My 1995 Small Farm

   Chapter 177

   is Wang Susu. I heard Chen Ling talk about the situation here in detail two days ago. Now standing here, I can't help feeling shocked and amazed.

  The lake in front of you is like a huge mirror, embedded in the mountains.

  The blue sky is reflected in it, and the white clouds sink to the bottom of the water, making it difficult to tell where is the water and where is the sky.

  Several goshawks hovered high in the sky, sometimes dangling against the wind, sometimes standing still, looking like worms frozen in amber.

   If it wasn't for the occasional hawk crow or two, people would think it wasn't a living thing.

   Above the lake, large groups of waterbirds flap their wings, or play and fight, or dive into the lake to prey.

   and the goshawk in the sky moved and still, it became more and more ethereal and quiet.

   "It's so beautiful here."

   "I didn't expect that there is such a beautiful place in the mountains so close to the village, it's like a painting."

  Qin Qiumei muttered to herself, looking around, the lakes and mountains were full of colors, the layers of forests were dyed, and it was as colorful as oil paint. Everywhere was beautiful and dizzying. I didn't know where to look for a while.

  Xiang Wenxia also walked along the lake with her little girl in her arms, pointing at the eagles in the sky, the birds on the water, and the beautiful maple forest to show her.

   The little girl was completely attracted, struggling to get down from Xiang Wenxia's arms, and running back and forth happily.

   But no matter how amazed, how happy they were, everyone was cautious, moving very lightly, and didn't dare to speak loudly, as if they were afraid of disturbing the grass and trees here.

  The mountains and rivers are beautiful and picturesque.

   There was a sudden dog bark, which made everyone recover from the shock of the beautiful scenery.

  Looking at the sound, he saw Heiwa Xiaojin leading Zhao Dahai's thin dog, the three dogs running from the bamboo forest to the crowd covered in mud.

  Xigou was very excited, but the two Heiwa were a little dejected, lying beside Chen Ling and Wang Susu, not wanting to move.

  The reason is that there are fewer geese in the lake. Although there are geese today, they are far away. As soon as they get close, they run away, and they don’t respond to provocations, because they are not the same as before.

   made the two dogs unable to do anything.

   I can't even breathe now.

  Chen Ling saw this, let everyone stay where they were, and quietly touched the bamboo forest with a steel fork.

When    was getting closer and closer to the group of geese, he gripped the steel fork and threw it hard.

  Unfortunately, although the force was fierce, the distance was still too far, the accuracy of the head became poor, and a goose was not stabbed.

   "There are also fewer geese, so it's not easy to fight..."

   Looking at the geese scattered in the middle of Wangwang Lake, Chen Ling called the dog to retrieve the steel fork.

   I also know in my heart that the geese are flying away when the weather is cold, and now the cranes and migratory birds can no longer be seen, and they leave much earlier than the geese.

   said: "Let's go, the geese can't be caught, I'll take you to catch something fun, if you can catch it, lunch will be it."

   So he stood up holding the steel fork and walked towards the bamboo forest.

   By this time, it was almost noon. The women were a little tired and sweating a lot. After entering the bamboo forest, they stopped by the stream, squatted on the pebbles by the water, washed their faces, and then sat next to them to rest.

  Chen Lingze and Zhao Dahai, carrying steel forks and hoes, continued to go deep into the bamboo forest with their dogs.

   "What are we doing, rich?"

  Zhao Dahai asked curiously when he saw that Chen Ling stopped when he was walking, and he specially picked and pulled near the dead bamboo bushes.

   "Catch the bamboo rat, didn't you say you've eaten it last time, you can't see it?"

  Chen Ling also looked at him strangely.

   "Yeah, I ate it, but never caught it."

   Zhao Dahai shook his head and followed him around, "How did you find this thing, can you use a dog to find it?"

   "Okay, why not? There are people in our village who specialize in training rathounds. They spend all day looking for mice and bamboo rats in the mountains, and they are quite good."

