My 1995 Small Farm.

Wang Lixian laughed and said, "Your Aunt Sufen is right. There's nothing to be afraid of in those stray dogs. You don't even need Heiwa and Erhei. Erhei alone can scare them so much that they won't dare to chase you anymore."

He took Heiwa and Xiaojin to Kinmen Village to hunt wolves. Those two big dogs were so fearful that even wolves were afraid of them, let alone dogs.

Those stray dogs only bully timid little lambs.

Hearing this, the little lamb regained some courage and was no longer timid. "Dad, we don't need Erhei. Uncle Fugui's little blue horse can beat those wild dogs."

Wang Lixian nodded and laughed: "Haha, that's right, your Uncle Fugui's little blue horse even dares to fight wolves."

Chen Ling shook his head: "Forget it, this horse has been disobedient lately, it's been wildly unruly, and it often goes out and runs around in the middle of the night."

I don't know if it ran off into the mountains or somewhere else!

He actually suspected that Little Green Horse had become like this after fighting the wolves with them last time.

It's getting wilder and wilder.

They are becoming increasingly unable to tolerate constraints.

This constraint does not mean that it does not recognize its owner.

Like some free-roaming dogs, it can't stand not being allowed to run around freely every day.

Even if I get a beating when I get back, I still want to go out and have some fun.

"Hey, that's not wild. The things you raise have a kind of spirit. You have to let them run around more often. Don't you see how much money they make for you? Others are too envious to even have time to appreciate it..."

Wang Lixian waved his hand and smiled.

This refers to the story of how the little white ox and the little blue horse earned money by taking photos for people.

The beauty and endearing nature of the little white calf need no further explanation.

Little Qingma wasn't this mischievous back then.

Its fur is smooth and glossy, making it exceptionally appealing.

Moreover, back then, as long as family members were around, the little green horse would cooperate quite well.

They made a lot of money together with the little white ox.

"Ah, speaking of this, Boming, when you've been driving around lately, have you seen any livestock markets that sell a lot of water buffalo?"

Chen Ling asked.

"Water buffalo? I think the only place that sells water buffalo is near the dogfighting arena we went to last time. I saw several water buffalo there in the livestock market."

The place the little lamb mentioned surprised Chen Ling quite a bit.

"Oh? You mean the dogfighting ring we went to sells water buffalo, but the livestock market in the city doesn't?"

Upon hearing this, the little lamb hurriedly waved his hand again: "No, that's not what I meant. It's just that the livestock markets in the county towns on the outskirts of the city are for individual farmers in the villages. The livestock markets in the city are for ordinary pigs, cattle, horses, sheep, and donkeys. They buy a whole truckload and take them away. It's not the same as Uncle Fugui picking and choosing livestock like this..."

Chen Ling said "Oh," indicating that he understood what was going on.

Sun Yanhong had done this kind of business before, buying and selling pigs and donkeys.

Livestock in the mountains are extremely cheap, just like the men of Si Ni'er's family in Yangtougou collect eggs and sell them in the city.

The price difference can sometimes be shockingly large.

If all goes well, you can buy a whole truckload of pigs, and the money you make is incomparable to what a freight station can earn running a transport business.

Of course, in recent years, the most profitable livestock has been pigs.

The price of sheep is relatively stable with little fluctuation.

Even in good years, you earn less.

Even in bad years, losses are relatively small.

The second most profitable animal after the pig is the donkey.

Donkeys can not only be slaughtered for meat and sold, but also used to make donkey-hide gelatin.

There's no need to discuss the quality of this donkey-hide gelatin; there are plenty of inferior products out there.

Of course, it's still from a donkey.

It's much better than the pure forgeries of later generations.

"Then when I go to the city to pick up Tiger next week, I'll visit a few suburban counties... Oh, right, Boming, since you're back, come over for dinner later. I went to the market in the countryside this morning and bought four bear paws."

"Huh? They sell bear paws at the market?"

