My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 339 The Year-End Fight in 96
Chen Ling's guess was not without reason.

In this freezing weather, who would want to dig holes in someone else's field?

Something must have happened.

However, he guessed wrong this time.

This hole really has nothing to do with those tomb raiders.

There are no graves in the wheat field east of the village.

That day, Chen Ling's family of three, along with Liu Ni'er, two adults and two children, sat around the dining table in the kitchen, enjoying a warm and cozy meal as snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

These venison buns are really delicious today, even better than the venison dumplings we had on Si Ni'er's homecoming day.

Liu Nier came over after having breakfast, and she forced herself to eat two more.

My tummy swelled up like a little ball, all round and plump.

"Uncle Fugui, your steamed buns are still the best. Even the crispy bits of your steamed buns are more fragrant than others."

Liu Ni'er sucked on her fingers and chuckled.

The so-called "mojiao" refers to the layer of dough that sticks to the edge of the steamer when steaming buns or dumplings. It turns a golden brown color and is similar to rice crust. It is crispy and fragrant.

"Haha, you know your stuff, kid. We caught this deer at night and killed it without a second thought. We made minced meat from the fresh deer meat right away. How could it not be delicious?"

Chen Ling smiled and said that the venison buns were delicious not only because of the good ingredients, but also because of their family's bun-making method.

Actually, there's nothing special about it once you put it into words.

It's nothing more than a matter of the filling and the dough of the buns.

As for the filling for the steamed buns, just like when we made dumplings the other day, we used meat broth to stir and season the filling to bring out its flavor.

When meat broth is simmered for a long time, not only do the tendons and bits of meat from the bones dissolve into the broth, but the bone marrow also slowly renders out, and the oil from the bone marrow is incredibly fragrant.

It was mixed into the minced meat, and you can imagine how it tasted.

For steamed bun dough, you have to use leavened dough.

When steaming buns, leavened buns taste better than unleavened buns.

The broth from the steamed meat filling will be absorbed and soaked into the dough. Even if you break open the bun, pour out the meat filling, and only eat the bun skin, it is still delicious and extremely fragrant.

Chen Ling ate half a fist-sized bun in one bite, and devoured more than ten in one go. Seeing how much he enjoyed them, Wang Susu also ate one.

Chen Ling had only eaten about six or seven tenths of his fullness and drunk a bowl of hot sweet potato porridge before getting up to get a fire poker.

The fire pokers used by farmers in the mountains, which are iron rods used to poke fires and stuff firewood into the stove, are mostly over a meter long.

And one end is pointed, like a javelin.

This is a tool used to catch badgers in winter.

A fire poker, a burlap sack, and a headlamp or flashlight—these are the three essentials for descending into badger dens or wolf dens.

If you don't need to go down into the hole to grab something, a fire poker and a burlap sack are enough.

The snowflakes in the sky were falling heavier and heavier. Chen Ling changed into an old overcoat, took a fire poker and a burlap sack, and led Liu Nier to the earthen greenhouse in the east of the village to find Wang Lixian.

Wang Susu followed behind, holding the child.

Badgers are easiest to catch when they are hibernating.

Badgers are not resistant to cold weather. When they wake up from hibernation, they are still half asleep. If a fire poked at them at this time, they will not dodge.

Moreover, badgers are very fat and oily after the coldest days of winter, and their fur is of the best quality.

Chen Ling didn't bring the dogs out today either, leaving them to guard the farm.

When it snows, people are idle and stay at home.

Upon hearing that Chen Ling and Wang Lixian's families were catching badgers in the fields, people flocked to watch, adults and children alike, young and old alike.

The children, in particular, not only had to watch Chen Ling and his team catch the badgers, but after they caught them, they also had to follow them to Wang Lixian's house to see how they killed the badgers, skinned them, extracted their blood, and rendered their oil.

Today's badger burrow is just half of the abandoned burrow left over from the previous large badger nest. It has been occupied by another badger nest. If someone hadn't been digging a hole haphazardly in Wang Lixian's vegetable garden, it wouldn't have been discovered.

