My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 75 Xiao Huang
Meanwhile, Chen Erzhu's face was extremely ugly. He rode his motorcycle home cursing all the way, still unable to swallow his anger.

After pouring Sun Yanhong a bowl of boiled water to relieve her thirst from the morning, he paced back and forth in his own yard, panting heavily.

"Damn it, Fu Gui, that bastard, he made me lose all face."

"If I don't vent this humiliation, not only will the villagers think of me in the future, but I myself will die of resentment."

Sun Yanhong had been listening to him curse all the way, and was already annoyed and irritable. Now that he started cursing again, she couldn't hold back any longer and kicked him without saying a word.

"What are you cursing for? You spineless coward, all you know how to do is curse. Did I come here to listen to your insults?"

“You need to understand one thing: whether you lose face or not is not important right now. What’s important is that we didn’t get those two red eels. That’s related to my brother’s future.”

"If my brother is having a hard time, do you think you'll be having a good time?"

Sun Yanhong's face looked frightening; she had completely lost the flirtatious and provocative air she used to have.

When Chen Erzhu saw that she was really angry, he immediately softened, not daring to provoke her any further. He obediently sat down next to her and gave her a forced smile.
"Yan Hong, don't be angry. I'm just really annoyed by that bastard."

"But from what you're saying, those two red eels really are the kind of fish you described?"

"Nonsense, otherwise why would I give that bastard two thousand dollars? Do you think I'm out of my mind?"

Sun Yanhong rolled her eyes, somewhat speechless.

Chen Erzhu was taken aback again, and chuckled awkwardly, "I thought you wanted to buy it to make up the numbers. The eel's whiskers looked very short, and it didn't quite resemble what you described when you came..."

"What are you trying to pass off as? This kind of red eel can be used to fill a quota? The short whiskers mean the fish is still small. You probably don't know, but this kind of thing only appears once every one or two hundred years. When it does appear, it comes out in pairs. In the past, as long as someone caught it, they had to offer it as tribute to the emperor and it was called 'Red Dragon'."

“Even nowadays, officials are quite fond of this stuff. If my brother had these two red eels, finding a new backer wouldn’t be difficult at all.”

At this point, Chen Yanhong couldn't help but let out a long sigh: "Unfortunately, that kid is as stubborn as a mule and is determined not to sell. Even if I raise the price further, it probably won't make any difference."

Upon hearing this, Chen Erzhu immediately understood what it meant.

He slowly lowered his head, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and said, "If that bastard won't sell, we'll think of another way. I don't believe we can't deal with him. I'm already bursting with anger and have nowhere to vent it."

……

Chen Ling was also worried that the eels would be targeted, so he kept a watchful eye on them, setting up traps and snares in the backyard and checking them several times a day.

This was to prevent theft at night, but unfortunately, it couldn't stop people from coming during the day.

Because the news about the eels spread so widely, within a few days, everyone in the surrounding villages knew about it, and people from other villages kept coming to see the spectacle.

Even the teachers from Chenwangzhuang Primary School, as well as people from the nearby Sixth and Seventh Detachments, would come here whenever they had free time.

People came with smiles, and he couldn't turn them away, which gave Chen Ling a real headache.

Wang Susu had originally planned to cultivate two vegetable plots in the backyard, but now that's impossible.

"Damn it, you're disturbing my peace and quiet. How can I keep putting up with you guys?"

Enraged, Chen Ling slammed his fist on the table and locked the backyard, refusing to let anyone in.

For the next few days, he spent his days either going up the mountain to collect herbs with Wang Susu or tending to the newly planted vegetable plots in the fields.

Only 1,200 saplings were planted on the 30 mu of land. The gaps between the fruit trees were quite large, more than enough to grow some vegetables.

So we planted some eggplants, tomatoes, chives, etc., but because we had saplings, we didn't plant any other climbing vegetables.

It is the fourth month of the lunar calendar.

