My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 265 Village Market Day

"Fat Brother, Sister-in-law Wenxia, ​​Brother Mountain Cat, Sister Azalea, Uncle Han, you've arrived."

Wang Zhenzhen had a sweet tongue. When she saw everyone, she greeted them one by one, making them all happy. They surrounded her, patted her head, pinched her little cheeks, and were overjoyed.

Du Juan and Xiang Wenxia were particularly fond of this clever and mischievous little girl. Upon seeing her, they picked her up and spun her around twice in turn.

It made the little girl giggle.

He ran inside and grabbed some candy to give to everyone.

"Zhenzhen, school starts tomorrow, right? What do you want to eat for lunch? Ask your brother-in-law to cook for you so we can all enjoy it too."

The lynx unwrapped a candy, popped it into its mouth, and patted her little head with a smile.

“I want to eat roast suckling pig. My brother-in-law caught a few wild boars and said he would roast them, but he just hasn’t done it yet.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhenzhen seized the opportunity to complain.

The wild boar cubs that Chen Ling caught were still too young and didn't have much meat on them, so he thought he should raise them a little longer. He had plenty of good stuff at home, and raising them for a few days would make them taste even better.

"Haha, there are also wild boars? Where are they? We haven't seen them."

Xiang Wenxia was also amused, and holding her daughter's hand, she looked around and asked questions.

“They’re being raised in the enclosure outside, sister-in-law, Yaya, I’ll take you to see them. The baby wild boars are so small, even smaller than the ones we caught last year. I think I could eat one in one bite.”

Wang Zhenzhen chuckled and beckoned everyone to leave.

In the orchard outside the farm, there used to be many livestock pens and poultry sheds. Now, chickens, ducks and geese are raised together, occupying one area. In addition, there are two areas for sheep and quails, which are not fully occupied, and there is still a lot of space.

After Wang Zhenzhen led them to see the wild boar, she picked up a basket and took them to collect eggs from the chicken coop on the mountain and duck eggs from the riverbank.

Seeing mountain birds and water birds wandering around the orchard, some small water birds did not fly away when they saw people, but instead ran very fast in groups of three or five, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this, several men excitedly asked Chen Ling for slingshots and started shooting at the birds.

After having their fun, they carried a basket full of eggs and duck eggs back home, only to find that Chen Ling's family had accumulated a lot of eggs and it was time to sell them.

"It's still early, why don't we go to the county town and help Fugui sell eggs?"

Zhao Dahai suggested.

His suggestion was immediately met with everyone's approval.

The reason I came to see Chen Ling this time was not only to see the turtle, but also to have some fun and relax during my busy schedule.

On the surface, they appeared to be helping Chen Ling, but in reality, they were still having fun.

"Susu, why don't you take the baby and come along? We can also take Zhenzhen to a restaurant in the city. Zhenzhen, how about we don't let your brother-in-law do anything today?"

"Okay, let's all go to a restaurant. I'll go get my things for my sister now."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhenzhen waved her little hand, turned around, and ran upstairs.

Wang Susu was both amused and exasperated, and hurriedly followed.

"This, we're going to the market in the county town..."

Seeing everyone's enthusiasm, Chen Ling scratched his head and said, "There's no market day in the county town today, but there is a big market day in the countryside. Why don't we go to the countryside? When we get there, we can call Jusheng and Yuemin."

"Hey, this is great, this is great, it can bring everyone together, and we always go to the county town, but we've never been to your village market before."

Zhao Dahai clapped his hands excitedly.

Lynx chimed in, "Are there any dog ​​shops in your village? Let's go to the dog market together sometime."

“There’s no dedicated dog market, but there is a mule and horse market, where there are many dogs for sale, but they are mostly mongrels, and there are also many tiger-headed yellow mixed breeds,” Chen Ling said, shaking his head.

"That's okay, that's okay too."

Now the lynx wants to try its hand at wild methods, and is trying to raise all sorts of mixed-breed dogs and mongrels.

