My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 94 Visitors
(PS: Chapter 92 is before the author's post-launch remarks; refresh the page to see it.)
On the crack of the turtle egg, small black dots appeared one by one. After a while, the black dots grew bigger and bigger, turning into pointed black mouths, and then small heads emerged.

The newly hatched baby turtles haven't emerged yet; they look like little clownfish.

Chen Ling watched them quietly until they all hatched.

The hatchlings are only the size of a coin, with a bluish-black back that is lighter in color and has some patterns. After hatching, they all crawl in the same direction—to the pond where the old turtles are.

In this pond, the female turtles have grown to the size of a millstone, and the seven male turtles are as big as well covers.

Actually, after releasing them into the cave, Chen Ling didn't feed them much. When they were hungry, they would climb out and go to the fishpond to hunt for food.

The cave has a suitable environment and other unknown effects.

The fish fry are basically produced every half month or so, and they grow very quickly. With the pond full of lotus flowers providing shade, even if the turtles come to eat them all, they can't finish them all. This makes the fish in the pond even more wild and fierce, and fish and turtles often fight.

However fierce these fish are, they can't beat the old turtle and will eventually end up in its belly.

As the baby turtles lined up and entered the pond one by one, swimming happily around the old turtle in the water, Chen Ling got up, picked up a bucket, and fetched water from the stream several times, pouring it into the pond.

Now, both the old turtle and the baby turtle became extremely excited.

After a series of splashing sounds, the female turtle surfaced, staring at Chen Ling with a hint of anthropomorphic emotion in her eyes.

It seems to be an expression of gratitude.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ling knew that the female turtle had gained intelligence.

So he beckoned with his hand and said with a smile, "Come, come, come ashore and let me see you."

The mother turtle understood and slowly crawled ashore.

When it crawled closer, Chen Ling noticed that the patterns on its body were more numerous and intricate, and the color was increasingly deep and dark. The black turtle shell was as thick as a millstone.

Chen Ling reached out and patted its head: "From now on, I'll call you Garlic."

As long as the animals in the house are intelligent, Chen Ling no longer treats them simply as wild animals; he gives them names and treats them as his companions.

Upon hearing Chen Ling's words, the old turtle stretched its head out, nudged his hand, and its eyes revealed excitement, as if it was thrilled to have received a name.

"Don't move, garlic. Let me see if you can carry me."

Chen Ling pressed down its large, thick head to keep it still, and then carefully stepped onto its back.

The tortoise shell, as big as a millstone, was hard and heavy, and Chen Ling stood on it with great stability. At this moment, Garlic seemed to understand his intentions, and slowly got up, carrying Chen Ling around the front and back of the thatched hut twice.

"Wow, I guess I've finally gotten a new mount!"

After having his fill, Chen Ling got off Garlic Head's back, feeling quite pleased with himself.

"Garlic, you're not allowed to go over there, understand? Keep an eye on your turtles, and don't let them go either."

Once the garlic bulb was back in the water, Chen Ling pointed in the direction of the stream and gave it a word of advice.

Previously, the cucumbers and tomatoes behind the thatched hut had grown wildly and were in a mess, so Chen Ling built a trellis with wire rope. A few days later, he also put up fences in front of and behind the thatched hut, and separated the shady path that connected to the stream with a fence gate.

Otherwise, Chen Ling was afraid that the turtles would run over there after coming ashore, and then they would flood the stream, making it impossible for people to eat. But the turtles in the pond were getting bigger and bigger every day, and the small fence gate couldn't stop them.

Fortunately, the mother turtle has now become intelligent and can understand simple words, so a few words of advice are enough.

Chen Ling can finally relax.

After observing the old turtles here, Chen Ling went to check on the eel fry he had brought into the cave the night before last. There were more than ten of them, and he put them all in a tin bucket filled with stream water. He threw in some water plants and then left them alone.

Now when I went to take a look, wow, it's grown to the length of a hand span.

You should know that when these eel fry were first released three days ago, they were just little red threads, less than two centimeters long. Now they have grown so big, long and thin, each one is very symmetrical, about ten centimeters long, and when they swim, they look like little red ropes floating in the water.

"Judging by this growth rate, it'll be a big fish in half a month..."

"Damn it, isn't this just turning into a fast-growing money-making machine?"

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling excitedly slapped his thigh.

However, after a moment's thought, he quickly calmed down.

Damn it, that won't work. Growing fast won't help either. It's not like you can always find a suitable buyer. After all, there aren't many people like Lynx who ask for five thousand yuan apiece right off the bat.

He didn't want to sell his two bastards, Sun Yanhong and Erzhu.

"Forget it, let's just keep raising them for now. We're not short of money anyway."

Chen Ling shook his head.

Finding clients is too much trouble, so I'll just let things take their course.

Then I went to the lotus pond and thought about whether I should build a lotus pond in my own yard in a couple of days and raise a few fish to add some fun to the summer.

Actually, Tian Li had also wanted to build a pond, but Wang Susu didn't want him to do anything more after planting the saplings, so he left the empty land untouched.

"But digging a small lotus pond at home is no problem, it doesn't take up much space..."

Having made up his mind, Chen Ling slowly walked down from the stone arch bridge.

After returning to the thatched hut, they picked a peach from the peach tree and then left the cave.

These peaches are as big as a baby's head, white with a hint of red, large and plump. Even before you take a bite, the aroma alone is incredibly tempting.

