My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 190 Accident
Wang Susu introduced the two of them to each other.

At this point, so as not to disturb their conversation and reminiscing, Wang Qingwen and his family went into the room first.

Niu Xiaoling looked at Chen Ling, still in surprise, and pulled Wang Susu and said, "He's so small, Susu."

“He’s not young, he’s already twenty-three, two years older than us.”

Wang Susu smiled.

"Really? It doesn't look like it."

Niu Xiaoling glanced at Chen Ling again and thought that the man her old classmate married seemed ordinary at first glance, with nothing special about him.

Looking at him more closely now, you'll find that he has a very good temperament, gentle eyes, and a smiling face, making it easy for people to feel close to him.

It seems that it was this gentleness that made people overlook his naturally sunny and handsome appearance...

But they are indeed too young.

Then she looked at Wang Susu and said, "You look young too. Compared to when we were in high school, you've only changed a little in appearance and a bit in weight.

At this point, she laughed and said, "Susu, it seems you've married into a good family."

"What good families? They're all just farmers who till the land."

Wang Susu spoke the truth.

Niu Xiaoling didn't believe it. She thought the young couple were fair-skinned and had delicate skin, and didn't look like people who often worked in the fields. She thought Wang Susu was just being modest.

However, she didn't say anything more, and instead led the two of them to the inner room to meet another old classmate.

Chen Ling didn't want to go, but she pulled him along anyway.

Upon entering the room, Niu Xiaoling pushed open the door and called out, "Yuhua, Yuhua, look who I've run into..."

Inside the room, a man and a woman sat at a table, talking very close to each other.

Hearing Niu Xiaoling call, he hurriedly got up.

Then Chen Ling and Wang Susu followed Niu Xiaoling in.

The woman was clearly taken aback and didn't recognize Wang Susu immediately.

After looking at it carefully for a few more moments, she asked, just like Niu Xiaoling had before, with an uncertain tone, "Wang Susu?"

"It's me, Yuhua."

Wang Susu stepped forward happily, "It's been years since I last saw you. If Xiaoling hadn't stopped me just now, I don't know when I would have been able to see you again."

"It really is you, Susu. You've become so beautiful. I almost didn't recognize you."

Xiang Yuhua also stepped forward, took Wang Susu's hand, looked her up and down, and exclaimed in surprise.

This girl named Xiang Yuhua is not tall, much shorter than Wang Susu and Niu Xiaoling, probably less than 1.6 meters. She has short hair, but she is very pretty, with an oval face, willow-leaf eyebrows, and a few freckles, which makes her smile quite charming.

Besides, like Niu Xiaoling, she also looks a few years older than her actual age. In fact, she is about the same age as Wang Susu, only twenty or twenty-one years old.

The three women started chatting animatedly.

Of course, he didn't forget to introduce the two men as well.

The young man next to Xiang Yuhua was a tall, thin man with a long face and glasses. He was a local of Fenglei Town named Wei Jun and worked in the town government in charge of family planning. It was said that his family was quite wealthy. He smiled reservedly during the introduction and only nodded slightly to Chen Ling without saying much.

Then, when Xiang Yuhua and the other person started praising Wang Susu for marrying well.

The young man named Wei Jun looked at Chen Ling with obvious surprise.

Because of their appearance and demeanor, Chen Ling and Wang Susu certainly don't seem like people who spend a lot of time working in the fields and dealing with crops.

But their clothes look very ordinary.

He was a little unsure.

Then he found an opportunity to come over, offer me a cigarette, and start a conversation.

After finding out what Chen Ling did, they quickly lost interest and began to speak casually.

Meanwhile, the three women finished catching up and learned about each other's current situations.

Niu Xiaoling and her husband had initially thought Wang Susu was being modest, but they never expected that she had actually married into an ordinary family.

Moreover, she has no parents-in-law, and her husband has no siblings; she is all alone.

I heard she's pregnant again. When the baby is born, she won't even have anyone to help take care of it. Just thinking about that makes me feel like life will be tough.

The two women had completely lost their previous envy and enthusiasm, and their tone even carried a hint of pity.

His words also carried a lot of preachy tone.

Chen Ling noticed this and found it slightly amusing.

Of course, I didn't care much, and I had no intention of explaining anything.

He simply continued chatting casually with Wei Jun next to him.