After agreeing to go to the market in the countryside, everyone got to work.

Some drove, some carried eggs, and some helped the children with diapers. After everything was settled, everyone got into the car and drove out of the village, heading towards Changle Township.

Professor Han didn't follow. He wandered around the farm and was attracted by the fine-scaled salmon and fighting fish that Chen Ling raised, so he stayed at the farm with Mr. and Mrs. Wang Cunye.

……

Although it was said that it was still early, it was actually almost noon when we drove to the village.

After discussing it, they drove to Liang Yuemin's father-in-law's house, brought two baskets of eggs, sat down for a while, and called out Liang Yuemin's family.

They were originally invited to stay for a meal, but they were just out having fun and specifically came to the market to set up stalls and eat out.

Liu Yinhuan and her family of three were willing to come out and meet with friends, but her parents kept stopping them, wanting everyone to stay at home for dinner.

Liu Yinhuan explained to the two elderly people for a while, promising to eat at home next time, before she stopped stopping them.

After all, Chen Ling and the others had brought things with them, and if they weren't invited to stay for a meal, people would feel they were neglecting their guests.

A group of people came out of their homes, but they weren't in a hurry to sell their eggs.

They parked all the cars outside Liu Yinhuan's house, and then the group of people went to the market in a lively atmosphere.

When they arrived at the market, they called Wang Jusheng out of the township police station and started wandering around the market.

"Yaya, Auntie, look, that's my great-uncle. He sells sugar figurines. He's really good at it. He can make all kinds of little sugar figurines, like Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and the Calabash Brothers... he can make them all."

The chubby boy pointed at an old man selling candy and shouted. The old man was short and had bruises all over his face.

It was Zhang Tiegen, of course.

The three little children gathered around the stall, laughing and calling out to each other, which made the old man very happy. He made two sugar figurines for each of them.

The old man talked to the adults while making sugar figurines.

Zhang Tiegen and Guo Baolai's car repair stalls were always right next to each other during market days.

These established businesses usually have fixed locations in the market, making it convenient for regular customers to find them.

Chen Ling often came to the village market or ran errands. Every time he saw the two of them, he would stop and chat. They were very familiar with each other.

"Goodness, it's been a while, and Fugui is already holding a baby! Hahaha, and it's a big, chubby boy."

The two were surprised to see Chen Ling holding his son and with his wife, and then they congratulated him repeatedly. Guo Baolai even pulled him to take him home.

"We're not going home. We'll go to the market first and then come over to help you set up your stall, Brother Bao. We brought some chicken and duck eggs to sell."

"Oh, that's great! You guys go to the market first, we'll save you a seat here."

After chatting for a while, Guo Baolai was still muttering to himself after Chen Ling left.

“Fugui is quite shrewd. Your nephew-in-law is so capable, yet he’s already associating with people.”

"I only sold vegetables for someone once last year, that's really something."

Zhang Tiegen shook his head from the side: "No, it's because Fugui met Huanhuan's parents-in-law first. It was just a coincidence. It's not that he was trying to climb the social ladder."

……

Chen Ling and the others were unaware of their conversation. They were currently enjoying themselves at the market. Wang Susu, who didn't usually go out much, was with several other women, looking at this and that, choosing headscarves and fabrics, chatting and laughing.

The men, on the other hand, would take the little ones to buy some food and toys, stuffing them into their mouths as they walked.

Every now and then, they would stop and look at the knives and swords, as well as bows and arrows and hunting rifles, sold at some of the stalls.

Hunting rifles, also known as homemade shotguns, are still relatively loosely controlled this year, despite the ban on guns. They can be found for sale in secluded spots at every market or in mule and horse markets.

They are not only found in towns and villages, but also at large markets in county towns; they are very common.

"Auntie, what is this?"

"Oh, that's a magnet. It can attract iron. That's how it attracts iron filings together."

