My 1995 Small Farm.

Wang Susu wanted to plant the flowers, but there were no seeds at home.

There are indeed very good roses in Chenling Cave.

But it's not appropriate to take it out right away; let's wait until he goes out next time.

So he didn't have much to do in the afternoon.

He simply picked out the edible shepherd's purse and lamb's quarters to prepare for adding to the evening's dishes.

The rest were haphazardly stuffed into two large burlap sacks and tied tightly.

"Take these to the forest farm to feed the sheep, so as not to waste them."

He figured that the black goats and dairy goats in the sheepfold of the forest farm east of the county town would love to eat these tender weeds.

After tidying up, he went into the house and gently shook Rui Rui awake: "You little rascal, wake up, want to come to town with Daddy?"

Rui Rui rubbed his eyes, still half asleep, but as soon as he heard "going to the city," he perked up and jumped up: "Go! Rui Rui wants to go! Daddy, ride the big horse!"

"Alright, let's ride the big horse!"

Chen Ling smiled as she helped her son put on his little jacket, and then changed into a neat new shirt herself.

He greeted Wang Susu: "Susu, I'm taking Rui Rui to the forest farm to deliver some hay and fodder, and also to check if the goslings over there have hatched yet. I'll be back before dinner."

Wang Susu nodded: "Drive slowly on the road, keep an eye on Rui Rui, and don't let him run around."

"Know!"

Chen Ling agreed, hoisted Rui Rui onto his shoulder, and easily lifted two sacks of weeds with his other hand as he walked out of the yard.

The little blue horse was already saddled and waiting obediently at the door.

Chen Ling first placed Rui Rui in front of the saddle and then tossed the two burlap sacks onto the pack rack behind the saddle and tied them securely.

"Heiwa, Xiaojin, keep an eye on the kids!"

He shouted into the courtyard.

The two large dogs let out a low growl in response.

Soon, it dutifully ran to the front of the living room and lay down at the edge of the "crawling area".

As for Afu and Ashou, there's no need to remind them. Although they're fast asleep, their very presence here is a deterrent.

"Let's go!"

Chen Ling mounted the horse, flicked the reins, and the little blue horse trotted along with steady steps, carrying the father and son and fodder without any sign of strain.

Rui Rui sat excitedly in her father's lap, turning her little head back and forth, finding everything new and exciting.

As he passed the threshing ground at the village entrance, he saw several sparrows pecking at food and immediately tugged at Chen Ling's clothes, shouting, "Dad! Birds! Shoot the birds!"

Chen Ling smiled and pulled a small slingshot and a bag of pebbles from the bag next to the saddle: "Here, play with it yourself, but be careful not to hurt your hand."

This slingshot was specially made for Rui Rui; the rubber band makes it gentle and safe.

Rui Rui, as if he had received a treasure, stuck out his bottom in a very serious manner, clumsily pulled the rubber band, his little face turned red, and "whoosh" shot a pebble towards the sparrow.

The pebble flew off at an odd angle, a long way from the sparrow, startling several chickens who flapped their wings and ran away.

"Oh no! It got away!" Rui Rui cried out in frustration.

"Haha, you rascal, you still need to practice your skills!"

Chen Ling laughed loudly: "Watch Daddy's!"

He took the slingshot, picked up a slightly larger pebble, and aimed at a gray hare peeking out from the wheat field ridge in the distance.

Arms outstretched, rubber band fully stretched.

"Whoosh!"

The pebble flew through the air and landed precisely on a clod of earth next to the hare, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Startled, the hare leaped high into the air and disappeared into the deep wheat fields in the blink of an eye.

Wow! Daddy is amazing!

Rui Rui exclaimed in surprise. Although he didn't hit him, his father's stance was already incredibly impressive in his eyes.

"Hehe, just scare it a little. Rabbit meat isn't good this season; it's thin and tough. Let's save it for when it's fatter in the fall."

Chen Ling put the slingshot back into his son's hand and continued to steer the horse forward.

Along the way, Rui Rui played with the slingshot diligently, but being a little kid, he didn't even have a good aim and didn't know how to play it yet.

Pebbles flew everywhere, but not a single bird feather was touched, yet he laughed heartily.

Chen Ling ignored him and let him fool around, enjoying the pleasant afternoon sun and spring breeze.

When they arrived at the sheepfold in the forest farm, the villagers guarding the sheep greeted Chen Ling from afar: "Fugui, you've brought us some good food again? The lambs love your fodder!"

Chen Ling takes good care of these sheep, especially the dairy goats, because the children in her family drink goat milk.

His wife drinks too, and he drinks occasionally as well.

These dairy goats are essentially the wet nurses for the babies.

"Hey, it's freshly picked, so tender!"

