My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 523 Ward Off Evil
Upon hearing what Liu Nier and the others said...

Tears welled up in the little guy's eyes and started falling in big drops.

She sobbed and wiped away her tears, looking at Chen Ling through teary eyes, calling out "Uncle Fugui" with a sob in her voice, her dirty little face looking like a little kitten.

"Ugh."

Chen Ling now understood what was going on.

The conflicts between adults have finally spilled over into the children.

Actually, this kid, Chou Dan, is much better than his parents and his grandmother.

She is also very sensible.

Even Wang Jusheng said so.

His mother favored her grandson Chou Dan, but Chou Dan would secretly share the pocket money and snacks she gave him with Dan Dan and Da Tou.

The three little kids usually get along well together.

When Wang Juxiang and his wife saw this, they couldn't stand it. They would either call Chou Dan back with stern faces or come up to them and drag Chou Dan back, all while making veiled insults.

In addition, the two families had that incident a while ago, so the three little kids gradually stopped being able to play together.

"Alright, you little brat, stop crying."

Chen Ling squatted down and wiped away the tears of the little brat, Chou Dan.

have to.

It's better that he doesn't say anything or do anything.

As soon as I came over to wipe his tears, the little guy burst into tears.

"Uncle Fugui, I want to go to my uncle's house to play with my sister and Datou, but my mom won't let me..."

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling immediately became flustered: "Oh dear, don't cry, Uncle knows you're a good boy."

Hearing the crying outside, Wang Jusheng and the others came out to see what was going on.

Seeing Chou Dan cry, Da Tou and Dan Dan, standing among a group of little kids, also looked rather unnatural, and immediately knew what had happened.

"Dandan, Datou, what are you standing there for? Go and comfort Chou Dan!"

Wang Jusheng is not a pushover, nor is he without a temper; otherwise, he wouldn't have wanted to sever ties with his parents.

But some things can't be blamed on the child.

Chen Ling also said, "Now that you're here with your uncle, you can play as much as you want. In your uncle's eyes, you are all good kids."

Dandan and Datou were initially hesitant after listening to Wang Jusheng's advice.

Hearing Chen Ling say that, he breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, ran forward, and pulled Chou Dan aside.

There's nothing we can do; sometimes little kids are just like that.

If you want to play with someone, you have to consider the relationship between your two families and whether other friends like to play with them.

Sometimes, I'm afraid of getting scolded, so I play secretly when I want to.

of course.

With Chen Ling speaking up, none of these issues remain.

The little ones listen to him the most.

With such young children, they don't hold grudges. Sometimes, while adults are still holding grudges, they can be laughing and playing together again right after a fight and a good cry.

And so, the orchard quickly became lively and cheerful again.

Rui Rui was also among them, running around squeaking and making noise.

Normally, even if these little rascals come to the farm to play, they wouldn't stay out this late.

I'm still here playing today. Besides coming along with the adults for a free meal, I heard from those bird photographers on the provincial TV station that they'll be showing news about Chen Ling and his team hunting the wild boar king on TV tonight.

That's why they couldn't bear to go home and stayed here to watch.

……

The farm's backyard.

In the kitchen, after learning what had happened outside, a group of people whispered among themselves.

"Fugui is kind-hearted. As for Juxiang and his mother, why bother with their family affairs? It only brings trouble upon us."

Chen Baoshuan, who was working the bellows, grinned when he heard this, shook his head and said, "Fugui is not kind-hearted. He is just kind to children. No child is born an ingrate."

Children are all good children; we shouldn't give them attitude just because adults are being unreasonable.

Children are simple and innocent; if you treat them well, they will be close to you.

If you treat him well when he's a child, he'll remember it for a lifetime and stay close to you for life.

Chen Baoshuan only started to treat Xizi better after listening to what Chen Ling and Wang Susu had said.

Over the past six months, I've seen the little girl gradually come to regard him as her father.

Chen Baoshuan's genuine joy and happiness were beyond words.

At the same time, he understood more and more what Chen Ling meant by what he said earlier.

The feeling of talking to people now is completely different.

Many people say that he's at least somewhat decent-looking.

"You're right. Erzhu used to be such a troublemaker. He wouldn't listen to anyone else, but he listened to whatever his uncle said. It's because no one cared about Erzhu when he was a child, and his uncle raised him."

"Hey, why did you bring up Erzhu?"

"That's right, hurry up and cook the food, we're waiting to see the Wild Boar King later."

