August Meeting

The "August Meeting" in Puji Town has a history of more than 300 years. Every year from the 10th to the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, people from hundreds of miles away flock to this old street - dog market, mule and horse trading, stage, food stalls, non-stop for six days. When Chen Shouzhuo was eighteen years old, three days before the August meeting, his father fell ill. "You will take over the temple fair this year." His father dropped these words and lay down. Chen Shouzhuo had never sold a single dog before, and suddenly he had to support an entire livestock trading stall - the routine of the old dealers in the dog market. He had not yet learned to distinguish which dogs were sick dogs and which mules and horses were leftovers from others, so he was cheated on the first day. But he had no retreat. The temple fair is still going on. The dog market is becoming more and more lively day by day, the stage sings until late every night, and the flow of people on the old street never stops from morning to night. Chen Shouzhuo started from the lowest level as a livestock dealer at the dog market, beside the stage, and in the mule and horse trading area of ​​Paomatang. He used transactions one by one, suffered losses again and again, and turned over again and again, and took root in the August Meeting. This is the story of his first year standing alone at the temple fair. It was also the starting point for the next forty years of his life. The temple fair is still there, but the people have changed several times.