My 1995 Small Farm.

The children all left in a flash.

The dishes made with wild boar meat were now unwanted.

Wild boar meat is tender and can be used in countless dishes.

Gao Xiulan stir-fried a large plate of chili peppers, fried a pot of crispy pork, and stewed a large pot of potato noodles.

Not to mention vegetarian dishes, Rui Rui eats eggs every day, so this is a must. I make eggs with wood ear mushrooms for him.

The pickled Jerusalem artichokes are ready to eat. They can be stored in a salted vegetable jar, sealed, and eaten after two days.

Similar to Laba garlic, it's both simple and quick.

So many dishes.

We cook at home, and the portions are huge; even with a few more strong laborers, it would be enough to feed everyone.

"Tsk, look at this huge table of food! How are we supposed to eat all of this? This big pot of stew alone is enough for all of us."

When Gao Xiulan saw the table full of dishes, she thought that Liu Ni'er and her mischievous little monkeys had big appetites since they ran around and played every day, so she prepared more.

I also steamed extra rice.

Unexpectedly, they didn't even get to eat.

It's not that those parents are unreasonable, but rather that many of them, like Wang Lixian, have relatives in Kinmen Village.

If any of the men in the family can lend a hand, then do so.

Since we're going anyway, and we can't spare the time to pick wild fruits and mountain produce during the day, and we'll have to walk at night, it's naturally better and safer for them to go together.

A group of people carrying torches and guns were not afraid of anything blocking their way, whether it was a person or a wild animal.

Therefore, it would be best to bring these little ones home as soon as possible.

It's not impossible for Chen Ling to do it either.

But can I stay overnight?
Finally, they felt bad that Chen Ling had to take them home one by one.

They wouldn't even let us eat; they took everything away.

"It's alright, what's there to worry about? If we can't finish it, we can just have two more meals tomorrow. It's this season, it'll be fine if we leave it overnight."

Wang Cunye said nonchalantly.

"Yes, Auntie, it's just a matter of eating a few leftovers. It's not like we can't eat leftovers."

Shen Jiayi said with a grin.

"Yes, yes, it's not like we can't eat leftovers. Aunt Xiulan, you don't need to think of us as so delicate."

Mother Shen also said with a smile.

Then he helped Gao Xiulan serve rice and get chopsticks for everyone.

"Jiajia, how's your voice lately?" Liang Hongyu asked.

The old lady comes often and is very attentive to her nephew's guests.

I know about Chen Ling, this female apprentice.

"Still the same as before, I haven't fully recovered yet. Sister Susu said it will take a year or two to fully recover." Shen Jiayi smiled nonchalantly.

"Then you can't eat spicy food."

Liang Hongyu pointed to two dishes with chili peppers.

"Yes, I know. My mom asked my great-aunt to put in more chili. After she came here, she especially loved spicy food. She ate a lot of my master's spicy snacks."

Shen Jiayi glanced at her mother: "These past few days, she's gotten so addicted to cooking with my master and great-aunt. I don't know if I'm the apprentice or if she, as her mother, is the apprentice?"

"Your throat isn't fully healed, so you can't stay by the stove. Can you blame your mother for that?"

Chen Ling picked up the conversation and said, "In a couple of days I'll teach you how to make juice and canned goods, let's try some other things."

His words immediately prompted his female apprentice to clap her hands and exclaim, "Oh, Master, you're so kind!"

She looked like a little girl who hadn't grown up yet.

Indeed, after getting to know her, she became very lively in the house.

She also longed for such a family environment, feeling that being like a child in such a home would be incredibly blissful.

She has a fun-loving father like Chen Ling, a gentle and kind mother like Wang Susu who can also treat patients, loving relatives and friends, and so many animal playmates who pamper and protect her.

She felt that if it weren't for the environment here with her master...

She would probably take several years, or even more than a decade, to recover from her previous terrible depression on her own.

But how long one could live in that state was unknown.

As they were talking, Wang Susu returned after feeding the two babies and putting them to sleep.

"Eat quickly, eat quickly. There's plenty of food today, so eat as much as you can. Try to leave as little as possible. There's so much delicious food waiting for us at home, how can we keep eating leftovers?"

The fish in the ditch were extremely plump and delicious.

He also had a craving for pheasant stew with mushrooms, and the pheasants that had infiltrated his flock last autumn and this spring should be killed.

Eating and drinking well at home... paired with the meat of wild pheasants, which are raised in a domesticated environment and have more oil and flavor than wild pheasants, makes them taste even better.

It wouldn't be right not to eat it.

After Chen Ling said that, everyone started eating.

Chen Ling hasn't cooked either these past two days.

Most of the meals were cooked by Gao Xiulan.

But the food tasted pretty good.

Especially a big pot of stewed pork and vermicelli.

It tastes great.

