My 1995 Small Farm

   After walking downhill for a while, the forest became denser and denser, and the roadside was full of all kinds of messy shrubs and green vines, bees flying on it, and all kinds of crickets and insects chirping among them.

   On the road, pheasants and hares sprang up from time to time, making Qin Yueru mother and daughter scream non-stop.

  Suddenly, a row of geese appeared in the sky ahead, chirping all the way, flying diagonally to the northwest.

   "Wow, look, it's the geese flying here."

   A row of geese passed by, and another row of geese flew over. In a short period of time, five or six groups of geese flew past.

  The clear sky crosses the wild geese, and the scene is quite spectacular.

   Qin Yueru's mother and daughter looked at the wild goose and laughed for a while, Qin Yueru suddenly frowned: "Look at the rich and noble, don't they all say that the wild goose is flying south? How does the wild goose fly north?"

  Chen Ling raised his head and glanced, "This, maybe I'm looking for something to eat. Maybe I'm looking for a place with water."

   In previous years, the places where the geese waited for the birds to gather, that is, the Duba Lake in the north of the city, and the Chenwangzhuang Reservoir in the west of the city, this is nothing unusual.

   "So, the geese are likely to fly to your side."

   Qin Yueru became happy when she heard it, "We'll go to you to see the geese after the Mid-Autumn Festival."

  Little chestnut also raised his head and looked at the sky, nodding constantly: "Uncle, I'm going with my mother, you can catch two geese for me, okay?"

   "Okay, then I'll catch a flock of geese for you to raise, and we'll eat the eggs laid by the geese next spring."

  Chen Ling smiled and waved the bullwhip.

   At this time, the Gedaotai Forest Farm arrived, and he slowly stopped the ox cart.

   On an autumn morning, the sun was still hot, but luckily there was wind, which made the lush trees in the forest farm rustled.

   In the cool autumn wind, the sun doesn't seem to be so hot anymore, bringing bursts of relief.

  Before entering the forest farm, there is still a section of road, which is paved with gravel.

   At the end of the gravel road is a square earthen platform on which a temple has been built, but this temple is a bit desolate and dilapidated compared to other temples in the city.

   There is also a tall saponin tree next to the temple platform. The tree is covered with red cloth strips, and there are traces of incense candles under the tree.

  In the hearts of the people nearby, although this dantai is not as spiritual as the legend, it will still come here to offer incense on the first and fifteenth day of the new year.

   stopped here and waited for Liang Hongyu and the two to follow along with the cow.

  Chen Ling untied the ox cart and let the little white ox take two yellow oxen to graze everywhere in the woods.

   A few of them walked along the road in the forest to the bottom of Tubaoling, which is to the south of Kegtaitai.

   There is a bridge over there. Under the bridge is a river channel built with stones. There are two large ponds made of bluestone on both sides of the river channel, which were used for water storage before the forest farm.

   Now the workers of the forest farm have long since dispersed. Not far from the big pond, the open space that used to be piled with wood is now overgrown with weeds and wildflowers, making it look desolate and empty.

  Little chestnut saw that there were flowers over there, and wanted Qin Yueru to take her to pick flowers.

  Chen Ling stopped their mother and daughter, grabbed two yellow vitex sticks from the side, and gave them to them, so that they would go over with the grass, otherwise it would be bad if there were snakes and worms in the grass.

   "Uncle is so nice."

  Little Chestnut took the stick with a smile, and ran over holding hands with Qin Yueru.

  Wang Susu followed her with her son.

   "They've all gone to play, come on, uncle, let's start fishing."

  Chen Ling smiled and gave Qin Rong a fishing rod first.

Liang Hongyu smiled when he saw it: "Don't look at the fact that we live in the county seat now, the forest farm doesn't come often, so it's hot in the summer to stay cool for a while, and usually go to the river bank to herd cattle. Your uncle is at Nanqiaotou. There are also chess friends, keeping cattle and playing chess, it is very comfortable."

   Qin Rongxian couldn't help but smirk when he heard this, and he seemed quite proud.

   is not it.

  Although life is rich and noble in Beijing, being humble and small, looking at people everywhere, really kills my ambition and feels very aggrieved.

   He was also an aspiring young man at the time, and he didn’t think about asking for anything, let alone being someone else’s door.

   Besides, they were not rich or not rich at that time, and everyone’s living standards were not much different.

