My 1995 Small Farm.

The closer it gets to the end of the year, the faster time seems to fly.

Finally, the day of work stoppage arrived on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month.

Chen Ling's deer farm is nearing completion.

After enjoying a hot pot of pig's head and spare ribs with Chen Ling, the villagers happily parted ways and returned to their village to prepare for the New Year.

There was nothing much going on at the construction site, so the father-in-law and mother-in-law were sent back home.

Chen Ling also had a rare moment of free time to prepare food for the New Year.

They've already prepared all the New Year's goods; all they're missing now is traditional food.

For example, rice cake.

Even though Chen Ling had eaten delicacies from land and sea.

When this season arrives, just thinking about that sweet and sticky taste makes my mouth water.

There are two types of rice cakes: white rice cakes made with glutinous rice and yellow rice cakes made with millet flour.

All are delicious.

Besides this, we also need to quickly grind potato starch.

Both the county town and the townships have machines for making potato starch.

Those who work in cotton carding, rice grinding, and flour grinding are busiest at the end of the year.

Chen Ling arrived at the southern suburbs of the county town early on the morning of the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month to queue up.

This sweet potato starch making machine is located on the riverbank near the sand quarry.

People used tools such as carrying baskets, snakeskin bags, and bamboo baskets to carry sweet potatoes to be ground into small pieces.

Then filter it with cheesecloth, let it settle into powder, and then strain out the vermicelli to stew with meat.

Some resourceful people would steam and mash the poor-quality sweet potatoes, put them in a gauze bag, and squeeze out the water.

Add malt, saccharify for three hours, then filter into a pot and simmer while stirring until it becomes a brown syrup that can be eaten and played with.

……

"Ah Ling, do you know what I dreamed about last night?"

When Chen Ling finished making potato starch and went home to cook lunch, Wang Susu was holding two little babies in front of the kitchen door, basking in the sun, and said with a smile.

"What dream?"

Chen Ling turned around and said, "You didn't mention your dream last night, but only at noon."

"I didn't remember this morning. I only remembered it when I saw this little vegetable garden in the backyard."

Wang Susu said.

"Oh, so you dreamed about growing vegetables?"

"No, it's not about growing vegetables, it's about growing flowers."

Wang Susu got very excited when she mentioned this: "I dreamed about the back mountain of ours, the hillside was covered with flowers, it was so beautiful."

Women always like these things.

"I was thinking, if we don't raise chickens and ducks here anymore, and even if we do, we won't raise as many as before, is it really possible to plant more beautiful flowers and plants around us, just like in my dream?"

"Sure, I was just thinking of clearing out the fruit trees next year."

Chen Ling nodded and said.

"Huh? The fruit trees are being cleared out? They're not planting any more?"

Wang Susu was truly surprised.

She had been busy for so long, and now that she was suddenly stopping planting, she felt a little reluctant to part with it.

"It's not that we're not planting anymore, it's that we're clearing some of them and transplanting them to the slope. Uncle Zhao and the others are also planting trees on the slope, aren't they? Once the slope is finished, we'll plant some more at our deer farm."

In short, these fruit trees won't go to waste.

Chen Ling said, "Let's make some changes to this orchard. We'll only keep a few fruit trees. As for the miscellaneous trees and bamboo groves around the wall, we'll leave them depending on the situation."

I don't need anything else.

Too many fruit trees are too much trouble, mainly because they attract all sorts of insects.

We no longer rely on fruit trees to support our families and make a living. Our thinking was too simplistic before; now we should just let go of what we've abandoned.

Otherwise, when the two little ones grow up, running around outside with Rui Rui, there will be bugs everywhere, which isn't good either.

"What you said makes sense. If we don't plant trees, will we plant flowers instead?"

Wang Susu quickly asked.

She enjoys tending to flowers and plants, and she planted many of them when she still lived in the village.

Once you get here and have a baby, you won't have time for anything else. "Sure, you can plant whatever you want."

Chen Ling smiled. His wife liked flowers, so it wouldn't hurt for him to tinker with some ever-blooming flowers.

The flowers covering the mountains and fields bloom in different seasons, creating a truly beautiful sight.

Actually, fruit trees are also very beautiful when they bloom in spring.

It just can't be open all the time.

I only watch it once a year.

The young couple chatted idly while Chen Ling prepared lunch.

White rice, served with stir-fried mushrooms and meat, was a very delicious meal.

Before they had finished eating, Lynx rode his motorcycle into the yard.

The motorcycle also carried a bamboo cage.

There are two eagles inside.

After the two eagles were released, another eagle cry rang out in the sky, and Er Tu Zi, whose body had suddenly grown twice in size, circled down and landed.

Following closely behind Er Tuzi was a flock of geese, each folding its wings and landing by the farm's irrigation ditch with a loud splashing sound, honking and bowing their heads to drink.

"What's wrong? Why are these two locked in cages again?"

Chen Ling asked in surprise, "Are you injured?"

"It's nothing, I was attacked by a flock of geese and my wing was slightly injured."

The lynx grinned: "These two eagles are not bad. Although they don't recognize people, they really recognize Er Tuzi. I don't know if they see Er Tuzi as their mother or as their mountain king."

When I saw them fall down injured, I tried to apply medicine to them, but they not only didn't appreciate it, they also barked loudly and tried to peck at me.

Only after Er Tuzi barked once did they quiet down.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling immediately understood.

"Were they attacked by those flocks of geese outside?"

"Yes, if you ask me, you should clip the wings of those geese you keep at home again, otherwise those geese outside will easily lure them away."

Lynx walked to the living room door, pulled up a small stool, and sat down in a warm, sunny spot.

"Really? Didn't you say you and Lao Yu had trained them? Are you still afraid of being seduced?"

After finishing three large bowls of rice, Chen Ling poured hot water into the bowl of leftover rice and drank it to soothe his slightly greasy throat.

During the time their family spent playing in the city.

Lynx and Yu Qi'an were also busy at home.

Aside from daily chores and the lynx searching for puppies.

They even encouraged the recovered Er Tu Zi to lead a flock of geese with fully grown wings to take a test flight in the sky.

The two of them were relatively free.

Plus, you have patience.

Chen Ling had previously planned to use eagles to herd geese.

They actually managed to get it done.

The flock of geese that stayed outside the village during the winter often harassed their flock.

We haven't had a chance to fly for long yet, we haven't had enough fun.

It was squeaking and making noises down below, trying to lure people down.

Today, Er Tuzi couldn't hold back and charged into the flock of geese, giving them a good beating.

The bald man, having completed his evolution, is exceptionally ferocious.

Like a lightning bomber, it comes and goes freely, causing damage to geese while the flock of geese is powerless against it.

Unfortunately, its two younger brothers were not up to par.

They were ganged up on and beaten.

Er Tuzi was dragged down like that.

If the lynx hadn't been carrying a gun and fired a few shots, scaring away the flock of geese...

Those two eagles had more serious injuries than just injured wings.

"Sigh, it's only been a short time. If it had been longer, it would be like a sheepdog with a flock of sheep. It was fine then, but it's not quite there yet. The main problem is that these geese are too smart."

The lynx said helplessly, "If it weren't for the good food you provide at home, ensuring they're well-fed and watered, and never hungry or cold, they probably would have flown away on their own without the geese calling. So you still need to think of a solution." (End of Chapter)