My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 202 Bird-catching Net

It was just past noon.

After lunch, Chen Ling drove his tractor, loaded with building materials, back home.

Unexpectedly, after leaving the territory of Wangbacheng, when passing through the mountain pass section of Kuliu County, a large group of people blocked the road.

This was a group of villagers, about twenty people, men, women, young and old, waving shovels and rakes, surrounding the tractor, shouting and cursing at Chen Ling, forcing him to stop.

This road is difficult to travel, so the tractor can't go fast.

Moreover, the intersection ahead was completely blocked by large rocks and tree trunks, so Chen Ling couldn't step on the gas to rush through.

"Damn it, what bad luck."

Chen Ling cursed under his breath and had no choice but to stop the tractor.

"Which county are you from? Don't you know this road was just repaired and cars aren't allowed to pass? Get off right now, you're ruining our road..."

A gaunt old man was cursing and swearing, and his shovel almost poked Chen Ling's face.

"The road is damaged? Where is it damaged? You haven't repaired the road here."

Chen Ling frowned, feigning ignorance.

While he was saying this, he had already quietly reached his hand into the toolbox under his seat.

"I said you ran over and damaged it, so what? Stop talking nonsense and get out here and pay for it."

"Don't even think about leaving today unless you pay me back."

The two young men behind the old man glared at him and cursed fiercely.

Several women and teenagers also shouted fiercely, "Get down here right now, or we'll beat you to death!"

There were also two other boys, around sixteen or seventeen years old, who were already standing on the connecting bar of the tractor and reaching out to grab Chen Ling's bag.

However, just as the two boys touched the bag on the back of Chen Ling's seat, one of them suddenly changed his expression and shouted, "Sir, hit him! He's taking something out!"

Before anyone else could react, Chen Ling turned around and swung his arm, slamming the two thieves down hard.

With his other hand, he pulled a hunting rifle from under the toolbox and, without saying a word, fired a shot at the nearest old man.

The old man cried out in surprise and fell to the ground with a thud.

"Damn it, you even have a gun. I'll still kill you with a gun. You're not leaving here today."

This enraged the bandits, who were villagers from some unknown county. Men, women, and children all had barbaric and fierce expressions, their eyes red, and they brandished various farm tools at Chen Ling.

Some of the quick-thinking ones immediately tried to shoot the gun out of his hand.

Seeing this, Chen Ling didn't dodge at all. He jumped off the tractor and pounced into the group of women and boys on the left.

These women and teenagers weren't strong enough, so he covered his head and face and lunged at them, kicking them until they rolled on the ground in a few kicks.

The women were kicked until they screamed and howled like ghosts.

Nourished by the cave all day long, Chen Ling is incredibly strong and has thick skin, so he can withstand several blows.

Especially now that I'm in danger, my whole body is starting to heat up, like a machine that's gradually starting up, and my body is reacting faster than my brain.

When the groups of men from the front and right rushed over to attack him.

He wasn't flustered at all. He pushed off the tractor wheels and stepped onto the pile of building materials in the trailer in just a few steps.

"Fuck your ancestors, do you think I'm easy to bully?"

Chen Ling was so angry that he cursed loudly.

But no matter how strong he is, he can't handle more than twenty people.

And now some people are carrying machetes, while others are picking up stones and throwing them at him.

So we still have to rely on guns.

This gun is the single-barreled shotgun that Heiwa brought back back then, with a five-shot burst. I don't know where Chen Erzhu got such a good shotgun.

After Chen Erzhu and the others were arrested, he never took them out; he kept them in the cave for future use.

These days, getting bullets is easy, so there's plenty of ammunition.

So at that moment, he raised his hunting rifle and started shooting at these bandits and highwaymen.

He was a good shot, so he aimed for their legs.

After each five bullets were fired, he would crouch down to dodge the flying stones of all sizes and reload his ammunition.

After the shotgun had fired three or four rounds, the men were terrified.

Chen Ling was not seriously injured, but many of them collapsed, and most of them were injured in the legs.

This shows that they didn't want to kill them.

Otherwise, with that level of accuracy, if you just aim a shot at their heads, none of them will be able to dodge it.

His face turned extremely pale in an instant.

"The guy next door is tough. Let's go."

“You can leave if you each give me two hundred yuan. Otherwise, I’ll cripple you even if I don’t kill you.”

Chen Ling stood atop the high tractor trailer, raising his gun and continuing to aim downwards.

"We have no money, but we have your lives. If you have the guts, kill us all."

A man lying on the ground, shot in the leg, roared.

He was sweating profusely but still spouting threats; he's truly a bully who's desperate for a bargain.

"If you can't afford two hundred each, we'll give you a maximum of twenty each."

An old man then began to bargain.

"Twenty? Are you trying to fob me off? Alright, alright, I'm too lazy to argue with you. You've definitely robbed more than one person. Stop pretending you're broke. If you don't want to pay, fine, I'll make up for it myself."

Chen Ling jumped off the truck bed, raised his gun, and aimed it at a boy, as if to shoot.

