Reborn in 1985, starting from the mountains of Northwest China

The shouts of vegetable vendors, the haggling of buyers, and the cacophony of chickens and ducks all blended together, creating a noisy cacophony.

Xiaoyue gripped Chen Feng's fingers tightly, her eyes darting around as if she wished she had two more.

"Dad, what's that?"

"Candied hawthorn".

"What about that one?"

"windmill."

"I want a windmill."

Children's thoughts are easy to guess. Without asking, Chen Feng knew that Xiaoyue wanted the windmill and candied hawthorn.

Chen Feng glanced at her: "Sell the goods first."

Xiaoyue pouted, didn't make a fuss, and stared at the windmill again.

Chen Feng found a busy intersection, put down the cloth bag, laid out the eggs one by one, and leaned the hemp bundle against the side.

The market in the town is different from the one in the county seat. The market in the town is newly established and doesn't charge much for stalls.

It wouldn't be worthwhile to give the dozen or so eggs directly to the vendor selling mountain produce, so I simply bought them.

As for the roe deer pelts from the last hunt, Chen Feng had long ago asked his older brother to take them to the county town to buy. These kinds of things are hard to sell in the countryside, and the prices are low.

Counting the days, by the time he gets home today, his older brother should also be back from the county town.

"Are these eggs fresh?"

"Fresh, I've been saving it at home."

The man picked one up, held it up to the sun, and nodded: "How much is one?"

Five points.

"How about four or five parts?"

Chen Feng shook his head. This price was fair, and everyone had to follow the rules; he couldn't break them.

The man didn't haggle, picked out two, counted out a dime, and handed it to Chen Feng.

Another person came over to ask about hemp, and Chen Feng quoted a price, but the person thought it was too expensive and left.

Xiaoyue squatted down beside him, tracing lines on the ground with her finger, then looked up at the people passing by.

Xiaoshan stood to the side, his hands tucked into his pockets, touching the small knife, but his eyes were fixed on the lantern stall across the street.

Chen Feng stuffed the money into his pocket and sold a few more eggs.

As he was selling, a woman wearing a blue cotton-padded jacket walked over and stopped in front of his stall.

Chen Feng looked up and saw Old Wang's wife from the village.

"Hey, Chen Feng's back?"

The woman squatted down to look at the eggs. "Give me a few. My son has been asking for steamed egg custard these past few days."

Chen Feng picked out eggs for her, while the woman grumbled, "Where's your Lin Xiu? Didn't she come?"

"Something came up at home."

"Yeah, it's almost Chinese New Year, we're busy."

The woman took the eggs, counted out the money and gave it to him, then stood up. "By the way, I found out about the cotton shoes your Lin Xiu asked me to inquire about a few days ago. They're at Old Zhao's stall on East Street, a little over two yuan a pair, and they say they're thick."

Chen Feng was taken aback, then nodded: "Thanks."

The woman waved her hand, picked up the eggs, and left.

Chen Feng lowered his head and continued selling eggs.

The eggs were almost sold out, and the hemp was also sold out, for a total of two yuan and thirty cents.

Chen Feng pocketed the money, picked up Xiaoyue, and said to Xiaoshan, "Let's go for a walk."

We went to East Street first.

Old Zhao's stall was set up under a locust tree, with an old cloth spread on the ground and shoes laid out on it—cotton shoes, cloth shoes, and children's tiger-head shoes, all in a row.

Chen Feng squatted down and picked up a pair of cotton shoes to look at them.

Black upper with white sole, thick upper, stuffed with cotton, soft to the touch.

"What size are these shoes?"

Old Zhao leaned over from the side: "Seven and a half inches, women's shoes, most women can wear them."

"How much?"

"Two dollars and sixty cents."

Chen Feng held the shoes; they were a bit expensive, and he only had twenty yuan with him today.

He also wanted to buy a pair for each member of his family.

His wife would peek at the stitches every day by lamplight while sewing shoe soles, and he felt sorry for her when he saw it.

Xiaoyue leaned on his shoulder and reached out to touch the pom-poms on his shoes.

