My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 267 Wang Susu's Pampered Nature

The early autumn nights are cool, making it a comfortable time to sleep.

It's just that the county town isn't as quiet as the village. Even before dawn, you can already hear the sounds of tofu vendors calling out.

There are three hardships in the world: rowing a boat, blacksmithing, and grinding tofu.

Paddling a boat through wind and waves is always in danger of capsizing; blacksmiths spend all day by the furnace, enduring the scorching heat of the year; grinding tofu sleeps until dawn and rises before dawn, braving wind and rain, yet can barely make ends meet.

Between dawn and sunrise, tofu vendors would carry their wares on shoulder poles, calling out their wares from one end of the street to the other.

While still half asleep in bed, listening to the tofu vendor's calls, Chen Ling seemed to smell a faint aroma of tofu.

I jumped out of bed and refused to go back to sleep.

After getting dressed, I went outside and bought two large blocks of tofu.

After weeding and cleaning the yard, Wang Susu woke up. The two changed their son's diaper, called Wang Zhenzhen, and took the tofu to Liang Hongyu's house for dinner.

When Liang Hongyu came back last night, she said that they wouldn't be allowed to cook this morning and should eat at her house. Anyway, she and Qin Rongxian had nothing to do and woke up early.

No one refused upon hearing this, and they agreed on the spot.

Breakfast was simple: a bowl of hot vegetable and tofu porridge, and a large pot of fragrant white tofu stir-fried with chili peppers.

The group ate steamed buns and spicy, fragrant tofu, making for a very comfortable breakfast.

After lunch, we took Wang Zhenzhen to school. It happened to be market day in the county town, so we went to the market here again. Adults and children strolled around and played.

Not to mention the children, Wang Susu has also had a great time these past two days.

Knowing that it was rare for her to come out and have fun, Chen Ling held her son and watched the teenagers play games outside the old theater's arcade with Liang Yuemin and the others, while she and Xiang Wenxia went to the market to play.

Finally, they called Qin Qiumei and Zhong Xiaoyun out of their homes as well. The group of women chattered excitedly, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The remaining men, including Chen Ling, stayed in the arcade with their children, watching the teenagers play games.

Today is market day, so the arcade is packed with people, a lively crowd gathered around it.

The boss was also very busy, but when he saw Chen Ling, he immediately widened his eyes and walked over: "Oh my, look who this is, isn't this Fugui? You've got a baby now. No wonder, no wonder you haven't come to visit me for over a year."

"Yes, I have a baby now, the baby is already two months old."

Chen Ling smiled and nodded, "It's been over a year since we last met. Old Li, you've got a few more new machines now. Business is booming."

Old Li is in his thirties, slovenly, and as thin as a consumptive. He's a scoundrel who owns the arcade and billiard room near the old theater. He's made a lot of money in the last two years.

"Haha, that's for sure. My business is booming. It's packed with people all the time. How can I not add new products?"

Old Li's face was flushed, and his tone was full of boasting and bragging.

"You've only added new game consoles, have you released any new games?" Chen Ling asked.

"It's on, it's on! Do you want to play a couple more rounds? I've cleared out two machines for you. I see you even brought some people with you."

Although Old Li isn't exactly a good person, he's very good with words, and he speaks very eloquently to acquaintances.

"No need to trouble yourself. There are plenty of kids waiting to play games here. Let's not affect your business. Let's go upstairs and play pool instead."

"Look at what you're saying, we're brothers, why would we talk about trouble or not?"

"We brought dolls, so let's play games next time we come."

"Haha, okay, then I'll take you to the billiards room."

Nowadays, arcades mainly play games like Street Fighter, King of Fighters, and Captain Hook. If you don't know how to play these games, spending money on them is like throwing money away.

Arcade owners love newbies who don't know how to play. Since the price is fixed at a few tokens per dollar, the shorter the playtime, the better.

When Chen Ling first started playing, he didn't know how to play, but after he got hooked, the more he lost, the more he wanted to play, and then he spent money like water.

Therefore, I got to know Old Li quite well and knew what kind of person he was.

In other words, being generous in words.

Moreover, the game consoles are currently a lucrative business, so he couldn't bear to kick people out and specially made room for Chen Ling to use two consoles.

As for the billiards room, it's much better than the arcade.

The main difference is the payment model. Arcades charge by the game token, while billiards is charged by the game. Friends can play two games for 50 cents.

Moreover, in this small county town, video game consoles and billiards are new things, and people don't pay much attention to the rules when they play; they just want to get the ball in the pocket.

There are only a few balls in total. Two skilled players can finish them off in no time, while some really good players can sink all eight balls in one shot.

If you don't know how to play, two or three people might play a game of pool, and it might not even be finished until midnight.

So, teenagers find it boring and don't like playing it. Usually, it's young people who play billiards, and they put up some stakes for each game. If you're good at it, you can even earn a few dollars after playing a couple of games.

However, during the day, especially in the morning, the billiard room is usually quiet and not crowded.

Upon hearing Chen Ling's words, Old Li quickly led the way for them.

Sure enough, once we got to the second floor, it was completely different from the crowded arcade on the first floor.

There's no one here.

They were happy to have some peace and quiet, and played a few rounds of billiards before leaving satisfied.

The only one who was annoyed was Chen Ling, who gave some bad advice from the side and didn't pay attention to her son, resulting in her son wetting himself.

