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

After more than half a month of busy wheat harvest and summer sowing, Chenjiazhuang is gradually entering the off-season for farming.

Some opera enthusiasts in the village wanted to take advantage of their free time to sing opera, just to liven things up.

Village chief Chen Youwei has always supported people's entertainment activities, so he thought he would first put on a two-day opera performance, and then show a two-day movie screening.

Chen Wenfeng was very relaxed. Han Laosi had caused him a ruckus, but instead of losing anything, he caused Han Laosi to lose more than 160 yuan. In addition, he made more than 80 yuan in profit from the eggs. In this one incident alone, Chen Wenfeng made more than 240 yuan.

He gave 30 yuan to each of Li Ji Lamb Soup and Zhang Ji Noodle Shop, 20 yuan to Zhou Zhiming, and 10 yuan each to Niu Da, Niu Er, and Hou Laizi.

Including what he had earned before, he now had nearly 400 yuan in his hands. The next step was to upgrade Jiming Mountain.

After dinner, it gradually got dark and the air became cooler.

People gathered in small groups at the small stage, waiting for the performance to begin.

This small stage is quite old. It's a little over a meter high. In the past, there was a stage with a hip roof on the stage, which could provide shade and shelter from the rain. Later, it was demolished, leaving only the thick pillars on both sides of the stage.

The pillars, weathered by wind and rain, gradually lost their outer layer, revealing the wood beneath. It turned out that the two pillars had been wrapped with a layer of material sometime in the past. Once the outer layer was removed, a couplet was revealed on the pillars.

The first line reads:

Extreme joy is seen as a good play, extreme sorrow as a bad play. It is a fake play, not a real play. The audience has long been watching with indifference. Even with the deafening gongs and drums, everyone is certain that the play will eventually come to an end.

The second line reads:

The most exciting thing is the opening, and the loneliest thing is the closing. There is an entrance and an exit. Even if the performers ask themselves honestly, this sudden display of splendor is nothing more than an occasional show.

When Chen Youwei's father, who was also the old village chief of Chenjiazhuang, saw this couplet, he thought it was a good thing and forbade people to damage it on the stage. As a result, the couplet was well preserved. Now it seems that the old village chief was very prescient.

In his previous life, Chen Wenfeng didn't pay much attention to this couplet, but after being reborn this time, he can appreciate its beauty even more.

As the gongs and drums sounded, the erhu player and the suona player joined in the performance, and the rural opera began.

Chenjiazhuang had its own opera troupe in the past. After the troupe disbanded, people still enjoyed it, so they kept the costumes and equipment and sang operas during the off-season.

The first play of the evening was "Over the Wall," a story about Pei Shaojun, son of Pei Xingjian, the Minister of Works, who was ordered to Luoyang to purchase flower seedlings. Li Qianjin, daughter of Li Shijie, the Governor of Luoyang, lived a secluded life in her chambers. While her father was away, she gazed out from over the garden wall. Pei Shaojun rode by on horseback, and the two fell in love at first sight, exchanging love poems and agreeing to a secret rendezvous in the garden that evening…

The themes are mostly about resisting feudal ethics and pursuing freedom of marriage.

Chen Wenfeng was not familiar with this poem "Over the Wall and on Horseback" at first, but in his previous life, people often complained in short videos that it was too big. The two lines of poetry that appeared repeatedly in the video were "Looking at each other from afar on the wall and on horseback, I know that my heart is broken when I see you."

Chen Wenfeng even made a special effort to find out that these two lines of poetry came from Bai Juyi, the great poet who was both concerned about the country and its people and fond of beautiful women.

Of course, Chen Wenfeng wasn't very interested in listening to opera, but today Li Qianjin was played by Li Cuie, which was quite interesting.

Li Cuie was not wearing a theatrical costume, but she was dressed neatly. Because of the hot weather, she was dressed lightly, and her voluptuous figure was very eye-catching.

Chen Wenfeng thought to himself, Li Cuie is indeed more attractive than Third Aunt. By the way, I haven't seen Third Uncle on the street for a long time.

