My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 136 Ghostly Tricks
After chatting with Wang Laishun at the village entrance for a while, Chen Ling learned that the interview wouldn't be happening immediately. However, the old man had only ever dealt with the county level in his life, and when he heard that it was going to be a city TV station, he panicked and rushed over to find Chen Ling.

Having lived in the mountains for decades, I've never even come into contact with this thing.

In addition, people here don't watch TV much, and usually just listen to the news broadcast on the radio. He thought that interviews were like those of the older generation, where someone was chosen to stand up and give a report. He had never experienced such a big event before, and he was only thinking about the relief funds, so he was afraid of this and that.

After Chen Ling talked to him for a while, he finally understood what the interview was all about, but he was still a little confused.

Halfway there, he turned around and asked, "You kid aren't trying to fool us, are you?"

"Oh dear, how could I dare to fool you, Fifth Uncle? If you don't believe me, go ask Brother Jusheng, or if that doesn't work, ask Qin Qiumei. They've all been to university, they've seen more of the world than I have."

"Okay, I'll go ask again."

Wang Laishun muttered something to himself and walked away with his hands behind his back.

After he walked away, Chen Yuqiang followed behind Chen Ling and couldn't help but say, "Fifth Grandfather is really something. He even came to ask you, Uncle Fugui, about something like this. There are college students in the family. Don't you ever think about that?"

Chen Ling replied with a smile, "But Brother Jusheng goes to work in the countryside all day long, so even if you go to ask, he's not home."

Despite saying that, Chen Ling was actually shaking his head inwardly.

Fifth Uncle is a good-hearted man, but he is inevitably influenced by his wife and sometimes doesn't take his eldest son seriously.

When there's work to be done, they'll treat you like a beast of burden; once the work is done, they'll immediately put you aside and never look at you again.

It wasn't just this elderly couple; even the aunt in the county town was like that.

The favoritism is too extreme.

Wang Jusheng has endured it all these years without uttering a single complaint.

Although Wang Jusheng was considered a top student in his generation, those who knew him well knew that he was full of old-fashioned ideas, or to put it bluntly, a bit blindly filial. When he was in college, there was a severe shortage of talent. If he hadn't gone to do anything else, he could have stayed in the city and at least become a cadre. However, his mother called him back to the countryside with a single sentence, and he only became a policeman in the township police station. It was a real pity.

"The pot mender is here! The pot mender is here! Anyone who doesn't have a pot mender, come out and take a look..."

The tinker rode his dilapidated bicycle, wobbling and calling out his wares through the village.

As the sun began to set, they prepared to leave. Business had been quite good that day, but before leaving, they still wanted to call out to see if anyone needed pots repaired, as they probably wouldn't be able to come here for at least six months.

As dusk approached, Wang Zhenzhen returned. She was picked up by Da Ni'er and two young wives from the village, who had also come to inform her in advance.

If anyone has time, please help pick up and drop off the kids. It's no trouble at all.

"What are you doing, Zhenzhen? It's time to eat. Where are you trying to run off to again?"

"I'm not running away, I'm going to feed the chickens."

The little girl returned home, put down her schoolbag, and without taking a break, threw down a sentence and ran to the chicken coop to feed the chickens. Chen Ling went over to take a look and was shocked to find a large bunch of grasshoppers, crickets, and crickets strung on the grass stems.

"Wow, Zhenzhen, you're amazing! You spent your first day of school catching bugs?"

"Of course not. We had two PE classes this afternoon, and the teacher had us pull weeds on the playground. I just picked some while I was at it."

"Good grief, you've only just arrived and you're already being asked to pull weeds?"

"Brother-in-law, don't you know? School started later in the county than last year. I went two weeks late, and the grass on the school's playground hasn't been pulled yet."

"Okay, how about I bring you a hoe tomorrow?"

"Why did you bring a hoe? We're not having PE class tomorrow, so we won't be weeding."

Wang Zhenzhen gave him a strange look, flicked her braid, and threw two strings of grasshoppers into the chicken coop: "Eat quickly, eat quickly, when my sister's chickens come back later, you won't be able to get any."

When the hen saw the grasshoppers being dropped, she immediately swarmed around them, clucking and scrambling for them, making the little girl extremely happy too: "Eat up, eat more, and when you're all plump, your brother-in-law will make you into hot pot chicken."

Chen Ling, watching from the side, couldn't help but laugh. He glanced at Wang Susu who was walking over and said, "Looks like your first day of school in the county town is going pretty well."

