My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 319 Even Old Chen Has a Day When Heroes Save the Beauty

This flower, bird, insect and fish market covers a fairly large area.

After visiting the area with the ornamental fish, Chen Ling found a place to put the sturgeon back in its enclosure before heading to other areas.

Unfortunately, there are very few sea fish here, almost none.

Even if there are any, they're not alive; they're all New Year's goods, like frozen shrimp and fish.

Alternatively, you could buy some sea fish and raise them in the cave, to see if they can survive there, and if they do, what changes might occur.

As I strolled along, I saw all sorts of flowers and potted plants, chirping insects, snakes, rodents, small lizards, birds, falcons, and exquisite birdcages—a dazzling array that made my eyes dazzled.

At the very end of the National Day holiday, the market was bustling with people of all ages, men and women, strolling back and forth.

However, most people gathered in the flower area.

After walking around for a while, Chen Ling discovered that the flower section was the most popular.

The elderly enjoy growing flowers, as do women and young girls, and even many men enjoy arranging various potted plants and flowers.

Compared to the flower area, the other areas seemed very deserted.

"Hmm? So, besides raising fish, raising flowers seems like a good option too."

Chen Ling thought to himself, but he didn't buy a lot of flowers and potted plants, as he could grow most of them himself. He only picked out a few different kinds of cacti and left them in his grotto without paying them any attention.

He thought to himself that whenever things were alright, he could bring Wang Susu and his son to set up a flower stall, and she would definitely be happy to do so.

"It's just that the road is too far. How about I buy a yard in the city and grow some flowers and plants?"

“Buying another yard is not out of the question. Property prices won’t drop in the next thirty years, so it’s a good deal. Besides, it’s an option for the children if they don’t want to stay in the countryside in the future.”

"Let's go check the prices this afternoon."

In a flash, Chen Ling made up his mind to buy a property in the city.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice he was being watched.

The person targeting him was none other than a thief and pickpocket.

Honestly, thieves and robbers are rampant these days.

Especially in crowded places like major markets, thieves frequently visit.

There weren't many security cameras back then, so people would steal and run away, and there was nowhere to look for them.

Chen Ling was alone again, wandering around the market. Several pickpockets guarding the flower market quickly set their sights on him.

One of the young men, about eighteen or nineteen years old, with a buzz cut and a small mustache, casually approached him.

"Ok?"

When someone approaches, Chen Ling's senses are still very sharp. He immediately notices the unusual thing in his pocket and knows what has happened.

In an instant, he swapped the loose change in his pocket with the scorpions that were kept in the cave.

The young man had just slipped two fingers into Chen Ling's pocket...

He walked side by side with Chen Ling, his hands behind his back, his body close to Chen Ling's, a skillful and deceptive move that would make anyone who didn't know better think he and Chen Ling were companions.

In fact, two fingers had already quietly slipped into Chen Ling's pocket. After feeling something, he quickly pinched it out with two fingers, then pulled his fingers back and clenched his fist.

The whole process is very quick.

But the next moment, the young man shuddered, screamed, and frantically flailed his arms as he fled in the astonished gazes of the crowd.

Actually, if he hadn't squeezed it with his hand, he might have been fine, but since he did, the scorpion would definitely have stung him without hesitation.

"Huh? This is a scorpion. Which stall sold it at? This young man must have bought a scorpion and got stung."

"I don't know. These young people nowadays always like to do weird and unusual things. I don't understand them."

"..."

Some people noticed the two scorpions that the young man had thrown to the ground, and while discussing them, they also kicked them a couple of times to move them aside.

Chen Ling ignored everyone and continued to stroll out leisurely as if nothing had happened.

He thought to himself, "They dare to steal from me again? This time it's a scorpion, next time it'll be a wild bee or a poisonous snake. If they're not afraid, let them come at me."

At noon, we had another meal of beef offal, and this time we also had a little wine.

Offal, tendons, and some sliced ​​beef, paired with a little wine, is simply wonderful.

After finishing his meal, he had nothing to do, so he wandered around looking at houses and yards.

The most important factor when choosing a house is its proximity to the school.

As for the courtyard, the main thing is to find one that is relatively large, and it can't be too far from the city center, because it's inconvenient if it's too far away.

I looked around in the afternoon, and the houses weren't expensive at this time. A 180-square-meter apartment in the city center could be bought for 50,000 yuan.

Although the renovation isn't great, it's not expensive these days.

Materials were cheap, and workers' wages were also low. There was almost no difference between 1995 and 1996. A decorator in the city could earn only 20 or 30 yuan a day.

They weren't much better off than Wang Lixian and his group.

Chen Ling recalled that around 2005, an old classmate was building a house in his rural hometown. At that time, the wages for laborers had not yet increased, and it was only about fifteen yuan a day, not even twenty yuan.

"It's cheap, but I didn't bring enough money."

Chen Ling thought about it and scratched his head. He decided to just find a way to sell some of Dongtian's local specialties.

So for the next two days, I went to Chinese medicine shops and asked about the prices of herbs such as ginseng and dendrobium.

As expected, the price was so low that Chen Ling could hardly accept it.

The price of ginseng is so low that it's not as profitable as selling a few ornamental fish.

As for the ginseng, I'll just take it home and soak it in alcohol.

