My 1995 Small Farm.

"Hey, the little leopard is back! Come here, come here!"

Before Chen Ling could say anything, Wang Susu exclaimed happily.

The little clouded leopard, which we haven't seen for a while.

Its body became round and chubby, even its face became a soft and cute little round face, its butt was also chubby, and it dragged a very long and exaggerated tail.

With its adorable expression as it licked the door hinges and cautiously peeked out, it looked more like a chubby little snow leopard.

It doesn't look like a clouded leopard at all anymore.

"Hmm? A small packet?"

Rui Rui woke up groggily, rubbed his eyes, and looked towards the door with his parents.

Sure enough, the little clouded leopard had returned.

The brat immediately put on a fierce look, stood up, stomped his feet, glared, and tried to scare it.

It seems they wanted to scare the little clouded leopard away.

Little Cloud Leopard and Rui Rui have been incompatible since they were little.

They won't be scared by little kids at all.

Without even glancing at Rui Rui, they completely ignored the little baby.

Peeking out, and seeing that Heiwa and the other two weren't making any noise, and Er Tuzi wasn't moving either, it swaggered in, dragging its tail behind it.

Rui Rui immediately became very anxious and stomped her little feet and shouted repeatedly, but this had no effect on the little clouded leopard.

Seeing this, Chen Ling naturally sided with her son, stomping her feet and clapping her hands to scare him away: "Go away, don't come in."

The moment he made a move, the little clouded leopard turned and ran away in fright.

The little clouded leopard has a pretty good memory.

It has no memory of how many times Chen Ling threw it downstairs while Wang Susu was in postpartum confinement.

It's certain that she's afraid of Chen Ling.

"Oh dear, Ah Ling, why did you scare it?" Wang Susu was frantic: "The little leopard finally dared to come back, why are you following Rui Rui's lead and causing trouble?"

After scolding her, she saw that the little clouded leopard was still looking around in the distance, not completely scared away.

He hurriedly waved his hand, signaling Chen Ling to take Rui Rui aside.

Chen Ling felt helpless seeing his wife like this, and picked up his son: "See? Your mother chased us away because of the little leopard."

"Little Baozi, you're fierce and naughty!"

"Yeah, that's right. Rui Rui is much better behaved than it. Mom is so mean, she actually chased us away."

"Hmm, Mom, you're being naughty."

Wang Susu glared at the father and son after hearing this.

Then, amidst Rui Rui's cheerful laughter, Chen Ling picked up the little rascal with one arm and grabbed the washed Jerusalem artichokes with the other, heading to the backyard to find a place to dry them.

Rui Rui treasures these Jerusalem artichokes very much.

Especially after learning that these things were edible, they treasured them even more.

When she returned after finishing, the little clouded leopard was already lying on Wang Susu's lap, acting cute and playing.

Wang Susu was very bothered by what Chen Ling had just said.

Then she said, "You always say I'm good to the little leopard, but isn't the little leopard good to you? You've fed the little fox so many times, but now it doesn't come back. Only the little leopard still misses our home. As soon as it comes back, it comes to play with me."

"That's not what you said. Those foxes even came to my house to take shelter from the rain in the summer."

Chen Ling retorted, "Besides, Xiao Jin is friends with the fox family. They often play in the mountains. Even if they have three children at home, Xiao Jin certainly wouldn't bring them home."

"Say what you will, I just think the little leopard is great."

Wang Susu stroked the little clouded leopard vigorously, its glossy fur feeling incredibly comfortable to touch.

Of course, the little clouded leopard itself also felt very comfortable being petted.

Wang Susu's affection for the little clouded leopard is nothing more than that.

The clouded leopard cub was injured when it was rescued while still a cub.

She's the one who saved me.

She fed them and kept them alive.

I raised these little creatures myself.

Even after they've grown up, they still cling to me like this.

How could Wang Susu not like it?

In addition, the animals kept at home mostly revolve around Chen Ling.

Only the little clouded leopard would look for her when it came to the house.

That would feel completely different.

"Ah Ling, look at it, it's gotten so fat!"

Wang Susu placed her hand on the little clouded leopard's round belly and shook it for a while.

"He's definitely gained weight. I wonder where he's been eating these days."

As Chen Ling was saying this, he suddenly thought of the big pond and said, "I'll go get the steelyard balance and see just how fat this clingy little leopard has become."

Wang Susu's eyes immediately lit up: "Oh, right, go get the scale, let's weigh the little leopard."

Rui Rui was following his father around, unaware of what was going on, but it was true that he didn't like the little clouded leopard.

