Chapter Thirteen: A Comedy of Errors
What Chen Ling didn’t know was that before his donkey cart had even left the village, many people had already started laughing behind his back.
This wasn’t really his fault...
If anyone was to blame, it was Wang Laishun’s stubborn donkey.
Perhaps because it was early morning, the donkey absolutely refused to be harnessed to the cart, braying and bleating wildly. Even after Wang Laishun added two measures of fodder, it was no use.
The commotion attracted the attention of neighbors, who came out to see what was happening.
In the end, Chen Ling took out a handful of peanuts grown in his cave garden and fed them to the donkey. Only then did it allow itself to be harnessed and was driven out of Wang Laishun’s yard.
When the villagers saw that it was Chen Ling—the village’s notorious idler—driving a donkey cart, they were instantly amused.
That boy was usually either sleeping soundly or wandering aimlessly in the county town.
All the work at home was done by his wife; he never seemed to care about anything. So why was he borrowing a donkey cart from the village chief today?
Curious, they asked Wang Laishun and learned that Chen Ling was going to the county to buy a plow and harrow to till the land.
It was the patch of barren land that had been abandoned for over ten years, originally owned by the Er Zhu family.
Hearing this, people were both surprised and amused.
Who in the village didn’t know the situation with Er Zhu’s land?
If it could be improved just by tilling it a couple of times with a plow and harrow, would Chen Fuguo have to go to the trouble of dealing with it?
This kid must have been fooled by someone.
Otherwise, with a heart divided into eight parts, seven of which were devoted to eating, drinking, and playing, how could he possibly be willing to farm?
And now he wanted to rely on a plow and harrow to till the land—didn’t he know how much lime was underneath it?
It was downright hilarious!
So, the news of Chen Fuguo making a fool of himself quickly spread throughout the village.
In this era, mountain villages had very little entertainment.
People laughed at others today and were laughed at by others tomorrow. There were all sorts of scandals—whose wife was stealing men, which husband shamelessly peeping at widows bathing. Everything imaginable.
But someone like Chen Ling, whom everyone laughed at, was quite rare.
Before, people mocked him for neglecting his duties and abusing his wife. A few days ago, when he agreed to exchange barren land with Er Zhu, it became the talk of the village. At meals and tea times, he was the subject of ridicule and called foolish.
Who would have guessed that today he would go buy a plow and harrow to till the barren land, looking as if he was rolling up his sleeves and ready for hard work?
It looked like another big joke was about to happen.
...
At around seven in the morning, Chen Ling drove the donkey cart out of the village, completely unaware that he was once again the subject of village gossip.
Humming a little tune, he was captivated by the fresh and beautiful mountain scenery under the warm early spring sun and felt quite content.
Although Chen Wang Village was not far from the county seat, it was surrounded on three sides by mountains and one side by water, making it a very remote mountain hamlet.
Or rather, the province itself was quite remote, mountainous, and watery, with inconvenient transportation.
Though the scenery was beautiful, it lacked the bustling appearance of a developed tourist area seen in later times. It was a truly impoverished place.
Chen Ling headed east, passing over the reservoir dam east of the village, then winding around two mountain ridges. The county town was already in sight.
...
At this point, Chen Ling drove the donkey cart to a secluded spot and transferred the peanuts from the cave to the flatbed cart.
Soon, he had loaded a full cart—about five or six hundred jin.
“Hm, that’s not a small amount. Let’s go check out the market first, sell what we can, then see what happens,” Chen Ling thought to himself.
Taking a deep breath, he continued driving toward the county town.
Going to the farmers’ market to sell peanuts, soybeans, and other grains at nine o’clock wasn’t late—it was considered the morning market.
If it was the early market for vegetables and fruits, going at seven o’clock was already too late.
In the mountains, wholesale vegetables and fruits were usually rushed there at three in the morning, and if lucky, they would finish selling by around five o’clock.
Before long, he arrived at the farmers’ market on the western outskirts of the county town.
