When the pears are green

Jiang Qingzhou caught the chickens to be sold early and put ten chickens in two backpacks.

There were five hens that were still laying eggs, two roosters for the New Year, and the two ducks left in the pen.

Song Li looked at the dim sky, put on the hat she made on her head, and then wrapped herself with the scarf she made, leaving only her eyes exposed.

Song Li casually put the other hat in her hand on Jiang Qingzhou's head. She looked at it again and again with satisfaction. Then she smiled and said to Jiang Qingye beside her: "Qingye, put it on quickly, it's very warm."

Originally, Song Li also wanted to make a scarf for Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye, but was rejected by the two brothers.

Jiang Qingye quickly put it on his head. He smiled and said to Song Li and Jiang Qingye, "Brother, sister-in-law, it is indeed very warm."

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Jiang Qingye's happy expression and said with a smile, "It's good to be warm. Let's go quickly and don't waste time."

Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li carried backpacks and each held a basket in their hands. Jiang Qingye carried a basket and a scale in his hands. The family of three walked slowly towards the Heihe Town market in the thin mist and biting cold wind.

Song Li and the other two went there early, and when they arrived, there were not many vendors around.

The three of them quickly found a spot. Jiang Qingzhou asked Song Li and Jiang Qingye to rest on the side while he squatted down and put out the eggs, chickens, and dried eggplants and beans that had been dried in the summer to sell.

Song Li looked at the vendors shivering in the cold and said softly, "Everyone came quite early. It's really not easy to earn these few copper coins."

Jiang Qingzhou's hand paused as he was putting things away. He looked up at Song Li who was gazing into the distance, and happened to meet Song Li's gaze.

Song Li squatted down and said to Jiang Qingzhou with a smile: "Qingzhou, nothing is easy."

"Yes, nothing is easy!" Jiang Qingzhou repeated Song Li's words. He knew that Song Li was comforting him.

Jiang Qingye ran over with three sesame cakes in his hand. He handed them to Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou and said to them with a smile, "Brother and sister-in-law, eat them quickly. They are still hot. I didn't run far. I bought them from a stall not far away. I used the money I earned from selling cicada shells."

Song Li took the pancake with a smile, took a bite, and the hot steam rushed directly into her mouth, scalding her tongue.

"Thank you Qingye, it's delicious." Song Li said vaguely.

An ordinary pancake can warm the stomach and comfort the soul.

The vendor next to them looked at the three people eating sesame cakes together, and shouted to Jiang Qingzhou with a smile: "Young man, the relationship between your family members is so good, it's enviable."

All three of them burst into laughter.

The sun slowly rose higher, finally passing over the shops on the east side of the street and shining on the street.

As usual, the yamen runners began to charge according to the stall prices. More and more people were walking on the road, and the shouts of the vendors could be heard one after another.

"Xiao Li, if the things are sold out early, I will take you and Qingye to go shopping and buy some things for the New Year. If it's too late, we can come back on the 28th. There will be more people then than today. Just help me keep an eye on Qingye. We don't have much to sell today, and these things are easy to sell." After Jiang Qingzhou finished speaking, he looked at the people coming and going and began to solicit business.

Since hens lay fewer eggs in winter, the eggs Jiang Qingzhou brought were sold out quickly, three cents for two eggs, a total of forty eggs, which he sold for sixty copper coins.

Jiang Qingzhou smiled and put the copper coins into Song Li's purse. He smiled and praised Song Li: "Xiao Li is right. It is still useful to build a shed for chickens. We raised so many chickens in previous years, but we didn't get many eggs in winter."

Song Li felt a little embarrassed by what Jiang Qingzhou said. She hadn't thought it would work at first.

The flow of people was intermittent. Song Li kept observing the people on the street. There were not many people who actually came to buy things. Many of them came to the market to join in the fun, so the chickens, dried eggplants and dried beans were not selling very quickly.

Song Li quietly asked Jiang Qingye: "Qingye, were chickens easy to sell in the past?"

"Sister-in-law, it's okay. In the past, we might not be able to sell out all in a day. Sometimes when we meet a big customer, we can sell out all in a short time. It's hard to say." Jiang Qingye answered Song Li while thinking.

As soon as Jiang Qingye finished speaking, someone came forward to buy a chicken.

The Jiang family's chickens will not be hungry all the time in winter. Song Li always feeds them some cabbage leaves or chopped radish peels and hay every two or three days, so the chickens look fatter and are easier to sell.

Around noon, the ten chickens in the basket were sold out, leaving only some dried eggplants and dried beans.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at the sun that was already high in the sky, and told Song Li: "Xiao Li, you and Qingye go for a walk. I'll sell the rest here, and you go buy some red paper and the like. We'll ask our second brother to write couplets in a couple of days."

"No, just sell them all to me. My family happens to be in need of these things." It was Li Yun'an's voice.

Jiang Qingzhou looked up and saw that it was Li Yun'an, Wu Mingde and Song Yue.

Song Yue happily walked into the stall. Song Li touched Song Yue's hair and asked, "Yueyue, why are you here?"

