My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 84 Chance Encounter
The streambank was overgrown with weeds, and occasionally a few crooked trees hung over the stream.

There are also all kinds of stones, smooth and delicate from being washed by the stream all year round. Especially in the shady places by the stream, moss covers them, and you can easily slip and fall if you are not careful.

When Chen Ling went into the mountains to collect herbs with Wang Susu before, he fell several times because he had no experience in this area. Fortunately, he was physically strong and was not injured.

The moss in the shady spot is harmful, and the sunny spot isn't much better.

Wild grasses spread everywhere, and poisonous snakes are often seen.

With a group of little kids following him, Chen Ling had to be careful.

So he used a machete to cut a tree branch to make a long stick, and slowly followed behind the two dogs, probing the grass as he walked.

Fortunately, they hadn't gone far when the stream widened and a rocky beach appeared ahead.

Heiwa and Xiaojin stopped at this moment, leaped out of the stream, and barked loudly in one direction.

Seeing that they didn't rush straight up, Chen Ling was a little worried about encountering some large wild beasts. After all, he often heard wolves howling at night, and there were quite a few wolves and wild boars in the mountains.

During this season, they're either in heat or raising their young; they're incredibly aggressive.

When he stepped closer and took a look, he was stunned.

It turned out to be a familiar face.

It was the kite he saved.

At this moment, it was pinning down a pheasant with its claws on the pile of rocks, its mouth full of feathers, and two feathers still stuck to its beak, as if it was preparing to eat.

The sudden appearance of Heiwa and Xiaojin, two old rivals, clearly startled it.

It immediately widened its eyes, spread its wings, ruffled its feathers, and let out a threatening cry.

"Uncle Fugui, it's an eagle! Quickly, let Heiwa and the other two catch it!"

Liu Nier and the others followed, and their eyes lit up when they saw the hawk. They quickly tiptoed to Chen Ling's side and whispered a reminder.

It was as if they were afraid of scaring the kite away.

Actually, they didn't need to remind him. While they were talking, Heiwa and Xiaojin had already pounced on him, startling the seemingly fierce but actually cowardly hawk into taking flight. Then, Heiwa picked up the pheasant, which had been stripped of most of its feathers, and ran back leisurely with Xiaojin.

The hawk flew to a large tree by the stream, only able to watch helplessly as its prey was snatched away. It kept making angry and resentful cries, flapping its wings as if it wanted to pounce but dared not actually do so.

The children watched with sighs of regret, lamenting that the two dogs had failed to catch the 'eagle,' and now it was too scared to come down.

Chen Ling stood aside and examined the hawk for a moment, then frowned slightly.

I wondered, what's this guy doing here?

That's too much of a coincidence.

Could it be that it's been secretly following me around all this time?

Just as he was thinking this, Heiwa came over and placed the pheasant at his feet.

Chen Ling picked it up without hesitation and was about to put it in his basket. He had saved the hawk's life, so he had to get some interest back.

But just then, he suddenly noticed that the pheasant was a little different.

Upon closer inspection, although most of its feathers had been taken by the hawk, leaving it bald, the feathers on its head, abdomen, and tail were still intact. The pheasant's feathers were yellowish-brown with chestnut-colored patterns.

Anyone who has seen a pheasant knows that this is the color of a female pheasant, but the feathers on this pheasant's tail are unusually long.

This is obviously not right.

"Sixth Sister, can you tell if this pheasant is male or female?"

Chen Ling called Liu Ni'er over to show her to him.

The boy was staring intently at the kite, discussing with the other children how to shoot it down.

When Chen Ling called him over to ask, he looked at her strangely and said, "It's a female, what's wrong, Uncle Fugui?"

"Look again, do female pheasants have tails this long?"

Liu Ni'er was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then quickly craned her neck to look.

This kid is the king of the kids in the village. He's always catching fish and birds, and it's not uncommon for him to catch pheasants.

In addition, his father, Wang Lixian, often went hunting in the mountains.

Therefore, Liu Ni'er has been very familiar with pheasants since she was a child.

After taking a look, he immediately said, "Uncle Fugui, this is not a pheasant. Female pheasants don't have tails."

