My 1995 Small Farm.

New Year's Day.

Before dawn, shadowy figures could be seen moving about in the village.

Everywhere you look, there are little kids running around and shouting.

If it were Rui Rui, Xiao Li Zi, and Xiao Pang Zi, they would all still be sleeping in bed.

But the village children, like Liu Nier and her friends, got up very early and lined up along the corners of the walls and outside the doors of each household in the village.

They're picking up duds everywhere.

These are firecrackers or similar items that didn't explode or only partially exploded.

The children can still play with it after picking it up.

Not only can you play with it, but you can also peel off the shells yourself and collect the explosives to play with.

……

The situation was even more pronounced outside Chen Ling's house.

Many of them were no longer little kids; even fifteen or sixteen-year-old boys were running around outside his farm collecting duds.

Duds are inevitable.

These days, with so many fireworks and firecrackers being bought, it's inevitable that some will have quality issues.

Besides, Chen Ling's fireworks are quite high-end.

Even the packaging is beautiful.

They all wanted to pick it up and play with it.

Chen Ling couldn't help but laugh when he saw this scene.

"Ah, Uncle Fugui!"

We've come to wish you a Happy New Year...

When the boys saw Chen Ling, they didn't even go inside; they immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.

This is a custom from the mountains here.

When offering New Year's greetings to elders, you should kowtow once, but you only need to kneel on both knees; you don't need to kowtow.

These teenagers had mostly heard stories about Chen Ling.

Suddenly, he caught me picking up firecrackers from his house, and I felt a little guilty and scared, so I immediately kowtowed.

Chen Ling quickly pulled Wang Susu away.

This is the Lunar New Year, and they're doing this? Is this paying New Year's visits or going to a grave?

Wang Susu couldn't help but chuckle.

"Alright, alright, stop worshiping."

Chen Ling thought to herself, "If you keep bowing like this, you'll send me away the next time you do it."

Then he took out red envelopes and gave one to each person.

"No, Uncle, we really don't want it anymore. We're all grown up now, if we still need your money, the kids in the village will laugh at us!"

These teenagers meant it when they said no, and they turned around and ran away with the fireworks in their arms.

"Don't run away, it's free, we'll give you something fun."

Chen Ling waved to them, calling them to stop, and then tossed them several packs of good cigarettes.

With these teenagers, you can't be polite or put on airs. The less you care about them, the more relaxed you'll feel and the closer you'll feel.

Sure enough, as soon as they saw the good cigarettes, the group of kids chuckled and couldn't bear to say no.

They were both embarrassed and excited as they picked up the cigarettes Chen Ling had tossed to them, rubbed and blew on them, and then stuffed them into their pockets.

"Uncle Fugui is so kind; he always calls on us for help whenever he needs it."

They waved and ran away.

To be honest, these teenagers weren't very familiar with Chen Ling.

Unlike Liu Nier and the others, who practically live by Chen Ling's side all day long.

Most of them are in school.

They say going to school is just for getting a diploma.

Chen Ling often saw these boys on the road, riding their tattered old bicycles, carrying bedding and blankets, with a rice bowl and water bottle hanging in front of the bike, or a week's worth of dry food and pickled vegetables, going to school in the county town or village.

As for why I brought so many miscellaneous items...

Firstly, it saves money.

Nowadays, school cafeterias mostly use meal tickets, not cash.

If you bring your own food from home, you can bring a week's worth of steamed buns, pickled vegetables, flatbread, etc., and have two meals a day with hot water.

Or you could simply eat two meals a day: bring your own breakfast and grab some vegetables from the cafeteria for dinner.

Secondly, it should be carried with you at all times and not left at school to prevent it from being stolen.

Don't be fooled by the fact that they are just odds and ends; these days, people actually steal them.

When Chen Ling was in high school.

Even my shoes and socks have been stolen.

In such an environment, people are poor in words, meaning they are very greedy and have never eaten anything good.

At school, people ate coarse food and simple meals. Some didn't even have pickled vegetables. They would just soak cold steamed buns in hot water and that was their meal.

Many teenagers can't handle it.

They would definitely climb over the wall and go out to steal things.

They would go to people's homes to steal money or things to exchange for money, and then buy food.

This is normal and very common.

This is a common occurrence.

