My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 172 Beaten
Around 10 a.m., Chen Ling bought pork and made a delicious bowl of pork and cucumber dumplings. After the meal, Wang Susu was cleaning up in the kitchen while he went back to his room, brought out the juicer, and started making juice. They'd recently gotten used to having this machine, which was very convenient, and the two of them had gotten into the habit of having a fruit drink after meals.

After squeezing the milk, Chen Ling mixed it with the leftover goat milk from the pot that morning. The taste was a bit strange, but after drinking it, she smacked her lips and savored the aftertaste. It was sweet and sour, and had a unique flavor.

"Susu, I saved a bowl of juice for you, come and drink it quickly."

After calling out to his wife, Chen Ling cleaned up the remaining fruit pieces from juicing and fed them to the chickens and ducks.

Watching the chickens and ducks scrambling around the stone trough, Chen Ling suddenly froze. "I've been so focused on the fruit juice. Have I even started making my fruit wine yet?"

Having picked so many wild fruits in the mountains and taken quite a few from the cave, I had completely forgotten about this.

It is evident that once a person becomes lazy, they are prone to forgetting things.

So after cleaning the juicer, Chen Ling took two bags and went up the mountain again. When he returned home at dusk, he immediately brought out two large vats and started cleaning and washing them.

The wild fruits we picked today were mainly wild grapes and kiwis. Chen Ling is quite familiar with these two types of wine. His grandparents brewed some every year when he was young, so he has seen and drunk a lot of them.

First comes the wine. Wild grapes are poured into a large basin and rinsed twice before being placed into a large vat. Once the bottom of the vat is covered, white sugar is sprinkled in, layering grapes and sugar until the vat is full.

At this point, crush and mix the grapes to ensure thorough fermentation after sealing.

However, it is also important to remember that the large vat for brewing wine should not be filled too full; about a quarter of it should be left empty.

Otherwise, the fermentation process will produce gas that will overflow, and sometimes the gas won't be able to escape, which can even cause the vat to explode.

After crushing the wild grapes in the vat, Chen Ling mixed some white wine with them as a starter, then sealed the vat tightly, wrapped it with a tattered cotton quilt, and put it in the warehouse. That was basically it.

One vat contained wild wine, and the other vat contained a mixture of kiwifruit, goat's milk fruit, and other mixed fruits like 'sugar bubble'. The latter was Chen Ling's experimental product.
He didn't quite understand what kind of wild fruit this sugar bubble was, but since eating too much of it could make you drunk, he couldn't resist his curiosity and decided to try mixing it in to see how the resulting wine would compare to wine made from ordinary wild kiwifruit.

At the same time, in order to differentiate it, he also brewed a small jar of wine using only sugar foam inside the cave, and wanted to see how strong the wine would be when brewed solely with sugar foam.

"Brother-in-law, I promised you'd cook me crab porridge tomorrow if I did my homework."

"If you don't go to sleep now, how will you get up tomorrow? You'll just make up excuses to fool people again."

Hearing him fiddling around in the yard, Wang Zhenzhen pushed open the window and called out.

"Okay, okay, I'm going to sleep now."

Chen Ling waved to her, glanced at the remaining pile in the yard, and decided to wait until tomorrow morning to clean it up.

……

The next morning, I not only cooked crab porridge, but also steamed a lot of peanuts and soybeans.

Before harvest, both of these are quite delicious, whether steamed or boiled, and are loved by adults and children alike; once they start eating, they can't stop.

Wang Susu couldn't eat crabs, nor did she drink any porridge.

We drank goat milk and peeled peanuts and soybeans with my sister to eat. Before long, the ground was covered with shells.

After eating this for several days, it was time to dig up the peanuts and harvest the soybeans.

To dig up peanuts and harvest soybeans, it's best to go early in the morning, when the sky is just before dawn. After being moistened by the dew and the earth overnight, the soybean pods are soft and not prickly.

