My 1995 Small Farm.

The farm was bustling with activity in the evening when Heiwa and his brother suddenly ran out barking.

They barked quite loudly, but didn't look fierce at all. On the contrary, the two big guys seemed especially happy and excited...

Chen Ling could tell who had arrived from their welcoming manner.

When Wang Cunye and Gao Xiulan saw this, they were quite puzzled: "It's already dark, why did Hongyu and the other two come over at this hour? Lingzi, why don't you go out and check, maybe something's wrong?"

"It should be nothing serious, otherwise Erhei would have run back to call for help long ago."

Chen Ling responded as she measured the children's height.

However, despite saying that, he still strode out to greet them with the two elders.

They hadn't gone far, just into the front yard, before they even reached the lotus pond by the main gate, when the elderly couple, Liang Hongyu and her husband, came in with smiles, leading a pack of large dogs.

The two black boys wagged their tails to welcome them.

Erhei got even more excited, grinning widely and sticking out his tongue, jumping and frolicking around the two old men like a madman.

This is quite different from the image of the dog village chief that outsiders perceive him as steady, cautious, and suspicious.

Erhei sometimes acts like this at home too.

I enjoy bickering with Liang Hongyu...

The two elderly people still preferred to bring them food.

Every time they come to my house, I bring them lots of things.

In addition, the two elderly people were very kind and gentle, and their kindness extended to Chen Ling and the rest of the family.

As members of the family, they are the ones we can feel most directly.

So when they came to our house, even Heiwa and his brother were happy, not to mention Erhei.

"Oh dear, I came in such a rush today that I forgot to bring you anything. I'll buy you big bones tomorrow!"

Liang Hongyu held up several dogs that jumped up behind Erhei. Da Mao and Er Mao, the dogs, were even more excited than Erhei.

It clung tightly to the legs of the elderly, shaking its head and wagging its tail, licking and rubbing against them.

"Auntie, Uncle, why are you here so late?"

Chen Ling walked over and observed the two elderly people; they didn't seem to be in any hurry.

"Your uncle and I heard about the monster in the Jinshui River, and the wolf attack in Jinmen Village. We're worried about things getting unsettled in the mountains at night, so we're bringing you two guns..."

As Liang Hongyu spoke, she lowered her voice and said, "Your brother used to get good guns from Africa. The jackals and tigers in the mountains couldn't take a hit from them."

"Hey, don't worry about us. Not many guns have been confiscated in our village. The county has even distributed quite a few to us!"

The wolf has come down from the mountain, but it won't get away with it.

Chen Ling patted the old lady's hand and said, "It's so late, and the mountain road is difficult to walk on. Why did you come all this way?"

He had barely finished speaking when Qin Rong, who was holding Erhei's two front paws and letting Erhei snuggle against his chest, said, "You have children at home, and your aunt is afraid that wolves have come down from the mountain. You took the dog out to hunt wolves and couldn't take care of the family. You should come over..."

Anyway, we have your brother's car, so driving at night is fine.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling couldn't help but feel ashamed.

Gao Xiulan urged him, "Your aunt is here, so be it. Anyway, we have plenty of rooms, there's no shortage of places for your aunt to stay... Don't just stand there, go to the wooden building and tidy up a room, and bring out the cotton quilt we just put on a couple of days ago, it's so cold at night now."

"I know, I'll go right away."

Chen Ling responded and quickly walked towards the backyard.

Chen Ling busied herself tidying up the house.

Wang Cunye and Gao Xiulan had already pulled them to sit down in the living room in the front yard.

Let's talk about what happened today.

Water monster, wolf plague...

It makes people feel uneasy.

Chen Ling's family consists of elderly people and young children, and they live outside the village, right next to the North Mountain. It's perfectly normal for the two elderly people to be worried.

"You came in such a hurry, you must not have eaten yet, right? Come on, let's go to the back and eat first."

After talking for a while, Gao Xiulan sighed twice in resignation about the turtle and the water monster, and then said...

"It's okay, we're not hungry yet."

Liang Hongyu shook her head. It wasn't out of politeness; she was just too anxious to feel hungry.

"Let's go. Lingzi hunted a few wild boar piglets in the mountains. He gutted and cleaned them right there. We can stir-fry the piglets' meat; it's delicious."

