My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 252 Mosquito-Repelling Herb
Chen Ling was still marveling at how comfortable it was to make money while lying down, but Li Min and the other two did not leave immediately after leaving the farm.

They strolled slowly along the cobblestone path in the orchard, lingering over the beautiful scenery around them, and occasionally stopping to take a closer look and appreciate it.

The fish in the ditch, the birds foraging in the forest, the little frogs that suddenly jumped out of the grass, and the two magnificent dogs that looked after the chickens, ducks and geese and ran back and forth—many of these were things they had never seen before. They all made them feel novel and interesting, and they unconsciously slowed down their pace.

"Look at this place, the scenery is so beautiful, with mountains and water, lots of fish and birds. Min-jie, shall we play a little longer?"

The two people, a man and a woman, belonged to the same leadership group of the city's flood control command as Li Min. Although their rank was lower than Li Min's, they had a good relationship and spoke quite casually to each other.

"What are you playing around for? They don't welcome guests here. Hurry up and leave. Aren't you tired of carrying that wine jar?"

"Why aren't they hosting guests? I see they have so many rooms at their farm, aren't they for people to stay in?"

"No, I already asked last time."

"Huh? Even you can't do it, Min-jie? This person who runs a farm must be really bold."

For a moment, the two were both surprised and disappointed.

However, as I slowly walked out of the orchard, my sense of regret grew stronger.

"It's so hot outside. I'm sweating buckets as soon as I stepped out. It's much cooler inside the woods."

There are no trees to block the sun outside, and it's sunny and hot. It's nothing like the cool and pleasant place inside the farm or orchard.

Even Li Min wanted to stay a little longer, preferably to have a meal, and then leave when it cooled down in the afternoon.

But there was nothing we could do; they said their children were too young and they couldn't manage, so they didn't entertain outsiders.

If you really like this place and are willing to spend a couple of days here, you'll have to wait until next year at the earliest.

"Next year? We don't know if we'll be able to come next year. It depends on how good the rainfall and water conditions are next year."

Li Min turned around and looked at the farm hidden among the orchards, thinking helplessly.

……

Inside the farm, Chen Ling put the money away and walked out. This time, he had nothing to worry about with his mother-in-law.

Not only did the wine not cause any problems, it also attracted repeat customers. I don't know what those people were thinking, how could they be so willing to spend money?

With a sigh in her heart, Gao Xiulan quickly cheered up again.

I thought to myself, this son-in-law really knows how to make money. The month isn't even over yet, and he's already made almost 10,000 yuan.

Not only was she happy, but Wang Cunye and his daughter Wang Susu were also very happy.

Wang Susu, in particular, although she supported Chen Ling in building a farm by leasing mountains and land, was also worried that she wouldn't be able to recoup the money she spent.

Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The family enjoyed a happy lunch together.

After dinner, Wang Susu sat in a rattan chair, gently rocking her sleeping son.

Gao Xiulan squatted down and kneaded dough with alkaline water. The family's steamed buns were all gone, and it was time to steam new ones that evening.

Because steamed buns are difficult to preserve in the summer, they are steamed in batches, with each batch containing only a dozen or so buns. After three or four meals, a new batch of steamed buns is steamed.

Otherwise, the steamed buns won't keep well in hot weather and will easily turn sour.

After finishing his meal, Wang Cunye went to the backyard to soak scorpions and centipedes in alcohol.

Chen Ling stayed next to Wang Susu, washing diapers.

Today it was finally his turn to do this job, and surprisingly, he actually managed to enjoy washing it.

After washing it, I scalded it with boiling water again and scrubbed it repeatedly. The diapers my son wears have to be carefully and meticulously made.

Just as Li Min and the other two said, the farm is now lush with vegetation, nestled against the mountains and by the water, and it is still very cool here if you don't go out.

It won't be too hot to do any kind of work.

There are a lot of flies and mosquitoes, buzzing around and it's really annoying.

So after washing and hanging the diapers up to dry, Chen Ling took a fly swatter and circled around his wife and son, swatting flies and mosquitoes.

"Ah Ling, look behind you, there's one behind you, and here, there's another one over here."

He was swatting flies, and Wang Susu was directing him, which made the little one in his arms stare blankly at him and keep making "ah, ah" noises.

"What are you yelling for? You've had enough sleep and now you want to be naughty."

Chen Ling glared at her son, then continued circling around swatting flies and mosquitoes.

