My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 171 Wild Geese
Early in the morning, Wang Susu sat in the yard sifting wheat, preparing it for grinding into flour in a couple of days. Before long, the chickens, ducks, and quails heard the noise and, thinking she was about to be fed, all gathered around her, craning their necks and squawking noisily, begging for food.

Wang Susu tried to shoo them away twice, but to no avail; instead, she attracted the pigeons as well.

There was no other way, so I went back inside and got two bowls of food, which I scattered on the ground. Only then did these guys settle down and start scrambling around, trying to eat.

It's getting cold, and food is hard to find. Only the ducks go out for a stroll when the weather is sunny, swimming in the pond for a while and catching some small fish and shrimp to eat. The chickens and quails hardly ever go out anymore, and when they do, they just wander around the yard. The pigeons are a bit freer, but food is still hard to find for them.

Fortunately, we had some food dug from the rat holes to feed them; otherwise, with so many mouths to feed, we would have had to eat a lot in the fall and winter.

Seeing them eating so happily, Wang Susu took the opportunity to collect the newly laid chicken and duck eggs, and didn't forget the quail eggs either. After the weather cools down, the quails stop incubating their eggs until the following spring when it warms up again. It's a good time to collect them every day and save them up. When there are enough, she'll boil the quail eggs and eat them.

"Auntie, is Uncle Fugui up yet? I've come to find him to milk the goats."

I had just put the eggs I had collected in the kitchen when I heard someone shouting at the gate of the yard.

"He's up. He took your aunt to the field to pick vegetables. Come in and wait a bit, he'll be back soon."

Wang Susu smiled and waved to them.

These little devils swarmed in, and each of them actually brought walnuts, which made Wang Susu chuckle. She thought to herself that these little rascals were actually quite honest with their Uncle Fugui.

A few minutes later, Chen Ling and Wang Zhenzhen returned, and the children immediately surrounded them excitedly, chattering like a flock of ducklings.

Chen Ling then had Wang Zhenzhen lead them to wash their hands and get buckets, while he went to the woodshed to bring out the sheep. After washing the sheep milk bags with warm water, he let the impatient children squeeze the milk by hand.

In fact, he and Wang Susu would milk the goats every day at this time. Their own dairy goats produced six catties of milk every day, which was quite plentiful. Moreover, there was always a lot of milk left over. If they didn't milk them, the lambs wouldn't be able to finish it all.

The children are here today, which will help solve some problems.

While they were milking the cows, Chen Ling lit a fire in the kitchen. After the little ones had clumsily milked half a bucket of milk, the firewood was already burning. He poured the goat milk into the pot, and it quickly boiled, bubbling and bubbling, filling the air with a rich milky aroma.

Worried that some young children might not like the taste the first time they try it, Wang Susu also prepared white sugar on the side.

"Auntie, come and have some milk too."

Of all the children who came to the house, Xizi was the one who liked to be close to Wang Susu the most. While the other children, whether boys or girls, loved to fuss around Chen Ling, Xizi would quietly stay in front of Wang Susu, watching her work and exchanging a few words with her.

Seeing that Wang Susu had just finished washing the vegetables and was now putting sugar in their bowl, they pulled up a stool for Wang Susu to sit down and came over to drink the milk.

"Good child, you drink it, Auntie will serve herself in a bit."

Wang Susu smiled and patted the little girl's head. She went inside and brought out a new strainer. When she came back, she secretly slipped a few pieces of milk candy into the little girl's pocket.

Wang Zhenzhen, with her sharp eyes, stuck out her tongue at her older sister after spotting her, and then smiled and winked at Xizi. She also liked this well-behaved little sister who was like a rabbit, even though she wasn't her sister by seniority.

She then stood up and rushed to Chen Ling's side, saying that they had been producing more and more goat milk these past few days, and they couldn't finish it all. She suggested making some milk candy. This girl had come up with the idea after seeing the White Rabbit milk candy her sister had brought out.

Chen Ling immediately glared and bristled, "Good heavens, you think too highly of me!"

I also need to learn how to make milk candy.

in fact……

He can make some yogurt out of the leftover goat milk, but forget about making milk candy—it's too much trouble and too tiring. He just doesn't want to do it.

"Uncle Fugui, what kind of milk is yogurt? Is it good?"

Hearing what Chen Ling said from the side, the children perked up.

He kept stirring the contents of the bowl with his chopsticks.

The goat milk was too hot to drink right after it was boiled, so I had to let it cool down quickly.

"It's delicious. I'll make some another day and have your aunt take a lot with her to school so you can all drink it together."

"Hehe, Uncle Fugui is so kind. I'll protect my younger brother and sister when they are born."

"Me too. I'll take them to school when the time comes. You and Auntie don't need to worry about it."

Hearing the children's shouts, Chen Ling and his wife exchanged a glance and couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, alright, your little brother and sister have plenty of time. Hurry up and drink your milk, see how it tastes, and whether you like it."

