My 1995 Small Farm.

Chen Ling went there with the intention of hunting wild geese.

As a result, they didn't catch any geese, but instead encountered a rare and unusual scene.

As he led the two tigers into the nearby maple forest, he heard a series of rapid 'cawing' and 'hoowing' sounds.

At the same time, there was a loud, continuous flapping sound of wings.

And every now and then there's a splash or a whoosh of water.

He thought it was the people who came to photograph the red-crowned cranes who didn't know the rules and scared the cranes.

They quickly walked through the maple forest to take a look.

Upon arriving at the lakeside, one sees a group of elegant feathered fairies fiercely battling a group of equally elegant large birds on the wide lake surface. They flap their wings, shout, and fiercely peck at each other, exchanging blows and yielding to one another, with feathers flying wildly across the water.

It turned out that a flock of swans and red-crowned cranes were fighting.

Chen Ling was also a little stunned when she saw it for the first time.

I came here to hunt geese.

We dare not attack the swans.

The few people with filming equipment set up in the bamboo forest across the mountain lake were acting suspiciously and didn't dare to move, but Chen Ling could clearly see the excitement on their faces.

Their trip was not only worthwhile, it was incredibly fruitful.

Seeing Chen Ling carrying a gun and a tiger, they assumed he was there to hunt birds by the lake and hurriedly gestured to him, telling him not to disturb the two large birds on the lake.

Chen Ling pursed his lips, waved to Afu and Ashou beside him who were staring blankly at the lake, and told them to go find food in the mountains.

He quietly went around to the bamboo grove on the other side of the lake and asked the people what was going on.

When did this huge flock of swans arrive?

It's not that swans haven't come to their area before; they came once a couple of years ago, but it's still a rare sight.

These people told him they had arrived at noon and had been playing there for a long time when the flock of red-crowned cranes suddenly descended from the sky and attacked.

It took them a while to realize that the group of red-crowned cranes had increased by half.

The sight of red-crowned cranes fighting with swans excited them so much that they stayed there to film, forgetting to go down the mountain for a meal.

Chen Ling waited with them for a while, and soon the flock of swans was expelled from the country.

Needless to say, these red-crowned cranes have made the mountain lake their exclusive territory.

On their own territory, any birds that trespass will be driven away.

No wonder Chen Ling had passed by here several times in the past few days and had never seen any flocks of geese stop here.

Even if geese land, they will be chased away by the red-crowned cranes.

Upon learning that waiting for the geese to fly by the lake was not an option, Chen Ling decided not to wait idly there.

While it was still early, they called back Afu and Ashou and took them hunting in the mountains.

That's how raising tigers works.

They don't eat three meals a day.

But eating meat only once a day is an amount of food that most people can't imagine.

Preparing food for them every day is a must.

Fortunately, Chen Ling was enjoying it.

The two tigers had a great haul today, catching a large red muntjac together, which must weigh over 100 pounds.

Ah Fu and Ah Shou enjoyed their meal immensely.

Chen Ling let the dogs carry the remaining remains back to feed the dogs.

I went into the mountains and got home around 4:00 or 5:00.

Chen Ling went back and quickly washed up before heading to Wang Laifu's house.

It was time to start cooking, but Chen Ling still felt uneasy.

He shouted into the crowd, "Dinner will be a little late tonight. Damn it, Xiao Chao, go find the rabbit net you put at home and stick it in the wheat field. Get up early tomorrow to catch the geese."

"Well, judging by this, Fugui has failed to catch the goose again..."

The crowd burst into laughter.

“Fugui, you can’t do this! You can’t catch geese, and it’s not our fault, but why are you making us go hungry? You have to get us a decent meal tomorrow.”

"Stop teasing Fugui. He's been wanting to eat geese for days, but he just can't get any. He's in a bad mood. If you anger him, you won't get any more food at banquets in the future."

"..."

Chen Ling's face darkened: "Damn it, stop making fun of me. This year's geese are incredibly slippery. If you're so capable, go and hunt them. If you manage to catch one, I'll bring you some good wine."

"Oh no, oh no, Fugui is really angry."

People laughed even harder now.

Everyone knows that Chen Ling was truly, truly, truly driven to desperation by that flock of geese.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken out the rabbit-catching net at all.

Wang Laishun, who was in charge, gestured for everyone to stop laughing. Xiao Chao, go get the rabbit-catching net. If you're late, your Uncle Fugui won't cook for us.

"Hey, I'm going right now... Uncle Fugui, you come too, let's just drag the net into the wheat field."

"Okay, let's put up the net. Let's make it big this time."

Chen Ling spat. "Damn it, we didn't catch a single goose. This year is really strange."

It's even more bizarre than fishing with an air force (or bluffing).

The Air Force at least knew there were fish in the water, but they hadn't seen a single wild goose for several days.

All I saw were geese droppings covering the wheat fields.

How strange!

So Chen Ling decided to go all out.

Use a net to catch geese.

He originally intended to make some snares and traps for catching pheasants, but then he thought, geese come in flocks, and those guys are incredibly strong...

It is much stronger than a domesticated goose.

Neither the clips nor the covers are secure; they will work together to break free eventually.

Even if someone is seriously injured during the struggle, the probability is very small.

So let's stick with the rabbit-blocking net.

The rabbit-catching net was the same large net he and the lynx had brought back from the dogfighting arena.

Before the autumn harvest, he was catching rabbits at the foot of the mountain.