Chen Ling turned around and went to the backyard to get the steelyard scale, and he quickly jogged after him.

He was holding his little white elephant toy in his arms.

"Heh, now you've got something you're afraid of, you brat."

"Dad, hit it!"

"Do you want Daddy to beat up the little leopard? No way, with your mom watching, how could I dare?"

Chen Ling teased him with a smile, and then took out a long steelyard scale from the storeroom next to the kitchen.

The so-called steelyard balance is also called a star steelyard balance.

It is a long, straight wooden pole with a sight engraved on it.

It is equipped with an iron weight, an iron hook, a lifting rope, and other items.

Compared to other scales, it is more convenient to carry.

The scale Chen Ling is holding is a slightly larger one, capable of weighing 120 jin (60 kg).

This was a brand new thing I bought two years ago when I was selling vegetables in the county town.

After selling all the vegetables, it wasn't used much anymore.

After all, in the last two years, whether we're selling fish or anything else, we've been using platform scales or truck-mounted weighbridges.

It's much more convenient and faster than this old-fashioned steelyard balance.

So this was the first time Rui Rui had ever seen this big guy.

The black, thick, and long pole, along with the large iron hook and weight, startled the little creature.

Seeing him shrinking his neck and looking scared, Chen Ling deliberately teased him: "What are you afraid of? Didn't you want Daddy to avenge you and beat up the little leopard?"
"Come on, follow me, Daddy will use the hook to hoist the little leopard up."

Rui Rui's eyes lit up at first, then he frowned and hesitated before whispering, "Mommy!"

"Dad was just saying that, do you think I'm afraid of your mom?"

Chen Ling patted his chest and picked up the steelyard in one hand: "Come on, Dad will get revenge for you today. That little leopard keeps scaring my Rui Rui, we'll hang it up and beat it."

Then they walked towards the front yard.

As they passed through the wooden building, Wang Susu couldn't wait to come over with the little leopard in her arms, squatting down next to the gourd trellis and finding a small bamboo basket.

She's going to put the leopard cub in a basket and weigh it.

Otherwise, the only option would be to tie the leopard cub up with a rope and hang it up, but it would definitely struggle, making it impossible to accurately weigh it.

After seeing the father and son come over with the scales, they put the little clouded leopard with its adorable face into the bamboo basket.

This little clouded leopard really doesn't guard against Wang Susu no matter what.

She was simply being held by Wang Susu like a cat, looking quite languid.

It let Wang Susu curl its long, thick tail and put it in the bamboo basket. It probably thought Wang Susu was playing with it.

When Rui Rui saw this scene, his eyes lit up. He looked up at Chen Ling and saw that Chen Ling was also looking down at him. A mischievous smile appeared on his round little face, and he grinned and chuckled.

Chen Ling raised an eyebrow at the brat, then looked at his wife: "Susu, you'd better hold the basket tight later, okay? This little leopard is scary to me, don't let it jump out in fright and hurt Rui Rui."

Wang Susu immediately retorted angrily, "How could I? Do you really think that just because I saw the little leopard, I would completely disregard Rui Rui?"

"Who can say for sure? I don't know who told me to carry Rui Rui to the side just now."

Chen Ling said this deliberately.

When Rui Rui, that naughty boy, saw that his father was actually going to confront his mother and deal with the little leopard, he also hugged Chen Ling's leg from behind and peeked out with his little head, secretly laughing.

"Look how scared Rui Rui is, he's hiding behind me."

"What? He's hiding behind you, laughing."

"He didn't dare to come closer, because he was afraid that the little leopard would scratch him."

While the young couple were bickering, Chen Ling used the iron hook of a steelyard to fish up the bamboo basket.

Then, when he lifted it up, Chen Ling was surprised.

"Oh my, this little thing is really heavy."

It's said to be very heavy.

It means that the clouded leopard cub had a weight that did not match its size.

From the outside, you can't tell at all.

Wang Susu nodded and said, "Yes, you really can't tell. When I was hugging you, it was pressing down on my legs."

Just as he finished speaking, a furry head poked out of the bamboo basket.

"Ah woo~"

But the little clouded leopard cried out, trying to crawl out.

"Hey, don't move, don't move, be good, just for a second, it'll be quick."

Wang Susu comforted the little leopard and pressed its head back in.

Chen Ling also hurriedly moved the weight on the scale to find the crosshair on the scale beam.

Rui Rui watched intently from the side, feeling that this was quite different from what his father had described about hunting a baby leopard.

But it's really fun to put it in the basket and not let it out.

So, emboldened, he stepped forward and peeked through the gaps in the bamboo basket.

