My 1995 Small Farm.

It wasn't until after 9 p.m. that the braised pig's head was finally ready.

The golden pig heads turned an enticing reddish-brown color after being braised.

The whole courtyard was filled with fragrance.

Even with the white walls and the mourning tent in the courtyard, people's enthusiasm for eating meat could not be dampened.

Adults and children lined up with bowls, waiting to be served meat.

Anyone who wants to eat tongue or pig's ear can just scoop it up themselves.

Chen Ling cut off the two pig ears from each pig's head.

Otherwise, stewing several pig heads in a big pot, with their ears on, would take up a lot of space.

"Wow, my goodness, it smells so good, so good... This pig's head smells amazing! One bite of the skin and I almost rolled my eyes, it's so delicious I'm practically fainting..."

"Mmm, pig ears are delicious too, they're so fragrant when you chew them, the more you chew, the more fragrant they become... Mmm, Fugui, if you ever need any work, just call us, as long as you make me another pot of pig heads like this, I'll do anything for you."

Chen Ling also picked up an ear and a tongue, along with some lean pork head meat, and ate with Rui Rui and his son, holding their bowls.

Surrounding him were a circle of little kids squatting on the ground, eating voraciously from their bowls.

This wasn't the first time Chen Ling had made this pig's head.

But the children never got to eat it.

Rui Rui hasn't tried it yet either.

He used to only make it once when Wang Susu was craving something sweet.

Wang Susu liked to eat pig's trotters and pig's ears, so he stewed the pig's head and trotters together.

Deep-frying the pig's head not only removes the porky smell but also makes it less greasy. After being braised, the pig skin becomes more chewy and flavorful, with a bouncy and QQ texture. It's so delicious and smooth that it fills your mouth with fragrance.

Wang Laifu's two sons only cared about eating. With such an arrogant yet incompetent, insecure, and sensitive father, they really had never eaten anything good.

The two men, dressed in white mourning clothes, squatted against the wall and ate two large bowls of food.

After finishing their meal, the two looked at each other, wiped the grease from their mouths, and chuckled.

The eldest brother, Wang Jujie, leaned close to his younger brother and whispered, "When we get married, we'll have Fugui be our cook."

Just as the second brother, Wang Juying, was about to say something, his expression suddenly changed: "It's over, brother. We've been so busy eating meat that we haven't even let the night watchmen drink."

The eldest brother, Wang Jujie, had also forgotten about this matter and hurriedly went to ask Wang Laishun.

Wang Laishun hadn't finished eating yet when he heard this, he glanced at his nephew and said, "Why are you drinking? I haven't had enough of the meat yet, who cares... Anyway, you don't need to worry about this. Your father can't teach you anything, you don't even understand this little thing."

The people on night watch drink and eat special meals. It's a long night, and they're keeping watch over the dead, so they have to find something to do and get some warmth out of their bodies.

It is not necessary.

With so many people and such a lively atmosphere, whether there's alcohol or not is up to everyone. If you want to drink, go ahead and drink; if you don't want to, don't drink.

Just do whatever makes you happy.

These two nephews haven't experienced much.

His father, Wang Laifu, couldn't teach his two sons any social skills or manners.

If he weren't the uncle, and if he hadn't encountered such a family, he would never have taken on this job as the manager.

The village remained lively until very late.

Chen Ling ate two pieces of meat and then took Rui Rui home.

He had originally planned to bring Rui Rui over after dropping her off and pouring her a cup of hot tea.

Although he is not a junior member of the Wang family, it is not necessary for him to keep watch at night. Besides, he is a cook and has to work during the day, so he needs to get some rest.

But these days there are few entertainment activities in the village. Apart from the Spring Festival, people don't usually get together to celebrate like they do for weddings and funerals.

Apart from idlers, no other family in the village would openly play cards all night like this.

Or drinking for half the night.

This is an occasion that men of all ages enjoy.

Besides, Chen Ling was still determined to catch a wild goose.

As a result, I returned home.

Erhei ran out and barked loudly at the livestock pen on the east side of the farm.

That's where the little blue horse lives.

Chen Ling knew from Erhei's reaction that Xiao Qingma must have sneaked out again.

Sure enough, when I went over there, it was empty.

"Damn it, that bastard's gotten smarter, he knows to sneak out only after everyone's asleep..."

Chen Lingqing frowned. If he hadn't come back late today, he wouldn't have been able to catch this guy.

There are two young children in the family, Heiwa and Xiaojin, who are very well-behaved and keep the dogs in check at night from barking.

Unless something serious happens, the little blue horses won't bark even if they sneak out.

Even the steward, Seiji Black, wouldn't shout randomly.

Little Green Horse is much more cunning than before. It goes out to frolic at night and comes back before dawn.

When people got up and came to check, it was sitting obediently in the livestock pen.

That's why we haven't caught it since the last time.

"Damn it, I've still eaten too much."

There's an old saying that a horse won't get fat without night grass. This little blue horse doesn't sleep at night and still has the energy to run around. In this respect, no other breed of horse can compare.

"Moo~"

Seeing that Chen Ling was angry, the little white calf next to him poked its head out and gently bleated to comfort him.

Beside it was a tiny, innocent head, squeezed against the massive body of the little white calf, blinking its bright black and white eyes as it gazed curiously.

"Go to sleep, go to sleep, it's okay."

Chen Ling glanced at Rui Rui, who was so sleepy in her arms that he could barely keep his eyes open, looked up at him drowsily, and reached out to pat his little head.