   He went there for Liang Hongyu.

   In the end, he lived like that, and his son couldn't take his surname.

   Now that I think about it, it’s better to go back to my hometown.

   Eat well, sleep well, and enjoy life. The old husband and wife are more harmonious together than in the past few decades. After the old couple's mentality improves, they live younger and younger.

   It must be said that there is no credit to Chen Ling. If he hadn't recognized him, Liang Hongyu would definitely not have made up his mind to stay here.

   "Fishing, fishing, you have to have bait."

  Qin Rongxian gave Chen Ling a cheerful look, patted his **** and stood up: "Okay, I'll go get the bait from the ox cart, I forgot to take it just now."

   "What kind of bait are you looking for, uncle?"

  Chen Ling shouted, "I can beat two grasshoppers on the spot."

Qin Rong first waved at him without looking back: "what's the matter with the grasshopper, I'm here to catch big carp, I heard that the carp in the river is the boss. I also want to try the carp here."

  When fishing, it is natural to prepare bait first.

  What kind of bait you want to catch.

  For example, crucian carp likes to eat meat. When fishing for crucian carp, grasshoppers and earthworms are used as bait.

  Carp like to be vegetarian. Generally, when fishing for carp, soybean meal, wheat bran, etc. mixed with white wine and sesame oil are used as bait.

  It is naturally inappropriate to use bugs as bait.

   "Big carp? There is only so much water in this river, how big can there be? I'm afraid it's not as big as the carp raised in the pond."

  Chen Ling glanced at the small canal in front of him, but it was only more than two meters wide. On both sides of the riverbank were the embankments of the canal paved with bluestones, and the water inside was fairly clear.

   There are a lot of small fish and shrimp in this kind of canal. If you want to say big fish, you can't say that there are no big fish. It can only be said that there are relatively few, at least not in this shallow water area.

   "I don't know either, your uncle said he has a secret recipe."

  Liang Hongyu said, then smiled and pushed him, "You fish quickly, I'll wait to see you fish."

"it is good."

  Chen Ling smiled at the old lady, walked to the grass beside him and kicked two, threw two grasshoppers, and started to catch them.

Seeing this, the old lady also went to catch grasshoppers, and after catching seven or eight, she strung them with grass, sat beside him, and collected bait for him.

   Soon, the fish was hooked, not too small.

   "Huh, I got hooked so quickly."

   The old lady exclaimed, and then frowned, "Why is this a grass carp? Don't grass carp eat grass? Why do you still eat grasshoppers?"

   "Eat, does it also eat earthworms?" Chen Ling unpacked the grass carp and threw it into the bucket.

   At this time, Qin Rongxian also brought his bait.

  Chen Ling glanced at it, it wasn't a secret recipe, it was wine lees.

   "What do you say? It's so lively to catch a fish?"

   "Just now, Fugui caught a grass carp with a grasshopper. Look, grass carp actually eats grasshoppers, and Fugui said that it also eats earthworms. I heard people say that grass carp eat grass and can eat several kilograms a day."

   "Huh? Also eat grasshoppers and earthworms? Is that so? I've never heard of it."

   Qin Rongxian was also quite surprised, he really hadn't noticed it, he only knew that grass carp eats vegetarian food, otherwise how could it be called grass carp.

   "Eat, eat, uncle, believe it or not, let's compare the two, I use grasshoppers, you use your own bait, let's see who catches more grass carp later."

   "Okay, let's compare."

   Qin Rongxian was full of confidence, saying that he had a secret recipe and was not afraid.

  Liang Hongyu also sat down with a small horse: "Okay, I'll be the referee for you."

   Then the two of them sat on both sides, far away from each other, without affecting each other.

At the beginning, Qin Rongxian was really good here, nothing else, the bait mixed with wine lees was too fragrant, and there were not many people who came to catch fish in the small canals of the forest farm. When he did this, what kind of carp, grass carp and crucian carp were biting. Hooks, big and small fish, a little half a bucket in a while.

   These days, in the wild rivers and ditches, there are not too many fish, and there is no need to talk about any skills. As soon as Qin Rongxian's bait entered the water, a layer of fish rushed to the surface of the water.

   If it wasn't for the two of them to compete, he would just use the net to catch it.

  Chen Ling is quieter here.

