My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 754 Fish in the Shed
The process of composting mushroom substrate takes about four to five days.

After sterilization and fermentation, these culture media can be packaged into bags for mushroom cultivation.

The weather is quite cool now, so the preparations are going smoothly.

If you do these things in late autumn, sometimes the temperature is high, and you also have to prevent the culture medium from burning and spoiling after it is put into the bags.

These substrates need to be placed in a cool, shady place to cool down before they can be introduced into the culture.

The temperature doesn't matter now.

Once bagged, it will cool down overnight.

The mushrooms weren't even finished yet, but the vegetable seeds in the greenhouse had already sprouted.

Chen Ling went inside to observe for a while, and then began to draw water into the irrigation ditch that had been dug in the greenhouse to complete his planned 'aquaponics' system.

This thing is readily available and relatively easy to use.

The village also has iron water carts, which are pulled by livestock to transport water into the greenhouses.

This was the wedding day of the Li family in the east of the village, and not many people came to help Chen Ling.

It was Wu Lao's old apprentice who brought people over.

There are also Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng, as well as Zhao Yubao's family.

There weren't many other people around.

He Jiawen and his group have been frequently going to Xishan these days, believing that there are new species on the peak of Xishan, so they have even ignored the red-crowned cranes and haven't come here.

But it doesn't matter. Even if no one comes, the livestock from each household in the village will come. Transporting water isn't a complicated or tedious task; it's just a matter of moving the water back and forth.

If there are livestock and water tanks, then there's no problem.

In addition, during their time in the village, Wu Lao and the others gradually recovered their health based on the advice of He Jiawen and others.

Everyone was happy to come and do some work, to stretch their muscles and joints.

Once they arrive, no one tries to slack off.

So in just one morning, all the irrigation ditches in the greenhouse were filled.

It uses water from the reservoir.

Anyway, the area is only two acres, which isn't very big. If it weren't for the water seeping in and Chen Ling taking out the fish to be released, it would only take two hours at most to finish.

"Master, the fish you released don't seem right, do they?"

When Old Wu saw the fish Chen Ling had scooped into the bucket, he noticed they were all brightly colored small fish with scales that shimmered in the sunlight. He quickly called out to Chen Ling.

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you say you weren't going to release fish fry? These fish fry take up so much space!"

"These are not fish fry, they are flower handkerchiefs, which are the native fighting fish variety in mainland China. The ones I raise are new varieties that have been hybridized."

Chen Ling explained, "Did you see that? The colors and types have changed so much!"

"Huh? Why keep this? Aren't fighting fish very cheap?" Old Wu and his group looked at each other in bewilderment.

The fighting fish of today are not like those of later generations. Those so-called popular varieties have not yet appeared, and people are not very enthusiastic about keeping fighting fish for entertainment.

“Yes, Xiao Chen, where I'm from, you can catch these little fish by the handful, nobody wants them.”

Chen Ling laughed upon hearing this, "I'm not raising them to make money. I just keep them for fun and to get rid of pests in the greenhouse. It's warm inside, and as you can see, there are already flies and mosquitoes..."

"In addition, as you can see, most of the fish I keep are new varieties of ornamental fish, or new varieties of fish. I only keep two or three kinds of fish for eating."

Chen Ling is currently preparing to put all her ornamental fish, except for the koi, into the greenhouse.

Chen Ling scooped out all the goldfish, betta fish, loach, catfish, and luminous fish with various colors and appearances that had mutated, intending to keep them here.

These fish are not only pleasing to the eye, but Chen Ling also discovered that they have a special characteristic: they are particularly effective at eliminating parasites and produce a lot of feces.

It has a strong insecticidal effect, which can greatly reduce mosquitoes and pests in greenhouses. If there is a lot of excrement, the accumulation of fish excrement can also increase the fertility of vegetables.

Goldfish and bioluminescent fish, in particular, produce the most feces. When Chen Ling scoops them into the bucket, they leave a layer of fish droppings at the bottom within the time it takes to eat a meal.

