My 1995 Small Farm

  Chapter 313 Unexpected Discovery

   "Oh, you guys have had a good harvest these two days. I think this tree is almost full of prey."

  Chen Ling took Heiwa into the woodland and smiled.

   Hearing his voice, Xiao Jin ran from behind the tent from a distance, and threw himself on top of him, humming and rubbing against him.

   "Yeah, there are a lot of gadgets in the mountains this year. Hairy mice and yellow-skinned children are running around. You can see how many Shanhuzi and Huahuzi have been caught."

   In front of the tent in the camp, Wang Lixian and Liu Guangli were sitting on the stone busy with their own affairs. When they heard Chen Ling's words, they pointed to the things hanging on the nearby trees to show him.

   I saw something with a black face and a yellow body like a large weasel hanging on a tree.

  This is a mountain scorpion.

   is also known as the yellow-throated marten, also known as the yellow 猺.

Next to    are squirrels and fox beggars with white fox faces.

  Squirrel, the locals call them hairy mice, because they see their long hair, big and long tails, and fluffy hair on them, so they call them this name.

   As for the flower fox, it is not a fox, but just like a fox.

  The scientific name is actually called civet cats. This thing is found in the north and the south, and it is widely distributed.

   As for weasels, local people generally do not catch them.

   "It's so fragrant, is it the meat of a hairy mouse, or the meat of a fox?"

  Chen Ling pulled the hanging prey a few times, then shrugged his nose suddenly, smelling a very special meat fragrance.

  Wang Lixian shook the peeled skin in front of him and said, "Mao mouse, this thing's meat is delicious.

   Just peeled and stewed, and at noon, I ate the stewed hairy mouse meat with mountain mushrooms. "

   As the old saying goes, a golden mouse and a silver mouse are not as good as a hairy mouse.

   is the squirrel. This thing has good meat. When I was hungry in the past, I came to the mountains to find something to eat. The first thing I ate was this hairy mouse.

   "Haha, that's good, I'll bring you two big bags of steamed buns with white noodles and steamed cakes, let's eat them today."

  Chen Ling went to the fire pond, lifted the lid of the pot and looked at it, smelled the smell, and said with satisfaction.

   But there are so many people, this pot is probably not enough to eat.

  Well, at least he has to have another pot, otherwise let alone other people, just this, he himself can't eat enough.

  This squirrel meat must be much better than wild boar meat, and he doesn't want to miss it.

  Then got up and turned around. Seeing no one else in the camp, he asked, "What are they doing? Why are you two here?"

   "Go out and take off the clip and put the cover on. In the past two days, I have caught a lot in the surrounding woods. These little things don't dare to go near here. They have to go farther to catch them."

Wang Lixian glanced at him, pointed at the peeled squirrel skin and said, "This stuff is valuable, and it is rare to see more of it in the mountains, so I have to grab as much as I can, but it's hard to sell it. It takes time to travel farther to sell.”

   "Go to Wangbacheng? Or Fenglei Town?" Chen Ling sat on the stone beside Wang Lixian and watched him skin the squirrel neatly.

   "You can go, but people from our side usually go to Wangbacheng, where they keep accepting and willing to bid."

   In the slack farming season after autumn, in addition to continuing to go out to work, there are many people who go into the mountains to collect herbs and mountain goods.

   But at the same time as harvesting mountain goods, you can also add a lot of income to your family by catching some small prey.

   Small prey are mainly hares, squirrels, pheasants, foxes, raccoons and so on.

   Except for pheasants and hares, most of the small game is not sold for meat, but for skins.

   In the late 1980s, one could make a fortune selling leather.

  For example, a squirrel, don't look at this little thing, it is inconspicuous. After winter, a squirrel fur can be sold for fifty or sixty yuan.

   This is still the price in the late 1980s.

  Foxes are more expensive than squirrel furs. Foxes are hard to catch, and the number of them is small.

   In the past, Wang Lixian used to do this business a lot. According to him, half of the money for his family's Wu Nier's study was from selling leather.

   This also makes his skinning skills extremely good.

   Peeling is a delicate job. If the peeling is not good, there will be many holes on the leather, and a piece of leather will be sold for a lot less money. Naturally, you must pay great attention to the knife technique.

   "How is it, your hands are itchy? Go put a few on your hands too. I have two more sets tied with thin wire ropes here. You can use them."

  Wang Lixian laughed when he saw Chen Ling's eagerness to move.

  Chen Ling definitely didn't say anything when he heard this, and patted his butt: "Where is the wire rope?"

   "In the tent."

   "Uncle Guangli, do you have a rope cover made of wire rope like this?"

   "No, I'm not that advanced. Would you like a cover made of leather?"

   "Forget it, no more."

  Chen Ling shook his head, shouted two dogs and walked out.

