My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 88 Chen Lingyun

Upon seeing the two again, Chen Ling was slightly dazed for a moment before smiling and saying, "Uncle Qin, Aunt Hongyu, you've come to the market too?"

The middle-aged couple were Qin Rongxian and Liang Hongyu.

After more than two months apart, their attire has become more rustic.

Qin Rong first wore an old-fashioned Dacron shirt and trousers in the style of a Zhongshan suit, with a white headscarf tied on her head, the trouser legs rolled up to her knees, and a pair of mismatched brand-new green rubber shoes.

Liang Hongyu was wearing a coarse gray-blue cloth jacket with a diagonal front, black trousers and cloth shoes, and a red square headscarf.

At first glance, the two really do look like an elderly farming couple.

However, her face was too pale and her body too clean.

An outsider could tell at a glance that this was not a hardworking farmer.

"Yes, I just happened to have nothing to do today, so I came to the market to browse around and also to take out some things I don't use at home to put away."

Qin Rong pointed diagonally behind him and said, "Look, the stall is right there."

Chen Ling glanced at it and found that it was a small stall made of straw mats, with a variety of items on it, including many old objects with a special historical feel.

Next to the stall were two bamboo chairs and a large willow basket, with a small amount of food still inside, indicating that the stall had just arrived.

"Your Aunt Hongyu has sharp eyes. She saw you from afar and asked me if you were rich and noble. She said you looked much fairer than before and was almost unrecognizable. She stared at you for a long time."

"Who knew you wouldn't even look this way, but went straight for the old man selling zongzi, hahaha..."

Qin Rong couldn't help but laugh as she spoke.

Chen Ling felt a little embarrassed by what he said.

Liang Hongyu laughed along, "Fugui wants to eat zongzi, come with me to my house to get it later, and you can also get to know the place."

“A while ago, someone sent your Uncle Qin a lot of bamboo leaves and glutinous rice. They initially planned to wrap them up and send them over, but your Uncle Qin and I didn’t agree. We just came back this year and wanted to wrap the zongzi ourselves and celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.”

"It took me a long time to learn how to wrap them. I just happened to run into you, so I wanted you to try the zongzi that Auntie makes."

Chen Ling quickly waved his hand and said it was no trouble at all, as he had other business to attend to at the market today.

He hadn't seen the elderly couple so enthusiastic in a while, and he was a little overwhelmed.

Upon hearing this, the elderly couple turned their attention to the two large bags at Chen Ling's feet.

"Fugui, are you here at the market selling vegetables again?"

"These aren't vegetables, but some medicinal herbs I collected from the mountains. I've accumulated a lot at home, so I'm here to sell them."

"Oh, it's medicinal herbs. Forget about the herbs, but your aunt and I will save plenty of vegetables."

Chen Ling was stunned, suddenly realizing that something was wrong with what he had just said.

Then he looked up and saw the elderly couple laughing at him.

Qin Rongxian pointed at him and said, "You little rascal, you really hurt me and your Aunt Hongyu with your lie last time."

“We went to Baiyungou to find you after only two days back in Fenglei Town, but now there are hardly any households left in that village. Not to mention the greenhouses, even the Chen family has moved away.”

"Later, the Yue family brought two baskets of vegetables over and talked about how good the vegetables were and the person selling them. The more we listened, the more we felt that it sounded like you. After asking around, we found out what was going on."

Chen Ling was speechless.

I thought to myself, who knew you two old folks would be so idle, but you actually went to look for them.

If they had phrased it differently back then, even if Liang Yuemin and Liu Yinhuan had bought his vegetables later, the old couple wouldn't have stopped him this time.

We might never cross paths again.

The problem is that he hadn't adapted to the times and didn't consider many things thoroughly.

Seeing this, Liang Hongyu asked, "Is there anything difficult about being rich and powerful?"

"I wouldn't say it's difficult, but this is something I did behind my wife's back. I was afraid that if I told the truth, people would come to my door and I wouldn't be able to explain it to her."

