My 1995 Small Farm.

Herding cattle and collecting goose droppings, Chen Ling slowly strolled to the old river bend.

Now the riverbanks on this side of the old river bend are basically full of cows.

After the incident involving the young bull in the old Guang family, many families started grazing their cattle in the east of the village.

The two old men, Zhao Yubao and Zhao Yubao, had built that little river, which made it convenient for grazing cattle. Wild ducks would also come down there every day, in flocks, often swimming and catching fish with the village's domestic ducks.

I've met Chen Ling many times.

There aren't many wild ducks in the Laohewan area; there are only larger water birds, such as egrets and gulls.

When they arrived at Laohewan, Rui Rui started clamoring to catch a turtle again.

The brat gets bored with other things in no time.

He only ever liked to catch and play with the turtle.

In addition, there are field turtles, which are accustomed to people and recognize them. As long as Rui Rui calls them in his babyish voice, they will crawl over to Rui Rui. Of course, the little rascal likes them.

"There are no turtles now. It's gotten cold, and all the turtles have gone up the mountain."

Chen Ling half-coaxed and half-tricked him, saying that the Wheatfield Tortoise is a type of tortoise that is more like a land tortoise, and of course, it cannot lack water or be too dry.

However, they don't usually spend much time near the water; their activity range is quite wide.

Otherwise, they wouldn't go to the wheat fields far from the water to lay eggs every summer during the harvest season.

In late autumn, most of them do indeed return to the mountains to find a good place to dig burrows for the winter.

"Come on, Dad will take you to catch fish. We'll eat fish for lunch. Don't you remember that Mom loves mixed fish hot pot the most?"

Rui Rui frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded seriously: "Yes, Mommy will eat."

Seeing that he had calmed his son down, Chen Ling took him to the water's edge, rummaged through the basket used for collecting goose droppings, and pulled out two whisker cages.

This was naturally placed inside the grotto.

However, Rui Rui didn't care about that. She stared at the layers of small fish floating on the water, so many of them that they couldn't be chased away.

Indeed.

As long as the temperature doesn't drop suddenly and the water doesn't freeze, these fish fry will continue to survive.

This autumn, there has been less rainfall than in previous years, and the river level is much lower than usual.

These fish, big and small, are extremely easy to catch.

Chen Ling could scoop up a handful of fish fry with one hand. He would pick out the slightly larger ones, smash them with stones, and once the fishy smell came out, he would stuff the fish meat into a whisker basket and throw it into the water.

After setting down two whisker cages.

Chen Ling then rummaged through the withered weeds and vines at the foot of the mountain and found a few gourds and pumpkins.

This stuff is incredibly abundant in the wild.

If there's too much food for humans, they sometimes won't eat wild animals either.

So these are all still quite big.

Chen Ling used the tip of a sickle to dig a small hole in each of the gourds and pumpkins, hollowing them out.

Then, using broken reed stalks, cut them into half-length pieces and insert them one by one into the small holes in the gourds and pumpkins, making it look like a small window has been opened and a few iron bars have been added.

The gaps between these fences are for fish and shrimp to enter and exit.

Add a few grains of wheat, crushed stones, or small, fishy-smelling fish.

They were thrown into the water to catch fish, just like a fish trap.

Speaking of which, there are so many fish in the river now, you can catch a lot with a net, which is much easier.

But taking care of kids is all about having fun.

Sure enough, Rui Rui was immediately attracted when he saw what Chen Ling was tinkering with, and he kept calling for his father, asking Chen Ling to teach him.

But he's too young now, and his dad hasn't actually taught him any concepts. He just thinks it's fun and wants to try it himself.

Even though these pumpkins and gourds were all huge, he wasn't afraid. He babbled in his childish voice, lifted them up with all his might, and smashed them into the water with a bang.

Hearing the hollow pumpkin and gourd bubbling in the water, he screamed with joy and jumped up and down.

Then he asked Chen Ling to continue making it for him, and he kept throwing it away.

Before long, not only did the little water buffalo curiously chew on the grass and come over to take a look, but even Afu and Ashou ran out of their homes and sneaked over.

Blackie and Little Gold followed behind.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling said, "Heiwa, go home and get a bucket."

Heiwa turned and ran.

Afu and Ashou also turned around and ran back.

These two guys had been cooped up in the zoo for too long, and now that they're back in the countryside, they can't stay still and love to run around and have fun.

"A-Fu and A-Shou, don't follow me. I'll take you to the mountains this afternoon."

Chen Ling stopped them. After losing their baby fat, the two had grown even more robust and intimidating. It was best not to let them roam around outside unless they were with their family.

Upon hearing this, the two creatures let out two low growls.

He slowly turned around, came to Chen Ling's side, squinted his eyes and licked him, then stared at the slight sounds in the reeds and pricked up his ears.

After a moment of alertness, he turned his head back and forth, staring at the reeds swaying in the wind.

A little while later, he followed the father and son to the water's edge to catch fish.

They still have the mentality of children and can't calm down.

When Heiwa came over with the bucket, Chen Ling took out the whisker basket and picked out all the pumpkins and gourds.

It was splattering with big fish.

There are also many loaches and catfish.

In less than half an hour, they had caught half a bucket of fish.

The water is shallow now, and many catfish are injured.

Some were even missing a large chunk of flesh, which looked quite gruesome.

