My 1995 Small Farm.

There's no need to rush into selling the fish fry.

Chen Ling chatted with Little Sheep for a few minutes, briefly inquired about when he and San Ni'er would get married, and then returned to the village.

When I got back to the village, I went to the village courtyard first and pruned the grapevines so I could plant them on the back hill. I also cleaned up the vegetable cellar and the sweet potato well.

My father-in-law and mother-in-law will be staying here this winter, so I'm preparing the food for them in advance.

It'll be convenient to just cook whatever we want to eat then.

After tidying up and sweeping the yard, glancing at the woodpile, he locked the door and left.

Back at the farm, Dujuan, with her pregnant belly, was painting Wang Susu by the lotus pond. When she saw him return, she quickly asked him to sit down, and after he got into position, she began to paint.

Seeing his wife happy, Chen Ling happily cooperated with them.

They even called over Rui Rui, who was helping Grandpa tinker with the snake pit in the backyard.

Soon after, Heiwa, Xiaojin, Afu, and Ashou also arrived.

Alright, let's draw a family photo at the end.

After all that fuss, Chen Ling went upstairs to check on the two little ones. You have to keep an eye on kids this young; they never seem to have a set time to pee.

If you're not careful, the mess will spread all over the bed and the room, making them uncomfortable, and the adults will be uncomfortable too.

As luck would have it, the little guy peed as soon as he came up. The diaper was still steaming hot when it was changed, and he didn't even cry when Chen Ling changed his diaper.

That really gives him a lot of face as a father.

Before, she would cry whenever her mother, Wang Susu, wasn't around.

This gave Chen Ling a great sense of accomplishment.

Seeing that the two children were very well-behaved, Chen Ling sat down at his desk and flipped through the new letters that had arrived.

Yes, quite a few letters have arrived in the last couple of days.

Besides tourists, there were also acquaintances and the business owners who had taken the puppy from Chen Ling's place.

Putting aside other people, once the animated series came out, these bosses stopped complaining that it wasn't worth spending money to buy a mongrel dog.

Chen Ling picked out some interesting and sincere letters and wrote several replies to them.

The rest can be replied to selectively and gradually.

Actually, when it comes to sincerity, everyone who writes to him is very sincere.

After all, once a letter is written on paper, it is usually very polite and sincere.

Even when the two Japanese soldiers weren't there, Chen Ling and Li Zhongyi chatted happily about everything.

As Chen Ling wrote the letter, his mind slowly began to flow like a tap that had been turned on, and a few inspirations suddenly came to him.

I quickly found Wang Zhenzhen's notebook and started writing a few paragraphs on the back.

Once I started writing, it became incredibly easy; the more I wrote, the smoother it became.

The two sheets of paper were filled in no time, and when I looked up, it had only taken a little over ten minutes.

This guy filled two pages in ten minutes, definitely more than eight hundred words.

It's faster than writing essays in school!

What he wrote was none other than the children's books and animal stories that Old Zhong had suggested he write.

I got into the mood and wrote two more pages.

He didn't stop writing until Wang Susu came upstairs.

"I thought you were asleep. You've been upstairs for over an hour without coming down. Are you writing a reply?"

Wang Susu approached with a smile, her fair face adorned with two shallow dimples.

"What's so interesting about writing a reply? I'm writing an article."

Chen Ling picked up the notebook, dusted it off with his hand, and said, "Here, take a look."

Wang Susu took the article with a puzzled look: "What article? Will I be able to understand it?"

She then flipped through the notebook, and after only a couple of glances, she exclaimed in surprise, "Ah Ling, are you alright? Did you write such childish sentences? I feel like this is for little kids?"

"You're right, it's for little kids. That's why I bought it—it's for children's books."

Chen Ling then mentioned the advice that Old Zhong had given him.

Wang Susu's eyes lit up when she heard this: "That's right, how come I didn't think of that? Uncle Zhong really knows you. When the time comes, you can write about the lynx, or you can get the lynx to write a couple of chapters together. Uncle Zhong will definitely be very grateful to you."