Wang Cunye also grabbed Qin Rongxian's arm and stood up: "Let's have a couple more drinks, the three of us men."

Upon hearing this, Liang Hongyu's expression changed again: "Fugui went to the mountains again? He's going at this crucial time?"

"Hey, we didn't even know he was going. We definitely won't let him go again."

As Wang Cunye spoke, he comforted the old lady, "Actually, nothing much happened afterward. The county sent people with guns from Jinmen Village to the mountains. If there had been a wolf attack or some other disaster in Chenwangzhuang, there would have been even more trouble."

Now everyone in the village is counting on the mountain products to make some money. If things get too outrageous and people are pushed too far, the village will probably take guns and go to the mountains to raid them.

Didn't Lingzi mention it?
Two years ago, when wild boars were rampant during the autumn harvest, they even kept watch over the plants at night.

There will be people around even at night.

"Yes, they've all lived in the mountains for generations, they all have their own ways of dealing with things, so you don't need to worry about him too much."

Gao Xiulan also smiled and said.

"Let's go, let's hurry up and eat."

He then led the two out of the living room, westward along the corridor, to the end of the corridor of the bamboo building where the living room was located, then turned north, and after a few steps, they reached the courtyard where the wooden building was located.

As you walk further in, you are greeted by the sounds of children making a ruckus and screaming.

The courtyard of the wooden building is also very large, with gourd racks erected and gourds of all sizes hanging on them.

Below the gourd trellis is a turtle pond.

A light was on a pole next to the turtle pond, illuminating the yard brightly.

A group of dirty little kids surrounded Wang Susu and Shen Jiayi, laughing and joking.

Wang Susu held a steelyard balance, with Rui Rui sitting in a basket hanging from the iron hook of the balance.

Rui Rui had witnessed the scene of weighing the little clouded leopard during the day. He heard Chen Ling say that it was to discipline the little leopard. Now that it was his turn, he was very scared. He shrank his head, frowned, and looked miserable. He didn't dare to move at all in the basket.

As a result, when Shen Jiayi helped Wang Susu hold the basket, the basket shook as soon as she lifted the scale beam, which made Rui Rui even more frightened.

He cried out for his mother in a panic.

This caused the surrounding children to burst into laughter.

Rui Rui wasn't afraid of many things growing up. He dared to pull the tongues of Heiwa and Xiaojin, tug their tails, and pick their ears long ago. He was fearless, and the village kids had never seen this kind of brat before.

I found it extremely interesting.

"Auntie, don't make Rui Rui cry," Xi Zi hurriedly said to Wang Su Su.

Wang Susu smiled gently and winked at the little girl: "It's okay, don't worry. Your uncle washes his hair and it's the same, but it's much more dramatic."

Wang Susu spoke lightly, but in reality, it was only when she and her husband were together that things changed.

Neither she nor Chen Ling could handle this brat.

I cry every time I wash my hair.

"Jiajia, hold on tight, I'm about to start weighing you."

"I'm holding him up, but Rui Rui keeps moving around inside."

Rui Rui was too scared to move, but when the basket shook, he started moving around in fear.

"It's alright, just hold on tight."

Wang Susu gripped the lifting rope of the steelyard and slowly pulled the weight backward, observing the ups and downs of the steelyard.

"Oh, are you weighing the children?"

When Liang Hongyu and the other woman saw this, their eyes lit up, but the other woman was too engrossed in the conversation to notice them.

He didn't bother going back to the kitchen and went straight to Wang Susu and the others.

Wang Susu was also surprised to see them arrive at this time.

The two elders smiled and briefly explained their purpose while reaching out to take Rui Rui out of the basket: "Rui Rui, be good, don't be afraid, let your auntie hold you."

After Rui Rui became familiar with Liang Hongyu, apart from feeling close to her, she treated her no differently than she would any other elderly person in the village.

Seeing this aunt today felt like seeing a savior, and I burst into tears of grievance.

After being carried out by Liang Hongyu, she threw herself into the old lady's arms and cried bitterly.

This made Liang Hongyu feel both heartbroken and flattered.

"Susu, please don't scare the children like that again."