There was nothing I could do; once this little troublemaker woke up, she refused to stay in the room and insisted on coming out, otherwise she would start wailing and crying at the top of her lungs.

There is really nothing we can do against him.

"Ah, ah..." The little guy had no idea what his father was talking about. He kept reaching out his chubby little hands to scratch, and his short little legs were kicking restlessly.

He only calmed down again when Wang Susu picked him up and started walking with him, swaying him gently.

"This child is really hard to take care of. Raising you will have exhausted your parents." Gao Xiulan looked up and said with a smile.

"Mom, was I a troublemaker when I was little?" Wang Susu asked.

“You’re the most reliable one. When Zhenzhen was this age, he was also very well-behaved. Your older brother is the most mischievous. Don’t be fooled by his stern face as a teacher. He’s actually the most troublesome one.”

As Gao Xiulan spoke, she glanced at the little one in her daughter's arms and pouted, "Even your older brother isn't this troublesome. This nephew is much more formidable than his uncle."

"He takes after his father, exactly the same."

In the end, the conversation turned to Chen Ling again.

Wang Susu burst out laughing, and the little one in her arms chuckled along with her.

"Oh, so you know how to have fun? You're really something, aren't you, Rui Rui?"

Even though she knew her son was ahead of other kids in everything, Wang Susu was still incredibly happy to see him grinning, her eyes filled with love as she looked at the little guy.

Chen Ling was naturally very happy, but before he could say anything, he felt an itch on his leg.

Looking down at my leg, I saw a huge mosquito, its belly already full.

He slapped him to death, and a large patch of blood immediately burst from his leg; how much blood must he have sucked?

"Goodness, I got a bite on my elbow too."

Chen Ling frowned, scratched himself lightly, and found that he had been bitten five or six times in just a short time.

"Hurry up and carry Rui Rui upstairs. Don't stay here. These mosquitoes are fierce. They've even lit the fire rope. They'd better run this way."

"Oh dear, these mosquitoes are really fierce, I've been bitten so badly."

Gao Xiulan glanced at the mosquito bites on Chen Ling's leg, which had already swelled up.

As she was talking, a mosquito landed on her own leg and started biting her through her pants.

That's really fierce!

“We can’t stay in the yard anymore, I’ll carry Rui Rui upstairs.”

Upon seeing this, Wang Susu quickly picked up her son and went upstairs.

Once upstairs, the little guy unsurprisingly started crying.

Once the child is awake, he doesn't want to stay cooped up in the room.

Wang Susu held him and spun him around in the room, letting him cry, but refused to take him out.

Chen Ling felt that this was not a solution.

After thinking about it, I took out the stroller.

Actually, babies around two months old are not suitable for using strollers.

But my son is different from ordinary babies. After being baptized in the cave, his body is very strong. It is okay to let him lie flat in the stroller for a while, coax him to sleep, and then take him out.

So Chen Ling pushed the stroller into the room, had Wang Susu put her son inside, and gently pushed it along.

This worked! The little guy stopped crying and fussing, and lay quietly in the stroller, staring at the little pendant hanging above it with his big, dark eyes. As the pendant swayed, his eyes darted around, and he would occasionally babble and hum, gently kicking his little legs. He seemed quite satisfied.

"This brat is really hard to please."

Chen Ling let out a heavy sigh, feeling exhausted once again.

"Yes, she likes new things, and she cries when she's unhappy. She's very difficult to please."

Wang Susu pouted and smiled helplessly.

She was at her wits' end with her son; her clothes and hair were a complete mess from taking care of the little guy, and she didn't have time to tidy them up.

Every day, Chen Ling and Gao Xiulan would come over to comb her hair and wash her clothes.

She can't care about anything else right now.

She used to say that after having a baby, she would open a pharmacy in the village while holding the baby. But with the current situation, how could she possibly open one? It's just something she keeps talking about.

"I'll watch over him. You go take a nap and get some rest, otherwise he'll cause trouble again tonight."

Chen Ling looked at his wife and said.

"It's alright, I'm not sleepy right now, I can keep watch. Go and pack up the eggs, duck eggs, medicinal herbs, scorpions and stuff, we should go sell them at the market tomorrow."

"Oh, right. You can see if he can do it first. I'll be back in a bit."

Chen Ling nodded and walked out. She had originally planned to play with her son a little longer after he woke up, so that he would be tired and sleep well at night without causing any more trouble.