Chen Ling wiped the fuzz off the peach's surface, took a bite, and instantly, the juicy flesh filled his mouth. The peach's freshness and sweetness seemed amplified countless times, blooming on his tongue and spreading throughout his body. After one bite, Chen Ling couldn't stop swallowing, quickly devouring the peach, which was the size of a baby's head. Only when a small pit remained in his hand did he recall the taste with lingering relish. No matter how he thought about it, he could only remember how delicious the peach was—juicy, tender, and with a unique fragrance he had never tasted before. After eating it, he felt refreshed all over, his mind became clearer, and every pore on his body opened up, as if he were about to float away in bliss.

Chen Ling let out a sigh of relief: "This thing is truly a divine peach. When the peaches outside ripen in a few days, I'll take some out for Su Su to try."

With a slight sigh, Chen Ling casually dug a small hole, planted the peach pit in his hand, and then paid no further attention to it.

He got up, picked up a basket, and went to cut grass.

Two more days passed in the blink of an eye.

……

"When the wheat turns yellow, women visit their mothers." As the wheat begins to turn apricot yellow and the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, more and more people travel to visit relatives.

Married women would visit their parents' home before the wheat harvest, at this time of year.

People walking, riding donkeys, and pedaling bicycles—look around, you'll see them everywhere on the roads these days.

When visiting relatives, one cannot go empty-handed; one carries a basket, a bag, or a box filled with fresh fruit and snacks.

Whether the mother and daughter see each other often or rarely, they always have endless things to talk about when they get together. They talk about missing each other, reminiscing about family matters, praising their husbands, and of course, they also talk about trivial and annoying things.

When it was time to eat, the daughter would go into the kitchen with her mother again, just like before she got married, and cook a good meal to show her filial piety to her parents.

The women visit their mothers, while the men stay home busy with chores before the wheat harvest.

There's a saying that if the Grain in Ear season coincides with the Dragon Boat Festival, nine out of ten families will perish if they light a fire. This refers to the fact that many people visit relatives during this time, and families with few members often leave only one man at home to watch over the wheat fields. Sometimes, mistakes are inevitable. If someone is careless when lighting a fire or forgets to cook, it can easily cause a fire.

During the wheat harvest season, fires are a terrifying thing, especially for families living close to the wheat fields. If even the slightest spark gets out, the family will be in deep trouble. A large fire can burn down the entire year's food supply of most of the village. In such weather, half-yellow wheat is burned by fire, with crackling flames shooting into the sky. With the southeast wind blowing, it can sweep away dozens of acres of land in the blink of an eye, and then there will be no way to save it.

Therefore, these days, many wheat fields have large water tanks placed on the ridges, filled with water in case of unforeseen circumstances.

But in any case, the village has become noticeably more lively these past two days.

Even Grandma Wang's house was filled with the aroma of meat.

Chen Ling had nothing to do at home these past two days, so he discussed it with Wang Susu and they decided to build a small pond at home to grow some lotus flowers and raise some fish.

Since it wasn't a waste of money, Wang Susu naturally agreed and helped him dig a small pond on the east side of the grape trellis.

That morning, the young couple had just finished their chores when suddenly their two dogs started barking, followed by the sound of a motorcycle engine approaching from afar.

Chen Ling thought that Chen Erzhu's grandson had come over again, so he got up and went to the door to check.

As he stepped outside, he saw a tall, muscular young man with his head sticking out of a yellow motorcycle, grinning foolishly at him, with a girl in a white shirt and a ponytail riding on the back.

"Hehe, Lingzi, you didn't expect it to be me, did you?"

"Chuangzi!"

Chen Ling was genuinely startled when he saw the two people.

"Good heavens, what brings you here? Come in, come in!"

Hearing the voices, Wang Susu quickly came out as well.

Chen Ling introduced her to her, saying that this was a good friend of his from the city, the one he mentioned last time who was getting married this year.

Wang Susu remembered this incident because Chen Ling returned quite late that day, and she remembered it clearly.

They then quickly invited Han Chuang and Chen Ling to their home.

"Hello, sister-in-law."

Han Chuang gave Wang Susu a simple, honest smile, then pointed to the girl beside him and introduced them: "This is my girlfriend, Jiang Xiaoqing..."

After saying this, he winked at Chen Ling, with a hint of boasting.

Jiang Xiaoqing is not tall and is slightly overweight.

However, she has a pretty good appearance, with big eyes, slightly large and thick lips, a round face, but very fair skin, and two small dimples when she smiles.

Upon seeing Wang Susu, a look of surprise and amazement flashed in his eyes, and he quickly greeted her as "Sister-in-law."

Then he smiled and nodded at Chen Ling.

Once inside the courtyard and parked the motorcycle, Han Chuang carried down a large basket containing canned goods, cakes, sugar cubes—a whole bunch of snacks and treats!

Bring it over and let Chen Ling put it away.

Seeing this, Chen Ling punched him in the chest and laughed, "You rascal, what are you bringing to my house? Anyone who didn't know better would think you're a prospective son-in-law visiting for the first time."

"Well, well, you can't come to your house empty-handed on your first visit, can you...?"

Han Chuang stiffened his neck and began to stammer.

Then they explained their purpose: they had come to deliver wedding invitations.

According to custom, he shouldn't be the one to send out wedding invitations, but he felt that he got along well with Chen Ling, and since Chen Ling didn't go to the county town to hang out much anymore and rarely saw him, he came over in person.

The fact that Jiang Xiaoqing came along means that the girl doesn't mind either.

So Chen Ling and his wife naturally didn't say anything, but brewed tea, set out melon seeds and peanuts, and treated them to a good meal.

(End of this chapter)