My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 70 Variants
Under the spring sunshine, Chen Ling brought his two puppies to the reservoir, took off his shoes, and stepped into the muddy water.

It was around four o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was gentle, and the shallow water area had become a paradise for crayfish.

Chen Ling caught a whole bamboo basketful in no time.

The reservoir is rich in nutrients and has a large number of plankton, which not only makes crayfish proliferate but also gives them their plump bodies.

This bamboo basket weighed about thirty pounds, and Chen Ling filled it with just a few scoops of his net.

“Young man, what’s the point of catching that thing? It’s not tasty to eat, and it makes chickens and ducks sick. It’s useless.”

An old man fishing nearby saw him catching crayfish and called out to him.

Chen Ling glanced at the old man, who looked unfamiliar, and then looked at the car parked under the tree on the dam. He knew that the old man was from a nearby village and had come to fish.

He chuckled, offering no further explanation, and walked over to glance at the bamboo basket beside the old man. "Grandpa, how was your catch today?"

"Don't even mention it, the little fish are swarming around. It's been an hour or so, and I've only caught two red-tailed fish, not a single big one."

The old man was furious. "If you ask me, these crayfish are a menace. They've made it so that there are fewer and fewer big fish in the reservoir these past two years."

Chen Ling chuckled inwardly. Crayfish were indeed a menace now, because people hadn't figured out how to cook them yet, but that might not be the case in a few years.

In later generations, crayfish became an extremely popular delicacy, and many people made their fortunes from crayfish.

Although the damage is still quite serious, it pales in comparison to the infamous Australian hare and the Asian carp that has become a nightmare for Americans.

"Uncle Fugui, Uncle Fugui, could you pick some apricots for me?"

Chen Ling picked up his shoes and walked onto the dam. He saw Chen Yuqiang's son, Xiao Sen, running over from not far away with a group of children and two small dogs, Heiwa and Xiao Jin.

"Why pick that thing? It's not ripe yet, you can't eat it if you pick it."

There are many miscellaneous trees on both sides of the reservoir dam, with willows, elms and locusts growing crookedly and haphazardly. Right next to the village entrance, there are also two black jujube trees and an apricot tree.

Once it matures, it becomes quite attractive.

"I don't eat it, I use it for playing, or to load up trucks to haul goods..."

The boy chuckled, holding a small shovel in one hand and a rope in the other, pulling a small wooden cart.

Heiwa and Xiaojin were attracted by this little thing and chased after the little kids.

Compared to Liu Nier and the others, the two puppies preferred playing with these four- or five-year-old children. Perhaps it was because they were of similar mental age, but they both liked to run around and roam freely in various places in the village.

"Okay, I'll pick some for you."

"Let's make this clear beforehand, nobody is allowed to eat this, understand? Otherwise, you'll have a stomachache all day."

Chen Ling gave a few instructions and then picked two handfuls of small green apricots from the branches for the children.

"Uncle Fugui, you're so kind!"

"My grandma said you were possessed by an evil spirit, that you were being led astray by a demon..."

Chen Ling picked apricots for them, and then a little child complained.

"Don't listen to your grandma's nonsense. How could a little devil dare to possess your uncle?"

"Uncle is clearly possessed by a glutton. He only eats little kids like you, with your delicate skin and tender flesh, one bite at a time, and they're so crunchy."

As Chen Ling spoke, he rolled his eyes, stuck out his tongue, and tried to scare them.

The little children were immediately amused and burst into laughter, and were no longer afraid of him.

Actually, Chen Ling used to be popular with little kids; he was good at climbing trees, catching fish, and stealing bird eggs.

However, I can't get along well with my parents, elders, and wife because I'm afraid of being scolded. Once I hear these nagging words, I get annoyed and can't control my temper.

It's different with little kids. You don't do anything serious, and you don't have to think about so much. You just play. You can play all sorts of games without getting tired of it, so little kids naturally like playing with you.

"Uncle Fugui, I want to play the radish pulling game!"

A toddler wearing open-crotch pants stretched out his arms, tilted his head back, and shouted.

In rural areas, a game called "Pulling Radishes" involves adults holding a child's head between their hands and pulling upwards, supposedly to help them grow taller.

But sometimes it can hurt children if not handled properly.

"I'm not pulling anymore, Uncle's hands are covered in mud, I haven't washed them yet."

Chen Ling is now strong and powerful. If he accidentally injures the little child, it will be difficult to explain.

Then he instructed Xiaosen, "You guys should come to the reservoir less often in the future. People from both of our brigades are building greenhouses on the west side now. If you accidentally fall into the water, no one will save you."

After Liu Ni'er started school, Xiao Sen became the leader, leading a group of little kids to run around recklessly all day long, showing no fear of anything.

"I understand, Uncle Fugui, I won't come again."

"Can I come to your house to play? I want to see the little rabbits and quails..."

"Okay, come on."

So Chen Ling took a group of kids home.

After arriving home, I filled a large basin with water from the hand pump and put the whole basket of crayfish into it to rinse them.

The little children squatted to one side, watching the rabbits and feeding them with wild grass they had picked from the road.

After the baby rabbits are born, the first thing they see when they open their eyes is people, so they are not afraid or hide and let them watch them. They also accept any grass that is offered to them.

