My 1995 Small Farm.

The next morning, it got light earlier than it had in the previous days.

The sun at the end of the second month of the lunar calendar is getting noticeably warmer day by day.

Yesterday morning, I had to wrap myself tightly in a cotton-padded coat before daring to go out. But today, as soon as the sun climbed over the treetops of the eastern forest, the warm rays of sunlight shone down, making my spine slightly sweaty.

The remaining snow in the shady corner of the wall had shrunk into a small, dirty clump, and it looked like it wouldn't last until noon.

The poplar and willow trees along the roadside had branches that were tinged with a moist, bluish-brown, and their swollen buds looked as if they were about to burst into tender green at any moment.

"Oh dear, the weather is changing so much! I can hardly wear my cotton-padded coat anymore!"

As Grandma Liang Hongyu put a little hat with ear flaps on Lele, she smiled and sighed.

For the few days that Chen Ling went to the city to pick up the tiger, the old lady helped out here.

I arrived very early this morning as well.

Wang Susu also helped Kang Kang change into a slightly thinner red floral cotton-padded jacket, nodding in agreement: "Yes, it's spring, and it's getting warmer every day."

"When we get back to the village, we can take apart and wash the thick quilts for the children."

In the courtyard, Chen Ling was tying the last few bundles onto the pack rack on Xiao Qing's horse.

Rui Rui, wearing open-crotch pants and a thin blue cotton vest, was excitedly running around Afu and Ashou, her little face flushed red, constantly shouting:

"Back to the village! Big tiger! Back to the village, let's play on the hill! Rui Rui wants to ride you!"

The two giant tigers seemed to sense their young master's joyful mood, lazily lying in the yard basking in the sun, their thick, long tails lightly brushing the ground with a soft "rustling" sound.

Bathed in golden light, their massive bodies gleamed with fur, resembling two gilded divine beasts, exuding a sense of tranquility amidst their ferocity.

Outside the small courtyard in the south of the city, the noise was already bustling and far more lively than yesterday.

It wasn't just the villagers of Chenwangzhuang; neighboring Jinmen Village, Taoshugou, and even more distant villages, who had heard the rumors of "Guoshanhuang" and felt uneasy, sought refuge with relatives there.

Today, many families have joined the ranks of those "returning home".

As if they had all made a pact, they drove donkey carts, pulled handcarts, carried loads on their shoulders, and helped the old and carried the young, making their way to the village in a grand procession.

Yesterday, only a few anxious families went back to pack up, but today the whole group has set off.

The bells on the donkey's neck jingled and clanged.

The children sat atop a high pile of bedding and household items, shouting excitedly.

The men cracked their whips and shouted to their livestock, their faces showing the joy they had been holding back for the entire first month of the lunar year.

The women chatted idly as they walked, their voices loud and clear, discussing whether to air out their quilts first or weed the wheat field first.

"Finally, I can go back home! No matter how nice the city is, it's still under the eaves of relatives' houses, and I can't sleep soundly there!"

"You're right! My old hen hasn't laid an egg at all these days while it's been cooped up at our relatives' house! Once it gets back and runs around freely, I guarantee it'll lay one egg a day!"

"Hurry back and water the wheat field. There's plenty of snowmelt this year, and the wheat seedlings are growing rapidly. If we don't apply fertilizer now, it will be too late!"

The procession was long and impressive, kicking up dust, and filled with a sense of eagerness and joy to return home.

……

This scene is even more spectacular and full of hope than when people fled to the city to escape the disaster years ago.

The fear had been dispelled by the arrival of the two tigers, Afu and Ashou, leaving only an eager longing for their homeland.

Chen Ling's family also finished packing and prepared to return to the village with the flow of people.

Wang Susu and Liang Hongyu, holding their child, boarded the horse-drawn carriage. Rui Rui insisted on riding a horse with Chen Ling, but he scooped her up and placed her on the saddle in front of him.

