Rebirth of a Farmer's Dad

Early the next morning, Luo Feng set off with Xinghua and all their belongings, pulling a cart. It wasn't that he intended for the child to suffer; he was just worried about leaving her alone at home. She was still young, and it wouldn't be good if she ran into any bad people—after all, children often go missing these days.

At 5 a.m., the father and daughter finally arrived at the market. Luo Feng quickly chose a good spot to set up his stall, and cooked several bowls of noodles to deliver to the nearby vendors; sometimes having a few more friends is never a bad thing. He also gave Xinghua a bowl, telling her to eat slowly, while he stood aside calling out, "Ten-spice pork bone noodles, no charge if you don't like it!"

Unlike later generations, people don't have much money in their pockets and mostly don't eat out. So Luo Feng called out for a long time but didn't see any customers. On the contrary, Xinghua ate with relish, and seeing this, Luo Feng felt a little gratified.

"It smells so good, Mom, I want some too!" a little boy said, tugging at his mother's clothes.

"Mom will make it for you when we get home."

"No, I want to eat now," the little boy said, and then sat down on the ground.

The woman asked Luo Feng helplessly, "Brother, how much is a bowl of your noodles?"

"8 cents a bowl!" Luo Feng immediately perked up. "Isn't that expensive? Can you make it cheaper?" The woman was still hesitating.

"It's not expensive, young lady. This is high-quality broth; others would sell it for at least one yuan," Luo Feng said with a smile.

"Alright, give me a bowl," the woman said, glancing at her son and turning to Luo Feng.

"Alright, please have a seat, I'll be right there," Luo Feng said, turning around and heading downstairs.

Soon, the bone broth noodles were served. The little boy ate with gusto, and his mother, who was standing nearby, also looked interested. Seeing this, Luo Feng quickly stepped forward and said, "Sister, why don't you have a bowl too? The second bowl is half price." The woman smiled and said, "Brother, it's a pity you're not a storyteller with that mouth of yours." After saying that, she took out a dollar and a half and handed it to Luo Feng.

Without saying a word, Luo Feng hurried upstairs. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he called over Xinghua, who was standing to the side in a daze, and whispered a few words in her ear. Xinghua nodded and ran to the side, shouting to the crowd, "Ten-spice pork bone noodles, second bowl half price!" Her sweet, childlike voice attracted a lot of attention, and before she knew it, her stall had gained a lot of customers.

Everyone praised the little girl for being capable, helping with the business at such a young age. Business gradually picked up, and the goods they brought were sold out just after noon. Luo Feng took his daughter to the market, but seeing her clothes that were several sizes too big made him uncomfortable, so he simply bought her a new outfit. Xinghua hugged it tightly the whole way, beaming with joy, but she refused to wear it. Perhaps, in a child's mind, new clothes are only for the New Year.

Afterwards, Luo Feng found a butcher surnamed Zhao at the market and agreed to buy meat bones from him every ten days, asking him to save some for him. This wasn't about going to great lengths; one should always have some sense of propriety.

In the afternoon, Luo Feng took Xinghua back to the village. Xinghua skipped and hopped all the way, very happy with everyone's praise and her new clothes. She walked more than ten miles of mountain road to get home but showed no signs of sleepiness. Luo Feng wanted to rest, but he had to prepare for the next market day. After all that commotion, the sun was already setting.

The children were drawn back by the aroma, and Luo Feng, as usual, gave them several bowls of soup, letting them sit and drink in front of the door before turning back inside to catch up on some sleep. Just as he entered, he heard a commotion outside. Going out, he saw it was someone calling the children home for dinner. Seeing Luo Feng, the person smiled sheepishly, slapped their son on the head, and took the child home. Luo Feng sighed; they couldn't even be bothered to say hello. It seemed his public image had long since crumbled. Afterwards, the children were taken away by their families one by one. The well-behaved ones thanked Luo Feng, while others were ungrateful: "Your family still has money for meat? Pay everyone back first, don't try to silence us with this." Luo Feng was speechless at such people.

Unable to sleep with something on his mind, Luo Feng started calculating his earnings for the day. Not bad, he'd made nearly 30 yuan. After deducting costs and the money for Xinghua's clothes, he'd earned 8.6 yuan. That was pretty good for his first day. Thinking about how much more he'd earn in the future, Luo Feng grinned foolishly. Eight yuan a day, 240 yuan a month—that was comparable to a civil servant's salary at the time. He could pay off his debts in less than a year.

With a joyful heart, Luo Feng called Xinghua over, intending to give his daughter a bath, as she looked so dirty and distressed. After the bath, he changed Xinghua into new clothes. Seeing his daughter looking refreshed, Luo Feng happily went to prepare dinner; his daughter was too thin and needed to eat something good. After dinner, the father and daughter went to bed…

In the days that followed, Luo Feng took Xiao Xinghua to the market every day. In addition to noodles, the stall gradually started selling steamed buns, mantou, steamed dumplings, eggs, and other things. Because the food tasted good and was affordable, it attracted a group of regular customers. In addition, Luo Feng was good at interpersonal relationships and quickly became friends with the stall owners and vendors in the market. Luo Feng's daily income stabilized at around 40 yuan.

But good things often come with difficulties, and no one's life is always smooth sailing. Sure enough, Luo Feng was doing business at the market when he saw a young man, about half a teenager, rushing towards him from afar. The boy recognized Luo Tiezhu, the son of Luo Laoquan from the village. "Zhuzi!" Luo Feng called out from a distance. Luo Tiezhu, who had been looking around anxiously, heard the call and ran straight towards Luo Feng, shouting as he ran, "Brother Luo, Brother Luo, something's happened! You need to come home right away!" Luo Feng smiled and said, "These lads have been drinking my bone broth for almost half a month; they even know to call me 'brother' now."

Finally, when Zhu Zi ran to the stall, Luo Feng asked, "What happened?" He then brought Zhu Zi a bowl of warm water. Zhu Zi took it and drank it down in one gulp, panting as he told Luo Feng, "Brother, you'd better go home quickly. Er Hu Zi is at your house with a large group of people, saying they're here to collect a debt." Luo Feng's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, "This is bad." Xing Hua had caught a cold these past two days, and he had left her alone at home without telling the neighbors. This was probably going to be troublesome.

Without saying anything else, he simply greeted the stall owners nearby, asking them to watch their stalls for him. Luo Feng and Tie Zhu then hurried home, Luo Feng praying the whole way that nothing bad would happen. He only had this one daughter; if anything happened to her, he would...

What's the point of living?

Thinking of this, Luo Feng quickened his pace, wishing he could fly to Xinghua's side right now.