"No, we didn't bring that much. We only collected 1,800 last night. Is that alright?"

The old man softened; no matter how fierce and tyrannical he was, he still cared about his descendants.

"Eighteen thousand it is..."

"Put the money down and get out."

Chen Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief after these people left the money and lingered away with the wounded.

His way of thinking is greatly influenced by parallel universes, and deep down he doesn't want to harm people.

But I don't want to cower and be taken advantage of.

So this is the most we can do.

Touching the spots on his body where he had been hit by rocks and the places on his arms where he had been struck by a shovel, Chen Ling felt a little annoyed, even though they didn't hurt much.

"Damn it, no wonder they say highway robbers deserve to be beaten to death, they're just like a pack of vicious dogs."

If you encounter someone like this again in a few years, it won't matter if you beat them to death; in some places, they'll even be rewarded.

It's because these people have no bottom line and have gone too far in their actions.

……

I don't know if it's because this is the only village nearby that acts as a road bully, or if they know that Chen Ling is not someone to mess with.

Over the next few days, Chen Ling made four or five trips back and forth, all of which went very smoothly, and all the necessary building materials were delivered.

Stone, bricks, cement, glass, etc.

These weren't actually used much; seven or eight trips were enough.

Moreover, each time he transported supplies, Dongtian would also put two carts on board, making one trip equivalent to three trips, which was more than enough for all these supplies.

The main materials needed are wood and bamboo.

These grottoes already existed, and back when he was building his house, he would go into them every day when he had nothing to do to prepare for them.

Adding the remaining material from the two-pillar greenhouse, it should definitely be enough.

So Chen Ling spent the rest of the days using a tractor to work with timber and bamboo.

There are quite a few timber factories on the east side of the county town.

He makes four or five trips a day, and people just assume he brought it back from the county town.

After two days of continuous transport, the timber and bamboo were piled up in the open space to the west of the orchard.

Actually, the tractor doesn't carry much on each trip. Chen Ling transports large quantities of goods from the cave to the outside world when no one is paying attention. So he's been taking his time these past two days, working while having fun.

During the trip, we happened to visit a market in the county town and bought three large bird-catching nets. However, we were unable to catch wild pigeons with the nets, only a few mountain birds.

Chen Ling decided to try using bird-catching nets instead.

Now all the building materials are piled up here in the orchard, and he's going to be here to keep an eye on them.

Although the items were heavy, he couldn't steal much, but he was afraid someone might do something malicious, like setting a fire, and all his hard work these past few days would be for nothing.

I couldn't just sit here and watch, that would be too boring, so I bought a bird-catching net to play with.

Chen Ling chose the largest size of the three bird nets he had on hand. They stretched out to be nearly twenty meters long. The nets were very light and thin with small mesh, so they were quite good.

……

The Minor Snow solar term has passed for a few days, and the Major Snow solar term and Winter Solstice are getting closer. It is very cold to spend the night on the mountain at this time of year.

So Chen Ling built a simple thatched hut at the foot of the mountain and brought over a stove, which could be used for boiling water and keeping warm.

These days, he sleeps here at night, with his two dogs following him.

Perhaps knowing that these things need to be watched over, they are reluctant to return home during the day.

Even during the day, the village dogs would come running over.

The two of them often led a large pack of dogs to frolic in the nearby fields.

Others who saw it were hesitant to approach.

That morning, he had just bought the bird-catching nets. He put each net on two long bamboo poles, just like putting on curtains, first fastening the buttons together, and then unfolding them.

After finishing, I picked up the bamboo pole and prepared to find a place to prop it up.

Just as he reached the edge of the field, Wang Jusheng and Wang Lixian came looking for him, calling out to him from the dirt road outside the orchard.

They've been coming over to check on him quite often lately. A few days ago, when Wang Lixian learned that he was heading to Wangbacheng, he even wanted to go with Chen Ling to help escort the car.

They probably knew that things could easily go wrong on the road.

However, Chen Ling did not let him go.

Today was Wang Jusheng's day off, so he didn't have to go to work in the township and had nothing to do at home. The two of them came over early in the morning.

When they saw Chen Ling making bird nets, they came over to help.

"The old graves have been moved, and there's nothing much to the south. It's a huge open space; we can just set up the net there, right?"

Wang Lixian said.

Chen Ling hesitated: "With no trees blocking the way and people so close, would the wild pigeons dare to land on the ground?"

Wang Lixian chuckled: "Hey, why don't you try scattering some grain on the ground first? We used to catch wild pigeons by using a sieve on snowy days. We'd sweep a clean patch of snow, scatter some cornmeal, and catch them every time. I've never used a bird net before. Yours is definitely more advanced."

"Brother Xian, you're right. He spends tens of yuan on a fishing rod. It's not high-end at all."

Wang Jusheng spoke indistinctly.

He stuffed the two roasted sweet potatoes that Chen Ling had left over into his mouth.

Chen Ling didn't mind their teasing, but looked at Wang Jusheng and said, "Brother Jusheng, isn't this sweet potato cold? It's been sitting out all night. You should at least put it on the stove to warm it up."

