Liu Fang jumped off the donkey cart, and the leader put one side of the shaft on a stone roller, unloaded the donkey, and tied it to a poplar tree to rest. Then he took out a gourd-shaped water scoop from a fertilizer bag tied under the car, then stood on the stone roller, opened the opening on the oil drum, and shouted loudly: "Old rule, 1 money for 1 scoop, no credit ." The villagers just felt that they had prepared money, and he began to collect money to fetch water from the villagers. For every scoop, one cent was collected, and the khaki one-cent notes and the green two-cent notes were collected like this.
Liu Fang jumped off the donkey cart, and the leader put one side of the shaft on a stone roller, unloaded the donkey, and tied it to a poplar tree to rest. The leader took out a gourd-shaped water scoop from a fertilizer bag tied under the car, then stood on the stone roller, opened the opening on the oil drum, and began to fetch water for the villagers. The villagers seem to be accustomed to charging one penny for every scoop. After fetching the water, they held it carefully for fear of spilling it, and soon disappeared behind the wooden boards or rows made of crop poles scattered in all directions.
The villagers seemed to be used to it. After fetching the water, they held it carefully for fear of spilling it. After a while, he disappeared behind the templates or signs made of crop poles scattered in all directions. After all the villagers had finished fetching water, the village chief collected the things, tied the lids of the oil drums, hitched the donkey cart, and said to Liu Fang, "Follow me."
Yang Liufang followed the leader obediently. After bypassing the dam, it was still a loess road. After walking for about half a mile, a yard surrounded by low walls made of loess mixed with millet straw came into view. In the middle of the yard, there was a doorway about 1m wide. The doorway was useful. A simple door made of wooden sticks is blocking the door. Directly opposite the door is a row of cave dwellings. The cave dwelling in the middle has an open door and two bedrooms with arched windows on both sides. The owner seemed to be very hard-working. He planted simple vegetables in a corner of the yard, and the leaves were covered with yellow dust.
Perhaps hearing the clatter of wheels and donkey hooves on the road, a hostess wearing a green headscarf and holding a child with thin pigtails came to open the door. The leader drove the donkey cart to the livestock shed surrounded by straw on the south side of the courtyard wall, while the woman closed the door, put down the child, and followed them to the shed next to the livestock shed to fetch water. There is a pot and stove made of loess in the shed, which should be the kitchen. After Liu Fang came in, he stood in the center of the yard. The child ran over and looked at Liu Fang curiously, and Liu Fang responded with a kind smile.
After the man tied up the animal, he came back and introduced: "This is Aunt E and the baby. Goudan, come call me uncle (sou)."
The boy named Goudan timidly called Liu Fang "Uncle!" The voice was very clear, and then he quickly ran over and hugged his mother's legs, peeking over. Liu Fang agreed with a "Hey~" and instinctively wanted to get a small gift in return, but then he remembered that the tomatoes and melons were gone. But the boy's pride still made him turn around, take out the remaining dime from the pocket of his shorts, walk up and hand it to the child, and said with a smile: "Come on, Goudan, save it for candy."
"His uncle, you can't do it, you can't do it." The child's mother turned sideways and pulled the child to one side to hide. After all, Liu Fang was quick and put the child in the arms holding the mother.
"Take it, uncle gave it to me." The leader was not polite. He said while washing his face.
The team headquarters is behind the poplar tree in the yard where the villagers buy water. Yang Liufang followed the leader here with a tote bag filled with goods. It was said to be a team headquarters, but in fact there were only three caves like the leader's house. He took off the key from his belt and opened the door. The two walked in. Yang Liufang saw that the room he entered did not even have a simple table or bench, but only walls. A huge portrait of the leader hangs on it.
Under the window sill in the cave on the left hand side, there was a large blackened box one meter square. There was a lock on the box. The leader opened the lock and took out a loudspeaker. The loudspeaker was connected to a box wrapped in red cloth. microphone. Liu Fang hurried over to take it and hug it. The leader took out four more dry batteries before closing the box. He took the device from Yang Liufang, opened the back cover and put in the dry batteries one by one, and then turned on the recorder. After the loudspeaker hanging somewhere outside the window made a harsh sound, there was a whining sound.
The leader signaled Yang Liufang to go out. When Liu Fang walked under the poplar tree in the yard, he heard the leader's voice coming from the loudspeaker: "Rabbit Meng (comrades), send a notice (next), fat (whose) family is short of Come to the team to buy needlework and thread, a needle costs 1 cent, a thimble costs 2 cents, and black and white thread costs 5 cents."
Then he added: "If you don't have money, you can also use eggs to exchange them. The price is 1 cent, and you will get back more or less. Ha (below), let me broadcast again..."
As soon as the leader finished speaking, there was a popping sound, the speaker went silent, and it sounded like the power supply was cut off. Before the leader came out, a shabby woman wearing a green headscarf came over. Someone shouted at the pull-out window with a loud voice: "Brother Shitou, where can I buy it?" Only then did Yang Liufang realize that the leader's name was: Shitou.
"Xiao Yang, come on, come on." The village chief did not answer, but called Liu Fang to come in.
Yang Liufang walked in with a bag and saw the village chief holding the equipment. He quickly dropped the bag and took it. The village chief opened the box again, took the amplifier and microphone, put them in the box, and closed it again. Shouting out the window: "Come here to buy!"
The village chief took out a red notebook with the portraits of national leaders and an old pen. Before he could open the notebook, more than ten women had already poured in. One of them was active in the crowd, fighting with everyone, and Speaking to a woman wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt:
"Oh, how big are the eggs you and Mao Dan hatched?"
"Fart, it's not enough to eat, it can't hatch, hahaha..."
"Your kiln is not soundproof, and some people heard you saying that the kang is ruined..." Another man in a green floral shirt also joined in to joke.
"Hahaha... quack quack..."
The dirty jokes made everyone burst into laughter.
"When it comes to hatching eggs, let's go under the quilt on the kang. Who will get fat first?"
"I, I want two needles, one big and small." A woman wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt and a red headscarf walked forward and said.
"How big is it? Is it as big as Shi Shui's?" A woman rushed in to joke, not wanting to lag behind. The crowd that had just been quiet burst into laughter and chaos.
"Hey, well, don't ask for the Buddha, change the flowers and pay the money!" The leader spoke, and everyone became quiet again. Yang Liufang knew that this woman was named Gaihua.
Gaihua handed over a 2-cent note. Liu Fang took out a pack of needles and opened them. He took out a smallest and a medium needle and handed them to Gaihua. Gaihua lifted up a corner of his shirt and pinned them. Go up there and get out of the crowd.