The little lamb was utterly astonished.

Wang Lixian and Chen Guoping, the elderly couple, also looked over in surprise.

"Someone shot a bear in the mountains, and the bear injured someone. It will probably spread in a couple of days. Someone else went into the mountains to pick wild fruit and encountered a bear."

After Chen Ling explained it this way, everyone understood what was going on.

"Sigh, this year's events are really messy. Could it be another year of disaster? Things that were rarely seen in the mountains before have all come out."

"Yeah, this is really strange. There's no leap month, and no missing solar term. Why are there so many strange things happening this year?"

People used to say that there was no leap seventh day, only leap eighth day, because leap eighth day meant a violent death. There were also four days considered unlucky, and many other customs and traditions.

But there aren't any special customs or taboos this year.

This shouldn't be the case.

The Turtle King also did not show up again.

After listening for a while, Chen Ling shook his head: "These things are hard to explain. In the end, the village's guns haven't been confiscated, and there are people on night watch. They're not afraid of wild things coming down the mountain. I'll get them a couple of wild boar cannons another day, then they won't have to be afraid at all... Brother Guoping, and sister-in-law, have you ever eaten bear paws before? If not, come to my house tonight and have a taste."

"I've never eaten it, I've only heard about it in plays."

Chen Guoping's thick, dark eyebrows twitched: "That stuff, needless to say, it's in theatrical works, so it must be quite expensive, probably about the same price as ginseng... I wouldn't dare eat your stuff."

The mountain people believe in the principle of "chasing down the mountain and into the water, everyone who sees it gets a share." If Chen Ling were to kill a bear in the mountains, they would be willing to accept even a bear paw as a share.

But if you have to pay money to buy it, then nobody will want it.

Sister-in-law Xiufen also said with a smile, "I've never eaten bear paws, but I have seen bear gallbladders. They say they cost about the same as musk. A few years ago, after I recovered from a medical illness, they gave me one, but I didn't dare to take it."

"That bear's heart and leopard's gall—it sounds expensive! Wild animals like that have many valuable treasures on their bodies. Fugui must have spent a lot of money on this bear paw."

"Haha, it didn't cost much."

"Didn't spend much? Others may not know you, but do you think our fellow villagers don't know you? You're the best at making money and the most willing to spend it. If you see something rare, you'll definitely rush to buy it."

In the past, the villagers all said that Chen Ling was a lazy, good-for-nothing spendthrift. But as Chen Ling made more and more money and more and more friends came to the village, the villagers realized that those city people and Chen Ling were actually the same kind of people.

It's just that they're all rich, so being 'lazy and unwilling to work' has become acceptable.

There's no need to be as 'hardworking' as those farmers, toiling away on a few acres of land and barely making any money all year round.

Yet people are willing to pay prices that others can't even imagine or believe for a dog, a bird, or a birdcage.

So, judging from Chen Ling's expression and tone of voice, Sister-in-law Xiufen knew that the bear paws he mentioned had cost a lot of money.

"By the way, Xiao Fang, this 'bear's heart and leopard's gall' is also a folk remedy. After you take it, you'll become braver."

Sister-in-law Xiufen stroked the little lamb's chest while smiling and saying this.

When a person is suddenly frightened and becomes disoriented, they will unconsciously touch their chest with their hand.

Xiufen, however, clearly had a different approach.

Previously, I used something like incense sticks made of mugwort to burn the little sheep's forehead and palms, one place after another, and also burned its body, burning it a full fourteen times.

Then he stroked his chest and back, as if to calm his breathing.

The lamb's symptoms visibly lessened, and the initial fever disappeared.

Moreover, even after the little lamb was scalded fourteen times in a row, its skin turned red and looked like it was about to bleed, but it didn't feel any pain.

Sister-in-law Xiufen said that this was because she was frightened, and that the burn didn't hurt.

For a normal person, burning incense will feel hot and painful as soon as it gets close to their body.

