My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 713

After leaving Aunt Hongyu's house, Chen Ling didn't wait for Zhenzhen to get out of school; instead, he drove his tractor back to the village.

When they arrived at Wang Lixian's greenhouse in the east of the village, they unloaded a truckload of bamboo poles.

There's already a lot of stuff piled up here.

But after Chen Ling realized that he needed to put a lot of things in the greenhouse, he suddenly felt that there weren't enough building materials.

He didn't initially plan on how big the greenhouse would be.

Now that we're actually getting started, we realize the greenhouse is too small and there's not enough space.

After careful consideration, he felt that this kind of earthen greenhouse was not suitable for being too large.

If there isn't enough space, it's better to build more.

It's just a matter of making a few more trips to Wangbacheng and picking up two more truckloads of building materials.

I've made up my mind.

Chen Ling drove the tractor home, and everyone was there except for Wang Qingzhong, who had gone back to Fenglei Town.

He then recounted how he had met his cousin Zhao Wenpin in the county town.

The family had no objection to Chen Ling secretly slipping money to them.

It's just that I can't help but say a few more words to Chen Ling about money.

"You two don't know how to manage your money, whether it's saving or spending. How can you be so careless all the time?"

"Lingzi is the same; he keeps some in the county and some in the city, so he's not afraid of forgetting."

"Dad, Mom, there's a saying that goes, 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket.'"

"Don't give me that. Save your money and keep it in mind. Aren't you going to buy a house and open a shop in Beijing after the New Year? Hurry up and settle your accounts so you don't run out of money after you open the shop."

"Susu, you used to keep accounts every day, right? Lingzi was so careless and didn't care about anything, so why don't you keep accounts anymore?"

Wang Susu felt wronged: "Mother, I have to take care of three children, and I don't even get enough sleep. How can I possibly keep accounts!"

After saying that, she fed Rui Rui while muttering softly, "You can't bear to talk about your son-in-law, but you're talking about me."

Meanwhile, that brat Rui Rui was eating the food Wang Susu was feeding him while secretly glancing at Chen Ling's reaction.

He listens to everything the adults say.

Chen Ling was grooming Afu and Ashou when he heard everyone talking about him, so he quickly said, "I'll keep the accounts, I'll keep the accounts, I'll start tonight."

In the past, Wang Susu kept a clear and meticulous record of every expense, from how much money she earned to how much she spent, in her ledger.

Since having a child, aside from reading some medical stories, I've gradually forgotten about keeping track of my expenses.

"I'm not trying to criticize you. Let's not even talk about the money from the salted eggs. We just had another batch of fish fry yesterday. The money from the fish fry, the share from the cannery and the city restaurants, is a big part of it. You should write it down. Whether you're rich or poor, you need to know your own financial situation."

Gao Xiulan explained.

Chen Ling readily agreed.

Then he quickly changed the subject: "Oh right, I got a footprint from that haunted tofu shop, it's still on the tractor..."

They went out and retrieved the two mud stains he had thrown into the cave.

Because the ground was still wet from rain that night, the hoof prints were preserved.

But what Chen Ling didn't know was...

The hoofprint was severely deformed because the soil was too soft.

Otherwise, a hoof print two or three times larger than a bowl, without claws, would definitely be considered a monster in their territory.

When Chen Ling brought it home, his family was indeed extremely surprised.

However, Afu and Ashou's behavior was quite strange.

Its face was lazy, and it occasionally licked its paws, seemingly uninterested in the footprints.

Erhei was also running around busily.

They kept passing by them, not even glancing at the large patch of mud with hoof prints.

At this time, Heiwa and Xiaojin were not there. They had gone to play in the backyard with Ruirui after finishing their meal. Erhei was running around delivering things to them.

One moment it's a shovel, the next a basket, then a gourd...

Anyway, neither the dog nor the tiger in the house reacted to this thing.

“These footprints are so big, they’re almost as big as that old pig demon’s. They’re terrifying to look at,” Wang Cunye said.

"Keep the fur you combed off the tiger. Someone will definitely come back for it and take it home to ward off evil spirits."

Chen Ling didn't take it seriously: "I'll take the dog and tiger out for a walk tonight and see what's causing the trouble... I don't believe there really are monsters?"

Gao Xiulan quickly turned around and said, "Of course there are. Your second sister-in-law's side had someone bump into Mu Ke a few years ago."

Wood spirits are also a type of mountain spirit. They gather firewood in the mountains and when they encounter people walking at night, they will leave a bundle of firewood in exchange for the things they take from them. Mountain people believe that this is a relatively kind kind of spirit.

Chen Ling agreed verbally, but inwardly he scoffed.

He said, "While it's still early, I'll go cut some reeds. This morning I saw that the geese's wings have grown, and they're growing quite fast. I need to quickly build them a shed to make a home."

“I’ll go with you. Don’t greenhouses also need reeds?” Wang Cunye stood up.

"No need, Dad, you should rest. It's cold, and your legs can't go into the water. Besides, I can work faster."

Chen Ling waved his hand, dragged out the oxcart, called the little white ox and the little water buffalo, and released the little blue horse, heading towards the old river bend.