As soon as Chen Ling finished speaking, Xiao Jin stepped on the fallen leaves and ran over, with a small fat dimple with gray-black hair in his mouth, and placed it in front of him, with a chubby body, bulging cheeks, covered in flesh, and small ears. With small eyes, a pair of front teeth, and four short legs, it looks more attractive than a mouse.

  Chen Ling laughed when he saw this: "Well, don't you just catch one?"

   own dogs have never been commanded, they will go to find prey on their own.

   "But the bamboo rat is timid, and when there is a little bit of trouble, it slips quickly. In this season, the weather is cold, and the hole is so deep that it is difficult for the dog to catch it."

   "This is also Xiaojin. After discovering where there are bamboo rats, he can catch them before they run back to the hole. In the same situation, it is difficult to change to Heiwa."

   Zhao Dahai gave Xiaojin a thumbs up when he heard the words, and praised him for his greatness.

   Then he looked at the bamboo rat who was picked up by Chen Ling's tail.

   This little thing was not bitten to death, and now it was showing its sharp and thick front teeth, making a 'hu-hu-' cry to demonstrate to people, and its four short legs were still struggling.

   Zhao Dahai was amused by the silly appearance of the bamboo rat: "Hahaha, this thing looks so fat, like a little piggy."

   "It's okay, the hair is thicker, but the meat isn't too much."

  Chen Ling weighed it, about two pounds, and handed it to him.

   Zhao Dahai took it in his hand with great interest, holding his tail with one hand and touching it with the other, quite a bit fond of it.

   "Speaking of which, I've eaten bamboo rats several times, but this is the first time I've seen a live bamboo rat. Can this thing be brought back to raise? It looks very interesting."

   "If you can keep it, if you keep it at home, it won't last long. It's timid, it's easy to get sick, and it's very difficult to serve. You might as well catch two ground mice and bring it back."

   "That's fine, I thought this gadget was as skinny as a mouse."

   Zhao Dahai shook his head and continued to follow Chen Ling to find Bamboo Rat Cave.

  This bamboo forest is very big. After walking a short distance, I found a bamboo rat cave.

   is a pile of yellow soil near a dry and yellow bamboo. The hole is the size of a fist. The thick layer of bamboo leaves piled up is removed, and the exit is relatively smooth.

Zhao Dahai raised his **** and was about to dig, but was stopped by Chen Ling: "There used to be a bamboo rat in this hole, but now it has left, if it still lives in it, it will seal the hole with soil. "

   "No? I said, even my dog ​​doesn't look this way..."

   Zhao Dahai scratched his head and sighed.

   This kind of earth hole, the dog really ignores it after seeing it, because it knows that there is nothing in it.

   The next few in a row are all such holes.

   "I don't believe it anymore, keep looking."

   "Wang Wang Wang..."

   didn't go very far, Heiwa found a cave in front of him, and screamed there.

   Zhao Dahai handed the bamboo rat to Chen Ling, hurried over, looked up carefully, and asked, "Look at the riches, there must be something in this, right?"

  Chen Ling glanced at it and smiled: "There is, this one has sealed the hole, and the soil is very new, and it is still half wet. The bamboo rat must still be in the hole."

   "Then I'll dig."

   Zhao Dahai said while digging down the hole with a hoe.

   All three dogs also ran over, digging violently at the entrance of the hole.

   Within a few minutes, an earth trench about thirty centimeters wide was dug.

   Zhao Dahai was sweating profusely and was out of breath.

   "Keep digging, Brother Hai, the bamboo rat hole is deep after the frost, and it should run away from the ground in a while."

   "No, no, no, I have to take a break."

   Zhao Dahai waved his hands again and again, leaning on his **** and panting again.

   "What are you two fighting about again?"

   At this time, several women also came over.

   "Bamboo digger, have you all eaten this stuff?"

  Chen Ling shook the chubby bamboo rat in his hand and said with a smile.

   Seeing that Yaya in Xiang Wenxia's arms kept her eyes wide open, she tied its hind legs with straw ropes and let Yaya play with her.

   "Sister-in-law, you are optimistic about it, it hurts to bite, and the rope is not strong."

