My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 61 Heavy Fog
It rained for most of the night.

The sound of rain outside the window didn't subside until four or five in the morning.

So when I woke up in the morning, everything was shrouded in a white mist.

The entire small basin in the mountains where Chenwangzhuang is located was shrouded in thick fog.

You can't see anyone more than five steps away.

After having breakfast, Chen Ling, having nothing to do, went to Wang Lixian's house and borrowed a cart.

Once the people from the forestry seed station deliver the fruit tree seedlings, we can then drive the oxen to pick them up.

Wang Lixian's cart is quite old. Since his family doesn't raise livestock, the cart is rarely used, making it look even more worn.

It can't compare to Wang Laishun's family's.

However, Chen Ling found it annoying to deal with people like Wang Laishun's wife, so he was too lazy to borrow from there.

On the way back after borrowing the cart.

They came across a large group of people heading out of the village; they were all going to help Chen Erzhu build a greenhouse.

Last night's heavy rain caused the greenhouse frame, which wasn't fully secured yesterday, to collapse, and it has to be rebuilt.

That's a huge mess, it's quite a hassle.

So early in the morning, Chen Erzhu used the village committee's loudspeaker to call out several times, telling people to come over early after they had eaten, saying that the fog was heavy today and it would be more tiring than before, and that he would give the villagers extra money.

Sure enough, as soon as they heard about the extra cost, they all arrived quite early.

Regardless of whether it's foggy or not, they said they'd pay more, so we'd do it even in the thick fog.

"Uncle Sangui, off to work?"

Chen Ling parked the cart to the side of the road to make way for the group of people.

But when he saw an old man walking at the back of the crowd, his eyes lit up and he quickly went up to greet him.

"Who?"

The fog was quite thick, and the old man couldn't see people very well.

"I am rich and noble."

"Oh, it's Fugui. You're going to work too? I didn't see you the other day..."

Chen Sangui was tall and thin, and although his clothes were simple, they were neat and tidy, unlike the other old men in the village who were slovenly.

Besides being clean, the old man's most distinctive feature was that he walked extremely fast but spoke very slowly.

Just one meeting and a few words are enough to leave a lasting impression.

But it must be said that the old man's carpentry skills were truly exquisite; people from several nearby villages and even the county town came to him for work.

It was already famous twenty years ago.

“I’m not with Erzhu. I’m too busy with things in the fields to help him.”

Chen Ling explained, then added, "Uncle San Gui, when you're less busy in a few days, please get me an oxcart."

"An oxcart?"

"Oh right, I almost forgot, you bought a little white calf at the market the other day!"

Chen Sangui laughed.

His granddaughter often went to Chen Ling's house to play, and when she ate there, she would tell him some interesting stories, which he naturally knew.

“This is easy to do. It’s just an oxcart. I can make it for you right away.”

"Let's wait until this Sunday. I'll have Xizi call you after it's finished."

The old man spoke slowly, but he was a decisive and efficient person.

Chen Ling was pleasantly surprised and gave Chen Sangui a thumbs-up in high praise.

He really is an old carpenter.

Are there any requirements regarding the type of wood or its size?

Chen Sangui asked.

"There are no requirements for the wood, but please make it a little larger. Uncle Sangui, you can do whatever you want with it."

Chen Ling didn't say anything else, just told the old man to do it based on his experience.

"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll go to work now."

"Alright, Uncle Sangui, take care."

……

After Chen Sangui left with the group, Chen Ling pushed the cart back home and put it in the backyard.

The sky is overcast today.

The thick fog had not dissipated by around 10 a.m.

I made an appointment with the people at the forest seed station yesterday, and they said the fruit tree seedlings would be delivered at 2 pm.

Chen Ling wasn't in a hurry. After cleaning up the cow dung in the backyard, he also washed the several large water vats that had been overturned in the yard.

They filled it with water, took some fish from the cave, and put them in.

It will be convenient to get fish whenever I want to eat it in the future.

The fish in the cave have already reproduced twice, and the previous fry have all grown into medium-sized fish.

This is perfect for making the mixed fish hot pot that Wang Susu loves.

