My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 104 Matters of the Mother's Family

Chen Ling thought the matter was over, but the next day, early in the morning of the 16th day of the fifth lunar month, Chen Guoping brought his sister-in-law Xiufen to his home and brought two plates of offering fruit. He said that the fruit had been on the offering table since the 5th day of the fifth lunar month and would bring blessings to the gods and Buddhas after they had enjoyed it until the 15th day of the fifth lunar month. It was a good thing.

And sure enough, whether it was psychological or not, Chen Ling tasted two of them, and they were indeed sweeter than ordinary fruits.

After delivering the offerings, Chen Guoping chatted with the two elders in the house for a while. Since a village doctor from another village was coming to Chenwangzhuang today, Chen Guoping had to go to the clinic to pick him up, so he didn't stay any longer.

However, just as Chen Ling and his wife were seeing them off, by sheer coincidence, a small, dusty creature fell from the tree. When Sister-in-law Xiufen saw what it was, she was immediately startled: "A weasel spirit!"

Actually, it's a weasel cub. When it's first born, it's covered in black fur, and then the color gradually lightens. When it's a month old, it's about the same color as a mouse, grayish-brown. As it grows older, it slowly turns light yellow and brownish-yellow.

Sister-in-law Xiufen was obviously familiar with this creature. She recognized it at first glance. While she was still in a daze, a chubby adult weasel ran down from the tree. It was very fast, picked up the cub that had fallen to the ground, and darted up to the treetop.

The group looked up and saw two adult weasels standing on a thick tree trunk, with three baby weasels staring down at them with their big, round, black eyes.

"Good heavens, a whole nest of weasels lives here. I don't know where they dug the hole. Fugui, you guys better watch out and keep an eye on your chickens and ducks, don't let these things ruin them."

Chen Guoping looked up in surprise and couldn't help but remind him.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she finished speaking, Sister-in-law Xiufen slapped her on the arm. Then, the old lady bowed several times to the weasels on the tree, closed her eyes and muttered a few words, probably saying something unintentionally offensive.

Seeing this, Chen Guoping shook his head helplessly, smiled silently at Chen Ling and Wang Susu, and walked away with his hands behind his back.

After Sister-in-law Xiufen finished her rambling and left, Wang Susu said worriedly, "Why are these weasels here again? Why don't we go to the market in the village tomorrow and sell the chickens? That way, they won't come into our house and harm our chickens and ducks. If they get bitten to death, it won't be easy to sell them."

"My silly wife, who sells chickens and ducks right after they lay eggs?"

Chen Ling shook his head and smiled upon hearing this, then said to Wang Susu, "Don't worry, nothing has happened in the past two months, and there definitely won't be any problems in the future. Our chickens run around outside during the day and fly up to the trees to sleep at night. Our dog isn't just for show; the weasel won't dare to come in."

"If all else fails, I'll put two more layers of wire mesh in the duck pen, and then we'll just have to let the ducks in at night and leave them alone."

A few days ago, Chen Ling set up a duck pen. After all, his ducks were much better-grown than Chen Yingqiang's. They were not only very fat and strong, but they had also started laying eggs in the past two days. It wouldn't be good to let them run into the chicken coop like before.

Previously, as the weather kept getting warmer, the chickens at home generally didn't go into the chicken coop much except to lay eggs or be fed. They would fly directly into the trees to sleep at night. Under these circumstances, it was fine for the ducks to stay there at night. However, once they started laying eggs, they couldn't stay with the ducks anymore, so it was better to build a new duck pen.

Actually, it's not just ducks that lay eggs; the chicks that hatched in early spring have all grown up and started laying eggs one after another. Even the quails started laying eggs at some point. However, unlike chickens and ducks, each quail lays only one egg per day. Now that they are almost two months old, they are considered adult quails, so laying eggs is a normal thing. Moreover, quails have a short growth period, and they will start brooding after laying six or seven eggs in a brood.

But the chickens and ducks at home have only been around for a little over four months since the beginning of spring.

The growth cycle of a free-range chicken is as fast as about six months, and it can grow to about five or six pounds. It can take as long as a year. A hen is considered to be very plump if it grows to about six pounds. Roosters rarely grow to more than ten pounds. Ducks look plumper than chickens, but when they grow up, they weigh at most ten pounds, which is not much different from free-range chickens. Villagers raise chicks and ducklings in the spring, slaughter some to eat during the New Year and other festivals, and sell them after the New Year. Only a few laying eggs are left.

During this period, they are rarely fed grains, except in winter, when they are fed bran or sweet potato scraps mixed with cornmeal. In other seasons, they are let out to roam the mountains and fields, pecking at insects, grass seeds, and mud...

Raising them in this free-range manner results in a relatively long growth cycle, which cannot be compared to the fast-growing broiler chickens and ducks of later generations that can be forced to grow in thirty or forty days.

