My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 347

Although it's infuriating, the pretty little female cat is very popular with women and children.

Wang Susu, Jiang Xiaoqing, and the little guy in Wang Susu's arms all adored the kitten.

Especially Rui Rui, seeing Chen Ling pawing at the kitten, he didn't want to be left behind. He struggled desperately to get closer from Wang Susu's arms, grinning and laughing as he tried to pet the kitten.

Actually, Xiao Jin picked it up and didn't hurt it, but it was still frightened. Surrounded by people and dogs, it didn't dare to run away.

The soft meows added to its pitiful appearance, evoking feelings of tenderness and affection.

No wonder women and little babies fell in love with it at first sight.

"Be careful, this little mountain fox is wild, don't let it scratch you."

Chen Ling quickly pushed his son's hand away and said.

This little tabby cat may look beautiful and gentle, and seem harmless, but it's still a wild mountain cat, and it can be quite fierce.

However, his worries were somewhat unnecessary this time, probably because the kitten looked like a normal two-month-old cat, but was actually even smaller.

After being frightened by the dog, it kept hiding near people and squeezing between their legs. Chen Ling reached out and petted it, scratching its chin. The kitten purred and squinted its eyes, enjoying the moment.

"Hehe, it's just like the kitten at home." Han Chuang was pleasantly surprised.

This big, burly guy really likes small animals, especially rabbits, kittens, puppies, and lambs.

Immediately, a large, rough hand was extended and began to rub and stroke the kitten. The kitten did not dodge, just like a real domesticated kitten, showing great affection.

"Yes, yes, it really does look just like the kitten at home, so soft and cute..." Jiang Xiaoqing reached out and touched it, then squatted down and gently hugged it to her lap.

The little thing didn't show any resistance; instead, it squinted its eyes and rubbed against Jiang Xiaoqing, clearly enjoying itself.

Seeing this, Rui Rui realized that everyone was playing with the kitten and her father wouldn't let her play, so she frowned, shook Chen Ling's arm vigorously, and kept making noises to show that she wanted to touch it too.

"Come here, let Mommy play with you."

Seeing that the kitten was harmless, Wang Susu felt relieved and went over with her son. Together with Jiang Xiaoqing, the two women and the little baby played around the kitten.

In the end, everyone realized that although the kitten looked two months old, it was actually less than two months old. It just appeared bigger because its frame was much larger than that of a typical domestic kitten.

It wouldn't eat raw meat when Wang Susu fed it; it would just sniff it and turn its head away. On the contrary, it loved drinking milk. A bowl of goat milk would make its belly round and bloated.

After eating and drinking to their heart's content, they would pester people to go to sleep.

After confirming that it was a female kitten, Chen Ling kept it, intending to raise it to breed with the two male cats in the cave.

Wang Susu had no particular purpose; she simply thought the kitten was chubby, with a cute, tiger-like face, and its every move was adorable, so she naturally liked it very much.

They even took out a half-woven bamboo basket to use as a cat's nest for the little guy.

……

The arrival of this little kitten brought smiles to everyone's faces, and even the night breeze seemed gentler.

Early the next morning.

Before everyone was fully awake, Zhou Weijun got up and started wandering around the farm and orchard with his camera.

Because of his profession, he has a problem: his mind is always on the mind, and even the smallest thing can make his thoughts wander and extend far into the future.

For example, when talking about Chen Ling's dog, he can come up with a storyline from a TV series and subconsciously imagine those scenes in his mind.

This is undoubtedly very tiring and extremely mentally taxing.

Therefore, he really enjoys the job of going out to film, as it allows him to relax and unwind.

However, the long-standing problem could not eliminate the chaotic thoughts in his mind, causing him to frequently get up at night and have many dreams.

This is a long-standing problem and ailment that is incurable.

However, he slept very soundly last night, without having any dreams, and slept until dawn, feeling completely comfortable.

I was originally thinking about the roasted rabbit that I made with Chen Ling last night, but in such a good mood, I put the food aside.

He excitedly took out his camera and went out to take pictures.

Early spring is the time when all things come to life. At dawn, golden rays of sunlight shine on the earth, as if the grass and morning dew are draped in a layer of rosy light.

Crouch down, close to the ground, and look into the distance. A patch of tender green grass and wheat seedlings, glistening with clear dewdrops, seems to be glowing.

Zhou Weijun's inner artistic temperament immediately stirred, and he started snapping photos like crazy.

A moment later, a noisy chorus of birds made him look up in surprise.

Following the sound, they saw a lively scene in the orchard. A rare sight came into view. After taking a closer look, they were even more surprised. They quickly took a few photos and then shouted to the farm, calling out Chen Ling, Han Chuang and the others.

Then he excitedly pointed out the amazing sight to them.

