My 1995 Small Farm.

Castration of pigs, gelding of sheep, castration of roosters...

There are probably a few people in the surrounding villages who do this kind of work, if not a lot.

Those who are good at managing things are always sought after; people remember them as soon as they are mentioned.

Like Chen Sangui in the story of the carpenter, they don't have anyone like that here.

That is to say, pork prices have been good in the last two years.

Many people come to the countryside to buy pigs.

Pig castrators are now more sought after than in previous years.

Good breeding pigs used for mating are naturally even more sought after.

That being said, pork prices these days are not as transparent across the country as they are in later years. The price differences between urban and rural areas, and between different regions, are sometimes frighteningly large.

There are quite a few people who have become rich overnight by going to the countryside to buy pigs.

In the past two years, quite a few people have been trying to make a business out of pigs.

There are people like this in the neighboring Kuliu County, because there are many pig farms there.

Incidentally, there are also many breeding farms that raise large pigs.

Besides breeding pigs at the pig farm, he also takes the pigs around to breed them and make money.

Chen Ling didn't really want the village to raise pigs on a large scale; the pig manure was too smelly, it could be smelled for miles around.

Living close by is a real pain.

Compared to pigs, dogs, cattle, horses, and sheep, they are really not likable.

However, when the villagers asked, he would help in any way he could.

"I'm not trying to be mean, but since you're all so free and busy with breeding pigs, why aren't you doing anything about the cows?"

Chen Ling still strongly encourages the villagers to raise more local yellow cattle, saying, "Autumn is the perfect time for breeding cattle. Once the cattle are bred, they will give birth to calves next year."

Autumn is not only the peak season for breeding pigs, but also a good season for breeding cattle.

The cattle that the village bought this year have reached the age where they can be bred.

Even the calves we bought have grown up to the point where some are in heat.

Although cattle generally don't fully mature until they are about a year and a half old.

But it's not impossible for a strong, early-developing animal to get pregnant sooner.

The local cattle are small in size, so there's no danger.

"What's going on? There's no way we're going to be able to breed cattle this year. There was even a fight in the village over it."

Wang Lishan shook his head, and the others started cursing as well.

Chen Ling's eyes lit up when he saw this, thinking to himself that there was some juicy gossip to be had, and he quickly asked what was wrong.

"It's all because of that Guang family. Their bull is such a bastard; it rode every single heifer in the village. I'm so angry I could scream..."

Everyone cursed loudly.

The Guang family has been disliked in the village since they had a falling out with Chen Ling a couple of years ago.

Who knew the cattle I raised would be so charming?
Is his bull really that well-raised? From a human perspective, it's not that great.

It's far inferior to Chen Ling's.

Little did they know that many heifers in the village would crowd around them.

When cattle are grazing on the riverbank, they can be caught off guard if people aren't paying attention.

For more than two months prior, the village had been busy with the autumn harvest, planting wheat, and picking wild fruits, with little rest.

It's mostly the elderly and children in the family herding cattle.

During the day, Erhei and his pack of dogs roamed around freely, and no one dared to steal cattle from the village.

So it's very worry-free.

And that's how this whole thing happened.

In the end, no one knew when the calf was bred or which cow the Guang family's bull mated with.

However, mating does not necessarily mean that the breeding was successful.

Unlike humans, cows' bellies can swell up if they eat or drink too much.

At the beginning, no one dared to be sure whether their cow was pregnant or not.

In this situation, who would dare to take their cow to breed again?

If she's already pregnant, going to find a bull to mate with her would definitely hurt the bull.

If she hadn't been bred by the Guang family's ox, she wouldn't have gotten pregnant this year, which would have wasted another year.

The key issue is that his bull doesn't look that good.

Just thinking about it makes me feel disgusted.

I went to the Guang family in the east of the village to talk about this, but Guang's wife said that people can't control things like livestock.

This infuriated the man, and they started fighting after only a few words.

First, the women fought with each other, then the men fought with each other.

When women fight, it's manageable, but when men fight, things can get much worse.

So many people came forward to plead for them.

Although the Guang family wasn't well-liked in the village, they weren't without relatives...

Back then, these few people from other families came to Chenwangzhuang either as refugees or for some other reason. They were destitute and helpless, and the village was full of people with the surnames Chen and Wang.

Those from families with different surnames should definitely get closer together.

Now, it's not just these few families that are related to each other; they also have relatives with the Chen and Wang families, and even with people from other villages and counties.

If someone were to intercede on their behalf, the matter wouldn't escalate too much.

But they did end up fighting, causing chaos and confusion.

"Alright, let's put this matter aside then. Who cares if the bull is good or bad? It's never a loss if it gets pregnant. I'll find a good buyer for everyone next year and make more money then."

Chen Ling said with a smile.

But then he set his sights on his good older brother, Liang Yuemin.

He basically has everything he needs now, so he doesn't care much about money anymore, and he has no intention of making a lot of money.

They are only particularly persistent with local scalpers.

Compared to how important oxen are to him, raising native bees seems like a secondary matter.

"Hehe, now that you've said that about wealth and honor, we all feel at ease."

The villagers grinned broadly, their smiles warm and genuine.

As long as Chen Ling finds a seller, anything goes.

If this matter remains unresolved, and we don't know whether we'll make a profit or a loss, even if the scalper's price fluctuates little, we'll still feel uneasy if we lose money.

Naturally, when it comes to breeding cattle, they prefer to find bulls with good appearances.

Just like raising pigs, if you want the piglets to grow fast, grow well, and have lots of meat, you'll never have to worry about selling them at the mule and horse market.

