The day before New Year's Eve, the market was extremely busy. People who had stocked up on a lot of new year's goods at home always felt that something was missing, so they always wanted to go to the market and bring something back to feel comfortable.
Yang Dongxu, who was settling accounts, suddenly heard someone calling him upstairs: "Brother, call me."
Yang Dongxu was stunned for a moment and handed the account book in his hand to his eldest sister and ran upstairs, thinking: "Will you call me when you go to bed at this time?"
"Hello!" Yang Dongxu took the phone and said.
"Xu...Xu Zi, the fight is about to start." Wu Aibing's urgent voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Who is fighting with whom?" Yang Dongxu looked confused, and then his eyes suddenly widened when he thought of something: "You mean the United States and Iraq are fighting?"
"Yes, yes..." Wu Aibing said hurriedly.
"Uncle Du and the others will be okay?" Yang Dongxu's heart lifted.
As the United States continues to gather the forces of its allies, and Iraq continues to occupy Kuwait, it seems that the entire Middle East is shrouded in the haze of war. Therefore, mercenaries from all over the world are gathering in the Middle East, because they can only make money by fighting wars, so Dusuo No one would notice them in the Middle East, so they have been operating in the Middle East.
"No, it's okay. I just came back from the Soviet Union and talked to them on the phone. They are far away from where the war broke out and will not be involved in the war."
In fact, the war did not just break out today, but started yesterday. When Wu Aibing received the news, his first thought was not to report to Yang Dongxu, but to run to the Soviet Union as if he had been hit by an arrow in the butt.
Although there were people in the Middle East in China, the phone lines were obviously not accessible to Wu Aibing, and the embassy was crowded with people at this time, so he simply took a plane to the Soviet Union to contact Du Suo, who had just confirmed that After hearing the news that Du Suo was safe, he called Yang Dongxu.
"As long as it's okay, let them pay attention to their own safety, and don't go to the battlefield if it's okay. If the Americans drive Iraq out of Kuwait, the Kuwaiti royal family should be in urgent need of mercenaries to maintain their power. We can let them have proper contact." Listen. Yang Dongxu also breathed a sigh of relief when Du Suo was fine.
In fact, at this time, he wished he could fly directly to the Middle East, because oil has always been something he has never forgotten. If he could contact the royal family in the Middle East to get some oil fields at this time, it would be a huge benefit to him and the country.
It's a pity that no one he knows has connections in the Middle East. Without the introduction, he wants to meet the royal family of the Middle East, or the royal family of Kuwait, whose country is occupied. With Du Suo's hundreds of mercenaries as a support, others won't even pay attention. Will pinch him.
So all we can do now is to make arrangements in advance. Even if we can no longer enter the scene immediately, we still need to cultivate the relationship between the two parties. Even if we become familiar faces, we will have a line that we can use when the situation permits in the future, right?
After hanging up Wu Aibing's call, Yang Dongxu picked up the phone and wanted to call his godfather Zhou Yiren, but he stopped as soon as he dialed a few numbers.
Wu Aibing knew about the attack in the Middle East earlier than he did, and Zhou Yiren would definitely know earlier. He probably knew about it as soon as the war there broke out.
After knowing about it, he did not contact him, which shows that Zhou Yiren felt that even telling him would be of little use, so there was no contact. Thinking of this, Yang Dongxu couldn't help but touch his nose, feeling that he was treating himself a bit too much.
Action has already been taken over there. Although all the countries paying attention to the situation here are very nervous and paying attention to the war situation, they are more or less relieved in their hearts. After all, the hanging sword has been swung and it is fine to wait and see the result. Compared with it It's much better to always be in suspense and not know when it will fall.
Yang Dongxu had made it clear to Zhou Yiren about his views on the outbreak of war in the Middle East. Now that the war has broken out, not even the country, let alone him, can get involved. There is no difference between telling him and not telling him.
"My shoulders are too small now to carry big things." Yang Dongxu hung up the phone and shook his head.
I'm sure Du Suo is fine. The war in the Middle East has nothing to do with Yang Dongxu. It concerns things that I can't intervene at all. It's better to care about the pig farm after the year, or the greenhouse in the second half of next year. How to get vegetables is more meaningful.
"What's going on?" Yang's mother couldn't help but ask when she saw her son coming down.
"It's nothing, just a classmate calling to wish him well." Yang Dongxu said.
"It's quite early." It was only the morning of the 29th of the Lunar New Year to say New Year greetings. It was really not that early. However, Yang's mother just said that her attention was not here. There were so many people shopping in front of the door now, and she didn't care about who called her son. She just asked casually.
...
The flavor of the New Year in rural areas is generally better than that in cities, let alone the flavor of the New Year in this era. I haven’t heard the crackling sound of firecrackers since I just came back from visiting the grave.
A group of little kids in the village were randomly picking up unexploded firecrackers at the door of each house, stripping out the gunpowder and pouring them into long strips to play with.
And people like Yang Dongxu are already at an age where they can get married, so naturally they won't pick up sex. Instead, they finished their dinner early and the rich ones pocketed a piece of eighty cents, while the poor ones gathered a few cents and ten cents and gathered at the granary to play cards.
