when students don't go to school and no one comes, they are relatively free. They noticed Chen Ling tidying up here early in the morning.

When I saw him set up his vegetable stall, I came over to take a look.

Chen Ling sells them at the market price of two yuan per kilogram for greenhouse vegetables, and as usual, he lets people taste them before they buy.

After tasting it, the two seemed quite satisfied, so they mixed the four kinds of vegetables together and each bought three jin (1.5 kg).

After these two, more and more people came to buy.

In less than three hours, all the vegetables in the four bamboo baskets were sold out.

Chen Ling glanced at the time; it wasn't even 6 PM yet.

Just as Old Liang said, these greenhouse vegetables are indeed quite popular in the county town.

"But I also chose a good location. The county hospital is less than a kilometer away, and not far from the county hospital are the staff and teachers' residential compounds, where there are many people with spare money."

"Most importantly, I didn't raise the price this time; I set it at the market price, and the taste and texture are better than ordinary greenhouse vegetables..."

After analyzing the situation, Chen Ling decided that it would be better for him to come and sell vegetables a few times a month.

Anyway, he won't sell vegetables grown directly in the countryside unless there are special circumstances. If the price is too low, he'll lose money, and if the price is too high, they won't sell well. It's better to come to the county town and sell these vegetables grown by diluting the spring water.

Not only do they sell quickly, but they're also hassle-free.

This time, I sold 1,600 yuan worth of goods in just one afternoon, plus 4,400 yuan worth of peanuts, which makes a total of 6,000 yuan.

"Coming once a month is enough, and I can also deliver some peanuts to the oil mill while I'm at it..."

"I'll come back whenever I feel like it again..."

With that in mind, Chen Ling packed up his stall, locked the door, drove the oxcart out, and headed home.

He had only just reached the county hospital when he heard someone calling his name.

Chen Ling turned his head and saw that it was Chen Guoping, the old man, standing at the entrance of the county hospital with a medicine box on his back.

"It's Brother Guoping! What brings you to the hospital?"

Chen Ling quickly stopped the oxcart, got off, and asked.

"Don't even mention it. The county called a meeting with doctors from all the townships and said that our poor mountain village has been selected as a pilot county for medical reform and that they're going to implement some kind of cooperative medical care system."

"They said that in the future, doctors from neighboring villages in the township will be allowed to exchange medical consultations at their respective village clinics to help solve the problems of difficulty and high cost of medical care for the people."

"I didn't quite understand the specifics, but this meeting lasted all day, it was really annoying..."

Chen Guoping sighed and glanced at Chen Ling, "The sun is already setting. If it weren't for you, Fugui, I would still have to walk back in the dark."

Some comments disappeared inexplicably, like the one from a guy who said people died while paying taxes.
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(End of this chapter)