After the driver dusted Liu Fang, he saw his chapped and bloodshot lips, so he opened the water he had packed in a can and fed it to Liu Fang, who was leaning on the wheel guard. Yang Liufang drank half the bottle in small sips. Liu Fang leaned on it sluggishly and was finally able to speak: "Uncle, I, I went to Xizhou to purchase goods. I really can't walk..."
"Hey, where did you come from?"
"I, I don't understand very well..." Even though Liu Fang drank water, he was still weak because his stomach was empty.
"Get in the truck and follow me! Can you sit here?" the master said, patting the tractor's rear wheel guard.
"Okay, thank you, uncle..." Liu Fang tried to climb on the wheel axle, but failed, so he had to help his master to sit on it. When Liu Fang sat firmly, the master took out the joystick from under the seat, shook it violently, and the tractor started "chugging...". The master put away the joystick, and after getting on the truck, the tractor started, and Liu Fang was not seated. Stable, almost fell.
"It's getting old!" The master said sternly to Liu Fang while driving the tractor. Liu Fang firmly grasped the iron frame on the backrest of the driver's seat and sat on the wheel frame with his legs together. The bumpy loess road made Liu Fang's butt hurt, but he did not dare to relax at all.
It wasn't until the sun set in the west that they arrived at Yantan Bus Station. Liu Fang begged the master to stop the car and take the bus back to the city. Due to sitting for a long time, Liu Fang staggered as soon as he got off the bus. When he fell, his shoulder hit the stone pillar supporting the bus stop sign, which prevented him from falling completely. The heartbreaking pain made Yang Liufang say "Ah !" shouted. The driver who had not yet released the brakes asked loudly: "Wooden pedals? (Northwestern dialect: It's not damaged, right?)"
"No...no, uncle, thank you!" Yang Liufang endured the pain and thanked the kind master. When the master saw that there was no problem, he released the brakes and flew away with a sudden burst of dust. Yang Liufang, covered in dust and unkempt, staggered towards the vegetable patch where he bought tomatoes last time. He decided to buy some tomatoes and melons to fill his stomach.
Yang Liufang walked to the end of the field in pain and shouted with all his strength: "Uncle, uncle!"
"Hey!" Sure enough, the vegetable farmer was still busy and poked his head out of an eggplant field.
"It's me, uncle!" Liu Fang waved his hand.
"Ouch~~Hey, are you going to beat up Sapini? (What are you going to do?)" Liu Fang understood this sentence.
"Uncle, I came back to Xizhou to purchase goods." Liu Fang replied while walking towards the eggplant field where the uncle was.
Passing by the tomato area, Liu Fang didn't bother to ask his uncle's permission, so he picked a large bright red tomato and ate it in big mouthfuls. He accidentally bit his finger. Liu Fang grinned in pain and couldn't even take two steps. The big tomatoes have been eaten. So I picked another one and walked forward while eating.
The uncle stood up and saw Liu Fang's embarrassed look, "Ouch, it's very hard to beg for food (Xizhou dialect: very much like a beggar)."
My mouth was stuffed with Yangliufang tomatoes, and the juice flowed from the bite. The uncle didn't understand what he said, so he just said to himself: "Uncle, I'm buying tomatoes. I've been hungry all day."
"Hey, Gazizi (you kid!)." As he spoke, Liu Fang ate another tomato. He couldn't understand the uncle's Xizhou dialect anyway, so he walked around the eggplant field and found the place where he picked melons last time. , picked the big one and took it off, lifted up the hem of his dirty vest, wiped off the dirt, put it on his knees, opened it with a fist, and started chewing it. The vegetable farmer uncle paid no attention to him and was busy with his own business. He probably thought that he wouldn't be able to eat much if he burst his belly anyway, and the thin Yang Liufang wouldn't be able to escape without giving him money.
After Yang Liufang finished eating a large melon, he finally felt full. He burped and sat on the ground, watching the vegetable farmer busy. It was getting dark, and a cry came from the ground: "Da (da), it's time to eat, Da, it's time to eat...". The child named "Gawa" who translated for them last time came. . The uncle stood up tiredly from the eggplant field, clapped his hands, turned to Liu Fang who was sitting on the ground and said, "Let's go!".
Liu Fang was eager to go over and let his child translate and express what he meant. After a while, I followed the vegetable farmer to the end of the field. The child who was called "Gawa" immediately recognized him: "You are the one selling needlework!"
"Well, little brother, please tell your dad that I want to buy some tomatoes to eat." Liu Fang said, taking out a note mixed with the smell of urine and sweat from the inner pocket of his shorts, and found a 2-cent note. Pass it over.
"You smell so bad!" Tong Yanwuji blurted out. Indeed, in summer like this, Yang Liufang, who hadn't taken a shower for a week, stank all over, as if he had fallen into a cesspool.
"Don't talk hoover!" The vegetable farmer took the money and said sternly, glaring at the little boy. The little boy stopped talking.
"Hey, let him eat this!" The uncle continued to say to the child.
"Hey, big, he ate this, what do you want to eat?"
"Come home with me!"
"Here, I told you to eat this." The little boy obediently handed over a rice bag wrapped in a white towel. Yang Liufang quickly found a corner of his own money and handed it over, hoping to use it as meal money. The vegetable farmer said I don’t want anything, I just said the two cents were enough.
Liu Fang took the rice bag, which was hot. "Thank you, brother!" A smell of vegetable fragrance came out, Liu Fang's nose was a little sore, his eye circles were red, and he almost shed tears.
"You can't go into the city, so you can rest here tonight! I'll go home and get you some soap (soap), take a good bath, and wash your clothes."
"Wow..." Yang Liufang couldn't hold back his tears anymore and cried loudly. The cry contained gratitude to the uncle who met the vegetable farmer, the unfamiliar driver, the head of Shitou Village, the little brother who allowed me to eat hot meals...all these kind people, as well as the joy of being away from home. Helplessness, grievance and pain...
Seeing Yang Liufang suddenly crying while holding a rice bag, the little boy was startled and at a loss. The vegetable farmer stepped forward and held Yang Liufang's shoulder with one hand, and wiped Yang Liufang's tears with the other hand. Although the vegetable farmer's hands were rough, they had the warmth of a father.
Hearing the cry, the farmers from the surrounding vegetable fields also rushed over. They watched and talked in Xizhou dialect. Liu Fang quickly stopped crying, but his sobs could not be suppressed. Liu Fang couldn't understand most of everyone's Xizhou dialect, so he simply didn't listen and just muttered to express his gratitude to the vegetable farmer and the little boy again. The vegetable farmer uncle walked into the resting shack next to him, opened the curtain made of gauze, and lit a kerosene lamp, and a weak light came out. The uncle invited Yang Liufang to come in, and told him to put down the screen when entering and exiting, and joked: "If the curtain is not closed well, the mosquitoes here will eat you up at night." Liu Fang burst into tears and laughed.