"Goodness, Susu, look, this little thing is almost thirty pounds."

"Oh? It really is, it weighs over twenty-nine pounds... I don't know much about this, Ling, do you think this weight is considered very heavy for a leopard?"

"Well, it shouldn't be called a leopard. It should be said that among these female grass leopards, this half-grown leopard of this age is quite heavy."

Chen Ling put down the bamboo basket. "Ever since I encountered a grass leopard with my dad on the mountain outside the village, I've asked Uncle Han and the others. The heaviest of these female leopards is no more than forty pounds. Do you think your little leopard is heavy?"

"Oh, I remember you said something similar, that the female of the earth leopard, that is, the grass leopard, the smallest of which is about the size of a cat, weighing only about ten pounds."

Sometimes I wouldn't even recognize someone I met in the mountains.

"Yes, I did say that."

"Oh, that's great! It means my little leopard is growing well."

Wang Susu said happily.

Then I saw Rui Rui start rummaging through the basket, which made the little leopard inside unwilling.

She was also afraid that the little thing might really hurt Rui Rui, so she quickly took the little clouded leopard out of the bamboo basket.

"By the way, Ah Ling, our little muntjac that was born not long ago is about the same size as the leopard cub. It's been growing really fast lately. Let's catch it and weigh it too."

"Hey, I almost forgot about this. This one works."

"Come on, Rui Rui, Daddy will take you to catch some muntjacs."

With a wave of his hand, Chen Ling led the brat to the livestock pen outside the gate to catch baby muntjacs.

After releasing the mother and baby muntjacs, weighing them became secondary.

This was the first time I had been released like this after I had become familiar with the people and was no longer afraid.

They happily wandered around the farmyard, licking and eating leaves from flowers, grasses, and fruit trees, and drinking water from ditches and water tanks.

It seemed like tasting the water to see if there was any difference in its flavor.

Watching them frolic in the yard.

Rui Rui forgot everything else and kept chasing after the little white elephant toys while holding them.

Every now and then, it would pull on the rope on the little white elephant toy's bottom, giving it a sharp tug, causing the little white elephant to spin around and rush towards the mother and baby deer.

Sure enough, these cubs are the ones who get along best with children.

They are curious about everything.

Rui Rui's intentions were mostly mischievous.

He wanted to use the white elephant to ram the two muntjacs, just like he usually used the turtles to form a battle formation and then used the white elephant to charge back and forth.

But to my surprise, the baby muntjac gave a completely different reaction.

It saw that such a small and exquisite creature as the white elephant was running back and forth on the ground.

I thought it was a living creature, just like us.

With its big, bright, adorable eyes wide open, it looked on curiously, then ran after it.

This made Rui Rui very happy.

They got excited immediately.

They kept letting the little white elephant run around and play with the baby muntjac.

They didn't even care about weighing it.

……

In late autumn, it is common for families in the mountains to go into the mountains to pick wild produce.

But never before has such a large-scale operation been carried out, and never before has such a massive contingent been formed.

In previous years, no one ever came to the countryside or the mountains specifically to buy these things.

Therefore, the locals in Lingyun have shown tremendous enthusiasm this year.

No matter which village it was, whether it was in the south or north of the city, whether it was far away in Fenglei Town or on the border of Tongshi County, as long as it was near the mountains and forests, he would run into the mountains almost every day.

It's because when you accumulate a lot of these things, you can take them to Chenwangzhuang to exchange for money.

Not only wild fruits, but also common mountain mushrooms.

Even wild goji berries and wild chrysanthemums were dried in the sun by some families. After they were dried, they were packed into bundles and bags and brought to Chenwangzhuang to ask if anyone wanted them.

Don't tell me yet.

At this time, the medicinal herbs were all sulfur-free, and the farmers prepared them themselves.

Little Sheep called a few friends in the city to ask around, and found quite a few who wanted to buy a batch to try it out.

This naturally boosted people's morale even more.

There are many things in the countryside that are hard to explain.

Good things happen, and bad things happen too.

Where there is peace and tranquility, there is also cruelty and cold-bloodedness.

Once you get used to traveling long distances and earning money, you're bound to encounter obstacles along the way.

Going into the mountains every day, and doing so many times, inevitably leads to being targeted by wild animals when you're not paying attention.

Or to put it another way, they don't know when they offended those cold-blooded hunters in the mountains.

Just as Chenwangzhuang was bustling with activity and prosperity.

A tragedy occurred in Kinmen Village.

Some wild animal, in broad daylight, came down from the mountain and into the village, grabbing children and livestock, causing widespread panic.