However, in the countryside, Chen Ling's chickens and ducks lay eggs relatively quickly, and they often produce double yolks, which always delights Wang Susu. So, she is reluctant to sell them now.

Since Chen Ling couldn't explain the weasel thing to her yet, he had to use other methods to dispel her doubts.

However, after only two days, Wang Susu was no longer so worried.

Because the weasel cubs were clumsy and often fell from trees and walls, she was initially puzzled as to why these weasels were so bold. Later, she was surprised to find that her own Blackie and Little Gold didn't seem to care much. Even if they saw them, they would usually ignore them. This made the three little guys even bolder. They would often start running around the yard without her noticing, either mingling with the rabbits or rubbing against the two dogs. They would even sleep with the rabbits under the dogs' bellies.

The two large weasels were initially a little worried and anxious, but after seeing that the children were not in danger, they started to come down and freeload frequently, openly visiting the house.

Wang Susu was stunned and couldn't figure out what was going on. Fortunately, they didn't harm the chickens and ducks. Instead, they made all the rats in the front and back yards disappear. In the past, rats would often get into the cellar and rice bin, leaving piles of excrement and urine that smelled terrible. But recently, there wasn't even a trace of rats to be seen.

"Could we have some treasure buried in our house? Ah Ling, look at all these birds, pigeons, and weasels coming to our house."

That morning, while eating breakfast, Wang Susu threw some chicken bones to Xiao Huang and Xiao Pang, then stared blankly at the various birds in the trees outside the yard.

For the past two weeks now, I've been woken up early in the morning by these birds chirping. I didn't pay much attention to it before, but these past few days, there have been more and more of them gathering.

In addition to cleaning up the chicken, duck, and cow droppings in their house, the couple also had to sweep up the bird droppings outside the yard.

"Maybe, our village used to have some wealthy families."

Chen Ling took a sip of porridge and nodded seriously, saying, "In Chang Le Township, only Chen Wang Zhuang is the only village with 'Zhuang' in its name. In the beginning, these villages were all inhabited by wealthy families."

"Huh? There's such a saying?"

Wang Susu was surprised, and then asked, "What about Kinmen Village and Peach Tree Valley?"

"These two names are based on the Jinshui River and the terrain of their village, there's not much to say about them..."

Chen Ling smiled and said, "It mainly refers to villages, hamlets, forts, camps, stockades, and shops. Apart from the dialect names in the Northeast, hamlets and camps, such as Pigeon Camp and Kuishan Tun in the south of our county, were places where troops used to be stationed. Forts and stockades are places where people used to gather together, set up camps, and resist bandits and soldiers. Later, these places developed into villages and were named according to these characteristics."

"We don't have 'pu' in our mountainous area. It's a name only used on the plains. The plains are vast and flat. If there are no special markers, villages are named after 'pu,' such as Shilipu, Shiwulipu, Sanshilipu, and at most, Balipu. Why isn't there a Jiushipu? Because once you go beyond ninety li, it becomes another area."

After hearing this, Wang Susu suddenly realized, and her eyes lit up instantly as she looked at Chen Ling: "Ah Ling, you know so much."

"Haha, I just didn't study hard in school and only read random books. By the way, speaking of random books, have you read the two books Sister-in-law Xiufen gave you?"

Two days ago, when Sister-in-law Xiufen and her husband came over, during their casual conversation, Wang Susu couldn't help but ask about folk remedies for treating illnesses. At first, Sister-in-law Xiufen didn't take it seriously, but after Wang Susu mentioned a few remedies, she started to pay attention. Later, the two talked about something, and the next day, the old lady brought Wang Susu two tattered, thread-bound books. "I've read them, but not many are useful. They're all superstitious stuff—talismans, feng shui, worshipping gods, and stuff like that. Reading too much of it gives me a headache. Even looking at our house is like looking at a feng shui treasure land."

"Grandpa's books are still the best. He said they were given to him by his comrades during the war. There were books on Miao medicine and Tibetan medicine. Those were the real deal. It's a pity he forgot where he put them. He can't find them no matter how hard he looks for them."

Almost twenty years have passed, and Wang Susu still feels it's a great pity when she thinks about it.

“After we visit my father’s grave this year, I’ll go home with you. After we see my parents, we’ll go to my grandfather’s house and search carefully again.”

Chen Ling finished eating breakfast as he spoke.

He went to the county town twice around the Dragon Boat Festival and looked for these kinds of uncommon medical books, but none were for sale, and the ones that were available were huge volumes.

"Yeah, that's okay."

When Wang Susu heard him say that, her nose tingled with emotion, but her heart was filled with warmth and gratitude.

This was the first time Chen Ling had suggested accompanying her back to her parents' home. Although Chen Ling had been extremely considerate and caring towards her these past few months, making her feel as happy as if she were soaking in a honey pot, the more he treated her, the more she missed home. She wanted to take Chen Ling back to show her parents, her older brothers, and her younger sister how much better Chen Ling had become.