Wang Jusheng chuckled: "It's nothing. I've been feeling a bit feverish these past few days and haven't been able to poop. I'll eat something cold to help."

"Good heavens, you..."

Chen Ling frowned deeply.

Wang Lixian couldn't help but laugh out loud.

“Fugui, you’re starting work at the beginning of next month, so you can only work for a month. Once it gets to December, there will be a lot of snowy days. How will you be able to work then?”

"No way, we should take a break in December. It's almost the end of the year, how can we keep working?"

"Oh, that's perfect. Si Ni'er is getting engaged in the twelfth lunar month. You and Ju Sheng can come and join the fun then."

"Okay, but we've agreed on a date. I have a brother getting married in December, so let's not clash."

"It was set for the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month. Oh, didn't it clash with that?"

"The seventh day of the lunar month? That's alright."

Chen Ling shook his head; Han Chuang was getting married on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month.

The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the Little New Year, and it is a very auspicious day for getting married.

Of course, the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month that Wang Lixian chose for his fourth daughter was also an auspicious day.

In the early years of my youth, the Xie family came to our noble home.

Many people get engaged or married on this day.

"That's good. Jusheng, are you alright on the seventh day of the lunar new year?"

"It's nothing, I've been fine all along. I don't know as many people as Fugui. The day he came back from his wife's parents' house, he had lunch in the village and four or five acquaintances talked to him. I can't compare to him, I'm very free in December..."

Wang Jusheng stuffed the last sweet potato tip into his mouth, clapped his hands, and was about to ask Wang Lixian's fourth daughter which family her husband's family was from.

The two dogs then ran out barking.

He stood on tiptoe to take a look and smiled at Chen Ling, "It's Susu who brought you food."

"You've been having a really good time lately, you haven't even cooked."

Chen Ling knew he was joking on purpose, so he ignored him and went to greet his wife.

"Brother Xian and Brother Jusheng are here. I fried some walnut cakes. Sit down and have some."

Wang Susu walked over carrying a basket.

The basket contained steamed eggs, steamed buns, pickled vegetables, and walnut cakes made from fried pecans.

"No, no, we just had breakfast and came here to play with Fugui for a while."

The two of them waved their hands quickly.

Then she squatted down and played with the dog, not disturbing the young couple.

"Brother Xian, have you finished fluffing your cotton?"

After Chen Ling finished breakfast, Wang Susu asked.

"Not yet, I reckon I'll be playing for another half a day today."

Wang Lixian's family is preparing new cotton this year for their fourth daughter's wedding next year, and they need to make several new cotton quilts as part of her dowry.

In addition, there are his old cotton quilts, so it has been more than two days since he finished fluffing them.

A skilled cotton carder can produce a maximum of ten catties of cotton per day using a large wooden bow, while an ordinary cotton carder can produce only about five or six catties. This is not considered slow.

The two cotton carders from Pigeon Camp have been carding cotton in Chenwangzhuang for almost half a month, and they have only covered a small part of the village.

"Alright then, we'll have to wait a few more days."

Wang Susu wasn't in a hurry. She had been idle at home these past few days, so she tore the hardened old cotton batting into pieces in advance, making it easier to fluff. That way, if the two cotton fluffers arrived early, they could finish it in one morning.

It took almost half a month to reach Wang Lixian's place, and it will probably take several more days to get here.

Then he fed the dogs with Chen Ling.

There's not only a stove, but also a kettle and a pot, though this pot is for cooking for the dog.

They've been protecting their home since they were little, and I'm willing to stay here and watch over them. I can't let them suffer from the cold or hunger.

A large pot of cornmeal porridge, cabbage leaves, rapeseed sprouts, mixed with lard and a little salt, was simmering and steaming.

After it cooled down a bit, I poured it into their two food bowls, and then cracked two raw eggs into each bowl. That was the two dogs' breakfast.

Watching the two dogs wolf down their food.

Wang Lixian suddenly sighed, "In the end, it's good to know more people. Like this year, Shuiwa, Yuqiang and the other young ones have all gone out to work. They'll be working for at least three months and won't be back until the 20th of the twelfth lunar month."

"If you didn't know someone in the city, you wouldn't be able to get help."

"You can't even find a few people like me to do this kind of work this year."

Chen Ling shook his head: "Sigh, it was just a coincidence."

He knew that Wang Lixian and the other person were there to help him.

The three families have a good relationship, but Chen Ling hired a construction team from the city. They have all the equipment and so on. They didn't know what they could do to help and were afraid of causing trouble, so they didn't ask for help.

“Brother Xian, if you and Brother Jusheng are free next month, come over and help me out for a few days. I don’t know anything about building houses and factories. You’re familiar with this, so you can keep an eye on things for me and act as a supervisor.”

“Brother Jusheng, whenever you’re not working and have some free time at home, come over here for a visit. I’ll see if there’s anything I can help you with, otherwise my whole family will be too busy.”

Upon hearing this, the two smiled and readily agreed.

(End of this chapter)