My 1995 Small Farm.

Because Zhao Dahai and Liang Yuemin did not arrive together.

After arranging things for Zhao Dahai, Chen Ling still needed to pick up Liang Yuemin's family.

When they were on the phone, the two agreed to come together, but Liang Yuemin's side was different after all.

Braised beef noodles are currently extremely popular, and they absolutely need people to make them.

It took him a lot of effort to get out of there.

Not only do they have to arrange everything, but some factories even have to temporarily suspend operations.

There are more than just one or two troublesome things.

Fortunately, Liang Yuemin is a very ambitious person with shrewd skills. Although he is a very artsy person, he can be very ruthless when necessary, and he is decisive and efficient.

There is one drawback: his teammates are all too incompetent at the moment, and none of them can fill the void.

That's why going out is such a hassle.

The original plan was to arrive before dark, just like Zhao Dahai.

Now, we probably won't be able to set off until dark, and we'll arrive by water tomorrow morning.

There was no other way, so Chen Ling could only bring Zhao Dahai and his group back first.

Back home, Liang Hongyu and her husband kept complaining that their son was too busy.

I've said it so many times. We already know so much, so why couldn't we have made arrangements earlier?

It would be so nice to make arrangements as soon as possible, come and meet everyone, and have a lively time with family.

In the old man's mind, when it came to the day of properly entertaining guests, Chen Ling was no longer a concern.

We can no longer have the same happy reminiscing that we used to have with just a few family members.

This is true.

That's how it is in every family when something happens. Closer relatives arrive early to catch up and chat before arranging anything.

Doesn't that make us seem closer?
Unfortunately, after waiting for so long, the person couldn't make it in time.

How frustrating!

Chen Ling had to comfort them for a while, saying that Yue Min and the others would have to spend the Chinese New Year here, since it was only a few days away.

After much persuasion, they managed to calm the two elders down.

For Chen Ling, it didn't really matter whether it was a day earlier or later, since he had picked up people today and would pick them up again tomorrow.

Yu Qi'an, Chen Xiao'er, Professor Feng, and others will be coming tomorrow.

If it were last year, with so many people coming all at once, Chen Ling would have felt resistant and repulsed.

It's not that he doesn't like crowds, it's just that he doesn't like too many crowds.

But now, most of the people who come are friends, and they come for his two little kids, which makes him very happy.

I've been happy for the past few days.

And I want to bring out all the good things in my house to entertain my friends.

They were incredibly motivated.

……

So, early the next morning, as soon as it was getting light, Chen Ling got up and started slaughtering sheep and cattle.

The sheep were their own, and Chen Ling specifically chose those half-grown lambs that had only recently grown up to slaughter.

This is all good quality mutton.

As for the cattle, they were yellow cattle bought from the village. With a single blow to the head, they bled, skinned, and butchered them.

Zhao Dahai and others, as well as Chen Ling's old classmate who works in the city, all came to help.

Zhao Dahai swung the hammer and had a good time.

It's not enough to say it's satisfying.

It involves smashing a cow's head with a large oil hammer while chanting scriptures.

Because it's too cruel, I mutter a few words to the cow so it won't blame me.

Chen Ling's old classmate, Wang Tao.

He was a leader in the government, both at different levels, and Chen Ling had been seen in the news and newspapers many times.

But after arriving here, I was still a little confused.

I was truly stunned.

He thought he had overestimated his old classmate Chen Ling as much as possible.

When I arrived, wow, what kind of people were these?

Friends from Taiwan Island have all come.

It's said that even big stars from Hong Kong have visited here before.

There's no way around it; in people's minds these days, Hong Kong Island and Taiwan Island represent being in line with the international community, representing wealth, representing places for rich people. Just hearing the name makes them seem high-class and sophisticated.

So, this usually clever person got up so early because he wanted to help.

But once I came out, I was completely bewildered and didn't know what to do. I felt utterly helpless.

Even if I try to interject, I don't really get a chance to.

Later, Wang Cunye came over and said a few words, which calmed him down.

Slaughtering sheep and cattle doesn't take Chen Ling long.

The main thing is that peeling and cutting the meat takes a little time.

Early in the morning, four half-grown sheep, a yellow ox, and several large basins of meat were slaughtered.