Most importantly, the pods are less likely to split open, which reduces unnecessary losses.

Otherwise, by this time the soybeans are ripe and the pods are dry, and if you touch them even slightly, the pods will burst open and the beans inside will fall all over the ground.

If you're not careful, you'll end up picking up all those soybeans scattered on the ground; it'll be exhausting.

Therefore, soybeans should not be fully cooked. If they are fully cooked and not harvested in time, they will burst open and explode in the ground. This is what is meant by "burnt wheat and exploding soybeans."

Early that morning, Chen Ling and his wife found their work clothes, grabbed their sickles and hoes, and drove the oxcart to the fields.

Taking advantage of the early hour and the heavy dew, the two went to harvest soybeans.

Soybeans are planted in rows, neatly arranged, with long bean shoots covered with dense pods. The pale yellow leaves hang sparsely on the branches, almost all of them falling off.

Wearing arm sleeves, the two waded into the field through the dew and began harvesting with sickles.

Although Chen Ling was lazy, nothing in the fields was planted haphazardly or indiscriminately.

The soybeans grew very neatly, and it was obvious that each seedling had been propped up after the heavy rain and strong winds, so the vines, which were more than two feet deep, were mostly upright. Harvesting them was effortless and required no further trimming.

Grab a clump with your hand, cut it down to the base with a sickle, and then stack it up neatly.

Knowing Wang Susu's personality, Chen Ling couldn't persuade her, so he took the lead and worked very quickly.

More than two hours passed before the sun came out and they stopped.

Looking back, the tops of more than half an acre of soybeans had already been harvested.

The two of them carried each other on their backs and hugged each other as they piled the soybean tops from the field onto the oxcart and pulled it home.

After breakfast, I went to dig up peanuts again.

Peanuts are much harder to dig than soybeans, so Chen Ling refused to let Wang Susu dig them anymore.

So he bent down and dug, while Wang Susu followed behind him to collect the dirt, shake it off, and piled it up.

After starting his field work, Chen Ling's skills improved. When he dug up peanuts, he wielded his hoe with great enthusiasm, making bang-bang-bang and swish-swish sounds.

However, we can't go too fast, because in some places there is a lot of clay soil, and the peanuts stick firmly to the soil. If we are careless, the peanuts will break off in the soil along with their roots, resulting in a significant loss per acre.

Fortunately, Wang Susu was observant and followed behind him collecting peanuts, keeping an eye on things as well.

So when they finished their work for the day, the two of them would rake the field once, and the fallen soybeans and peanuts would be piled up. Regardless of whether they were mixed with soil or withered branches and leaves, they would put them all into bags and sift them twice when they got back, so as not to have to pick them up from the ground, which was both laborious and troublesome.

After three days, I finally managed to bring all the peanuts and soybeans home.

They were divided into two sections and laid out to dry in the yard.

Freshly dug peanuts are too moist and need to be sun-dried for several days.

Soybeans are different. When the sun comes out and the wind blows, they crackle and pop. In the local dialect, they are dry and make a crackling sound. So whenever there is free time, people use wooden forks, sticks, or yokes to hammer and pound them over and over again.

Until the pods all split open, and the beans popped out one by one.

Once it's completely dry and hard, you can press it for oil.

...A gentle mountain breeze blows. From Chen Ling's orchard, walk three or four hundred meters west along a mountain path, and then climb up a steep mountain gorge with gullies and piles of rocks before you can see the boundary of Yeren Gully.

After harvesting the soybeans and peanuts and drying them before selling them, there wasn't much else to do. So Chen Ling brought two dogs to Wild Man Gully to take a look. This place was too close to his own territory, so he had to find out what was going on inside.

However, the mountain here is too steep, with towering sharp rocks and strange cliffs everywhere. Although Chen Ling and the two dogs are physically fit enough that they don't feel tired from this short distance, it is still extremely difficult to climb up.

Cliffs, broken rocks, haphazard trees, and occasionally startled snakes, insects, and wild animals.