This won't do. There are so many mosquitoes and other insects outside, and who knows what kind of poisonous insects there might be.

I dare not bring any more out.

"I'll stop packing now. I need to figure out a way to get rid of the mosquitoes, otherwise this can't go on." After walking downstairs, Chen Ling turned around and headed out of the farm.

The number of mosquitoes in the orchard is increasing, but it doesn't erupt immediately.

They must have been lying low for a long time.

After all, mosquitoes also need time to hatch.

It is highly likely that the rain a few days ago attracted a large number of mosquitoes to lay eggs, and in the past two days, the eggs have hatched or the larvae have molted, causing the number of mosquitoes to increase dramatically.

Summer is the prime breeding season for all kinds of insects, especially in the grass near ditches where there are countless insects. The orchards on farms are particularly attractive to them, and the problem is more serious than in other places.

It can fly, it can climb, it can burrow.

Spiky, winged, feathered, horned...

That truly has everything.

Chen Ling used a bamboo pole to knock down the grass, constantly drawing the mosquitoes flying around him into his cave.

Once it's taken in, immediately isolate it in a separate area to prevent it from spreading within the cave.

After working for more than half an hour, they caught hundreds of mosquitoes, including tiger mosquitoes, black mosquitoes, green mosquitoes, poisonous mosquitoes, and stink mosquitoes that look like small dragonflies, as well as a lot of flies, horseflies, bedbugs, and other insects.

Some poisonous insects even crawled onto him, trying to bite him, but before they could bite, he absorbed them into his cave.

Shortly after noon, when the sun was at its most intense, no one came to the farm and no one paid him any attention. He was using his full "power"; any mosquitoes that landed on him would immediately disappear.

Once the mosquitoes were ready, Chen Ling went up the mountain alone, found a secluded spot, and slipped into the cave.

Once inside the cave, they did nothing else but head straight for the mosquito-free area.

Deep in the woods, in a small clearing, a circular area was set aside. The surrounding area was invisible and colorless, and looked no different from the normal scenery. However, these mosquitoes could not fly out, as if they were blocked by a transparent barrier that was invisible to the naked eye.

However, there is grass below, so they can't fly out and can hide in the grass as much as they want.

In fact, just as Chen Ling had predicted, after flying around for a while, the mosquitoes all fell into the grass.

The small, isolated clearing suddenly became quiet.

Chen Ling then beckoned over some plants with a special fragrance and began his mosquito-repelling experiment.

These plants include external plants such as mugwort, mint, and wormwood, as well as herbs and trees that originally grew in Riyue Cave with a special flavor.

Chen Ling categorized these plants and trees, and after testing one type, he would switch to another.

In fact, the mugwort and mint from the outside world, after being planted inside the cave and controlled by Chen Ling to stop their spread, all underwent a certain degree of optimization and mutation, some of which were good and some of which were bad.

Take mint for example. Its fragrance is no longer pungent and is more refreshing. It's the kind of fragrance that makes you feel more energetic in a comfortable way, with the irritation greatly reduced.

However, while it doesn't attract mosquitoes due to its unique smell, it hasn't been very effective at repelling them.

After Chen Ling put it in, it did not show any obvious mosquito-repelling effect.

Next came mugwort and artemisia.

The medicinal properties and aroma of mugwort have changed somewhat, but its mosquito-repelling effect is not obvious.

On the other hand, the mugwort's fragrance became exceptionally strong, and its mosquito-repelling effect was very obvious.

As soon as it was put in, mosquitoes flew out of the grass in a panic.

"Hmm, the mugwort didn't disappoint me. I can continue to make some fire rope to repel mosquitoes."

Chen Ling nodded to himself, but was still not very satisfied. The effect was still quite different from the ideal of eradicating all mosquitoes.

So they went on to experiment.

He then spent nearly an hour experimenting with dozens of plants and herbs there.

It wasn't a waste of time.

Besides mugwort, he was able to find two more plants.

One type is wild pepper, also known as rosemary, which entered China during the Cao Wei period and is now a common wild weed.

Originally a common spice in Western cuisine, it has a spicy aroma and tastes very similar to the scent of pine trees.

After being cultivated by Chen Ling, this enhanced version of rosemary has become different.

The aroma is stronger, and it works better with meat than with Western food, as the flavor is fully absorbed and the aroma is more suitable for Asian palates.