  Liu Guangli glanced at him and said with a smile, "You are quite picky."

   Under the cover, of course, the wire rope cover is easy to use.

  This kind of wire rope is not thick, even slightly thinner than the wool of a knitting sweater. It can be placed in places where prey often haunts, in grass, bushes, and under trees, and the wire rope is not easy to knot.

  It would be hard to say if there were other sets of cotton threads or the like.

   Maybe when the wind blows, those ropes and lines will become messy, tangled in a mess, and the open sleeves are gone, so how can they catch the prey.

   Although it is looking for a place to set small prey.

   But Chen Ling still misses the female leopard.

  Walking on the mountain, let the two dogs sniff the smell separately, but unfortunately the two of them didn't respond very much after finishing the show, which proved that the leopard was too far away and could no longer reach.

   Even with Xiaojin's nose, it seems far away, and it must be impossible to find it recently.

   "It seems that there are still too few leopards in the mountains, and now there are only two in the mountains,"

  Chen Ling of course also wanted to find other leopards.

  It's a pity that there are not so many leopards in the mountains, what can he do?

  There are few leopards, because they fought too hard before.

   Tigers are not easy to catch, so they catch leopards. Many people think that it can be used as medicine instead of tiger bones.

   Tiger bone wine can aphrodisiac, strengthen the waist and kidney, is an extremely precious medicinal wine, such things have always been able to sell for big prices.

   Such an effect, coupled with scarcity, is always a high-priced item.

  …

   "They should have gone to Eagle Claw Ridge in the west, so I'll go north..."

  Chen Ling thought for a while, and walked to the depths of the mountain to the north.

  The location of the campsite is on a hill near the wetlands.

  There is a very deep mountain stream to the west of the camp. You need to take a detour. You can reach the Eagle Claw Ridge in the west.

   To the north, the mountains are getting taller.

  Chen Ling seldom goes deep here, but this time I came here for a walk to see what's new.

   In addition, after finding the leopard and asking the dog to find the wild boar, the reaction of the two dogs is also pointing in this direction.

   "I'm going, I've come right here, there are too many squirrels here."

   Just walked into a big mountain to the north. Before walking a few steps, Chen Ling was stunned, because there was no need for it to put a cover on it, so Heiwa and Xiaojin ran around, catching squirrels one after another.

   This is simply easier than catching a rabbit.

  In the past, when no one caught squirrels and sold their skins, squirrels can be said to be the most proliferating thing in the mountains besides wild boars.

   Small prey like squirrels.

   It is rare to be hit with a gun.

  Because of their small size and flexibility, they are difficult to hit with a gun, and it is easier to set up traps to trap them.

   Another, considering that the fur is to be sold, it is definitely not possible to use a shotgun. This kind of small thing used to sell leather is worthless if it has a gun hole.

  Looking at the squirrels in front of them being picked up by two dogs and placed in a row, Chen Ling smiled with satisfaction: "It seems that a place with fewer people here is good, just like picking up money with a sack."

   Take a look at the place where the two dogs are under their mouths, they are quite cautious.

   "Yes, yes, the money for selling the leather is the food expenses for the two of you. Come on."

   His words made the two guys immediately excited, wagging their tails and grabbing the squirrel on the mountain, and the one grabbing it was very energetic.

   After Chen Ling had a bunch of squirrels hanging on his body and Dongtian had put a lot of them, he quickly told them to stop and stop catching them.

   These two guys are too fooled. When it comes to food expenses, they are so excited.

   "Woo Wang~"

   Walking around the forest for a while, Xiao Jin suddenly alerted Zhi Ling, let out a low whimper, and quickly ran down the steep hill.

   ran all the way to the narrow passage formed by a mountain pass between the two peaks, and restlessly sniffed on the ground.

   Heiwa followed closely, sniffed for a while, then roared fiercely, seemingly extremely angry.

  Chen Ling hurriedly walked over to take a look. This mountain pass is about 70 cm wide, forming a narrow passage between the two peaks. The place is cool and humid, covered with moss and wild vines.

   But under this aisle, there are footprints and feces left by various beasts.

   "Good guy, this is a natural animal way."

  Chen Ling was very surprised when he saw it, "And it's still universal. This is the footprint of a wild boar, a group passed by, this is a footprint left by a deer, and it is also a large group. I don't know what the footprints are..."

   "Wow!"

  The two dogs watched Chen Ling come over and looked around, anxiously pulling his pants to show him the footprints they found.

   "Huh? These are... leopard footprints?"

  Chen Ling looked at the shallow plum blossom footprints on the ground in surprise, but soon he shook his head, the leopard's toes were the first five and the fourth, which was obviously different from the leopard.

   Seeing the two dogs circling anxiously around this footprint, turning a blind eye to the other footprints, Chen Ling suddenly remembered something: "This is the footprint of a lynx."