After a while, the food was served in the room, and he and Wang Susu got up to say goodbye and leave without accepting any attempts to persuade them to stay.

"Sigh, I never expected Wang Susu, with such good qualities, to marry into such a family, and so far away at that..."

After they left, Xiang Yuhua sighed.

"That's right. She was a good student in high school and very pretty. Everyone thought she would marry into a rich family. Even her teachers said she would marry a high-ranking official..."

Niu Xiaoling also sighed.

She then added, "But she is still very beautiful now, even more so than in high school. She looks young too, which is strange."

"What's so strange? Is being good-looking useful? No matter how beautiful you are, it's not as good as marrying well."

Xiang Yuhua rolled her eyes and said to Niu Xiaoling, "You have to be careful when you look for a husband. Ask around and don't let the matchmaker fool you."

"Yes, matchmakers often have bad intentions."

"In the end, Yuhua, you have the best eye in our class. You managed to find a good husband on your own. Wei Jun is so capable; he's almost the director."

Niu Xiaoling praised.

"Come on, what kind of skill is that..."

Xiang Yuhua glanced at Wei Jun discreetly, and the two smiled reservedly.

They were clearly delighted by the compliments.

……

"You went to see your old classmates, how did it go?"

Back in the room where they had eaten, Wang Qingwen asked the first question.

"not so good."

Wang Susu muttered something under her breath, sounding a little unhappy.

"What's wrong? You just saw an old classmate, why are you still unhappy?"

Gao Xiulan asked, puzzled.

As she spoke, she looked at Chen Ling with a questioning gaze.

However, before Chen Ling could say anything, Wang Susu said in a muffled voice, "I'm not unhappy, it's just that I feel that the two classmates are a little different from before."

"Sigh, it's normal for things to be different."

Chen Ling smiled and said, "Now that we're at the age to settle down, the things we consider are definitely different from when we were in school..."

He then gave his father-in-law and mother-in-law a brief explanation.

Wang Susu wanted to meet her old classmate and chat happily about the fun times they had in school, sit down and reminisce about the good old days.

Unexpectedly, instead of catching up with her, they asked how she was doing.

I envy her because she lives such a good life, but I also feel that she married poorly because she lives an ordinary life.

This also made her feel bad.

She wasn't the type to show off or be flamboyant, and she didn't know how to explain herself.

"Silly girl, we know best whether we're doing well or not, so why hold a grudge?"

Gao Xiulan offered words of comfort.

In her opinion, this was no big deal at all.

"I'm not angry. It's just that the three of us used to be very close. When my classmates bullied me and asked me to help wash dishes and fetch water, it was always the other two who stood up for me..."

Wang Susu was a little disappointed.

Kindness is often taken advantage of; sometimes, the kindest and most upright a person is, the more likely they are to suffer losses.

She was like this when she was in school, but luckily she had two classmates who helped her.

Unfortunately, things are different now than before.

"Alas, it seems that a sad, thick barrier has already formed between you and the two of them."

Chen Ling shook his head and said.

Wang Susu was getting angrier and angrier as she talked, but when she heard this, she was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. She glared at Chen Ling with embarrassment and annoyance and said, "Go to hell."

"Alright, it's not easy for our whole family to sit down and have a meal together like this, why talk about such things, let's just be happy..."

"Otherwise, Xiaotong and the others will laugh at you. As your aunt, you're almost in tears."

Seeing his wife smile, Chen Ling smiled too and comforted her.

The father-in-law, mother-in-law, and others exchanged glances, completely bewildered.

They were prepared to offer a few more words of advice.

Is this good?

They couldn't understand what the thick barrier was.

How come everything's fine now that we've talked about this?

They couldn't figure it out.

Wang Qingwen and his wife knew that these were words spoken by Mr. Lu Xun.

But for some reason, Wang Susu laughed when she heard that.

It's normal not to know. It's because Wang Susu was pregnant and it was inconvenient for her to go to bed, so Chen Ling would often lie in bed and mutter about it before going to sleep. At first, it didn't seem like anything, but the more he talked about it, the funnier it became.

The joy they experienced was something only the two of them could understand.

But at least Wang Susu is alright. The family should still be happy and harmonious.

The restaurant was crowded today, and they had to wait another five minutes before the food started to be served.