Surprisingly, it was also very effective at repelling mosquitoes.

Another type is a tree that originally grew in the cave. It is not tall and looks a bit like a Chinese toon tree, but its leaves are extremely large, like banana leaves, and it has uneven, thorny fruits.

Its leaves and fruits have a special fragrance, but this fragrance is very faint. You can't smell it at all unless you take a deep sniff. The scent will only gradually become stronger after you pick the leaves and fruits off the tree.

After testing, this tree also proved to be very effective at repelling mosquitoes.

Chen Ling mixed the two together and put them in.

One second, everything was calm and peaceful.

The next second, just like a swarm of bees exploding, a dark mass of mosquitoes suddenly flew up from the grass.

Mosquitoes, flies, and bedbugs flew around in a panic, creating a chaotic mess. Once they realized they couldn't escape, they quickly flew straight upwards.

When he controlled the two plants to fly up and chase them, they immediately flew around wildly as if they had lost their lives, like they were going mad.

Seeing this, Chen Ling reached out and made a cut in front of him, creating a small slit a few centimeters long.

Now, the mosquitoes seemed to see a glimmer of hope for survival. As if fleeing for their lives, they scrambled to escape through the small crack, each emitting a frantic, piercing buzzing sound.

They flew out like their heads were being squeezed out, scattering and fleeing in all directions, creating a truly spectacular scene.

Chen Ling naturally couldn't let them fly around freely inside the cave, so he circled them up again and sent them to the fishpond to feed all the fish.

Then he picked up all the mountain pepper and leaves from the ground, looking completely satisfied.

"Great, the mosquito repellent effect is very effective, then I'll choose you."

He didn't expect that the two seasonings were the most effective at repelling mosquitoes.

Chen Ling was familiar with these things and knew them like the back of his hand, so he easily selected dozens of them.

He mainly used it as a seasoning before.

In particular, the original fragrant plants in the cave, combined with some external spice plants, are very effective for enhancing aroma or removing fishy and odors, and have now become Chen Ling's unique secret recipe.

For example, after being modified and optimized by Dongtian, the mountain pepper can easily remove the fishy and muttony smell when used with meat from wild boar, wild deer, muntjac, and the like.

The fruit of a tree that resembles both the Chinese toon tree and the banana leaf has a remarkable effect on enhancing the flavor of fish and waterfowl.

In addition, there are special seasonings for rabbit meat, various offal seasonings, and so on.

Of course, this is only possible when combined with existing external seasonings to achieve such remarkable effects.

"This method is great! From now on, I can use the Sun and Moon Cave as my laboratory."

Chen Ling clapped his hands and left the cave.

……

Having found the mosquito-repellent herb, Chen Ling returned to the farm and packed up the eggs, duck eggs, and medicinal herbs such as Uncaria rhynchophylla and scorpions.

After dinner when it got dark, his father-in-law and mother-in-law left, and he started working outside the farm.

First, they planted mountain pepper, using the method of accelerating ripening, and used diluted spiritual water to make them grow.

Since the previous mulberry seedlings and prickly ash saplings had sprouted one after another, no one would think much of the sudden appearance of a ring of wild pepper outside the farm.

Besides, mountain pepper is a common weed, not some valuable treasure.

After planting the mountain pepper, they went on to plant trees, which were then planted in flowerpots and displayed as bonsai in some inconspicuous places on the farm.

After one night, the mosquito-repelling effect was obvious.

Even with the fire rope lit every day, mosquitoes still swarmed around.

Now there are no mosquitoes at all, not even flies; it's as if they've been completely wiped out.

However, if you walk outside the farm and further out of the orchard, you'll find that there are still many mosquitoes at the edge of the orchard.

It only happened overnight, and the rest of the family hadn't really realized what was happening or noticed anything.

I just noticed that there were no mosquitoes or flies buzzing around while we were eating, and I thought it was because Chen Ling had lit two extra fire ropes.

"After you finish eating, take Rui Rui upstairs. It's best for little kids to avoid the smell of firecrackers. We lit two or three and left them out; the smoke is quite strong," Wang Cunye instructed.

"I know dad."

Chen Ling, watching from the side, also said, "Dad, let's not sell that dendrobium for now. It's too unprofitable to sell it in the county town. Let's keep it for now, and I'll find a place to sell it when we go to the city."

"Okay, you handle it."

(End of this chapter)