My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 121 Su Su Sells Vegetables (Part 1)
Upon hearing that there was a hunting trip, Liu Ni was overjoyed and begged Wang Lixian to catch two more sika deer for her.

Two years ago, when Wang Lixian went hunting, he brought back an injured doe. Because she was pregnant with fawns, he didn't kill her for meat. After she recovered, he released her back into the mountains, which Liu Ni'er has been thinking about ever since.

Wang Lixian was so annoyed that he said he would catch it for him if he came across it. Liu Nier was still worried that it wasn't safe, so she ran to Chen Ling and asked if Heiwa and Xiaojin would go hunting with them.

After receiving Chen Ling's affirmative response, he finally felt relieved. This sight almost made Wang Lixian want to slap him again. So, this guy, his own father, is not as capable as two dogs?
Wang Lixian glared at Liu Nier and said to Chen Ling, "Remember to take the badger skin back later. Render the remaining oil when it cools down tonight, otherwise this heat will make people anxious."

"It's alright, you keep it, Brother Pi Zi. I don't need that stuff. Just share some of the badger oil you render with me."

Chen Ling smiled. He knew badger pelts could be sold for money, but he didn't care at all.

He turned around and scooped out another half bowl of meat, mixed it with noodles, and ate it with garlic cloves.

After the meal, Wang Susu helped wash the dishes, and the young couple chatted with Wang Lixian's family under the shade of a tree.

It's just that it's hot, and Aunt Wang is getting on in years, so she definitely needs to rest after lunch.

After sitting for a while, Chen Ling took Wang Susu and the two dogs home.

After the weather cooled down in the afternoon, he went to check the fields and found that the badger's den was quiet. Chen Ling then went to the graveyard and found that apart from a few nests of civets, there was no trace of the badgers. He figured that the incident in the morning must have frightened them quite a bit, and they were too scared to live in the vicinity anymore.

That's good, it makes it easier for him to grow whatever he wants.

Then he hoeed some weeds and watered the three-acre vegetable garden twice. Seeing that it was getting dark, he didn't stay any longer.

The same thing happened for the next few days. He would get up early and go to do the work at dusk, and spend the rest of the time at home helping Wang Susu with chores. Since the house was going to be rebuilt, all sorts of odds and ends had to be cleared out as soon as possible to avoid wasting time later.

In just a few days, the backyard was cleaned up, and the vegetable garden was revitalized. The tomatoes turned bright red and hung heavily on the branches. The loofahs, green beans, and eggplants were all large and big. The chive seedlings were thick and bushy, growing in rows, which was very pleasing to the eye.

Chen Ling has been carrying a sprayer every day, and even though he only sprays the roots, he's been a bit too diligent, which has caused the vegetables to grow too vigorously.

The scattered vegetable plots, totaling about three acres, yielded more vegetables than other people's four or five acres. Since they weren't inside the cave, the vegetables would rot if not harvested in time. By the time Chen Ling realized this problem, it was already a bit too late.

Although Wang Susu hasn't had time to go to the fields lately, these vegetables were grown by the two of them, so she wouldn't suspect anything.

But with so many vegetables, the young couple simply couldn't handle it all on their own.

So they asked the families of Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng for help.

Unexpectedly, this call caused quite a stir. The Chen brothers, Chen Yuqiang and Chen Ze, and several others all came. No matter how much vegetables were produced from the three mu of land, it couldn't withstand so many people coming. With everyone working together, they quickly filled three large trucks and transported them back to Chen Ling.

They made two or three trips back and forth, unloading chives, tomatoes, eggplants, loofahs, and green beans, filling half the yard.

By then it was getting dark, and Chen Ling was going to offer them a meal, but no one was willing. However, after dinner, they all came back, followed by their wives, daughters, and mothers-in-law, each carrying a stool and a small folding stool.

Chen Ling's family has a lot of vegetables, and they come in many varieties. If they want to take them to the county town to sell, they have to pack them separately together.

If it were just the Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng families helping out, they probably wouldn't finish even by midnight.

"Don't put them in baskets, put them in bags, Fugui. You can only carry a small amount in baskets. Go to the county town for the morning market tonight, at least sell the chives first. Chives can't be kept for long."

"Okay, then pack them up. I'll go find Cui the Cripple and borrow some snakeskin bags."

"No need to borrow, Yingqiang has taken it for you. He grinds flour every day, he has plenty of bags."

After finishing his pipe, Chen Guoping tapped the pipe stem and put it down, then prepared to get to work.

After Chen Ling helped Wang Jusheng build his house, he also spent two days helping the Yu brothers. After all, he and Yu Qiang were neighbors and had been seeing each other quite often this year, so it wouldn't be right not to help.

So their whole family came today. Even if they didn't remember coming to Chen Ling's house to fetch water, they would still come for that reason alone.

So when Chen Yingqiang returned with the urea bags, Chen Ling turned on both lights in the yard, lit the fuses, and a large group of people started working in the yard.

Some people were bundling up chives, green beans, and other vegetables; some were holding up sacks; and some were stuffing them into bags. It was a truly bustling scene.

"This guy is going to make a fortune, Fugui! Our vegetable garden was flooded, but your vegetables are perfectly fine. Take them to the county town, and you're sure to make a lot of money."