   But look carefully, every time he throws the rod, there are fish hooked, some crucian carp, some grass carp.

   Soon, Liang Hongyu ran out of grasshoppers.

  The old lady went to grab two more strings for him to use.

   After a while, the grasshoppers ran out again. After going back and forth a few times, there were more than half of the fish in the bucket on Chen Ling's side.

   "Rong Xian, come and see, there are so many grass carp caught by Fugui, more and bigger than yours."

   "Oh, really, does this grass carp eat grasshoppers so fiercely?"

   Qin Rong came over first, bent over to take a look, and immediately widened his eyes.

   In his previous understanding, this grass carp only eats grass, and it is very fierce to eat grass.

  Especially in summer, grass carp can eat one-half of its own weight of grass every day. As long as there is enough grass, it can grow into a big fish of about ten pounds in three years, which is very domineering.

   But I didn't expect this thing to eat grasshoppers, which really surprised the old man.

  Chen Ling said to the two of them: "This grass carp is also omnivorous. There is no grass to eat in winter, and it is also eaten by small fish and shrimp. It is not surprising."

   "Uncle, are you going to fish with grasshoppers? Look at how big my grasshopper is, my aunt caught it for me."

   At this moment, Xiao Lizi ran over, grabbed a dark green big mantis and handed it to him.

  This mantis is really big, longer than a little girl's hand, and its belly is bulging, like a small grenade.

  Because he was caught in his hand, a pair of wings made a "chichichi" exhalation sound like a fart.

   However, its two pairs of big pliers have been broken by Wang Susu, and there are only two small pliers left, otherwise the big pliers will definitely hurt the little girl.

   But even so, the eyes on the triangular head are fierce, and the mouth wants to bite the little girl's hand.

   "Hey, this is not a grasshopper, this is a big mantis."

   After seeing it, Chen Ling touched the belly of the praying mantis, put down the fishing rod and said, "This is a female praying mantis, come, uncle will bake it for you and eat it."

   "Is this really edible? It looks so fierce."

   When the little girl heard that this thing could be eaten, she turned her head and looked at the mantis in her hand, feeling very puzzled.

   "You can eat it. You can touch its big belly. It's full of mantis seeds. It's very fragrant when it is roasted with fire."

  The little girl carefully touched the mantis' belly with her hands. It was really big and soft to the touch.

  Little Chestnut opened his eyes as soon as he touched it: "Uncle, look, its big belly is still moving."

  Chen Ling nodded, "Well, this kind of mantis is the best roasted, let's go, let's roast it."

   This is obviously at the point of laying eggs, and it is full of mantis eggs, which is a good thing.

  Wang Susu was holding the child on the bridge and chatting and laughing with Qin Yueru.

   Seeing Chen Ling taking Xiaolizi to set fire, he said, "A-ling, what are you doing, don't take Xiaolizi to eat blindly."

   "Do nothing, just bake a mantis."

   "It's better to grill two bunches of grasshoppers than grilling mantises. You forgot to say last time at home that there were bugs in the mantis's stomach. It was unclean and looked like hair."

   "Well, that's iron nematode, don't worry, I've seen it, it's definitely not there."

  This is so close to the water, if there are iron worms, this mantis will not live to lay eggs.

   So he took the little chestnut and found a large pile of dead leaves and branches in the woods and set it on fire in the clearing by the water.

   At this time, Qin Rongxian and Liang Hongyu heard that they were talking about roasting mantises, so they caught two more mantises over.

   Chen Ling shook his head when he saw it: "These two are males, and there is nothing in their stomachs. It's better to grab a few old poles."

  The male mantis is not insured, and it is impossible to see if there are any bugs.

  The female mantis is better, as long as it looks like it is about to lay eggs at any time, but if it is still alive, there must be no insects in its stomach.

   "I didn't see such a big one here, or just listen to Susu, let's catch some grasshoppers." Liang Hongyu said.

   "No need, Auntie, the grasshoppers haven't grown to that time yet. Now the grasshoppers can be fried, but not roasted, and they won't taste good when roasted."

  The eggs in the belly of the grasshopper have not grown up yet, and they are roasted. After the belly is burnt, it is only ashes and can't eat anything.

   After waiting for the grasshopper to grow for more than ten days, the belly also swelled up, and it was roasted. The belly was burnt and there were yellow eggs, which were fragrant and chewy, like egg yolks.