Chen Ling himself had gone out to steal things with his friends, but he didn't steal from other people's homes; instead, he stole things like steel bars from the new school.

I'll sell all sorts of odds and ends to earn a little money so I can buy a bowl of mutton noodles.

Then I didn't think about it for a whole month, feeling wonderful and extremely satisfied.

Looking back now, it's really funny.

……

"Hey, Uncle Fugui, who picked up your good cannon?"

Chen Ling and the others had just returned home and were sitting in the living room tidying up the fruit platters when Liu Nier and the others rushed in.

“Your Uncle Jiang’s Erbo and his gang took him away.”

Chen Ling said something that made him laugh when he saw that even though it was New Year's Day, the kids still had dirty faces like kittens.

They all looked like they had gotten up early to go out and collect firecrackers.

"Okay, then I can't beat them."

Liu Nier and the others didn't pay much attention and went up one by one to kowtow and wish Chen Ling and Wang Susu a Happy New Year.

"Uncle Fugui, Aunt Susu, Happy New Year to you both."

The village kids don't know these words; they learned them from watching too much TV at Chen Ling's house.

"Okay, okay, everything's fine!"

Chen Ling smiled broadly and handed them candy, filling each of their little pockets to the brim.

The children were all beaming with joy.

Wow, milk candy!

"And animal-flavored milk candy..."

"Uncle Fugui's candies are all so pretty, I love them the most!"

Chen Ling's family doesn't eat much candy, not even Wang Susu and Rui Rui. But Xiao Lizi loves it, and since the village kids have never had this kind of "high-end" treat before, they bought a lot more in the city this year.

really.

They were even happier than when they received New Year's money.

The living room of Chen Ling's house was packed with people.

After receiving the candy, they all made a ruckus and were about to disperse immediately.

Because the first day of the Lunar New Year is special, one cannot linger during other people's holidays.

It will affect the host family's ability to receive guests who come to pay New Year's visits.

They are sensible; they are already very satisfied with the candy.

They mainly came to wish Chen Ling and his wife a Happy New Year.

"Xizi also has a gift for Rui Rui."

The children ran off, while Xizi and the old woman's granddaughter stayed behind. The two little girls sewed a small, dark dog for Rui Rui that looked like a little black bear.

This is what Heiwa looked like when he was a child.

I didn't expect them to still remember.

Even Chen Ling himself was deeply moved after seeing it.

He fed the dogs so well that neither Heiwa nor Xiaojin stayed in their puppyhood for very long.

After three months, her body size started to increase rapidly.

"Thank you, Xizi."

Chen Ling patted the little girl's head and then called out to the children who had run away, "Come back! Why are you running so fast? Uncle hasn't given you your New Year's money yet."

"We don't want it anymore, Uncle Fugui. You give us delicious food every day, we want to save you some money."

Liu Nier turned around and shouted.

"Come back quickly, you must have New Year's money, you can't skimp on that."

Chen Ling forcefully called them back.

A brand new one-yuan bill was stuffed into a red envelope.

These days, in the countryside, one yuan is considered a lot of money.

They scattered all at once, and when Wang Wenchao and the other younger generation came to wish Chen Ling a Happy New Year, they were all moved by what they saw:

“These kids, Uncle Fugui, you’re spoiling them way too much.”

“It’s alright, it only happens once a year, and the kids are all very sensible. As their uncle, I have to give them something.”

Chen Ling chuckled, unconcerned, and waved his hand, letting Liu Nier and the others go play.

"Uncle Fugui, when is Little Chestnut coming out to play?"

A group of mischievous monkeys received lucky money and beautiful, delicious candies, and were overjoyed.

They were all grinning foolishly.

The snotty-nosed child, still looking up with his big face, asked, hoping that Little Chestnut would come out to play.

"You snotty little brat, I get angry just looking at those two snotty noses of yours."

Chen Ling took out some tissues and went over to wipe his snotty nose clean.

"Little Chestnut is still sleeping, so don't even think about playing with her. Go play somewhere else, or your mom will be calling for help soon."

The snotty-nosed kid chuckled, showing no embarrassment whatsoever, and turned to run away.

Distribute candy, melon seeds, and cigarettes.

The candies, melon seeds, nuts, and other items in Chen Ling's home all have a high-end feel to them.

