Reborn in the 60s, I hunt to support my family and even seduce the village beauty.

After picking up Cheng Xin, the group arrived at Dashilan in a grand procession.

Even before entering the street, the lively atmosphere was palpable.

The sounds of voices, shouts, and drums mingled together, and the air was filled with the aroma of roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes, making the little girls swallow hard.

Xiao Qing knew the way well and pulled Xiao Mu and Xiao Shui inside.

Xiuer rode on Chang Kun's neck, her little hands gripping his hair as reins, looking around with eyes that couldn't take it all in.

"Big brother, big brother, what's that?" Xiu'er pointed to a stall surrounded by people in front of her, shaking it excitedly.

Chang Kun's neck was throbbing with pain from the tightness of the rope, so he quickly steadied her: "That's a shadow puppeteer, I'll take you to see it in a bit."

The group first strolled over to the dough figurine stall.

The old stall owner sat on a small stool, kneading various colored dough balls in his hands. His fingers flew, and in a few strokes, he sculpted a lifelike Sun Wukong, wearing a red battle robe and holding a golden cudgel.

Xiao Qing got a Lin Daiyu figure, Xiao Mu got a Tang Monk figure, and Xiao Shui got a little rabbit figure. Xiu'er, perched on Chang Kun's shoulders, refused to get off, pointing at the dough figurine and shouting, "I want Pigsy! I want Pigsy!"

The old craftsman smiled, pinched off a piece of dough, and quickly shaped it into a pig with a big belly, carrying a rake.

Xiuer took it, holding it in her hands with great delight, looking at it from left to right, her little mouth grinning like a gourd.

Next to it was a sugar-blowing machine, with sugar syrup bubbling and gleaming in a small iron pot.

The master craftsman pinched off a lump of sugar syrup, rolled it into a ball, pulled out a thin tube, and blew on it with his mouth. While blowing, he pinched and shaped it, and in no time he blew out a little rooster, which was translucent and lifelike.

Cheng Xin, watching from the side, stared wide-eyed, muttering, "This is too amazing..."

The old master blew out a small snake and a small mouse. Several little girls each held one up, reluctant to eat them, and held them up to the sun.

The sugar figurines gleamed with a golden light, making the children on the roadside drool.

As we were strolling around, a sudden sound of gongs and drums rang out in front of us, and the crowd surged toward that direction.

Xiuer, perched on Chang Kun's shoulders, had a wide view and spotted it immediately. Excitedly, she kept patting Chang Kun's head: "Monkey show! Monkey show! Big brother, I want to see a monkey show!"

A few people squeezed into the crowd. In the middle of the field, an old man was banging a gong. Three little monkeys were wearing red cloth jackets. Some were doing somersaults, some were riding small cars, and the smallest one was wearing a tattered straw hat. He was walking crookedly on stilts, taking two steps and falling down. He would get up and walk again, which amused everyone.

Xiuer laughed so hard she almost fell off Chang Kun's neck, which startled Chang Kun, who quickly grabbed her.

Xiao Qing and the others squeezed to the front, clapping and cheering, while Xiao Mu laughed until tears streamed down her face.

Cheng Xin stood to the side, grinning foolishly, his eyes fixed on the little monkeys, his thoughts of joining the army long gone.

After walking around for a while, the little girls' stomachs started to rumble.

Chang Kun was just about to take them to find something to eat when he suddenly heard a muffled "boom" that shook the ground.

The girls were startled. Xiu'er cried out "Ah!" and grabbed Chang Kun's head tightly with both hands.

Cheng Xin was startled and instinctively moved closer to Chang Kun.

"What exploded?" Cheng Xin stared wide-eyed, looking around.

Chang Kun laughed: "Don't panic, that's for popping popcorn."

Following the sound, I found a crowd gathered at the street corner, with a dark popcorn machine in the middle, shaped like a big-bellied gourd, mounted on an iron frame with charcoal burning underneath.

An old man was cranking the machine handle, and a middle-aged woman stood next to him, holding an enamel basin half-filled with golden corn kernels.

The old man glanced at the pressure gauge, shouted "All done," grabbed a long burlap sack, put it over the machine head, and stepped on the control panel.

"boom!"

Another loud bang, a cloud of white smoke rose up, and popcorn burst out of the machine, all of it falling into the sack.

Immediately afterwards, a fragrant, sweet, and glutinous aroma wafted through the air, making people's mouths water.

The girls were initially so frightened that they covered their ears, but when the fragrance wafted over, they couldn't resist going closer.

The old man untied the burlap sack, and the golden popcorn poured into the basin with a clatter. Each kernel burst open, plump and white, emitting a warm, sweet aroma.

Xiao Qing stared at the bowl of popcorn, her eyes wide with disbelief: "This...this really came from those little corn kernels?"

Xiuer stopped riding on his neck and struggled to get down. She ran to the edge of the basin, squatted down, tilted her head and looked at it for a long time, but couldn't figure it out.

How do those tiny, hard corn kernels turn into such a big handful of fluffy white popcorn just by being put into that dark pot and swished around? That's amazing!

Cheng Xin also came over, grabbed one and popped it into his mouth. It was crispy, crunchy, and sweet, and his eyes lit up immediately: "Delicious!"

Chang Kun bought a bag of food, wrapped in kraft paper, and held it warm in his hands. The little girls ate it one piece at a time, their mouths full of crumbs.

Xiuer's hands were stuffed full, her mouth bulging, and she mumbled, "Big brother, this is even better than milk candy!"

Xiao Qing grabbed a handful and stuffed it into her pocket, then grabbed another handful and handed them to Xiao Mu and Xiao Shui, saying as she went, "Tell Mom to make some when we get back, we have corn at home too!"

Someone nearby overheard this and laughed, "Little girl, you need that big-bellied pot to make this; you can't make it with a pot at home."

Xiao Qing pouted, grabbed another popcorn, threw it into her mouth, and stopped talking.

Chang Kun chuckled. Who says you can't make popcorn without a popcorn machine? In his later years, when he was alone, he made popcorn in the pot many times and shared it with his nephews and nieces during the New Year.

I'll cook a pot of it when I get home and show it to the little girls.

Cheng Xin leaned against a telephone pole, holding a handful of popcorn in his hands, tossing it into his mouth one kernel at a time, a smile on his face.

I've been in Beijing for the past few days, eating and having fun every day. It's much more comfortable than in Guangzhou.

Who cares about joining the army? I'll have fun first.

Suddenly, the group heard cheers again. Following the sound, they squeezed into the crowd and saw that it was a magic trick.

In the middle of the place was a square table with several blue and white porcelain bowls on it. The stall owner was a thin middle-aged man wearing a gray cloth jacket with the sleeves rolled up high to show his innocence.

He held a small red ball in his hand, waved it in front of everyone, placed it on the table, put three bowls on top, moved them around a few times, and looked at the onlookers with a smile.

"Come on, everyone, look carefully! Which bowl is the ball in? The odds are three to one for the correct bet!"

Chang Kun glanced at the scene and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

This little trick seemed amazing to everyone back then, but in later generations, short videos have explained the ball-switching technique very clearly.

At this moment, the stall owner's movements were as transparent to him as if they were transparent; no matter how fast the technique was, it could not escape his eyes.