"Ah Ling, is this shrimp really safe to eat?"

Wang Susu was helping Chen Ling clean the crayfish when she couldn't help but ask with some suspicion.

The villagers all say this stuff is very bitter; even chickens and ducks won't eat it. If it were delicious, they wouldn't be allowed to flood the reservoir. "Just you wait and see, you'll see what it's like for dinner."

Chen Ling said with a smile.

After rinsing the lobsters twice, I scooped them into a clean tin bucket.

As soon as half of the crayfish were poured into the iron pot, Wang Susu shouted, "Hey, wait a minute, there's a snake! There's a snake in the pot!"

As he spoke, he reached out to grab it.

Chen Ling looked down and saw two very thin red snakes clinging to the edge of the basin, mixed in with the crayfish. They were barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

"Huh? This doesn't look like a snake, it looks more like an eel."

Wang Susu took it in her hand, examined it carefully, then frowned slightly before handing it to Chen Ling.

The little children also heard the noise and ran over, staring at each other with wide, curious eyes.

"Hmm, this must be an eel, but the color is different. It's probably some kind of variant."

Chen Ling glanced at it twice, but didn't seem to care.

These two eels have slender bodies like two red ropes, their red color fresh and bright. They look like two newly hatched snakes, but their color is quite unique.

However, Chen Ling had eaten blood eel several times in Guangdong Province in his previous life, so he was not surprised by this color of eel.

"They're too small. Let's put them in the water tank and raise them until they're bigger before eating them."

Chen Ling said casually.

Then, I picked out some crayfish, prepared spices such as star anise, wild scallions, wild garlic, and chili peppers, and made a spicy crayfish dish in the yard.

As evening fell and the rich aroma wafted out, the children, their mouths watering, didn't care that the soup was too hot to handle. Each of them held a fragrant crayfish in their hand and skipped home.

It wasn't until the moon was high in the sky that Chen Ling and his wife finished off most of the pot of crayfish.

Wang Susu sucked the soup off her fingers and exclaimed, "Ah Ling, you're amazing! I never expected you to cook shrimp so well."

"Haha, didn't you hear what the old women in the village say? If my heart could be divided into eight parts, seven of them would be for eating, drinking, and having fun..."

"I'm a natural at eating and having fun."

"Hmph, that's just them talking nonsense."

Wang Susu snorted in protest.

Then he added, "I'll go wash the pots and pans. I'll go inside later to try on the new shirt and pants and see if they fit. If there are any parts that don't fit, I'll alter them tomorrow. You're almost out of clothes to wear."

Chen Ling responded, patted his stomach, stood up, and carried the bucket to the backyard to feed the cows.

I also put two small red eels into the water tank in the backyard. They were too small, and the fish I caught from the cave were too fierce. Putting them together, these two small red eels probably wouldn't be enough to fill their teeth.

Chen Ling placed it in a smaller water tank, added some stream water and aquatic plants from the cave, and then left it alone.

When they arrived at the front yard, Wang Susu washed the pots and pans, and took out the shirt and pants she had been making for him over the past few days, and asked him to try them on.

Since he entered the cave, he has grown a little taller and stronger, and his old clothes now seem too tight.

In addition, when the two puppies were young, they always chewed on his pants and clung to him to play, not knowing that their teeth were sharp. They had already torn two pairs of pants legs to shreds. Now, seeing that the litter of rabbits is behaving the same way, Chen Ling doesn't even have enough pants to wear.

So Wang Susu has been busy making new clothes for him lately.

After changing his clothes, he looked at himself in the mirror. He wore a light blue shirt and dark blue trousers. With his handsome, fair face and bright black eyes, even upon close inspection, one could not tell that he was a farmer.

"You've gotten a bit fairer lately."

Chen Ling thought to himself that his skin, which used to be a healthy wheat color, was now slowly turning fair, and combined with his outstanding appearance, it gave him a scholarly air.

In fact, it wasn't just him; Wang Susu had also changed quite a bit. Her skin became more supple and fair, and her slender figure became more voluptuous and attractive. If it weren't for the conservative clothing of that era, the changes would have been very noticeable.

"It fits well. I'll sew the edges back on tomorrow and I can wear it."

"Alright, take it off and go take a shower..."

"After you take a shower, let me draw a shoe design. Ah Ling, your feet are a bit wide."

Wang Susu looked him over and then nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay, I'll go boil some water."

Chen Ling nodded, then looked at himself in the mirror again and thought to himself, "No, this isn't good enough. He's too pale. He'd look more masculine if he were a bit darker. I should get some more sun in the future."

They quickly boiled the water, and the young couple took a hot shower together before turning off the lights and going to bed.

As for drawing shoe designs...

For some reason, it was forgotten.

……

Life should have continued peacefully and uneventfully.

However, the peaceful life of Chen Ling and her husband was disrupted in the following days.

Surprisingly, people started coming to visit, mostly parents of young children. At first, Chen Ling thought it was about the crayfish, but it turned out they were there to see the eels.

He was completely taken aback by the fact that the villagers were unusually interested in the two red eels.

It won't be published too early because I don't have any drafts saved up...

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(End of this chapter)