"After all, these vegetables and peanuts are quite expensive, and it would cost a lot of money to buy them wholesale. If my wife knew, she'd be worried sick..."

Chen Ling gave a vague explanation, and a look of embarrassment appeared on his face.

Qin Rongxian and Liang Hongyu then showed expressions of sudden realization.

"Well, harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things. It's understandable that you have this thought."

Qin Rongxian said with great emotion.

Then, seeing that there were more and more pedestrians on the street, he pulled Chen Ling to their stall and wrote him a note.

“Your aunt and I have moved. The house on the old business card has been given to someone else. This is the current address. Come visit us whenever you have time. Your aunt and I don’t have many people to talk to in the county town. It’s been even quieter since we came back from Fenglei Town.”

"If anything happens, remember to come to us. Don't be shy."

He folded the note and stuffed it into Chen Ling's hand.

After receiving the herbs, Chen Ling left his real name and home address. He then said a few words and, seeing that there were more and more people on the street, fearing that Chen Dazhi would get impatient, he picked up the two bags of herbs and said goodbye.

……

"I never expected that I would run into my relatives so soon after returning..."

Watching Chen Ling's retreating figure, Qin Rongxian's expression was complicated. "He's an unexpected relative."

"You think I could have figured it out just because you say you couldn't? If Yuemin hadn't mentioned it that day and asked about it when he got back to the village, we wouldn't have known that our nephew was walking around in front of us."

Liang Hongyu was filled with emotion as she took out an envelope from her pocket. The letter inside was yellowed, but it was still well preserved.

"Sigh, Chen Ling, Chen Lingyun, no wonder his eyes and brows looked so familiar..."

“Fengzhi once told me the child’s name, Chen Lingyun. I thought she named him with the ambition to reach the clouds. Later, I asked someone to inquire, but I couldn’t find him. Who would have thought he was in Lingyun County?”

Due to a family tragedy, the sisters were separated. The younger sister was willful from a young age, and it happened to be a special era, so she and her sister had not seen each other for many years.

and……

She hasn't acknowledged her family for a long time. "Sigh, don't you think she misses her children?"

"I don't know. They're doing just fine now. Even if their son goes looking for them, what can he do? Whether he'll acknowledge them or not is another matter."

Qin Rong shook her head first, thinking to herself that if she wanted to acknowledge her, she would have found her long ago. Back then, she kept it from this person and that person, and even used a fake name. They had no idea where she had married and had children. But she herself knew. Since she hadn't come back all these years, there was really no need to say anything more.

"No matter what, she's a piece of my flesh and blood, how could she be so heartless?"

“Don’t think about Hongyu anymore. You miss her, but she doesn’t miss you. We’ve cut off all contact for years. It’s fate that we met Fugui. He’s a good person. Let’s treat him like our own junior. Don’t mention this to him again. Just pretend she never existed.”

"Oh well, I'll go home and get some zongzi."

So when Chen Ling returned after selling the medicinal herbs, Qin Rong stopped him, saying that Liang Hongyu had gone home to get zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), and told him not to leave yet.

Chen Ling couldn't refuse, and simply thought the old couple were being kind-hearted.

She was still thinking about how Uncle Qin's status in the family had improved since they went back to their hometown; he even made Aunt Hongyu run errands to get zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).

After a short while, Liang Hongyu hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd with a basket on her shoulder and filled a bamboo basket with zongzi for Chen Ling.

"It's cold, Fugui, don't eat it cold like this. Steam it when you get back, okay?"

"I understand, Aunt Hongyu. I'm not stupid."

"Aren't you stupid? I wonder who it was that just now, staring at that old man's rice dumpling bucket without blinking."

"Haha, Fugui wants something hot, I'll go over there and buy you a few more."

"No, no, no, Uncle Qin, do you still treat me like a little kid? Besides, Aunt Hongyu's zongzi is enough, why buy other people's?"

"Your kid just knows how to make your aunt happy."