He peed, but the problem was that he peed in the wrong place; the brat peed a large patch on his inner thigh.

This guy, walking through the market, people thought he had wet his pants and stared at him.

Zhao Dahai and the others burst into laughter upon seeing this.

Back in the small courtyard in the south of the city, Wang Susu and the others had already returned, and the elderly Liang Hongyu and her husband had also led the cow around. They chatted idly while making fruit juice with Wang Susu and the others.

I heard that Chen Ling let his child urinate all over him, which caused many passersby to misunderstand and make fun of him again.

"You, when you're having fun, you don't even care about your son."

Wang Susu also complained to him, mainly because he had peed all over himself, and there wasn't even a clean change of clothes available. They had only brought clothes and diapers for the little guy, so how could they bring their own clothes?
"Hey, I was just reminiscing about the past and appreciating the present. I got so engrossed in it without even realizing it." Chen Ling didn't seem to mind at all, and just chuckled to himself.

Hearing the phrase "remembering the bitter past and appreciating the sweet present," others might not feel anything, but Wang Susu felt a lump in her throat and almost burst into tears.

He muttered to himself, "I'll avoid those shady places in the future."

Chen Ling used to spend all his time in arcades and pool halls, never even going home. He was nowhere near as good as he is now.

And now that we have a son, life is getting better and better. We mustn't let him go astray again.

"I know, it's just for fun. During the day, the kids who go there are all around ten years old, still students."

Chen Ling understood his wife's thoughts and quickly explained.

Upon hearing this, Wang Susu glared at him, said something, handed her son to him, and turned to fetch a bowl of chilled juice.

"It's freshly squeezed and has ice on it. Why don't you try it?"

"Oh, so this is all you did after coming back from the market?"

Chen Ling looked at the large blue lace bowl, which was filled with milky white ice water. Some small pieces of fruit, grapes, watermelon, and milk floated in the ice water.

The colors are pleasing to the eye.

The aroma of milk and fruit is so enticing that it whets the appetite.

There was also ice inside.

Having a bowl of this on a hot midday is absolutely heavenly.

"Yes, you should try it. This is what I made using your method."

Wang Susu continued to offer it to him.

"Okay, I'll try it, I'll try it..."

Chen Ling quickly took a sip, savoring the taste. It was sweet and sour, and cool and refreshing in his mouth.

I was just about to praise my wife when the little guy in my arms started to get restless, and I was interrupted before I could say anything.

Why are you so restless in your father's arms?

Seeing this, Wang Susu glared at her son, cleared away the bowl, picked up a spoon and handed it to Chen Ling, "Come on, open your mouth."

Chen Ling was stunned for a moment: "..."

"Hey, we weren't even looking when you two were hiding in the back doing something? Why are you two being all lovey-dovey?"

At this moment, Zhong Xiaoyun suddenly stood on tiptoe and looked over. She saw Wang Susu feeding Chen Ling juice and couldn't help but shout loudly.

Suddenly, everyone looked over.

Originally, this was a fairly ordinary matter, and Wang Susu didn't think it was anything special. But with so many people watching her, even with her thick skin, she couldn't take it anymore. Her face turned red to the roots of her ears, and she almost couldn't hold onto the bowl.

"That's right, Fugui, you're such a grown man, you have a child, why do you still let your wife feed you?"

"When Rui Rui grows up and understands, he'll laugh at you."

Zhao Dahai and the other men joined in the joke.

Soon, Wang Susu's face flushed with embarrassment, but seeing her husband holding their son and looking at her happily, she suddenly gritted her teeth, blushed, and continued to serve Chen Ling the juice with a spoon.

When her fingers touched the cold bowl, her embarrassment and shame suddenly subsided considerably.

"Come, eat."

"Um……"

"What are you all looking at? What's wrong with my wife feeding me? I'm happy to do it."

Seeing this, Chen Ling rolled his eyes at everyone, lowered his head and swallowed the juice mixed with fruit pulp in the spoon in one gulp. The cool juice entered his mouth, as if honey was sliding into his mouth.

Sweetness spreads throughout the body.

He drank the juice his wife fed him and even showed off their affection. It felt so good.

Chen Ling couldn't help but chuckle foolishly again.

Then he lowered his head and drank half of the juice in the bowl like a guzzler.

"Mmm, it's really sweet. You should try some."

Then he took the spoon and fed it to Wang Susu as well.

When Wang Susu saw this, she wrinkled her nose at him, swallowed it in one gulp, and laughed along.

Good heavens, I can't bear to watch, I can't bear to watch. You two can keep playing.

"Exactly, exactly. Lynx and Cuckoo aren't even married yet, how can you do this? It's terrifying."

"..."

When everyone saw that the two of them not only weren't laughed at, but were even more so, they burst into laughter with strange and amused expressions.

Even Chen Ling couldn't stop laughing, thinking to himself, "My little wife is so bold today. Has she finally brought out her hidden side of showing affection?"

In his joy, he forgot that his son had wet his pants.

Liang Hongyu, however, felt that wearing wet clothes was not a good thing, even if the baby's urine wasn't dirty, it was still quite uncomfortable.

He went home and got a pair of Qin Rongxian's pants for Chen Ling to change into.

Chen Ling didn't stand on ceremony. After changing her clothes inside, she busily started preparing lunch.

And so, they happily played for another day.

The next day, after a heavy rain, the turtle reappeared in the reservoir.

Then things started to change again.

(End of this chapter)