“I didn’t scare him. He saw a group of older brothers and sisters weighing themselves, and he started yelling and making a fuss, wanting me to weigh him too. I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Wang Susu felt particularly helpless; most babies this young are like this.

There are some things that are wrong if you do things according to his wishes, and wrong if you don't do them.

No matter what, we're going to make a scene.

“He’s so small. Other people can just hang their clothes on him and he’s so small and he’s always moving around. So we have to put him in a basket to weigh him. I didn’t even know that he was in a basket and it was so stable. What does he have to be afraid of?”

As Wang Susu spoke, she reached out and took her son from Liang Hongyu's arms, gently patting his back to comfort him, "Okay, okay, don't cry anymore. Mommy won't use this to weigh you anymore. We'll ask your dad to buy you a platform scale, and you can just stand on it, okay?"

"Mom is bad!"

"Okay, okay, Mommy's being mean. Now, do you want to know if your older brother or sister is heavier, or if you are?"

Wang Susu knew her son too well. With just one sentence, the little rascal lifted his head from her arms, tears welling up in his eyes. The expectation in his eyes was so strong that even the tears couldn't hide it.

"Then come down and go ask Sister Xizi."

After hearing what his mother said, Rui Rui no longer needed to be coaxed.

As soon as Wang Susu bent down, he slid off his mother's arms.

He ran up to Xizi, squatted down, wiggled his round face, tilted his head, and slowly crouched towards Xizi, grinning ingratiatingly.

Then, looking at the numbers Xizi had written on the ground with a twig, he curiously pointed to the nearest one and asked with wide eyes, "Rui Rui?"

Qin Rongxian also came over and asked, "How is it? How tall and heavy is Rui Rui now? We always say he looks stronger than a two-year-old, but we never really knew how he was."

"It's not very tall, about 84 centimeters, and it weighs a little over 22 kilograms, which is quite heavy."

Wang Susu said with a smile, "Ever since he learned to run, he's been running around everywhere, so he hasn't grown as fast as he did in the spring."

Generally, baby boys are slightly larger than baby girls at birth, about 50 centimeters tall.

They grow the fastest when they are one year old.

Rui Rui started crawling around springtime and grew very fast.

A height of around 70 centimeters is normal, whether it's higher or lower.

So, Rui Rui isn't particularly tall.

She usually gets good nutrition and never lacks delicious food, but her weight is a bit on the heavy side.

"Being a little chubby is good; it makes people look more pleasing."

As Liang Hongyu spoke, she bent down and pinched the brat's face again: "Grandma just loves chubby babies like Rui Rui."

Rui Rui chuckled, tilted his head back to look at the adults, and pointed brightly at a number on the ground: "Rui Rui!"

"Oh, so this is Rui Rui's. Our Rui Rui is the tallest and heaviest."

Liang Hongyu also knew that the brat was just pointing randomly.

The baby is so young and doesn't understand anything. Even if Xizi tells him which number is his, he can't really tell the difference.

The other children laughed along.

"You bunch of mischievous monkeys, let me see who's the tallest and who's the heaviest!" Wang Cunye came over with his hands behind his back to join in the fun.

"Grandpa Uncle, I'm the oldest."

Liu Nier immediately raised her hand very high.

"Grandpa Uncle, I'm the heaviest, I weigh 64 jin (32 catties)."

Piglet raised his hand and shouted even louder than Liu Nier.

In the countryside at that time, being chubby was indeed something that made both children and parents proud.

To prove that their family is doing well.

"Okay, okay, write it all down and mark it. We'll measure it again next year at this time."

"Okay, we'll come again next year."

“In my family, when we slaughter a pig and divide the meat during the Lunar New Year, my dad would use a scale to lift me up and see how heavy I was. This year, we didn’t need him; I measured me at Uncle Fugui’s house.”

"..."

"Hey, it's so lively, where's Zhenzhen?"

Liang Hongyu suddenly realized that the most boisterous person in the house was missing.

"Don't even mention it. This crazy girl lives in the county town with her second brother and sister-in-law. Every day after school, she sets up a stall to sell spicy strips to make money. We can't persuade her to stop, and she won't listen to anything we say."

"At such a young age, he's become such a money-grubber."

Gao Xiulan looked helpless.

