Seeing Liu Fang approaching, the master raised his head and showed a friendly smile, "Hello, boss." He asked Liu Fang in Mandarin with a Wenzhou accent, but the work in his hands did not stop. He lowered his head to look at Liu Fang, saw his feet wearing sandals, and continued: "What do you need? I have toothpaste, toothbrushes, candies and other small items here."
In the 1980s, most shoe shiners came out of Wenzhou. In addition to a complete set of shoes shining and repairing equipment, they usually also brought mirrors, toothpaste, needlework and other small items. Therefore, even if we encounter customers who don’t need their shoes shined, we will ask them in good faith in the hope of doing more business.
"Brother, are you getting better and better as time goes by? (Are you from Wenzhou?)" Liu Fang deliberately greeted him in Wenzhou dialect to shorten the distance.
"Yeah, brother, you're just doing it every day (what kind of business are you here for?)"
"Brother, I came to sell shoes with my brother. We were crowded on the bus, so I'm waiting for him here. I have nothing to do, and I want to learn how to shine shoes from you."
"Oh, that's fine. This is easy to learn. You'll learn it if you look at it more."
The two of them talked in their native dialect, which was difficult for the guests to understand. After a while, a pair of shiny new leather shoes was polished, and the master charged the customer 2 cents for shoe polishing.
At this time, there were customers coming out of the station to buy toothpaste and toothbrushes. The chef quickly took the goods from a travel bag and collected the money at the same time. When the second pair of shoes was polished, Liu Fang roughly understood everything, thanked the master and left. The reason why Wenzhou businessmen are able to do business is that they will never lower prices and grab territory like businessmen in some places. Instead, they rely on their own efforts to expand business in new places, and eventually become a bit connected.
Liu Fang found under a willow tree at an exit on the west side of the square, then went to find two cement pavement bricks nearby, stacked them together, folded the napkin wrapped in the shoeshine cloth, spread it on top, and sat on the ground. It was noon, and the weather was starting to get hot. Guests leaving the station also came here to enjoy the cool air while waiting for the bus. Five or six people gathered, and Liu Fang began to whisper: "Shine shoes." The people enjoying the shade cast worldly glances and suffered in silence. One of them asked, "How much?"
Liu Fang remembered that the master had just charged 2 cents for bringing a stool and newspaper to shine shoes, so he told the guest: "1 cent." The guest sat down without hesitation, and Liu Fang put one of the guest's feet on his crossed legs. The guest's leather shoes were polished very quickly, and the shoe polishing cloth was probably wet. The guest also happily paid 1 dime.
With his first income, Liu Fang became bolder and began to greet the guests loudly, "Shine shoes, 1 cent... 1 cent, shoe polish..."
Customers waiting for the bus began to sit down one after another. By the sixth pair, the shoe polish on the shoe polishing cloth was almost gone. Due to the hot weather, the shoe polishing cloth began to become dry and the effect became worse and worse. Liu Fang almost wetted the guest's leather shoes with his breath. After Minato finished wiping, the guest of the seventh pair had already sat down. He was a middle-aged man. Liu Fang looked at the guest and said, "Uncle, please wait a moment, I will go to the bathroom."
Then he stood up and almost fell down again. Because he had been sitting on the floor for too long, his legs were numb and his feet were no longer in control. Holding back the numbness, I walked crookedly towards the station. When I got to the bathroom, I didn't care about convenience, so I washed the shoe polish first. At this time, my already black hands were even more stained with oil. Except for the temples, which were not green, the fingers were black, just like the charcoal seller in Bai Juyi's works. Weng.
After finishing the convenience, the numbness in Yang Liufang's legs had eased, and he quickly ran to his brother, a fellow villager who learned to shine shoes, and bought a tube of shoe polish. When his brother saw Liu Fang's hands, he gave him approval and encouragement. In Wen Shang's view, the so-called dignity is earned by making money in a down-to-earth manner. A person with great ability can make a lot of money, while a person with little ability can make a small amount of money. The most despised thing is that he loves face and suffers at all costs.
After Yang Liufang bought the shoe polish, he felt more confident. He immediately returned to his stall, let's call it a stall, and immediately got to work very skillfully. One after another, they were busy until the sun was setting. At this time, the elder brother came over, took a piece of bread, said it was "Guokui" and handed it to Liu Fang, "Brother, good job, you haven't eaten yet, come here , eat this.”
Only then did Liu Fang feel hungry. He looked at his brother shyly, took it obediently, and ate it hungrily. The elder brother handed over his water glass again, and Liu Fang drank happily. At this time, another customer came over. After Liu Fang thanked his elder brother, he devoted himself to the intense work until dark. When Liu Fang went to look for the elder brother again, he found that the person had closed the stall and was no longer there. .
Liu Fang dragged his exhausted body to the bathroom to wash his hands. No matter how he rinsed his hands, which were stained with shoe polish, it would be of no avail. Liu Fang wished he had washing powder or soap. That would be great. So he went out to the store inside the station to buy some. When asked for 5 cents for a piece of soap, Liu Fang was reluctant to part with it. He put the soap back and left in shame.
I worked so hard all day polishing shoes that I didn’t even bother to eat. I polished 23 customers with my hands and feet kept busy all day long. I received 2.3 yuan for shoe polishing. I already spent 2 cents on shoe polish, and spent another 5 cents on soap. If so, it would be too luxurious for Liu Fang now. I could only go back to the bathroom and rub it under the water repeatedly until my hands were a little sore before leaving. I picked up the shoe polish and shoe polish wrapped in paper and walked tiredly to the beef noodle restaurant.
After Yang Liufang finished eating the beef noodles, it was already dark. He was a little anxious without Yang Tongfu for two consecutive days, but it didn't help. He could only wait until nine o'clock the next day to have a look. I walked a long way along the road in front of the station, and felt the city of Xizhou for the first time.
This is a city with a strong Islamic style. Countless beef noodle restaurants have halal words engraved on their doors. After dinner, there are many men and women wearing white hats and headscarves walking on the street. They greet each other politely. Saying hello, Yang Liufang seemed to be the only stranger.
Unconsciously, I walked near Xizhou Station, and a large wholesale market came into view. It was just that the huge wholesale market had ended its business for the day and was quiet at the moment. Yang Liufang smelled a sour smell on his body because he hadn't taken a shower or clothes for so many days. He thought that he must come here to buy washing powder tomorrow. If he earned a lot from shining shoes, he would also buy a vest. and shorts, thinking of this, my mood became high again, and I was ready to go back to the waiting hall of the train station to sleep.
Yang Liufang had a full meal of beef noodles with his hard-earned income from shoe polishing. Except for being occasionally woken up by the broadcast at the station, Yang Liufang slept very soundly that night.
Woke up early in the morning and went to eat beef noodles as usual. When he returned to the willow tree where he had shined his shoes yesterday, a police patrol motorcycle was parked there. Liu Fang could only find another place to use as a shoe shine stall along the square. Keep walking along the edge, and the other shade trees are far away from the exits and bus stops. There are tall pine trees in between, and the ground is dirty. Looking back to the willow tree yesterday, the police motorcycle was still parked there, and the willow tree left in despair.