"Hold on tight, you brat, or we won't be responsible if you fall!"

"Hey, Dad, hurry up! Overtake Big Head's family's car!"

Rui Rui waved her little hand.

Heiwa and Xiaojin led the way, while Afu and Ashou followed leisurely on either side of the donkey cart. Their presence automatically kept the surrounding crowd at a respectful yet reassuring distance, eliciting gasps and discussions wherever they went.

"See those? Those are the two tigers from the Fu Gui family! Good heavens, they're as big as small mountains!"

"With these around, what's there to be afraid of? We'll tear them apart one by one!"

"I finally feel at ease and can get a good night's sleep..."

The large group left the county town and proceeded along the slightly muddy dirt road after the ice melted, heading towards Chenwangzhuang.

However, after walking less than two miles, before reaching the fork in the road under the western city wall of the county town, they heard a series of urgent motorcycle horns and shouts coming from behind.

"Mr. Chen! Mr. Chen! Wait! Please stop!"

Chen Ling reined in his horse and looked back.

Two people on a motorcycle came chasing after them, sweating profusely and looking anxious.

The most eye-catching figure was a middle-aged man dressed in a blue Zhongshan suit, who looked like a cadre. Before the car had even come to a complete stop, he jumped out of the back seat and ran breathlessly to Chen Lingma.

"Boss Chen! We've finally caught up with you! Are you heading back to the village?"

Chen Ling recognized the man as Li, the manager of a large chicken farm in the city. He had come to discuss ordering chicks before the Lunar New Year.

Before he could finish speaking, two more jeeps pulled up behind him and screeched to a halt.

Several other people jumped out of the car, their faces also filled with anxiety.

This was also the head of a chicken farm in the city; Chen Ling remembered writing "Old Zhou" on the phone number when leaving the contact information.

"Hey, Manager Zhou, Director Li, what brings you here at this hour? We're moving houses in our village!" Chen Ling quickly stepped forward to greet them.

Old Zhou wiped the sweat from his brow, and without bothering with formalities, got straight to the point: "Brother Fugui, we've finally found you! We've been so anxious we were practically crawling on our hands!"

"The weather is getting warmer so quickly, and we've disinfected the chicken coop several times. We're just waiting for your eggs to hatch into chicks!"

Old Li quickly chimed in, "Yes, Fugui. We ordered it last year, and we need to be quick to get the first batch of seedlings this spring!"

“We visited your village last year and saw the chickens that roamed the mountains around your village.”

"Your chickens are strong, meaty, and lay big eggs!"

"Compared to your chickens, those 'Nine-Jin Yellow' chickens on the market are like 'little quails'!"

"Our farm is expanding this year, and we're counting on your batch of seedlings!"

The other two chimed in, praising Chen Ling's chicken breed for its excellence and high demand, hoping he would prioritize supplying it.

"Mr. Chen, to be honest, we didn't want to be in such a hurry and disturb your move."

"We also know that you had heavy snow in the mountains this January, which blocked the mountains and caused monsters to appear..."

"So I haven't called to urge you, I've just been asking around at the freight station, specifically Mr. Fang."

"But the weather is getting warmer every day, and if we keep putting it off, it really won't be possible to get it done."

"Just get it done for us in the next couple of days, and we'll give you extra money."

Wang Susu came out carrying Lele and said to Chen Ling, "Ah Ling, business is important. It's not easy for Manager Zhou and the others to make this trip."

Money is secondary; this matter concerns their family's reputation.

Chen Ling understood that spring was the golden season for the farm, and the sooner the chicks were put into the coop, the sooner the profits would be realized.

The chicks he had the lynx hatch were mostly from farm eggs, and the breed had already been optimized.

He paused for a moment, then smiled at the team leaders and said, "Don't worry, everyone, I'll definitely remember what I promised you!"

"The chicks have been hatched for a long time, and they're all sleek and healthy—guaranteed to be top-quality chicks!"