Chen Ling dismounted, untied the sack, and poured the weeds into the feed trough.

Sure enough, the goats and sheep immediately bleated and gathered around, vying to eat the food with great relish.

Rui Rui was helped off the horse by Chen Ling and curiously peered through the fence at the sheep grazing, pointing with her little finger: "Little white sheep! Black-nosed sheep! Eating grass!"

After feeding the sheep, Chen Ling, still thinking about the incubation shed, took Rui Rui's hand and strolled over to the temporary incubation shed next door.

The lynx probably hasn't been here long either.

Zheng Mao was in the shed, carefully looking after several bamboo trays covered with dry grass.

Upon seeing Chen Ling and his son, he looked up, his face beaming with excitement: "Fugui! Come quick! He's hatched! He's really hatched!"

Chen Ling leaned closer and saw several wet, furry little creatures standing shakily in the bamboo tray. Their tender gray down was not yet completely dry, their slender necks were stretched out, and their black bean-like eyes were curiously observing the world.

These are newly hatched goslings!
They were longer and more slender than chicks, with larger webbed feet. Although they were unsteady on their feet, they already exuded a unique spirit characteristic of waterfowl.

"Hey! That's a lot!"

Chen Ling counted them; there were about ten: "Lynx, you're amazing! That's a good hatching rate!"

"That is!"

The lynx was quite pleased with itself: "Just as you said, the temperature and humidity were well controlled, and these eggs are doing great! Look how energetic they are!"

Rui Rui tiptoed, peering over the edge of the bamboo tray, and reached out to touch it: "Little bird! Gray feathers!"

"Gently, gently, Rui Rui, they've just come out and are still delicate."

The lynx quickly stopped his little hand.

Rui Rui watched the chattering, clumsy goslings for a while, but her initial excitement seemed to wear off.

He tugged at Chen Ling's trouser leg: "Dad, look at the chicks! Rui Rui's little ones!"

Compared to these "newcomers," he still misses his family's little yellow chick, "Little Dot," who dares to peck at his shoelaces and is closest to him.

"And lambs! That little white lamb that was eating grass! And...and muntjacs!"

He tried hard to recall the cute little animals he had seen at the farm before.

Chen Ling smiled and patted his head: "The little muntjac is at our house, have you forgotten? Come on, Dad will take you to see the lambs that were born last winter, they're in that pen over there."

He was about to lead his son toward the lambing pen when suddenly—

"Bang! Clang!"

A loud crashing sound came from the other end of the sheepfold, followed by the sheep's terrified bleating and the anxious shouts of the villagers!
"Holy crap! It's a commotion!" Chen Ling's expression changed slightly; he could tell from the noise that the rams were fighting!

Springtime is when rams are at their most irritable, vying for leadership and mates, and their fights are exceptionally fierce.

Those horns make a loud banging sound when they hit something, and sometimes they can even kill people!

"Lynx, watch over Rui Rui!"

Chen Ling pushed his son toward the lynx and dashed out in one swift motion.

Inside the sheepfold, two large rams, their eyes red and heads bowed, were violently clashing against each other with their thick, curved horns.

"Bang! Bang!" Each impact produced a dull, teeth-grinding sound.

The surrounding sheep were so frightened that they scattered and huddled together.

A villager tried to separate them with a pitchfork, but a ram got angry and rammed the pitchfork handle, making him stumble backward and almost fall!
"Fugui! Hurry! These two are stubborn! We can't pull them apart!" the villager shouted anxiously.

Chen Ling's eyes sharpened, and without saying a word, he nimbly jumped over the fence and into the sheep pen.

He knew that at this time he had to use a very strong and forceful approach to suppress them and scare them away.

He took a deep breath and let out a thunderous shout: "Beast! Let go!"

At the same time, he reacted quickly, dodging a ram's horn that it instinctively rammed towards him, and with lightning speed, his right hand grabbed the base of a ram's horn.

With his left hand, he shoved the other ram hard on the side of its neck.

He was incredibly strong; his push and squeeze contained astonishing power and control.

The two rams, who were locked in a fierce battle with their muscles taut, were suddenly pushed by him, causing them to stumble and separate by half a step.

Taking advantage of the moment, Chen Lingfei kicked a nearby unused metal bucket.

A loud crash!
The loud noise and metallic vibrations instantly startled the two rams, causing them to freeze and a hint of instinctive surprise flashed in their red eyes.

Chen Ling wanted that moment of hesitation.

He seized the opportunity to lunge forward, his arm muscles bulging, and pressed down on the heads of the two sheep, forcing them to lower their heads and preventing them from raising their horns to attack!

"Get a rope! Quickly!" Chen Ling shouted outside.

The villagers outside then realized what was happening and quickly found some thick hemp ropes to throw in.

