My 1995 Small Farm

   Chapter 69 The Mill

  Wang Susu said that the magpie did it, but Chen Ling didn't quite believe it at first.

   He also grew up in the countryside, and his impression of magpies has always been a happy bird, a symbol of good luck and good fortune.

  I often hear old people in the village saying things like "Magpies chirping, good luck is coming".

   It is said that if there is a magpie calling in the morning, it will think that something good will come to the door that day, and if there is a magpie nesting in the house, it will be regarded as a lucky family by people.

   There are magpie designs on the washbasin, warm pot and quilt. Even the meeting of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl on the Qixi Festival is not called the Magpie Bridge Meeting.

   So Chen Ling has always thought so, which basically formed an inherent impression.

   Who knows that this guy is not a good bird, they really stole the eggs in the house.

   At about ten o'clock in the morning, a man from the village came to collect chicken feathers, duck feathers, and turtle shells, and they walked around the streets and shouted.

  Chen Ling and his wife packed up the chicken feathers, duck feathers and snake skins they had accumulated at home and sold them.

  Unexpectedly, in this empty space, two magpies fell into the yard. If Chen Ling hadn't had a good hearing and noticed the abnormal movement in the chicken coop, he really wouldn't have been able to detect it.

   After seeing the two flower magpies fall into the chicken coop, they looked at the eggs in the chicken coop and pecked a small hole, ate a small half of the egg liquid that flowed out, and picked them up and flew up the treetops.

The    movement is very skilled, and at this point, it is a habitual offender.

   And two old hens were in the yard, just looking down at the flower pond with a group of chicks, ducklings and a few small quails, and they didn't care that their eggs were stolen.

   "A-Ling, look, it's the magpie who did it!"

   At this time, Wang Susu also noticed the eggs in the mouths of the two flower magpies, and pointed to Chen Ling to see.

  Chen Lingzao saw the whole process of committing the crime, and couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

   I didn’t expect that the happy bird in this folklore is not a good bird, but a thief bird.

   The young couple were looking up, and saw two empty egg shells dropped from the tree, with two clicks and clicks, landing not far from their feet and shattering.

   Maybe it was because the eggs were comfortable to eat. The two magpies raised their tails proudly, and called out "chachacha" on the branch.

The    cry was loud and cheerful.

   It used to sound like festivity, but now it makes Chen Ling extremely upset.

   Picked up a piece of dirt from the base of the wall and threw it away, but unfortunately missed, the two egg thieves flew away.

   "It's better to cover the chicken coop with barbed wire, otherwise the eggs at home will not be able to withstand such a waste."

  Wang Susu picked up the eggshell on the ground and said with some distress.

   "Well, these thieves can fly and are very slippery. They fall into the yard without anyone noticing. It's really not easy to prevent them."

  Chen Ling was also quite helpless, so he had to find the barbed wire and cover the chicken coop again.

It's just that the chicken coop was covered for a while when the two magpies flew back and landed on the toon tree, shouting "chachacha", and they kept jumping between the branches, as if they were Like provocation, he looks arrogant.

  Chen Ling couldn't hold back when he saw this. He picked up two more stones and threw them at them. They immediately flew up and hid far away.

   But after a while, he flew back again, and this time he brought a group of accomplices, all of them fell on the toon tree outside the courtyard, shouting wildly "chacha", and performed a chorus for Chen Ling.

   "I'm really convinced!"

  Chen Ling felt powerless for a while, frowned, turned around and walked into the room.

   Call it, but call it vigorously.

   Anyway, the chicken coop is covered with barbed wire, and these thieves want to enter the chicken coop to steal eggs, but there is no way.

   Sure enough, after Chen Ling ignored them, although these magpies were still wandering around the yard, they couldn't get into the chicken coop, couldn't steal eggs, and slowly dispersed.

  …

   It was noon soon.

   Lunch is a flatbread made by Chen Ling's young couple.

  This job is different from cooking. Chen Ling doesn't know how to do it at all, especially with the noodles. Wang Susu can only do it and let him watch and learn.

  It is said that men are more skilled than women. If they can knead noodles, the noodles they make are generally more chewy and delicious than those made by women. However, most men in rural areas are either clumsy or impatient.