"it is good."

   "Is this a nest found? Then you have to dig it quickly, or it will run away in a while."

  Wang Susu walked over to take a look and said the same.

   Bamboo rat is no worse than a rat, and likes to build several holes. People dig in this hole, and it may escape in other holes. Sometimes even a single hole can be escaped by it.

  If there was a dog watching, Chen Ling would have gone to block the other hole at this time.

   But now the dog is still here, proving that the bamboo rat is still inside.

   So Chen Ling found a slender bamboo branch and inserted it into the hole, but when the bamboo branch was nearly two meters in, it could no longer be inserted.

   stopped and put it down, but the bamboo branches seemed to be shaking a little.

  Chen Ling saw this and said, "The hole is a bit deep. This guy is now plugging the hole with soil. You see, this bamboo branch is shaking violently."

   Hearing this, Zhao Dahai stopped resting, and tried his best to dig again, but he was too fat, and he couldn't dig for two minutes.

   replaced Chen Ling.

   This time it's faster.

   After a while, everyone saw a small pile of yellow soil being pushed out of the hole by the bamboo rat.

  The dog immediately stared at it and barked.

  Chen Ling dug a few more hoes, and saw a small furry thing pushing the soil out of the hole.

Aware of the imminent danger, the bamboo rat immediately twisted its clumsy body and burrowed desperately into the hole, but Chen Ling had already grabbed its tail and pulled the first half of its body that had entered the hole out of the hole. And upside down in the air.

   Watching the bamboo rat struggling to swing its clumsy body...

   This funny appearance made everyone happy.

   "This gadget is fun."

  Xiang Wenxia watched her daughter play with the bamboo rat rope on the ground and found it very interesting.

   "That's right, it's very rare, but it's too difficult to catch. It took so much effort to get two, and one was caught by a dog from a wealthy family."

   Zhao Dahai pursed his lips and nodded, his breath was still a little uneven.

   He just finished saying this, and by coincidence, Xiao Jin also found a bamboo rat hole and shouted over here.

   A group of men and women ran over to see it.

   However, this hole is deeper than the previous one, with three or four holes in the front and back, making it harder to catch…

   "How do you get rich?"

   "It seems that we can only attack with fire!"

Chen Ling took out a match from his pocket, cleared out an open space, then grabbed the dry bamboo leaves beside him and rolled them into a ball, lit it and stuffed it into the front hole, then pulled out a handful of dry bamboo branches from the side, folded it short and plugged it. Live in the hole.

   Everyone choked back again and again.

  Chen Ling endured the fireworks and kept blowing into the hole with his mouth.

At this time, a burst of black smoke emerged from the back hole, and Chen Ling quickly got up and moved to the back hole, with his right hand stuck above the hole. , the bamboo rat escaped.

  Chen Ling's eyes were quick and his hands were fast. The hand above the hole quickly grabbed the tail and pulled it out. The bamboo rat reacted violently, struggling and screaming.

   As soon as this bamboo rat was caught in his hand, the mother-in-law screamed: "Look, look there, another one comes out."

It is estimated that it was choked by the thick smoke. The bamboo rat reluctantly exposed its head and was a little dizzy. Before it could calm down, the two dogs had already pounced on it, and the bamboo rat was held firmly on the ground. under the paw.

   "This is not a bad harvest. There are a few bamboo rats in the noon, enough for us to have a good meal."

   "Huh? Are we really going to eat this at noon?"

   "Hey, try it, I'm not used to it, go back and make something else for you."

   He chopped down some dead bamboo for firewood and left together.

   Several people picked up firewood and walked to the lake while talking.

   When he was about to walk out of the bamboo forest, he discovered that a few women had put a bamboo hood in the stream to block the water. At this time, many small fish and shrimps had already been stopped.

   This stream is relatively shallow and narrow, only 20 to 30 cm deep, but the water is very clear, the water quality is very good, and there are many fish and shrimp in it.

  Chen Ling knew at a glance that it was his daughter-in-law's idea.

   Seeing that there is harvest under the bamboo hood, women and children catch fish while having fun.

