Back to 1984: I built a chicken farm on a barren mountain.

June 2nd, the third day of the fifth lunar month. Market day in Chenjiazhuang.

Chen Wenfeng and Zhou Zhiming made an appointment to go to the market together.

Chen Wenfeng was still thinking about his reunion with Zheng Xuejiao yesterday. When he thought of Zheng Xuejiao, he thought of his past life.

In their past lives, Chen Wenfeng and Zheng Xuejiao had feelings for each other, but Chen Wenfeng's family fell into poverty due to a mistake he made when dividing the land.

His relationship with Zheng Xuejiao ended there.

But he has always paid close attention to Zheng Xuejiao.

Zheng Xuejiao married into Qiwang Village, west of the town, and gave birth to two daughters.

Because of the one-child policy, she was not allowed to have more children, so her husband's family treated her very badly.

Later, her husband misunderstood her and accused her of having an affair. To prove her innocence, Zheng Xuejiao drank an entire bottle of pesticide, but she couldn't be saved.

Upon hearing the news of his daughter's death, Zheng Dali grabbed a butcher knife and tried to fight back, but he collapsed to the ground, paralyzed.

Zhou Zhiming told him these things. At that time, Chen Wenfeng had already arrived in the provincial capital and rented a storefront to sell steamed buns.

Thinking back on the past, Chen Wenfeng felt a pang of sadness.

This feeling can only be cherished in retrospect, for at the time it was already a regret.

"Brother Feng, do you want some fried dough sticks?"

Zhou Zhiming interrupted Chen Wenfeng's thoughts, noticing that Zhou Zhiming had already ordered two bowls of tofu pudding.

"I'm not eating fried rice cakes anymore. Although they're sweet and sticky, they're a bit too greasy. I'd like two oven-baked sesame seed cakes instead."

Two servings of tofu pudding cost 10 cents, two sesame seed cakes cost 12 cents, and two fried cakes cost 16 cents.

Breakfast cost 38 cents. Chen Wenfeng was about to pay when Zhou Zhiming had already paid in advance.

"This meal is on me!"

"You've saved up quite a bit of pocket money by now, haven't you?"

"Anyway, it's enough for me to spend, and besides, you still paid me my wages."

"I'll bring back some sesame seed cakes and fried rice cakes for Niu Da and Niu Er when I get back. That'll be on me."

Chen Wenfeng looked at Zhou Zhiming's earnestness and replied.

Chen Wenfeng stirred the tofu pudding and braised meat with a spoon and ate it with the sesame seed cake.

Not far from the tofu pudding stall was a pork stall, run by Zheng Dali.

Next to the pork stall was the Thirteen Spices stall.

The old man selling Thirteen Spices had a white beard and a white cloth towel wrapped around his head.

He spread a red cloth on the ground and laid out many small cloth bags. All the bags were turned upside down and arranged in a row, containing various seasonings.

Next, he spread out a lot of yellow paper, took a small spoon in his hand, scooped out a spoonful of seasoning and placed it on the paper. He put seven or eight kinds of seasoning on each piece of paper, and then quickly wrapped them up one by one, in a manner similar to that of the barefoot doctor at the village clinic wrapping loose pills.

What's even more amusing is that while his hands were busy working, his mouth wasn't idle either, singing in a thick Leting accent:

"A small, square piece of paper. Cai Lun of the Eastern Han Dynasty invented paper. If you ask what this paper is used for, let me tell you slowly and carefully..."

Authentic! Even more authentic than the singing style of Deyun Club; this is the real deal when it comes to selling.

The two of them ate while watching the commotion.

Not only did the two of them enjoy listening, but people from the market also gradually gathered around, and every now and then someone would buy three or five packs.

Zheng Dali was displeased to see that all the customers buying meat were heading to the Thirteen Spices stall.

Just then, Han Laosi came over to buy meat.

Han Laosi was the first person in Chenjiazhuang to earn 10,000 yuan a year. His secret to becoming a 10,000-yuan household was one word: "stingy".