Chen Ling looked and saw that it was the magpies attacking the mountain weasel again.

"Oh, so that's what it is. These two groups started fighting before the New Year. This mountain weasel probably caught and ate magpies at first, but then it was attacked by magpies several times, so it dared not go out during the day and often came out at night, otherwise it would be pecked by the magpies as soon as it came out during the day..."

There was a lot of snow before the New Year, and the civets couldn't bear the hunger, so they often came out to forage during the day and were attacked by magpies several times.

"Huh? Has this kind of thing happened before?"
I just heard a squeak, and when I looked, the civet had a magpie in its mouth on a tree. Before it could even climb down, a whole flock of magpies came over and started pecking at the civet.

The mountain fox couldn't hide in time, and it couldn't escape even if it wanted to.

I never knew magpies could be so fierce…

Although Zhou Weijun had been to many places, he had never seen such a strange thing before: a flock of birds attacking a wild cat.

The roles of hunter and prey have suddenly been reversed, which is something it can't accept.

Han Chuang and Jiang Xiaoqing were equally surprised, saying they had never seen anything like it before, and they craned their necks to watch the large flock of magpies flying up and down to drive away the mountain weasels.

"That's not true. Although magpies are birds, they are not ordinary birds. Before the New Year, when my family was drying cured meat, they went to steal some of it. They also catch mice and small birds for food on a regular basis. Anyway, since we live close to the mountains here, it would be an understatement to say that there are hundreds or even thousands of magpies. You can often see magpies stepping on mice and tearing off pieces of their flesh to eat."

Chen Ling crossed his arms, his gaze following the two locked in combat, and said...

These words amazed Zhou Weijun. He exclaimed that they had broadened his horizons.

The group of people treated the magpie and the mountain cat as mere scenery.

Heiwa, Xiaojin, and the puppies, however, were not in the mood for such things. They were still furious that the mountain civet had escaped last night. Now, seeing this scene as they came out of the farm, their eyes turned red, and the pack of dogs barked loudly as they charged straight at the mountain civet.

The pack of dogs sprang into action, startling the magpies into flight, causing the civets to leap into the trees, and disturbing the other birds, who all fled from their nests in a panic, creating chaos in the orchard. Chen Ling and his companions were thoroughly entertained by the spectacle.

After a delicious breakfast, Han Chuang and his companion left, while Zhou Weijun lingered there, reluctant to leave.

Follow Chen Ling as he wanders around inside and outside the village.

The weather is getting warmer, but there hasn't been a single rain in early spring this year, so it's a bit dry.

Yesterday, the whole family was in the village, and there weren't many patients. But today, groups of patients have been coming in droves.

It's all because of the dry weather and lack of rain after the change of seasons; sneezing, coughing, and various respiratory and lung infections are common.

Worried that Rui Rui might get infected, Wang Susu asked Chen Ling to take him out to play.

Thinking of the little female cat she had at home, Chen Ling felt that the cat was too small and wanted to bring a bigger one from the village to mate with the two male mountain cats in the cave as soon as possible so that she could get pregnant.

So, carrying her son, she took Zhou Weijun to the village to look for the cat.

The house cats in the village are actually quite wild. They don't stay at home all day like pet cats. They often go out for days at a time, and you never know when they'll come back.

They're not easy to find either.

After searching for a long time, I couldn't find a suitable mother cat; all the others had already given birth to a huge litter of kittens.

Everyone says Chen Ling is fond of dogs and rarely looks for cats. Now that he's finally out looking for cats, everyone wants Chen Ling to take the kittens home.

Chen Ling would never want these little things.

Finally, they arrived at Wang Jusheng's house and saw him shooting magpies with a slingshot in the yard. Chen Ling then carried the baby and went inside with Zhou Weijun.

"Brother Jusheng, you seem to be in a good mood today, even having the leisure to hunt birds," Chen Ling joked as he entered.

"Don't even mention it, what leisure and elegance? Those magpies are such a nuisance..."

As soon as Chen Ling came in, Wang Jusheng put down his slingshot and brought them stools to sit down: "I regret not listening to you last winter and not staying home to keep the internet up. These magpies stole at least a hundred catties of corn from my house all winter."

As he spoke, he took a corn cob off the wooden rack where the corn was drying and showed it to Chen Ling: "Look at this, look what it's been pecked out of, all the kernels have been pecked out like this."

The magpie's beak is quite formidable.

It's easier to peck at the corn kernels when they're not completely dried and still firm; you can peck at several kernels with your mouth.

Many of the corn cobs in Wang Jusheng's yard had been pecked off, leaving many kernels missing and grooves appearing on the golden corn cobs.

If you do the math, the corn that was dried on the wooden racks, on the walls, and on the roof must have been lost in total, probably over a hundred pounds.

