My 1995 Small Farm.

"Wow, this is a toy! This toy looks really fun!"

After walking a few steps, the children found a toy stall, which was surrounded by toddlers and their parents.

The stall sells bamboo and wooden toys.

Unlike mass-produced plastics, these are all unique in shape.

There are small cars, small animals, fat pigeons that can move, and monkeys that can pull strings and do somersaults.

In addition, ducks and frogs are also available.

When Rui Rui saw this, he was reminded of his little elephant, and his eyes immediately lit up. He shouted, "Little elephant, little elephant!"

"RuiRui has a baby elephant now, so we can buy this duck. This duck has a little drum on it, so you can play it!"

Qin Yueru pointed to one of the little ducks and said.

The little wooden duck has four wheels underneath its body, and its body is a small wooden drum.

The small drum is also accompanied by a small wooden mallet.

The little duck has a button attached to its chest with a string.

This is something that even today's kids play with, Chen Ling played with when he was a child.

It can be said that it carries many of Chen Ling's childhood memories.

The only thing Chen Ling could remember from her childhood was this duck toy.

It was bought back from the county town by my father, Chen Juncai.

After his mother went missing, he could play with the little ducks all day long in front of his house.

When you tie a rope to it and pull it, you can hear the thumping sound of the little drum as the ducklings run around.

Unfortunately, a major flood occurred later, and many things were lost long ago.

"Grandpa, how much is this little duckling?"

Almost as soon as Qin Yueru finished speaking, Chen Ling chimed in, saying that he also liked this thing very much.

Rui Rui doesn't want it, but buying it will give him something to look forward to.

The old man selling goods at the stall had pretty good skills, although they couldn't compare to Chen Sangui's.

But the toys are very well made.

This chubby little duck is getting very close to the one he used to have.

Moreover, the technique is meticulous, and the entire toy is polished very smoothly.

"Take it for two dollars!"

The old man smoked his pipe without looking up, looking like a silent, brooding person.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling handed over a ten-yuan bill and let the children choose something else.

Two yuan for a small toy is actually not cheap these days.

But Chen Ling clearly didn't care about any of that; all she wanted was for the children to be happy.

"The crispy rice crust here is delicious; I'd like to buy some."

"They also have cat ear noodles and glutinous rice strips here..."

Married women are still women, and they are still young.

Even a small snack can tempt me.

Besides, it's Chinese New Year, so families with children should buy more snacks.

Chen Ling had no interest in snacks, so she and Liang Yuemin looked around, trying to find something fun to do.

The little chestnut on his shoulder and Rui Rui were both incredibly greedy.

She's even more greedy than her mother and aunts; she wants to eat everything she sees.

Smelling the aroma of dog meat, they wanted to eat it.

The people selling dog meat here all call it spiced dog meat.

Chen Ling didn't know how to make it, but he figured it would be mainly salty and savory, since there weren't any particularly unusual seasonings available in those days.

There was no great surprise for him.

"That's dog meat. Don't you all like puppies?"

Liang Yuemin asked the two children, "Can you still bear to eat dog meat?"

Rui Rui couldn't understand the complicated words, he just grabbed Chen Ling's big hand and cried, "Daddy, eat meat..."

Little Chestnut said, "Uncle, it smells so good, I'll just try a little bit, okay? Anyway, it's not our dog."

Chen Ling couldn't help but laugh, so he bought some for the children to try.

Dog meat doesn't have much of an off-putting smell, and it is indeed quite fragrant.

But they didn't buy much, because there were so many delicious things to eat at these big markets near the end of the year.

Chen Ling also saw various kinds of meat skewers, as well as chicken legs and duck legs being deep-fried.

I'd never heard of it before; I'd only ever seen it done when he hosted banquets.

Could this be the reason it got out?
"The sesame balls are delicious, but the meat in them is worse than dog meat, and it's nowhere near as good as what we make at home!"

The women unanimously agreed that the snacks tasted better.

They felt the meat was far inferior to what Chen Ling prepared himself, so they didn't give it a second glance.

But everyone was holding a huge paper bag of snacks; the children ate, and they ate too.

Wang Susu would also occasionally feed Chen Ling and the two children on his shoulders.

Little Chestnut sat on Chen Ling's shoulders, where she could see quite far. She quickly discovered something new and interesting: "Uncle, let's go up ahead! There are monkey performers there. I heard Grandma say that monkey performances are fun."

The little girl spoke up, and the other children also became curious.

Monkey shows sound like fun.

They all clamored to go.

Since everyone's just here to stroll around, let's go take a look.

The whole family squeezed through the crowd and gathered around.

That's when I realized that the monkey show was actually being performed in the open space in front of the hospital.

This is quite a grand affair; it's taken up all the open space in the county hospital.

As soon as they stood on the outer edge, they heard the sound of a gong ringing out from within the circle of people, and the monkey trainer shouted in an exaggerated tone:
"Gentlemen, young and old, it's Chinese New Year! Please support us with some money!"

His affected manner made the children laugh.

However, the adults didn't laugh. Instead, they saw the monkey trainer asking for money and got bored, so they started to leave.

The crowd that was just there, layer upon layer, has now dwindled by more than half.

Seeing this, Chen Ling quickly found a rock and stood on it.

Seeing this, Liang Yuemin quickly moved closer to him and picked up the chubby boy and Zhao Dahai's daughter, Yaya, to look at them.