Chen Ling thought to himself, "Sure enough," and then looked up at the hawk in the tree. That unlucky thing had probably caught a golden pheasant. But this was a female; its feathers were very similar in color to a female pheasant, only its tail was much longer.

"No wonder there were no hens incubating eggs in the red-bellied pheasant's nest; it turns out they were snatched away by this hawk."

Some of the habits of the golden pheasant are actually very similar to those of domestic hens, such as protecting their chicks and incubating their eggs.

Normally, when incubating eggs, they are like mother hens and don't easily leave their nest.

Unless there is danger.

Moreover, the red-bellied pheasant builds its nest in secluded places, and it is generally not easily discovered by people.

Today's situation clearly indicates that both the male and female birds were frightened and left their nest, which is why Liu Nier and the others were able to spot them.

Chen Ling glanced at the hawk in the tree again, noticing its puffed-out chest and still looking indignant. He ignored it, called Liu Ni'er and the others, and led the dog back the way they came.

We arrived at the nest of the red-bellied pheasant.

The male bird with its bright and beautiful feathers, resembling a phoenix, has vanished without a trace.

But the eggs are still in the old nest in the bushes.

Chen Ling sighed softly upon seeing this.

Golden pheasants typically have one male paired with three or four females. The females have camouflage, making them excellent at hiding in the forests, which greatly enhances their survival ability and ensures the survival of the species.

However, when faced with danger, the male bird often displays a cruel and ruthless demeanor.

These eggs that never hatched were simply discarded.

"Liu Ni'er, Xiao Sen, you guys go and pick out the eggs."

"Uncle Fugui, would you like some?"

“No, we don’t want to eat this. It’s not as good as the farm eggs from home. Uncle will take it to the market to sell and then buy you candy.”

"Uncle Fugui, I don't want to eat candy, I want to eat shrimp."

"I want to eat it too, I dream about it all the time, but my mom is too clumsy, she doesn't know how to make it at all..."

After the children picked out the eggs, they all started clamoring to eat crayfish.

Chen Ling looked at the little faces staring at him expectantly, and nodded in agreement, which immediately drew cheers.

Only Liu Nier looked at this and that, her face full of confusion, and asked Chen Ling, "Uncle Fugui, what's this prawn?"

Chen Ling was amused. The last time he made crayfish, the kid was at school and missed it.

"The shrimp in the reservoir have big, green shells that are so long. My grandpa and my dad both said they were bitter, but Uncle Fugui makes them so delicious. Last time I almost ate the shells too."

Xiaosen shook his head and showed off to Liu Nier.

This made Liu Ni'er very hungry. She thought to herself that going to school was no good. No matter what delicious food Uncle Fugui made, she could never eat it while it was still hot.

The little one was shouting "eat!" but his hands and feet were surprisingly quick.

After helping Chen Ling put the red-bellied pheasant eggs into the basket, she picked some wild grass from the stream to line the bottom, and then continued to follow Chen Ling forward.

……

It's almost the end of spring, and there are plenty of medicinal herbs on the mountain: *Gynostemma pentaphyllum*, *Uncaria rhynchophylla*, *Panax notoginseng*, licorice root, *Houttuynia cordata*, *Isatis indigotica*, daylily, honeysuckle...

Although they were all common medicinal herbs, Chen Ling still picked quite a few and put them in his basket.

As the stream becomes more rapid and the mountain slopes become steeper...

A dense forest appeared ahead, with many bamboo and mulberry trees.

At a glance, the branches were laden with purplish-red mulberries, and the ground was covered with layers of them. Several hedgehogs hid behind the protruding tree roots, eating the mulberries on the ground, and did not run away when they saw people coming.

"Oh, it's Fugui. Why did he bring a bunch of kids with him?"

Just then, someone heard the commotion outside the woods and poked their head out to look.

"Brother Dazhi, Sister-in-law Xiuying, what are you doing here?"

Chen Ling saw a man and a woman in the woods and walked over to ask them.

"We raise silkworms at home, so we came to the mountains to pick some mulberry leaves."

The man put down the hooked pole he was holding and laughed at Chen Ling, "Fugui, your two dogs are really scary. If I hadn't seen you following us, I would have dragged your sister-in-law up the tree."

(End of this chapter)