After walking for a while, the loud cry of a crane came from the sky.

Chen Ling looked up and suddenly, with a "thud," a white object grazed his cheek and landed vertically on his shoulder.

Chen Ling took a closer look and was immediately frustrated.

"Wow, I got lucky with bird poop today!"

That's incredible, to run into bird droppings falling from the sky.

Luckily, it was just a little short.

Otherwise, this pile of shit would have landed on his forehead.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, so he picked up a stone and threw it at the group of bad guys.

The two dogs also barked loudly into the sky.

And it leaped and jumped upwards in pursuit.

"Hey, you two idiots, what are you chasing? Be careful you don't fall into the ditch later."

Chen Ling shouted and chased after him.

Further ahead, after crossing the cliff, there is a very dangerous section of the path, riddled with large cracks that connect to the valley where Yeren Gully is located, and are bottomless. The widest cracks are sixty or seventy centimeters deep, and if a person or livestock falls in, there is no way they can get back up.

As a result, after they crossed the cliff, the man and the two dogs froze. Chen Ling also subconsciously held his breath.

I was stunned by the sight before me.

They simply did not see the rumored large crack.

The terrifying Savage Valley, a memory from many years ago, has also disappeared.

The once deep and dangerous valley has been miraculously filled with a lake, transforming into a beautiful body of water.

At this moment, the sunlight shines, the lake water ripples gently, and the reflection of the tall trees and majestic green mountains makes it appear exceptionally tranquil.

Countless migratory birds bask in the warm sunshine, frolicking and foraging in the water, roaming everywhere.

No wonder the two dogs were chasing after it; it turns out the white cranes from before landed here and gathered in a large flock, even more than the birds that were at the reservoir a few days ago.

The scene should be more beautiful, more spectacular, and more breathtaking.

"How did Yeren Gully become a lake? Is it because of this year's floods?"

Chen Ling snapped out of his shock, gazing at the unique mountain lake and the boundless beauty around it, and murmured to himself.

No one comes near this place year-round.

I don't know when it turned into this scene.

Such a vast lake.

It certainly wasn't formed overnight.

"It's very likely that the terrain changed too drastically after two major earthquakes..."

He looked around, trying to guess.

A gentle mountain breeze brings coolness, while the rustling forest echoes with the sound of waves.

On the southeastern shore of the lake, there is a bamboo forest that stretches as far as the eye can see. The mountain wind blows and the bamboo forest sways, like green waves rising and falling, making a sound like waves.

On the northwest banks of the lake lies a vast maple forest, now ablaze with color, covering the mountains and fields in vibrant red. A gentle breeze makes it seem as if a flame is burning and dancing, a truly magnificent sight.

Chen Ling stood beside the cliff, straining his eyes to gaze into the distance.

As soon as I could see, I finally discovered that there were several streams flowing into this place from the mountains in the east, west and north directions. The streams were of different sizes, flowing through the mountains and forests and eventually flowing into the lake.

This scene suddenly made him realize something.

"It really was caused by the major earthquake more than ten years ago. No wonder the old river bend started to dry up slowly from then on..."

"It turns out that the earthquake cut off these streams, preventing them from flowing into the old river bend."

The old river bend is now flowing again because the mountain spring water on Nanshan Mountain has gradually regained its vitality after it was connected to the reservoir in recent years.

"Nature is truly a masterpiece, creating such a wonderful and magical place!"

"These mountains, this water, these birds, they're so damn beautiful! I need to buy a camera sometime."

Admiring this unique mountain lake, Chen Ling couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"Wang Wang Wang!"

While he was captivated by the beautiful scenery, he didn't notice that the two dogs had already crouched down, circled around the bamboo forest, quietly approached the lakeside, and pounced on the beautiful migratory birds in the lake.

With a splash, thousands of birds took flight from the water, feathers and droppings flying everywhere, their cries creating a chaotic scene.