Chen Ling stared at it for a moment, his eyes wide with disbelief.

That's why Wang Susu said that Sister-in-law Xiufen's methods of treating illnesses are difficult to learn.

That's the main point; it's too mysterious.

Traditional Chinese medicine is already quite mysterious. Sister-in-law Xiufen's situation is even more mysterious.

It can only be described as magical.

Before the little lamb had even recovered, Qin Qiumei arrived with her niece, Shuangshuang.

At Chen Ling's home, Wang Susu brewed medicine to bring down his high fever.

I came here specifically to get rid of the bumps in my throat caused by inflamed and swollen tonsils.

Tonsillitis is quite frightening.

In these times, using Western medicine, especially in rural areas, is not a reliable method of treatment, even with anti-inflammatory injections.

It can even prevent the swollen lump from going away, and the more injections you get, the harder it will become, staying in your throat for life.

Later, whenever I got a sore throat, it would spread to my throat, causing inflammation and swelling each time, even compressing my vocal cords, until I had to have surgery to remove my tonsils.

This is the same principle as mumps.

After injections or IV drips, the cheeks will harden, like the jawline that appears to grow in middle age.

Since there are other ways to quickly reduce inflamed and swollen bumps, why not use them?
A black cat or a white cat is a good cat if it catches mice.

When Sister Xiufen was treating Shuangshuang, the initial treatment was surprisingly similar to the treatment she gave to Little Sheep.

They simply replaced the lit incense sticks with silver needles.

The silver needles were very long, and they were stuck upright in the incense burner as an offering...

After Sister Xiufen took it out, she first pinned it to her clothes, then pulled the little girl over to her side and reached out to touch her chest.

After touching her chest, let the little girl stand still with her arms hanging down.

He grabbed the little girl's shoulders with both hands and stroked down her arms.

It looks like he's putting in a lot of effort.

After several rounds, she pulled on the ears and earlobes, and then massaged the tonsils on the lower side of the neck.

After that, he picked up the silver needles clipped to his clothes and began to gently prick his earlobes, fingertips, and the area on the lower side of his neck.

It wasn't over until all the blood was drawn.

Chen Ling felt his eyes had been opened, thinking to himself, "I've read it once and memorized it. If this method doesn't work, then it's not a problem with the method itself..."

There must be some other mysterious reason behind it.

The moment the thought popped into his head, he wanted to slap himself. Damn it, what nonsense! What could be more mysterious than the Sun and Moon Cave Heaven within him?
And then I felt instantly at ease.

Forgetting what he had just noted down, he told the little sheep, "If you want to buy bear heart to boost your courage, go to the village to buy it as soon as possible," and happily went home to prepare the bear paws.

Back at the village estate outside the village, Rui Rui had already woken up and was chasing the muntjac cubs around the orchard ditches with Shen Jiayi and Chen Xiaoer's son.

Every now and then, they startle a large flock of birds in the grass, and they excitedly screech as they chase after them.

In fact, although there are fewer species of mountain birds in late autumn, their numbers are no less than in early spring.

A large expanse of them flew by, like dark clouds gathering together.

The small fish fry in the ditches also roam in groups, countless in number.

They say this is the last batch of small fish fry this year.

But the season hasn't completely turned cold yet.

Some fish are still spawning and producing new fry.

Every day when it gets warm at midday, the water surface is covered with a dark, dense layer.

This applies to farms, and also to streams and ponds.

However, Chen Ling didn't want to eat fish today; he was thinking about bear paws.

They barely ate a bite of lunch before taking out the bear paws to prepare them.

Zhao Yubao and Old Man Zhong arrived shortly afterward.

They weren't greedy for food; they were there to offer Chen Ling advice.

On the way back, Chen Ling mentioned that he had never cooked this before. He wondered if cooking it like stewing pig's trotters or boiling sheep's trotters would ruin the bear paw.
Zhao Yubao said that although he had never eaten bear paw, he knew an old friend who had. This friend was a member of the Eight Banners and not only had he eaten it, but he could also cook it.