Specialty dock dishes, mainly prepared by steaming, braising, and frying, are served, their billowing heat and fragrant aroma instantly warming the heart on a cold winter day.

Steamed meat cake, braised tofu with vegetables, braised pork liver, braised pork belly, glutinous rice cake, steamed buns, fried lotus root sandwiches...

Each dish was served in incredibly generous portions, presented in individual porcelain bowls—it was simply beyond imagination.

As the saying goes, "The Qinling Mountains are a single line; people in the south eat rice and people in the north eat noodles."

Logically speaking, rice is the main crop here, but there is too little paddy field. In addition, the location at the junction of three provinces is also special, so it is different from other places.

"Is there meat inside the steamed bun?"

The Chen couple hadn't lacked meat for the past six months and were already looking for a lighter diet. But when they took a steamed bun and took a bite, they found it was oily and contained quite a bit of meat.

"Yes, let's eat as much meat as we want today, consider it an early New Year celebration."

Wang Qingwen said with great enthusiasm.

Then he looked at Chen Ling: "Lingzi, you've never had steamed buns before, have you? These things actually have other names. Steamed buns with vegetables inside are called 'vegetable pancakes,' and those with meat inside are called 'meat dragons.' Try them, they're delicious..."

Chen Ling tasted it and found it to be quite good.

It also has a strong dockside flavor, with steamed buns that are oily and meaty, and the dough is also very dense, making it very filling.

When sailors get busy, they sometimes don't get to eat all day. They can get up early and eat a few steamed meat cakes to last the whole day. There's a reason why they eat so much.

Wang Susu ate half of it and then stopped, handing it to Chen Ling to eat.

Then switch to something else.

She can't eat too much of anything; she just wants to taste the flavors of her hometown.

After taking a few bites, the rest was left to Chen Ling to finish.

However, since it was a rare occasion to eat out, everyone except Chen Ling and his wife ate heartily.

Wang Zhenzhen and her two nephews also ate with their mouths full of oil.

"Dongdong, you're eating so fast! Is this food as good as your uncle's cooking?"

Seeing that his son's belly was bulging from eating, Wang Qingzhong smiled and asked.

"It's not as good as my uncle's cooking."

Dongdong didn't even look up, grabbing the glutinous rice cake and eating as he spoke.

"Then why are you eating so heartily?"

Wang Cunye also asked.

"Because we ate at a restaurant."

Dongdong said without even thinking.

Goodness, because we ate out...

The crowd burst into laughter.

The family dinner didn't really end until after 2 p.m.

The family was having a great time, just like Xiao Dongdong said. They ate out today and had a very enjoyable and satisfying meal.

When Chen Ling tried to pay, Wang Qingwen stopped him.

How can the son-in-law pay the bill for such a family dinner? It doesn't make sense.

He and Wang Qingzhong had already made an agreement when Wang Susu got married.

When my sister comes back every year, we each host a family dinner once, which is fair.

...After the meeting this morning, Wang Qingwen and his wife had some free time. They weren't busy tomorrow or even Monday, and had no classes for two days in a row, so the family wasn't in a hurry to go back and just strolled around the market.

In the afternoon, the crowds gradually thinned out, and some stalls even became empty.

It wasn't as lively as in the morning, but you could still find some nice things.

Chen Ling was drawn to a vendor selling small musical instruments and picked out a bamboo ocarina, which was exquisitely crafted and had a beautiful sound.

Then I bought a hoe knife, intending to use it when I have nothing to do in the winter and go hiking in the mountains.

A hoe, as the name suggests, is a knife that, like a hoe, has a wooden handle.

The handle is located in a groove shaped like an iron pipe, allowing the wooden handle to be removed.

Without the wooden handle, it can be used as a machete or cleaver. With the wooden handle attached, it becomes similar to a Guan Dao (a type of halberd), allowing you to chop by holding the handle. It can also be used for self-defense when encountering wild animals.

At the same time, the blade is wide enough to dig holes and excavate soil, making it a multi-purpose tool.

"This knife is good. You can just buy the knife. I'll carve a nice wooden handle for you when we get home."

Wang Cunye said.

Then, seeing Chen Ling clutching a red-tasseled spear and about to buy it, he quickly stopped him: "We have this at home too. It's been sitting in the woodshed for years. It's not as good as a pitchfork. Why buy this?"

