My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 750

Yu Qi'an avoided a beating because he was busy helping people pack their things.

I was quite stunned when I saw this scene.

This made the old man feel fortunate: "Thank goodness, thank goodness I wasn't thinking of bringing fish, I just wanted to bring some birds back."

But the red-crowned cranes were not afraid of people, and even though more and more villagers came out to watch the spectacle, they still refused to leave.

They're probably waiting for someone to bring over some delicious fish so they can snatch some more.

In the end, it was Chen Ling who drove the red-crowned cranes away.

After the morning mist dissipated, Yu Qi'an and the people from Hong Kong Island also left.

Secretary Zhang and his group also left.

Chen Ling took Wang Susu and the three children to the county hospital to visit Du Juan and bring her some food.

I also had lunch at Liang Hongyu's house.

In the afternoon, the weather warmed up.

Chen Ling then drove the large agricultural machinery, the giant tractor, to the threshing ground, spread out the corn cobs, and began to crush them back and forth.

This job requires patience.

It's not the same as having a grinder that can crush corn cobs instantly.

Even with such large agricultural machinery, it takes more than one or two passes to compact the soil with heavy objects.

It often takes more than an hour to completely crush 100 kilograms of corn cobs to meet the standards for use.

Fortunately, Chen Ling is never in a hurry when doing this kind of thing.

Moreover, apart from a few people he usually keeps in touch with who came to help, no one from the village came to bother him today.

The main reason is that there's another wedding in the village today.

In the second half of this year, there were so many weddings and matchmakers in Chenwangzhuang, one after another.

This time, compatriots from Hong Kong and Taiwan came, as well as high-ranking officials. There were even more matchmakers coming from the south and north of the city, from Tenghe Township and Fenglei Town.

They come from all over the world.

The girls and boys of Chenwangzhuang are all highly sought after.

When I was seventeen or eighteen, people started coming to my door.

Moreover, as long as the two parties are attracted to each other, the engagement and marriage can be arranged very quickly.

In previous years, the time between choosing a wedding date and various preparations for getting married was usually about a year.

That is, they get engaged first, and then get married a year later.

But this year was different; the wedding was held in just two or three months.

They seemed afraid that Chenwangzhuang might change their minds.

Chen Dazhi, Wang Lixian, Chen Baoshuan, and a few others were talking in the threshing ground while helping Chen Ling load the crushed corn cobs and transport them to the farm.

Wang Jusheng would also occasionally bring Da Tou over for a stroll, bringing them some water and food.

Zhang Qiaoling is very skillful; her rice crusts and glutinous rice strips are delicious.

There are also dried fruits made from wild berries.

Adults like to eat it as a snack, and little kids especially love it.

Liu Nier and the others are guarding this place.

Originally, he was supposed to be catching geese, but he didn't catch any. Instead, Wang Lixian dragged him over to do some work, and he did get to eat some good food.

Now I have the energy to work.

"Uncle Fugui, do you know that there are a lot of wolves living near my fourth brother-in-law's house?"

During the break, Liu Nier suddenly remembered something and ran up to Chen Ling and started yelling at him.

"Your fourth brother-in-law? From Yangtougou?"

After hearing this, Chen Ling thought for a moment and thought, "Oh, wolves in Yangtougou, not surprising."

There's a shepherd over there who wants to learn from me.

"Yeah, we used to talk about that shepherd, right? My brother-in-law said that now all the wolves he raised have run away, and he's living in the woods outside the village with his wolf cubs."

My brother-in-law heard that you, Uncle Fugui, and my Dada brought me a wolf cub from the mountains, and he thought we could raise it, so he came looking for us to take it away.

Liu Ni'er said with a grin.

Wang Lixian then said, "There's not much to say about his people. Many of them are just doing whatever they want. If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have let Si Ni'er marry into that family."

"Hey, Si Ni'er's man is pretty good. I even ran into him on the way to Fenglei Town," Chen Ling said in surprise.

"Her husband's family is good, but her village is not. To use Fugui's words, the people in Yangtougou are all like lunatics. Many of them are old but ignorant, selfish and unreasonable."

Wang Lixian shook his head and sighed.

At this moment, Chen Ling recalled that Lao Ba's evaluation of the villages in Yangtougou was not very good either.

It's similar to Taoshugou in their area.

Speaking of which, people in the mountains at this time are generally like this: either they are like they are missing a screw in their head, dull and stupid, or they don't understand anything and there's not much to say about them.

"Hey, Fugui, well, Maisui brought some little trinkets over, you can give them to Ruirui to play with."

At this moment, Wang Lihua came over, holding a peeing doll and a small wooden carriage, and said with an embarrassed smile.

Mai Sui was originally supposed to deliver it, but he wanted to get closer to Chen Ling. However, when he arrived here, he felt awkward and embarrassed, making his face burn and his speech become incoherent.

Wang Lixian felt ashamed after seeing this, so he turned around, squatted on a rock, and smoked.

"Oh, Mai Sui is here. Are you going to the wedding in the east of the village?" Chen Ling didn't refuse. Mai Sui was a good girl.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Wang Lixian and his family have fallen out with Wang Ershenzi's family.

But she still treats Maisui like her own niece.

Mainly because Maisui had known them since she was little and they were close to each other, and the children from several families would play together.

Adults shouldn't get involved in children's affairs.

"Yes, I'll go over there, and while I'm at it, I'll visit my mother and also act as a matchmaker for Jujie and the other two."

When Chen Ling spoke up, Wang Lihua immediately felt less awkward, scratched his mustache, and laughed.

"Alright, at this rate, it looks like the wedding dates for all the girls and boys in our village won't be set until next year," Chen Ling muttered to himself when he heard that matchmaking was going to start again.