The three chatted and laughed, which attracted the attention of the vendors who had set up stalls nearby.

However, seeing that the three men did not look like farmers, he did not dare to interrupt.

"Uncle Qin, Aunt Hongyu, you can come visit my home sometime. It's not far from the county town."

"Okay, okay, this time we won't be unable to find them, right?"

"Haha, definitely not."

After leaving Qin Rongxian and his wife's stall, Chen Ling regretted it a little. These two old folks are so free, could they really go to their house?
Thinking back, when that person went to Fenglei Town before, they even made a special trip to look for him...

Chen Ling couldn't help but blame himself for speaking too quickly.

It wasn't that he was afraid of people visiting his home; it was just that getting along with wealthy and powerful people wasn't as comfortable as getting along with the villagers.

In fact, Wang Susu was the same way. Last time Qin Qiumei came to visit, he treated her with great care, which made Chen Ling feel sorry for her. Although he knew what his wife was thinking, he still secretly warned himself that he could not bring that woman home again.

Lost in thought, I walked to the outside of the old street and came to a small square paved with bluestone, right next to the old site of Lingzhong Middle School.

Chen Dazhi set up his cart and started a stall on the spot. At this time, he was surrounded by many people, and he had already sold quite a few brooms and bamboo stools.

"Brother Dazhi, you're doing great! This business is really good."

After everyone had bought most of the items, Chen Ling went over.

"Haha, it's almost Dragon Boat Festival, there are a lot of people at this market."

Chen Dazhi looked up and smiled. Seeing Chen Ling carrying a large basket, he asked, "What did you buy?"

"I ran into two acquaintances who gave me some zongzi. Brother Dazhi, you should take some too."

"No, no, my family will be making them too soon."

As Chen Dazhi spoke, he pointed to the side and said to Chen Ling, "Fugui, look at your cow. It's so big, why is it still afraid to show its face? As soon as you left, it hid in the school and wouldn't come out."

"If you hadn't told me beforehand, I was really afraid it would have disappeared."

"Haha, that's just how it is. It's been afraid of strangers since it was a baby."

Chen Ling smiled and said something before heading to find his own cow.

The old Lingzhong school gate is long gone. Inside, besides the pine and cypress trees, there are only weeds growing everywhere, messy and disorderly, some as tall as a person.

When the little white calf heard his voice, it lay down in the grass and poked its head out to look. Only when it saw him walk over did it stand up, pull the cart, and come out from inside.

"Your temperament hasn't improved at all."

"What if the oxcart I just hailed gets damaged?"

Chen Ling patted the grass off the little white calf and gently scolded it a couple of times.

The little white calf couldn't stand being scolded, so it lowered its head and gently rubbed its head against his leg to appease him and make him stop talking.

"Alright, alright, I won't talk about you anymore."

Chen Ling patted its big head, and Chen Dazhi then came over with a broom to help him sweep the oxcart.

"When I first saw you, you didn't put a nose ring on your cow. I was worried that it would run away while pulling the cart. I didn't expect your white cow to be so good-looking and so obedient to you. It ran over to you as soon as it saw you."

"She's quite obedient, but she can't stand strangers; she gets scared when there are too many strangers around..."

As Chen Ling and his companion were talking, a few villagers from Chenwangzhuang who had walked to the market soon arrived and came over to chat with them.

However, Chen Ling still had things to do, so he didn't chat with them much and drove the oxcart to the small courtyard in the south of the city.

Upon arriving and opening the door, Chen Ling saw small cards and notes scattered all over the floor behind the door.

Upon closer inspection, all the messages were asking when they could open their stalls, or simply leaving their addresses and asking if they could be delivered.

This is ridiculous! It's almost the fifth month of the lunar calendar, and most of the new vegetables are already available, yet so many people are still rushing to buy them.

This means that the food is being well received!

Chen Ling curled the corners of his mouth, hurriedly drove the oxcart into the yard, and then closed the door to begin "preparing the goods".

(End of this chapter)