Chen Ling also knew that if he took his ginseng to the capital, to Mingzhu, or to Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan, it would definitely fetch a much higher price.

But he was too lazy to go that far.

I don't want to deal with ginseng anymore. I'll just sell fish.

So I took the two red eels to several neighboring cities to inquire about their prices.

Finally, it was discovered that the prices were higher in several cities on the south bank of the Yangtze River, with the highest bid reaching eight thousand yuan for a pair of red eels.

It costs at least two thousand yuan.

Of course, things didn't go smoothly all the way.

Some people think he's a fraud, and that he fed the fish something to make them look like that.

Otherwise, it seems too unbelievable that eels don't grow whiskers and turn completely red.

Some people don't believe it, while others do.

There were setbacks, but also gains.

But at least it wasn't a wasted trip.

Red eels are still quite rare, especially those with long whiskers. Rare things are never short of demand.

So over the past few days, Chen Ling has been selling both big and small fish, offering high prices and low prices.

Anyway, the minimum price for a pair of fish can't be less than two thousand yuan.

Because these things become worthless when there are too many of them, he doesn't mind if they're cheaper.

After going around in circles, I returned to Tiannan City and sold it for four thousand yuan to Du Guanghe.

They successfully saved enough money to buy a house.

"It seems I need to save up some money regularly, otherwise I'll have to sell some things to raise the funds if I want to buy a car or a house."

Over the past two days, Chen Ling has been traveling back and forth along the banks of the Yangtze River. Although he has eaten a lot of delicious food, seen many beautiful sights, and acquired many nice little things from the caves, the back-and-forth travel has still been a bit of a hassle.

Carrying some simple food, Chen Ling walked into an old-fashioned apartment building.

Compared to those buildings in first-tier cities, this building is definitely far behind and lacks any modern feel.

But it's beautiful.

The courtyard walls were covered with ivy.

In the courtyard, rows of sycamore trees stand tall and lush.

Birds could be seen flitting about in the trees, busy among the branches and leaves.

Chen Ling really liked the rich atmosphere of daily life.

It's close to a university branch campus, but it's not expensive to buy it outright.

"That's all for now. Next time you come, we'll build a small yard nearby where we can grow flowers and plants. That would be perfect."

Thinking to himself, he went upstairs to a room on the third floor, took out his key, and opened the door.

A strong scent of ink wafts towards you.

The previous homeowner was a retired university teacher who practiced calligraphy in his spare time. When handing over the house to Chen Ling, he even gave him two pieces of calligraphy, which was very thoughtful.

Although the house is just like a small courtyard in the county town, and he won't be living there much in the future, he still feels more at ease knowing it's from a scholarly family.

……

"Hey, Dahai, are you at home or out?" "At home? I'm in the city. I was just saying I was going to come visit you."

It's so convenient here. After eating, you can just go downstairs and wander around and you'll find a public phone. Since he has some free time today, Chen Ling isn't in a hurry to do anything else. He plans to buy some gifts to visit a few friends in the city.

"It's okay, don't worry, I know the way, you don't need to pick me up. Okay, I'll go now."

Chen Ling hung up the phone, went out to buy some gifts, and then took a bus to Zhao Dahai's house.

Zhao Dahai's home wasn't far from the house he bought; he arrived there quickly.

Get off at the bus stop.

The area is near the back gate of a university, surrounded by various restaurants and rice wine shops.

It was around 2 p.m., and students who hadn't gone home for the National Day holiday were strolling around outside the school gates in twos and threes.

On this quiet and peaceful afternoon in the golden autumn of September, suddenly shouts and screams rang out from the street.

"Help! Robbery!"

Chen Ling was carrying two large bags of things when he heard the noise behind him, so he turned around to look.

A thin man was seen running wildly across the sidewalk, holding a gleaming knife.

Behind me, a woman with disheveled hair was screaming shrilly. I didn't know what had been stolen from her, but she ran and shouted, falling twice in the process.

Passersby and shop owners rushed out to help, throwing all sorts of things at the robber in their haste.

Although the robber was a thin man who looked young and not very strong, he ran extremely fast, and passersby could not hit him accurately when they threw things at him.

Just as he was about to escape, Chen Ling threw down what he was carrying, spread his arms, and like an eagle catching a chick, blocked him from both sides a few times before stepping forward and kicking him, sending him sprawling face-first into the dirt.

Whether this kid was experienced in robbery or particularly good at escaping, he rolled on the ground after falling down, then scrambled back up and continued his escape.

Having already stopped him, how could they let him really escape? Chen Ling gave chase, and many passersby joined in the pursuit.

Seeing the crowd, the kid became desperate and started brandishing the knife in his hand. His face was fierce as he wildly waved it at the crowd, yelling, "Fuck your mothers! If you meddle in my business again, I'll kill you all!"

However, no sooner had he uttered those harsh words than Chen Ling kicked him from behind, knocking him to the ground and sitting on him, pinning his arm down and taking the knife away in the process.

When Chen Ling pinned the kid to the ground, some people rushed over with sticks and bamboo poles.

"This young man has subdued the man. Go and call the police."

As they spoke, the old and the young came forward to help, and soon they tied the robber up hand and foot.

When the woman who had been robbed came over to thank everyone for their help...

Then everyone realized: she was actually a foreign girl.

(End of this chapter)