My 1995 Small Farm

   Chapter 104 Family Affairs

Chen Ling thought that this was the end of the matter, but on the early morning of the 16th day of the fifth lunar month, Chen Guoping brought Mrs. Xiufen to the house and gave two plates of fruit offerings, saying that they had been on the offering table since the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. , until the fifteenth day of the fifth month, after the gods and Buddhas enjoyed it, they were full of blessings, which is a good thing.

   Not to mention, I don’t know if it’s a psychological reason, but Chen Ling tasted two, and it was indeed sweeter than the average fruit.

   After delivering the fruit offerings, I accompanied the two elders to talk in the house for a while. Since the village doctor from another village was coming to Chenwangzhuang today, Chen Guoping had to go to the clinic to pick up the others, so he didn’t stay any longer.

However, when Chen Ling and his wife sent them out, by coincidence, a small gray object fell from the tree. Sister Xiufen was shocked when she saw what it was: "Huang Daxian!"

It's actually a yellow-skinned cub. When it was first born, it was covered with black fur, and then the color gradually became lighter and lighter. When it was one month old, it was similar to the color of a mouse, and it was gray-brown. Slowly turning light yellow and brown.

Sister-in-law Xiufen is obviously familiar with this thing, and she recognized it at first sight, but in a daze, a chubby adult yellow-skinned man ran down the tree, very fast, picking up the cub that fell to the ground and swish. Climbed up the treetops.

   A few people looked up and saw two adult yellow skins standing on a thick tree trunk, with three little yellow skins staring at them with dark round beaded eyes, looking down quietly, watching them.

   "My good fellow, there is a whole nest of yellow-skinned people living there, and I don't know where the hole was made. You should be careful with your wealth and honor, and keep an eye on the chickens and ducks at home, and don't let this thing harm you."

  Chen Guoping raised his head and glanced at it in surprise, and couldn't help reminding.

Unexpectedly, she was slapped on the arm by Sister Xiufen as soon as she finished speaking, and then she saw the old lady bowing to the yellow-skinned people on the tree a few times, closing her eyes and muttering a few words silently, probably saying something unintentional. etc.

  Chen Guoping shook his head helplessly, smiled silently at Chen Ling and Wang Susu, and walked away with his hands behind his back.

After Sister-in-law Xiufen also finished talking, Wang Susu said worriedly: "Why is this yellow-skinned boy here again? Why don't you go to the village market tomorrow and sell the chickens, so that they don't come into our house and harm the chickens and ducks, then the time comes. If it is bitten to death, it will not be easy to sell."

   "My silly daughter-in-law, how can you sell chickens and ducks as soon as they lay their eggs?"

Hearing this, Chen Ling shook his head and smiled, and then said to Wang Susu: "Don't worry, nothing has happened for more than two months, and it will be fine in the future. Our chickens run outside during the day, and fly to the tree to sleep at night. , our dog is not a decoration, Huangpizi dare not come in."

   "It really doesn't work. I'll lay two more barbed wire fences on the duck pen, and the ducks will rush in at night, so don't worry about it."

A few days ago, Chen Ling made a duck kennel. After all, her own ducks are better than Chen Yingqiang's. Not only are they very fat, but they have started laying eggs in the past two days. Running is not a problem.

In the past, because the weather was getting warmer, the chickens at home generally didn't go to the chicken coop except for laying eggs or feeding. They also flew directly to the trees when they went to sleep at night. In this case, it was okay for the ducks to live in at night, but the After laying the eggs, you can't mix them up. It's better to build a new duck pen.

In fact, not only ducks lay eggs, but those chicks that are in the spring are growing up and laying eggs one after another. Even quails do not know when they will lay eggs. However, unlike chickens and ducks, quails lay an egg every day. It is almost two months now, and it belongs to adult quails. It is normal to lay eggs, and quails have a short growth period. After a nest has six or seven eggs, it will hold a nest.

   But the chickens and ducks at home have only been full for more than four months from the beginning of spring to the present.

The growth cycle of a native chicken is about half a year, and it can grow to five or six pounds. It takes a year. The hen can grow to six pounds even if it is very fat, and a big rooster rarely grows. When it weighs more than ten pounds, ducks look fatter than chickens. In fact, when they are adults, they can only weigh ten pounds at most, which is not much different from that of native chickens. The villagers feed chicken and ducklings in the spring and kill some of them during the New Year and the festival. Eat it, wait until the New Year and sell it, but there are only a few eggs left.

   During this period, food is rarely fed, except in winter, when at most, bran is fed, or sweet potato dregs mixed with cornmeal to feed, and other seasons are released, and the mountains and plains are pecking at insects, grass seeds, silt...

   In this way, the growth cycle is relatively long, and it is incomparable with the fast-growing chicken and duck that can be produced in 30 to 40 days in later generations.