There were about seven or eight badgers in the nest. They caught two and stewed them into a big pot that night, inviting friends and family to a big feast at Wang Lixian's house.

Catching badgers in the snow, then gathering around the fireplace with family and friends to eat badger meat and drink until midnight, is supposed to be a very happy thing.

But late that night, when Chen Ling and his family of three were heading to the farm, Chen Yuqiang, who had been drinking and had gone home early that night, drunkenly chased after them and stopped them at the village entrance. He anxiously told Chen Ling, breathless, that he had heard noises in their yard, as if someone had climbed over the wall and gone in, so he and Wenli rushed over to call him.

"Is it Wang Chunyuan? Does he have a death wish?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling's eyebrows shot up. He assumed that Wang Chunyuan had gone to his house to steal the bed. He took a deep breath and told Wang Susu and the child to go to Chen Dazhi's house, which was nearby. They had just returned with Chen Dazhi and hadn't slept either. He also gave Wang Susu a flashlight to light their way.

After settling Wang Susu in, he dragged his fire poker and headed home.

Chen Yuqiang was startled when he saw this situation. "Uncle Fugui, don't be reckless. If there are many people in the yard, I'll go and call a few more people. Grab your weapons and we'll go in together."

Chen Ling had drunk quite a bit tonight, and now his anger and the effects of the alcohol were surging up together, so he didn't care about anything else.

As Chen Yuqiang shouted, he was already striding forward with great speed.

Even when the chubby Chen Yuqiang jogged, he couldn't catch up with him.

Under the cover of night, the area in front of and behind the houses was covered in snow, making the night seem less dark.

Chen Ling rushed home angrily, but found no one there. However, upon closer listening, he could hear some noises.

It wasn't inside the courtyard, but outside.

Moreover, it was outside the courtyard to the east of Chen Ling's house.

There are no other houses or dwellings to the east of Chen Ling's house. It's just a large pit behind a local temple, an abandoned area overgrown with miscellaneous trees. You can turn into it from the alleyway across from Chen Ling's house.

The outhouse was there, and so were the piles of dried manure and coal.

It also belongs to the Chen Ling family.

So they followed the rustling sound and went to investigate, only to find two people, all bundled up tightly, lighting incense and candles outside their own house and kowtowing profusely.

He kowtowed while lighting burning paper, muttering something unintelligible.

Chen Ling was stunned for a moment, then roared, "Hey, you two sons of bitches, what are you doing?"

The two men, not expecting anyone to come in the middle of the night, were so frightened they shuddered.

He ignored the things on the ground and ran away.

Chen Ling glanced at the incense, candles, and paper money on the ground. Doing this kind of thing so late at night was definitely not a good thing. He grabbed a fire poker and chased after them.

The two men seemed to be quite old. After Chen Ling started walking, he caught up with them in just a few steps.

After catching up, they didn't care who it was and kicked it twice. A muffled groan and a scream were heard, and the two of them rolled around in the snow like gourds.

"Damn it, you're burning paper money outside my yard in the middle of the night. I want to see who you two sons of bitches are. How could our Chenwangzhuang have such wicked people like you?"

Chen Ling pulled out a flashlight and walked over, cursing.

He had kicked them hard, and the two rolled a long way in the snow and couldn't get up. He walked over cursing and reached out to grab one of their hats. The two quickly covered their heads to prevent Chen Ling from pulling it off.

Needless to say, this person is definitely an acquaintance from the village.

Chen Ling was even angrier when an acquaintance did this. Few could match his strength, and with a forceful pull, both of their hats came off.

Chen Ling shone his flashlight on their faces, and his anger froze.

"Uncle Yunzhai?"

"You Guangyun bastard, what are you doing sneaking around outside my house in the middle of the night, kowtowing and burning incense? Tell me, are you cursing our family?" Chen Ling said this habitually, and then immediately kicked him again with a fierce look in his eyes.

