The Best Small Farm

Montana is located in the western part of the United States. The whole territory is highland with high mountains and deep valleys. The average altitude is about 1000 meters. The eastern part accounts for 2/3 and is part of the northern Great Plains. The gently rolling land is open and vast, with sparse trees and flocks of cattle and sheep.

There are many large and small farms in the state. There are dozens of large and small farms around the small town of Comixing near the northern part of Canada, and most of them are small and medium-sized farms. Today, early in the morning, no less than 30 protesters gathered in the central square of Kemixing Town, which is rarely seen in the town, holding protest signs and shouting. A young man holding a Jewish child at the corner of the crowd is particularly eye-catching. He has black hair and yellow skin, which is obviously different from the white people around him. Especially the Jewish child is holding square Chinese characters in his hands. Needless to say, this is a Chinese or Is Chinese. The demonstration lasted from 7:00 am to around 10:00 am. For three full hours, the crowd was already hungry. Seeing that it was getting late, the protest was over. They took out their chicken drumstick sandwiches and Coca-Cola and sat down on the side of the road. It's lunch.

"Damn the weather, it's so hot, damn Max, you betrayed us, by the way, Han, do you have time in the afternoon, Mark and Tim invite us to play baseball together." Li Han took the Coke that Willi handed over, He gulped down half the bottle, hiccupped, and shook his head slightly.

"Not today, my little Mickey is still waiting for me, damn the weather, on Sunday, David organized a rugby game, I have already promised, Willie, Mickey, come over when you have time, there is a party tonight. "Li Han threw away the roast chicken, and handed the chicken leg to the big-eyed, drooling little Mickey Mouse, a Jewish kid. As for Mickey Mouse, a three-month-old golden retriever, Mighty was given to Li Han. Small, when it is the most pestering, when the puppy has just left its mother or has been left alone at home, it will bark "woo~~woo~~". With drooping shoulders and head down, it stands weakly in its "turf". Even if a ball rolls over, it won't even look at it. It's like "what's so fun about a ball". He sighed with a "huh", trying hard to make himself fall asleep. At this time, only the love of the owner can give it tenderness. Li Han didn't bring Mili with him today, so he didn't dare to waste too much time.

"It's a pity, but this time, the two masters, Mark and Tim, will definitely teach Hamilton and the others a hard lesson." Powerbar clicked his lips, and unceremoniously tore open the grilled chicken wings and stuffed them into his mouth. "Han, your roast chicken is really good."

Li Han tore off a chicken leg and handed the whole roasted chicken to Wei Li. "Thank you. I was afraid that you wouldn't like it. I'll give you these. I'll go back first. I must teach the arrogant Hamilton a lesson."

"Han, I'll help you take a picture. Make sure this guy Hamilton knows how good our Comixing baseball team is." Willy stood up and shouted to Li Han who was walking away, putting on his baseball cap and holding a Baseball bat holding a grilled chicken in one hand. Mickey waved his chicken legs to bid farewell to Li Han. Mickey couldn't speak, but the little guy was very lively. He usually liked to play baseball with Wei Li. Of course, Mickey also liked Li Han's roast chicken very much.

All morning, Li Han, Willy, and Mickey were protesting. Speaking of protesting, it was quite new at the beginning. Of course, Li Han is used to it now, and he feels uncomfortable if he doesn't protest at intervals. It has been five years since Li Han came to the United States, and four years since he came to Montana. He has been working on the farm. The farmer Li Han worked for died a year ago. Li Han bought a small farm from the farmer's son with the $120,000 he had saved.

This relatively small farm covers an area of ​​168 acres (about 1,000 acres) and has a 3-bedroom, 1-bath house with an area of ​​1,769 feet (about 160 square meters). The farm currently has cattle, horses,

The farm is surrounded by streams, with 3 ponds, 2 wells, and another 40 acres of virgin forest, which is a hunter's paradise, among which there are 200 fully mature walnut trees with economic value. The house was redecorated in 1988, and a second building site was opened up, and the well and septic tank had been built when the purchase was made. The farm also has 1 workshop, 4 cowsheds, and 2 stables.

Li Han was lucky. The son of the farmer in New York owed a lot of debts due to the financial crisis. He had no money to pay the inheritance tax. He had to transfer the farm worth 300,000 US dollars at a low price of 120,000 US dollars plus 100,000 US dollars. The dollar debt was transferred to Li Han. Li Han took the opportunity to obtain a green card, but he didn't expect that it would be so difficult to run a small farm in the United States. Three years later, Li Han not only failed to pay off the $100,000 debt, but the farm management was struggling. Woke up early this morning, Li Han rushed to the town to participate in the joint protest of small and medium-sized farmers against the government's unequal agricultural subsidy policy, hoping to get some attention. small farm

Saying goodbye to Wei Li, Li Han drove the pickup truck back to the farm for more than ten minutes, parked the car at the side of the road at random, went back to the room and took a cold shower, it was too hot, this summer was much hotter than before. After taking a shower, I felt much more comfortable. I opened the refrigerator and scooped a cup of iced sour plum soup. I sat comfortably on the sofa and turned on the phone recording. Li Han doesn't have a mobile phone. It's not because of money. The main reason is that the mobile phone is inconvenient to carry. There are phones on the left and right.