   But in the countryside, the chickens and ducks of Chen Ling's family are really fast in laying eggs, and double egg yolks often appear, which surprises Wang Susu every time, so at this time, I was reluctant to sell Wang Susu.

  Chen Ling couldn't explain Huangpizi to her, so she had to use other methods to dispel her doubts.

   However, within two days, Wang Susu was not too worried.

Because Huangpizi's cubs often fell from trees and walls clumsily, she initially wondered why these Huangpizi were so daring, and then she was surprised to find that her own Heiwa and Xiaojin didn't care much, and usually even saw it. , is also unreasonable, which makes the three little guys more daring, often start running around in the yard if they are not careful, either mixing with the little rabbits, or rubbing around the two dogs, or even He also slept under the belly of two dogs with the bunny.

   The two big yellow-skinned boys were a little worried at first, but after seeing that the children were not in danger, they began to come down to eat and drink often, and they were guests at home.

Wang Susu was stunned for a while, unable to figure out what was going on, but fortunately, they did not harm chickens and ducks, but made the mice in the front and back yard of the house disappear. Entering a mouse makes a pile of feces and urine, which is extremely unpleasant, but recently I can't even see the shadow of the mouse.

   "We won't bury treasures in our house. A-Ling, look at all these birds, pigeons, and yellow-skinned children running to our house."

   At breakfast this day, after Wang Susu threw some chicken bones to Xiao Huang Xiaopang, she looked at the miscellaneous birds on the trees outside the courtyard and was a little dazed.

   It's half a month old, and in the morning, I will be woken up by the chirping of these birds. I didn't take it seriously before, but the past two days have been gathering more and more.

   In addition to cleaning the dung of chickens, ducks and cattle at home, the couple also went to sweep the dung of birds outside the yard.

   "Maybe, our village used to have big families."

  Chen Ling took a mouthful of porridge and nodded earnestly: "Chenwangzhuang is the only one in Changle Township with the village name as a village. The villages called villages were originally populated by rich and noble families."

   "Huh? Is there such a thing?"

  Wang Susu was surprised and asked, "What about Jinmen Village and Taoshugou?"

   "These two are named after the terrain of the Jinshui River and their village, there is nothing to say..."

Chen Ling smiled and said, "It's mainly Zhuang, Tun, Fort, Ying, Zhai, and Pu. Except for the dialect names in the northeast, the Tunhe Camp, such as Qige Camp and Kuishan Tun in the south of our county, all used to have The places where the army was stationed, the forts and the villages, were the places where people gathered and set up camps to resist the rebellion of the bandits. Later, when these places developed into villages, they were called according to these characteristics.”

"As for shops, we don't have them in the mountains. This is the name only on the Great Plains. The plains are vast and flat. If there is no special sign, the village will be named after the shops, such as Shilipu, Fifteen Miles, Thirty Miles. You can go to 80 li at most, why not 90 li? Because once you go beyond 90 li, it will become another world."

  Wang Susu suddenly realized after hearing this, and her eyes when she looked at Chen Ling instantly lit up: "A Ling, you know a lot."

   "Haha, I just didn't study hard in school, I just read miscellaneous books. By the way, speaking of miscellaneous books, have you read the two books that Mrs. Xiufen gave you?"

Two days ago, when Mrs. Xiufen and the old couple came over, during the chat, Wang Susu couldn't help asking about the remedies to cure the disease. Sister-in-law Xiufen didn't take it seriously at first, but after Wang Susu said a few remedies, she began to pay attention to it. Later, the two didn't know what to talk about, and the old lady gave Wang Susu two tattered wire-bound books the next day.

   "Look, there are not many useful ones. They are all things that are naughty, such as talisman paper, feng shui, worshipping gods and so on. It hurts my brain to read too much. Even looking at our house is like looking at a treasure land of feng shui."

   "My grandfather's books are still good. Grandpa said that the books were given to him by his comrades during the war. There are Miao doctors and Tibetan doctors. Those are the real things. Unfortunately, I forgot where they put them, and I couldn't find them no matter how I looked for them."

   It has been almost twenty years now, and Wang Susu still feels a pity when she thinks of this.

   "Then I'll accompany you back home when you go to my father's grave this year. After we've seen our parents, we'll go to Grandpa's house and look carefully."

  Chen Ling was talking and had already finished breakfast.

   He went to the county town twice before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, and he also looked for such unorthodox medical books, but none of them were for sale, but some of them were of that kind of tome.

   "Well, that's fine too."

  Wang Susu heard him say this, her nose felt sour, but her heart was warm and filled with emotion.

This is the first time Chen Ling has proposed to accompany her back to her parents' house. Although Chen Ling has been considerate and caring for her these past few months, making her as happy as if she was in a honeypot, the more she does, the more She was homesick, and wanted to take Chen Ling back to show her parents, the eldest brother, the second brother, and the younger sister. Chen Ling looked better now.