Guangyun was a tall, thin old man with black hair and big eyes, dressed neatly and cleanly. His wife was more robust, with short hair and a square face.

Guang – just hearing this surname tells you he's from out of town.

However, unlike Cui the Cripple, the Guang family was a large one. The small cemetery behind the local temple, which was for people with other surnames, had the most graves belonging to the Guang family.

The Guangyun family is considered quite prominent among those with the surname Guang, and their two sons are also quite successful.

The eldest son, Maodan, is the cook for weddings and funerals in the village, and the second son, Guangpengfei, has a pretty good relationship with Chen Ling.

They had a good relationship when Chen Ling's father was alive, and they still do so now, often drinking together.

Unlike Chen Ze, who had a falling out with Chen Ling.

Because Guang Pengfei was his childhood friend and Guang Yunzhai was older than Chen Ling's father, Chen Ling always called him uncle.

Who would have thought that these two old geezers would be kowtowing and burning incense outside their own door in the middle of the night, muttering something unintelligible.

What bad luck.

Meanwhile, Guangyun was kicked by Chen Ling again. He clutched his stomach, his body hunched over, and he almost couldn't catch his breath from the pain.

His wife, Xiangmei, immediately began to wail as if in mourning: "Murder! Murder! Chen Fugui has murdered someone!"

When she shouted that, Chen Yuqiang and Chen Dazhi, who had followed but couldn't find Chen Ling, quickly ran over.

People living nearby, as well as some who had just returned home and lay down after drinking with Wang Lixian, also came out.

Upon seeing this, he asked Chen Ling what had happened.

Chen Yuqiang said that when his wife Wenli got up in the middle of the night, she heard noises coming from Chen Ling's house behind her. Thinking that there was a burglary in the house, she quickly went to call Chen Ling.

He went to Wang Lixian's house and, after learning that the game had ended, chased after him to the outskirts of the village.

Chen Ling then recounted what she had seen.

Guangyunzhai was speechless at this, simply turning his face away without saying a word, unable to refute it at all.

After all, there's no temple or ancestral grave outside Chen Ling's house. What kind of logic is it to burn incense and kowtow in the middle of the night? What else would it be but cursing someone?
His wife, Xiangmei, was still sitting in the snow, crying and wailing, saying that Chen Ling was unreasonable and beat people randomly, and that they hadn't done anything.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling became even angrier and went up to the old woman, slapping her hard across the face: "What are you yelling about? You've done something immoral, and you still think you're right?"

Someone quickly pulled Chen Ling back, saying, "Fugui, Fugui, don't get angry. Let's wait for Pengfei to come over. We were just drinking together."

Guang Pengfei's wife is a local from Chenwangzhuang, the niece of Xiufen's sister-in-law, and the daughter of Shadan's family in the east of the village. Many villagers there are related to her, so they naturally can't just watch Chen Ling beat people up, even if he is in the right, they have to stop him.

That's how it is in the village.

But Chen Ling was in a fit of anger and didn't care about that.

He got drunk and started acting crazy.

Guangyun and his companion suffered another beating, lying bruised and swollen in the snow, groaning in pain.

He's strong, and when he deliberately acts drunk and disorderly, no one can stop him.

As more and more people gathered, Wang Susu worried that he might run over. He then pretended to be woken up by someone next to him, pointed at the two old geezers, and cursed, "For Pengfei's sake, I'll spare you two old faces. Otherwise, you two can try tonight. I'll break your legs with a fire poker. You like kowtowing, so from now on, you'll kneel on the ground and never get up. Kowtowing to your heart's content."

With more people around, it became difficult for him to make a move.

He was really angry tonight.

When Wang Susu heard about it, she was so angry that she trembled all over and her eyes filled with tears.

They never provoke anyone, so why treat them like this?

Chen Ling was very restrained. After obtaining the cave, he thought that the heavens had favored him and he was afraid that he would not be able to keep this great fortune. He always acted in a low-key manner and lived a contented life. His nature also liked this kind of simple and leisurely life.