He neglected the bioluminescent fish he kept in the tank outside the living room for six months. The fish feces inside had turned into a thick layer of black sludge, and there were small shrimp and snails rolling around inside. The scene was simply terrifying.

So Chen Ling decided not to keep them in the tank anymore, but to just put them in the greenhouse.

Besides these, the types of fish consumed are carp and bream.

The "firehead" is also known as the blackfish.

This creature has few bones and tender flesh, making it perfect for dishes like sauerkraut fish, which is incredibly delicious.

When Mr. Wu heard their unique name for the blackfish, he launched into a tirade of erudition.

The term "fireman" is a variant of "snakehead".

Because the blackfish has python-like patterns all over its body and its head looks like a snake, it is also called the snakehead fish!
"These fish are all very beautiful. I've never seen many of them before. Fighting fish don't sell for much, but I think these goldfish, as well as the loaches and catfish with their unique colors, would be very popular outside!"

"Xiao Chen, aren't you going to pick out the ones that will fetch a good price, instead of just raising them all together like this?"

A middle-aged woman from Taiwan said she felt it was a pity.

"We don't need to use them right now. Sister Mei, you don't know, but last year when the story of that thousand-year-old turtle got out, the goldfish we sent out, especially the nicer ones, were selling for who knows how expensive they were outside."

Now is not a good time to send them away. Let them stay here and be raised together. It's fine. The breed is what it is; they won't become wild or degenerate.

Chen Ling smiled.

Ordinary goldfish, when released into the wild, will all revert to their wild-type colors in the second generation in order to adapt to survival.

His fish have had their genes stabilized by the spiritual water of the cave.

It will only degenerate after at least three generations.

So I'm not worried.

Old Wu said, "My master has seen it all, there's no need to say more about this."

Then, with a fawning smile, he said, "Master, when we leave, could you give me a few fish?"

“Okay, you can pick any of these fish you like. But you need to think about how to make it convenient to take them back. We can oxygenate them during transport in our city, but we'll probably have to find a new place to oxygenate them every now and then,” Chen Ling reminded them.

That's how the arowanas transported from the coast are handled.

Arowanas are more delicate, and the issue of stress during transportation must also be considered.

“Then we’ll take the waterway and have someone transport it back by boat,” Old Wu said, patting his chest.

"That's okay too."

Chen Ling wasn't worried about them; any one of them had a wider network of connections than he did.

"Fugui, Fugui, come here quickly, look at this photo."

Zhao Yubao hurried over, holding a photo and handing it to Chen Ling. "It's Boss Sun, who you partnered with to run the restaurant, who's back. He brought this back. Doesn't it look like the old turtle from the village?"

"This isn't just a resemblance, it is exactly what it is!"

Chen Ling was startled. Where had Garlic and his gang gone? No wonder they hadn't come over lately.

"where is this place?"

"Wangba City, didn't someone say that a giant turtle came from Wangba City? I thought it was just a hoax."

"I've heard about that too!"

Chen Ling not only heard that when he bought building materials before building the greenhouse, he also went to take a look and found that the water was shallow and the rivers had dried up in many places.

That giant turtle was much smaller than the garlic and the others.

Did the garlic and the others swim there from an underground river?

incredible.

"Where is Sun Yanhong?" Chen Ling asked hurriedly.

"I've taken people to the brigade. It's almost the end of the year, and there are still some outstanding payments for the fish and crayfish from the reservoir. We need to settle the accounts with the brigade."

"Oh, that? Let's wait until she's done. Let's go to the greenhouse to release the fish first."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ling decided not to rush and went with the others to the greenhouse to release the fish.

It's noon now, and Wang Jusheng and the others have already gone to the wedding venue.

Chen Ling didn't plan to go. He would just go for a stroll in the afternoon or evening and make an appearance.

Anyway, the gift money has been given.

In the morning, they also sent over some wild boar meat.