  I heard Liu Guangli say that the big lynx is smarter than the leopard. The leopard often changes territory, but the lynx is not.

  Wherever there are lynxes, there must be a place where deer must travel nearby, that is, the animal path of deer.

  Deer either go this way today or go tomorrow.

  Lynx can stay until the day after tomorrow as long as it finds the way of the beast.

  Wait till the deer pass here.

   This is the shrewdness and strong patience of the lynx described by the old Orion in simple words.

   They find the animal path of their prey, and they can lie in ambush for two or three days without eating or drinking.

   After success, you can have a full meal.

   Lynx loves to eat rabbits and deer.

   In the past two or three months, it is the peak season for deer mating. During this time, they are frequently active, which is an excellent opportunity for lynx to hunt.

   "Wang Wang Wang ~"

   The two dogs were still barking angrily, circling around the footprints left by the lynx.

  Chen Ling still rarely sees them so angry. It is estimated that he was frustrated when he met the lynx last time, and he can't wait to find his way back.

   "I'll put a trap here first, see if it works, can I catch it? This thing is very clever."

  Chen Ling stroked the big heads of the two dogs and reassured them.

   Then he walked far away, and went to the forest to start a small fire, playing with two wire ropes.

   After some treatment, we began to arrange the cover near this natural animal path.

  Otherwise, the smell is too obvious, and wild things will not be fooled.

   When he finally put the bait, in addition to using birds, he also boldly used fish from the cave.

  The red-crowned crane likes to eat so much, and the male leopard with a broken tail in Dongtian feeds it fish, and it eats very vigorously. He is not afraid that this lynx will not take the bait.

   "Let's go, we'll come and see you tomorrow."

  …

   "Wealth is amazing, what did you do, it's only been a long time, this furry mouse has caught two big strings?"

   "That's right, it's not easy to catch a hairy mouse."

   "Listen to him, I bet he was caught by a dog, not a trap."

   "Let me just say, how can a small half-day cover be covered so much."

   "Hey, I'm not talking about you. If you let a dog catch your riches and honors, it's just a waste of good things. It's worthless if you peel it off."

  “…”

   A group of people in the camp surrounded Chen Ling and shouted.

   It was Chen Ze and those in Kinmen Village who were under the covers also came back.

   They caught a lot of squirrels, but they caught them together, and Chen Ling caught them alone.

   When they first learned that he used dogs to catch squirrels, they were still a little unconvinced and angry, thinking that Chen Ling had spoiled good things.

   But after a closer look, they were surprised to find that the teeth on these squirrels are very small, and most of them do not affect the sale of skins.

   "Grandma, the dog you raised is getting more and more demonic. With such sharp teeth, the wolf's neck can be bitten through. The squirrel caught by you is smaller than the wound on our sleeve."

   A group of people thought it was very unreasonable, and at the same time they were very envious and jealous of Chen Ling.

  Chen Ling just laughed and didn't say a word, how smart his dogs are, when he heard that it was related to the cost of extra meals for them, he was not very careful.

  …

   At noon, I ate stewed squirrels with mushrooms. The taste of squirrel meat was not as good as expected, even worse than bamboo squirrel meat.

   Not to mention the roast suckling pig made by Little Boar.

   But the taste is also quite unique, like chicken, and a bit like mountain mouse meat, with a slightly sweet mouth, and the meat has a peculiar aroma of nuts.

   I can only say that I ate something fresh.

   After he finished eating, he was still in the mood to recall the taste. How could other people care about this.

   Gobbling down the steamed buns and steamed cakes.

   "Thank you for the steamed cakes and steamed buns brought by the rich brothers. I really vomited from the noodles. I have to trouble you a few more times in the future. You are our great savior."

   Several young people from the expedition chewed steamed buns and said vaguely.

   "Haha, then I'm not on time."

  Chen Ling shook his head and smiled: "I'm going to take the dog to fight the pigs in the afternoon, or you can go fight the pigs with me, and I'll bring you meals later if you can beat me."

   A few young people really responded and said, "Okay, as long as you don't dislike our poor skills."

   But Chen Ling was just joking, how could he really take them there, it would affect his actions too much.

  After eating and drinking, Chen Ling sat beside Liu Guangli and asked him something about the lynx.

  The old man knew that he was going to hunt pigs in the afternoon. After talking about the lynx, he also told him a few words, asking him to be careful. Many wild animals are in the mating season, and they are very active. Don't be careless.

  Wang Lixian also said: "There are no pigs nearby. If you want to hit a pig, you have to go far. Can you do it alone? Or I can go with you."

  Chen Ling knew his good intentions, but he still declined, saying that he was just looking around for fun, and he didn't necessarily want to hit wild boars. If he couldn't find a pig, he would come back early.

  Wang Lixian didn't say anything.

   (end of this chapter)