My 1995 Small Farm.

……

Whether it's a snowy day or a rainy day.

If we're talking about the best food to eat in winter, it has to be all kinds of hot pot.

Hot pot, hanging pot, stew pot, shabu-shabu pot... as long as it's a steaming pot, it's bound to taste good in winter.

When the weather is bad and you can't go out, staying home and thinking about what to eat can be a kind of enjoyment.

Chen Ling carried the sturgeon home. The fish was so big and looked so strange that it startled the whole family.

He said he had just gone to the mountains to see if He Jiawen and the others were still guarding the lake, and whether they were trapped in the mountains due to the heavy rain. As a result, he saw this big, strange fish by the lake, which was staying in the shallow water and not swimming much.

He brought a net and a harpoon, and easily caught it.

The family was astonished, but Wang Cunye said with a hint of fear, "If you encounter a big fish like this that has run ashore, try not to try to catch it alone."

The father-in-law didn't say much, but everyone understood immediately upon hearing this.

Chen Ling understood immediately as well.

People who live near water sometimes see fish behaving strangely, staying quietly in the shallow water near the shore, moving slowly, as if they are about to die.

Some of the fish were quite large and looked very plump.

But if someone can't resist the temptation to catch it, this seemingly easy-to-catch fish will appear clumsy but is actually slippery and dodge away, turning its head and slowly swimming towards deeper water, luring the person into the deep water, and finally causing them to drown.

In fact, Chen Ling's family members were well aware of his abilities.

If someone can swim and is skilled at using a harpoon, there's generally no need to worry.

The reason Wang Cunye said that extra was mainly because it was raining today. Besides, if you stand by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet. If something really happened, there would be no one outside in this weather, and no one could save you.

Besides, Chen Ling isn't a new son-in-law anymore, so if someone says something well-intentioned, he won't take it to heart, and the family won't feel like they're being a spoilsport.

They gathered together, talking and cleaning the fish.

But since we brought up these strange tales again, we ended up talking about them again without even realizing it.

They talked about Baoshuan's aunt's affairs, and also about the strange things happening in the county town.

The story about the county town was told by Wang Zhenzhen after school yesterday. This time it wasn't about the tofu shop. She said there was a taxi driver in the county who was recently transporting workers from the Wangbacheng mine to various places to take them home.

They don't know how far they travel each day, and because they're afraid of being robbed, these kinds of vehicles always travel early in the morning rather than late at night.

In other words, I'd rather get up at four or five in the morning than stay up late.

The passengers on the bus naturally cooperated, since they all had money on them.

However, nothing is absolute. One day, the car broke down halfway through the journey and was not repaired until dark. To be on the safe side, the driver still did not want to drive at night.

As a result, the remaining three passengers on the bus disagreed and even got into an argument with the driver.

They said their village wasn't far away, and the driver could take them back so they could stay overnight in the village.

I got up very early to catch the bus today. Now that I'm so close to home, why do I still have to spend the night outside?
The driver had a gun and a machete hidden in his car. He wasn't afraid of them causing trouble and said, "If you want me to give you a ride, that's fine, but it'll cost ten yuan more per person. Otherwise, I won't give you a ride."

We agreed not to drive at night before we got on the bus.

Traveling at night can easily lead to accidents, as you all know.

No extra charge, no delivery.

The three seemed to be in a hurry to get home, and after grumbling a few words, they handed over the money.

The three people's villages were indeed not far apart, and there was no one blocking the road that night, so they were taken home smoothly.

But to the driver's surprise, all three people went into the same house after getting out of the car.

He thought to himself: These three don't look like three brothers.

However, he didn't think much of it and simply parked the car outside the village and went to sleep in it.

He didn't care that the three men wouldn't let him into their house to sleep. He even argued with them and asked for more money. Did he expect them to let him into their house to sleep?
So, after taking a nap in the car, I drove back as soon as it got light.

However, when they stopped to buy food in a town along the way, they were furious to find a large piece of ghost money among the money they received.

Upon closer inspection of where the money was placed, it turned out that the money was given by the last three people.

Without saying a word, the driver got in the car and drove back. When they returned to the village and found the house, the homeowner came out looking completely bewildered.

They asked the driver if he had come to the wrong place, explaining that no one from their village went down into the mines, let alone three people together.

The driver was furious, believing they were trying to renege on their debt, since he hadn't seen the ghost money clearly the night before and had even given change.

If he doesn't admit it, he'll end up losing seventy yuan.

The family felt wronged and called the village secretary to testify, saying that no one from their village went to Wangbacheng to work in the mines.

The driver must have gone to the wrong place. Their son and daughter live in their county town, and their sow gave birth last night, so they didn't go to sleep until very late. How could three people have entered their house in the middle of the night without them noticing?
Seeing that the villagers were numerous and powerful, and that none of them admitted to the crime, the driver had no choice but to accept his bad luck.

An old woman in the village suddenly asked the family how many piglets they had given birth to, with a strange expression on her face.

The man said three.

The old woman then asked whether it was male or female.

The man said there were three little male pigs.

He paused for a moment after saying that, and a look of fear immediately appeared on his face.

The driver suddenly realized something and looked horrified.

They quickly followed the man to the family's pigsty and found that all three piglets were indeed male.

The driver was shocked and terrified. The remaining three people weren't alive; they were ghosts who had somehow gotten on the bus. But at the same time, a thought couldn't help but cross his mind: 'No wonder they were in such a hurry to get home so late at night; they were in a hurry to be reincarnated.'