"It's too early to talk about these things now. This is just a first draft, I'm just trying to see how it feels to read. I didn't even dare to use good paper."

Chen Ling looked up at his wife and smiled: "Another day, when I've almost finished writing, I'll show it to Xiaoming and Xiaolizi. If the kids find it interesting, I can continue. Otherwise, I won't be in the mood to write anymore."

"It's okay, just keep writing. I love reading it. You've already started, so you should at least finish it."

Wang Susu naturally grabbed his cheeks and tugged at them.

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. I'll make sure it has a beginning and an end."

As Chen Ling spoke, he pulled her onto his lap.

……

There are two steep slopes to the north of Chenwangzhuang Village. This year, four households have moved to the slope in front of it.

Naturally, these are the four families: Zhao, Zhong, Chen, and Wu.

When the Chen and Wu families first came to the village, they wanted to build houses on the slope behind the village.

Many people who have just arrived in the countryside are like this, eager to live a secluded life, like "picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence and leisurely gazing at the southern mountains."

Before construction even started, after getting used to rural life, Chen and Wu went to stay with the Zhao and Zhong families.

Now.

Besides these four companies, construction is about to begin again in a place far east of them on the slope.

This morning, a group of people started clearing weeds and shrubs from the slope, and it looks like the work is covering a large area.

The brothers Wang Laochou and Wang Lihua couldn't find anyone to do the work in the village, so they asked relatives and friends to find some people from the county town.

This was a menial task, not only tedious but also tiring, so Zhao Hongbo and the others wouldn't let them do it.

They wouldn't do it even if I offered more money.

They were thinking of finishing their work as soon as possible so they could move on to the next job in the village.

So in the mornings he would do odd jobs, and in the afternoons he would start transporting bricks, stones, and river sand to the village. The tractors would line up and chug into the village.

Old Wang, along with his brother Wang Lihua, armed themselves with shovels and followed the tractor, which moved intermittently, clearing roads everywhere.

This is what the roads in the countryside are like these days.

The same thing happened when Little Sheep and his crew came to the village in their transport trucks; back then, they could manage it themselves, and nobody usually bothered them.

These trucks hauling building materials are no good. The goods are heavy, and if they overturn and something happens, it's not their responsibility. You paid someone to transport them, so they won't take responsibility for that.

So Wang Laochou and his two companions shoveled the road while filling in the potholes with gravel.

At the same time, he cursed inwardly that Chen Ling was not even as good as Chen Erzhu's father, Chen Gulu.

Chen Gulu, who ran a lime factory, also knew to repair roads in the village and widen the mountain paths.

Damn it, Chen Fugui has made so much money, but he won't repair a single road. All he does is eat, drink, and have fun. Wealth doesn't breed conscience; he'll be finished sooner or later.

Chen Ling was unaware that these bastards were cursing him, so he leisurely strolled over to Wang Lixian's mushroom shed with his hands behind his back, accompanied by Tiger and Dog.

Upon seeing him from afar, Wang Lihua immediately cursed, "Damn it, look at him, just seeing him makes me angry."

"Me too."

As soon as the two finished arguing, Chen Ling seemed to have grown super hearing and looked over in confusion.

The two large dogs behind him, along with the two tigers, also turned their attention to him.

The hairs on the three of them stood on end.

Old Wang was so frightened that he trembled all over, wishing he could hit those two bastards with a shovel. Didn't they know how monstrous his dogs were? Not to mention they were carrying a tiger.

You still dare to insult him?

No matter which one, the dog or the tiger, goes mad, they wouldn't be able to withstand a bite.

Wang Lihua was indeed frightened; his face turned pale, and he chuckled awkwardly, "Fugui, your tiger is really big."

He was quite a distance from Chen Ling, and when he said this, he shouted loudly, which made him look a bit comical.