Later, Wang Wenchao and his friends, being young, saw that there were quite a few rabbits that had been herded out that time, numbering in the hundreds, and they found it very satisfying.

So they borrowed Chen Ling's net and started catching rabbits everywhere. Although they didn't catch as many as Chen Ling had caught that time, they still had a good catch almost every day.

Wild rabbits are easy to catch with nets.

For geese, using a net is another method of catching them.

Just like Chen Ling said, when catching geese, it's done with a net.

First, spread out the barrier netting and lay it on the ground, then spread it out in the wheat field, like setting up an array.

The entire area is covered in them.

The net that Chen Ling and his team brought back was large enough.

After spreading out the nets in the wheat fields where geese frequent, wait for the flock to land...

Someone went and pulled the net, then flipped it over and secured it.

Once a large net is cast over the flock of geese, no matter how alert they are, they will be trapped.

A group of young men followed Chen Ling and Wang Wenchao with great enthusiasm as they cast nets throughout the wheat field.

The geese are caught wherever they land near the net.

I still don't believe it.

"Uncle Fugui, come quick! What's going on?"

On the other side, Chen Dazhi's son was leading people to set up a net when he suddenly discovered something and waved for Chen Ling to come over.

"what?"

Chen Ling strode over and saw a patch of colorful feathers on a long earthen mound, where the wheat field was separated from the soil.

It has stiff, long wing feathers, as well as short down feathers.

"This is a dead goose. I don't know what caught it, but its feathers are all over the ground."

Chen Ling looked around but saw no footprints or remaining bones.

Something that eats bones so much can't be a civet cat or anything like that.

"It must be a fox. There's a fox den behind the local temple."

Chen Ling thought for a moment and said, "It's been gnawed so cleanly, it must be a wolf, a dog, or a fox..."

"So, Uncle Fugui, you didn't get up early enough after all that you went to look for nothing."

Wang Wenchao laughed and said, "We can catch other things."

"Fine, so you're making fun of me too, aren't you?"

Chen Ling reached out and smacked him on the head.

Frustrated as he was, he knew that the geese weren't playing guerrilla warfare with people, but rather were being quite cautious in their reconnaissance; they wouldn't land in the wheat field if there were people nearby.

Thinking of this, he suddenly frowned.

Why is it that the fox is able to catch the goose?
An idea suddenly popped into my head...

"Hehe, Uncle Fugui, why don't you keep watch with us tonight? We'll call Heiwa and Xiaojin over too, and have them keep watch. If there's any movement, we'll go out and catch the geese."

"You're right, that's what I think too... Let's go back and have dinner first."

Chen Ling looked around. The green wheat field was covered with fences on all sides. He didn't tell them what he was thinking and went back with them without saying a word.

After all, as the cook, he still needs to prepare dinner as soon as possible.

Dinner was simple; the pickled fish was quick to make.

Once the pickled fish is cooked, it becomes a mixed fish hot pot.

The pig's head is also being stewed.

He even put a bit of thought into making that pig's head.

It is first deep-fried and then braised.

Deep-frying removes the porky smell.

At this time, there is no need to worry about excessive oil consumption or the large amount of fatty meat in the pig's head.

After frying half a pot of pig's head, there was not only no less, but actually more.

You can use it for cooking later.

Unsurprisingly, the sauerkraut fish served for dinner also received unanimous praise.

Night slowly fell.

It's still quite lively here.

Many men stayed away for a long time, playing cards, chess, and other games.

Besides waiting for the mixed fish hot pot, I also crave Chen Ling's big pot of braised pig's head.

Once deep-fried, they turn a golden brown color, making your mouth water just looking at them.

They were willing to leave.

Even if I don't stay up all night, I have to taste this fragrant pig's head meat before I go back to sleep.

Not only them, but also many little kids were running around.

Rui Rui was there too. He no longer pretends to be the Big Bad Wolf, but the Big Tiger, because everyone says their family's tiger is fierce.

Adults don't understand the communication between young children.

I don't know how it happened, but Rui Rui learned that tigers are more powerful than wolves.

It howled in a childish voice, baring its teeth and claws as it chased people all over the yard.

Heiwa and his two children followed him closely, dutifully carrying out their childcare duties.

"Grandpa, is the braised pig's head ready yet? I'm hungry again."

When Xiao Sen got tired of playing, he hopped and skipped over to Chen Ling and looked up at him.

"There's plenty of time for braised pig's head meat. If you're hungry, why don't you go eat some mixed fish hot pot?"

"Hmm... I don't want to eat it. I've eaten at your house so many times, but I've never had your stewed pig's head before..."

As soon as he said that, many children's stomachs started growling, and they ran up to Chen Ling to ask him when the pig's head meat would be ready.

"Tsk, these kids, they've been spoiled rotten by Fugui. No one else dares to urge Fugui, but they don't hold back at all in front of him."

"That's right. My kid is closer to Fugui than to his own father. At home, he always talks about Uncle Fugui. I've told him off a few times, but it's no use. There's just no way to talk to him. Luckily, all kids are like that."

"Haha, then go and coax his Rui Rui..."

"You're talking nonsense. Fugui can cook food and play with toys. Do you think Rui Rui would be interested in what we have? I can't win him over."

As they were talking, Chen Ling had already calmed the children who were clamoring for meat. He led them to the dim light of the electric lamp at the entrance of the courtyard, peeled off the outer casing of each firecracker, poured out the explosives, dug small pits, and showed them how to play with fireworks that didn't explode but only emitted sparks. (End of Chapter)