When the snow stops and the wind stops, the people in the town come alive. A few days ago, it was snowy and smoky, and Aunt An next door was not idle. She picked up a few kilograms of fat and lean meat, smoked a row of bacon and hung it to dry. She also didn't forget about Yun Zhong. She knocked on Yun Zhong's door early in the morning with a few bacon. Yun Zhong tried to talk nonsense, but was ridiculed by Aunt An, saying that it was good that the child was sensible, but why was he being polite to Aunt An, and threw the bacon away without explanation. Yun Zhong could not refuse, so he had to keep it in mind silently.
The snow had stopped, but the teacher still came to school. He only sent someone to arrange a few arithmetic problems for the teacher to check when he came. Seeing the arithmetic, Yun Zhong had a headache. If you were writing an article, it would be easy to say that when it came to arithmetic, I'm afraid that the elmwood knot was better than Yun Zhong's head. To the young man, the complicated numbers were like a polished knife in a butcher's shop. The knife cut into his temples and made him feel uncomfortable all over.
Earning copper coins would definitely be a tedious business. After all, the snow had stopped, and anyone with good legs would spend too much money to ask him for help. The teahouse was also locked for no apparent reason, and the shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen for two days. Being bored, Yun Zhong had no choice but to hang the moderately fat and thin bacon at the door to dry, then walked back to the house and sat on the bed in a daze. He didn't plan to write about arithmetic anymore, so he made do with it by asking Li Dakuai and other people who were good at arithmetic for reference before the class started.
Through the crack in the door, the high and far winter sun scattered on the ground, shining brightly with the light of the snow. The wind blows through the snowdrifts, lifting up the fine snow on the surface, fluttering and falling silently.
The boy felt a little sad for no reason.
With a squeak of teeth, the old wood door was pushed open, and the shopkeeper entered the house, stamping the snow on his feet vigorously, looking around and at the furnishings in the house, with an almost invisible frown. Wu Shuang had never been to the boy's home before. He knew the boy's family background, but he didn't expect it to be so poor. The rice vat in the corner was barely enough to cover the bottom of the vat; there was half a piece of black coal in the furnace, and the rest was stuffed with hay and firewood. The faint black smoke from the combustion was very choking.
The young man was also stunned on the spot. He had no idea why the shopkeeper had appeared in his home. He didn't recover for a moment and opened his mouth in vain, but he didn't know what to say. If it were Li Dakuai or a classmate in the school, he would have reacted long ago, greeted him warmly and asked to sit down, and was polite and courteous.
The atmosphere in the room was quite awkward at the moment.
Fortunately, the shopkeeper didn't mind. He pulled a bench over and sat down by himself. He was the first to break the deadlock: "I have a job here. I wonder if you are willing to do it? As for the reward for this job, I guarantee it will be no more than others." few."
Yunzhong nodded in confusion and agreed.
The shopkeeper didn't stay long, and told Yunzhong to go to the backyard of the teahouse to find him in the afternoon, and then went out. When he passed by the bacon in the yard, he sniffed, looked around and saw no one around, then quietly took a piece and put it in his mouth.
After lunch time, the young man put out the stove, made sure there was no possibility of re-ignition, locked the door, hung the iron key on his chest and went out. It's not snowing but it's snowing. The people in the town have been stifled by the snow for a few days. After leaving the door, they huddled next to the fire and fell asleep. There were not many pedestrians along the way, and only a few shops were open. The young man walked on the road, struggling to wrap up his old cotton coat tightly, and breathed out a few puffs of white mist-like hot breath into his hands.
The door of the teahouse was half open, with a wooden sign saying "No guests are welcome today". It was obvious that there was no business, so the young man went straight to the backyard to find the shopkeeper, not forgetting to close the shop door. Upon entering the backyard, the ground was filled with thick wooden piles.
The shopkeeper was already sitting on a lounge chair under the eaves waiting for him. When he saw him coming, he pointed to the teapot on the table and motioned for him to take a sip of tea to warm himself.
The boy's job was to chop firewood, split the wooden piles into two-finger wide wooden strips, and split a pile of wooden piles for two cents. Living alone, the boy had to do a lot of work of chopping firewood. Although it was a bit tiring, he had to use firewood to burn the stove or make a fire for cooking in winter. The men in the town were all good at splitting firewood. Splitting it into two finger widths didn't actually count. Disaster.
The young man touched Leng Liang's forehead and thought to himself, could it be that Yintang has been shining brightly recently and has unparalleled luck? Indeed, this is a good job that is difficult for young people to get into even with a lantern. You can earn two cents by chopping firewood. This money is much easier than sending a letter to Aunt Liu from the east end of the town to the west of the town. The mountains of tree stumps in front of you have been cut down. By the spring of next year, you may have enough money to drink a bowl of hot air. Steaming wontons.
The young man was very excited when he thought about wontons.
Then he suddenly remembered something and thanked the shopkeeper. It wasn't until the young man turned around and started chopping firewood with his ax that the shopkeeper sitting on the recliner squinted his eyes, took a sip of tea happily, and secretly laughed and cursed:
"This bastard is really a money addict."
ps. I am new to Zongheng, so please give me some advice. The name of this chapter may seem too vague and far-fetched to people, but in the eyes of poor people, a person's life is just a full meal.
Therefore, it is said that life and death are also great.