Chen Ling didn't even have time to deal with the killings before he hurriedly drove off to Tenghe Township to pick up the people.

The first to arrive were indeed Liang Yuemin's entire family.

As Chen Ling had expected, they had rushed over overnight.

Before the boat even docked, from afar, the chubby boy and the little chestnut boy called out "Uncle," jumping and skipping as they greeted him.

The two children really missed Chen Ling.

I can talk to him for two hours on the phone.

They kept all of Chen Ling's newspapers at other times.

They idolize him to an extreme.

Chen Ling also liked the two children very much, so he let them sit on one side of his shoulders and carried them along the riverbank for a long time.

After Yu Qi'an and the others arrived one after another, they were put down and headed towards the village.

There are still many people traveling at night these days.

I do it for no other reason than so that I can sleep at night, and when I close my eyes I'll be at my destination.

Otherwise, in this era of such poor transportation, traveling would be a very frustrating experience.

Especially when coming to the mountains, no one dares to drive a car.

The road is too difficult to travel.

Traveling by water is easier, but it takes longer.

Walking continuously for more than twelve hours, going around in circles, can be incredibly annoying during the day.

Although people in this era have more patience in this regard than people in later generations.

But no matter what, that kind of torment can't be faked.

Therefore, Yu Qi'an and the others tacitly chose the waterway.

This saved Chen Ling a lot of trouble.

He got up at six, left at seven, and picked up everyone, which was already past nine.

It was a little past nine o'clock, which could barely be considered morning in this winter.

When they arrived home, the large pot of mutton had already been cooked. Everyone drank a bowl of hot mutton soup, which warmed them up. After exchanging a few words with acquaintances and Chen Ling's family, they continued with their work.

After slaughtering the cattle and sheep, you have to slaughter the pigs, and after slaughtering the pigs, you have to slaughter the chickens and ducks.

Besides poultry and livestock, wild game is also essential.

Pheasant, hare, muntjac, deer, wild boar, bamboo rat, squirrel.

It has everything you could want. Located right next to the mountains, you can eat whatever's available.

Some of the game was hunted by Chen Ling himself, while others were contributed by the group of young men in the village.

Most of the contributions came from the young men in the village and the hunters from Yangtougou.

Chen Ling helped them hunt wolves, and they felt they hadn't shown enough appreciation before, so they brought over a lot more of their recently hunted prey, which they felt was only right.

Preparing these meat ingredients also takes quite a bit of time.

After all, Professor Han had sent over the recipes.

There were some dishes that Chen Ling was thinking of making herself tomorrow.

Even if you don't cook them yourself, you should still let the chef know tomorrow and discuss how to make them.

Besides these things...

Relatives and friends from Fenglei Town arrived at noon.

I won't go into detail about the two families of the eldest and second brothers-in-law.

Both families came to help, and they immediately started helping out.

The other relatives were just looking around, they had never seen such a big scene before.

I've never seen many of the unusual things on the farm.

As evening approached, Lao Zhou, Ding Haidong, and the others finally arrived.

By this time, everyone had finally arrived.

And so the Chen family's 100-day celebration for the two babies began amidst this busyness.

Happy occasions related to children don't involve the same level of celebration as weddings, with firecrackers going off and loudspeakers blaring.

But the villagers of Chenwangzhuang were beaming with joy.

It's like they're celebrating a family wedding.

They toasted each of their friends from the city and chatted about everything under the sun.

They talked about more than just things related to Chen Ling; they also talked about all sorts of legends, stories, and anecdotes from Chenwangzhuang and the mountains.

Among them are old-fashioned figures like Fourth Grandfather.

Everyone knows the stories of fighting bandits before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China very well.

What famine, what hunters and carpenters?

He knows more than anyone else.

Chen Guoxing is also an educated man, and he has stopped being withdrawn since Wang Laifu died.

When it comes to arguing over words, he's just as good as my great-uncle.

He keeps saying that he has no feelings for this land...

The atmosphere of "scar literature" is almost overwhelming.

At first, the relatives in Fenglei Town were shocked by the abilities of their son-in-law, Wang Cunye.

The guests here seem so sophisticated.