Ya Ya was young and looked at the iron filings on the stall gathered on a 'stone' and felt very curious.

"I know about magnets, I've even played with them."

The chubby boy immediately shouted.

"You three stand next to me and don't touch anything."

Chen Ling said something to them.

"Haha, it's alright, the iron shot won't hurt anyone. Want to try firing a shot? This gun is really good at shooting rabbits and pigs, and it's not expensive."

Seeing that there were many of them, the stall owner picked up a gun and handed it to them so they could try it out.

"I won't try it, I have some at home."

Chen Ling waved his hand, saying that he had hunting rifles, bullet rifles, and shotguns.

However, he then spotted a slender knife on the stall. The blade was gleaming and sharp, and it looked quite impressive.

"Your sheathed sword looks pretty good. Did you forge it yourself?"

"Yeah, I typed it myself. Do you want it? I'll give you a discount if you do."

"Let me take a look at it first."

After lingering for a while, Chen Ling bought a knife, while the three of them, including Lynx, bought an exquisite quiver from a nearby stall.

"Brother-in-law, we want to play ring toss."

"Let's play ring toss! Come on, let's play together!"

Upon hearing this, several grown men crowded around, along with three little children. Each of them took a bamboo hoop of various sizes made of thin bamboo strips and began throwing them at the various small items on the stall.

Soon, the women came over and joined in.

In the end, Chen Ling, along with his wife and sister-in-law, won first place. The three of them threw the most accurately, basically one in a row each.

It drew envious glances from passersby.

“Easy, this is easy. I often use slingshots with Liu Nier and the others. We can shoot a whole bunch of birds in one go. This is nothing. If we had more birds, we could have caught them all.”

Wang Zhenzhen was holding a bunch of small toys, tilting her head back, pouting her little mouth, looking extremely proud.

The stall owner was left speechless, both amused and exasperated.

He found the little girl clever and cute, but also felt bad that so many things had been taken from his stall.

"You wild girl, you're so good at this. You even brag about shooting slingshots. No other family has a girl who shoots slingshots."

Wang Susu gently slapped her younger sister.

The group continued happily forward, strolling from one end to the other, even driving their car to the vicinity of the old commune and putting all their purchases there.

At noon, the market became increasingly crowded, and the aroma of various dishes wafted out. But everyone was in high spirits and didn't feel hungry.

Wang Zhenzhen and her two little children cheered and ran around, playing hide-and-seek with the adults in the crowd.

The women, led by Liu Yinhuan, arrived at a stall run by a relative of the Liu family. This relative was said to be highly skilled at removing moles, so they took Du Juan there to have her moles removed.

They were gathered around, chatting and laughing.

The men and children didn't have the patience, so they continued wandering around and headed towards the mule and horse market.

Unfortunately, the livestock and dogs at the mule and horse market this time were not of very good quality.

Even without Lao Ba leading the way, Chen Ling could roughly tell the difference between the livestock and the dogs just by taking a few glances at them.

Disappointed, the group left the mule and horse market and decided to first look around for something to eat. They planned to find a restaurant at the market at noon, have lunch, and then set up a stall to sell eggs.

"Old Annoying, Old Annoying, hurry up and come out to steal dates from the university! The old gatekeeper has gone home for dinner, hurry up and come out."

As they passed through the mule and horse market, they saw a boy standing on tiptoe calling out to the door of a house in the distance.

"They're here, they're here. Did you call everyone? It's not just the two of us, is it?"

A bald-headed boy, barely out of his teens, crawled out of the door, pulling up his waistband and stuffing a cloth bag into it.

"And Third Brother, he's already gone ahead to keep watch. Let's hurry over there, their senior colonel starts school tomorrow."

The term "big school" refers to a middle school. In the rural areas, many people call primary schools "small schools" and middle schools "big schools."

"Let's go."

The two of them, looking rather sneaky, quickly slipped away into the distance.