Just as Chen Ling was about to drive into the market, someone stopped him at the gate.
Because he was clearly bringing peanuts to sell, he needed to pay a temporary stall fee.
If the cart was empty, no fee was required.
Chen Ling paid two yuan and then drove toward the grain section.
It was already past seven, and only a few vendors selling vegetables and fruits remained; many breakfast stalls were still open.
Wontons, tofu pudding, fried dough sticks, he luo noodles...
The fragrant aroma of all kinds of food wafted through the air. Although Chen Ling had eaten breakfast, the dazzling array of dishes made him hungry again.
Fried dough sticks and tofu pudding were easy enough to find if he wanted.
The key was the he luo noodles—still available in later times but long lost the taste remembered from childhood.
Looking into each bowl of he luo noodles, red chili oil soup covered the minced meat, and the blue-gray noodles steamed hot, filling the air with an enticing fragrance.
One big bite of this flavor...
Chen Ling was immediately tempted.
Just as he was about to order a bowl, a voice full of surprise and suspicion came from behind.
“Huh? Are these fresh peanuts?”
“Fresh peanuts at this time of year?”
Chen Ling turned and saw a middle-aged man in his forties standing beside the donkey cart, wearing a deep black Zhongshan suit. He was tall but slightly hunched.
He was gazing at the peanuts on the cart with a look of amazement.
Next to him stood a woman of similar age, wearing a red scarf with a dark brown wool coat. Her hair was slightly curled, and she wore high-heeled leather boots—a rather avant-garde style for 1995.
Her complexion was fair, and both her appearance and demeanor were quite refined.
Even with many wrinkles on her face, her graceful bearing was undiminished.
It was clear this lady had been a beauty in her youth.
“Are you two looking to buy peanuts?” Chen Ling asked.
“These are freshly harvested from the greenhouse, the first batch brought out for sale—very fresh indeed...” Chen Ling said as he approached the donkey cart, took a handful, rubbed off the fresh soil on them, and handed it to the two.
“You can try them.”
“Grown in a greenhouse?”
Hearing this, both the man and woman looked surprised.
They each took some from Chen Ling and peeled and tasted the peanuts.
They exchanged a glance, their surprise deepening.
“Indeed, these are fresh peanuts, and they taste better than any I’ve had before.”
“Little brother, are these really greenhouse-grown peanuts?”
The man asked.
“Of course. Otherwise, how could there be fresh peanuts at this season?” Chen Ling replied with a smile.
However, he could tell these two were not serious buyers.
He asked, “Are you two interested in buying? If so, we can negotiate the price and weigh them.”
The man smiled apologetically and said, “We’re just browsing. Seeing your cart full of fresh peanuts piqued our curiosity.”
The woman glanced at Chen Ling and added, “I didn’t expect there to be greenhouse farming back home.”
Her tone was filled with emotion.
Chen Ling was momentarily stunned but then understood that these two had returned from elsewhere.
No wonder their attire didn’t fit the small county town.
“Little brother, here’s something for you. Greenhouse farming isn’t easy. If you need any help, you can contact me—or my husband.”
“We won’t bother you selling peanuts any longer. We’ll just look around,” the woman smiled gently and handed him two business cards.
Chen Ling glanced at them. One had the name Liang Hongyu, along with a phone number and contact address.
The other was Qin Rongxian, with only a phone number, no specific address.
Looking up, he saw the two walking away.
Only then did Chen Ling realize this lady was a strong and capable woman.
No wonder the man, though intimate and close with her as a husband, also showed her a certain respectful deference—it was a case of a strong woman and a comparatively weaker man.
“Liang Hongyu?”
Chen Ling thought for a moment and only recalled Han Shizhong’s wife by that name. He hadn’t heard of such a figure locally in this lifetime.
Perhaps in this parallel timeline, people and things were different.
But judging by her manner, she seemed to genuinely support the development of her hometown.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have given him her business card the moment she heard he was growing greenhouse crops...
“Whatever, whatever she does, I’ve got peanuts to sell!”