Chapter 205: There's something exciting to watch
The vegetable market is messy.
The stalls everywhere were filled with vendors.
The vegetables in the basket and the bamboo cages containing chickens and ducks were all covered with fine snow.
The narrow aisle in the middle was bustling with people, all of whom were people from the inner city who came to buy New Year's goods. The sounds of bargaining intertwined and merged, and the clamor was deafening.
But it makes people feel lively and friendly.
Old Man Su, protecting his wife, walked through the crowd with a smile in his eyes. "When I went to the market in town before, it was also this lively. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen it in six years."
Old Lady Su laughed and said, "You haven't seen it for six years. I haven't seen the market in almost ten years."
Most women are busy at home, and her family is poor and the journey is long, so the number of times she has been to the market in her life can be counted on one's fingers.
Su Xiu'er dodged two groups of passers-by and stopped in front of a cage selling chickens and ducks. "Dad, Mom, shall we buy an old hen?"
Liu Yuelan's eyes lit up, "You can buy it and bring it back to raise a baby!"
He Daxiang's smile widened. "When spring comes, maybe we can raise a flock of chicks at home!"
Su Da, "Dad, Mom, it's a good deal!"
Su Er, "Buy it? Buy it?"
They have so many eggs that they can’t eat them all, but they just need an old hen to sit on the eggs!
Old Lady Su stepped forward and looked at the colorful old hen shivering in a corner of the cage. "How about buying a dog? Then we can have both chickens and dogs?"
The Su family members, "..."
The old woman was not polite in her words, but she paid the money without hesitation and bought it directly after asking the price.
This is still the first wave.
Along the way, the boys kept asking for meat, candy, and cakes...
During the Chinese New Year, it seems like there is nothing missing at home.
In addition, the villagers asked me to help carry some New Year's goods, so when I left the vegetable market, I had two large sacks full of things.
The four children also sipped the sweet candy.
Tianbao was still leading the way, with a candy in his little mouth and the corners of his mouth raised high.
Happy.
The inner city looks particularly pleasing to the eye today.
It turns out that the New Year market is so lively and fun.
Come again next year.
Around noon, the snow began to stop, but the temperature seemed to be even colder. The whole family walked for such a long time, but they didn't seem to feel much warm.
It would take about an hour to get home, and everyone was starving by this time.
Old Lady Su counted the copper coins she had left on her, found a small noodle stall and ordered eleven bowls of vegetarian noodles.
The small noodle stall is just across from the vegetable market, at the entrance of the alley.
The stall was not big, with a roof over it to protect it from rain and snow. A large pot of soup was placed on the stove, bubbling with steam and smelling delicious.
There were many people from the Su family coming this time, and twelve people were squeezed together, occupying two tables.
The man and the boys chose a small table against the alley wall and placed the sacks next to the wall so as not to obstruct passers-by.
The women sat at a table slightly away with their sweet babies.
Su Da sat on a stool, stamping his feet and breathing out his breath with his hands cupped to his mouth, recounting a past embarrassing incident. "The last time I came to the inner city, I was so busy running around that I didn't see anything. I was particularly impressed by the alleys. The onlookers were really mean, giving me random directions, and I believed them, so I ended up running into a dead end."
Su Er patted his chest in gratitude, "Luckily I didn't come, otherwise I would have to run with you. Boss, are you scared?"
"Get lost. You would have been beaten no less if you hadn't come."
The old man sighed and said, "It's a pity that I came too late and missed the excitement!"
Listening to the elders bickering, the children laughed so hard that they fell over.
It took a while for the noodles to be served. Old Lady Su looked around and saw a small stall selling small items on the opposite side of the street. After a moment's hesitation, she stood up and said, "I'm going to go buy something across the street. You guys wait here for the noodles to be served."
Tian Bao and the three women were about to get up and follow, but the old woman stopped them. "It's right across the street, we can see it at a glance. Why do we need to follow it when it's just a few steps back and forth? Sit down! I'll be right back."
The women saw that it was indeed just a few steps away, so they gave up.
Tianbao tilted half of his body and kept staring at that side.
This street is close to the vegetable market. There are food shops and stalls all along the way, and there are many people coming and going.
When the family was sitting here waiting for noodles, many passers-by looked at them as if they were a curiosity. Tianbao took the time to glare back at those prying eyes one by one.
Old Lady Su went to the opposite side of the street and stopped in front of a stall selling small jewelry.
Various wood carvings, silver-gilt jewelry and accessories are displayed on the stalls. They don’t look very expensive, but they are varied and colorful.
"Sir, do you want to buy hairpins, bracelets, or rings? Take your pick! They are beautiful and reasonably priced! I'm not bragging, you may not be able to find such beautiful and reasonably priced items anywhere else!" The vendor was a thin middle-aged man with a smile on his face. He spoke directly and enthusiastically.
Old Lady Su rubbed her hands against her legs, a little reserved. "I want to pick out some jewelry for my two daughters-in-law and my daughter. I want three hairpins for the three women sitting over there... How much are these hairpins with silver-plated heads?"
If I have some money left after shopping, I will pick out better things for my daughter and daughter-in-law if the price is right.
"Not expensive, not expensive, twenty cents a stick! Three for sixty cents, and I'll give you a wooden box!"
"Sixty cents?! Can you, can it be cheaper?"
The vendor glanced across and met the eyes of the little girl sitting in front of the noodle stall, her cheek propped up. "—Sure! Forty cents for you!"
Forty cents... This price is still expensive for an old woman, but it is a very favorable price to buy three silver-gilt hairpins.
Old Lady Su gritted her teeth and was about to pay when she heard the vendor shout, "Thirty-five cents! It can't be any lower! If it's any lower, I'll lose everything!"
Old Lady Su: “…” Buy it!
On the other side, Tianbao looked at the old woman who happily took out money, and curved her lips to reveal her fine teeth.
Grandma is happy, and she is happy too.
Not far behind the jewelry stall, in a small tavern, a few drunken hooligans watched the old woman pay.
"Waiter, those people over there are not from the inner city, right? They don't look like it based on the way they are dressed." One of the thugs casually asked the waiter.
The waiter was about to reply when he was pulled away from behind. It was the man who was drinking at the next table.
The man said seriously, "I'm a tenant farmer from the outer city. I have extra money to eat and shop in the city. I'm afraid I sold my beautiful wife and children at home."
Someone immediately said, "There must be some silver hidden in that pocket. If it weren't for the end of the year and we didn't want to cause trouble, I would have gone and robbed him of the money."
The thugs looked at each other, put down their wine jars, stood up, and staggered out.
After they left, a group of old drinkers in the tavern slammed their legs and laughed.
These people had just arrived in the inner city before the New Year. They had fought a few times in the streets and alleys, so they didn’t have enough understanding of the situation in the inner city.
Now it’s time to watch some fun!
Old Lady Su paid the money and felt embarrassed to ask the vendor to give up the wooden box. She wrapped the three hairpins in a handkerchief and put them in her arms. She straightened her clothes and prepared to go back across the street to eat noodles.
When he turned around, he was blocked in front of the stall by six people.
The smell of alcohol is strong.
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