"Of course! My classmates are so much fun. The teacher even gave us riddles."

Hearing this, the little girl beamed with joy, threw all the grasshoppers in her hand into the chicken coop, clapped her hands, and walked over to her sister and brother-in-law, enthusiastically telling them about the interesting things that happened at school.

She no longer showed any sign of shyness.

……

The next day, as the sun rose in the east, birds chirped and chattered in the treetops outside the window, occasionally flying up and down to steal a few sips of water by the lotus pond. Only when a series of fierce fish leaped out of the pond with a splash did they suddenly fly away.

Chen Ling, holding a bowl of white porridge, a steamed bun, and half a scallion, squatted at the door eating breakfast while chatting with Chen Yuqiang and the others. Today, Wang Lihui and his wife were going to the market and would drop off the village children at school on the way. As usual, he didn't need to take care of them, so after making a meal for his sister-in-law, he and Wang Susu weren't in a hurry to eat.

However, the wolves on the mountain are getting bolder and bolder. Last night, several large wolves ran to the southwest entrance of the village. They were scared away after we fired some guns at them. Before we even went out for breakfast, Chen Yuqiang and the others came to find Chen Ling to talk about this, since it was their turn to stand guard the day after tomorrow.

Be prepared.

Actually, it wasn't a big deal. Before they could say anything, Wang Laishun came to their door, told them to have a meal and then go to the brigade to collect their guns. After saying that, he brought his grandson and chatted with them at the door.

Chen Ling slurped up a mouthful of congee, pointed at the birds in the tree, and asked a little boy in open-crotch pants, "Hey kid, let me test you. If there are ten birds in this tree, and I shoot one down with my slingshot, how many are left?"

The little boy counted on his fingers, thought for a while, and said in a childish voice, "It's nine."

"Uncle Fugui, did I get it right?"

Chen Ling shook his head slightly and said with a smile, "There aren't nine. When Uncle shot at them with his slingshot, all the birds were scared away and flew away. There aren't any left, so it's zero."

Stinky Egg was stunned, staring blankly at him, his clear black and white eyes unmoving.

After thinking for a while, she still couldn't figure it out, and innocently said to Chen Ling, "My sister taught me that ten minus one equals nine."

The older sister he mentioned is Dandan, the eldest daughter of Wang Jusheng.

Although the two brothers don't get along very well, the children still play together very well.

"Nine what? I've taught you for nothing, why can't you use your brain?"

Wang Laishun tugged at his grandson's ear: "You're such a silly little thing, you're nowhere near as good as your Uncle Fugui was when he was a kid. When your Uncle Fugui was your age, he could lead the village kids to fool the old man selling candy. You should learn from him." Hearing this, Chen Ling hurriedly said: "Fifth Uncle, teach me something good, teach me something good."

This guy, he's brought up his embarrassing past again. I hope his dirty laundry isn't passed down through generations.

Amidst the laughter of the crowd, Wang Laishun picked up Choudan and looked into the yard: "Haha, what are you up to now, making a mess of the yard?"

"I washed the millstone and am getting ready to grind flour."

"Tsk tsk, if you ask me, you're just bored and always fiddling around. This millstone is so big and heavy, it's so hard to use. You still treat it like a treasure and bring it home. Why bother with all that effort? Just go to Yingqiang and give him a few cents. It'll save you a lot of trouble."

Chen Ling smiled but didn't say anything.

"Go ahead and do whatever you want. Now that you've had your meal, you guys come to the brigade and collect your guns."

"Row."

Chen Ling put down his chopsticks and went with him to the brigade to collect the hunting rifle.

These are for night watch; everyone gets one when it's their turn. But when going into the mountains to hunt, not everyone gets one; there aren't enough.

But this time, when he returned with the gun, Wang Laishun specifically pulled Chen Ling aside and gave him a few instructions.

"Whether it's keeping watch at night or going up the mountain, you'll get your share. Uncle's saving it for you. Just remember not to shoot recklessly, and you can't shoot during the day either."

"Don't worry, Fifth Uncle. He caused a scene when he was a kid, and he's learned his lesson."

"Haha, it's good that you still remember."

After returning home and putting away his gun, Chen Ling stood at the door for a while, holding his slingshot and firing at the surrounding area. The couple across the street hadn't returned to the village yet, and Aunt Wang had been picked up by her daughter before the Mid-Autumn Festival. These past two days, whenever he had nothing to do, he would stand at the door and fire a few slingshots, and his accuracy was getting better and better.