"Who says otherwise? It's all thanks to you." Wang Lihua said with a smile, taking out cigarettes and offering them to everyone.

Only Chen Ling gave him some face and clipped it to his ear; no one else would take it.

I'm not familiar with him, and we're on bad terms with his family, so why bother with him?

Wang Lihua could only awkwardly chat for a few more minutes before slinking away.

He left, and no one present said anything to him.

Liu Nier called out, "Fourth Sister and Fifth Sister both said that Aunt Maisui gave them money and bought them food when they were little."

He glanced at Wang Lixian as he spoke, and said, "I've never had it."

Wang Lixian glared at him: "All you know is eating. Your Uncle Fugui prepares food every day, and you still haven't had enough. You're already complaining about your Aunt Maisui."

Not to mention that Chen Ling often provided them with food, their family never lacked any food, and they were never wronged in terms of food.

Wang Lixian felt ashamed to be making such a fuss.

People around laughed: "A half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home. My little rascal is the same. He puts everything in his mouth whenever he sees something."

Chen Ling laughed, "Just like when we were kids, we'd grab a cornbread, dip it in some sauce, and go out to play. Who wouldn't want to eat something when they're this big? It helps them grow taller!"

After a few laughs, Chen Baoshuan frowned as he stared at the two small toys: "Hey, who in Maisui's family has this skill? The carpentry is so fine, it's almost as good as my dad's."

"It should be his sister-in-law's family. His sister-in-law's father-in-law is also an old carpenter."

Wang Lixian said, "I heard that the old man is blind in one eye and doesn't work as fast as Uncle Sangui, but his skills are indeed not bad."

"Oh, I'll go back and ask my father. I've never heard of this person before," Chen Baoshuan muttered.

Chen Ling took a couple of sips of tea, nimbly climbed onto the large tractor, and said, "Bao Shuan, you should get a couple of machines sometime. You can't learn Uncle San Gui's carpentry skills, so do what Qi An said and do some carving or learn some bamboo weaving skills."

"Okay, I'll go back and discuss it with my family."

Chen Baoshuan was a little conflicted. He had saved some money in the past six months, and his relationship with his wife had become more harmonious. He was now considering having a child again.

Although I didn't mean to mistreat Xizi, people still want to have their own child.

So I don't dare to spend this money much.

I'd like to keep this in mind and ask for a few more useful remedies.

His sister-in-law Xiufen didn't have any good solutions for his illness.

Chen Ling had considered helping him before, but it just didn't feel right. Even though Bao Shuan has changed for the better now, his wife is still the same old thing.

He didn't even acknowledge Xizi's feelings.

I'm afraid that once they have a child, the first thing they'll do is kick Xizi out of the house.

Chen Ling simply couldn't bring herself to help this kind of person.

Chen Dazhi and Chen Baoshuan lived close by, and they could hear the couple arguing. Knowing what he was thinking, they patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't overthink it. Just work hard and save up some money. You'll have everything you need."

Chen Baoshuan hummed in agreement, nodded, and together with the others, loaded the crushed corn cobs onto the donkey cart and drove away.

The large tractor roared as Chen Ling continued to crush the soil.

They worked like this until 7 p.m., when even with the lights on, they couldn't see clearly, and only then did they stop.

They stopped, and there was no need to go home to prepare meals; someone from the wedding area in the east of the village came to call them.

There's a banquet tonight; let them go.

Everyone had given a gift, but because they had work to do, they couldn't go. However, when it was mealtime, regardless of whether they ate or not, someone would come and call them.

That's good, saves us the trouble of going back to clean up the mess.

Chen Ling changed his clothes and took his family to the banquet.

They continued working the next day.

It took two and a half days of continuous work to grind this small amount of corn cob.

During this period, Wang Jusheng also replaced Wang Lixian.

Because Lao Ba and Captain Li came to inquire about Da Ni'er's blind date in the past two days.

That young man is not bad.

Even though his family has some money, he doesn't squander it; he's quite ambitious.

But he also has his flaws; this kid's ambition isn't quite on the right track.

Simply put, they just want a quick fix; once they've accomplished this, they want to sit back and count their money.

The same applies to opening a factory in Tenghe Township.

So regardless of whether it's Lao Ba or Captain Li, the implication is that this kid might be after Wang Lixian and Chen Ling's relationship, and that he's after Chen Ling.

Chen Ling was willing to lend a hand to anyone in the village who had a good relationship with him and who possessed unique skills, pointing them in the right direction.

Perhaps that's what they're after.

Wang Lixian was displeased upon hearing this. Although they had a good relationship with Chen Ling, no one had deliberately sought to take advantage of him.

Anyone with a bit of ambition wouldn't act like that; it makes you look down on people.

If that kid really had that idea, he wouldn't do it no matter what.

So, over the next two days, I took Da Ni'er to the matchmaker's house twice, asking the matchmaker to put the matter forward.

Sure enough, the matchmaker only went to Tenghe Township once, delivered the message, and then there was no further news.

This made Dani very sad and disappointed.

I finally found someone I liked, but it turned out to be this kind of person.

In fact, most of the matchmakers who came to Chenwangzhuang this year had impure motives. The women wanted to marry into the village hoping for a better life, and their families also wanted to benefit from the marriage. Some men even wanted to get married and move in, not to be live-in sons-in-law, but to become residents of Chenwangzhuang.

There are countless people and events like this.

That's a bit of an exaggeration, really.

But these days, families have so many children, and people in the mountains are terrified of poverty.

It's just getting married and moving to a different village. What if this child does well in Chenwangzhuang?

(End of this chapter)