Of course, before leaving, I didn't forget to release the two tigers into the mountains. After the weather cleared, the reeds dried quickly.

There weren't many people in the village in the afternoon. Few villagers were outside, and the group from Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as Yu Qi'an and his group, weren't seen wandering around outside.

Chen Ling was slightly puzzled, then continued towards the old river bend.

It's been raining these past few days, so no geese have come to eat the wheat seedlings in the fields, and naturally, there's no goose droppings to be seen.

But after the weather cleared up today, Wang Wenchao and a few other young men started setting up nets at the foot of the mountain to catch rabbits again.

There are so many rabbits this year, it seems like we can't catch them all.

Back then, on the west side of the village, we caught six or seven hundred rabbits in just one afternoon.

Chen Ling was startled, thinking the farmland was full of rabbit burrows, or that many rabbits lived in one burrow.

He had only ever heard of a badger den being able to house dozens of badgers.

I've never heard of wild rabbits living in a litter of ten or twenty, just like domestic rabbits.

I later learned that it was a special case.

That's because the corn stalks were taller back then, and more rabbits came down from the mountain.

Now it's a wheat field, so there's noticeably less wheat.

This is mainly because the family dog ​​is too clever. It patrols around looking for food every day, and the rabbits and pheasants have learned from it. They come down the mountain less often, or they only dare to come down when the dog pack is not around.

Rabbits and pheasants are plentiful in the mountains this year, but they are not yet rampant.

Field mice and bamboo rats are showing signs of overpopulation.

Even though there are raccoons, foxes, and leopards that try to catch and eat them, it's difficult to make a significant difference.

After all, they won't spend every day hunting these two types of small creatures.

Field mice and bamboo rats reproduce rapidly and produce many offspring, digging particularly deep burrows, which leads to a very rapid increase in their numbers.

Chen Ling had previously planned to take the weasel family out to cause some trouble at night.

After Er Tu Zi stopped coming back, they stopped coming home and forgot about it.

"If it's sunny tomorrow, let's put the fake geese that Liu Nier and the others made in the wheat field and start attracting geese."

As Chen Ling walked towards the old river bend, he observed the wheat seedlings in the wheat field, which were indeed growing vigorously.

This definitely needs to be addressed.

When they arrived at the old river bend, Chen Ling unloaded the oxcart and let the two water buffaloes and the little blue horse play by themselves. He then picked up a sickle and walked towards the reeds.

He hadn't walked two steps when he noticed someone smiling at him from under a tree on the other side of the river: "When I came over, I saw a tractor loaded with bamboo poles. What? Starting to build greenhouses tomorrow?"

"Huh? Brother Xian, you're cutting reeds here too?"

"Yeah, we cut some reeds to make two kennels for our dogs... Did you see it when we came? Wenchao and his gang were treating your rabbit net like a treasure!"

"Haha, let them play. I don't need that internet even if it's at home."

Chen Ling laughed and said, "I thought about the greenhouses again today, and I feel that two greenhouses are not enough. I need at least three, or two bigger ones."

"Hahaha, you, I knew it."

Wang Lixian couldn't help but laugh loudly: "When you're not doing something, you don't even think about it. But when you want to do something, and it happens at the last minute, you're unwilling to compromise at all. You have to do it to your own satisfaction before you're satisfied..."

Chen Ling replied matter-of-factly, "Of course it has to be to my liking."

"Go ahead, go ahead, you can take as much of my land as you want!" Wang Lixian waved his hand with a smile.

Then he got up and picked up the sickle beside him: "Come on, I've rested for a while, let's go cut reeds together."

"Walk."

As the two cut reeds, Wang Lixian told him about the two strange things that had happened in the past two days.

There's not much to say about the donkey-headed wolf.

You say this, I say that, we all guess a little here and a little there, but no one has seen or can say for sure what kind of monster it is.

It's not much different from the legendary Taotie and Muke, whose true appearances have never been seen.

As for the matter of Chen Baoshuan's aunt in Taoshugou, Wang Lixian said he had heard of many similar cases.

There was a family in the east of the county town who, because their first child was a boy and a girl, didn't want a daughter and abandoned them in the ditch in front of their house.

Later, when the son turned eighteen, he died in the ditch in front of the house on the eve of his wedding. In those days, people got married young in the countryside. The son, who had never been sick or injured, died on the eve of his wedding.

In that season, the water in the ditches was very shallow, like a small stream, with only a shallow layer of water. Even an adult could lie in it and not drown.

But that kid fell in and drowned.

Anyone who saw that death would have drowned.

Later, their parents said that they had dreamt the night before that a child was crying loudly at the door, but they didn't know it at the time.

Looking back now, it must have been the child we lost back then.

There was resentment in his heart.

After listening, Chen Ling clicked his tongue. Even though he possessed a hidden world, he still felt a chill run down his spine.

Of course, there are many strange and unusual things in the countryside, and many of them are quite interesting. He had even considered collecting and organizing them.

Later, it was discovered that some of them were unethical and unsuitable for dissemination and publication, so the matter was dropped.

(End of this chapter)