Chapter 46 Herding Cattle

"Haha, I'll keep that a secret for now and tell you later."

Earlier, Chen Ling had simply told Wang Susu that "Black Whirlwind" had helped blindfold the little buffalo, which was how he managed to lead it back smoothly. He hadn't mentioned anything else.

Wang Susu immediately put on a pouty, aggrieved look, puckered her lips, and said, "Fine, don't tell me then."

Chen Ling quickly reached out to gently pinch her delicate hand and smiled softly at her.

His young wife was gradually opening up a lot more in front of him. Not only did she dare to question him about certain things, but she also subconsciously acted spoiled in front of him, which made him immensely happy and fulfilled.

Just then, however, Chen Ling suddenly noticed a bamboo basket in the middle of the courtyard filled with chirping little chicks.

"Huh? Where did these chicks come from?"

"My mom asked me to bring these over for Aunt Susu to raise," Liuniu chimed in eagerly upon hearing the question.

Wang Susu gave a soft hum of acknowledgment and said, "Sister-in-law Yuzhi hatched a bunch of chicks at home, so she had Liuniu bring some over."

Wang Lixian’s wife, Liu Yuzhi, was a mute. Aside from working the fields during busy farming seasons, she rarely went out.

It had been fine before, but after having a child, she worried people would laugh at her, and it made things hard for the child too.

"Oh, I see."

Understanding the situation, Chen Ling looked at the young boy and asked, "Liuniu, how come I haven't seen you come over to play these last few days?"

"Hehe, Uncle Fugui, you probably didn't know, but I started primary school this year," Liuniu said with a cheeky grin, sniffing his running nose.

Chen Ling glared at him. "You little rascal, you're in school now and you still have snot hanging from your nose all day? You don't even know to wipe it."

"Uncle Fugui, the teacher says Liuniu has bad hygiene," piped up another little kid, stepping forward to tell on him.

"Yeah, and in class, Liuniu was picking his toes, then told Liu Tiedian from Golden Gate Village that his hand tasted sweet and made Liu Tiedian lick it. When Liu Tiedian found out, he got so mad they got into a fistfight, and the teacher made Liuniu stand for two whole periods!"

"..."

Hearing this, all the little tots rushed forward to tattle on him.

Their chatter had Chen Ling and Wang Susu laughing heartily.

Unable to resist, Chen Ling reached out and gave him a light flick on the forehead. "You really something else, Liuniu."

Liuniu shrank his neck back and chuckled foolishly, looking quite proud of himself.

After playing around for a while, the little kids prepared to leave. Chen Ling stopped Liuniu and gave him some vegetables and eggs to take back.

Since they had brought over baby chicks, returning the favor with some produce was only common courtesy.

Liuniu had been running over to this courtyard frequently lately and didn't stand on ceremony. Slinging the basket over his arm, he marched off valiantly with his little friends.

With the children gone, the courtyard instantly grew much quieter.

Chen Ling grabbed the keys and headed to the backyard, tied the little buffalo to the old locust tree, threw a large bundle of spinach in front of it, and locked the gate behind him as he came out.

Returning to the front yard, he cleaned up the dilapidated chicken coop from the previous year.

In the village, people usually started raising chickens in the spring by getting a batch of chicks.

As winter approached, they would either take them to the township market to trade for money or slaughter them to make cured wind-dried chicken. Feeding chickens through the winter required grain, so for villagers, keeping too many simply wasn't cost-effective.

Just like Chen Ling’s household—besides the new chicks, they only had one big rooster and three old hens. They had sold most of last year's chickens, leaving just these four, which could be easily managed with a bit of rice bran and leftover scraps.

The old chicken coop was left over from last year, and clearing it out now meant it would be ready with a place to lay eggs once the new chicks grew up.

...

Early the next morning.

After waking up and washing up, Chen Ling led the little buffalo out of the backyard, intending to take it out for a walk.

Since he had actually bought a cow, how could he pass up the thrill of grazing it?

It was mid-March, with bright sunshine and a clear breeze—truly magnificent weather.

Amidst the gentle spring breeze, the family’s begonia flowers were in full bloom across the entire courtyard.

