My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 303 Chenwangzhuang also has a temple fair.
After Wang Jusheng told the story, the village loudspeaker also broadcast the announcement that afternoon.

However, this notice is quite detailed.

Not only did Wang Laishun mention that the village would be showing movies and staging operas, but he also shouted over the loudspeaker that Chenwangzhuang would be "building a temple" next year. After watching the movie and listening to the opera, the brigade would hold a meeting and let everyone choose a good day for the temple fair.

The locals can understand the matter of building a temple and know what it means, but outsiders might not understand it.

To put it simply, Chenwangzhuang will also have a temple fair in the future.

The reason is simple: the giant softshell turtles in the reservoir have attracted too many people this year.

Many vendors saw the business opportunities here and spontaneously came to set up stalls and sell things to make money.

Seeing this situation, the county government wanted to set a date for the so-called worship of the Turtle King.

I hope to be able to come here once a year in the future.

Once this date is chosen, it will be the date for the temple fair in Chenwangzhuang from now on.

As for why the county made such a decision so quickly, in addition to seeing that it attracted too many people, the reports from the city and provincial TV stations also gave the local area a lot of exposure.

It is said that after the opera performance in two days...

The county will also send people to find a place near the reservoir to carve and cast a large stone dragon turtle.

Whether Garlic and the others come out or not, whether they show their faces or not, it doesn't matter. This giant dragon turtle can still be worshipped as the so-called Turtle King.

"You're quite resourceful. No wonder you suddenly decided to show a movie and put on a big show. So there's something going on here."

Chen Ling muttered to himself, thinking that it seemed Wang Jusheng didn't know everything either, at least he hadn't mentioned the matter of building a temple.

However, judging by this trend, if these red-crowned cranes land here every year, we might end up creating a temple fair festival for watching cranes.

One is worshipping a turtle, the other is admiring a crane?
"Ah Ling, didn't they say the village was going to show a movie tonight? Why don't you save all the seats for us?"

Wang Susu, holding her child, looked over from upstairs.

“We’ve taken it all, we’ve taken it all for our family,” Chen Ling replied, looking up.

"Oh, Rui Rui is awake? I'll take him out for a walk."

"No need, he hasn't slept well yet. He's fallen asleep again after we changed his diaper. He needs to sleep a little longer." Wang Susu glanced at the little guy in her arms. "Don't worry about him. Tidy up the house, and we'll go see a movie tonight."

"Well."

Everyone knows there are valuables on his farm now. He went out to see a movie tonight and no one was home. How can he not tidy it up properly?

To be honest, the farm's wine is all sold out now, and we only have two jars left for our own consumption.

There wasn't anything too valuable.

But other people might not believe it, and it wouldn't be good if they sneaked into the house and rummaged through everything looking for things.

Tonight, let Heiwa and Xiaojin stay home and watch the house.

Close the farm gate, put the savings book and cash inside, and that's it.

Chen Ling's father-in-law and mother-in-law were initially worried and wanted to stay home to watch the house, but he didn't agree. It's a rare opportunity for the whole family to go to the movies, so even if they had to miss a couple of films and come back earlier, they couldn't just skip it.

Anyway, in Chenwangzhuang, movies are shown starting around 6 PM when it gets dark and continuing until midnight. They show anywhere from three to four movies at most, so people can watch as many as they want at once.

Those from other villages should be able to catch the movie, which is good.

"Then I'll make dinner earlier tonight." Gao Xiulan also wanted to go to the movies with the family, and she was happy that her son-in-law had said so.

Wang Cunye nodded. "Okay. Eat early and go check on things. Don't bring the cow into the village yet. With the dog and cow at home, and the eagle watching over things, we won't have to worry about thieves."

Seeing this, Chen Ling smiled and went outside to catch crabs with a bucket.

It's the perfect time of year when chrysanthemums bloom and crabs are at their fattest. Having crab for dinner and then going to the movies sounds wonderful!

"Hey, there are still scorpions."

While catching crabs, Chen Ling saw a large male scorpion with a bluish-black shell next to a rock. Its tail was raised high, and it was extremely thick and strong. Its venomous sting was very frightening. Getting stung by it would be terrible.

"You old scorpion, come here."

Chen Ling waved his hand and put it into the cave.

These old scorpions have molted multiple times and possess extremely potent venom, making them rare and valuable.

Even he wouldn't be willing to let it go.

Because this scorpion is highly venomous and has great potential.

The chances of mutations occurring in grotto-heavens are also greater.