He pointed in the direction of the forest farm: "Okay, come with me to the chicken coop and we'll count the exact number on the spot. We'll arrange for someone to deliver it to you today, so there won't be any delays!"

Upon hearing this, Lao Zhou and his companions beamed with joy and repeatedly expressed their gratitude: "That's wonderful! We knew Brother Fugui was reliable!"

"Daddy, Rui Rui wants to stay with you!"

Rui Rui refused to get off Xiao Qing's horse, twisting her body in protest.

Chen Ling smiled, hugged him, and put him back on the packhorse cart: "Good boy, come home with Mommy first, let's see if the flowers in our yard have bloomed yet!"

"Dad will go back after he finishes dealing with things here, and take you and Big Tiger into the mountains!"

Chen Ling patted her son's head.

Although Rui Rui was a little reluctant, she still nodded sensibly: "Then Daddy, hurry up! I'll tell Big Tiger to wait for you!"

Chen Ling smiled and patted his little head, then said to his family on the packhorse cart, "Susu, Auntie, you take the baby and the tiger back to the village with everyone first."

"I'll go back after I finish dealing with things here."

"Dahai, Xian-ge, please help look after them."

Zhao Dahai and Wang Lixian nodded quickly: "Fugui, don't worry! We've got the village covered!"

Chen Ling smiled and nodded, then patted Afu and Ashou's big heads, signaling them to follow Wang Susu and the others.

The two tigers growled softly in response, then obediently protected Wang Susu and the others, continuing towards Chenwangzhuang with the main group.

This scene left several anxious chicken farm managers somewhat stunned.

If it weren't for the chicks on my mind, I probably would have caught up with them by now.

Ignoring their reactions, Chen Ling led Director Li and his group to the forest farm. The scaffolding for construction had been dismantled, leaving only a prefabricated house and a few larger greenhouses nearby, where the lynx usually helped him hatch chicks when he had nothing else to do.

Upon entering the greenhouse, a unique heat wave, a mixture of chicken manure, feed, and chick down, hits you.

"Chirp chirp chirp! Chirp chirp chirp!"

Hundreds and thousands of tiny yellow, brown, and black fluffy balls huddle together in bamboo trays and tiered cages, emitting delicate yet vibrant chirps.

These chicks have grown a bit bigger than before, their downy feathers are fluffy, their little wings are starting to grow stiff feathers, and their legs are much stronger.

They ran around lively in the greenhouse, pecking at the broken rice and vegetable leaves on the ground.

They are fluffy like rolling colorful balls, full of energy.

When it saw someone coming, it wasn't shy at all; instead, it curiously came over and started pecking at people's shoelaces.

"Look at that! That energy! That coat color! Wow, what a top-notch prospect!"

Old Zhou squatted down and carefully picked up a little yellow chick. The chick didn't struggle in his palm, and its little black bean-like eyes darted around.

Chen Ling looked at the audacious little yellow chick in Old Zhou's hand, which was pecking at his shoelaces, and couldn't help but laugh.
“Manager Zhou, this one you have won’t do. This is my Rui Rui’s precious baby. He comes to feed him every day and even named him ‘Little One.’ He’s the bravest and the most clingy. You can’t sell this one.”

"If I sell it, that brat will cause me a huge uproar!"

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter, and the previously anxious atmosphere vanished instantly.

Upon hearing this, Lao Zhou was not disappointed at all; on the contrary, his eyes lit up even more, as if he had discovered some treasure.

Carefully placing the chick back on the ground, he said repeatedly:

"Oh my, no wonder! No wonder! The baby was raised by my own hands, it has a soul!"

"This further proves that your family's chicks are of good quality, even the little ones are raised to be so affectionate and bold!"

"Great, that's really great!"

These were just polite words on the surface. What they really meant was that the fact that their child was able to come here every day to feed the chickens showed that they truly valued these chicks.

