My 1995 Small Farm.

Chen Ling then handed him the photo to look at.

The old man was startled when he saw it: "Such a big dog? It's even bigger than Heiwa! There are definitely no dogs like this in the mountains around here. We'd have to go further south and further west to see if we can find one."

This thing looks terrifying, like that wild boar king you fought before. Just looking at it sends chills down your spine.

At this moment, the brothers Wang Qingwen and Wang Qingzhong also came over to take a look.

Upon hearing his father's words, his eyes lit up.

"Oh, right, the Wild Boar King!"

"Lingzi, you said there are old boar spirits in the mountains, with bodies as big as a house in our village, so how could there not be dogs that big?"

"What if they were stray dogs that ran away, formed a pack, like wild boars, and wandered around aimlessly, eating whatever they could find, and their bodies just kept growing bigger and bigger? Who knows?"

Are you right? "

The two brothers didn't originally have many strange ideas, but many unexpected things happened around Chen Ling.

The old pig demon and the wolf have both come out.

It's hard not to let your imagination run wild and think of other things.

“These two brothers are right… The information they showed me says that this kind of purple qilin is an ancient mountain beast, whether it’s in the Qinling Mountains, Shennongjia, or the Himalayas…”

This purple unicorn must not be domesticated; it must have grown up on its own in a mysterious environment.

It looks like a Tibetan Mastiff, but even the largest Tibetan Mastiffs can't compare to it.

Their minimum shoulder height is over 1.4 meters..."

Eva said excitedly at this moment.

Chen Ling, however, could no longer bear to listen.

What the hell? This is absurd.

If you asked him to breed this new breed of dog, he would definitely be able to breed it himself.

It's like a hybrid of a lion and a tiger; some of them will grow indefinitely.

It's unimaginably large.

However, it would be absurd for an animal to be raised in the wild instead of being domesticated.

This gene has a hidden danger: the larger the body size, the harder it is for them to survive in the wild.

"Alright, alright, Eva, since you're so sure there might be some in the mountains, then show the photos to our fellow villagers here and let them pass them around. If anyone has any news or has heard any related rumors, please let us know."

Chen Ling waved his hand, no longer wanting to ponder this so-called Purple Qilin.

Seeing the villagers around him eagerly anticipating what was going on, he decided to do them a favor and let them see what was so special.

Sure enough, as soon as he said that, the villagers in the village started making a fuss, praising Cunye's son-in-law as a really good person.

He's rich and capable, yet he doesn't put on airs; no wonder he's successful.

While discussing it, everyone was quick to act, vying to see the purple unicorn in the photo.

Then, gasps of surprise began to rise around the drying platform.

"What kind of dog is this? It looks like a monster, not a dog."

"Could this be another sentient being...?"

"No, it doesn't seem like it. This dog looks strange, but it doesn't have that scary, evil aura. It's a good mountain spirit, maybe even raised by the mountain god."

“That makes sense. Like the old saying about the mountain-guarding beasts, they’ve been found in bandit dens.”

Seeing that men, women, and children were discussing it, Chen Ling and his group didn't want to spoil the fun.

He listened with great interest to the strange and unusual local rumors.

Wang Qingwen listened most attentively, probably planning to find material for his future supernatural stories.

Logically speaking, on the second day of the Lunar New Year, a time for celebration, we shouldn't be talking about ghosts and monsters. But since the Purple Qilin was brought out, we couldn't help but talk more about it.

The atmosphere has reached this point.

I have no choice but to say it.

Anyway, I listened to the villagers of Yaowangzhai talk for quite a while.

Chen Ling's family treated it as just a story and didn't glean any useful information from it.

However, the foreigners behind Eva were taking notes very carefully with Eva's translation.

They are genuinely investigating something.

Perhaps the mysterious Eastern country holds many fantastical elements that are difficult for them to understand and imagine.

Many things that Chen Ling and the locals found absurd, they actually wrote down very carefully and seriously.

It's truly baffling. And judging from Eva's words, they genuinely intend to continue exploring further.

Perhaps we should visit people like the herb farmers in small villages deep in the mountains and forests.

"Chen, I have a question for you. The mountains here are high and the valleys are deep, which are obviously steeper and more dangerous than the mountains to the east. So why are there so many villages in the mountains?"

Why don't they move out to live?

Eva suddenly asked this question.

This is the same question Chen Ling had long ago.

They've become so poor.

Going down the mountain, going home, sending the children to school, and getting medical treatment for family members are all so inconvenient.

Why not go outside?

"It's not that we don't want to move, or that we don't want to leave, it's that our ancestors have lived here for generations, our farmland, our mountains, our roots are here."

"I want to go out, but it's not easy for me."

Chen Ling shook his head and sighed.

Those who lack ability are better off staying at home, holed up in the mountains.

At least we can live a stable life.

"Ah, I don't understand why you all say that, but I don't get it."

Eva looked completely bewildered.

She then asked, "Then why won't you let us stay overnight? I saw that many villagers were very warm and hospitable, but when it came to staying overnight, why wouldn't you let us stay?"

"..."

Chen Ling was speechless again: "You've lived in our country for so many years, don't you know? It's Chinese New Year now, the most important time of the year. Before the Lantern Festival, no family would let a stranger stay in their home."

Unless you give them a generous lodging fee.

They might agree for the sake of money, but they definitely won't let you stay a few more days.

Our traditional customs will make them feel very resistant.

Strangers came to my house during the Chinese New Year...

Even after accepting the money, I still felt uneasy.

"Ah, it's Chinese New Year again, it's really... well, well, I'm speechless."

Eva scratched her head in frustration.

Chen Ling laughed: "You need to learn more about our culture..."

Then I realized it was getting late.

Their family went home first.

Before leaving, he also told Eva that if it were her, as a friend, Chen Ling would invite her to his home for dinner.

But she brought so many people with her, and they were all foreigners who didn't speak the language.

That's inconvenient.

Eva expressed her understanding and said she looked forward to meeting again.

……

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Ling's entire family ate dumplings again at his father-in-law's house in Yaowangzhai.

After spending the night there, we started our return journey to Chenwangzhuang early the next morning.

Wang Zhenzhen's father-in-law and mother-in-law can't go back yet; they'll only go back together when Wang Zhenzhen starts school.

Chen Ling's family was in a hurry to go back, not to visit relatives or anything like that.

They have few relatives, and Wang Susu's relatives don't need to visit each other much because her child is still young.

The reason they rushed back was because Liang Yuemin and the others had agreed to start construction as soon as possible on the deer farm and cattle and sheep farm in the Chengdong Forest Farm, and to find people to do the work quickly.

During the Lunar New Year, it's not easy to find someone to do the work.

Even if the scheduled start date is the afternoon of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, we still need to find people in advance and go to their homes to ask if they will be available at that time.

After all, Liang Yuemin and the others came with good intentions to help, and we can't expect them to run around looking for people for everything.

It was Chen Ling and Wang Lixian who had to find the people.

Of course, there's no need to make a special trip to visit.

In the first month of the lunar calendar, a month when people are generally unemployed, many spend their evenings playing cards and drinking. They often find people to meet during these evenings of eating, drinking, and having fun. (End of Chapter)