I originally thought that the injuries on my body would only take about a day to heal, but I obviously overestimated myself. This injury delayed me for three days, and although I was able to walk well on the third day, my knees were still very sore, and I couldn't help but limp while walking. The injuries on my fingers were all healed, but I still couldn't exert much strength on my wrists, so I had to use my unskilled left hand to wipe my butt while squatting in the latrine.
Jiama Tan came to chat with me almost every day. Over the past few days, we talked about almost everything. As I said, maybe everyone knows that when Jiama Tan leaves this ghost market, maybe we will say goodbye. At that time, for the rest of our lives, we may never see each other again. So as my health gradually improved, we began to feel more and more like we were about to part ways, but no one said it out loud. Everyone in the world knew in their hearts that there is no such thing as a banquet that never ends. Good friends cherish each other, but there will eventually be a time to say goodbye.
On the third day, Jiama Dan came to look for me and Da Mao in the broken house. I told him that my injury was almost healed. You can set up a stall tonight and attract the other party to show up as we agreed before. Jiamatan said, in that case, let's wait until the night market opens and go out a little later. In this case, the stalls can be closer to the silly girl's room and there will be fewer people. I nodded and then turned to ask Da Mao, "You have been climbing on the roof every night to find that silly girl these days. The only candy left is gone. Have you ever gotten any more clues?"
Da Mao lowered his head in embarrassment and said with a smile, Hehe, Brother Shankong, as you know, she has a bad mind and always talks confusingly. In fact, she didn't find out any new information, it's almost the same as what we had before. ...I scolded you, you brat, for spending so much candy on us without finding out the news, and for staying so late every night before returning home!
Although I was scolding her, I felt funny in my heart, because I understood that Da Mao actually liked this silly girl. As for why, I couldn’t say clearly. Maybe only the person involved knew it in his heart. In the afternoon, Jiama Dan went back to prepare things for the evening stall, but at the moment he only had the female ghost in green cheongsam. After being tempered by him in these furnaces these days, the female ghost had also been carved with a bamboo sign by him. , just like the other ghosts before. The other ghosts that were originally in Jiama Dan's hands were also bought by me a few days ago, and now they are all in military formation. I repeatedly told Da Mao and Jiama Dan that before the man behind the scenes showed up, we must not alert the enemy or make the other party suspicious.
That night, Jiamatan calculated the time and set up his stall. Da Mao and I watched from a distance. The silly girl knew Da Mao and I, so we both covered our faces. Anyway, in this place There are all kinds of people dressed in weird ways, and there are no less than one or two of us. About half an hour after Jiama Tan sat down, the silly girl's door opened and she was taken out. I saw that the person leading the silly girl was still the same woman I had seen before. Although the silly girl was haggard, her expression was still very relaxed. It could be seen that she actually liked the "sister" following behind her. The reason was very simple. He won't be harsh to her and will give her sweets.
Jiama Tan’s stall is about twenty or thirty meters away from Silly Girl, with about a dozen stalls in between, but I noticed that since beating Silly Girl out, Jiama Tan’s eyes have been looking at the girl from time to time. . The silly girl was still the same as before, looking at the ghosts behind the vendors, shaking her head from time to time, meaning that she didn't find them, and then turned to ask the woman for candy. Since I don't have Yin Yang eyes, I couldn't see what kind of state the ghost behind me was in. Fortunately, Da Mao stood beside me and whispered to me all the time, so I could construct that picture in my mind.
Soon the silly girl walked near Jiama Tan's stall, and at this time, she seemed to notice the female ghost behind Jiama Tan. At first, she seemed like she couldn't believe her eyes, so she got close to Jiamatan, tilted her head and looked over and over for a long time, then she happily jumped up and down, clapped her hands and said something to the woman behind her. Although it was difficult to hear clearly from a distance, it was obvious that the silly girl was telling the woman behind her that she had found the "sister" in the green cheongsam, because from what she had said before, she knew that the silly girl was actually not afraid of ghosts. Just afraid of mice. I doubt she really understands the difference between ghosts and humans.
Just after the woman behind understood what the silly girl meant, she immediately changed her expression from her amiable smile, remembered the location of the Jiamatan stall, and then turned around and took the silly girl back. He went into the house, then turned around and came out, asking the other two men I had seen to lock the door, and then the three of them walked towards Jiamatan's stall together. I whispered to Da Mao, "Let's move over slowly." So Da Mao and I also walked in the direction of Jiamatan, but we didn't show it deliberately and pretended that nothing was wrong.
