Chapter 538: Saving the Chick
The firewood Chen Ling collected last year was originally enough for a whole year.
Unexpectedly, so many people came to visit and stay at home this year, and a lot of firewood was consumed unknowingly.
Only a few of the tall firewood stacks behind the kitchen are left.
So after carrying all the bamboo and dry firewood back, Chen Ling handed Ruirui to Su Ligai to watch, and went up the mountain to collect firewood again.
Although Chen Ling is famously lazy, when he was a child, he often followed his father or his friends up the mountain to collect firewood.
Throwing pig grass and chopping firewood were things that children often did at that time.
I didn’t feel tired or tired, I just did it while playing.
There is no shortage of firewood all year round.
For example, reeds, wheat straw, corn stalks, bean sprouts, etc... can all ignite fire.
But not resistant to burning.
What is lacking is firewood.
Chopping firewood is laborious and is done by men.
Children mostly collect dry firewood.
However, when I was young, I didn’t think it was a tiring job. I just thought the adults wielding axes, chopping knives, and pulling saws were very majestic, so I wanted to participate.
I no longer feel that kind of fun.
"Fourth Grandpa, you come out to collect firewood too."
When we walked to Xishan, Chen Gannian and Wang Laishun were also collecting firewood here.
Chen Gannian grinned without his front teeth and said with a smile: "It's okay to herd the sheep, so I just pick up some. I go out to herd the sheep every day and pick them up every now and then. It's enough for you." It’s different.”
Wang Laishun also said: “Fugui has made two trips to get firewood, isn’t it enough?”
"Yeah, it's not enough. I have to pile up another pile of firewood anyway to save me from having to work all the time."
Chen Ling smiled and nodded.
Wang Laishun likes to talk to Chen Gannian recently. Except for the village accountant, no one else likes to talk to him.
I followed Chen Gannian to herd the sheep and tidy up the vegetable garden all day long.
Except when eating, I generally don’t like to go home. As soon as I get home, I tend to quarrel with Liang Guizhen.
"That's right. I don't know if you still remember Fugui. When you were five, six, seven or eight years old, several nearby counties were willing to marry girls here.
I just know that in our county, "firewood is better than water,"
"Firewood is better than water, well, I heard this saying when I was a child, but I never understood what it meant."
“Hey, what’s wrong with this? Firewood and water are convenient. It’s close to mountains and rivers. It’s easy to go into the mountains to cut firewood. It’s close to the river, so it’s easy to water the fields. You don’t have to worry about not having a good harvest in the event of a drought.
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At that time, when a girl got married, she had to check whether the man’s family had enough firewood and water. If you could live well in such a place, your aunt would not be able to live well in that place.”
"There is another saying."
This is indeed the first time Chen Ling heard it. No wonder people say that having an old man in the family is like having a treasure. Old people know more.
Since Chen Gannian stopped being confused, he has been filled with stories from his old age, which can be called a basket of living stories.
Chen Ling likes to listen to him and Chen Sangui telling stories the most.
"Yes, today, go south. There are many paper mulberry trees and neem trees over there. Cut them down if you can. They are all used for burning firewood."
"Yes, you should go south. It was windy and rainy earlier, and a lot of trees were knocked down by the river, and the beetles inside were all emptied."
Wang Laishun followed closely.
"Okay, then I'll go take a look."
Where Xishan is close to Nanshan, near the mountain stream, beside a rugged trail, there are indeed some fallen trees with overgrown Fungus and thick moss.
There are also paper mulberry trees around that are having problems growing.
Paper mulberry and poplar trees grow quickly, but they are not useful and are ultimately used as firewood.
Of course, paper mulberry is known as the northern banyan tree. It can grow everywhere, even in the cracks of houses, let alone in the mountains. There are so many of them.
It also grows very fast. Chen Ling took the ax and chopped it down, knocking down several thick paper mulberry trees in a short while.
Follow the rules in the mountains.
When cutting firewood, you should actually choose a place with relatively lush and dense vegetation, and then learn to pick out those dry branches, fallen overgrown trees that have been scorched for a long time, or large trees that have been sawed down and have completely dried out. Tree.
This way you can pick up more firewood and take it home.
However, Chen Ling didn't care about them, he simply chopped them into small pieces and piled them into a pile of firewood that was as high as 1.56 meters high. He immediately picked it up and carried it home.
For fallen trees, the branches are cut off and the trunks are carried back directly.
He walks as fast as flying, and can carry it back and forth two or three times.
The outsiders who wandered around the farm were shocked when they saw it, and they all said that this man must be the one who beat the Wild Boar King. This kind of strength is not something ordinary people have.
He looks so gentle and gentle, but he can actually carry so much firewood and a big tree.