If you raise it for a while, it might be very useful later, whether for making medicinal wine or as a medicinal herb.

After checking a few more rocks nearby, and finding no more of these old scorpions, they continued catching crabs.

Crabs, shrimp, snails, and other similar creatures were also released into the caves.

They just didn't reproduce.

Now, inside the cave, the fishpond has been expanded several times and merged with the turtle pond, forming a small lake. Fish, shrimp, and crabs are naturally raised together with the turtle chicks that were hatched at the beginning.

However, they are more often used as food.

Big fish will eat it, turtles will eat it, and some birds will also come to peck at it.

Of course, some crabs survived, but not many.

Now, once you enter the cave, you'll see a sandy beach outside the fishpond.

This sand was brought in by Chen Ling; it's an extremely beautiful white sand beach.

There were many crabs crawling around on the beach, eventually burrowing under the rocks in the sand.

The caves are indistinguishable by day or night, and they have now made their home under the rocks on the beach.

"Poor child, then we won't eat you for now."

Chen Ling shook his head, his consciousness emerged from the cave, caught a small bucket of crabs, and went back to clean them, preparing to cook for dinner.

"Tsk, although it doesn't taste as good as the crabs in the cave, it's still much better than other crabs. Even the Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs can't compare."

Chen Ling looked at the half-bucket of large, bluish-gray crabs. Each one was full of energy, crawling around with a rustling sound. If you grabbed one with your hand, they would pinch your fingers without you having to use any force.

……

In the evening, Chen Ling picked Wang Zhenzhen up from school. The county's film projection team had already arrived in a donkey cart.

As soon as the film projection team entered the village, half the village was in an uproar.

There aren't many entertainment options on weekdays. The last time they showed a movie was last summer, and the villagers haven't seen a movie in over a year.

"Let's go see a movie."

A group of children, instead of going home after school, lingered around the donkey cart with their books slung over their shoulders. Wang Laishun, with a pipe in his mouth, smiled and chased away the mischievous kids.

"Go home quickly, eat your meal, and then come back."

This is true for young children, and some young boys aren't much better.

With great fanfare, they prepared sunflower seeds and peanuts neatly, and those with partners rode bicycles to pick them up.

The area is remote and the people are poor. Television can only be watched in the county town, while people in the countryside can only hope to watch two movies a year.

This is a great opportunity for young people to strengthen their relationships. Holding hands, sneaking a kiss—it's fun and exciting for them.

"Uncle Fugui, it's getting dark. Could you do us a favor and take us to pick up our girlfriends with your tractor?"

They were having dinner at the farm when Chen Guoxing and Chen Guowang's two sons came looking for them, looking pitiful.

"Go away, go away. You two are from different villages, one from Kinmen Village and the other from Taoshugou. You live so close, why would I need to drive you there in a tractor?"

Chen Ling waved his hand to shoo them away. These kids, all they do is stir up trouble. Why are they driving a tractor when they're this close?

"Hehehe, isn't Uncle Fugui a celebrity now? If you take us there, their families will definitely let their daughters out, and they'll have to say a few words to us..."

The two boys had something else to say: Chen Ling, this big celebrity, taking them to pick up their girlfriends, they were also proud of themselves.

I can brag about it to my partner's family later.

"No, no, I have a lot of things to do. But I promise you, I can bring my partner to the farm in a couple of days."

Although Chen Ling refused, he allowed them to bring their partners to the farm. The two boys beamed with joy and thanked Uncle Fugui profusely.

He put down a basket of hickory nuts and a basket of walnuts, and then left.

We said we were just visiting a farm, but it's really just a place to take our partners for a stroll. The scenery is beautiful, and there's so much to do here. What young person wouldn't love that?

Everyone knows that Chen Ling doesn't let people go to the farm, otherwise they'll be running around to people's houses all the time, which is annoying. Didn't you see that it costs two thousand to mate a dog?
Everyone knows this is because they're annoyed by the disturbance and are trying to block people from entering.

So I don't come here unless there's something important to do.

Chen Ling's family ate dinner very early tonight.

But when we got to the school, before we even went inside, all the seats in front of the screen were already taken.

Most people came out before even eating, afraid that if they ate too slowly, they wouldn't get a good seat and wouldn't be able to enjoy the movie properly.

It wasn't dark yet, and the school's spacious grounds were already filled with thirty to fifty people, eating and chatting about what movie was playing that day.

They were all laughing and joking when they saw Chen Ling's family coming over. They all stood up to greet them and offered them seats.