"I was lucky; there were many trees and dense grass at the foot of the mountain, which blocked the view."

"Haha, you're not just lucky, kid. It's only the first year you planted the saplings. Try planting vegetables in the open space in the woods next year, and you'll never see them grow."

Chen Ling's practice is a type of intercropping in the forest.

When the saplings are small, it doesn't have much of an impact, but once they grow up, the shade becomes too large, blocking the sunlight, and the roots will steal nutrients from the soil, causing the vegetables to not grow well.

Chen Ling simply smiled and remained silent. He naturally understood this principle, but what could he do when he had the cave to rely on?

"Susu, you two are going to make a fortune this year! Hurry up and have a baby so you can surprise your family when they come next time."

"What's so scary? Giving birth is a happy event. You illiterate woman, you can't even say anything nice."

"Not necessarily. What if Susu has seven or eight babies? If the whole yard is full of babies running around, it would be quite a fright."

"Haha, that's true, but I'm afraid Fugui doesn't have the ability." "Why not? Fugui is so strong and healthy, he's sure to be able to."

"Oh my, sister-in-law, have you tried this?"

"Get out of here, you slut! If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart. You're always spouting all sorts of filthy things. Aren't you ashamed?"

While working, the women and daughters-in-law chatted idly, getting even more enthusiastic about their work, which made Wang Susu blush and not dare to say a word.

Tonight, the men were teasing Chen Ling, while the women were joking around with Wang Susu. The atmosphere was incredibly lively, and even though they were all sweating profusely, they all had bright smiles on their faces.

"It's been a long time since it's been this lively. It reminds me of the days when we ate communal meals together."

Some of the older people expressed their feelings.

Many voices echoed around them, and then the casual jokes subsided as they listened to the elderly men recount their experiences from their youth.

Slowly, more than three hours passed, and around 10 o'clock, the vegetables that filled half the yard were cleaned up, bagged, and neatly stacked under the tree.

The bags filled with chives were placed on the oxcart and tied with rope. These were to be sold at the early morning market at night, otherwise the chives would rot in the hot weather.

There were half a cartload of chives, and the rest were packed into several bags of each kind, making up a full cartload.

After everything was finished and everyone had left, Chen Ling swept the yard and said to Wang Susu, "There were so many people earlier, and when we asked them to take some vegetables home, no one was comfortable accepting them. Let's deliver some to each family tomorrow."

"Ok, I know."

Wang Susu nodded and used a cool, damp towel to wipe the sweat from his face: "Are you tired? You have to go to the early market tonight. Wash up and go to sleep."

"I'm not tired. After being idle for more than half a year, it's not a bad thing to be busy for a few days."

Chen Ling smiled, and after sweeping the yard, he took a towel from Wang Susu and washed himself with cold water.

Then he helped Wang Susu wash her hair. She had grown her braids very long, even before she got married, and she couldn't bear to cut them. Washing her hair herself took a lot of time, so Chen Ling had been helping her lately.

After the two finished washing up, it was almost 11 p.m., so they lit another fire rope, carried the bed to the yard, and slept fully clothed.

……

At three in the morning, in the stillness of the night, a crescent moon hung in the sky, shining brightly against the night.

Wang Susu got out of bed and rubbed her eyes.

"Ah Ling, it's time to get up, we need to go to the early market."

Chen Ling responded, got out of bed, went back to the room to get the bag containing the money, and filled a kettle with cooled boiled water. Wang Susu then went to feed the cow.

After tidying up, the two locked the door, took the dog, and drove the oxcart towards the county town.

After the flood, the reservoir dam and the mountain roads were difficult to travel on. The oxcart rattled and swayed, making Chen Ling's buttocks ache, and Wang Susu was in no better shape.

Chen Ling hugged his wife and let her hold the flashlight. Actually, Xiao Bai Niu could see the road clearly at night without the help of a flashlight, but Wang Susu didn't know that, and she felt more at ease letting her hold the flashlight.

As you get further and further away from the village, the flowers, trees and shrubs along the mountain road become more and more abundant.

Under the moonlight, crickets, crayfish, and other summer insects chirped and squeaked among the weeds on both sides of the mountain road.

Every now and then, small flying insects would hover around the flashlight, casting swaying shadows on the ground, which aroused the curiosity of the two dogs, who trotted after it.

After crossing a mountain ridge, they got tired of playing and ran around the oxcart, looking for insects and lizards to play with in the grass beside the mountain road.

The two dogs were very energetic from a young age, and soon they were barking loudly.

Chen Ling thought they were just playing around over some trinket, but he didn't notice that Heiwa and Xiaojin were sniffing intently in a certain direction behind the oxcart. They seemed to have caught a whiff of something, and their eyes suddenly sharpened. Xiaojin even raised its head and let out a long, mournful howl.

Chen Ling then realized something was wrong. The last time Xiao Jin made that sound was when Chen Erzhu led people into the house to steal things.

He looked left and right, but found nothing unusual about his surroundings.

Just as I was wondering, a long and desolate howl rang out.

Chen Ling was stunned.

Wang Susu's eyes widened instantly, and she felt a chill run down her spine, freezing in Chen Ling's arms.

“Wolf, Ah Ling, it’s a wolf.”

Wang Susu quickly came to her senses, her face pale and her voice trembling.

(End of this chapter)