The villagers are sharp-tongued, and they all say that Old Han and his wife are so stingy that even spending a penny makes their ribs ache.

"Fourth Brother, buying meat? It was freshly slaughtered this morning!"

"Dali, give me a pound of lean meat, no fat, and a pound of fatty meat, no lean meat at all."

Knowing that Han Laosi was picky, Zheng Dali quickly cut two pieces of meat, one fatty and one lean.

"Fourth Brother, it's two jin in total. This scale is really high. The lean meat is 1.2 yuan and the fat is 0.8 yuan, which is exactly two yuan."

Zheng Dali was quick and efficient. After showing Han Laosi the crosshairs on the scale, he swiftly took the meat off the hook, wrapped it in paper, and strung it with hemp rope.

"Dali, it's not that your fourth brother is criticizing you, but I just said to cut a pound of fatty meat and not touch any lean meat. Look, those red spots on it haven't been completely removed!"

Han Laosi didn't accept the offer; instead, he started picking fights.

Zheng Dali had been busy all day; if he weren't free, he wouldn't have had time to nitpick with him.

The two started arguing as they talked.

"Brother Feng, look over there! They're arguing over there, they might be about to fight!"

"Ah, is this going to be a showdown between Zheng Dali and Han Laosi?"

Chen Wenfeng and Zhou Zhiming quickly finished their breakfast and went to the meat stall to watch the excitement.

The crowd dispersed from the Thirteen Spices area and then surged back to this side, forming a small circle.

Onlookers, huh, onlookers. Xun Ge is right.

Chen Wenfeng complained. But he also unconsciously stretched his neck, like a white duck being grabbed by the neck.

Zheng Dali was already annoyed and wanted to sell more meat at the market, but then he ran into this petty person.

He knew that continuing this entanglement would delay the business, so in his anxiety, he started using foul language.

"Han Laosi, I'll fucking swear to you! Don't try to act all high and mighty with me. I'll slice your coin ribs open with one shovel!"

Han Laosi was most afraid of being called stingy, and he was never one to mince words, always stabbing Zheng Dali in the heart with his open mouth.

"Zheng Dali, stop pretending to be a bastard with me. Don't let your big and burly appearance fool you, you're all talk and no action.

"Wow, Han Laosi is pretty arrogant," Chen Wenfeng thought to himself.

Han Laosi's words were indeed harsh; they hit the snake right where it hurts.

Although Zheng Dali is tall and strong, he has one flaw: his chopsticks are a bit soft when he eats late-night snacks.

His previous conflict with Chen Laosan had also been the subject of much gossip.

Therefore, he is quite averse to others mentioning it.

When Zheng Dali heard Han Laosi mocking his shortcomings in front of everyone, he felt a surge of blood rush to his head.

Chen Wenfeng was craning his neck to watch the commotion when he saw the murderous aura on Zheng Dali's face and the killing intent in his eyes. He knew in his heart that something bad was about to happen!

If someone gets seriously injured, it could be a real problem, because people who handle knives can be quite ruthless when they're enraged.

He quickly scanned the crowd of onlookers, hoping to find an older person to help mediate, but found that he didn't recognize many of them; most were from other villages who had come to buy or sell goods.

Suddenly, a scream of "Ah!" was heard from the crowd, followed by Han Laosi's pig-like howl.

Zheng Dali pinned Han Laosi to the ground, stomped on him, and punched him in the ribs.

"Uncle Zheng, stop hitting him!"

Chen Wenfeng didn't care about anything else and rushed out shouting.

"Uncle Zheng, it's not worth it..."

Zheng Dali was stunned for a moment when he heard Chen Wenfeng's shout. He tried to control his emotions by breathing heavily, but his eyes were still fixed on Han Laosi.

At this moment, Zheng Dali needs a way out.

But that unlucky Han Laosi was still yelling and shouting on the ground.

"Go ahead and kill me if you dare. All you're good for is showing off. You don't even have a wife on the bed..."

Oh no! Chen Wenfeng closed his eyes and the scene of the banquet appeared before his eyes.