  The prodigal son turned back and paid nothing, proving that she did not choose the wrong person.

Unfortunately not, because Chen Ling's father died a few months after they got married. According to the custom of their side, they can only return to their parents' house after two festivals. The family can take the initiative to visit, but the girl cannot bring Go back with mourning filial piety, unless divorced.

Therefore, other girls can go back to their mother's house before and after the Dragon Boat Festival, and after fertilizing and planting the buds, they can still chase the festival. The festival means that after the daughter goes to see her mother around the Dragon Boat Festival, she will come back to her daughter's house to visit relatives, but their family But he couldn't, making Wang Susu very envious and missing his family very much.

   After two years of marriage, except for the eldest brother who went to the door once, he never went back and never saw his parents or relatives. Fortunately, Chen Ling is a good husband now, otherwise this life would be really hard.

Chen Ling saw that her daughter-in-law's eye circles were a little red, and she felt a little unbearable, but rules are rules, and some customs are quite outrageous. If you don't believe it, it doesn't mean others don't believe it. To obey is to obey.

Of course, this is also because the old man and his mother-in-law are too old to go down the mountain, especially the old man who accidentally fell while taking medicine before. Although he was rescued by Chen Ling's father, he also fell to the root of the disease, and his legs and feet are inconvenient. Otherwise, he would have known before. The daughter was wronged and ran long ago.

  …

After breakfast, Wang Susu went to wash the pots and bowls, and Chen Ling went to pick up the eggs, ducks and eggs. Now that the chickens and ducks are laying eggs in the spring, I can pick up more than half of the baskets every day, and just put the eggs every month on the big fair for sale. , can also have a lot of money.

The   quail eggs were not moved, because the male quail had already started to hatch in the coop.

The quail nest is not for the females to incubate the eggs, but for the males to incubate. When Chen Guoping and his wife came over that day, they said that if the quails have no males, the females can lay eggs themselves, just like Yunying eggs. , is an unfertilized egg. At this time, the female quail will hatch, but the young will not hatch.

   "Quail and pigeon, ten litters a year."

Pigeons are also a type of turtledoves, and quails are just like this thing. Except that they don't lay eggs or brood their nests in winter, the other eight or nine months are in the breeding season. When they lay eggs, they are called a fierce, half a month. A nest of small quails can be hatched. If they are not killed or sold, the yard will be full of quails after half a year.

Chen Ling couldn't help laughing when he thought of that scene: "After the flood has passed, build a circle around the orchard and surround it with 30 acres of land, and then build it into a small village, no matter how many things you raise. No worries."

  Thinking like this, I saw the two male quails in the chicken coop stood up and flipped their claws upside down, and began to turn over each quail egg. This is to warm one side, and to warm the other side.

Seeing that they were working so hard, Chen Ling went to the lotus pond to scoop up a ladle of water and mixed it with bran in the stone trough to feed them. It is more convenient, and it is also convenient for dogs and rabbits to drink water when they are thirsty.

   Of course, the consequence is that there are more and more birds and pigeons around his yard.

  Chen Ling didn't care much about this, as long as he didn't do harm in the yard like magpies, he didn't care, just to add some fun to his family.

After finishing this, Chen Ling went to the backyard to weed the vegetable garden with the hoe. Wang Susu had a good meal and took the cow to pick mulberry leaves. These days, the silkworms are getting bigger and bigger, and they eat mulberry leaves faster and faster. In the past, one basket per day was more than enough. Now, at least two baskets are eaten every day, and there will be more and more in the future until the silkworms start to form cocoons.

   This is actually not the solution. In the afternoon, Chen Ling was going to go out for a walk to the mountain, find a mulberry forest, and pick a few large bags of mulberry leaves.

   Just before he left the village, he saw Liu Nier and a few dolls rushing over with a postman on a bicycle, and he waved and shouted at him from afar.

   "Uncle Fugui, your letter is for Aunt Susu."

   "For Susu?"

  Chen Ling was stunned for a moment.

   At this time, the postman came to him on his bicycle and stopped, and there was a file bag on the back seat of the twenty-eighth, which was full of a large pile of newspapers and envelopes.

   "The letter from your daughter-in-law's family, please accept it on your behalf."

   The postman was a man in his mid-thirties, with a midsection and a stubble on his chin. He smiled and handed the envelope to Chen Ling, revealing his big white teeth.

"Okay, thank you."

  Chen Ling also smiled at the other party and took it.

   However, the next moment, after pinching the envelope in his hand, he was stunned.

  —

  PS: After the National Day, the weather in BJ was so cold that it suddenly dropped below 10 degrees, and I almost fell ill from the cold. Typing was a lot slower. (Brothers from outside the station come to the starting point to support it)

   (end of this chapter)