It’s true that people cannot be judged by their appearance.
"Brother Fugui, are you done with your work?"
Chen Ling was stacking firewood behind the kitchen when Lao Guo from the provincial station came over in a hurry.
“It’s almost done, what’s wrong?”
"Hey, don't you suggest that we disturb those red-crowned cranes again? It just so happens that if we take a few more pictures of the little cranes, we're done...
Unexpectedly, two people in the group just found out with telescopes that there are The eggs in the two red-crowned cranes' nests were difficult to lay. There were holes and cracks on the surface of the eggs, but no chicks came out after almost two hours."
Lao Guo stamped his feet anxiously.
They have been getting along with the red-crowned crane for a long time and have feelings for each other.
“Huh? Dystocia? Birds have difficulty in giving birth. Is it difficult to break out of the shell?”
Chen Ling wiped his sweat and said, "Oh, I thought it was okay. I asked Professor Han, who specializes in tracking endangered wild animals and plants, and he said that these red-crowned cranes probably gave birth to eggs at the end of their breeding period after losing a clutch of eggs due to floods.
This second nest is like rushing to work.
It can easily lead to the chicks being unable to break out of the shell and suffocating, or the chicks will be weak and sick, and will not survive after breaking out of the shell. .
I didn’t expect that the old man was right, and this happened.”
“Brother, since you asked the experts, do you know what to do?”
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Lao Guo was very anxious because he saw that after seeing the big red-crowned crane turn over its eggs a few times, he concentrated on feeding the hatched cranes, and he felt like giving up on the eggs that had not broken their shells.
"What can we do? We can only help them break their shells, otherwise they will suffocate to death inside the eggs?"
Chen Ling found a bamboo basket: "Let's go up the mountain and get the eggs." Come back, let's help it break its shell. By the way, how many eggs are there?"
"Two eggs"
Old Guo followed him hurriedly: "Three pairs. The red-crowned cranes laid two eggs in each nest. Now there are only one baby crane in the two nests, and one of them has not hatched yet.”
"Oh, then I know."
When Chen Ling heard this, he knew it must be the two pairs of cranes besides the two big thieving birds.
The two big thief birds have been eating and drinking at their home last year. Their physique is better than other birds. The stronger they are, the better eggs they will lay.
During the morning feeding, a little kid discovered that two little cranes ate very fast.
Also clamoring for Chen Ling to feed more fish.
The two of them walked outside while talking. There were many people outside the farm.
When he is not wandering around the Pig King, he is taking his children to catch frogs and tadpoles by the ditch.
And new tourists are coming.
I greeted Chen Ling eagerly and said that I had bought rice dumplings and some specialties here before.
At this moment, I wanted to ask Chen Ling if he could show them the puppies.
There were dogs watching, and the female dogs were very protective of their calves. They didn't dare to approach. Chen Ling waved his hands and walked forward in a hurry: "I have something to go to the mountain now, and I'll talk about it when I get back."
The sun was shining, and the temperature was getting higher and higher.
Even if there are tall reeds to block it, if the delay continues, the life of the unbroken crane will become more and more critical.
And if the eggs don’t break for a long time, the big red-crowned crane will pull the eggs out and throw them away.
This matter cannot be delayed forever.
The two of them were in a hurry to rush up the mountain. Even when Ruirui, who was drawing kittens next to Han Shaobo and Old Man Zhong, called her daddy, Chen Ling didn't bother to say anything.
I just told him to be obedient and he would be back soon, and then he went up the mountain.
Lake in the mountains.
The atmosphere among the people in the province and Taiwan was a little anxious.
On the other hand, the red-crowned crane in the reeds was walking around in the shallow water looking for food with its baby crane, looking unconcerned.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m really arrogant, or if I understand that the two eggs are hopeless, and I’m already sad, so I decided to give up.
Chen Ling and his two groups were still rowing in the small boat. While feeding the fish with small buckets to let the red-crowned cranes relax their vigilance, they quietly separated the crisp and dense reeds and slowly sailed the boat in.
Among the reeds, three huge half-bowl-shaped bird's nests are not far away, suspended in the shallow water. The surrounding reeds sway in the wind, and there is also a lotus in full bloom.
The view is quite broad.
So as soon as they came in, they saw the only two eggs left in the two nests.
One in each nest.
The bird eggs are oval in shape, about the size of goose eggs, with a dull yellow color and a grayish white color, which is similar to the color of reeds. It is also a protective color.
There are obvious cracks and small holes on it, but the little crane cannot break out of its shell.
"What to do? Go directly to the nest to get it?"
"Well, I'll do it."