   "Oops, Oops, there's another fish coming from above."

   "Ah, Yaya, what are you doing, throwing aunt's face off."

   "Susu, this is a mountain loach, oh, it's slippery, run away, Wenxia, ​​grab it."

  Chen Ling and Zhao Dahai bled, shed and peeled the bamboo rat, and cleaned it up.

   Then he took out the seasoning from the back basket, surrounded the fire pit with stones by the lake, and roasted the bamboo rat.

  The dead bamboo has long been dry and thoroughly dried. After being folded, it is piled up with dead leaves and hay. It is ignited by fire.

   "What kind of seasoning is this? It smells like herbs. I've never seen it before. Isn't this the secret recipe you've been thinking about?"

  Zhao Dahai watched with curiosity as Chen Ling smeared the bamboo rat with seasoning and turned it with a skilled stick, then asked curiously with his nose raised.

  Chen Ling smiled: "What's the secret recipe, just grab two handfuls of things in the mountains, or you don't believe me, you can try to sell them in the market..."

   "Okay, as long as I can sell it, I don't want a cent, I'll send it back to you, as long as you can take care of me every time you come here in the future."

   Zhao Dahai wiped the sweat from his forehead and laughed for a while.

   "It's hard to say, take some with you when you go back."

  Chen Ling smiled and didn't take it seriously.

   got up and found a few clean stones and threw them into the fire.

   He went to his wife's side to fish out the loach, mountain catfish, and wheat ears. After a brief tidying up, he walked to the fire pond, pulled out the roasted red stones, and spread the seasonings to start grilling the fish.

   This one is much faster than the bamboo rat, and the meat is very fragrant soon.

   Several women gathered around without calling.

   Pick up two small fish that have been roasted and charred with bamboo chopsticks, blow air and stuff them into your mouth. After a little chew, your mouth is full of fragrance.

  Women and children finished eating quickly, and there was still a bit of unfinished business.

   "Okay, stop sucking your fingers, the bamboo rat is fine, come and eat."

  The roasted bamboo rat is very similar to roasted suckling pig.

  The skin is golden and reddish, shiny, and the meat is extremely tender.

  Roasted with bamboo fire, it is tough and chewy and accompanied by aroma, but it is really fragrant and crispy, and it tastes great.

   Zhao Dahai took a knife and cut it into small pieces, and when the blanching slowed down, he and Chen Ling shared it with women and children to eat first.

  Qin Qiumei and Xiang Wenxia thought it was a bit like a mouse that dared not eat it before, but they were also moved by the appearance and couldn't stop gulping.

   Zhao Dahai knew that his daughter-in-law was thin-skinned, so he picked up a piece and stuffed it into her mouth.

   Xiang Wenxia was a little embarrassed at first, but the fragrant flesh came into his mouth, and the next moment, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

   "How about it? It's delicious, right? What did I say when I came, don't believe it, whatever the rich and noble cooks are delicious."

   "It's not a problem to pull it into the city and turn over a bunch of chefs, it's just that he won't go."

   "Well, delicious."

   Xiang Wenxia glanced at her husband and then at Chen Ling, smiled and nodded slightly, then fed the bamboo rat's crispy skin to her daughter.

   "Fugui, I have a suggestion for you."

Zhao Dahai was so full of oil that he stretched out his hand and gestured: "This place is so beautiful, and it's close to your fruit forest, don't you want to build a farm, just wrap the whole area around the lake and build it together with the farm, that's very exciting. what."

   "Sister, do you think so?"

   "That makes sense, what do you think of Chen Fugui?"

   Seeing everyone looking over, Chen Ling and Wang Susu looked at each other and shook their heads: "I'm trying to find someone for Gai Nong Zhuang, but I can't find anyone, it's too early to say..."

   "One more, the lake here is very beautiful, and I am reluctant to destroy it."

   Zhao Dahai slapped his thigh when he heard this: "If you can't find anyone, you should say it earlier. Several engineering teams in the city are idle. When you say you want to start work, I will call you right away."

   (end of this chapter)