They could also tell that it was indeed well-raised.

The other managers also gathered around, their faces beaming with joy as they looked at the shed full of spirited, glossy-feathered, and chattering chicks.

They were all experts, and they could tell at a glance that the health and breed advantages of this batch of chicks were far superior to those commonly found on the market.

Manager Li rubbed his hands together, his tone urgent and sincere: "Brother Fugui, to be honest, we agreed before the New Year that each of our families would take five hundred chickens."

"You set the price at ten yuan each, and we were wondering if it was a bit expensive..."

"Hehe, but looking at it now, it's worth it! It's totally worth it!"

"With this condition and this vitality, if you took it to the market, people would fight tooth and nail to get it for fifteen or twenty yuan, let alone ten!"

He wasn't flattering me.

These days, a regular broiler chick costs only 1.8 yuan, while a better laying hen chick costs at most 2 or 3 yuan.

Chen Ling's price of ten yuan was absolutely astronomical at that time.

But Chen Ling knew in his heart that his chickens had been subtly improved by the spiritual water of the cave, making them more resistant to disease, faster-growing, with more delicious meat, and laying larger and more frequent eggs, making them a superior breed.

He never intended to do large-scale takeout; he only set aside some food out of consideration for personal relationships and certain cooperation agreements.

This is something I keep as a hobby in my spare time; I don't really intend to make a lot of money from it.

Besides, if he were to worry about these things, the spread of such a superior breed would be worth at least fifty yuan per bird, let alone ten yuan.

At ten yuan each, those in the know feel they've gotten a bargain.

Introducing superior varieties is never a simple matter of setting a price.

Chen Ling knew exactly what was going on, so he smiled and waved his hand, "The price will be as agreed, ten yuan it is. I, Chen Fugui, keep my word."

He pointed to the lively chicks in the greenhouse: "The chicks are all here, there are definitely enough for your families to share."

"These are all healthy seedlings that have just been able to leave the nest in the last few days. They are very robust. If you take a little care to keep them warm when you get back, I guarantee that their survival rate will be over 95%!"

Old Zhou and his companions were overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

Old Li's eyes lit up, and he leaned closer and lowered his voice: "Brother Fugui, look... these seedlings are so good, five hundred are really not enough to cover the costs... could you spare a few more for us?"

"The price is negotiable, twelve yuan! No, fifteen yuan apiece is fine too!"

The other two also immediately looked over expectantly, clearly sharing the same thought.

Another person in charge, surnamed Wang, quickly chimed in, "Yes, Brother Fugui, as long as you name it, even twenty yuan apiece, we won't haggle! ...Could you give us a little more in quantity?"

"Five hundred isn't even enough to fill a gap in my teeth! I just expanded two greenhouses over there, and they're eagerly waiting!"

The others echoed this sentiment, their eyes filled with longing.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling smiled and shook his head, but his attitude was firm: "Brothers, it's not that I'm unwilling to sell more. It's just that I only have this many hatching eggs at home, and that's about all the eggs I'll hatch."

"There's a lot to do in the spring, with a ton of work in the mountains and villages, so we don't have time to do a second batch."

"We agreed on 500 per family, and that's 500. We'll stick to the agreement. Any more, we really don't have any left."

Seeing that Chen Ling's attitude was clear and that there was no more money to be offered, the group was disappointed, but they knew they couldn't force the issue.

Getting these 500 premium chicks is already a good start.

Old Zhou immediately approved: "Alright! Five hundred it will do! Brother Fugui is particular! Here's the money!"

As they spoke, the group took out stacks of hundred-yuan bills tightly bound with kraft paper straps from their black faux leather bags.

Ten yuan a note, five hundred chickens would be five thousand yuan. Five thousand yuan for each family, and several families would add it all up, and the handover was completed in this warm shed filled with the smell of chicken manure and feed.