Little did they know, these guests were also shocked; they never imagined that there were hidden talents in the village.

Wow, the people here are not only highly educated, but they also seem to have a more sophisticated way of speaking than some professors and university teachers.

Upon hearing the story of Wang Laifu, I realized...

I couldn't help but sigh with regret.

Many people have sighed again, saying that throughout history, there have been quite a few talented people who have met tragic ends.

In short, the scene was more lively and harmonious than Chen Ling had imagined.

When the banquet was set out...

Various mountain delicacies and wild game, mountain flavors, Republic of China era flavors, plus the hearty dishes of rural banquets.

Finally, these people stopped talking and sat down to wolf down their food in a whirlwind.

Afterwards, Chen Lingjing went around drinking, almost covering the entire village.

"You're so proud of yourself, now that you're rich and have both a son and a daughter."

"Let me tell you, kid, you have to submit your manuscript next year. When I came here, all my old friends were nagging me to submit it."

"What? Seriously, Uncle Feng? You're still chasing me for the manuscript on such an unusual day? Are you kidding me?"

When the toasts were offered to the professors' table, Feng Yi, with his small mustache, barely uttered a few words before starting to urge them to submit their manuscripts.

Chen Ling was utterly stunned and shocked.

Zhao Yubao and the others burst into laughter upon seeing this.

After laughing, she let him go: "Alright, alright, let him off the hook today... If you ask me, this lazy brat isn't worth worrying about. In the future, we should focus on Rui Rui and the two little ones and train them properly."

"...Fugui, your old classmate is here. Do you still recognize me? You've really made something of yourself in the years I haven't seen you."

"Yes, yes, now letters are written in traditional Chinese characters, it startled me."

"Hahaha, that's hilarious..."

"The last time I saw you was when you were still in high school, and now, today I'm actually attending your baby's 100-day celebration! I'm so happy!"

"Come on, let's have a drink. Let's get together often from now on."

"Thank you, Hongbo. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to contact you."

"Okay, okay, I'll have a drink with Hongbo."

After catching up with my old classmates and drinking some wine.

Then he came to drink with the villagers.

It was a joyous day, and the villagers sat from one end of the village to the other. It was even more lively than the Spring Festival.

The village has never held such a large-scale event before.

I've never had such a big banquet before.

Therefore, every villager had a radiant smile on their face.

Chen Ling also felt that today was the happiest day he had been in a while. He didn't limit the amount of food he had to provide, and anyone who came could sit down and eat.

He went around in circles, toasting everyone in the village, accepting all offers and drinking with anyone who came.

He doesn't care about elders or juniors, and no one is discussing that with him today.

Seeing that he was happy, I drank to my heart's content.

Gentlemen, why bother with so many rules?

The men in the countryside don't say many words of blessing; they just talk about what the child will be like when he grows up, and that's about it.

Even so, Chen Ling found it incredibly pleasant to hear.

I drank too much without even realizing it.

……

"Fugui, you've had too much to drink. Hurry up and take a picture before you get too drunk!"

Chen Ling had just finished toasting and returned home, and before he had even eaten a single bite of food, Liang Hongyu, with a big smile on her face, grabbed his arm and led him home.

Upon entering the farm, Wang Susu and the others were already prepared, waiting for Chen Ling to return.

Wang Susu held Kang Kang, Liu Yinhuan held Lele, and Rui Rui followed the little fat boy, Xiao Lizi, and Ya Ya, eating meat heartily on the side.

Liang Yuemin and Zhao Dahai were still greeting the guests, their faces flushed from drinking.

Everyone was all smiles. When they saw Chen Ling coming over, they stood up and waved for him to come over: "Come on, come on, we're just waiting for you. Let's take a picture."

"Uncle, uncle, after I finish eating, I want to take a picture with the little white cow."

"Me too, me too, Uncle! I only like the little white calf. I want to sit on the little white calf and play the flute."

"Dad, Heihei, Jinjin, and I..."

"Good good."

Chen Ling readily agreed, looking at the children filling the yard and the smiles of her relatives, she thought, "This is wonderful."

At that moment, as the alcohol took effect and his mind became dizzy, he even thought emotionally, "I hope my friends will always be here, and I hope my loved ones will never grow old." (End of Chapter)