Sweet 80s

After many years of military experience, Lin Xiangdong has no habit of sleeping in.

As soon as the sky was bright, he got up quietly, but still woke up Wang Shuping who was beside him.

Wang Shuping stretched her head and looked out the window: "Why are you up so early?"

"I want to go to the market. If I go too late, I won't be able to buy what I want. Do you want to go with me?"

Wang Shuping waved her hand: "There are too many people. I don't like to join in the fun."

"OK then."

Lin Xiangdong put on his clothes and gently kissed her forehead, saying with sweet eyes: "You must have been tired last night, you should get some more sleep."

After saying this, Wang Shuping wanted to take another nap, but when she thought of her husband, children, and a lot of housework waiting to be done, she simply got up and started working.

The market is not open every day, only on certain days.

There is a temple a few kilometers away from the slum where Wang Shuping lives.

Local people have the custom of visiting temple fairs on the Shangsi Festival on March 3rd, so an annual market activity has been formed near the temple on the third day of March.

Residents from more than ten kilometers around gathered there.

The market was crowded with customers everywhere, and the huge crowds of people made it as lively as the Chinese New Year.

There weren't many entertainment options at this time, so before reaching the center of the market, you could already hear the noisy and bustling sounds of people from time to time.

Lin Xiangdong borrowed a 28-inch bicycle from his colleague in advance. This not only made the journey easier, but also allowed him to buy more things without having to worry about not getting them back.

Even at the edge of the market, Lin Xiangdong was dazzled by the high-quality and low-priced goods.

Lin Xiangdong walked to a flatbed stall, which sold seven or eight kinds of seasonal fruits. Not only did they look fresh and delicious, but he could also smell the rich fruity aroma as he got close.

"Boss, give me five apples, five oranges, and four pears."

The fruit stall owner greeted the customers warmly. He put the fruits on the scale and weighed them one by one. After weighing, he did not forget to remind the customers to look at the raised scale bar.

"Look carefully, the scale is high."

A big bag of fruit was Lin Xiangdong’s first trophy.

After walking a few steps forward, I saw three or five children surrounding an old lady.

I saw her pushing a cart with two winnowing baskets filled with candied haws that she had made herself.

"How much are the candied haws?" Lin Xiangdong asked.

The old lady held out her hand: "Five cents a string."

"Give me three skewers." Lin Xiangdong pointed to a pile of khaki wrapping paper on the dustpan next to the old lady and said, "Please help me wrap it."

"Peanut candy, sesame peanut candy..."

Lin Xiangdong was immediately attracted by the hawking sounds in the distance.

Before coming here, the two children had been talking about eating the crispy, fragrant and crunchy sesame peanut candy since before the New Year.

It is usually only available during the Chinese New Year, but today I happened to buy some for the kids to satisfy their cravings.

We continued walking and finally arrived at the center of the market, where the bustle reached its peak.

Mountain products, specialties, dried fruits, snacks, aquatic products, clothing, etc. are all available. People carry large and small bags, and the goods they stock up at one time can last for a week to half a month.

A teapot, a table, a few teacups, a few stools, such a tea stall

It opened.

There were a lot of people surrounding the tricycle. A nylon cloth was placed in the back of the tricycle, water was added, and fish were put on it, turning it into a seafood stall.

Lin Xiangdong swallowed as he looked at the lively and plump fish inside.

"Brother, give me some fish. They were just caught before dawn today. They are very fresh."

“How much is grass carp?”

"3 cents."

"Let's take care of it?"

"Here, clean it up so you can stew it when you get home."

"Okay, let's go with this one."

After most of the day, the handlebars, the crossbar and the back seat of the bicycle were covered with trophies.

As soon as he entered the yard, Wang Shuping, who came out to get water, was stunned. She thought her husband was going out to purchase goods.

She walked over with a smile and said, "Why did you buy so many things?"

After saying that, he quickly put the basin aside and helped carry things.

"The market has a wide variety of goods, and the prices are very favorable, only 10 or 20 cents cheaper than in the shops, and most importantly, you don't need meat coupons."

As he spoke, he took a piece of meat hanging on the handlebars and waved it in front of Wang Shuping.

"Look at this piece of meat, it's three-layered and only costs 4 cents a pound."

Wang Shuping had just eaten steamed noodles two days ago, so she naturally knew the price and suddenly felt that the meat in the steamed noodles was not delicious.

“It’s quite cheap.”

"I also bought a few bundles of tobacco leaves for my dad. I'll give them to him when I go back to visit them later."

Wang Shuping nodded and said, "Yes, it's still better to smoke the tobacco that I roll myself..."

She took out the fruit from another bag and looked at it: "How did you buy all this?"

"You know I don't eat pears."

"Shouldn't it be four apples, four oranges and three pears? How come there's one extra?"

A faint smile appeared on Lin Xiangdong's face and he took all the apples out of the bag.

"One for Dabao, one for Erbao, one for the father of the child, one for the mother of the child, and then... one for my wife."

Looking at such an "unfair" distribution, Wang Shuping's smile grew wider, and even her eyes and eyebrows revealed an uncontrollable smile.

Then he pointed to the small box with dirt on it on the back seat and asked, "What is this?"

"Vegetable seedlings. Our yard is not small. I want to plant some vegetables during this season so that I can pick them whenever I want to eat them."

Even though he bought so much, Lin Xiangdong did not forget his main business. He took down the baskets on both sides of the bicycle.

There were five hens and a rooster in it, and in the other basket there were three little rabbits.

"I'll build a nest for them this afternoon."

After talking for a long time, Lin Xiangdong didn't see his youngest son coming out, so he asked casually, "Where's Erbao?"

"I went to play at Little Tail's house."

Wang Shuping took the two pieces of meat, looked at the white fat with joy, and thought that it would not be long before Dabao would be able to eat the lard rice.

It was almost noon and it was time for Dabao to go home from school.

Since Erbao was still some time away from going to primary school, when his brother was in school, he had nothing to do and would look for other children of the same age to play with in the compound.

After school, Dabao would go to the restaurants his younger brother frequented to look for food and then bring it home for dinner.

Before I even reached Xiaoweiba's house, I could hear the noise of several children inside.

"Two treasures."

Hearing his brother's call, Erbao habitually dropped his toys and ran out immediately.

Dabao held his brother's hand and walked on the way home. When they passed the small tail gate, he deliberately looked inside.

"Why are you still playing with him? Aren't you afraid he'll beat you again?"

"Don't worry, if he dares to hit me, we can release his rabbit..."

Dabao was quick to cover Erbao's mouth, then turned around and looked around until he was sure that no one heard it, then he let go.

"You are so stupid. Why do you say everything? If someone hears, they will go to our mom to make trouble again."

"There's no one here." Erbao stretched out his finger and pointed around.

"So...did Little Tails say anything...about the rabbit?"

Erbao stopped, bit his lip and thought carefully, then raised his finger and shook it in the air with a serious face.

"said."

"What did you say?"

Then, Erbao imitated the way Little Tail’s mother scolded, with his hands on his hips and frowning.

"Whose son of a bitch let my rabbit go? If I catch you, I'll break your legs..."

Dabao chuckled and said, "Did you see his mother swearing?"

Erbao shook his head: "Little Tail learned it from me."

"And then, the rabbits were caught, right?"

"One ran away."

"what?"

He felt like the sky was falling...