The cart in the shop was a bit big, so Zhao Shiyun turned the cart over and placed it on the donkey cart. He stuffed some small things he wanted to take with him into the corners, as well as a piece of sunshade cloth that his mother had torn off last night. The weather in the south was already hot in May, and the midday sun was so hot that it made people dizzy. Having a sunshade would make it more bearable.
The morning snacks were almost sold out, so Lin Yan asked Zhao Shiyun and Yu Ge'er to go over and set up the stall first, and then come back to set up other things.
Zhao Shiyun drove to the suburbs, found a shady tree, unloaded the cart and put it away.
"Brother Yu, wait here. I'll go back."
"Got it." Yu Ge'er carried a basket with some rice dumplings in it. It would take about a quarter of an hour to go back and forth. If someone asked about it, it would be bad if he had nothing to sell.
After wiping the cart with a rag, Yu Ge'er put the basket away. People were gathering by the river. In the distance, he could see several dragon boats preparing for the race. He couldn't see clearly, so he simply stopped looking. There were also vendors selling goods everywhere, some carrying loads on shoulders, some carrying baskets, and some setting up stalls like them.
"Fortunately, I came early and got a good seat." Yu Ge'er was thankful.
Soon the others arrived with their things. "Where are Dad and Mom?" Yu Ge'er stretched his neck to look back.
"There's no room in the car, so they said they would walk and asked me to come and move some things." Zhao Shiyun wiped the sweat off his forehead, got out of the car and took all the things down. Widow Liu and Yue Ge'er immediately put the steamer and frying pan in place, picked up two bricks and put them next to the cart, and put a wooden barrel on it. The barrel contained boiled mung bean soup, which had been refrigerated in the well overnight. When they brought it to the town in the morning, they didn't even open the lid for fear that it would be damaged by the hot weather. Now when they opened it, they could still see a cool breeze.
Everyone prepared bamboo tubes, and Lin Yan poured a bamboo tube of mung bean soup for each person, saying, "Drink some to quench your thirst."
The dumplings had been kept warm in the steamer in the shop, so they didn't need to be cooked now. They could still be sold for an hour or two. "Aunt Liu, you guys stay here for a while. I'll take a look around, and I'll take your turn once the cooking starts," Lin Yan said. For safety reasons, he decided not to join in the fun.
Widow Liu nodded and said, "Don't worry, Boss. You can go ahead."
Zhao Shiyun took Lin Yan's hand and led him to the starting point of the dragon boat race. "Brother Shiyun, there are five teams this year." Lin Yan was a little excited. It was the first time he and his husband had come to such a place. "Oh, why are there ducks here? They are tied up with ropes."
On the shore not far from the dragon boats, there were seven or eight ducks tied up, and now people were being asked to drive them into the water. "Maybe it's a prize. The first place winner can catch the ducks." Zhao Shiyun guessed. After all, there had been such prizes in previous years, but it had been several years.
"That's really fun. If I had known earlier, Brother Shi Yun would have also participated." Lin Yan said a little disappointedly. He rarely came here in previous years and didn't know that dragon boat racing was so fun.
The river was quite large, and after a quarter of an hour of walking and stopping, Lin Yan was nibbling on a string of candied haws. The inside of these candied haws wasn't filled with crabapples, but walnuts. Lin Yan, pregnant and unable to eat crabapples, was tempted by the sight. She was about to ask Zhao Shiyun to buy her one to savor the sugar on the outside, when she noticed the inside of the candied haws wasn't round. She approached and asked, and the vendor was quite creative: it was filled with walnuts, chopped pears, and red dates. Lin Yan immediately ordered the walnut and red date ones.
Zhao Shiyun's hands were not idle either. He followed Lin Yan with the sesame cakes, sour plums and braised food that he wanted to eat.
At this end of the cart, Widow Liu was frying tofu. Lin Yan thought that since there were so many people, he might as well sell fragrant tofu as well. Now, Brother Yue was selling rice dumplings, Widow Liu was frying tofu, and Brother Yu was serving mung bean soup. The three of them were standing in a row, waiting for customers to come.
Seeing his father, mother and aunt walking towards him from afar, Yu Ge'er greeted them loudly.
"Where are your brother and the others?" Li Yuemei asked.
"Let's go play, mom. I want to go too." Yu Ge'er smiled and clasped his hands together.
Li Yuemei smiled helplessly and said, "Go ahead, I'll look after the stall. Brother Yue, you go with Brother Yu, so the two of you can look after each other."
Yue Ge'er looked up at Widow Liu, and when he saw his mother nod, he happily ran away with Yu Ge'er.
Yu Ge'er and Yue Ge'er did not go to look for Lin Yan and the others. They walked around and chatted on their own. Yu Ge'er even bought a candied haws for Yue Ge'er. Yue Ge'er took it with surprise and thanked him. He ate one carefully, thinking that he should leave some for his mom to eat.
The crowds started to increase, and customers gradually arrived at the stall. Zongzi and mung bean soup were the best sellers, especially their mung bean soup, which was still ice-cold. Those who brought bamboo tubes took one away, while those who didn't just stood there and drank from the bowls at the stall. Fortunately, they had prepared two buckets of water for washing dishes, otherwise they would have been worried about not having enough bowls.
The dragon boat race was about to begin. Lin Yan and his friends had just walked back and forth. "Aunt Liu, you go, I'll watch." Lin Yan sat on the chair prepared for him by Zhao Shiyun to rest. He was still very tired after walking all the way.
Widow Liu responded, took off her coat and put it aside, and without walking far, she went diagonally across the street and watched the excitement from outside the crowd.
"Father and mother, you guys go and see it too. Brother Shi Yun can stay here with me."
"We can stay here and see it." Li Yuemei looked up.
Lin Yan didn't force it. He opened the bamboo tube and drank some mung bean soup.
The cheers from the crowd around were getting louder and louder. Five dragon boats were lined up on the river. The drummer at the bow was beating the drum hard. The contestants all looked serious and excited.
With the sound of a gong, the dragon boat rushed out like an arrow. The rowers' coordinated movements created a large splash of water, and the people on the shore cheered and cheered.
Zhao Shiyun saw Lin Yan holding his head high, looking eagerly, and couldn't help laughing. He called out to Amo and pulled Lin Yan to a slightly forward position so that he could see more clearly. He then put his arm around his shoulders to protect him from being bumped into.
Yu Ge'er and Yue Ge'er squeezed to the front, their eyes fixed on the dragon boats. Suddenly, one of the boats nearly capsized after turning too sharply, causing a burst of gasps. Fortunately, the crew managed to stabilise the boat in time and quickly caught up. Lin Yan nervously grasped Zhao Shiyun's arm, who gently patted his hand in comfort. Finally, a red dragon boat crossed the finish line first, and the victorious team cheered.
Then, the members of the winning team jumped into the water to catch the tied ducks, causing people on the shore to laugh.
"Here, here, oh, the ducks are swimming over here!" Yu Ge'er exclaimed.
The ducks swam fast, and the rope they had been holding loosened after they entered the water, so they were now scattered here and there. The young and strong man who had quick hands had already caught the ducks and raised them up to cheer, but one or two of them still swam away.
Just then, a duck swam up to Yu Ge'er and his friends, flapping its wings and splashing water all over Yu Ge'er.
"Ah!" Yu Ge'er raised his sleeve to block it, but it was of no use. Yue Ge'er quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe it for him.
The belated dragon boat team member smiled apologetically at Yu Ge'er, "Sorry, little brother, are you okay?"
Yu Ge'er thought he was unlucky and shook his head. He just wanted to go back and change his clothes quickly.
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