Crossing the farm gate, the whole family reunites in the disaster year

The dock was crowded and noisy, with nearby residents coming to buy seafood and laborers moving among the crowd to carry goods. There were many daily necessities and food stalls on the roadside with a wide variety of goods, like a large market.

Lin walked and looked around.

I have been here for some time, and whenever I am in a crowd, I always feel a sense of unreality and trance.

"Brother, wait for me. There's a pancake vendor here. I'd like to buy two to fill my stomach on the way. Do you want to buy two too?"

A voice beside her brought her back to reality and she looked over subconsciously.

The two brothers who were talking were dirty and black, their clothes were wrinkled like dried pickles, and they looked not much better than beggars.

Even the villagers who had been suffering from months of drought did not look so miserable, but it was very common at the dock. The two brothers should be boatmen who had just gotten off the boat.

The other man, holding a bundle in his arms, shook his head honestly: "I won't buy it. It's evening when I get home, and your sister-in-law will definitely be cooking."

"Two pancakes are only ten cents, and I got two taels of wages for this trip..." The man who bought the pancakes stopped talking mid-sentence, remembering that there were many people watching at the dock. "Okay, okay, I'll eat them myself. You wait over there and don't wander around."

A pancake is not much bigger than a palm, so ten cents is indeed expensive.

Lin didn't stop, just took a look and walked away.

When they arrived at the tea stall, they saw some people from the escort agency resting there. Because of Li Shi, the people from the escort agency were very warm to Lin's mother and son. They invited them to drink tea and told them that they would have to wait for an hour before returning.

Cui Jingwen sat at the tea stall with his eyes wide open, having drunk a bellyful of tea. One hour was like two hours, and it was so boring to just wait.

"Mom, how about we go into town for a walk?"

The escort agent poked his head in and said, "Is this your first time here? Just inside the city gate is the West Market. There are many rare and exotic items here that we haven't even seen over there. You don't have to buy anything, at least it's a treat to see."

Cui Jingwen couldn't wait to go, and Lin stood up and said, "Then let's go shopping."

"Yeah, we brothers will help you look after your stuff, so you can go shopping without worry, and you won't lose a single crab hair when you come back."

Lin smiled and thanked him.

Linhai has convenient transportation, and there are indeed many things that have never been seen in Qingyang County, but that is only applicable to the ancients. In the eyes of Lin's mother and son, every thing is very familiar.

For example, spices that are rare in the eyes of locals are tempting stew condiments in Lin's eyes.

Cardamom, cloves, cinnamon...

With a wave of his hand, he bought a pack each.

The cloth was also a few cents cheaper than what was sold in Qingyang County. Lin bought a few pieces of soft, fine cloth and took them home to make close-fitting clothes.

On the way back, the carriage was empty of cargo, but was filled to the brim with the things they had bought.

The convoy deliberately took a detour and dropped the people off outside Xiahe Village.

Lin gave an extra twenty coins as a thank you.

The dim setting sun reflected on the entrance of the village. Cui Jingwen gritted his teeth and picked up the kelp. The straw rope containing the seasoning was hung on his left shoulder, and the cloth was carried on his right shoulder.

Lin couldn't bear it: "Give me the cloth."

"It's not heavy. I can move it." Cui Jingwen forced himself to move forward. "Next year I must take the exam to become a scholar. The first thing I'll do after passing the exam is to buy a carriage so that I can have my shopping delivered directly to my doorstep."

It takes more than ten minutes to walk from the village entrance to the Cui family's old house. Cui Jingwen held his breath and hurried home quickly, fearing that he would lose his strength.

If he has to be tired, he should be the only one to be tired. Don't let mom be tired.

Lin was moved: "After we build a new house, we can buy a cow. It will save us a lot of trouble."

Cui Jingwen stopped in his tracks, his eyes sparkling: "Yes, cows can plow the land and pull carts, so there's no need for horse-drawn carriages."

The energy in my heart suddenly dissipated.

Then there is no need to rush to take the exam.

"But..." Lin continued, "ox carts don't have much endurance and travel slowly. They can barely make it to Qingyang County. To go to the next county, you still need a horse carriage."

Cui Jingwen's eyes went dark, his arms went limp, and the bamboo basket fell to the ground.

After all, he was destined to study.

Cui Jingwen leaned against the bamboo basket and slid down to the ground: "My arms are weak, let me rest for a while..."

"Aunt San! You're back!"

Silang ran over excitedly from a distance, like a stone shot out by a slingshot, and ran in front of Lin.

When he saw the kelp on the ground, he picked it up without saying a word and went home.

Cui Jingwen was dumbfounded: "Put it down. Aren't you too heavy for a little kid to take my job?"

Shiro looked back as he walked away: "Is it sinking? Are you okay?"

Cui Jingwen opened and closed his mouth: "No... that's thirty kilograms!"

Silang held the basket and weighed it effortlessly: "It's not too heavy. Maybe he has eaten enough recently. Let's go back quickly. Grandma will be waiting anxiously."

Cui Jingwen was devastated.

He just said that scholars are useless!

Old Governor Cui was at the door. When he saw Lin's mother and son come back, his heart finally settled down.

"I'm glad you're back. Um..." Looking at the large and small packages, she restrained herself from asking any more questions and waved her hand for Lin to go back to the house to rest. "You don't have to cook tonight. I'll make some more vegetable porridge later. You can take it back to the house and eat it with the children."

"Thank you, mother." Lin agreed with a smile, "Seafood is cheap in Lindong County. Jingwen and I bought some crabs and oysters. Seafood can't be kept overnight, so let's eat crabs together after dinner."

Old Mrs. Cui continued, "What's the point of eating crabs? You can't even get two taels of meat after removing the shell. It's too hard to even get enough to fill your teeth. It's better to just cut off half a pound of meat..."

"Cough cough!"

Old Man Cui walked into the yard with a sullen look on his face. He glared at Old Lady Cui, then turned around and smiled, saying, "Your mother and I have lived to this age, and we've never eaten crabs before. I'm going to eat two more crabs later."

After Old Man Cui entered the yard, Cui Chengliang and several children followed suit. Xiaowu and Xiaoqi looked at the crabs in the basket with curiosity.

"I'll wash and steam it right away. Dad will make sure you have enough to eat."

Lin returned to the house with the two little tails.

Xiao Qi reached out and poked the bamboo basket. There happened to be a crab blowing bubbles crazily in the gap. "So this is what crabs look like. Aunt San, with so many legs, will crabs fight each other when they walk?"

Xiaoliu quickly stopped Xiaoqi: "Don't move, its pincers will bite you, it hurts."

Xiao Qi admired him and said, "Sixth Brother knows a lot, so amazing!"

Xiaoliu turned his head away, a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face. It wasn't that serious, he just learned his lesson after being bitten a few times.

While talking, Lin took out a large basin, filled it with water, poured the crabs in, and rinsed the crabs repeatedly with a colander.

The crab has no ropes to tie it up, and it waves its claws to fight against its fate.

After the struggle failed, they were put into the pot by Lin. There were more than 40 crabs, and the lid of the pot could hardly be closed.

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