"Good heavens, they're stealing dates from the school. Let's go check it out."

Zhao Dahai stared wide-eyed, then suddenly became excited.

"What's there to see? We've already seen everything at the market, so let's go."

After thinking it over, Chen Ling and the others decided that since there wasn't much else to do, they might as well go.

Wang Zhenzhen's three little kids are even more eager to stir up trouble.

The two, big and small, hit it off immediately and rushed off to Changle Township Middle School.

When I arrived at the middle school, I walked around the main entrance and found the three boys, around seventeen or eighteen years old, climbing the wall in a secluded corner.

"Damn it, someone's coming."

A boy of about half a year exclaimed in surprise upon seeing them, but before he could finish speaking, his gaze fell on Chen Ling, and he suddenly widened his eyes and pointed at him: "Huh? I've seen you before, what are you doing here?"

Chen Ling recognized him too; he was the kid who had called people to shave their heads when he first came to the market to sell vegetables.

He laughed and said, "Whatever you're here for, we're here for the same reason."

Zhao Dahai also said, "Don't worry, we won't arrest you. We'll even keep watch for you."

"Yeah, Dahai, you're so fat, you should just stay outside for some fresh air later, hahaha."

Wang Jusheng immediately laughed.

The lynx and the children laughed along with them.

"You've come to steal dates too? And why did you bring a child?"

The boy who had been asking the question was now sitting on the wall.

"Because I'm greedy."

Chen Ling smiled broadly.

He had originally come just to watch the excitement, but once he got here, he suddenly became interested.

As he spoke, he used his strength to climb over the wall in a few quick movements and said, "You guys go down first and lead the way. We have someone to keep watch."

Then, standing on the top of the wall and looking down at Zhao Dahai and the others, he said, "Brother Dahai, you definitely can't get up here, so just keep watch for us."

"Huh? I, I..."

Zhao Dahai immediately looked miserable, but when he looked down at his own body full of fat, he could only sigh helplessly.

Being too fat not only easily leads to kidney deficiency, but also makes it impossible to participate in fun activities. It's so miserable!

"Zhenzhen, you three stay outside with your chubby brother and don't run around. I'll go inside and pick some dates for you to eat."

"No, I want to go in too."

Wang Zhenzhen wasn't about to stay outside, so she retreated far away, then took a running start and suddenly ran over, shouting, "Brother-in-law, pull me up!" She had already leaped up the wall.

Chen Ling had no choice but to grab her thin arm and lift the girl onto the wall.

"That's really amazing!"

The lynx tilted its head back and laughed, then rubbed its hands together and twisted its neck: "Fugui, listen up, I'm coming up too."

He often runs around in the mountains, rock climbing and walking along cliffs are common occurrences for him, and climbing a wall is no problem for him.

It's so agile, just like a lynx.

The lynx climbed up the wall. Not to be outdone, Wang Jusheng finally climbed up by stepping on Zhao Dahai's shoulders.

The group of grown men climbed up the wall one after another, leaving the three boys standing nearby dumbfounded.

I thought to myself, "Good heavens, how come he's so old and still wilder than us?"

I don't know which village this person is from.

While they were still in a daze, Chen Ling and the others had already slid down the tree by the wall and were still standing at the bottom waving at them, "Come down, didn't you want to steal dates? Hurry up and come down and lead the way."

"I'm coming."

The three boys quickly jumped down from the wall and sneakily approached a teacher's dormitory building.

"...This is where the principal lives. There's a garden with lots of fruit trees, and that's the parking shed in front..."

"You even know about the parking shed? You've stolen cars before?"

"How could that be? Stealing a car is the same as stealing something else. If our families found out, they'd break our legs."

"What I meant to say was, don't go that way. There are traps set by an old man in the parking shed. Anyone who steals will get their legs caught. This is a rumor that came from students at the university. It's been around for years, and it's caught the feet of many thieves."

"Oh, I see. Then we won't go that way."