A prodigal son's return is more precious than gold, proving that she didn't choose the wrong person in the first place.

Unfortunately, they couldn't, because Chen Ling's father passed away a few months after their marriage. According to their local customs, she could only return to her parents' home after two memorial days. Her family could come to visit her, but the girl couldn't go back with mourning clothes on, unless they got a divorce.

So other families' daughters can go back to their parents' home around the Dragon Boat Festival, and after fertilizing and planting corn, they can also visit their parents' home. This means that after the daughter visits her mother around the Dragon Boat Festival, the mother will then visit her daughter's home. But their family can't do that, which makes Wang Susu very envious and miss her family very much.

In the two years since their marriage, apart from her older brother visiting once, she hadn't been back home or seen her parents and relatives. Fortunately, Chen Ling is a good husband now, otherwise, life would have been too unbearable.

Chen Ling felt a little sorry for his wife when he saw that her eyes were a little red. But rules are rules, and some customs are quite outrageous. Just because you don't believe them doesn't mean others don't. If you don't take them seriously, others will think you're breaking a taboo. So you still have to follow them.

Of course, this is also because the father-in-law and mother-in-law are old and can't go down the mountain. In particular, the father-in-law had fallen while picking herbs before. Although he was rescued by Chen Ling's father, he was left with a chronic illness and his legs were not flexible. Otherwise, he would have come long ago if he had known that his daughter had been wronged.

……

After breakfast, Wang Susu went to wash the pots and pans, while Chen Ling went to collect the chicken and duck eggs. Now that the chickens and ducks have started laying eggs in the spring, they can collect more than half a basket every day. Just by selling the eggs at the market each month, they can make a lot of money.

The quail eggs remained untouched, as the male quail had already begun incubating them in the henhouse.

When quails brood, it's not the female who incubates the eggs, but the male. The other day, when Mr. and Mrs. Chen Guoping came over, they mentioned that if there's no male quail, the female can lay eggs on her own, just like Yunying's eggs, which are unfertilized. In this case, the female quail will incubate them, but they won't hatch.

"Quails and pigeons, ten nests a year."

Pigeons are a type of dove. Quails are just like this thing. Except for winter when they don't lay eggs or brood, they spend the other eight or nine months in their breeding season. When they start laying eggs, they are incredibly prolific. A brood of baby quails can hatch in half a month. If you don't kill or sell them, your yard will be full of quails in half a year.

Chen Ling couldn't help but laugh when he thought of the scene: "After the flood recedes, we'll build a wall around the orchard and enclose all thirty acres of land. Then we can build a small village and raise as many things as we want without worry."

Thinking this, I saw the two male quails in the henhouse stand up and fiddle with their claws, starting to turn the quail eggs over one by one, warming one side and then the other.

Seeing that they were working hard, Chen Ling scooped a ladle of water from the lotus pond, mixed it with bran and chaff, and fed it to them in a stone trough. Chen Ling would add stream water to the pond every two days, which made it easier not only to feed the chickens and ducks, but also to make it easier for the dogs and rabbits to drink water when they were thirsty.

Of course, the consequence was that there were more and more birds and pigeons around his yard.

Chen Ling didn't take it to heart. As long as it wasn't like a magpie causing havoc in the yard, he didn't care. In fact, it added some fun to his home.

After finishing these tasks, Chen Ling went to the backyard to weed the vegetable garden with a hoe. After finishing her meal, Wang Susu led the cow to pick mulberry leaves. These days, the silkworms are growing bigger and bigger, and they are eating mulberry leaves faster and faster. Before, a basket a day was more than enough, but now they eat at least two large baskets a day, and they will eat more and more until the silkworms start to spin cocoons.

This wasn't a solution either. In the afternoon, Chen Ling prepared to go out and walk up the mountain to find a mulberry grove and pick several large sacks of mulberry leaves.

Before they even left the village, they saw Liu Ni'er and several children leading a postman on a bicycle rushing towards them, waving and shouting loudly from afar.

"Uncle Fugui, the letter from your family is for Aunt Susu."

"For Susu?"

Chen Ling was stunned for a moment.

At that moment, the postman rode up to him on his bicycle and stopped. On the back of the bicycle was a file bag filled with a large stack of newspapers and envelopes.

"This is a letter from your wife's family. Could you please receive it on their behalf?"

The postman was a man in his thirties with a middle parting and a full beard. He smiled and handed the envelope to Chen Ling, revealing a set of bright white teeth.

"Okay, thank you."

Chen Ling smiled at the other person and took the item.

However, the next moment, after holding the envelope in his hand, he froze.

-

P.S.: The weather in Beijing has been incredibly cold since the National Day holiday, suddenly dropping below 10 degrees Celsius. I almost caught a cold, and my typing speed has slowed down considerably. (Brothers from other websites, please support me on Qidian!)
(End of this chapter)