Now he was no longer angry or furious, and he no longer thought about getting his money back. All he felt was fear and dread.

But just as he was hurrying out, he tripped over a stone outside the house because he was walking too fast. By sheer coincidence, the seventy yuan he had given as change was lying under the stone.

Seeing the money, even those who didn't believe it started to believe it.

They were more afraid than anyone else.

The family that raised pigs was even more at a loss.

...While recounting this strange incident, Wang Cunye said, "There have been many accidents at the Wangbacheng mine this year. People say that you shouldn't have children at the end of the year because those who had accidents are reincarnated everywhere. They say they are the reincarnations of poor ghosts and unlucky ghosts, and their children will not amount to anything in the future."

She was initially quite scared, but the old man's words made Gao Xiulan laugh: "You're just talking nonsense. People say that you get what you deserve in your life, one lifetime of hardship followed by another of happiness. If you were a beggar in your past life, you'll be an emperor in this one..."

Chen Ling said, "Dad, you probably said that from the family planning office. Mom, you can't let the family planning office hear what you're saying."

Upon hearing this, the whole family burst into laughter.

People living in the mountains have countless strange and unusual stories. Even if they happen to someone nearby, as long as it doesn't happen to you personally, they're just things to talk about over tea.

Don't take it too seriously.

However, just as Chen Ling finished cleaning the sturgeon around noon, Chen Baoshuan, who was involved in another story, came to his door.

Following behind were Yu Qi'an, Zheng Shaoqiu, and several other people from Hong Kong Island.

It turned out that Chen Baoshuan had brought back two badgers from Taoshugou, saying that he caught them while digging a grave for his aunt. Since they didn't know how to cook badger meat, they called Chen Ling over to make it into a snack with their drinks.

It's raining, so it would be nice to have a few drinks together.

Upon seeing the badger, Chen Ling immediately shook his head: "This is a badger, its meat is far inferior to that of a hog badger, why bother? We just happened to bring back a big fish, you can stay here and eat the fish, what dish can't go well with wine?"

Yu Qi'an and Chen Baoshuan knew Chen Ling's temper, so they didn't stand on ceremony with him. They put the badger in a cage and then went into the kitchen to help him.

People on Hong Kong Island know their stuff.

Seeing the sturgeon, I knew it must be a good fish, so I asked if it was a sea fish, since it looked like a shark.

Chen Ling laughed and said, "It's about the same, shark fin and sturgeon bone, both are top-quality items."

“Sturgeon bones, is this a sturgeon, a Chinese sturgeon?” Several Hong Kong residents seemed very surprised.

"I don't know that."

"It looks like one to me. I've seen photos of it in the news... This is much rarer than a shark. I heard these things have fetched astronomical prices at auction. Was it a gift from a friend?"

They subconsciously assumed that this kind of expensive fish wouldn't be found in this small village.

Now, many people are approaching Chen Ling and his team for collaborations related to braised beef noodles, and it's not uncommon for them to offer a sturgeon as a gift.

Chen Ling said, "It was caught in a large lake in the mountains."

"Huh? In the lake? You don't just eat Chinese sturgeon like that here, do you?"

After asking that question, they themselves fell silent.

Is this place really so precious that it's considered a treasure?

The food is way too high-end.

Even if they could afford to eat a whole table of this, it would be a bit too much for them.

If you come to the mainland and can't even afford to eat, then you'll make a fool of yourself.

Undeniably, although they like Chenwangzhuang, they come from developed areas and are coming to a backward mountain village, so their sense of disdain is still very strong.

But now, seeing these two large bowls of fish with bones, I suddenly felt a bit intimidated.

This meal is really too expensive for me.

Having gotten used to paying for food and lodging in the village these past few days, I subconsciously wanted to spend money on food when I came to Chen Ling's place.

In addition, they also considered the sturgeon to be too precious, so would they let them eat and drink for free?

Chen Ling was unaware of their awkwardness. Could they really refuse to sit down and eat when it was mealtime? It wasn't like they were short of a meal.

He was just talking to Yu Qi'an and Chen Baoshuan, saying that Er Tuzi and the two eagles had eaten a lot today, and that Er Tuzi's spirits had recovered well.

Chen Baoshuan also mentioned Taoshugou.

After he revealed what happened to his aunt, his cousin's wife chickened out and dared not say anything more.

She even suddenly became fond of her sister-in-law's son, whom she used to dislike, giving him money and buying him food, and offering to let her nephew stay for a while so that her sister-in-law could come and stay while she avoided being fined.

She was afraid that her mother-in-law would hold a grudge after her death and come back to seduce her as well.

When this story was told, the already superstitious people of Hong Kong Island perked up immediately; they loved hearing about it.

Later, when they heard about the driver's story in the county town, they got into a conversation and started talking about several other things.

Zheng Shaoqiu also mentioned several strange things that happened on the film set.

Finally, he added, "We heard the old man from your village telling stories this morning. We also heard that your village has a powerful shaman."

Do you know the guy who filmed Shaolin Temple? He almost died a few years ago. He was so young, healthy, and there was nothing wrong with him, but he suddenly seemed to have lost half his life.

Later, a sorceress from your mainland China gently stroked his chest and back twice, and he vomited a lot of black blood.

It will get better gradually.

Chen Ling was also surprised when he heard this. The one from Shaolin Temple, isn't he the King of Kung Fu?
So, the mysterious thing Zhao Tianba mentioned before was actually about him? (End of Chapter)