Chen Ling frowned a little when he saw this and decided to go back and chop it up to feed the ducks.

They didn't throw away the small fish either.

I'm going home to feed the fish in the tank.

With the apprentice gone, there's no one left to feed the fish.

After catching fish, Rui Rui saw a beautiful fox peering across the old river bend. The father and son then took the dog and tiger to explore the South Mountain, but they didn't find the fox. Instead, they fought with wild monkeys using slingshots.

Only then did he leisurely descend the mountain, carrying half a bucket of fish, and call two water buffaloes to go home.

"Wealth, wealth, I have your letter!"

"Keep an eye on your tiger, or I won't dare go over there!"

The young man delivering mail stopped his old bicycle, which was laden with heavy mailbags, and called out to him from a distance. "Come here, don't be afraid, they don't bite."

Chen Ling patted Ah Shou's big head, and the two tigers cooperated by hiding behind him.

The young man who was delivering the letter then rode over on his bicycle.

There were quite a few letters this time.

Chen Ling flipped through the pages as he walked home.

There is a thank-you letter from the Water Margin production team.

There are requests for manuscripts from livestock magazines.

A pen pal sent me a greeting.

He also received letters from strangers.

Most importantly, there was a letter from Yu Qi'an.

Chen Ling hadn't opened any of the other letters yet, but when he saw this one, he took it out to read it first.

The old man disappeared as soon as he got back. Old Zhou said he was busy with his wedding, but that was too vague.

The letter revealed the truth to Chen Ling: he had been disciplined by his parents.

His parents were respectable people, and they always complained that he was irresponsible, always chasing after hawks and dogs, and that he was still unreliable at thirty years old, unlike a child from a respectable family.

Therefore, he didn't dare to take the packhorses left here back too soon.

It wasn't until the marriage was settled and his girlfriend spoke well of him that things gradually improved.

Yu Qi'an finally dared to bring these livestock home.

Otherwise, for his parents, making money with these animals would be like telling their child that playing games could make money in the early years of online games – it would be a pipe dream. They wouldn't even agree to it, let alone beat him up.

"That old fellow is pretty good; he managed to get the marriage arranged smoothly."

After reading the letter, Chen Ling's brows relaxed. He and Yu Qi'an were somewhat of alike.

But none of them are as crazy as him, nor do they have as many hobbies.

The horse farm that Yu Qi'an set up in his later years had not only cattle, horses and sheep, but also peacocks, ostriches and camels, making it almost like a zoo.

They're only missing raising elephants.

He can't manage that much; he takes in some and then spends some... He clearly distinguishes between what is kept for fun, what is a companion, and what is kept to eat.

Yu Qi'an said he would come over in two weeks at most.

Let's talk about some things when he gets here.

Just as he was about to read the rest of the letters, a few people came down from the back mountain: "Boss Chen, can we have lunch at your house? We'll pay for the food!"

Chen Ling looked up and smiled, "I can't these next few days. I have a lot of things to do at home, and I have to go into the mountains every day. You guys go ask around in the village."

"That's fine."

The group responded, their eyes darting curiously toward Afu and Ashou standing beside Chen Ling.

Unlike the villagers, they didn't dare to discuss the two tigers much; they just watched from a distance.

I was a little surprised that this tiger was acting like a dog, even carrying things for me.

It looks like there are fish in this bucket. Do tigers eat fish too?!

Wait, how did this tiger get trained like this?!

"Did you get any pictures of the red-crowned cranes?" Chen Ling asked, noticing their nervous expressions.

"No, I saw a nest by the lake, but we waited all morning and they didn't come back. I guess they'll be gone by sunset."

Several people wore expressions of regret.

"Yes, the baby cranes have been out of the nest for a while now, and they've been flying very far lately."

Chen Ling said.

He then said no more, took the fish bucket from Ah Shou's mouth, and went home to cook.

When I got home, I picked up the fish while reading the letter.

The letters from the Water Margin TV series production team and the livestock magazine were not unexpected.

Chen Ling usually reads his pen pal's letters before going to bed at night.

I haven't opened it yet.

Chen Ling was quite surprised by the unfamiliar letters.

These letters were actually written by people from other places who had visited the village before.

The letters all concerned the same thing.

I saw the animated series about Heiwa Xiaojin on TV.

Some people are asking what the story is based on.

I'd like to see the original work.

Some people asked if there were any more puppies.

My child really wants a puppy after watching the cartoon.

They wanted to raise a smart puppy that could understand what they were talking to.

It's best to be a little clean...

Some admired how big his business was.

Making animated films is one thing.

They even have a collaboration with instant noodles.

The instant noodles were of such high quality.

It's truly amazing.

There was also a letter from Xiao Han, saying that CCTV had recently received many letters as well.

Many of the letters came from children.

The question is whether Heiwa Xiaojin is a real person.

Will it protect them from having nightmares at night?

In short, the various problems in the letter made Chen Ling chuckle.

Unexpectedly, at this point, their own farm has become popular because of the animated film.

"But it's a good thing too. Putting everything else aside, at least the breeding progress of the stud dogs that I'm working on with Lynx can be accelerated!"

Chen Ling thought of the dogs that had been bred at the Lynx kennel and thought to himself that when Lynx returned, he would definitely give him a big surprise. (End of Chapter)