When the vegetable farmer uncle left with the little boy, Yang Liufang put the rice bag on the sleeping horse bed (a rope bed similar to a large horse bed that is very common in the northwest, also known as the "Hu bed"), walked out, and borrowed the Under the weak kerosene light, I went to wash up at the sink for watering vegetables, and then went in to eat again. Before the meal was finished, the vegetable farmer returned, bringing back a pair of shorts made from old trousers and some thin soap that looked like bamboo chips. He handed them to Yang Liufang and left again.
Although there was only half a thick piece of Guokui in the rice bag, Yang Liufang enjoyed the stir-fried vegetarian dishes mixed with a large portion of several vegetables. After devouring the food, Yang Liufang burped, took the bowl to the sink and washed it, then scooped up a bowl of water and added it to the pressure well next to the sink (a device in the northwest that can pump underground water). He lifted the handle up and down, and a few times The water came out. Yang Liufang took advantage of the situation and took a bowl, drinking it to his full content. He continued to fetch water, and did not return the bowl to the shack until the pool was full. Liu Fang took out the worn shorts and the thin soap, and did not care whether the vegetable keeper in the neighboring vegetable field could see it or not, so he put it on his own Take off all your clothes, jump into the pool and wash your body with soap.
After coming up, he used his smelly vest and shorts to wipe off the water droplets on his body. He put on the shabby shorts given by his uncle and tried them on. The waistband of the pants was a bit fat, so Liu Fang just picked a few on the ground by the pool. Tie a piece of weed leaf to prevent the pants from falling down. He washed his smelly clothes with the remaining soap and hung them to dry on a thin bamboo pole beside the shack, which was used to support vines such as beans. He got back into the shack, closed the gauze curtain, extinguished the kerosene lamp, and lay down happily on the maza bed. After washing away the fatigue of the past few days and having a hearty meal, I quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Yang Liufang was woken up by the roar of cars and the noisy sound of collecting vegetables. He opened his sleepy eyes and saw that the room was dark. He looked outside the sand net curtain and saw that it was still dark. But at this moment, vegetable farmers are already busy so that city people can eat fresh vegetables early in the morning.
"Tomatoes, 23 kilograms!"
"Uh (I) know!" followed by a "bang" sound. Heard again:
"35 kilograms of cucumbers!"
"Hey, numbness (Xizhou dialect: no problem)!" Then there was another "clang" sound.
Liu Fang opened the gauze curtain in the dark and walked out. The vegetable farmer just happened to be struggling to carry a basket of vegetables to the door of the shack. Yang Liufang quickly opened the curtain and walked out, helping to drag the bottom of the basket. The uncle received help and let out a heavy breath. . Just like that, the uncle was behind and Liu Fang was in front, bending over and walking backwards towards the end of the field. When they reached the main road among the vegetable fields, it suddenly became brighter, and the two of them could walk sideways towards the truck. Liu Fang turned his head and saw that the light was the light of a running truck. In front of the light was a scale with figures. The sound of weighing various vegetables came out one after another amid the "rumbling" sounds of trucks, rough and orderly.
When he arrived at the scale, Liu Fang let go and straightened up, already sweating profusely. The uncle held the frame and put it on the platform of the scale with a "clang" sound. Only now did Liu Fang understand that the sound of impact came from this.
"43 kilograms of cucumbers!" the person collecting vegetables counted.
The vegetable farmer stepped forward and squinted his eyes to read the scale on the scale. After confirming that it is correct, he said to the receiver:
"Mu Da (Xizhou dialect: no problem)!"
Liu Fang helped the uncle move the vegetable basket off the scale and handed it to the carriage, and the person who was doing the work took it over. The vegetable farmer turned around and walked to the vegetable collector, took a note, folded it and put it in his pocket, then turned and walked back to his vegetable field. Yang Liufang hurriedly followed, and the vegetable farmer behind continued to weigh his own vegetables.
Liu Fang followed his uncle until he reached the melon area, where a basket full of melons was already here. The uncle held back his breath and bent down to pick it up. Liu Fang bent down again and dragged the bottom of the basket hard. He felt that this basket was obviously heavier than the previous basket. The two of them walked slowly towards the edge of the vegetable field.
Before reaching the end of the field, Liu Fang was already sweating profusely, and he could still clearly hear his uncle's heavy breathing in his ears. After weighing and loading the truck and getting the receipt, the vegetable farmer felt relieved and let out a long sigh of relief.
The two went to the sink to wash themselves, and then returned to the shack. The uncle lit the kerosene lamp, took out a piece of plastic sheet from a corner, spread it on the ground, lay down on it, and said to Liu Fang: "Fei (sleep)! "
Liu Fang wanted the vegetable farmer uncle to sleep on the horse bed. When he looked over and wanted to wake him up, he saw that he had already laid down and closed his eyes. I could only lie down on the maza bed by myself. After a while, I heard the uncle's heavy snoring.
It was already bright when Yang Liufang woke up. He turned to look at the vegetable farmer on the ground. He had already left and was probably working in the vegetable field again. This is the epitome of the farmers in the suburbs of western China's cities in the 1980s. Like most farmers, they faced the loess and turned their backs to the sky, but they could not live a traditional rural life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset. They work day and night to grow and sell vegetables, running like crazy to make the whole family live comfortably.
Yang Liufang got off the bed, put on his clothes, opened the gauze curtain, and walked out of the shack. I saw that the vegetable field seemed to have just been watered, and some parts of the field ridges were soaked with water. I accidentally slipped my feet out of the slippers with the uppers already cut open, and stepped on the soil, which was cool. Unable to squat down and put on his shoes, he could only walk to the pool. Seeing that it was filled with new water, Liu Fang washed it randomly, put his feet in again, said hello to the uncle and turned around to leave. . After carefully walking out of the vegetable field, I walked towards the bus stop on the main road.
Soon, the familiar red, blue and white bus drove over in the morning sun. After the passengers got off, the driver went to the front to make a U-turn, because this bus was the last stop out of the city from the bus station, and it was also the bus from the suburbs to the city. The first stop, so there are very few people. After Yang Liufang bought the ticket, he found a seat by the window and sat down. When he crossed his legs, he saw his open sandals, and he thought of Li Tongfu again. I wonder if this strange brother has already arrived in Xizhou with the goods? Have you started selling shoes in the train station square? Yang Liufang's thoughts drifted away.
At this moment, Li Tongfu was not having a good life. He offered a pair of shoes to a passenger sitting next to him for a discount of one yuan, and asked the passenger to help him carry a travel bag full of shoes out of the train station. When he arrived at the train station square, he was frightened by the dark crowd. arrive. At that time, although Zhengzhou Station had long been a national special station and a national transportation hub, it had very few waiting halls, but people from all over the world transferred here, and Henan had a large population, so most people only You can wait in the open-air waiting area, and the entire station square is densely packed with people.