The first call was from the bank. The loan of 50,000 US dollars that Li Han applied for was not approved, but the loan of 10,000 US dollars was approved, which is not a small gain. There was a smile on the corner of Li Han's mouth, and finally it was approved. Ten thousand dollars can repair the machinery, and the seed money is enough.

"Hehe, it seems that the protest has some effect, and it's not in vain." Li Han drank the sour plum soup left in the cup in one gulp, and the second call was Li Han's mother. Tired, have to eat on time, always some small things, some things at home.

Since Li Han took over the farm, he has gone back at most once a year. He didn’t even go back during the Spring Festival last year. The two snowstorms last winter caused heavy losses to the farm. Four cowsheds and stables collapsed. If Li Han hadn’t cleared the snow in the workshop , maybe the same as the bullpen.

These two sudden blizzards not only destroyed the cowshed and stables, but nearly half of the chickens and ducks raised by Li Han were killed or injured. Fortunately, the cattle shed did not raise cattle and sheep due to financial problems.

Li Han sighed after listening to his mother's nagging. He left home at the age of eighteen and came to the United States to work hard. For nearly five years, he had nothing to say, but he didn't have much to be proud of. Except for being fluent in English and forgetting most of his hometown dialect, as for selling Li Han thought about losing the farm and returning to China, not to mention the farm debts, but just thinking about what he would do with a hundred thousand dollars to return to China. To buy a house, a small city can only buy a hundred square meters, let alone a big city.

Li Han put down his glass, hesitantly dialed his home number again and again. "Mom, it's me, Xiao Han, why are you still up so late?" Li Han hesitated just now, afraid of disturbing the rest of the two old people, and now it's more than twelve o'clock at night.

"In the afternoon, your sister brought the baby over. The little guy is very annoying. He played with his uncle all night. He just fell asleep. Xiaohan, you have nothing to do in the morning. You are not young, so be sensible and don't participate in any protests." , Your dad and I watched the news, there were a lot of protests, it was messy."

Li Han regretted talking to his mother about this. Protests and demonstrations are actually nothing in the United States, and they don’t know how many there are every day. Especially Li Han’s participation in this kind of event is completely harmless, but it’s just a matter of standing for a few hours holding a sign. "Mom, I know, don't participate next time, you and Dad can rest assured."

"What's the use of protesting? It's a mess. Maybe there are bad people making trouble. It's not good to get hurt. The United States is not home. In the future, you should discuss everything with your father, and..." Zhang Xiuying said for ten minutes, Some small things, nagging, Li Han smiled, did not defend, did not explain much, just agreed. "Mom, don't worry, I'm not a child, I will take care of myself, you go to rest early, don't worry about me, everything is fine, again."

"Your sister is by my side, talk to her." Zhang Xiuying handed the phone to her daughter Li Mei. "Little Han, you're back, have you eaten yet?"

"Have eaten, sister, is the baby asleep?" Li Mei is four years older than Li Han, married early, and has a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, baby, the little girl is chubby, has big eyes, and is very cute, because Li Han was not with the two old people, Li Mei took the baby home to live in whenever she was free, and the house was lively with the baby naughty.

Li Pinghe and Zhang Xiuying were also very happy. Li Han was very close to his little niece who didn't see him very often, and bought some toys to send back from time to time.

"Sleep, this girl is playing like crazy, she hasn't been free all day, pestering dad to make her a rocking chair, it's a lot of trouble." Li Mei doesn't have as much determination and perseverance as her younger brother, she is just an ordinary woman, child, husband, Parents, and an uneasy brother, that's all she has.

"Sister, have the visas you mentioned last time been processed?" Li Han has a green card and can apply for his family to visit relatives in the United States.

"Your brother-in-law has already been there. The procedure is rather troublesome. It will take at least half a month to decide." Li Mei said softly.

"It's only half a month, that's great. When the time comes, sister, I'll take you and brother-in-law, and the baby will have fun here." Li Han looked excited. His parents could live in the United States for a while, but Li Han had been looking forward to it for many years.

"Okay, the baby is making a fuss to ride a big horse." Li Mei was very happy. The whole family is a teacher, only this younger brother has been making trouble since he was a child, but now he is very capable. He runs a farm. How big is a thousand acres of land? Think about it , My colleague heard that I went to the United States for vacation during the summer vacation. I envied my eyes and felt very happy. It is not easy to go abroad in a small county, especially in the teacher's dormitory. I don't know how much I envy my parents.

"Okay." Li Han secretly made up his mind that before the baby came, he had to borrow a horse, so he couldn't let the baby down. After hanging up the phone, Li Han made up his mind to stop letting his parents and sister worry about him, and the farm should take a good rest.