Wild boar meat is incredibly tender. Chen Ling and Wang Susu had eaten it several times two years ago. When stewed, the meat even has a faint milky aroma.

Although it still doesn't smell as good as home-raised fatty pork.

But don't forget you can use lard.

Now, after frying it in lard, the pork tastes several times better than the pork from pigs raised in the village. It's fragrant, tender, and simply perfect.

Piglets can also have fat.

But that bit of fatty meat wasn't greasy at all.

Stewed glass noodles are tender and fragrant.

Stir-fried pork with chili peppers is so fragrant and spicy that it's hard to put down your chopsticks.

As for the crispy pork...

Rui Rui took a bite and completely forgot about his beloved egg.

The whole family, adults and children alike, couldn't resist eating more even when they were already full.

"The meat of this pig is very suitable for roast suckling pig, as well as for hot pot and hot pot. Especially for hot pot, the taste is far better than mutton or anything else. You will never forget it after eating it once."

"I'll go to the mountains in a few days and catch a few more piglets."

Chen Ling was also full, but although his stomach wasn't big, he had a large appetite. He mixed the leftover stir-fried eggs with wood ear mushrooms that Rui Rui had left with the rice and ate it heartily.

The main problem is that it's not easy to reheat leftover food.

We'll just eat it all in one meal.

"I was still thinking of going into the mountains, but let's wait until things calm down these next few days," Gao Xiulan said.

Seeing his mother-in-law's words, the whole family looked at him. Chen Ling quickly replied, "I know, Mom. What I mean is, once things calm down, the villagers definitely don't want to be affected by the mountains. As long as it doesn't affect our village, they will definitely still go into the mountains together."

After that, no one said anything.

Gao Xiulan and Shen's mother then cleaned up the dishes and leftovers.

Wang Cunye got up to boil water, intending to make some tea to cleanse his palate.

Unable to help, Shen Jiayi took Rui Rui to ask Chen Ling about the wild boar.

Ask him if he's easy to catch, etc.

In reality, not many wild boars in the mountains get lost.

Even if they get lost, they usually won't survive a single night.

That means if a person encounters a baby wild boar, it must have come out with a parent wild boar. When you see a baby wild boar, there must be a parent wild boar nearby.

It is dangerous for ordinary people, and even for unprepared hunters.

Besides setting traps and framing people.

Otherwise, simply going into the mountains to catch wild boars won't be very effective.

Shooting at targets with a gun is too difficult, especially when you're running fast.

Of course, this was no problem for Chen Ling.

He didn't have any idea of ​​'catching the big ones and letting the small ones go' when it came to wild boars, which were a breeding ground for so many.

There's no need to worry about population issues with this.

No matter what, he still has his own safe haven.

Besides, wild boar meat is delicious too.

"By the way, Jiajia, how come you're playing with those mischievous kids in the village?"

Chen Ling suddenly remembered something and warned, "Don't run around with them. They like to go into old houses and go up mountains and down rivers. If there is any danger, they can run away, but you won't be able to run away in time."

"Oh? Master, don't worry, it wasn't just messing around. A bunch of kids helped me and my mom deliver thatch flour, and they also helped deliver the goji berries and other medicinal herbs that my aunt had been drying in the village yard."

Shen Jiayi said.

This refers to the feed that Gao Xiulan went to grind for winter feeding today, as well as the medicinal herbs and mountain products that were drying in the village courtyard.

"By the way, Master, speaking of which, I've noticed that everything in your village is amazing! Not only are the children incredible, but even bicycles can carry over a hundred pounds of stuff..."

Shen Jiayi mentioned that Liu Nier and the others helped deliver things that afternoon.

Although they were young and not yet able to ride bicycles to carry things, they still walked very fast in twos and threes pushing their bikes.

Moreover, she also saw children in the village pushing bicycles to help their parents transport wild fruits and mountain goods.

Some wild fruits, such as wild pears, are very heavy.

The two large burlap sacks weighed over 100 kilograms.

Those six- or seven-year-old kids, as skinny as little monkeys, could actually work together in twos and threes to push the old-fashioned bicycles very fast.

"It's not that our village is amazing, it's that these bicycles are amazing. They can easily carry more than 100 pounds, let alone 200 or 300 pounds."

As long as your stuff can fit on the car and you can push it by yourself, the wheel rims won't even get deformed.

Chen Ling bought all the old-fashioned 28-inch bicycles for Liu Nier and the others; those bicycles are really sturdy.

In later generations, African men would ride large poles to carry hundreds of kilograms of bananas, pedaling so fast they could fly across the road, as fast as a motorcycle.

The main selling point of this type of vehicle is its robustness and excellent quality.

The quality of these days' 28-inch bicycles is even worse.

The car is of poor quality, so nobody is willing to spend money to buy it.