"Sister, I came here to sell handkerchiefs, and I happened to meet Mr. Wu and Mr. Li. I wanted to come and see if my sister and brother-in-law would set up a stall here. But Mr. Li said that there would be a lot of people at the gathering today, and he said there might be beggars. So he and Mr. Wu sent me here. We searched for a long time before we found you. There are a lot more stalls than when we came here during the Mid-Autumn Festival." Song Yue replied to Song Li with a smile.

Song Li thanked Li Yun'an and Wu Mingde again.

Li Yun'an handed the basket in his hand to Jiang Qingzhou and asked Jiang Qingzhou to weigh the remaining dried eggplants and dried beans for him.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at the things in the basket, then looked at Song Li and Song Yue who were talking beside him. He smiled and poured the things into Li Yun'an's basket, then said to Li Yun'an, "Mr. Li, I'll give them all to you. You've helped Xiaoyue a lot, so this is our way of thanking you. These are the vegetables that we didn't finish eating in the summer, so they can't be sold for much money, so just give them to Mr. Li."

Li Yun'an kept shirking his responsibilities, so Wu Mingde said to him quietly, "Yun'an, don't be polite to Brother Jiang. We'll go find Jiang Qian in a few days, and you can just write a couplet for Brother Jiang."

Jiang Qingzhou thanked Wu Mingde gratefully, and hurriedly said to Li Yun'an: "Yes, Mr. Li, you can just help me write the couplet."

Only then did Li Yun'an stop refusing.

Wu Mingde looked at the sky. He was worried that he would miss Wang Laohan's ox cart. He said to the Song Li sisters who were talking, "Miss Song, it's time to go back. Otherwise, it will be troublesome if we miss the cart. Then we will owe Yun An a favor again."

Song Yue reluctantly said goodbye to Song Li, and then walked towards the place where Old Man Wang parked the ox cart with Li Yun'an and Wu Mingde.

Li Yun'an sent Song Yue and Wu Mingde to Old Man Wang's ox cart. He leaned over to Wu Mingde's ear and whispered, "Mingde, I can only help you up to this point."

Wu Mingde kicked Li Yun'an, who dodged it easily. Wu Mingde angrily told him to go back quickly.

Jiang Qingzhou packed up his backpack and basket, then took Song Li and Jiang Qingye deeper into the market.

Even though there are not many pedestrians on the street now, almost all the vendors around have not closed their stalls. Jiang Qingzhou told Song Li that today's rally will last until the evening.

Song Li looked at the stalls on both sides of the street curiously. The variety of goods was much richer than during the Mid-Autumn Festival. There were people selling vegetables, meat, handkerchiefs and sachets. The atmosphere was very lively with bursts of shouting.

"Qingzhou, there are also garlic sprouts. When the weather gets warmer, let's plant some. They are delicious." Song Li said, pointing to the bundles of yellow and white slender vegetables in front of the stall.

Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye also turned to look. Jiang Qingzhou smiled and said to Song Li, "Xiao Li likes it, let's buy some!"

Song Li quickly grabbed Jiang Qingzhou's arm, "Qingzhou, that's not necessary. The garlic sprouts now must be from the greenhouse, they are too expensive. Let's go to the front and take a look." After saying that, Song Li pulled Jiang Qingzhou and continued to move forward.

“Baozi, hot baozi…”

"Wontons, with thin skin and lots of fillings..."

“Meatballs, freshly made meatballs…”

The vendors' shouts came one after another...

Sometimes you would see steaming hot sesame cakes, buns, and steamed buns, as well as shops selling meatball soup and wontons.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at the sun and asked softly, "Xiao Li, Qingye, let's eat here. If we cook it at home, we won't have enough time. What do you two want to eat?"

Song Li and Jiang Qingye pointed to the meatball soup shop at the same time, and Jiang Qingzhou pulled them in.

After dinner, the three continued walking south along the street.

Peddler and vendors selling candied haws were constantly walking on the streets.

A shout of "Tanghulu" caught Song Li's attention. Jiang Qingzhou saw Song Li staring at the Tanghulu. He took out four cents and bought two strings. He gave one to Jiang Qingye and one to Song Li.

Song Li took the candied haws and looked at Jiang Qingzhou with a questioning look. Jiang Qingzhou smiled and explained, "I don't like it. I'm afraid it's sour."

Song Li didn't believe it, so she put the candied haws next to Jiang Qingzhou's mouth. Jiang Qingzhou looked at Song Li's stubborn eyes, and he gently took a bite. It tasted sour and sweet.

Jiang Qingye also imitated Song Li and handed the candied haws to Jiang Qingzhou's mouth. Jiang Qingzhou had no choice but to take another bite.

Jiang Qingzhou and the other two stood in front of the pork stall and bought some pork and pork skin. The pork was used to make dumplings and stews, and the pork skin was used to make pork skin jelly.

The three of them continued walking forward and came across a stall selling red paper. Some of the red paper was cut, some was whole, and some was written on. After comparing, Song Li bought two sheets and went home to cut them herself, which would be more cost-effective.

The stalls along the street continued to extend southward. The three of them kept walking along the stalls. Lingling, who was lying by the window of Hu Ji Restaurant and was bored, suddenly pointed to Hu Zhimin who was standing nearby and said, "Look, it's Sister Song and Brother-in-law Jiang."

Hu Zhimin followed the direction Lingling pointed and could only see a sea of ​​heads.

Lingling pointed for a while and said in annoyance, "They left again."