The TV set in Yang Dongxu's house was moved down from upstairs. At this time, many women from the village had gathered in the yard. Although life in Yangjia Village has improved a lot in recent years, only a few families in the market can afford a TV.
The men ran to the granary to play cards, while the women naturally preferred to watch TV together. Especially the Spring Festival Gala on New Year's Eve is particularly attractive to them, so in addition to women, some men who don't like playing cards, or some elderly people also finish their meals early and wait in the yard.
After dinner, Yang Dongxu started borrowing big benches from each household. People are watching TV. You can't let everyone stand in the yard, right? There were dozens of people filling the yard. There were definitely not enough benches at home, so we had to borrow them. In this way, plus some people who come to watch TV and consciously bring benches, there is barely a place for everyone to sit.
There were no nuts or anything on display. It was too expensive and Ma Yang felt distressed. A big bag of melon seeds was placed at the door for anyone to eat and grab. It was enough to leave a good reputation. There was no need to go overboard.
Yang Dongxu was chewing melon seeds in his mouth and sitting on a stool to watch TV. Although the cold wind outside was biting, it was actually quite warm for dozens of people crowded in the small courtyard. As long as he doesn't smoke second-hand smoke with a group of gentlemen, he feels that watching the Spring Festival Gala is actually pretty good.
"Xu Zi is coming out to play." Xiao Wu's shout came from the door not long after he sat down.
In fact, at this time, television was more attractive to people than gambling. When villages in Shiliba heard that there was a movie showing there, it was common for them to carry a small stool and run for several miles, or even more than ten miles to watch a movie. things.
"Come in and find a place to sit. The Spring Festival Gala will be held later." Yang Dongxu turned to face the door and responded.
In this way, Xiaowu and the others were a little hesitant. They had saved their money for several months and were just waiting to have fun today. But the Spring Festival Gala is also very attractive to them, so they were a little confused for a while.
"Go play with them. You don't like watching TV anyway." Yang's mother, who had just tidied up the kitchen, said.
Yang Dongxu looked at his mother with a confused look on her face. This is not her mother's character. Xiao Wu and the others are now shouting that they must have gone to the granary to gamble. According to their mother's temperament, shouldn't it be a normal script for Xiao Wu and the others to come in and watch TV?
"Your father was called away by your uncle just now. Go over and keep an eye on him."
have to!
Yang Dongxu instantly found the reason why his mother was different from usual at this moment. This was because she wanted him to go over and watch his father and brother-in-law. Since his mother said so, Yang Dongxu had no choice but to get up and get out of the crowd, and then walked upstairs.
"Why go?"
"Get some money." Yang Dongxu responded. There was still ten yuan in the down jacket upstairs. This was the New Year's money given by his mother just now. Since he went there, he naturally wanted to see if he could play with it.
When he came down and watched TV among the crowd, it was more comfortable to wrap himself in a coat and a Lei Feng hat, so he just changed out of his down jacket. As for the change of a hundred dollars when he first came back, his mother had already taken it away in the name of keeping it for him.
"What kind of money do you want? Your dad must have brought a lot of money and asked him for it." Yang's mother glanced at her son. Although her expression was normal, she was definitely angry in her heart.
Ma Yang would be unhappy no matter whether she won or lost in card gambling, not to mention that she must have gambled a lot today, so it would be strange if she was happy. However, Father Yang is very self-conscious throughout the year and basically doesn’t know how to play cards. When he comes to play, he only plays a few games and gives up his seat to others.
During the leisure time, I didn't get together with other people either playing cards or horse racing. Instead, he drives around in a four-wheeler to haul things and do business to make money, so although Yang’s mother went to play cards today, she was a little sulky.
But it won't be like before when the couple would quarrel whenever Yang's father plays cards. Now the most he can do is come back and chat for a few words. Father Yang seems to have figured out Mother Yang's temper, so when his younger brother joined the army today and came to call him, he didn't say anything and went over with some money.
"Okay." Yang Dongxu was a little speechless when he heard his mother's words.
If you're not happy, just stop letting dad play. Now you have to go there and be a spy yourself. But it is these happy or unhappy trivial matters that constitute most of the lives of ordinary people.
When he walked to the door, Yang Dongxu put several handfuls of melon seeds into his pocket. The most likely way to be a spy for his mother was to watch from the side, because when dad served the table, the uncle would definitely be there to help. If the uncle served the table, the father would be there. Help, he couldn't even get a helper's position and could only stand by and eat melon seeds.
"Catch some, and let's play with each other while we look at the cards later." After he had caught Yang Dongxu, he motioned to Xiaowu and others to catch some.
A bag of melon seeds weighs fifty kilograms. Although there are dozens of people in the yard, there is still half a bag of melon seeds left. Compared with the scene in later news reports, as soon as they heard that it was free, they would rush to grab it regardless of whether it was useful to them or not.
The people who come to watch TV are all from the same neighborhood, and they feel very self-conscious about how they look at each other. Basically, everyone just pays attention to it, and stuffs their pockets full of stuff, and when they get home, they take them out and put them back again. Once or something.
So when you come in, the adults grab a few, and if you have children with you, put a handful in their pockets, and then go in and find a seat to watch TV. At the same time, you grab a handful of the kids who want to grab them and give them a warning with their eyes, "If you dare," If you embarrass me here, then go back and hang him up and beat him up.