Therefore, most of the fish in the large water tank are of this size, neither too big nor too small.

"Let's keep them for now. Once the turtle eggs hatch, we'll release two turtles. Then we can eat them whenever we want."

The old turtles in the cave had been laying eggs for some time. In fact, Chen Ling had only put those male turtles into the cave for two days when they mated with the female turtles.

In addition, the cave has a suitable environment and contains mysterious substances that are beneficial to their growth.

So she laid eggs very quickly.

Chen Ling counted them; there were twenty-two.

Without paying much attention, he took some aquatic plants from the cave and put them into the water tank. Then he took several bundles of wire rope coiled in a circle, carried a wooden ladder into the cave.

The vegetables in the cave are growing more and more vigorously. The tomato and eggplant plants are almost growing into small trees, and they are laden with fruit. If they are not picked every day, the branches will droop.

We can't finish them, and they're hard to sell.

Of course, he was reluctant to sell it, as the items from the cave had miraculous effects and could easily arouse suspicion.

With no other options, Chen Ling planned to use wire ropes to hang the vines up, or use wooden sticks to support the vines with a stone or brick to prevent them from drooping.

It is very effective for tomatoes and eggplants.

For plants like cucumbers and green beans that have vines and can climb, it's even simpler. Just tie a wire rope between two big trees, and they can climb up on their own.

This made things much easier for Chen Ling.

After tidying up the cave all morning, the small vegetable garden behind the thatched hut was much neater.

"It looks much better this way. Otherwise, it would be really upsetting to leave such a blessed land in such a mess..."

Chen Ling muttered a satisfied remark to himself, leaned on his hoe, and watched for a while before leaving the cave.

It was almost noon, and the thick fog had not yet dissipated, only thinned slightly.

That is, it went from not being able to see people from five steps away to not being able to see people from ten steps away.

It's not much better.

After all, this is a basin in the mountains, with a low overall elevation. In windless and sunless weather, once fog rolls in, it is very difficult for it to dissipate.

"This guy, at this rate, the saplings probably won't be delivered by 2 PM."

Chen Ling looked around and thought, "I hope tomorrow will be a good day."

Then, after putting away the wooden ladder and the unused wire, I prepared to go back to the front yard to make lunch.

Before he could even step outside, two small yellow creatures jumped down from the tree in front of the gate and blocked his way.

Chen Ling looked at him and was immediately at a loss for words: "Why are you two here again?"

The two weasels that arrived were the same ones from before.

The two little creatures, one fat and one thin, the fat one was almost poisoned to death but recovered later. It hid behind the thin one, secretly glancing at Chen Ling with its big eyes, wanting to get close to him but also a little afraid.

The thinner one, on the other hand, picked up an egg from somewhere. It was about the size of a chicken egg, with a green shell that had a hint of light gray on it, and it didn't look like a poultry egg.

I gently placed it in front of him and whispered a call to him.

Then he turned around and was about to leave with the fat weasel behind him.

"Wait, don't go yet!"

Chen Ling called out to the two weasels, then took a water ladle from the wall, filled it with some water from the cave stream, and handed it to the two little creatures.

"Since you know what's good for you, I won't treat you unfairly. Drink up."

"This is a good opportunity to treat your injuries."

The thin weasel was taken aback at first, then it smelled the unusual scent, and its two small eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

The fat one barked, then they all went to the water ladle and quickly drank all the water from the cave stream.

After finishing their drink, the two weasels were extremely excited, running around Chen Ling like two frolicking dogs.

It even moved back and forth between his trouser legs, rubbing and licking his palms to express its affection for him.

Now, even the fat one wasn't afraid of him anymore.

Finally, it stood up along with the skinny weasel, played around him for a while, then jumped onto the wall and disappeared from Chen Ling's sight.

After a moment, Chen Ling withdrew his gaze, frowned slightly, and recalled the somewhat bloated and fat body of the yellow weasel from before. Suddenly, a strange thought popped into his head.

"Could that idiot be a pregnant weasel?"

If it's true, it's not surprising that the skinny one was so nervous and worried after Chen Ling caught it, coming to both risk its life and beg for mercy.

(End of this chapter)