   "That's fine, we'll wait a little longer."

   Qin Rongxian smiled helplessly, "We dare not compare with you in terms of eating."

   Then he watched Chen Ling and Xiaolizi squatting on the ground, using matches to set the dead branches and leaves on fire, and after the fire was exhausted, put the female mantis on it.

   "Xiao Li is ready, he is about to count, he can eat it by pulling it ten times with a stick."

  Chen Ling said this, the little girl suddenly became serious, and gently pulled up on the charcoal fire with the yellow thorn stick in her hand, and read while pulling: "One, two, three..."

When it was tenth, Chen Ling took out the charred mantis from the charcoal fire, knocked it lightly on the stone twice, and broke open the mantis's blackened belly, and the inside suddenly revealed a yellow, charred belly. Fragrant mantis eggs come.

   A piece as big as the belly of the thumb, Chen Ling blew off the ash on it and handed it to the little girl, "Come on, it's baked, try it out."

  Little Chestnut carefully ate it into his mouth, his eyes suddenly lit up: "It's delicious, very fragrant, uncle, let's catch a few more mantises."

   "That's right, we want to eat a few more from the rich and famous."

   Qin Yueru walked down from the bridge when she saw that her daughter was eating deliciously, waving her hands and shouting.

   She is like this, she is tall, but she speaks in a soft voice, and when she smiles, her eyes are curved, just like a silly big sister.

   Besides, she never regarded Chen Ling as an outsider from the beginning, and she was not very polite.

   But strangely it doesn't make people feel offended.

  Chen Ling didn't know the reason, but he got used to it after getting along so many times, so he turned around and said to her, "If you want to eat it, grab it yourself, and I'll bake it for you if you catch it."

   "I'm afraid of mantises, I dare not catch them."

   Qin Yueru shook her head and turned to look at Wang Susu with a smile: "Susu, help me catch it, I'll help you look at the doll."

   "Hey, my mother is an idiot and a coward. Even a mantis dare not catch it. What is there to be afraid of, I dare to catch it and play."

  Little chestnut laughed when she saw her like this. She and Wang Zhenzhen learned more and more boldly.

  Mantis dares to hold it in his hand, isn't it a hundred times stronger than her mother.

   "Look, I was laughed at by my daughter."

  Liang Hongyu glanced at her daughter, and then said to Wang Susu: "Susu, leave her alone. If she wants to eat, let her catch it by herself. I have to cure her problem."

  Wang Susu just pouted and smiled beside him.

   She knew that the old lady was soft-hearted, that is, she had a strong mouth, otherwise she would not be able to raise such a squeamish daughter.

   Sure enough, not long after she finished speaking, the old lady herself took the lead and went to the forest to catch mantis for her daughter and granddaughter.

   Qin Yueru and Wang Susu followed behind with their children, hitting the grass with a yellow thorn stick, and went out to find the mantis.

  It was just a joke anyway.

  There are quite a few mantises in the woods, and they caught several large female mantises in a short while, and used the dog's tail grass to wear the mantis's neck.

  These mantises are fiercer than one, even if they are covered with grass, they are restless, or rub their wings, or struggle endlessly, and some fight.

   The little guy in Wang Susu's arms was so happy that he couldn't move his eyes.

   They were having a good time, when the cows grazing not far away suddenly made a "moo" sound. It was two scalpers calling, very loud and panicked.

   "What happened? What happened to the cow?"

  Chen Ling and Qin Rongxian had gone back to the shore to go fishing, but when they heard the cow barking, they quickly dropped their fishing rods and ran over.

   In such a situation, Wang Susu and the others did not dare to go over to check with their children, naturally they did not know what was going on.

   just said worriedly: "Don't be in the woods, if a cow is frightened, it will be a bad thing."

Chen Ling looked over there, and saw Xiao Bai Niu looking back with a calm face, and immediately relieved, "It's alright, look, Xiao Bai is looking back at us, it must be alright like this. "

   Then went over there to see what was going on.

Seeing this, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile on his face: "My dear, I really have nowhere to go after breaking through the iron shoes. It took no effort to get it. I couldn't find anything good in the mountains, but I didn't expect it to be here. There are such big ones hidden in the forest farm."

  ——

  This chapter is a monthly ticket addition for July.

   There are 79 more chapters.