He then reached out and patted the heads of the little white calf and the little water buffalo: "Go to sleep, go to sleep, it's alright."

We can't let the whole family be in turmoil because of one disobedient little horse.

Let it run away if it wants; we'll find it a stallion to mate with next spring.

We'll see if it dares to misbehave then.

Chen Ling just didn't know where Little Green Horse went for its daily strolls.

If he knew what Little Blue Horse was doing running around at night all night, perhaps he wouldn't be so angry and worried.

After the Frost's Descent solar term, the mountains grew colder day by day.

After frost forms at night, the wheat seedlings turn from bright green to dark green.

Just like how cabbages taste better after being touched by frost in late autumn.

The wheat seedlings in this field seem to look the same after the first frost.

It is very attractive to some wild animals.

Just like these wild geese.

They come to eat here every day, without fail.

Although they cannot resist the temptation of wheat seedlings... they are always extremely cautious in their actions, their whereabouts are elusive, and they are difficult to spot.

That's how it happened that night.

Perhaps it was because Wang Laifu's house was too lively in the first half of the night.

After things calmed down in the latter half of the night.

From the northeastern night sky came a series of "caw, caw" sounds, rising and falling in the sky, creating a continuous chorus.

Under the bright moonlight, if you look up, you will see a dark mass of more than a hundred geese, forming huge V-shapes under the lead goose.

It flew over from afar.

The alert flock of geese circled several times in the sky, and finding no danger on the ground, they spread their wings and slowly glided down into the wheat field.

Despite being called wild geese, wild geese, like geese, are extremely aggressive.

In reality, this thing is quite timid and cautious, and it always scouts its surroundings before landing.

They generally avoid places with many people or where wild animals' natural predators roam.

After landing, several fierce, aggressive geese will be stationed around the perimeter to keep watch.

They were afraid that when danger struck, they wouldn't have time to escape.

Of course.

There's a contradiction here.

That is, although geese are afraid of people, when their flocks are large enough, or when there are few people around, they will not be afraid if only one or two people, or just children or the elderly, approach them.

They might even go up and attack.

This is what the flock of geese is like tonight.

They landed here around 4 or 5 a.m.

After landing in the wheat field in large groups, they formed a dense, dark mass, and ate the wheat seedlings in a very orderly manner: some ate, and some stood guard.

If someone who didn't know better saw this dark, constantly shifting shadow in the wheat field, they would probably be terrified.

Meanwhile, Chen Ling and his group had been waiting nearby with great excitement.

The geese, however, seemed not to see it at all.

Have the alert geese gone blind today?
No.

Chen Ling came up with a rather unusual method, and it actually worked.

The time will be set back slightly by half an hour.

The funeral arrangements quieted down around 3 a.m.

After playing cards with someone for a while, Chen Ling put the remaining pig's head into the pot to stew.

Yes, because pig heads are cheap, we listened to Chen Ling and bought a lot, so we still need to stew them in two or three pots.

Although some of the pig heads might not be very fresh if you buy too many, it's not summer, so it's not a big deal.

After cleaning and stewing the pig's head...

It was around 4 a.m.

This is the time when the geese fly over.

In the dead of night, when the wild geese flew overhead, making quite a racket, and were still far away, Heiwa and Xiaojin began to remind Chen Ling.

They knew the geese were flying over.

Chen Ling glanced at the time, immediately perked up, and called to Wang Wenchao and the others to grab their guns and head outside.

The group rushed to the edge of the village, but the wheat field was empty and bare.

Under the clear, cold moonlight of late autumn, a thin layer of white frost covered the wheat fields.

As you get closer, you can see that the thin layer of frost seems to shimmer with a faint fluorescent glow under the moonlight, which is quite beautiful.

"Luckily we arrived in time, the geese haven't flown over yet... Uncle Fugui, what should we do? Should we find a place to hide? How about that ditch over there?"

"Why are you hiding? There's no need to hide. How can you set up the net if you hide in the ditch? Listen to me, you two go to the nets we laid out, lie down next to them and don't move. Wait for the geese to come."

"Huh? Lying down?"

"Just lie down, don't ask so many questions, the geese are coming soon."

This was a method that Chen Ling suddenly thought of after seeing what appeared to be a fox trying to catch a goose during the day.

Although it's a bit bizarre, it's not without reason.

Anyone who has ever hunted in the mountains knows that when hunters bring their dogs into the mountains, these wild animals will always attack the hunters first, whether it's a wild boar or a wolf.

Because in the eyes of wild animals, humans are larger than hunting dogs, therefore humans are more dangerous than dogs.

The same applies to geese. When a person walks close to them, it's definitely a different feeling for them than when a person lies on the ground.

The perceived threat levels of these two entities are likely different for them.

Chen Ling acted on his idea immediately, tried it out, and it worked!

They lay in the wheat field, and the wild geese, as if they hadn't seen them, honked and glided down from the sky.

Upon landing, it first glanced at the group of people lying motionless on the ground with a puzzled look, then went about its business as if nothing had happened.

Those who were on guard duty should go on guard duty, and those responsible for meals should find a suitable place to eat heartily.

Hundreds of geese, each with its wings folded and its rear end wiggling, stretched their necks and crowded together in the wheat field, happily munching on the delicious wheat seedlings, like greedy little lambs.

They were completely unaware of the approaching danger.

Many of them were so engrossed in eating that they accurately stepped on the large net that the net had laid out.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ling was incredibly excited. He jumped up from the ground and shouted, "Pull up the net!" (End of Chapter)