Chen Ling jumped off the boat, holding on to the boat's side, and was about to approach the red-crowned crane's nest.
These big birds spread their wings angrily, squawked, and pecked at him with their long and pointed beaks...
The two big birds pecked at his stretched out hand. hand.
The remaining ‘PaPaPaPa’ flapped their wings and attacked his head and face.
The offensive was very rapid.
“Hey, be careful.”
Seeing this, everyone hurriedly reminded them and wanted to use bamboo poles to help Chen Ling.
Chen Ling, however, just protected his face with one hand and waved the other hand in front of him to drive them away. When they retreated, he quickly reached out and took the two eggs in his hand and put them on the boat. .
"Paddle out, exit...you guys help the little crane come out of its shell first..."
Chen Ling waved his hands and kept blocking the attacks of the big birds while shouting.
"Huh?"
"How to do this, don't kill the little red-crowned crane."
Everyone panicked at this time, holding two eggs in their hands, My hands were shaking a little, and I didn’t know how to help break the shell.
Seeing this, Chen Ling pulled a long bamboo pole from a nearby boat and waved at a few red-crowned cranes to drive them away.
Then he climbed onto the boat himself.
“Let’s go, let’s talk on the shore. I still want to let you finish breaking the shell and then put the little crane back into the nest.”
Chen Ling ignored the fact that he was wet and wiped He frowned twice and looked back, and saw that the big birds were still flapping their wings angrily, pattering on the water, and chasing after them with their long legs as if they were floating on the water using Qinggong.
Even the little crane in the reeds was left alone.
Of course it doesn’t mean I don’t care at all.
They just regard this patch of reeds as their territory. They used to be kind to people, but now they go to their nests to cause trouble, which makes them angry.
"Really, these cranes are too weird. If you can't hatch a baby crane by yourself, why don't you let us help?"
"Well... this... maybe it's not complete yet. Give up, besides, they don’t understand human language, and they think we are going to hurt them.”
“Oh, it’s over now. It’s hard to cultivate feelings, and I’m afraid we won’t be able to get close to them in the future.”
“…”
Everyone sighed.
Chen Ling saw that after the boat left the reed swamp, the red-crowned cranes gave up the pursuit, so he picked up a bird egg to observe the situation.
I smelled it first, and it didn’t stink yet.
Put it to your ear and listen again, and you can still hear a faint sound.
Proof that there is still hope.
At this time the boat arrived at the shore.
Chen Ling followed the crack in the eggshell, gently opened the shell of an egg, and said to the person next to him: "Bring some dried bamboo leaves from the bamboo forest..."
Then the eggshell slowly cracked, and the tawny furry little guy inside was revealed to people's eyes, still a little wet.
Looking like he is dying.
“Oh, Brother Chen, it’s like this, is there any way to save it?”
"I don't know."
Chen Ling shook his head and gently broke open the other egg.
The same is true for the little crane inside.
Weak and dying.
The two little guys were placed on the dry and soft bamboo leaves, and they were all soft and motionless.
"There are chicks and ducks hatching like this in our village, but there are also ones that can be saved. Let's take them back and try them. You have to give them water first."
Chen Ling said and asked people to go to the bamboo house. I took an old basket, spread it with dry bamboo leaves, gently placed the two weak little cranes on it, and carried the basket down the mountain.
As of today, the filming work for the provincial station has actually ended.
It will end by taking a photo of the baby crane that hatched yesterday.
But isn’t the village busy recently?
The old turtle also reappeared.
They decided to take the photos of the Wild Boar King the same way they did last time, and send them back after taking the photos, leaving people here to continue waiting for the old turtle.
I want to personally take pictures of Prince Turtle on his tour.
Fortunately, they decided to stay for a while, and then they discovered these two eggs that had not broken their shells.
Otherwise, these two little cranes would definitely be suffocated in their eggs if they were a little later.
"Brother Chen, what kind of water do you want to feed? Clean water? I'll get it."
"No need for clean water, feed me the water in the fish tank, I can do it myself."
Chen Ling put it down Basket, took the needle, pulled out the needle, and took out a full tube from the water tank where the ornamental fish was kept.
Then he stretched out a finger, carefully opened the mouth of the little red-crowned crane, and slowly fed water into it drop by drop.
"What are you doing? Picking up two little ducks from the mountain?"
Han Shaobo came over with Ruirui and Datou and several younger children. There were people looking outside the door, but they did not dare to come in. There were dogs watching outside.
“This is not a little duck...it is a little red-crowned crane. It has been two days and it has been unable to emerge from its shell. Fugui helped them break the shell. Now I am feeding them water, but I don’t know if they can be revived. ”
Lao Guo from Taiwan Province explained.
(End of this chapter)