“Hiss…”

"Wow, it's still hot. My tongue is numb from the heat, and it's burning right to my heart."

"But this milk smells so good, I'll have another sip."

“You guys are stupid. Look at me. If it’s hot, just drink it from the side.”

Chen Ling held up the bowl and slurped along the rim to demonstrate for them.

"Hehe, Uncle, we know how to drink like this at home, but we forgot when we came to your house."

One by one, the silly boys started slurping along, and soon they had finished the milk in their bowls.

He was a little full from drinking, so he sat in the yard, noisily patting his belly and shouting how delicious it was.

"Uncle Fugui, we won't be going up the mountain to pick walnuts today..."

"I heard from my third grandfather that there are lots of crabs by the river. We're going to catch some crabs today. I'll bring them to you at noon, and you can cook for your aunt."

"No need, you can take them back and eat them yourselves. Your aunt can't eat crabs."

Chen Ling shook his head.

"Oh? Auntie can't eat that? Then I'll bring you some fish. Auntie loves fish, so you won't have to go fishing for it."

"Haha, you guys, why are you being so polite?"

"Alright, go wherever you want to go, just avoid deep water."

They then left in a noisy commotion.

As the saying goes, "From White Dew to Frost's Descent, don't rush to plant wheat; from Frost's Descent to the Beginning of Winter, don't relax when planting wheat."

After the first frost, winter wheat has been planted one after another, and the soybeans and peanuts in the fields will soon be ready for harvest.

After Wang Zhenzhen led a group of children out, Wang Susu told Chen Ling about the peanuts and soybeans in the field. Chen Ling had gotten up early to go to the field that day to see how they were doing.

Generally speaking, these two crops can be harvested 40 to 50 days after fruit set, and it's almost time now. They will be fully ripe in about another week.

"The soybeans are doing well. I pulled up a few peanut plants to check, and some of the peanut kernels weren't fully grown. When I pinched them with my fingernail, they were shriveled and full of water. But there weren't many, so it's not a big problem."

Hearing Chen Ling say that, Wang Susu looked up at him and said, "The temperature is still around 20 degrees Celsius in the afternoon these days, it's just a bit cold at night. How about we wait a few days before harvesting the peanuts and let them grow a few more days?"

"Well, there's no need to wait a few days..."

Chen Ling shook his head and smiled at her, "Let's see how it goes after this week. If it doesn't grow well by then, it really won't grow well. After all, it's already this time of year, and we can't delay the harvest any longer."

Wang Susu gave a soft "hmm" and said nothing more. She understood that Qiu Hua was just like that.

However, with high grain and oil prices this year, a significant reduction in peanut production would be quite distressing.

Even if we don't talk about this year...

Peanuts and soybeans are usually quite valuable; they are not considered food but rather cash crops.

They are mainly used to press oil to sell for money, and are rarely consumed by themselves.

Back when they were in school, after the autumn harvest, they would dig up mouse holes. If they were lucky enough to find a peanut pod or a soybean pod inside, it was like finding a small treasure. When they got home, their parents would find out and reward them handsomely.

This shows how precious this thing is.

This year's high demand is reminiscent of the past.

In fact, Chen Ling had inquired about Wang Zhenzhen at the market several times when he took her to school.

Grain prices have dropped after the autumn harvest.

Meat and egg prices also declined, but not by much.

Only cash crops like peanuts and soybeans, which can be extracted for oil, remain expensive and in short supply.

This is mainly due to a shortage of goods. The autumn harvest is mainly grain, and there are very few cash crops like these. Without a large quantity of goods entering the market, prices simply cannot come down.

Knowing what his wife was thinking, Chen Ling changed the subject, saying, "How were the gourds we picked yesterday? They tasted alright, didn't they?"

"It's great, the stir-fried dishes smell delicious."

"Shall we make some shredded melon dumplings for lunch today?"

"Okay, I'll get ready and start kneading the dough as soon as I'm done. Hmm... should we make vegetarian or meat filling?"

"Either is fine. I'll buy the meat and then we can decide. You and Zhenzhen can eat whichever you want."

Chen Ling checked the time, then pushed his cart out to buy pork and inquire about the prices of various building materials.

Before even leaving the village, we encountered groups of two or three families walking towards the dam at the village entrance, chatting and laughing as they went.

She greeted Chen Ling with a smile when she saw him.

Why go to Fugui?

"Go to the county town."

"Why are you rushing out so early when you don't go out for market days or temple fairs? Come on, let's go hunting geese!"

"Huh? Geese have come to the reservoir?"

"That's right. There are so many birds flying south lately, not just geese, but also cranes."

"Oh, I'll have to go check it out."

"Haha, let's go, let's go together."

So Chen Ling got off his bicycle and pushed it along with them towards the dam.

Before we even got close, we could hear the faint calls of various birds.

