My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 58 Redemption
While Chen Ling was somewhat shocked, the two puppies beside him couldn't care less. Seeing that this weasel had actually come to provoke them, how could they tolerate it?

Heiwa, being the most easily angered, immediately pounced, pinned the weasel down with its paws, and bit down, its sharp teeth piercing the fur and spurting out blood.

The weasel let out a miserable cry, but did not struggle or try to escape. Only its pair of small, black eyes looked at Chen Ling, revealing a deep sense of sorrow.

"Are they really here to die?"

Chen Ling was even more surprised.

He had seen weasels many times since he was a child. They were cunning, but not very brave.

When they see someone, they run away very quickly, often disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Although there are also times when it is unlucky.

But that's usually when they're in dire straits, like when they're locked in a cage or caught in a trap. If someone walks over, they'll bar their teeth and bite fiercely.

Or like the situation outside Grandma Wang's house a few days ago, when pushed to the limit, even a cornered dog will do something desperate.

But these two little things have shown all sorts of behaviors...

This is completely contrary to what Chen Ling knew.

This was the first time in my two lives I had ever seen such a bizarre thing. I wondered if it had really come to life, so I quickly told Heiwa to let it go.

Sure enough, this weasel was different. After Chen Ling told the dog to release it, he saw that Heiwa had bitten bloody holes in its body, and blood was seeping out. It was quite frightening.

Despite its injuries, it showed no sign of struggling or running away. Its eyes remained fixed on Chen Ling, filled with both sorrow and pleading. It was hard to imagine seeing such human emotions in a weasel.

"Huh? You didn't come all this way just to save this weasel, did you?"

Chen Ling looked at the weasel in his hand, which had just recovered and was struggling gently, and suddenly an absurd thought arose in his mind.

But it's actually quite possible...

Considering the strange and unusual behavior of the creature on the ground, Chen Ling was shocked and pondered for a long time. He figured it had probably gained sentience by chance after eating a lot of chickens at home.

Even if it can't compare to Heiwa and Xiaojin, it's not much worse, after all, weasels are inherently quite spiritual.

"What? You've come here to die, hoping to trade your life for mine?"

Knowing that this weasel was quite intelligent, Chen Ling slowly squatted down and gently touched it with his hand.

The pain caused it to convulse and cry out. Now Chen Ling could see more clearly that it was indeed begging for mercy, staring pleadingly at his hand, wanting Chen Ling to release its companion.

"Ha, you're so kind and righteous, you think you can just let me eat your chickens for nothing? You won't even give me a life for a life."

"However, I can be kind and let one of you die."

Chen Ling grabbed it, then walked to the eaves and put it in the rabbit cage along with the weasel in his hand, planning to have someone kill and skin it the next day, since its fur was worth some money.

The result was unexpected.

He had just gone back inside to sleep when he heard the weasel's calls coming from the yard again.

When Chen Ling went outside, he saw that the rabbit that had been bitten earlier had somehow escaped from the cage, and it was carrying a white object in its mouth.

While staring at the two dogs, Heiwa and Xiaojin probably thought it had come to its death earlier and posed no threat, so they didn't bark and just lazily stared at it.

"Damn it, not letting people have a moment's peace in the middle of the night, might as well kill him..."

Chen Ling walked over, cursing, intending to have the dog catch the weasel. But the weasel trotted over and put what it was carrying in its mouth in front of him.

It was a bird egg!
Chen Ling was stunned.

"Squeak."

The little creature tilted its head back, covered in wounds, and cried pitifully at him.

Chen Ling was both amused and exasperated. "What are you doing? You didn't come to die this time, but instead brought something?"

"It ate so many of my chickens, what can one bird egg do? It's not even worth a chicken."

Although the weasel had gained intelligence, it wasn't as clever as its two dogs, capable of understanding human speech, so it looked at him with suspicion.

After a while, seeing that Chen Ling wasn't picking up the bird eggs on the ground, he seemed to understand something, turned around and ran away again.

Not long after, it brought out a squeaking little mouse and placed it in front of him. The little mouse was pink and chubby, with no fur yet, and its eyes were closed, so it was obviously a newborn.

Then the weasel squatted to the side, staring longingly at Chen Ling. Judging from its posture, it was clear that it wanted to wait and see if Chen Ling was satisfied. If he wasn't, it obviously planned to fetch something else to redeem its companion's life.

Chen Ling was speechless.

He glanced at the squeaking little mouse, then at the weasel covered in wounds and blood, staring longingly at him, and sighed deeply. He waved his hand at it and said, "Alright, alright, stop fussing. I'll release your companion now. Just don't come and harm my chickens again, or I won't be so kind next time."