As they talked, they arrived at the so-called Principal's Garden.

The area is planted with all sorts of fruit trees, the most eye-catching of which are five or six sturdy old jujube trees, which are quite old and laden with bright red jujubes.

These are the first batch of dates, the sweetest and largest. They're ready to eat every year after summer vacation, when school starts again.

"Hey? Some grapes are ripe too. Let's get those ripe grapes picked by that bastard principal later, and then we'll share them. That bastard is a real piece of work." The bald guy said, pointing to the grape trellis in front of the dormitory building.

The grape trellis was large, with a stone platform and a water tap underneath, dripping water and making the ground wet and moist. The grapevines were laden with red and green grapes, each one plump and delightful.

“Indeed, that old man doesn’t do anything right,” Wang Jusheng echoed.

"Okay, let's climb the tree and pick the dates first, then we'll pick the grapes." Chen Ling found a jujube tree with relatively low branches, nimbly climbed up, and leaned down on the branches so that Wang Jusheng and the others could pick the dates from it.

Then Wang Zhenzhen and Shanmao climbed up as well. The three of them, like the three boys, picked and ate the ripe red dates on the tree.

The dates nowadays, even when fully ripe, are firm and crisp, with a very sweet and fragrant taste.

They picked and ate the fruit from the tree, while Wang Jusheng picked and ate it from the ground.

Goodness, I didn't get to eat lunch, but I got to eat a lot of dates first.

If they hadn't eaten enough at the market, those guys, caught up in their playful spirits, would have definitely had stomach aches.

"Oh my god, we've picked too many, we can't fit them all in the bag, I'm going to find a bag."

Wang Jusheng looked around and found a urea bag on a pile of firewood not far from the water tap. The bag had a big hole in it, so he guessed that nobody wanted to burn it as firewood.

Seeing this, Wang Jusheng took a dirty strip of cloth from a tree, used it to seal the hole, and then went back to collect the dates.

By this time, Chen Ling and the others were tired from picking fruit from the tree, but more importantly, they had eaten their fill.

He jumped down from the tree, grabbed a clothesline pole from in front of the dormitory building, and started banging on the jujube tree.

Watching the bright red dates fall to the ground with a clatter, the men were overjoyed, their faces beaming as they frantically picked them up, almost losing their bearings.

"Come on, we've picked them all, you can use the poles to knock them down too."

Chen Ling handed the pole to the three boys.

After they finished picking the dates, they went to pick grapes together.

There weren't many ripe grapes at this time. Although the grape trellis was large, I counted only about ten bunches.

“There are many of you, so you can pick a few more skewers. We’ll come often,” said a boy.

"Haha, it's okay, we're just here to have some fun. We'll just pick a couple of skewers for the kids to eat."

Chen Ling waved his hand.

This guy, you let me have my way, and I let you have my way, and we actually developed a revolutionary friendship.

After picking the grapes, big and small, they jumped over the wall again, heading back home satisfied.

Just then, I saw an old man humming a traditional opera tune as he pedaled his bicycle and wobbled to a stop in front of the school gate.

The old man even smiled and nodded to greet them.

After all, Chen Ling and the others were carrying dolls and bags, so he thought they were at a market.

After entering the school, the more he thought about it, the more something seemed wrong. When he looked into the principal's courtyard, he was so angry that he stomped his feet.

Damn it, they were a bunch of date thieves.

When they went outside, they found that the person had vanished without a trace, and there was no way they could catch up with them.
"That old man is really silly. He was even humming a tune and greeting us."

A group of grown men, each with three children, grinned foolishly and laughed heartily as they ran towards the parking area, carrying dates and grapes.

It was both exciting and fun.

In short, whether or not people sell eggs doesn't matter anymore; everyone had a truly enjoyable time today.

At lunchtime, despite the women scolding them for setting a bad example for the children, they chuckled and laughed incessantly.

(End of this chapter)