Last year, Wang Jusheng said, "The bird's belly is so small, let it eat. How much can it eat if it eats as much as it wants?"
They ignored it, and now the losses are heartbreaking.

Hearing Chen Ling and the other man talking, Zhou Weijun couldn't help but say, "These magpies are thieves and hooligans to you guys."

"That's right. I remember stealing eggs from Fugui's house two years ago."

Wang Jusheng didn't know who this was, but since Chen Ling had brought him over, he smiled and responded.

Zhou Weijun found it even stranger. He could understand magpies stealing meat, but he couldn't figure out how they could steal eggs. Eggs were so smooth, how could they bite them?

Chen Ling then told him how clever magpies are, how they peck open the eggs first, eat half of them, and then carry them back to their nests to eat.

After listening, Zhou Weijun slapped his thigh with wide eyes and exclaimed, "Damn it! Since I came here, I feel like I'm in elementary school. Everything is new and exciting, and I've never seen so many things before!"

He then talked about the battle between the magpie and the mountain fox on land and in the air, saying that he would remember the scene for a long time.

"Ah? So that's just magpies catching and making a fuss over a civet cat. Last year when Xian Ge's family and Si Ni'er's family came home, we saw them once on the north side of the reservoir. Everyone said it was a good omen, with so many magpies, it's like they're building a bridge."

Wang Jusheng asked in surprise, "But didn't you say the wildcats were at your farm? How could they have run this far?"

"That wild thing could have run off to who knows where."

Chen Ling shook his head: "The earthen burrows around the reservoir attract a lot of wild animals in winter, as sparrows take over the nests of swallows. The civets are constantly being chased by magpies, so they might sneak here to look for food."

As the three were talking, Zhang Qiaoling, holding Da Tou's little hand, came back from outside.

As soon as Da Tou saw Chen Ling, he called out "Uncle" and ran to him, sticking to him and Rui Rui to play.

Zhang Qiaoling then served tea and water, and brought out some persimmon cakes and dried fruit for them to eat.

"Sister-in-law, you haven't finished your dried sweet potatoes yet? It's been all winter, looks like you dried a lot last year." Chen Ling wasn't interested in dried persimmons, but she hadn't eaten dried sweet potatoes in a long time, so she grabbed a few and put them in her mouth.

I'll give one to my son so he can hold it in his mouth and suck on it.

These dried sweet potatoes are the soft, chewy kind; they're made by slicing steamed sweet potatoes and then drying them.

The hard, dried sweet potato used for porridge is made from raw sweet potatoes that have not been steamed or boiled, and which are then sliced ​​and dried.

These steamed and dried sweet potato chips are eaten as snacks.

Zhang Qiaoling is a clever wife; she can pickle vegetables, make chili sauce, and her dried sweet potatoes are also excellent.

The dried sweet potatoes were yellowish-red, unlike the dark, grimy-looking dried sweet potatoes that other farm women dried, which resembled old radishes or pickled vegetables. They looked appealing and tasted like raisins, sweet and delicious.

As winter approached and the Lunar New Year drew near, even her mother-in-law, Liang Guizhen, would shamelessly come to ask for money.

It's clear that this tastes really good.

Zhou Weijun, that gluttonous fellow, was also quite tempted by such good food and kept wanting to take some to eat, but since he was a guest and not yet familiar with Wang Jusheng's family, he was a little embarrassed.

Seeing that Chen Ling had finished the dried sweet potato in a few bites, he reluctantly picked up a dried persimmon and started munching on it.

After finishing the meal, they were pleasantly surprised and kept praising how delicious it was.

"If you want some more, take some back later. We dry a lot of food in the autumn," Zhang Qiaoling said with a smile after adding more to their order.

Many people in the village like to ask her for some pickled vegetables and dried sweet potatoes. These things are not worth much, and they will go bad if you can't finish them. So she makes more every year so that people won't come asking for them and she won't have any left.

Feeling the warmth, Zhou Weijun became even more embarrassed and started talking to Wang Jusheng, asking him what he did and then briefly explaining his own situation.

Before long, the two were chatting happily, which was much more effective than Chen Ling introducing himself as soon as he entered.

"Rui Rui, how about we have lunch at your uncle's house today?"

After chatting for a while, Wang Jusheng picked up Rui Rui and started playing with him. Rui Rui didn't like being with men, but preferred young women and aunties. He struggled in Wang Jusheng's arms, but perhaps knowing that these were acquaintances, he didn't resist or cry violently. He just looked at Chen Ling for help, constantly stretching out his arms and kicking his legs, as if saying, "Daddy, save me."

It wasn't until Da Tou took out a toy, a small wooden car, and pushed it back and forth on the ground while making whimpering noises, that he calmed down and stared intently at the little car moving back and forth on the ground.

(End of this chapter)