Through the farming fields full of spring 

Chapter 22 Worry

From the space, you can see the scenery outside clearly. Tang Chunming stayed in the space for ten minutes, after confirming that no one appeared in the alley, he left the space with Ah-Lin and appeared in the alley.

Tang Chunming who had changed back to his original attire, put down Ah-Lin and walked out of the alley holding his hand.

“Ah-Lin tell Mother what you want to eat and Mother will buy it for you.”

Tang Chunming shook the other free hand aggressively. There were more than fifty tales of silver in space. After becoming a rich man he wanted to satisfy his son’s needs.

Ah-Lin was very happy when he learned that his mother had sold the vegetables. He raised his head and asked with shining eyes:

“Mom, can I buy candied haws for Da Mao and Er Mao?”

“You really are my good son, of course, Mom will buy it for you right away. How about you give them yourself when you get home?”

Tang Chunming Immediately affirmed his son’s generosity. He didn’t want to raise a stingy child.

“Okay!” Zhao Lin nodded his his like a chicken pecking at rice.

The mother and son returned to the West Market again. Seeing that it was approaching the time agreed upon with Shen Fulang and the others, Tang Chunming bought three more candied haws and put them in his basket, ready to start shopping.

When he brought his son to the meat stall, his eyes almost popped out. Although he had bone soup and occasionally ate some pork and liver to satisfy his craving, eating large chunks of meat had become a custom since he came here. They can feast extravagantly now that his wallet is rich.

Tang Chunming decided to live up to his addiction to meat, with a wave of his hand, he asked the butcher to cut him twenty Catties of pork belly. His brazenness made the stall owner wonder if he was a swindler.

A catty of pork costs fourteen cents, and Tang Chunming happily paid two hundred and eighty cents.

The butcher smiled while accepting the money. He was in a great mood and gave away a few bones without meat. They were wrapped in lotus leaves and put into the basket, when Tang Chunming took the basket he had already transferred the meat into the space.

He then bought sugar, salt, vinegar, white flour, and rice… with his son following. He even bought several snacks for his son along the way. Finally, he came across a shop selling The Four Treasures of Study and bought papers and writing brushes. 

They then hurried to the agreed-upon Liangji food stall. Before reaching the door, they ran into Li Feng, who came out looking for them because he was worried.

Both mother and son had flushed faces, either because they were hot from running or because of excitement. Ah-Lin was infected by his mother’s actions and was no longer timid and fearful like at the beginning.

Seeing Li Feng’s sullen face, Tang Chunming quickly apologized:

“Sorry, I forgot the time while watching something. Did you wait for long?”

Ah-Lin called out happily: “Uncle Feng!”

Li Feng didn’t know how to describe his feelings. He wasn’t at ease leaving the Mother and Son alone. There were so many people on West Street, and Tang Chunming could easily get separated from the child. That area had people from all walks of life, including human traffickers and the good-looking appearance of both the Mother and child could cause them to be the target of such people.

If he had known better, he should have brought Yu Mu with him and let him watch over them, so that he wouldn’t worry about anything happening to them.

Of course, he couldn’t express his thoughts but fortunately, Shen Fulang also knew that it wasn’t safe for the Mother and Son outside alone, so he did not delay at school and left after a short while. When the two had packed the ox cart and arrived at Liangji food stall, they couldn’t find the figures of the big one and small one at all.

Li Feng couldn’t help but clench his fists, Shen Fulang was also nervous, so Li Feng took the initiative to on the task to look for them. Seeing the person standing in front of him intact, Li Feng silently loosened his clenched fists, knowing that he was in no position to rebuke them, he bent down and patted Ah-Lin’s head, “Good boy.”

He then stretched out his hands towards Tang Chunming. Tang Chunming didn’t know why, he looked at the large hand reaching out in front of him in confusion. The hands were very big and rough.

“Basket.” Li Feng’s deep voice sounded, only then did Tang Chunming come to realize what he meant.

It turned out that this person was kind enough to help him carry things. Well even though he was also a man, most of the things were already in the space, and only a little bit was left as a cover, but after running around with his sick body he still felt tired after a short time. So he placed the basket onto Li Feng’s hand without scruple and said: “Thank you.”

Li Feng carried the basket on his back, picked up Ah-Lin, and then answered Tang Chunming’s previous question: “Not long, Shen Fulang is waiting inside.”

After that, he turned around and led the way.

Seeing him turn around, Tang Chuning breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason when Li Feng stood in front of him and looked at him with those bottomless black eyes, he felt a lot of pressure.

Looking up at the height of the person in front of him. The pressure he felt earlier might have been caused by the large height difference, he suddenly felt envious of his height. 

Tang Chunming empty-handedly followed Li Feng and walked into Liangji’s food stall.

He saw Shen Fulang looking out upon seeing the child Li Feng was holding, a smile appeared on his face. Li Feng walked over and handed the child to Shen Fulang, and then placed the basket he had been carrying on the ground next to their table. Only then did Shen Fulang see that there was a lot of stuff in the bag and said with a smile: “It seems like you bought a lot of stuff.

“There are candied haws,” Ah-Lin held the candied haws with a small piece left in his hand.

As the three of them were talking, Li Feng put down the things in his hand and went to prepare food for them.

When a large bowl of noodles with meat broth was placed in front of everyone, Tang Chunming raised his head in surprise and said thank you.

This man always behaves unexpectedly, in this society, male chauvinism is prevalent, and there are not many people who are willing to serve gers without scruple.