As soon as I got into a good spot, I saw two monkeys inside. One big monkey and one little monkey.

At this moment, the adorable little monkey is carrying a plate and spinning around, begging for a reward.

"This monkey is pretty good. It's quite obedient, much better than the wild monkeys in the mountains. It even knows how to play these tricks..."

Chen Ling exclaimed in surprise, took out two five-yuan bills from his pocket, and gave one to Rui Rui and one to Xiao Li Zi, asking them to put them in.

Rui Rui put down the money, shouted excitedly, and even bent down hard to touch the little monkey.

"Quickly thank them and bow to them!"

The monkey trainer was overjoyed when he saw two five-yuan coins.

After bowing, he realized he had spoken too quickly, so he strode forward, picked up the little monkey, and let Rui Rui pet it.

I gave you ten yuan, and you can touch me whenever you want. If you can't even satisfy that, I'm not worthy of the reward.

"Me too! Daddy, give me the money quickly, I want to touch the little monkey too!"

The chubby boy joined in the shouting, and Ya Ya also showed an expectant look.

Liang Yuemin naturally took out his money with a smile.

Two more ten-yuan notes were handed over.

Good heavens, the monkey trainer is thrilled now.

The monkeys haven't done anything yet.

He excitedly started doing somersaults.

When he did that, both the big and little monkeys started doing somersaults.

Then, the money in the little monkey's tray scattered all over the ground.

"Oh dear, you spilled your money."

Liang Yuemin continued to earnestly offer reminders.

Little did they know that this was just a monkey trainer putting on a show.

He cried out, "Oh dear!" and exclaimed, "My money!"

It would have been better if he hadn't shouted; once he did, the big monkey seemed to have received a signal.

He rushed over, grabbed the money, and tried to run into the crowd.

The monkey trainer was furious and picked up his whip to strike.

Monkey shows also require skill.

Just when it looked like the whip was about to strike the audience, it abruptly changed direction and lashed out at the large monkey instead.

The monkey reacted quickly, reaching out and grabbing at the whip with a 'ke' sound, baring its teeth and pulling hard.

Then he took the whip and went to lash the man who was performing with the monkey.

While smoking, he was making all sorts of squeals and noises, as if he were cursing.

The man who performed the monkey show was beaten until he cried out for his parents and rolled around in pain, clutching his head.

But the adult monkey didn't stop until the monkey trainer's shoes fell off and his belt came off.

He rolled on the ground begging for mercy, shouting that Grandpa Monkey had pressed the wrong button, promising to feed and drink well every day, and asking that he would never hit him again.

This drew laughter from the onlookers.

This was obviously rehearsed beforehand, and the monkey was also trained.

Skilled monkey trainers may appear to lash the monkeys hard with their whips, but they don't actually hit them very hard.

The same applies to monkeys hitting people.

This is just playing the victim and being silly.

Actually, the show's effect was already quite good at this point.

Unexpectedly, the little monkey was quite intelligent. At that moment, it bowed, clapped its hands, picked up the tray from the ground, and started circling around, calling out.

Let everyone give us a reward.

"Good job! This monkey is well trained; it's very clever!"

The onlookers cheered.

This time, not only Chen Ling and his group participated, but even ordinary viewers who were reluctant to spend money took out one or two coins as tips.

The man who performed the monkey show was about to thank him.

Unexpectedly, the little chestnut on Chen Ling's shoulder said with red eyes, "The little monkey is so young and has to come out to support the family. It's so pitiful. It must be because the monkey trainer doesn't give it food and water, making it and its mother suffer."

Little Chestnut used to be a spoiled little princess and didn't understand this.

In other words, with the influx of people into the countryside and the influence of Chen Ling's animated films, various small animals were given human-like characteristics.

She gradually learned a lot of things without even realizing it.

However, these are mostly attributed to animal characters.

Then, she spoke these words, which were tinged with pity and choked with emotion.

The other children who had come to the market nearby also got angry: "Monkey, keep hitting him, I'll give you money, keep hitting him!"

Even the chubby kid and Rui Rui started shouting, "Attack!"

The monkey trainer didn't dare to get up anymore, because so many people were throwing money at him. With so much money, the big monkey started to fight more skillfully, and he increased the force in his hands.

The man who was performing with the monkey screamed even more pitifully.

What an unexpectedly wonderful show!

After watching the monkey show, the children were even more excited and felt they had a great time.

Chen Ling soon discovered something good as well.

It is a strange rock.

The stall owner said he found it in Wangbacheng.

They can be sold at stalls during the Chinese New Year and can also be placed in the home as feng shui stones to ward off evil spirits.

Of course, this isn't as fancy as what city dwellers do; it's just something buried somewhere in the house.

Some are completely buried, while others are left half exposed; this varies depending on the terrain of each location.

"The mining in Wangbacheng dried up the rivers. Both rivers are now dry, and what's exposed on the riverbeds are beautiful stones. Look, these are all good stuff that we've collected!"

The stall owner introduced the item, looking at Chen Ling: "This one you picked out will produce smoke when you water it. I'll sell this for two hundred yuan."

Chen Ling chose a strange stone with six holes. The shape of the stone was not strange; it was just like a rockery.

But it's quite large, over 30 centimeters tall.

"It smokes when you water it, so it's filled with lime, right? You're really asking for two hundred yuan for this?!"

Liang Yuemin shook his head. "The mines in Wangbacheng contain substances similar to lime; it's not impossible." (End of Chapter)