Chen Ling didn't count the money carefully, but casually stuffed it into an old canvas bag, appearing very relaxed. This generosity earned him a higher opinion of the managers.

"The money and goods are settled. Gentlemen, you can arrange for someone to take the chicks now."

“You’ll have to prepare the cages and transport vehicles yourselves. I’m also short-handed; the village is moving today, and I really can’t spare anyone to help.”

Chen Ling said.

"Of course, of course! I can't possibly trouble you any further!"

Old Zhou quickly agreed: "We'll go to the county freight station to find a truck right away. Boss Xiao Fang is the son-in-law of your village. We've ordered trucks from him before and we keep in touch. He said he'd help find some workers to catch the chickens and put them in the cages!"

The group left in a hurry.

Chen Ling stood at the entrance of the greenhouse, looking at the chirping little creatures inside, and smiled.

This income from his "side hustle" is nothing compared to his current net worth, but seeing his work recognized makes him happy nonetheless.

Not long after, Little Sheep arrived in person with two light trucks with canopies; he really did have some skills.

What Chen Ling found even more amusing was that the group of temporary workers running behind the car were actually Jackson and his foreign devils!
It turned out that Lao Zhou and his group were in a hurry to catch chickens, but they couldn't find enough idle laborers in the county town for the time being. They happened to run into Jackson and his group, who were idle and eager to please Chen Ling so that they could beg him to go into the mountains to rescue people.

Upon hearing that they would be working for Chen Ling, these foreigners rolled up their sleeves and came without saying a word, without even asking about the wages.

Soon, a peculiar scene appeared in the greenhouse:

A group of tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners were clumsily but earnestly trying to catch chicks in a greenhouse full of chicken feathers and dust.

They imitated the Chinese workers next to them, carefully picking up the chirping chicks and gently placing them into the bamboo chicken coop.

His movements gradually became more skillful, but they still looked ridiculous, causing villagers who occasionally passed by the forest farm to burst into laughter.

Jackson worked even harder, his forehead covered in sweat, his blue eyes fixed on the chicks running around, muttering to himself:
"Watch out! Be careful! Oh God, it's gone! Quick, over there!"

It was as if they were completing a sacred and momentous mission.

Chen Ling stood by with his arms crossed, watching with a smile on his lips.

Seeing this, the little lamb came closer and chuckled softly, "Well, that's good, the foreign laborer has been upgraded to a foreign chicken farmer."

"Uncle Fugui, you really have a lot of influence."

"If they're willing to do it, let them do it. Old Zhou and the others can pay their wages as usual; these foreigners aren't short of money anyway."

Chen Linghun smiled nonchalantly.

Soon, thousands of chicks were packed into individual cages and loaded onto trucks.

Old Zhou and the others were satisfied and left with the car after expressing their gratitude. Before leaving, they did not forget to remind Chen Ling again that they should be given priority consideration next time there are good prospects.

Jackson and his men, drenched in sweat and covered in chicken feathers, ran excitedly to Chen Ling, boasting in broken Chinese, "Chen! Boss! We're done! Well done!"

Chen Ling smiled and nodded: "Okay, thank you for your hard work. Here, keep your wages safe. They used the freight station's truck, and the wages were paid by Boss Fang. You won't be shortchanged."

"No! I don't want any money!"

Jackson hurriedly waved his hand, his blue eyes full of pleading: "Mr. Chen, we don't want the wages! We just beg you, please help us go into the mountains one more time! Those mountains are terrifying!"

Looking at the few foreigners who were terrified yet full of anticipation, Chen Ling suppressed his smile, pondered for a moment, and said, "Let's talk about this after I've settled things in the village and see how things go."

“Things in the mountains can’t be solved with brute force alone.”

He didn't agree immediately, but he didn't completely refuse either.

Upon hearing this, Jackson and his companions were somewhat disappointed, but at least they saw a glimmer of hope. They thanked him repeatedly before taking their leave. (End of Chapter)