"Hey, look, the fox is out, looking this way from the embankment of the big pit... Fugui, there's an old saying, 'fox friends are like dogs,' you wouldn't really have Xiaojin hooking up with a fox, would you?"

"I think it's somewhat similar. Heiwa has had a whole litter with wolves, so why can't Xiaojin have offspring with foxes?"

"Go away, that's nonsense. These foxes are playing with my little white calf."

As Chen Ling spoke, he picked up Rui Rui, led Heiwa, and a pack of dogs including Erhei to the back of the local temple to see what was going on.

The kids from Komori quickly followed.

The adults hesitated, afraid that if they got too close, they might anger Xiao Jin and then be bitten by dogs every day in the village.

It's simply impossible to live in the village anymore.

Chen Ling waded through clumps of tall grass and descended into the pit. As expected, the fox wasn't afraid of him. It howled twice and ran over by taking small, quick steps around the trees.

Little Jin was also wagging its tail at him in front of the fox den.

He noticed something was wrong, went over to check, and found that another litter of fox cubs had been born.

There's not much to say about that.

Foxes go into heat and mate as soon as the weather warms up after winter, and give birth to cubs in the fall.

Sometimes, a single litter can produce a huge number of offspring.

As for how many will survive, that's hard to say.

For example, when Chen Ling first encountered this mother fox, her entire family was almost killed by badgers.

"Daddy, Little Fuli..."

"Yes, little fox, come down and see the little fox inside."

Chen Ling put him down and squatted down at the entrance of the cave to look at him.

Xiaosen and the others wanted to come along, but Xiaojin, who was usually gentle with the little kids, let out a low whimper and revealed a fierce look.

They were so frightened that they dared not come any closer.

Chen Ling waved to them, telling them not to come down.

"Uncle, a fox has been hiding under my crabapple tree. Could you catch it for me next time you come? My yard doesn't have a gate, and foxes keep getting in."

"Okay, I'll go check it out for you next time."

Chen Ling agreed, and took Rui Rui to play by the pit for a while. They then went to look at the big trees covered with egret nests, and dug up some Jerusalem artichokes for the little rascal before going home.

Chen Dazhi had been in the city for over ten days and hadn't returned. He had even planted fruit trees all over the hillside where his house was located.

So after having lunch at home, I took Afu and Ashou out for a stroll in the mountains.

While we're at it, we'll dig up some suitable saplings to plant.

This time, taking Afu and Ashou into the mountains was quite different from the last time.

When I brought Afu and Ashou to the mountains before, all the animals were restless. The audacious jackals and wild boars dared to provoke us.

Those jackals would even drive wild boars toward where Afu and Ashou were.

They came down the mountain to the farm again at night to take revenge.

But this time it's different.

Last time they came back, Afu and Ashou went hunting in the mountains and got blood on several occasions, catching deer, wild boars, and pheasants... They did everything except hunt wolves.

The wild animals in the mountains knew that these two big guys were not to be trifled with.

Since their return, Afu and Ashou have grown even larger, and the suppressive power of their bloodline as high-level predators is now fully revealed.

Chen Ling noticed that everything was quiet when he entered the mountains.

Even the birds could only be heard flapping their wings; their calls were barely audible.

The changes in Afu and Ashou's eyes are becoming more and more obvious.

His brownish-yellow pupils exuded an air of authority and sharpness.

They also spontaneously began to patrol their territory, marking locations with urine from time to time.

It's like an instinct etched into your genes, something you're born with.

Just like a dog with a strong hunting instinct.

When the time comes, you'll know what to do.

Born to be the king of beasts.

After seeing blood many times, it finally began to show some of the demeanor of the king of beasts.

Naturally, this frightened all kinds of wild animals so much that they dared not show their faces.

"Alright, our Ah Fu and Ah Shou are finally starting to look like the kings of beasts."

Chen Ling patted the heads of the two tigers with satisfaction, then tried riding Ah Shou, only to find that he still couldn't quite handle him.

It will still be some time before we can ride a tiger to patrol the mountains.

It is, after all, a South China tiger.

It's not a Siberian tiger.

If it gets a little bigger, I don't expect it to exceed the species limit and grow to the size of a Siberian tiger, just big enough to carry him on my back.

Tigers are strong, and the South China tiger is actually quite large.

But after all, tigers are not pack animals.

Even though packhorses are so small compared to tigers, people can still ride on them.

So it depends on what it is.

"Let's go, now that these guys in the mountains have calmed down, let's go deeper into the mountains!"

Seeing that Afu and Ashou could intimidate all the beasts in the mountains, Chen Ling couldn't help but feel a surge of pride and completely forgot what he had planned to do that morning.

When the mood struck me, I wanted to explore those sinkholes again.

The saplings there are growing well, and the wild mushrooms and wood ear fungus are plump and juicy. There are also many undiscovered treasures waiting to be discovered.

As a result, once we headed towards the Qinling Mountains, we found an even greater abundance of large and small animals.

Upon noticing the arrival of the two unfamiliar giants, Afu and Ashou, they immediately panicked and fled in disarray.

There are mountain donkeys and wild sheep galloping along the cliff.

A herd of sika deer with alertness.

There are musk deer basking in the sun on the grassy slopes.

There's a pack of jackals that's been peeking around and causing trouble...

There was even a black bear that looked human, with its belly sticking out and walking upright, but when it saw Chen Ling with two tigers, it quickly pretended not to see them and waded away through the stream.

Wherever it went, beasts fled in terror.

The exhilarating feeling is simply indescribable to outsiders. (End of Chapter)