Chen Ling moved swiftly, using his knee to brace against the shoulder of a sheep, freeing his hands.

In no time at all, they had secured the horns of the two sheep together and tied them securely!
In this way, their horns are bound during the struggle, and they can no longer exert force to charge.

He could only awkwardly stand against the other, panting heavily, but he could no longer pose a threat.

"Alright, let's separate these two troublemakers! Divide them into circles!"

Chen Ling breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead.

Only then did the villagers dare to come in, and they hurriedly dragged the two rams, which were still struggling with each other but no longer able to fight back, to a separate isolation pen.

A sudden crisis was quickly resolved by Chen Ling.

Outside the sheepfold, Rui Rui was being held by a lynx, her eyes wide with amazement and her little mouth agape.

It wasn't until Chen Ling walked over that he suddenly came to his senses, waving his little hands excitedly: "Daddy! Daddy's awesome! He beat the big sheep! Bang! Bang!"

In his little mind, his father's blows were even more impressive than a giant tiger!

Chen Ling smiled and took his son, flicking his forehead: "You little rascal, that wasn't hitting them, it was just to make them behave."

"It's springtime, and the rams are very hot-tempered. If we don't control them, they'll cause trouble."

After this little incident, the plan to see the lambs was temporarily put on hold.

Chen Ling checked the other sheep, gave a few instructions to the villagers, then picked up Rui Rui, mounted his little blue horse, and slowly rode towards Chenwangzhuang in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Behind us, the forest gradually quieted down, with only the occasional bleating of sheep and the chirping of birds returning to their nests.

Rui Rui nestled in her father's warm embrace. After playing all day and being a little frightened, she calmed down and began to doze off, her little head nodding.

Chen Ling slowed down his horse, looked at the magnificent sunset on the horizon, and thought to himself: Tomorrow, I should go for a stroll in the mountains.

Ah Fu and Ah Shou have been back for a while now, it's time to let them roam freely in the real mountains and forests.

Incidentally, let the seemingly quiet Yellow Mountain goose truly quiet down.

……

The next morning, the view outside the window was no longer the usual bright morning light, but a hazy gray.

The fine, dense rain, like cow's hair or flower needles, fell silently.

The water droplets formed winding streaks on the windowpane, shrouding the distant mountains in a hazy mist.

"Oh, it's raining?"

When Wang Susu woke up, she heard a soft pattering sound outside the window. She put on her clothes, got up, and pushed open a crack in the window.

A wave of moist air, carrying the earthy scent and the fresh fragrance of grass and trees, immediately rushed in, refreshing and invigorating.

Yet it also carried a slight chill of early spring rain.

"Yes, spring rain is as precious as oil, it's good that it's raining."

Chen Ling was already dressed and was standing on the porch, looking at the farm shrouded in rain.

The rain wasn't heavy; it was the typical light drizzle.

The wheat fields in the distance, the orchards nearby, and the mountain outlines further away all seem to be covered with a soft veil.

It appears tranquil and full of charm.

Rui Rui was also woken up by the noise. He rubbed his eyes, climbed off the kang (a heated brick bed), and ran to the door in his little shoes.

Peeking out, he immediately became excited: "Dad! It's raining! We can splash in the puddles!"

The little guy has an inexplicable fondness for rainy days, especially the puddles of all sizes after the rain, which he sees as natural playgrounds.

"Not today, Dad has to go into the mountains."

Chen Ling smiled and patted his son's head.

"Huh? Going into the mountains in the rain?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Susu walked over with concern: "The road is very slippery, how about we go another day?"

"It's alright, the rain isn't heavy, and the mountain roads are actually quite firm, not muddy."

"It's a good opportunity to take Afu and Ashou out for a walk. They haven't really been into the mountains since they came back."

Chen Ling spoke casually, but his eyes held an undeniable firmness.

He was thinking about the "Yellow Croaker" in the mountains, hoping that the spring rains would make it easier to find some traces.

Moreover, he was walking with two tigers in the mountains after the rain had cleared.

Just thinking about that feeling... he couldn't wait.

"Then...then be careful, wear a raincoat and straw hat, don't get wet."

Wang Susu knew she couldn't dissuade her, so she could only give her careful instructions.

"Yeah, don't worry. Lynx gave me a set of gear for going into the mountains a while ago, so it'll come in handy," Chen Ling said with a smile.

He turned around and took out a bundle from the inner room, which contained high-end goods that Lynx had asked someone to bring from another place.

A thick camouflage uniform in a dark green color, and a pair of high-top, non-slip mountain boots.

In the past, when he went into the mountains, he mostly wore durable coarse cloth clothes and old rubber shoes. This time, he could try out his new gear. (End of Chapter)