Chen Feng turned the shoe over to look at the sole; the stitches were fine and the shoe was sturdy.

He didn't rush to bargain, but picked up a pair of small tiger-head shoes next to him. The shoes had tiger heads embroidered on them, with two perked-up ears, and they looked simple and honest.

"What about the smaller one?"

Old Zhao glanced at it: "That one is one yuan and thirty cents."

Chen Feng pointed to a pair of black cloth shoes and asked, "These?"

"One dollar and eighty cents."

Chen Feng did some mental calculations.

He and Lin Xiu's parents asked for 7.8 yuan, Lin Xiu got a pair for 2.6 yuan and didn't want any, Xiao Shan got a pair for 1.8 yuan, and Xiao Yue got a pair for 1.3 yuan.

It totaled thirteen dollars and fifty cents.

Chen Feng pointed to these pairs and asked, "Boss, I want this one, this one..."

"How much can you give?"

Old Zhao pointed in the direction of his finger: "Three pairs of adult shoes, seven yuan and eighty cents; one pair of children's shoes, one yuan and eighty cents; one pair of tiger-head shoes, one yuan and thirty cents. That's thirteen yuan and fifty cents in total."

Xiao Shan leaned closer, touched the shoe's upper, then turned it over to examine the sole, and suddenly asked, "Uncle, how many layers of fabric are in this sole?"

Old Zhao paused for a moment, then sized him up: "Ten or so floors, I guess. What, kid, you know about this?"

Xiao Shan pursed his lips, not replying, and then pinched the shoe upper again: "Uncle, the cotton stuffing in this shoe upper isn't evenly distributed; this side is a bit thin."

Old Zhao chuckled, puffing on his pipe as he looked at him: "You little rascal, you're quite the expert."

Xiaoyue leaned on Chen Feng's shoulder, watching her brother haggle with someone, her eyes wide with excitement.

Xiao Shan blushed slightly, but still forced a smile and said, "My mother told me about sewing shoe soles. If these shoes cost two yuan and sixty cents, they're too expensive."

Old Zhao rarely saw children haggling, and he found it amusing, so he decided to tease him.

"Okay, okay, how much do you want?"

Xiao Shan looked at Chen Feng.

Chen Feng remained silent; he was also somewhat surprised.

I never expected that after all these years, that brat would still know how to bargain!

Xiaoshan gritted his teeth: "How about two pieces?"

Old Zhao burst out laughing, almost dropping his pipe from his mouth: "You little rascal, you're asking for six cents right off the bat? My small business depends on this for my whole family to get through the New Year."

Xiaoshan's face turned even redder, and he stood there without saying a word.

Old Zhao finished laughing, looked at Chen Feng, then at Xiao Shan, and waved his hand: "Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, buddy. Two yuan and thirty cents, take it. Any lower and I really won't be able to sell it."

"I'll only make a small profit on those tiger-head shoes and children's shoes! Seeing you reminded me of my son; nobody else would sell them for that price!"

"This little one is so cute!"

Old Zhao praised Xiaoshan repeatedly, and Chen Feng and Xiaoyue laughed along.

There's nothing wrong with bargaining at a rural market.

Xiao Shan turned to look at Chen Feng.

Chen Feng put down the shoes, counted out twelve yuan and thirty cents from his pocket, and handed them to Lao Zhao.

Old Zhao took the money, wrapped the shoes in old newspapers, and glanced at Xiaoshan a couple more times as he handed them over: "I'll have my son learn more from you another day."

Chen Feng took the shoes and readily agreed.

The two laughed, neither of them taking it seriously.

Xiaoyue leaned over Chen Feng's shoulder, whispered in Xiaoshan's ear, "Brother is so amazing."

Xiao Shan's ears turned red, and he turned his face away from his sister, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Chen Feng stuffed the shoes into the cloth bag and then picked up Xiaoyue.

Xiaoyue reached out to pick up the tiger-head shoes, but couldn't reach them, so she obediently lay on his shoulder.

On the way back, we passed a supply and marketing cooperative.

Neither Xiaoyue nor Xiaoshan had been there.