Particularly after carefully asking the boss for an empty bowl to hold noodles for Ah-Lin. Shen Fulang joked and said with a smile: “I didn’t expect Feng Xiaozi to be so taciturn but can take care of others, I think someone who will like you is very blessed.”

Tang Chunming served some noodles into the empty bowl, the big bowl was enough for the Mother and Son to share. He first put away the candied haws in his hand then took a pair of chopsticks and let Ah-Lin eat by himself.

Hearing this, he couldn’t help but look at Li Feng. At a glance, although there was nothing odd on his sun-tanned face, Tang Chunming felt that he was blushing, and couldn’t help but feel happy in his heart.

Li Feng slurped his noodles as if he didn’t hear Shen Fulang’s joke. Shen Fulang also didn’t find it strange, he knew that this man looked scary but he was kind-hearted, This is shown by his attitude toward Ah-Lin.

Although the meat broth noodles tasted average, Tang Chunming ate it with gusto and the portion was very large enough to fill him and Ah-Lin. 

 But men were different after all, after eating a large bowl of noodles, Li Feng ate two large steamed burns before stopping. Tang Chunmingn secretly guessed that he was not full.

After they were done eating, everyone paid their bills, Tang Chunming gave five cents to Li Feng and he didn’t decline. This made Tang Chunming find it easy to accept although he couldn’t figure out this person’s background, he couldn’t take advantage of others in vain.

After leaving the restaurant, Shen Fulang and Tang Chunming went together, while Li Feng went to do his things.

Shen Fulang hugged Ah-Lin and told Tang Chunming: “Feng Xiaozi also needs to buy some things at home, which are cheaper in the county. Besides, our place is not too far from the county town.”

It takes more than an hour to ride an ox cart to town. Li Zhengjia’s family has a big mule that is faster than the ox cart. Riding on an ox cart to the county town will take two hours. It’s hard to rush back and forth in a day, so you can’t stay in the city for too long.

Li Zhegjia also considered the two boys in the family who were studying in the county and bought this big mule.

According to Shen Fulang, the clothes in the county are cheaper than those in town, so when he comes to the county some acquaintances will ask him to take some clothes back,

On the way here Shen Fulang had mentioned this matter, so Tang Chunming hadn’t gone to Cloth shop to take a look while he bought things earlier.

Ah-Lin lay on Shen Fulang’s shoulder and his eyes were drowsy. The two men slowly headed to the cloth shop where Shen Fulang often went.

Tang Chunming didn’t plan on buying a lot of clothes, so he would not consider cotton-padded clothes until the second half of the year.

When the weather warms up he will need to replace his and Ah-Lin’s light clothes, as well as clothes for the one in his belly, he almost forgot about him, so it would also be best to replace all the quilts and sheets at home.

Jixiang Cloth Shop is not high-end, it mainly targets ordinary people in the neighboring rural villages around the county.

Therefore after seeing the two come in, the salesman’s attitude became very enthusiastic and introduced the new fabrics to them.

Shen Fulang often came here, as usual, he asked the waiter to cut some pieces of material and also picked out a piece of fine cotton cloth of better quality for his two sons.

“Brother Ming this fabric is good. I plan to make two singles for the boys at home. Didn’t you say you want to buy one for Ah-Lin? I think this material is good, why don’t you pick one with a brighter color.”

Ah-Lin is still young and his requirements for keeping filial piety are not as strict as those of adults. That’s why he can’t recommend brightly colored fabrics to Tang Chunming.

Tang Chunming looked at the Cyan cotton cloth in Shen Fulang’s hand and thought the color looked good. He doesn’t like gers dressing up in bright pink clothes. Of course, Ah-Lin is still young and would look cute.

So according to what Shen Fulang suggested, he cut some softer colored material for Ah-Lin, and also ordered a blue and white cotton cloth, and bought some line cloth.

After all, he had to work in the fields, so clothes made of linen wouldn’t tear off easily.

These fabrics cost Tang Chunming nearly one tael of silver. Not to mention Shen Fulang even Tang Chunming felt his eyelids twitch a few times. With the previous shopping, he spent more than six taels of silver today. The few brushes and the rice paper were the greater expenses.

He thought he was rich before but now he realised that at this rate, the money in his hands won’t be kept for long.

Shen Fulang couldn’t help but advise: “Brother Ming, you have to save your money. You have a child now and you have to pay taxes in the second half of the year. The baby will also be coming after spring so you have to prepare everything.”

Tang Chunming had no choice but to bite the bullet and explain to him:

“I have put all the money separately. As you know, I am preparing to plant vegetables in the yard earlier, to have an earlier yield. There are also chickens at home if they are raised well, I plan to raise more, creating a source of income by collecting eggs and selling chicken. I have thought about it saving money alone cannot allow us to live a good life”

After listening to Tang Chunming’s arrangement, Shen Fulang knew that he had a plan in mind, so he patted his hand and said comfortingly: “ I think these are good ideas. Anyway, you can’t plant those fields by yourself this year, so the energy can be put on other places, but if you raise more chicken you need to be more prudent in taking care of them.”

In the afternoon while carrying a cart full of things, the three adults and one child drove until the mule cart stopped in front of Tang Chunming’s house, Ah-Lin was woken up by Tang Chunming.

As soon as the door opened, Xiao Hua was the first to rush out. While Ah-Lin was still rubbing his eyes, Xiao Hua was already spinning around under his feet, and Da Mao and Er Mao also ran out.