Breathing in the floral fragrance, Chen Ling led the little white calf and the two small puppies out of the front door, heading toward the fields at the foot of the mountain.

"Woof, woof, woof..."

As soon as they left the village, the little rascals Heiwa and Xiaojin grew instantly excited, scampering about and barking wildly.

One moment they chased butterflies fluttering through the roadside flowers, and the next they ran back to bark at the little calf, complaining that it was walking too slowly.

The morning dew was quite heavy, and within moments, the two puppies were covered in mud. This only heightened their excitement as they chased each other in circles around Chen Ling.

"Shoo, shoo, go play somewhere else. I'm out here grazing a cow, not frolicking with you guys."

Chen Ling gave each of the two little creatures a light kick to gently push them away.

Instead, Heiwa and Xiaojin assumed Chen Ling was just playing with them and happily rubbed themselves all over his boots and shins.

Needless to say, this resulted in mud all over his legs.

Chen Ling flared up in faux anger. "If you two keep making trouble, I'm locking you both in a cage with no food and no water!"

And lo and behold, the warning worked wonders. The two little things immediately became much more obedient, whining softly and trotting along quietly behind him.

Ever since they had gained a touch of spiritual awareness, Heiwa and Xiaojin were clever indeed, but they were still only about a month old—children at heart with a massive desire to play.

Spotting a wild hare darting by the roadside, their little ears perked up instantly, and with bright, shining eyes, they sprinted off in hot pursuit.

Being such tiny puppies, they naturally couldn't hunt.

They were simply consumed by curiosity, much like human children who wanted to chase after everything just to see what it was.

Chen Ling didn't pay them any mind, letting them run amok while he leisurely led the cow toward the fields.

Before long, they reached the base of the mountain.

The fields were covered in lush, vibrant green grass, having grown much taller than when he last visited.

In the morning sunlight, the crystal-clear dew on the blades of grass glistened, presenting a thoroughly pleasing visual from afar.

The only pity was that the soil still hadn't fully improved. Although the mystic realm's stream water had brought vitality, the earth remained somewhat dry and hardened.

However, after being deeply plowed and turned over twice, it looked much better than before.

At the very least, the land was much more even, free of the original chaotic sparseness, and the sickly, half-dead little trees finally showed signs of life.

"Maybe I should plant some fruit trees. With the miraculous properties of the mystic realm's stream water, once the fruit trees take root, growing vegetables and melons underneath them should yield a great harvest..."

Chen Ling rubbed his chin, weighing the idea in his mind.

After all, over the past couple of days, Wang Susu had been asking him about it during tea times and meals. After all, the rest of the villagers had already re-mapped their plots.

Since the plot he had traded for could now grow grass, it proved it could grow things. Even if it wouldn't thrive quite as well as other people's land, he shouldn't just let the field lie completely barren.

With this in mind, Chen Ling looked around. Of the trees originally planted by the village production team, fewer than fifty sickly specimens remained scattered sparsely about.

One had to remember that they had planted nearly two thousand trees back then. Because of the nature of this specific plot, in over a decade, fewer than fifty had survived.

And even those were half-dead, their leaves withered and yellow year-round. They had been the thickness of three fingers when planted, and a decade later, they had barely grown to the thickness of five fingers.

Though the county forestry bureau had distributed the saplings for free to ensure no land in the village went uncultivated, the results had been truly dismal.

"Well, starting today, your hard times are over..."

Chen Ling walked up to a ginkgo tree, drew a bucket of water from the mystic realm's pond, and poured it over the roots.

Though the pond water no longer glowed after fish and soft-shelled turtles began living in it, it still held unimaginable benefits for plants.

With a single bucket of water poured down, a bubbling sound rose from the base of the ginkgo tree's roots, much like desperately thirsty travelers in a desert encountering a sweet spring, eagerly gulping it down.

A moment later, a rustling sound echoed from above Chen Ling. The ginkgo tree was regaining its vitality, sprouting new branches and leaves at a rate visible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, its canopy had grown lush and full, spreading like a magnificent parasol.