The two dogs' eyes turned red at the sight. There were too many birds, and so many delicious prey were just watching them fly away. They wished they had more mouths.

After killing two of them, they still tried to chase after them.

Unexpectedly, the flock of birds that had flown away suddenly returned and fell from the sky. Cranes and geese rushed into the water in droves, fiercely pecking and biting at the two dogs, and actually started fighting with them.

Heiwa and Xiaojin are indeed fierce enough, but there are just too many birds.

As the saying goes, even two fists can't beat four hands, and even a novice can be defeated by a flurry of punches. Besides, flocks of geese and cranes often number in the hundreds, and this place is home to more than just one or two groups.

If you anger them, they will swarm you, and the two dogs are really struggling to hold their own.

Chen Ling was about to walk over when he was also stunned by the scene.

Upon closer inspection, the geese, in particular, appeared to be the most ferocious.

Wild geese, also known as geese, are very similar to the white geese in the village. They are quite similar in terms of species, family, appearance, and temperament. The only difference is that domesticated geese can no longer fly in the sky.

Therefore, when they get aggressive, they are no less fierce than white geese, and their attacks are extremely vicious.

In addition, white cranes, cormorants, and other birds lent their support, occasionally swarming up to deliver a few blows.

The two dogs suffered a great loss.

Even after being attacked, Xiao Jin didn't dare to linger. It seized the opportunity to kill two more geese, then quickly turned and fled. It was very fast, so escaping was easy for it.

A flock of geese chased for a while, flapping their wings, then stopped.

Heiwa is really pitiful.

Pecking at by a flock of birds, it was in a sorry state, unable to escape. Every time it tried to fight back, countless bird beaks would land on it from the other side, making it howl in pain. It was caught between two worlds by the lake, unable to get up no matter how hard it tried.

Forced into a lazy, dog-like roll around, it rolled in mud and water, completely unrecognizable from its previous imposing appearance, yet it still couldn't dodge the attack.

Chen Ling had intended to help it chase away the flock of birds, but seeing its appearance, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"You idiot, you've finally gotten what you deserve."

Heiwa is a very energetic guy. He feels uncomfortable if he doesn't cause trouble every day, so he gets into trouble every two days.

But it has thick skin and isn't afraid of provoking Chen Ling. It doesn't feel pain at all, whether you hit it or not.

After a while, every time Chen Ling hit it, it not only didn't dodge, but actually enjoyed it, treating it purely as a beating and massage.

Every time Chen Ling got tired and lessened his strength, he would look at him with a puzzled expression.

This made Chen Ling both annoyed and amused.

Later, when all else failed, they had to take an iron chain from Yuqiang's house and tie it to the tree for two days before it finally calmed down.

However, he still couldn't change his bad habits. He just didn't dare to cause trouble at home anymore. Once he went out, he would run around with the village kids and do all sorts of bad things, making a ruckus everywhere.

"Ouch! Ouch!"

Surrounded by birds, with no way to escape, Heiwa thrashed about in the water, crying out pitifully and helplessly. Especially since Chen Ling was just laughing and watching the spectacle without offering any help, Heiwa looked on pitifully, crying even more pitifully.

In fact, the birds have designated the area around the mountain lake as their territory.

If Heiwa had run away as quickly as Xiaojin, there would have been no problem. The flock of birds simply sensed danger and wanted to drive them out of their territory.

But it couldn't escape; the flock of birds kept pecking at it, wave after wave, without stopping.

Chen Ling was happy to see it suffer a loss.

After watching the commotion with great delight for quite a while, seeing that it was almost out of breath from barking, he led Xiao Jin forward and brought it out.

But the harvest was still good. When he returned home, he was covered with geese and wild ducks.

Just thinking about the deliciousness of roasted goose and stewed goose made Chen Ling's mouth water.

In general, only Heiwa suffered a loss.

It took the beating for itself, which benefited the whole family.

Worth it.

(End of this chapter)