He can go to the county town and make a phone call to ask.

Now that he's come over with a little notebook, it's clear he's gotten the answer.

“Fugui, let me tell you, this secret recipe is a treasure. It can fetch a lot of money if sold. You can’t just tell it to ordinary people.”

"Don't worry, I'll just cook for our own people."

Chen Ling laughed when he heard this. This kind of thing becomes increasingly rare as you go further in the recipe. Who would dare to add bear paw to a recipe?

Besides, Chen Ling wouldn't bother with people who can eat this kind of food.

"Wow, Master, are we really going to eat bear paws?"

Shen Jiayi ran back with her two children, followed by several dogs. She was extremely excited and didn't act like a female celebrity at all. She looked like a silly, big-headed girl from the village who hadn't grown up yet.

"Of course, we buy them to eat."

Chen Ling laughed and said, "Today we're having bear paws, tomorrow I'll teach you how to make some snacks that don't require a stove..."

Then, he turned to his father-in-law, who was smoking a pipe and pickling salted eggs in the backyard, and said, "Dad, call Zhenzhen back tonight, we're going to eat bear paws."

"I know, you've done a good job as a brother-in-law... You can't forget about that mischievous monkey of hers, can you... Your bear paw hasn't even been put into the pot yet..."

Wang Cunye looked helpless. His son-in-law was acting more like a father than he was.

At this moment, Gao Xiulan finished washing the pots and pans, and Wang Susu finished feeding the two babies and putting them to sleep. They also came over to take a look.

Upon seeing the recipe for making bear paws, Wang Susu was shocked and exclaimed that it was too difficult and complicated.

Making a bear paw requires several pages of ingredients.

For the first time, Shen Jiayi directly experienced that being a chef was not as easy as she had imagined.

It's not that you can just cook anything and have an endless supply of delicious food.

Only Chen Ling was in high spirits and more enthusiastic than anyone else.

Zhao Yubao laughed upon seeing this: "See? In the eyes of these people who love to play with food, this is not only not a worry, but a good thing!"

Old Zhong nodded and agreed, "That's right. Being able to eat and cook is different from simply being greedy. It all comes down to whether you can put effort into eating. There's a whole difference in skill level between them."

The two old men chatted back and forth like they were performing a comedy routine, and soon they had everyone in the courtyard laughing non-stop.

Wang Cunye initially laughed along with them.

Later, I watched as Chen Ling started preparing the ingredients one by one.

Some were frozen goods taken from the water tower, while others were dried goods taken from the warehouse, such as dried mushrooms and wood ear fungus.

This pile of things, stacked in front of Chen Ling, was almost as tall as an ordinary person's bedding roll.

The old man frowned.

When asked, Chen Ling said it was used to make soup.

The father-in-law was so distressed he almost fainted: "My goodness! These chicken, duck, ribs, and pork hock are delicacies that other families can't even get to eat during the New Year... and in your case, they've become side dishes for this stuff. To put it bluntly, it's just a bear's hoof. Is it really worth doing this?"

In the past, this would have been grounds for public criticism and denunciation; it was a complete waste of a good harvest.

When Wang Susu saw the ingredient list, she felt a little dizzy; there were just too many ingredients.

He rubbed his eyes and then said, "Dad, what are you saying? The chicken and duck are stewed in the pot, they're not going to be cooked away, so how is that ruining the harvest?"

If we can't finish it in one meal, we can't just eat it over several meals.

Ultimately, it'll all end up in our own stomachs; we can't waste it.

Wang Cunye was stunned when he heard this, and then realized that he had made a mistake. He slapped his forehead and said that he had made a mistake.

Gao Xiulan laughed: "Silly old man, do you think Lingzi is something you use and then throw away?"

The son-in-law may be willing to spend money, but he's not unaware of the importance of thrift. (End of Chapter)