They gave us such a big piece of tofu, so we should return the favor with a small gift; that's enough.

When we arrived at the greenhouse, we put the fish in. However, the water in the irrigation ditch hadn't settled properly yet and wasn't clear enough, so we couldn't see the fish.

Chen Ling and the others weren't in the mood to appreciate the fish right now.

They discussed what to have for a simple lunch.

In the morning, when he delivered meat to the wedding party, he also stopped by the county town to deliver some stewed meat to Wang Zhenzhen and Liang Hongyu. On his way back, he bought some fried dough sticks.

Make some soup at noon, either meat broth or vegetable broth is fine. Once the pot is boiling, put the fried dough sticks in to cook, and it's quite delicious.

After discussing it, the group decided that since they had been eating a lot of meat lately, they would have vegetarian soup for lunch.

They had agreed to go home when Sun Yanhong arrived just in time.

She knew that Chen Ling's family liked to eat roast chicken from the city, so she brought two of them.

That's perfect, we have soup and vegetables now, just heat up a few steamed buns and we're all set.

"Business has actually picked up towards the end of the year. Isn't that strange?"

Speaking of restaurants in the city, Sun Yanhong rubbed her head and said, "I had Yu Bangjin and the others keep an eye on things for me today, that's why I came back. I need to rest."

"Are there more people eating hot pot?" Chen Ling asked.

Winter is here, which is the perfect time to enjoy hot pot, shabu-shabu, and all kinds of hot pot.

"No, on the contrary, they order more stir-fries. They keep ordering the same dishes from the menu you gave them, and they never get tired of them."

Sun Yanhong said speechlessly, "Otherwise, I wouldn't find it strange."

"Tsk, that's really strange. So many of the things I prepared so carefully are useless."

Chen Ling was also a bit scratching his head. He had carefully prepared the hot pot, as had the bamboo rat meat before, but what happened? There was no response. Apart from those young men who were into dogfighting, no one else ordered it.

He was convinced.

"What's going on with this old turtle? How did it end up in Wangba City? And someone even filmed it. Is this going to make the news again?"

Chen Ling remembered the photo from earlier and quickly asked.

"It wasn't on the news, and it wasn't in Wangbacheng either. It's still far away. The river in Wangbacheng is dry now. People say it swam over from the big river in the mountains in the northeast corner of Kuliu County. A lot of people are starting to say that the Turtle King is on a tour again."

Sun Yanhong said, "I'm back to rest for a few days and I'm planning to go and take a look. Why don't you bring Susu and the kids along too?"

"I'll pass on it. I haven't been able to plant the mushrooms, so I won't be able to leave the house for the next few days."

Chen Ling would go by himself to see what was going on, but since Garlic and the others had grown to that point, they sometimes had their own ideas, which he generally didn't interfere with.

"Besides, Zhenzhen is about to take her final exams, and after that, our whole family will go back to Fenglei Town."

When he was eating breakfast this morning, he mentioned that when he was taking Wang Zhenzhen and Xiao Qingma back, Wang Susu also felt a bit homesick and wanted to go back to visit.

Wang Cunye said that was a good idea. It would be perfect to have a feast for the two little ones and invite all our relatives and friends over. Anyone who wanted to come could come, and we could have a good time.

After hearing this, Sun Yanhong slapped her forehead: "Well, now that you mention it, I remembered something. Boming asked me to buy English books for Zhenzhen in the city yesterday, but I forgot. I only remembered to buy roast chicken."

Chen Ling laughed nonchalantly, "It's okay, it's fine to buy it a few days later. I won't be busy after I finish planting the mushrooms, so I'll deliver them to Fenglei Town."

"Alright, there's one more thing, Lixian. Your Wuni'er's winter break started early, and she asked me to find her a job. The girl probably wants to save money for her family's tuition. What's your opinion..."

"what?"

Wang Lixian had just returned from the banquet with Liu Nier when he heard this and was immediately stunned.