"What do you mean by 'she won't listen to anything'? Did you even try to talk to her? You asked her brother-in-law to talk to her, but that's the same as not saying anything at all."

Wang Cunye was speechless with disbelief.

If Lingzi were to say a harsh word to Zhenzhen, he would dare to write the character "王" (king) backwards.

"Oh, her brother-in-law is reluctant to say it, but you dare to say it? Go ahead and hit or scold him, no one's stopping you."

Gao Xiulan got even angrier when she heard this: "Come on, Hongyu, Rongxian, let's go eat... You bunch of little monkeys, don't go either. Your Uncle Fugui killed a wild boar cub. We'll stir-fry a big pot of meat later, and you can eat here."

Meanwhile, Wang Susu, Shen Jiayi, and Shen Jiayi's mother had already chopped a large bowl of wild boar meat in the kitchen.

In fact, Shen Jiayi's mother had been busy in the kitchen the whole time.

At noon, she made one of the dishes.

This person isn't a typical housewife, and she doesn't cook much.

When she first came to the farm, her help was just because she felt embarrassed to be idle.

But later I tried making a dish and found that the seasonings here were too good. Although the food I made could not reach the level of Chen Ling's.

But it was so much better than any of the dishes she had ever made before.

That's just how cooking is.

First, you have to make something that you think tastes good.

Then someone else praised him.

Once you get addicted, it's unbelievable; you'll want to cook every meal yourself.

However, even when faced with such a fine ingredient as wild boar cubs, she seemed a little unsure: "Xiao Chen's wild boar meat is good, but I don't dare to go all in. I'll stew it tomorrow, and you guys can stir-fry it."

This is to prevent the ingredients from being spoiled.

Gao Xiulan said, "It's alright, sister, I saved it for you. The kids outside are eating here today too, so we need to cook a big pot of stew. You don't usually cook big pot stew, so I'll do it."

He stepped forward, leaving them outside to talk to Liang Hongyu and the others.

Wang Susu timed it carefully and went back to the front yard to see the two little kids, Lele and Kang Kang.

After a while, the pack of dogs that had been playing and resting around the group outside the kitchen suddenly got up and ran outside in unison.

Just as everyone was looking on in surprise, they saw Chen Ling leading Wang Lixian over.

"Sixth Sister, don't stay with your Uncle Fugui anymore. Go home and keep your mother and sister company. I have to go to Jinmen Village to see your fourth sister and brother-in-law."

Wang Lixian first smiled and greeted the elders in the family, then frowned and called out to Liu Nier in the group of children.

"Ah? Okay, I understand."

Liu Ni'er was stunned for a moment, then followed Wang Lixian home without saying a word. She had been craving the pork chop just now, waiting for it to be cooked, but now she didn't even bother to look at the kitchen before hurrying away.

Of course, he wouldn't forget to say goodbye to Chen Ling and the others.

"Oh, so Li Xian's family has a daughter in Kinmen Village."

Liang Hongyu was picking vegetables when she suddenly realized something.

"Huh? Why did Heiwa and Xiaojin go out too?" Qin Rong noticed something was off.

They often came to our house and were very familiar with the two mountain bandits.

At night, they mostly stay with the children, either Rui Rui or two even younger ones, and don't go out.

"Besides calling Liu Ni'er, Brother Xian came to borrow the dog. A child went missing in Jinmen Village, and he's going to the mountains to look for them," Chen Ling said.

"Still haven't found it?"

No, there isn't.

Chen Ling sighed.

"Will Heiwa and Xiaojin listen to them?"

"It's alright, they've gotten to know Brother Xian already."

Chen Ling didn't say much, but he had given them some instructions, and the intelligence of the other two dogs was not a problem.

As they chatted, Chen Ling went to the kitchen and ladled out a large pot of steamed rice.

Just as the rice was being served, a series of rapid explosions, known as "boom boom boom," rang out from the village, continuously resounding in the dark sky.

This is to set off firecrackers to scare away wild animals in the mountains.

A while later, just as it was time to eat, the parents of the little ones arrived one after another, taking the little rascals who had just waited for their meal home.

It has to be said that the tense atmosphere created by the incident in Kinmen Village has already affected Chenwangzhuang.