The woman walked up to Jiama Tan and saw that there was only a bamboo sign on Jiama Tan's stall, so she stretched out her hand and pointed at the bamboo sign a few times. Jiama Tan then raised his head. First, I compared a nine. I was just about to say that Jiama Dan was too bad at doing business, but this female ghost in green clothes actually paid the same price as the suicide ghost he sold me! Then I might as well sell it myself! At least I got my money back. While he was thinking about it, Jiama Dan made another "nine" sign, then paused and made another "nine" sign.
Holy shit, this guy is really crazy about money. He actually asked for nine hundred and ninety-nine!
In 1976, this was a sky-high price. You must know that the per capita annual income that year was only more than sixty yuan. One cent could buy more than ten eggs, and a pack of cigarettes only cost two or three cents. It's considered a good draw. Going to the best theater to watch a movie only costs 5 cents a ticket. Even if you live a luxurious life, you can go to the people's commune canteen for every meal and have four dishes and one soup. Less than a dollar…
Nine hundred and ninety-nine yuan, as fast as an ordinary farmer can save without eating, drinking or buying anything, it will take him sixteen years to save!
I thought something was wrong at the time. People might think the asking price was too high and walk away. What's worse, they might not buy it and just send someone to rob it. Then things would get really big. . After all, the rule of the ghost market is that you cannot bargain. Although these people are just following orders, I believe they are well aware of the basic rules.
But to my surprise, the woman probably thought it was expensive, but after thinking about it, she turned to the two men and stretched out her hand. The man obediently took out a wad of thick bills from his arms. The stack was filled with ten-yuan notes. At that time, the largest denomination of RMB was ten yuan, which meant that she needed to count ninety-nine notes in exchange for this bamboo card.
I thought to myself that having money is really good. If I have money in the future, I will spend money like this to enjoy myself. The woman handed the entire stack of counted money to Jiama Tan. Jiama Tan probably had never seen so much money in his life. He was overjoyed and reached out to take it. I was really worried that he would forget what we agreed upon when he was happy. . The woman reached out to grab the bamboo sign on the stall, but was stopped by Jiama Tan. The woman looked really puzzled and looked up at Jiama Dan, her eyes full of confusion. But Jiama Dan stood up at this time, holding the money in his hand, clasping his hands on his lower abdomen, smiling and saying to the woman, sister, you don’t know something. If you take this sign away, Yes, your superiors will blame you.
Jiama Dan was probably desperate, thinking that he would never come to Sanchuan Ghost Market again in the future, so he ignored the rules here and actually spoke. The woman was very surprised, so she looked around and asked, "What do you mean? How do you know there is someone above me?" Also, who is your sister!
I couldn't hold back the laughter in my heart, because Jiama Dan is much older than that woman. He calls her sister, which is actually a slang term in our industry. Regardless of men, women, old or young, as long as they distinguish their relationships, all men will be treated equally. They are all eldest brothers, and women are all sisters, unless the other person is much shorter than their own generation. And this woman's rhetorical question immediately revealed her secret. It was obvious that she had never been in this industry, she was just doing business under orders, that's all.
Jiamatan said, I have been here for a long time. You people take turns taking people around, but you always live in the same room. This shows that you are here to look for things with a purpose, so I It is judged that you are just businessmen, not real buyers. After saying that, Jiamatan picked up the bamboo sign on the stall and said to the woman, this thing is different from the ghosts in the market. This guy has to recognize its owner. If you buy it, it will only recognize you and not others. It can no longer be used and has become a waste. I kindly remind you that whoever wants this thing will buy it in person. If you don’t believe it, you can just buy it. The responsibilities behind it are not something that an idle person like me can take care of. Come on!
Jiama Dan said these words slowly, and his momentum seemed full of confidence. After saying that, he handed the bamboo sign in his hand to the woman, but now the woman did not dare to reach out to take it, which meant that she was thinking about what to do. So she turned around and discussed with the two men in a low voice for a while, and then said to Jiamatan, okay, let's do this deal tomorrow. After saying that, she also pointed at the pile of banknotes in Naima Dan's hand.
Jiama Dan smiled slightly and returned the nine hundred and ninety-nine to the woman.
