My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 87 Strange
"Hmm... But speaking of which, aren't our two eels growing a little too fast?"

"After we brought them home, people would feed them when they came over. We haven't fed them much ourselves, so how come there are fish fry? I haven't seen any fish eggs in the tank these past few days..."

Then, Wang Susu said in surprise.

Chen Ling shook his head: "I can't figure it out either!"

His doubts were no less than Wang Susu's.

Actually, eels are quite different from other fish.

When eels are fry, they are all female. When they grow to more than 20 centimeters long, they begin to change sex. However, only about four or five out of a hundred will become male, so the probability of sex change is relatively small.

Once the eel grows to 30 to 40 centimeters, there is a greater than 50% chance that it will become male.

Once they grow to over 50 centimeters, all the eels will turn into males.

This means that eels are female first and then male, acting as both mother and father in their lives.

Now that eel fry have appeared in the tank, it means there is one male and one female.

The probability of this happening when there are only two eels is quite small.

I don't know if it's the magical effect of the Dongtian Creek water, or if the red eel species itself is just unusual enough.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ling scooped out the aquatic plants and examined them around the tank walls and the plants themselves, but he did not find any trace of fish roe.

"Could it be that it's different from ordinary eels in this respect, producing fry directly without laying eggs?"

Shaking his head, Chen Ling was increasingly confused about these two strange fish.

I decided not to think about it anymore and went to the backyard to bring over another water tank. I took out two red eels and put them in, otherwise they would eat the fish fry if they stayed with them.

Once they're grown up, they'll be a money-maker.

Then Chen Ling made a plan in his mind, thinking that he should select a few of these red eel fry and raise them properly in the cave.

This guy hadn't released his two red eels into the cave much before. He only released two ladles of stream water at the beginning, and then brought them in at night and released them during the day. They only stayed in the cave intermittently for four or five nights.

The result was like inflating a balloon; it grew to the size that would take one or two years to grow in the wild in just one month. If it were raised directly in the cave, would it grow to that size in an even shorter time?
We need to test it out properly.

"Ah Ling, are you going to town to sell medicinal herbs today?"

"Yes, is there something you want to buy?"

"No, what I mean is, if you're going to the county town, I won't go out today."

Wang Susu was still upset while eating breakfast.

Good heavens, those two red eels produced so many fry!

Even at the price Sun Yanhong offered before, 1,000 yuan per fish, the money from selling these hundreds of fish fry would be enough to make Wang Susu's heart race.

With such a precious child at home, how could I dare to leave him alone?
I have to keep an eye on it to feel at ease.

"Okay, then you should stay home and rest today."

"It's market day in the county town, and I have some things to take care of, so I'll probably be back a little late."

Chen Ling responded, gave Wang Susu a few more instructions, then went to the backyard, hitched up the oxcart, and drove it out.

Before leaving, the little white calf squinted its eyes and mooed twice at Wang Susu with a beaming smile, as if saying goodbye.

Wang Susu smiled and patted its big head, reminding Chen Ling not to forget to feed it hay and water.

Then he watched as the oxcart slowly walked out of the alley.

In Lingyun, the market is held on the 4th and 9th of each month, and the market is much larger than those in the countryside.

Chenwangzhuang is especially close to the county seat.

It's more convenient for villagers to go to the county town to go to the market, so they go more often.

As Chen Ling left the village, he saw many people walking in twos and threes towards the county town. Most of them were walking, carrying baskets or bags of urea under their arm to buy things, while others rode bicycles to set up stalls.

For example, Chen Dazhi is like that.

They carried a tall stack of brooms, winnowing baskets, bamboo stools, and other items, which were tied to the back seat with rope.

The mountain road was narrow and full of potholes, and with Chen Dazhi's actions, Chen Ling, who was driving the oxcart behind, couldn't get through at all.

At first, he didn't know who was in front of him, and he cursed in his heart which bastard was blocking his way.

After passing two mountain ridges and the mountain road widened, Chen Ling drove the oxcart past and realized it was Chen Dazhi.

Since they had run into each other, the two started chatting on the way.

Chen Ling was going to sell medicinal herbs on the old street near the City God Temple, which is near the old Lingzhong Hospital. Chen Dazhi was also going to set up a stall there, so it was convenient for them to go there together.

"Fugui, you've gathered quite a lot of medicinal herbs. There are already two big bags."

"Hey, it's just some worthless stuff."

"Haha, how much more valuable do you think our medicinal herbs are? These days, the ginseng babies have all gone deep into the mountains, so finding valuable herbs isn't so easy."

Indeed, wild ginseng has always been a rare commodity, regardless of the era.

If you encounter them in the mountains, they will be picked regardless of whether they are fully grown or not.

Ginseng used to grow in Wuyun Mountain, but due to over-harvesting, it was basically extinct more than 20 years ago.

Now, if you want to find ginseng, you have to go deep into the mountains and forests.

However, the deep mountains are infested with jackals, tigers, leopards, and bears, so unless you're suicidal, most people won't go there.

"By the way, aren't your two eels worth more than any ginseng? Take good care of them, and sell them if someone offers a higher price."

"You didn't see it the other day, but the reservoir was always full of people, all trying to catch eels. People from our village and other villages were all hanging around the reservoir, hoping to catch a couple of big red eels, but none of them were as lucky as you. You couldn't even catch a glimpse of one."

"Even if Erzhu hired several people to guard it every day, it wouldn't work."

Chen Ling simply smiled at Chen Dazhi's words.

He actually knew about this.

At the time, he also thought that since there were these two red eels in the reservoir, there might be others, and wondered if it was the crayfish in the reservoir that had affected them, causing a genetic mutation or something.

Unexpectedly, apart from his two dogs, no one else even managed to get a glimpse of them.

Chen Dazhi brought this up now simply to tell Chen Ling that his family was the only ones who had this thing, and it was worth a lot of money. He suggested that they should sell it to avoid attracting unwanted attention and making their lives more uneasy.

Knowing that Chen Dazhi meant well, Chen Ling didn't say anything else, and the two chatted as they walked into the county town.

It was only around eight o'clock in the morning, but there were already quite a few pedestrians in the market.

The old street near the City God Temple was particularly crowded. Many of the houses along the street had set up tables with their door panels, displaying all sorts of goods, mostly food and snacks, as well as daily necessities. This made it impossible for oxcarts to pass.

Chen Ling had no choice but to ask Chen Dazhi to watch the oxcart outside while he carried two large bags of medicinal herbs to the old pharmacy on the other side to sell them.

"Wow, there are still ten or so days until the Dragon Boat Festival, and they're already selling zongzi (sticky rice dumplings)."

Not far carrying the medicinal herbs, Chen Ling smelled the aroma of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). Looking over, he saw an old man wearing a straw hat, carrying two wooden buckets. He had just placed them under a locust tree, and as the lids of the buckets were lifted, steaming hot air escaped, making the aroma of the zongzi even stronger.

Chen Ling's stomach was rumbling again after eating breakfast, so he went over and asked. It was only two cents each. He thought to himself that he would definitely buy a basket of them after he sold all the medicinal herbs.

Just as they were about to continue walking forward, they heard a rather pleasantly surprised voice behind them.

"Fugui, what are those two bags you're carrying again?"

Chen Ling turned around and saw two middle-aged men and women looking at him with smiles on their faces.

"I almost didn't recognize you after two months."

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!
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(End of this chapter)