CHAPTER 34: 34

"Lan Tian, Lan Tian," Taohua complained from the ox cart, and upon seeing Lan Tian in front, she jumped off and ran to her side.

Lan Tian was curiously looking around, and when she heard Taohua calling her, she glanced over and gave a grunt in response.

"Lan Tian, you’ve never been here before, right?" Seeing Lan Tian shake her head, Taohua boasted with her chin raised, "This place is much, much bigger than our village, much busier too, and there are way more people. I’ve been here with my dad before. Over there, they have candied haw sticks, dough figurines, cakes, candies, so, so many, all really delicious..."

Taohua continued babbling about the interesting things at the market when Mo Junhua returned.

Grandma Sun told him where the two families were going. After wandering around outside for a while, Mo Junhua felt a lot calmer. He ruffled Lan Tian’s hair and scooped her up into his arms. Lan Tian rested on his shoulder, waving goodbye to Taohua.

From about eight or nine in the morning until around three in the afternoon, the market was at its peak. Going to market was a dull affair, just sitting behind the stall, waiting for buyers to come. If someone showed interest, they would ask about the goods, and if both parties agreed on the price, the sale was made.

Lan Tian’s family only had two sacks of peanuts, while Mo Junhua’s family had several kinds: three sacks of tangerines, three sacks of peanuts, one sack of soybeans, and half a sack of jujubes.

There was an advantage to the two families being together; when no customers were around, they could chat leisurely.

The three adults gossiped about this and that. Mo Junhua’s siblings just sat around, with Lan Tian nestling in Zhao Li’s arms, dressed in her bright red corduroy clothes. Her fair skin made her look like a doll from a New Year picture, drawing looks from passersby—some would inquire about the price and compliment how pretty the child was, leaving Grandma Sun beaming all morning.

"Goodness, looks like we’re blessed by this little girl’s presence today." Grandma Sun chuckled as she stroked Lan Tian’s face, "Look, they’re all coming over because of our little girl, we’ve already sold a sack so quickly. Oh my, my precious granddaughter, are you hungry? Bored with us?"

"That’s right, my family has also benefited from your girl’s presence." Wang Guiyu, having sold two sacks of tangerines, was all smiles. It wasn’t often that market sales went as swiftly as they did today; less than a morning passed, and three sacks of tangerines were sold, as well as half the soybeans.

Thanks to the Sun family’s good fortune, a handful of jujubes was handed to Lan Tian, "Here, eat. These are from our own garden, very sweet."

Lan Tian looked to Grandma Sun, who nodded her approval. Lan Tian smiled and thanked Wang Guiyu, "Thank you, Auntie, they’re very sweet."

Wang Guiyu had given too many jujubes, and Lan Tian couldn’t hold them all. She shared a small handful with each person, delighting the adults with her sensible and well-behaved manner.

After accompanying the adults all morning, the children had very few goods at the stall, so Grandma Sun sent Zhao Li to walk around with Lan Tian, and Wang Guiyu asked Mo Junhua’s siblings to play around too.

Lan Tian’s eyes lit up. Grandma Sun poked her head and jokingly scolded her, "See? Tired of staying with this old lady, are you? Off you go then! Stick with your auntie, don’t let go of her hand, and don’t get lost. And don’t eat anything from strangers, okay?"

Lan Tian listened patiently to Grandma Sun’s instructions and nodded at each point, "Grandma, I won’t run off, and I won’t eat strangers’ food."

Meanwhile, Mo Junhua said to Wang Guiyu, "Mom, I often come here and know all the places. I’ll stay and watch the stall with you. It’s hard for you to cope alone when it gets busy. Chuntao rarely comes here, so she can have fun with Auntie. Auntie, I’m bothering you with this."

Mo Junhua didn’t go, and Wang Guiyu didn’t persuade him further. An extra person was helpful; someone had to weigh things when customers wanted to buy bags of goods. She gave Chuntao one yuan for snacks, "Stay close to your auntie, don’t wander off. Sister-in-law, I’m counting on you."

The market was chaotic, unregulated, with goods laid out haphazardly and crowded with people, making the path hard to navigate. Zhao Li led Lan Tian by the hand, while Lan Tian held onto Chuntao, the three of them slowly browsing the stalls in front.

Across the street in a noodle shop, ever since Lan Tian had entered the market, a cunning, rat-eyed man had been plotting something stealthily, alternating his gaze between the entrance and the stalls across the way. After a while, two burly men arrived at the entrance, glanced at the noodle shop, and headed towards the cunning child.

After the three men met up, the crafty man with the rat eyes motioned his chin towards a stall across the street. The pair looked over and saw a fair-skinned little girl, nodded in approval, left a sack behind, and walked away.

The man kept sipping his liquor, munching on peanuts, and watching the activity across the street. When he saw the adults leading two children away, he slowly started to follow behind.

The trio of Lan Tian wandered from the south side to the east side of the market, which had everything: food, clothing, necessities, toys – all sorts of items. Passing by a candy stall, they bought two pounds of snacks.

Not far ahead, Lan Tian spotted the candied haw stick vendor that Taohua had mentioned. Lan Tian, who hadn’t had candied haw in two lifetimes, took a longer look. Zhao Li paid for a stick each for the two of them; they were expensive at ten cents apiece, the same price as an egg, which made Chuntao wince to eat.

Next to the candied haw stand was a dough figurine stall, with a series on display in front of the wooden rack, including animals and people: rabbits, puppies, ducklings; Guan Gong, Zhang Fei, Lord Lao Zi, Tumbler, Gourd Dolls, and more, colorful and vividly crafted. Zhao Li wanted to buy one for Lan Tian, but she didn’t want it.

After browsing for a while, they noticed a stall ahead that was crowded with people. Zhao Li asked someone nearby, "Sister, what are they selling up there? So many people?"

"Cloth," the woman replied, "I heard a factory closed down and they brought the stock here to sell cheap. If you want to buy, you’d better hurry, lots of people are snatching it up." Zhao Li hadn’t made winter clothes yet and was worried as they had only two cloth tickets at home, not enough to buy cloth in town. It was perfect timing; now she could save those two tickets. She quickly pulled Lan Tian and Chuntao towards the stall.

The crowd was dense in front of the stall, and Zhao Li, leading the two children, couldn’t squeeze through. After looking around, she saw a large rock a few meters away. She led the two over to sit, instructing them, "Chuntao, you watch your sister here while I go buy some cloth. It’ll be quick. Don’t run off. Tiantian, you have to listen to Chuntao. Auntie will be right back after buying the cloth. Just sit here and eat your candy, okay?"