Spring is still in full bloom in the mountains and fields. Various fruit trees and wild grasses are in bloom, and countless bees and butterflies are flying around, busy collecting nectar.

Walking through the fields and mountains, whenever the gentle spring breeze blows, the air is filled with the intoxicating fragrance of flowers.

Whether it's gathering herbs or doing manual labor, it's all about feeling relaxed and happy.

Chen Ling and Wang Susu would set out every day in the spring breeze, leading their cow and dog, traveling back and forth between the mountains and the fields.

Gradually, life returned to its former leisurely and comfortable state. Fewer and fewer people came to visit, just to see the novelty.

In recent days, even the little kids haven't been coming as often.

Because high-voltage power lines are to be erected on the south side of the village, several old Jiefang trucks come and go on the dam every day, and an excavator even drove over the day before yesterday.

This guy, Liu Ni'er and the others would run over to watch him right after school without even putting their schoolbags back home. Xiao Sen and the other kids who weren't in school yet would watch him all day long, and they didn't want to go home when it was time to eat.

Scolding at home is useless; she cries and makes a scene, insisting on seeing big trucks and excavators.

As a result, Chen Ling and his wife finally had some peace and quiet.

Moreover, in the past few days, the chicks, ducklings, quails, and rabbits at home have all grown up. However, the quails and rabbits still have the same old habit: as soon as Chen Ling comes home, they like to follow him around his feet and can't be chased away.

Especially the little rabbits, now even if you try to cover them with a basket, you can't hold them in place; they can easily push the basket open.

Even pressing down bricks and stones didn't work; the little ones actually learned to dig holes and make tunnels in the ground.

Chen Ling had no choice but to let them follow.

“Ah Ling, I heard from Yu Qiang’s wife that these past few days, while we’ve been away from home during the day, our neighbors across the street have been climbing onto their roofs and peering into our backyard.”

That evening, after Wang Susu returned from buying soy sauce at Cui the Cripple's place, she said the following.

"Is it Wang Chunyuan, or that old woman Qin Dongmei?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling frowned and asked.

"It's Dongmei. Chunyuan left after their last argument and hasn't come back."

Wang Susu put down the soy sauce bottle and said with a worried look, "Ah Ling, do you think she's been up to something bad ever since she heard that our eels are valuable?"

"Given that woman's temperament, it's really hard to say."

Chen Ling thought for a moment, then got up from the recliner. "I'll go tidy up in the backyard. You can eat first."

After saying that, he let a string of hopping little rabbits follow behind him and walked towards the backyard.

After carefully inspecting the backyard, they found nothing unusual.

However, just to be on the safe side, Chen Ling still scooped out the two red eels and put them into the cave.

Then he took out some vegetable leaves, fed the little white calf, locked the door, and returned to the front yard.

In the middle of the night, Chen Ling heard a scratching sound at the door while he was asleep.

He opened his eyes and saw that Wang Susu was asleep, so he quietly put on his clothes, got up and went to the door.

He pushed open the door and saw a weasel standing there, staring at him longingly.

The little thing hadn't shown its face for a while, and it became excited and started running around as soon as it saw Chen Ling.

Like a big yellow rat, it scurried all over the yard. Heiwa and Xiaojin knew that the little thing had reformed and often came to visit.

So he lay under the eaves, acting as if it were nothing unusual.

"What's up, Xiao Huang? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

Chen Ling squatted down and saw that it wasn't carrying anything in its mouth, so he stroked its tail and asked.

He named the two weasels: the male was called Little Yellow and the female was called Little Fatty. These two little creatures were very clever; Chen Ling only had to call them twice before he could tell who he was calling.

At this moment, Little Yellow squinted its little eyes and licked his hand, then stood up straight, pointed outside with its front paws, and ran outside.

"What's going on? Are you taking me somewhere?"

Chen Ling was puzzled, but he put on his shoes and followed.

(End of this chapter)