After saying that, he went back to the eaves, picked up the cage, and the weasel inside scurried around. As soon as Chen Ling opened the cage door, it quickly darted out.

"Wang!"

As soon as they saw their prey run away, the two puppies were about to chase after it.

"Come back, let them go."

Chen Ling called out to Heiwa and Xiaojin. The two puppies clearly didn't understand why the chicken thief was being let go after being caught. They tilted their heads, looked at Chen Ling, whimpered, and had no choice but to give up the chase.

The two weasels, terrified by the dog, scurried away. Once they realized there was no danger, they stood on the wall and barked softly at Chen Ling a few times before quickly disappearing into the darkness with their companion.

Chen Ling stood in the yard for a while, put the bird eggs on the ground into the cave, threw the little mouse to the two puppies, and then went back to the house to sleep.

……

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, there was a rustling sound coming from the door.

The sound was very faint, accompanied by a low growl.

Chen Ling opened his eyes in confusion and looked around. Wang Susu was still asleep and did not notice anything.

So he quietly put on his clothes and got out of bed.

As soon as the door was opened, something rolled out from under the door and onto the floor.

Upon picking it up, I saw that it was a milky-white bead about the size of a pigeon egg.

It feels warm and smooth to the touch, like mutton fat jade, but I'm not quite sure.

Chen Ling went outside and looked around. Two small yellow heads were peeking out from the top of the east wall. They called out softly twice when they saw him come out, and then turned and left.

Chen Ling thought to himself that it was indeed this little thing, otherwise no one could have entered the yard so quietly.

Touching the white bead in his hand, he chuckled and sighed, "These little things are different after they've gained sentience. I spared their lives, and they've come to repay me. It's a way of showing gratitude."

At least, they are much better than some heartless and ungrateful people.

He then rubbed the white bead a couple more times to wipe the dirt off the surface, thinking to himself that judging from its shape, the weasel probably thought it was also some kind of bird egg.

"I don't know if it's jade or not. I'm going to the county town to sell medicinal herbs today, so I'll find a place to ask."

Chen Ling thought to himself for a moment, then put the bead into his cave.

If it really is jade, then its value is definitely not small.

It's definitely not comparable to those few free-range chickens that were eaten by weasels.

After washing up, I made breakfast.

After dinner, I helped Wang Susu tidy up the yard and let the chicks out.

Chen Ling then rode his bicycle, carrying a basket of medicinal herbs, to the county town.

The traditional Chinese medicine shop that buys medicinal herbs in the county town is on East Street, very close to the old hospital from back then. Wang Susu had told him the exact location when he came.

This is a century-old shop, a long-established brand in Lingyun, and there is no phenomenon of a big shop bullying its customers.

Chen Ling sold the medicinal herbs without any problems.

Afterwards, I went to the forestry seed station in the southern suburbs and ordered a batch of fruit tree seedlings, a total of 1,200 trees of three kinds: pear, apricot and crabapple.

They are all drought- and flood-resistant tree species.

Logically speaking, planting 500 fruit trees on 10 acres of land is no problem at all, but Chen Ling also plans to plant some vegetable crops under the trees, and the fruit trees should be spaced further apart.

They also planned to dig two large ponds and build several small huts.

If we do a rough calculation like this, 1,200 saplings would be enough.

Chen Ling readily paid the deposit, and the other party said that five hundred trees would be delivered tomorrow, and the rest would be delivered to him in batches within the week.

And so, having agreed on the time and place, they left the forest seed station.

"Chen Fugui, it really is you?"

He hadn't walked far from the forest seed station when someone suddenly called his name.

Chen Ling turned his head and saw Qin Qiumei from the township family planning office. She was standing by the roadside with a brown paper file bag in her hand. She was still dressed in neutral official attire, with her long black hair tied back, making her look heroic, intelligent and capable.

He quickly stopped his bicycle.

Then he came down and greeted him: "Oh, it's Director Qin. Are you here in the county for a meeting?"

"Yes, there's a meeting this afternoon. The township asked me to represent the family planning office. We have to thank you for the slogan you came up with last time. It gave us a head start in the township's family planning publicity work, and the county even publicly praised us..."

Qin Qiumei said with a smile.

Even her pretty eyes, which were looking at him, were bright and sparkling with joy.

This attitude is much more enthusiastic than before.

Thank you all so much for your recognition and suggestions, especially reader Yiwenbanmu, whose suggestions, several hundred words long, pointed out errors to the author. I'm very grateful. Also, thank you all for your investment, donations, and monthly tickets. Except for investment, the other metrics are much better than other books published at the same time. Thank you again. I'll provide a list of names for the launch message later, so I won't write a separate chapter to avoid affecting everyone's reading experience.

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(End of this chapter)