When Chen Wenfeng saw Li Cuie appear on stage, the idlers below the stage all fell silent, their eyes fixed on her.

When Li Cuie opened her voice, it was truly like a nightingale's, sweet, melodious, and uniquely charming.

The men listened with rapt attention, while the women gossiped behind their backs, their voices dripping with envy.

"Look at her seductive charm."

"All she does is sing songs, just like her mother."

"Is that even clothing? It's so tight."

"I don't know what made Accountant Wang fall for her!"

"..."

As for children who haven't yet experienced romantic feelings, they don't care about the drama on stage or the gossip offstage; they only care about having fun.

There were very few entertainment options in those days. When operas were performed, there were many people and it was lively, so children would chase and play in the crowd.

Of course, what also attracts them are the stalls outside the stage, which are usually stalls selling ice cream, melon seeds, and candles by people pushing bicycles.

These stalls typically operate with flashlights and small steelyards, attracting customers while they watch the spectacle.

Zhou Zhiming loves popsicles. He asked around and found out that they had plain popsicles for 3 cents each, and also red bean and mung bean popsicles for 5 cents each.

The popsicle vendor put the popsicles in a box and wrapped them in a quilt.

Chen Wenfeng then ordered two red bean sticks, one for himself and one for Zhou Zhiming.

Zhou Zhiming, with his sharp eyes, noticed Zheng Xuejiao leading Xiaodouzi to watch the show in the crowd. He pointed her out to Chen Wenfeng, who then asked Zhou Zhiming to buy two more popsicles and deliver them to them.

Zheng Xuejiao waved to Chen Wenfeng from afar, while Xiaodouzi let go of her sister and ran to Chen Wenfeng, pulling him to play.

Chen Wenfeng said:

"Little Bean, want some sunflower seeds?"

Xiao Douzi didn't say anything, just nodded, then swallowed hard. Chen Wenfeng then went to the melon seed stall and bought some salt-roasted melon seeds.

Chen Wenfeng bought a pound of melon seeds for three cents a pound. The melon seed seller rolled them into triangles with old newspapers and packed them away. Xiao Douzi then took the melon seeds and went to find her sister.

Seeing that Chen Wenfeng had bought her melon seeds again, Zheng Xuejiao felt embarrassed, so she stopped watching the show and went to Chen Wenfeng's side, saying:

"You bought us ice cream, why did you buy us sunflower seeds too? I feel a little bad. You can take them home and eat them!"

"We're old classmates, why be so polite? Besides, it's for Xiaodouzi, not for you."

Chen Wenfeng joked with a smile, and Zheng Xuejiao's face turned red instantly. She then pulled Xiaodouzi to go watch the play again.

At this moment, Niu Er rushed over and shouted to Chen Wenfeng:

"Brother Feng, Brother Feng, we've found out!"

Chen Wenfeng then led Niu Er to a quiet corner where the three of them spoke with their heads down.

It turned out that Han Laosi had stopped getting involved in the egg business. He not only gave up on the county town, but he also refused to supply customers in the town anymore.

Chen Wenfeng then sent Niu Er to the town to inquire about the situation and see if they needed supplies.

Niu Er's news came back very timely; not only did the town need eggs, but there would be a large demand later on.

There used to be a small private chicken farm in Qiwang Township, but the owner wanted to sell it and expand to the south, so he planned to get rid of all the chickens in the farm. However, the surrounding farmers could only buy some of the chickens in small quantities, and a large number of chickens were still left unprocessed.

Upon hearing this news, Chen Wenfeng asked:

"How's the equipment at their small chicken farm? Do they have machines for incubating eggs?"

"No, but there are multi-story chicken coops, the kind with two or three layers."

"Okay, how many chickens do they have left?"

More than 300.

How old are these chickens?

"Tell me about this. I specifically asked, and they just laid eggs three months ago."

"Great! We need to go to town and prepare to buy all their laying hens!"

As the three were discussing their plan, a commotion erupted from below the stage. Chen Wenfeng turned around and saw a crowd surging around Zheng Xuejiao's group, accompanied by the sound of women shouting and cursing...