"Yeah, we're still waiting to see the Wild Boar King. Look at the pig bones Fugui hung on the wall, they're thicker than cow bones, and the head is bigger than a cow's head. We wonder how big the Wild Boar King is."

"..."

It's not just kids who are looking forward to seeing the Wild Boar King; adults are excited about it too.

Time passes quietly.

Even after dark, the farm remained as lively as ever.

"Wild Boar King! Wild Boar King!"

"The wild boar king is coming out soon..."

"Let's watch Uncle Fugui fight the Wild Boar King!"

"..."

Chen Ling and his group of adults set up a table in the courtyard, shirtless, eating meat and drinking alcohol.

The children sat in a circle on the ground outside the living room, excitedly yelling and screaming as they watched the large television that had been moved closer to the living room.

At the same time, he kept his eyes glued to the big screen, not wanting to miss a single image.

Finally, amidst a melodious tune, the provincial television station's special news program began.

These days, local TV news programs are often story-based shows like "How to Get Rich," featuring all sorts of random content such as qigong and acrobatics.

It airs after the "News Broadcast". In some regions, a local weather forecast will be broadcast after the "News Broadcast" before the local station's news report begins.

After the brief news event report, it's time for the special news program.

"Wow, look! Look! The wild boar king is so big, it's like a small mountain! My pigsty can't even hold it!"

"...Those are Heiwa and Xiaojin, two big dogs looking like little babies on its back!"

"These pig trotters are so big, one step and the stone is sank into the ground..."

Before the news special officially began, a series of exciting clips flashed by.

This drew gasps of surprise from the children.

The adults forgot about eating and drinking and got up to come and see.

He kept gasping for breath. "My God, is this a monster?! This thing looks like it could eat people, how can anyone fight it?!"

"That's right, those pig eyes of theirs are as big as bells, glowing red, they can suck a person's soul away."

"Oops, it ran over and broke the tree in two."

"A tree as thick as a bowl couldn't stop it."

A moment later, he exclaimed in surprise, "Fugui is really fierce! He still dares to go up there. If it were me, my legs would be too weak to walk."

After that, everyone, adults and children alike, held their breath and stared intently at the television screen, not daring to utter a sound.

Just then, the people from the provincial TV station who were filming the red-crowned cranes came down from the mountain.

Seeing the situation in the courtyard, he smiled slightly, quite satisfied with everyone's reaction.

Then they put down their things and went to the side to wash up.

After washing up, the junior manager came over to Chen Ling and said, "Brother Fugui, the station sent me a message today. They said they heard your story and learned about your experiences, and they want to make a program about you as an extraordinary person in the community. They asked me to ask you what you think?"

It's normal to have this thought.

Chen Ling appeared on camera in the news about the giant softshell turtle in the reservoir before; it was a very short video.

This time, the wild boar king was clearly filmed, and it was successfully hunted down. It can be said that Chen Ling was the main character second only to the wild boar king, appearing throughout the entire process.

Naturally, it attracted the attention of those with ulterior motives.

Upon further inquiry, they learned about Chen Ling's story and were greatly surprised, which naturally sparked their interest.

"So, you still want me to record a show...?"

"We'll see. There's an animator coming over soon, and all I can do is deal with these kinds of things. I don't have time to think about it."

Chen Ling neither agreed nor refused.

They simply brought out the person Zhao Yubao had hired to make the animation.

As for when he will come? He didn't actually know.

"Alright then, I'm just asking on behalf of the station... If you can agree, next time we come, we can take a long holiday together with the Mid-Autumn Festival, hehe."

After getting to know him better, they also learned that Chen Ling didn't care much about fame and fortune, and he did things basically based on his own preferences.

"Oh, so you wanted paid leave plus a company-funded trip? You're dreaming... How's the photoshoot of the red-crowned cranes going these past few days?"

"Hehe, it's great, it's great. These past few days have been going very smoothly. Just like you said, once the red-crowned cranes reach the latter half of the incubation period, they don't easily move their nests."

Even when they notice us filming them nearby, they don't react as much.

The incubation period for red-crowned cranes is only about thirty days.

We've already entered the second half.

In other words, the closer it gets to the day the chicks hatch, the more crucial it becomes.

They can't really move their nest anymore, unless they give up this nest of eggs, which means they'll have to give up breeding this year.

After discovering this, the provincial TV station staff gradually loosened up their efforts and changed the filming location to a small boat on the lake, moving around to film from all angles.

Of course, when choosing a time to visit, try to do so when the red-crowned cranes are resting, and don't get too close, otherwise they may experience stress.