But it still attracted envy and jealousy.

The commotion lasted until midnight, and Chen Ling's family didn't sleep all night, finally returning to the farm around 3 a.m.

Shortly after returning to the farm, Chen Baoshuan quietly came over and said he knew what had happened today.

He seems to have recently changed his ways and started anew.

Chen Ling didn't turn him away and let him in to talk.

Chen Baoshuan said that his wife, Xiangcao, had done the same thing before, going to other people's houses to burn incense and kowtow in the middle of the night. She said that when she couldn't have a child, she would go to the courtyards of those families with many children and grandchildren after everyone was asleep to burn incense and kowtow, saying things like, "Give us one of your children and grandchildren."

His wife and the woman who lived at Guangyun's house were also related; they were cousins.

The method of burning incense and kowtowing outside Chen Ling's house was also learned from his wife.

It is said that one morning when Guangyun passed by Chen Ling's house, he saw blue smoke rising around the yard. Once the sun came out, the smoke disappeared. Such a family must be very wealthy and prosperous. No wonder they have been living so well and making so much money these past two years.

Then he went back and told his wife, Xiangmei, who had just learned some of the unorthodox practices at Xiangcao's place, and recently started going there every night.

They said they wanted to borrow some of Chen Ling's good fortune and luck. According to Chen Baoshuan, people were saying things like, "Quickly give us all your good fortune."

"Give them all the good fortune? They're dreaming." Chen Ling sneered.

To expect blessings from one's own family and then have them all taken away—is that any different from cursing one's own family to have a bad life?

He exchanged a few more words with Chen Baoshuan, then saw him off, giving him some quail to take home with him.

Chen Baoshuan was very excited and left happily.

But after dawn, he came running over again, saying that Guang Pengfei had taken several of his cousins ​​and his father-in-law's family to vandalize Chen Ling's house.

When he saw it, Guang Pengfei was throwing stones and firecrackers into the yard.

……

The snow stopped overnight, but light snowflakes started falling again in the morning.

Chen Ling picked up a pitchfork and went outside his house, where a group of young men were blocking the way, and the surrounding area was full of villagers watching the commotion.

Upon seeing Chen Ling appear, Guang Pengfei grabbed an axe and swung it at him, yelling, "You son of a bitch, Chen Fugui! You dare to hit my mother? Your family can forget about having a good New Year!"

Guang Pengfei was short, with a round head and thick eyebrows, and small eyes. He was originally around the same age as Chen Ling and Chen Ze. They were drinking and eating badger meat at the dinner table yesterday, and today they are going to fight.

"Bang..."

Chen Ling swung his steel fork to block the axe that was coming at him, and said coldly, "Are you fucking crazy? Don't you know what your parents did? I'll just ask you one question: if someone came to your door in the middle of the night to burn incense and kowtow, saying they wanted to take all your family's good fortune, would you beat them up if you caught them?"

Guang Pengfei's expression changed.

"I'll beat you to a pulp." At this moment, his older brother, Cat Egg, also picked up a shovel from the side and slapped it on Chen Ling's forehead.

Seeing this, Chen Ling knew that there was no point in saying anything more.

He tossed aside the steel fork in his hand, reached out with both hands to grab the weapons in the hands of the two brothers, and pulled hard. An indescribable force sent the two men tumbling twice, and they fell to the ground with two thuds.

Then he swung the shovel and slapped it at the two men.

After a few loud bangs, a sound that sent chills down one's spine, the two brothers were bleeding from their mouths and noses, their faces covered in blood.

"Fugui, go easy on him, don't kill anyone."

At this moment, Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng blocked several families surnamed Guang from coming forward, and at the same time said to Chen Ling.

Chen Ling glanced over there, then at the axe and shovel on the ground, gave a soft "hmm," and kept this matter in mind.

These two brothers are so ruthless, they're definitely trying to kill him.

They were clever; knowing there were dogs on the farm, they lured themselves into the village.

(End of this chapter)