   After the fragrant flatbread came out of the pot, Chen Ling set up the pot and made an egg drop soup. The egg drop soup was very satisfying to eat with a couple of pancakes.

   After eating, Chen Ling moved out of the reclining chair, ready to read a book in the yard, and then squinted for a while when he was tired.

  However, things didn't work out. After he went into the house and moved out the reclining chair, he was surrounded by those little quails and little rabbits, and followed him behind his feet. Wherever he went, these little things followed.

  Especially the little rabbit. It was Chen Ling who just opened his eyes. After being raised, he came out of the nest within a few days.

He kept rubbing against his feet, and even digging into his trousers, which made him fall asleep even if he wanted to, so he had to take a flat basket and buckle them up. Looking at the reclining chair ten lines at a time, sleep welled up quickly.

   "Uncle Fugui, is Uncle Fugui there?"

   was drowsily asleep when someone called outside the door.

  Chen Ling opened his eyes and saw that he was a man covered in white ashes, shouting through the fence door.

   He got up and walked over to open the door.

   "It's Yingqiang, come in and sit down."

   Chen Ling opened the door to recognize who it was. It was Chen Guoping's second son, Chen Yuqiang's brother Chen Yingqiang.

   At the age of thirty-five or six years old, he has thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a handsome appearance, but his hair is a little bald. He runs a small mill near the village committee.

   This is also the only mill in Chenwangzhuang today.

  Nearby villages also come to grind noodles on weekdays, so the business is not bad.

   "No, I won't enter the house because of my white face."

   Chen Yingqiang waved his hand.

   Then he said a little embarrassedly: "Uncle Fugui, I heard that I have a lot of ducks at home, can I change a few?"

   Chen Ling noticed that there was a bag of white noodles on the side of the door, presumably he was going to exchange white noodles for ducks.

   smiled and said, "Why don't you want to exchange them? If you want a few, I'll catch them for you."

   There are indeed a lot of ducklings in the house. At that time, all forty duck eggs collected by the Nansha River hatched.

   In fact, ducks are fine when they were young. It doesn’t matter if they raise more. They are yellow and fluffy, and they are adorable.

  But it won't work when you grow up. With so many ducks pooping around in the yard, the family has nowhere to stay.

  Chen Ling has been thinking about the next time Liu Nier comes to the house, how many of them will be brought back by this kid. I didn't expect Chen Yingqiang to come before Liu Nier.

   "It is estimated, it is estimated that there are a dozen..."

   Chen Yingqiang is very embarrassed after saying that, after all, this number is a bit too much.

   followed and explained: "Caiyun broke her leg during Chinese New Year, and she couldn't do any heavy work, so she wanted to raise chickens and ducks at home."

   "It's just that the mill is usually inseparable from people, and I don't have the time to do it."

   "Uncle Fugui, if you think it's not possible, can you bring me some ducklings when I go to the county town next time, and I'll give you the money first."

After hearing this, Chen Ling waved his hand: "Is it okay? There are 40 ducklings at home, and there are more than 20 chicks. A few days ago, the little baby brought a few quails and rabbits. My yard I can't stand it any longer..."

   "You're right if you want ducklings, I'll go and catch them for you."

   Then he quickly grabbed fifteen little ducks, put them in a basket and placed them in front of Chen Yingqiang.

   "Yingqiang, you count, is fifteen enough?"

   "Enough, Uncle Fugui, enough."

   Chen Yingqiang nodded again and again, and then looked at the little duck in the bamboo basket, thinking that this duck grows very fast, it is considered a half-big duck, and my bag of white noodles is definitely not enough.

   So in addition to the white noodles, another five yuan was stuffed into Chen Ling.

  Chen Ling didn't refuse either. He had an average friendship, and he didn't have any kinship.

   But after such a toss, Chen Ling was no longer sleepy. He moved the bag of white noodles into the backyard, gave Wang Susu five yuan, and went out the door with a bamboo basket and a net pocket.

   The past two days have been too light, and he is going to go to the reservoir to catch some crayfish to satisfy his cravings.

   I'm too busy, and the plan has to be re-edited again. I don't have time to update it. Even the bugs mentioned by book friends have just been changed, alas

   (end of this chapter)