"By the way, when we came back at noon, we caught several bamboo rats for Brother Qingwen, but we don't know how to skin them. Why don't you stew them too? It's too hot to put in too many."

"Oh my, you caught those bamboo rats? They weren't stewed, they roasted them over the fire pit. They tasted pretty good. Sit down, have some ice-cold beer, and start eating."

Chen Ling thought the bamboo rat was caught by Wang Qingwen and his group when they were picking mushrooms in the morning. He didn't expect it to be caught by these people from the provincial TV station.

There are indeed many bamboo rats in the bamboo forests of the mountains this year, more than ever before, and they are relatively easy to catch.

Of course, it tastes good too.

Chen Ling rarely thought to catch some to eat, but many people in the village did catch them, usually while looking for cicada shells.

It's still a piece of meat. Ordinary families would catch two or three and cook them like stewed pig's trotters with soybeans. For a simpler method, they would roast them. Dried bamboo or pine branches would also work. It's a great snack to have with drinks.

Some people mix it with snake meat, saying it's very nutritious.

"Hey, roasted bamboo rat?! We'd better try it right away. We've been hearing about it from people in your village these past few days, but we never knew what it tasted like. We're so craving it that we've even caught some ourselves."

"Haha, go try some. They're hanging on the shelf, aren't they? There are a lot of these this year, grab as many as you want. I have some seasonings here. You can learn how to peel them after you grab some, and then you can make them yourself in the future."

Since the floods two years ago, all sorts of things have sprung up in the area again.

In previous years, bamboo rats weren't unpopular, but the problem was the effort involved. Catching just two bamboo rats required digging a hole for ages.

It would be easier to catch two more field mice.

Field mice don't taste bad either. They eat grains, so their meat doesn't have much of an off-putting smell, which is a world of difference compared to house mice that eat everything.

But this year...

In the bamboo forest on the mountain, there are many bamboo rats. Walking into the bamboo forest, you can see their plump figures hugging the crisp and tender bamboo, gnawing on it.

They don't climb very high.

They run away as soon as they see someone.

However, if there are more people, they can catch them by working together.

Even the provincial TV station's newbies caught about a dozen of them, big and small.

Chen Ling also picked out two bamboo rats that were roasted until their skin was golden and crispy. When they were torn open, the meat inside was red and glistening with oil. He ate and drank with the ice-cold beer and the people from the provincial TV station.

Rui Rui was surrounded by dolls, and Su Li was taking care of him, so he didn't need to worry about him.

The villagers were too busy watching TV to drink or eat, and were instead focused on watching Chen Ling fight the wild boar king.

Chen Ling then switched to another table to drink with.

Even after the news program ended around 9 p.m., everyone was still reluctant to leave.

They all sighed deeply, and then their gazes toward Chen Ling became strange, clicking their tongues in admiration as if they were looking at a monster.

Wang Lishan glanced at Chen Ling up and down, and then blurted out, "You're really something, kid. Calling you 'Dog King' or 'Mountain King' is an understatement. I think we'll have to treat you like royalty from now on."

"Huh? Why are we worshipping Uncle Fugui like this?"

"It's to ward off evil spirits!"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh.

Indeed, Chen Ling's tiger-hunting was a hoax, but his killing of this wild boar king was a real feat, without a trace of exaggeration.

In addition, taming tigers, capturing leopards, hunting wolves...

In a few decades or a hundred years, when people tell this story, they'll definitely think it's bragging. Who could be so amazing?
"Uncle Fugui is really amazing."

"Yes, Uncle Fugui is the King of Hunters. Even tigers and leopards are incredibly docile when they see him in the mountains."

"I want to learn hunting from Uncle Fugui, so that when I grow up I can hunt tigers and catch tiger cubs to raise at home."

"Me too, I want to be as impressive as Uncle Fugui."

"..."

Compared to adults, children's admiration and enthusiasm are much more direct.

They jumped and shouted around Chen Ling.

Rui Rui didn't know what they were doing, but she joined in the shouting for a while. When she got thirsty, she squeezed next to Chen Ling, held her small water bottle, and stared at them with her big, dark eyes while drinking water.

"Daddy, I need to pee."

"You, you need to pee right after drinking water, so just pee under the grape trellis, don't go any further."

"Hmm~"

Finally, the dolls quieted down.

The men continued their lively eating, drinking, and chatting, while the children went around under the farm lights catching insects that flew into the lamps, filling their bottles to the brim to feed the chickens and ducks.

And so it went until late at night.

(End of this chapter)