When Chen Ling helped the kids buy bicycles, because it was the kids' own money, their parents were worried that Chen Ling would actually buy them the kind of small girls' bicycles that Wang Zhenzhen rides.

Because that kind of thing isn't practical in the village.

The parents finally breathed a sigh of relief when Zhao Dahai actually sent those old bicycles back through someone.

Especially these old-fashioned bicycles, with baskets in the front, lights in front of the handlebars, and soft cushions on the back seat, they look very high-end.

At first, they all fought over who could ride the bike with their own kids.

This gave Zhao Yubao and his wife a good laugh, and they would joke about it with everyone they met, teasing those parents for being shameless and taking toys from their own children.

After being teased by the two professors for so long, the parents thought their kids had gone to the two old men to complain, and they stopped riding the bikes much after that.

"It's just a bicycle, is it that powerful? Why don't the villagers ride their bikes to Kinmen Village to help?" Shen Jiayi exclaimed in surprise.

"At night, there are people pulling carts and driving carts on the mountain roads, but not many people ride bicycles, especially this season. When it gets dark and foggy on this section of the road, it's impossible to ride... Come and have some tea. This is dried prickly ash eggs that your great-aunt sun-dried. Add some rock sugar, and it's delicious, refreshing, and helps cut through the greasiness."

Chen Ling grabbed a handful of dried-out thorny eggs and put them into their respective teacups, then added a few pieces of yellow rock sugar. The sweet and sour taste was quite delicious, and with some tea leaves, it was even more refreshing than lemon tea.

……

The mountain road outside the village was indeed just as Wang Lixian and Chen Ling had described.

On the mountain road, a group of men, some young and some old, each carrying a torch and a gun, hurried toward Kinmen Village.

Behind the group of people followed two large, muscular dogs.

There were also several village dogs behind the big dog.

Wang Lixian walked at the very back of the crowd, holding a torch in one hand and occasionally tugging at the urea bag tied to his waist with the other.

There are wolves in Kinmen Village. Maybe this trip will bring back some wolf meat and bones.

It will be much easier to train the little yellow dog at home then.

I am familiar with everything about wolves.

When they grow up, they will be able to be like Heiwa and the others, unafraid of wolves.

At least they won't be like some dogs in the village, who, when wolves enter the village, will be so frightened by the mere smell of the wolves that they hide back in their dens, too scared to utter a sound.

"Ouch——"

Suddenly, a series of long and mournful wolf howls came from behind, causing the group of men to stop and frown.

"What's going on? Why doesn't that wolf howl sound like it's coming from Kinmen Village?"

"It's not here, but it feels like it's in our village."

"what?……"

"Don't rush, don't shout, stop and listen carefully to where the sound is coming from?"

"..."

"Awooo—Awooo—"

Sure enough, upon closer listening, the howling of wolves was coming from the direction of Chenwangzhuang.

"Oh no, wolves have invaded our village!"

"Let's go home quickly. Don't help Kinmen Village. Our village will only suffer the consequences."

"..."

"Hey, something's not right. Don't worry, don't worry. Look at Heiwa and Xiaojin, why aren't they reacting? They're not even barking."

"Oh, that's true. They don't bark, and neither do the other dogs."

As soon as Wang Lixian spoke, everyone noticed something was wrong. Heiwa and Xiaojin were both calm and relaxed, and their dogs didn't react at all. One dog was even leisurely urinating by the roadside with its legs up.

"Is everything alright? When we left the village, they were still setting off firecrackers by the village. Xiao Chao and Xue Cheng were guarding outside the village."

Everyone in the village knows about Heiwa and his companion's abilities; if people far away can know this, they certainly can too.

Since they didn't react, it's highly likely that nothing's wrong.

"Yes, even if wolves come down the mountain, it probably won't be a big deal. They'll be waiting outside the village to set off firecrackers, so they'll know immediately. Besides, Fugui is still in the village, so what's there to be afraid of? Let's go, let's keep going."

“Let’s go. Since there’s nothing else, let’s keep going. We’ve already gone halfway. Why bother going back? Whether we can help or not, we should at least show our faces in Kinmen Village and prove that we’ve been there.”

"Correct."

A group of men continued walking, chatting amongst themselves.

soon.

Taking a detour westward, we saw torchlight flickering on both sides of the Jinshui River.

Kinmen Village is bustling with activity.

Meanwhile, things were also unsettled in Chenwangzhuang.

The wolf howl came from the northern hill behind the farm.

That is, the area around what the village used to call 'Wolf-Claw Rock'.

When Chen Ling heard the wolf howls, his family was gathered around the stove brewing tea, smoking red dates, and roasting pears. They were enjoying themselves when the wolf howls rang in their ears. Chen Ling jumped up.

Erhei and the others barked loudly and rushed out. (End of Chapter)