"Haha, I just saw it and wanted to buy it to play with."

He's been reading too many martial arts novels in the last six months, and he keeps thinking about wielding swords and spears.

Wang Cunye was helpless.

He thought to himself that this son-in-law was good in every other way, except that he was too playful.

We strolled along, exited the town, and arrived at the large bridge to the south.

There were also stalls selling things on the bridge. The items were quite varied, mostly toys for little children, as well as snacks such as candied hawthorn, stir-fried candy, and rice candy. Wang Zhenzhen was fine; she had been eating a lot of good food at Chen Ling's house for the past six months and didn't react much. However, her two little nephews were ecstatic when they saw the things here and immediately stopped in their tracks.

But I ate too much at noon, so in the end I only bought two pounds of rice candy to take home and eat.

Further south, there were some shops selling kerosene, candles, matches, furs, and other daily necessities, so Gao Xiulan stopped and bought two packs of matches.

Later, after walking around the bridge, the family went to look around the area near the dock.

Most of the grains, tea, and medicinal herbs were transported out from here.

They were chatting idly on the dock when Heiwa and his two dogs suddenly started barking loudly. Chen Ling looked in the direction they were barking and saw a man wearing sunglasses on the west side of the dock beckoning to the two dogs with his fingers, making a "sucking sound" sound.

The man was not tall, around thirty years old, with a lean build, dark skin, and short, neat hair. He looked quite ordinary, but with sunglasses on, he exuded a strangely fierce aura.

At this moment, he was standing with several kite hunters, but he was dressed much better than them.

Chen Ling was extremely surprised when he saw what the person looked like.

"Lynx, what are you doing here?"

"Haha, it's great to see you again, Fugui. I didn't expect to see you here. I was just saying I'd pass through your area on my way back."

Lynx strode over with a smile, extended his hand and shook hands with Chen Ling: "Seeing these two dogs, I knew you were here."

As he spoke, he took off his sunglasses, looked at the two dogs, and asked, "How have they been lately? Have they been bred yet...?"

Goodness, they ask the dog first when they meet a person.

Chen Ling was really not used to this way of communicating.

Not to mention him, even Wang Susu and her father-in-law were a little confused.

And he was filled with doubt.

Who is this guy? He's standing with the Hawker. How does Chen Ling know him?

"They haven't mated yet. They look big, but they're actually still small, and they haven't shown any signs of going into heat..."

Chen Ling shook his head.

Our dog was raised in Dongtian, so it's a bit different from other dogs.

He wasn't keen on a deeper conversation, so he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I came here with my teacher. He's preparing to publish a book at the end of the year about endangered plants and animals. He wanted to ask his old classmate to write a couple of paragraphs and sign his name. We also wanted to go into the mountains to take some more photos."

"The lynx said."

"Your teacher? Professor Han?"

"Yes."

"Are Professor Han's classmates from around here?"

"No, it's in the next county, just over two mountains away. They've been stationed there for many years to observe the crested ibis..."

"A crested ibis?!"

Chen Ling was even more surprised; there was such a treasure nearby.

"Yes, the crested ibis is actually a kind of bird that looks a bit like a egret. How can I explain it to you..."

"To put it simply, this bird is extremely rare. It used to be impossible to find anywhere in the world; we call that extinction. We only discovered their last population here by chance a few years ago, so we sent ornithologists here to protect and observe them..."

Lynx assumed Chen Ling didn't know, so he explained it to him in detail.

Chen Ling wasn't bothered, because he knew about the crested ibis.

Wang Qingwen and the others behind him were greatly shocked.

Listening to the lynx rattle off a string of titles like professor, author, ornithologist, and researcher, even though I didn't know what they did, it sounded impressive.

The more I listened, the more I felt something was wrong. How could this son-in-law, who stayed in the village all day, associate with such a person?

He quickly pulled Wang Susu aside to ask her questions.

Having no other choice, Wang Susu had to reveal a little about the eel.

Mr. and Mrs. Wang were stunned for a long time, their minds filled with their daughter's words that the two fish had sold for 10,000 yuan, and they had no interest in listening to anything else.

Good heavens, what kind of world is this?!
Two broken eels sold for ten thousand...

This son-in-law is now incredibly capable, it's almost frightening.

(End of this chapter)