Now that he has strength, the slingshot in his hand is much more powerful than when he was a child. He can shoot down seven or eight birds of various kinds in half a day, which is no worse than a hunting rifle.

When Chen Ling was a child, he was quite mischievous. He not only played with slingshots but also often got his hands on guns, though he usually did so under the supervision of his elders. Once, when Chen Juncai wasn't home, he couldn't find his gun and somehow found a whole bag of bullets somewhere in the house. Back then, bullets weren't scarce, and for a few years there were even specific consumption quotas, so they weren't a rare thing in the countryside.

Since Chen Ling couldn't get his hands on a gun, he carried bullets and played around with a bunch of mischievous kids, throwing bullets at each other.

Smashing bullets is actually simple: just find a crack or small hole, fix the bullet in place, and hammer it in with a nail. Back then, they had only seen adults and older boys play this way, and they thought it was fun without thinking too much about it. Who knew that without a chamber or barrel, bullets would often explode or fly off randomly if done this way?

Goodness, that time they really scared those mischievous monkeys half to death.

Because several people were competing together, the result was that two children's hands were injured by the explosion.

One of the shots, which was successfully fired, landed in someone else's chicken coop and killed an old hen.

That was terrible.

Injuries were minor matters; every single one of them was severely beaten by their parents. For the next two weeks, they were beaten every few days, with bamboo sticks and leather belts used in rotation, just to teach them a lesson.

Thinking about those funny and absurd things from my childhood, my slingshot never stopped.

In no time, he shot down two magpies and some other miscellaneous birds. He mainly targeted these thieving birds. These things would forget the pain once they were left alone. They would land in the yard when no one was home, and they could even ruin the wheat that was drying there.

"Whoosh!"

A falcon circling in the air was hit in the tail by a slingshot. It let out a sharp cry in fright, and amidst the bursting of tail feathers, it kept making panicked cries as it flapped its wings and flew away.

"You're lucky you ran fast..."

Chen Ling put away his slingshot. With so many rabbits, chickens, ducks, and quails at home, they were easy targets for eagles in the mountains.

Lately, this has been happening. In the mornings or late afternoons, there are often falcons hovering over the yard. Luckily, we have a dog at home, so we're not afraid of them coming down.

However, if the bird flies low, Chen Ling will still use his slingshot.

After satisfying my urge to shoot birds for half a day, I looked back at the birds I had shot down. Most of them had already been picked up by the two dogs and put into bamboo baskets. As for the birds that had fallen onto the roof or into Old Lady Wang's yard, I left them alone, figuring the weasels would eat them.

After putting down the bamboo basket, Chen Ling washed his hands. The water in the kitchen had just boiled, so he carried the full kettle of boiling water to the stone mill and carefully scalded it with the boiling water. He had washed it with clean water in the morning, but the stone mill had been soaked in floodwater and left unused in the threshing ground for many years, so it was better to clean it properly.

Since it's our own family's milled flour, it has to be cleaned thoroughly.

After repeatedly washing the millstone with boiling water several times, Chen Ling finally stopped. Once the millstone was dried, he could start grinding flour.

The reeds weren't dried properly, so there was no need to weave straw mats today. In the afternoon, Wang Susu stayed home while he took the ox, hoe, and went to the fields to weed the peanuts and soybeans.

There weren't many weeds, and Chen Ling worked slowly until nearly dusk, weeding almost an acre of land before stopping.

On the way back, Chen Ling, sitting on the ox's back, noticed several dark figures flash by in the cornfield at the village entrance, followed by a crackling sound from the corn stalks. He immediately became suspicious: "What's in there? Could it be wolves?"

Thinking this way, but seeing that the white calf didn't react much, I guessed it wasn't some wild animal.

However, Chen Ling's eyes were still fixed on that direction. After a while, he heard a voice. He immediately knew who it was, so he told the little white ox to stop and wait outside.

Sure enough, two or three minutes later, little devils emerged from the cornfield. Upon seeing Chen Ling, they cried out in fright and turned to run back.

"Come back! The sun's almost setting, are you still playing around here? Aren't you afraid of getting a beating when you get home?!"

"Grandpa Uncle".

"Uncle Fugui".

"Shh, keep your voice down, uncle, don't shout..."

Just then, Xiaosen led Choudan and a few others over furtively and called to him in a low voice.

"what happened?"

"Keep your voice down, Uncle. There's a secret in the cornfield."

(End of this chapter)