Those who came to offer New Year's greetings were all amazed and dissatisfied.

I spent the whole morning busy like that.

As noon approached, the people dispersed.

At this time, while Zhao Dahai and the others were up cooking dumplings, Chen Ling got into Liang Yuemin's car.

First, we went to Han Chuang's house, then to Qin Qiumei's house, to pay New Year's greetings to the elders of our friends and leave some small gifts.

Since we usually visit each other, we should naturally make a point of visiting during the New Year.

"Fugui, there's something I want to tell you..."

After arriving at Qin Qiumei's house and exchanging New Year's greetings, Qin Qiumei followed him out.

Seeing her hesitant and embarrassed expression, Chen Ling smiled and said:

"What's wrong? Is there anything you can't tell me? When you and Xiaoyun were gossiping about me, your mouths were much sharper than this."

"No, it's my husband's problem. He hasn't come home for five or six years. If he didn't send money home every now and then, I really wouldn't be able to sleep."

Qin Qiumei looked very worried.

"What? He's not coming back this year? He hasn't written to you either? I remember we could still talk on the phone."

A bad feeling suddenly came to Chen Ling's mind.

Because of Qin Qiumei's health issues, she is unable to have children, which is a major problem in the countryside.

Especially since they live in a mountainous area, where people are traditional and conservative, it is very difficult to change their minds.

Although Qin Qiumei's parents-in-law treated her well and were a respectable family.

Qin Qiumei's own job is also a respectable one.

But she couldn't stop her husband from making more and more money in Shenzhen.

Earning a lot of money but refusing to go home for a long time makes people suspicious.

“I don’t know how to say it… I don’t know if my parents-in-law are hiding something from me, but I am a daughter-in-law of this family, and I have always been here. I have never been back to my parents’ home.”

Qin Qiumei looked worried and dejected, her eyes slightly moist, and she seemed about to cry.

If her family hadn't known that she was seeing Chen Ling off, and if there hadn't been rumors circulating about her, Zhong Xiaoyun, and Chen Ling, she really would have burst into tears.

"I'm feeling really upset, and I wanted you to help me find out what's going on with him over there, whether he has other ideas and is deliberately not coming back."

"After all, you know a lot of people, I really have no other choice."

"...Well, I'll definitely find out for you, it's just you, sigh..."

Chen Ling wanted to offer words of comfort, but he didn't know what to say.

Finally, he moved his lips: "Since there's nothing to do during the New Year, Xiaoyun and I should come to my house to play more often. There are a lot of kids, and they're quite noisy, so come and help us out."

"Okay, you should go back now. It's noon, time to eat."

Qin Qiumei forced a smile. Wang Susu had almost cured her of her illness, but her husband wasn't coming home.

She couldn't quite describe the feeling in her heart.

Seeing her like this, Chen Ling knew that saying anything would be useless, so he stopped talking and drove away.

The result.

Back in the village, not long after lunch, the villagers were saying that there was nothing to do on the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year, and they were calling on Chen Ling and the others to go to Professor Zhao's small courtyard on the hillside to set up a few tables for a feast, drinking and playing cards.

The first day of the Lunar New Year was warm this year, with afternoon temperatures reaching 10 degrees Celsius.

Everyone was very happy, feeling that being able to eat and drink in the yard while basking in the sun this year would create a wonderful atmosphere.

Just then, Chen Baoshuan came running from the village in a panic, shouting and yelling. He found Chen Ling and cried out, "Fugui, it's all over, Fugui! My wife ran away! She stole all my money and ran away without leaving a single penny. She even stole the precious teapot you gave me!"

A grown man came running over with snot and tears streaming down his face, and others who saw this followed him.

However, Chen Baoshuan only trusted Chen Ling and ignored everyone else, heading straight for the farm.

"No way, what's going on this year? It's only the first day of the Lunar New Year, and two families have already run into trouble, and both of them are families that can't have children."

Chen Ling was also stunned, and was taken aback for two seconds.

He quickly reassured Chen Baoshuan: "Don't panic, Baoshuan. What's going on? Tell me, when did your wife leave the house? Do you want to report it to the police now or go find her first?"

"Is Xizi alright? Is Uncle Sangui alright? Come, tell me slowly, what exactly happened?" (End of Chapter)