There were quite a few people on the dam at this time, most of whom had just finished breakfast and came to watch the birds. There were men, women, and children, and many adults brought their children with slingshots and bows and arrows to shoot birds. The scene was very lively.

Chen Ling secured the car and walked to the dam to look around.

The reservoir's waters rippled, and hundreds, even thousands, of geese frolicked and foraged on the distant surface, constantly taking flight and landing...

Their bodies are covered in gray and brown feathers, and they look a bit like large white geese. They are moving around on the water in groups, some bending their long necks to preen their feathers, and others flapping their wings and playing. They are densely packed and numerous, almost filling the entire reservoir.

Not only geese, but also several egrets vying for food in the reeds on the other side, their movements graceful and agile, their dance light and beautiful.

Unfortunately, upon seeing people on the dam, they all kept their distance and dared not approach easily.

This made the adults and children who wanted to hunt birds so anxious that they huddled together to discuss how to lure a few of the geese over.

Hunting wild geese in autumn and winter is a local tradition.

Regardless of whether it's good or bad, I've relied on this to survive for many years.

If you're lucky, you can eat stewed goose for a whole month in a row.

If you're unlucky, you'll only be able to eat goose droppings.

In those days, people generally couldn't get enough to eat, and there were even famines during bad years.

When the wild geese arrive in late autumn, we form teams to hunt them and collect their droppings. The droppings contain undigested grains or nuts, which, after simple processing, are a good source of food to fill our stomachs.

There used to be a saying in the area: "Northerners eat eggs, southerners eat geese, and those in the middle just watch."

This is easy to understand. Geese fly north in spring to lay eggs and reproduce, so people in the north can eat the eggs. Geese fly south in autumn and winter to overwinter in the warm south, so people in the south can eat their meat.

The geese among them were just passing by and wouldn't stay long, so they could only watch helplessly.

Although the area has mountains and rivers, and migratory birds like geese stay here for up to a month each year, with tens of thousands flying over annually, hunting them is not an easy task.

Having a gun is good; you can ambush and shoot, and you can get some kills. But without a gun, relying solely on setting traps, the harvest is uncertain; it's all up to luck.

Too far away, Chen Ling had no interest in hunting geese. He walked back and forth on the dam with his hands behind his back, admiring the scenery. In the short time that followed, other migratory birds flew in, including white cranes, black-necked cranes, wild ducks, cormorants, and many other species. They chirped and chattered on the water, their calls blending together and could be heard from a great distance, creating a lively scene.

The sun was shining brightly today, the weather was fine, and the water was warm. Therefore, a large flock of migratory birds gathered from the mountains to forage, play, and socialize on this vast expanse of water.

As Chen Ling was admiring the view, suddenly a large flock of birds took flight from the water.

Looking around, it turned out that on the west side of the reservoir, Wang Zhenzhen was leading a group of village children, shouting and yelling. Below, Heiwa, Xiaojin, and a pack of dogs had already rushed into the reeds and launched an attack on the flock of birds.

These mischievous monkeys originally went to the river bend to catch crabs, but halfway there they discovered so many birds at the reservoir that day, and they immediately became interested. Having heard from adults that geese are delicious, they were all very envious, so they brought their dogs to chase them.

The village dogs can swim. Every summer, they sneak into the river to bathe with the children and are already familiar with the water. So when they get close, they rush towards the water without looking.

The reed beds naturally harbor many migratory birds such as wild ducks and cormorants. Among them, mallards are the most fond of roosting by the water, and when they rush in, they stir up a whole flock.

The mallards flew high, but with Blackie and Little Gold leading the way, the dogs managed to catch two or three of them.

With their harvest, the young soldiers were full of energy, shouting and yelling, startling the nearby birds and directing the dogs to chase after the geese on the distant water.

But soon his joy turned to sorrow; he became so overconfident that his parents dragged him home by the ear.

The villagers were afraid that their children would run near the water, but they got caught red-handed.

In fact, seeing the flocks of large birds on the water, not only the little children were envious, but many adults in the village were also very envious.

Chen Ze and Yu Qiang stopped Chen Ling, saying, "Fu Gui, why don't we go borrow two guns from Uncle Wu and go out to hunt geese at night?"

"So many geese fly over every year, we can't just stand by and watch them go, can we?"

They go out at night to hunt geese, specifically the geese flying overhead.

If you hear flocks of geese calling as they pass by after dark, it's easy to shoot them with a hunting rifle.

Sometimes it's even easier to fight than during the day.

Chen Ling shook his head and smiled: "Fifth Uncle returned the gun a few days ago. The brigade only has a few guns left. It's nothing serious, just to hunt a wild goose, why would we lend it to you..."

"If you want to hunt geese, why don't you set traps or snares? Alright, I have to go to town now. Do you need me to bring you anything?"

The group said no, and then went to the side to discuss hunting geese.

(End of this chapter)