“Fugui, come here, let’s sit on the same bench.”

"Come over here, I have wine and food, let's drink and watch later."

"..."

Goodness, this is too much! They even brought food and drinks.

However, Chen Ling was still very happy with everyone's enthusiasm. He never thought he would be so popular.

This scene is even more popular than the Party Secretary himself, cough.

Wang Susu was also all smiles beside him.

"This makes me feel embarrassed to sit in the front." Wang Cunye scratched his cheek and gave Gao Xiulan an embarrassed smile.

"That's right, let's give up the seats in front and let others sit. We can see better from here by the tree."

Gao Xiulan looked around and nodded.

Chen Ling and Wang Jusheng had actually reserved seats in the afternoon, when the curtain had just been hung up, so both families had seats very close to the front.

The villagers are being so hospitable to them that the elderly couple feels quite embarrassed.

However, they had just said they would stand under the tree and watch, but after standing there for only a short while, they were pulled away by the old men and women of the village.

Seeing this, they stopped being coy and chatted and laughed while waiting for the movie to start.

……

"Oh no, the movie has started. I'm back now, I'll miss watching one movie."

Several young couples who brought their partners rushed over, but they missed the start of the first movie. They stomped their feet in frustration, feeling that missing a movie was more painful than losing ten dollars.

There was no other way but to bring my partner back. It was already dark, and the bright lights from the elementary school were flashing. The voices of the characters in the movie carried far, sounding like a buzzing noise. The movie had obviously already started.

Looking around, the area was already packed with people, not just from Chenwangzhuang, but also from other villages, some as far as ten miles away, who came in groups of three or five to watch the movie.

Some stood on stools to watch, some sat in a row on the wall to watch, some stood on tree branches and hugged the branches to watch...

Goodness, there were people everywhere. If they couldn't get a ticket at the front, they would stand on higher ground so they could have a clear view of the movie.

"What movie is playing in the tree?"

"A martial arts film, about Shaolin Temple."

Upon hearing that it was a martial arts film, the young people became even more eager, constantly standing on tiptoe and craning their necks to watch.

However, all the space was occupied, so in the end, we had no choice but to find a few tables and put them on high places, or put things under the table legs if necessary.

After they've finished cushioning, they stand on the table and carry their partners on their shoulders one by one.

Now I can finally see it.

They were incredibly excited and thrilled.

Wang Laishun was also grinning from ear to ear, sitting upright in the crowd.

That guy, first he was on TV and in the newspapers in the village, now he's showing a movie, and in a couple of days he'll be putting on a big opera. He's really making quite a show of himself.

When people talk about who the Party Secretary of Chenwangzhuang is, he feels incredibly proud. He can boast about it to any other village Party Secretary, even the township head.

Two martial arts films and one anti-Japanese war film.

It was past 11 p.m. when the three movies finished showing.

As everyone dispersed and walked home, still buzzing with excitement, they continued talking about tonight's movie, carrying their stools along.

Although they were still a little unsatisfied, the thought of another big show in a couple of days cheered them up.

"Uncle Fugui, please pick us up."

Chen Ling and the others watched the movie first, and when the movie ended and it was time to leave, it became inconvenient for them to wait until everyone else had left before slowly walking out themselves.

Then the curtain went out, plunging everything into darkness, and he could hear someone calling him from the upper left.

Chen Ling looked up and saw a group of children running along the wall. These little devils are really something, running on the wall so late at night.

"Why are you running from such a high place at night? Come down quickly."

Chen Ling put down the stool, opened his arms to take them, and asked, "What else are you carrying, sticks?"

"Yes, we went to the classroom to get it after the movie to practice martial arts."

As Liu Ni'er spoke, she grabbed a wooden stick and started wildly waving it around, laughing and chuckling. Then she proudly grinned at him.

"What kind of crap are you practicing? Go home and get some sleep."

Chen Ling lightly flicked him on the forehead. These brats! Luckily, the crops in the fields had been harvested, otherwise, judging by their behavior, they wouldn't have been able to destroy even half an acre of crops.

It was around 11:30 a.m. There was no moon in the sky, and the village was pitch black. Chen Ling and his family came out of the school and followed the large group of villagers out of the village.

The family was also talking about today's movie. Chen Ling thought to himself that he would put aside the car for next year for now and go to the city to buy a TV after the sunflowers were harvested.

Even if the signal is bad, buying it can still keep your family entertained.

(End of this chapter)