Chen Ling glanced at them: "Of course, what kind of tiger wouldn't be big?"

Then he stopped looking in their direction.

He shouted into the greenhouse, "Brother Xian, how's the stray dog ​​you brought back? Has its temper been tempered?"

Wang Lixian lifted the curtain on the small door of the earthen shed and poked his head out: "How could that be? They're just wild dogs that ran into the mountains. How can you possibly calm them down? Why don't you two tigers give it a try?"

"Sure, I'll have Afu and Ashou give it a try later," Chen Ling said with a smile.

As he spoke, he went into the shed.

As soon as he entered the greenhouse, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Old Wang immediately glared at the two of them: "Go home and curse, don't do it in front of people. Even if you're far away, it's not okay. His dog is as fierce as a tiger. What if it hears us and pounces on us?"

Actually, Wang Laochou didn't need to say anything more. Wang Lihua and Wang Liguo were still trembling inside, and their backs were covered in cold sweat.

I could only sense that there was an evil aura emanating from those two tigers.

Even from so far away, looking at them seemed to see into their hearts...

I used to hear older people talk about how someone was struck by a malevolent spirit, became seriously ill, and almost died.

It sounds very mysterious and ethereal; I just listen to it as a story.

But today they truly felt it.

It's the fierce aura emanating from this tiger.

It's not something that can be simply described as scary.

As Chen Ling entered the mushroom shed, rows of mushroom spawn bags, stacked like brick piles, immediately attracted the attention of the two tigers.

He put his nose close to it and made loud panting noises as he smelled the aroma.

Meanwhile, it stuck out its barbed tongue to lick it.

In no time at all, they licked the newly sprouted little mushrooms to pieces.

They don't eat them; they're just curious and like to play.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling slapped him twice: "Don't touch it like that, you're not eating it."

Afu and Ashou shrank back, looked up at Chen Ling, and then at Wang Lixian beside them. They seemed to know that these things belonged to Wang Lixian's family.

Seeing Chen Ling angry, and seeing Wang Lixian looking at them with a smile and his hands behind his back, they realized that he was not bothered at all.

This made them a little embarrassed.

They scrambled to eat the little mushrooms that had fallen to the ground.

They acted as if we were very obedient and would never waste anything.

Wang Lixian laughed: "This guy is only good because of you, Fugui. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't dare to yell at them."

Yes, Heiwa and his companion are already quite large; they would be even taller and stronger than super-large breeds like Central Asian and Kangal dogs.

But compared to two tigers, it's nothing.

Most people would be terrified just to look at them, let alone speak to them.

"What have you thought about it? Do you want to build a shed or not? I still have space here. If we don't build it now, it will be too late to plant anything later, unless it's like you said, just to put some fish fry, some chicks and ducklings in..."

It doesn't matter whether you do it or not, it'll be the same whether you leave it in my shed.

"Yeah, watching Old Wang and the others working on the hillside, watching tractors hauling river sand bricks into the village one after another, I felt a little itchy inside."

Chen Ling sighed, and couldn't resist touching the row of bulging little mushrooms next to him, his heart filled with a restless desire.

People, once they have money, can't stay idle; they like to do things.

“I have to go into the mountains every day these days. In a couple of days, I’ll be harvesting another batch of fish fry. Once I’m done with this, I’ll set up a shed and give it a try.”

"Haha, that's exactly what I've been waiting for. Building this earthen greenhouse is easy. We can just use the villagers. We don't need to hire anyone. Just tell them to provide meals, and you'll see, everyone will be scrambling to go."

Wang Lixian laughed: "Come on, let's go inside and sit for a while. Let Afu and Ashou teach that stray dog ​​a lesson. With this mother dog blocking the way, the puppies won't be tamed..."

I'll also show you the remaining mushroom spawn packets. This year I made two kinds using cottonseed hulls and corn cobs, and there are still quite a few left.

"Once you build the shed, it won't be available to anyone else. You can just take it away later." (End of Chapter)