Yang Liufang opened the plastic sheet and found a straw mat inside, which he unfolded and spread out in the dark. He sat on it and took out two tomatoes, wiped them with his vest and ate them. After eating, he wiped his hands on the corner of the straw mat. I got on the plastic sheet and lay down on it. After walking for a while at night, I was very tired. Although the straw mat was a little hard on my back, it was very warm. I fell asleep quickly after lying on it.
The next day, Yang Liufang woke up to the sound of the village chief Shitou fetching water. When he opened his eyes, he saw the village chief Shitou struggling to fetch water. Liu Fang jumped up and rushed over to help without caring about cleaning up.
"Chief Shi, let me help you."
"Tsk, tsk, see you again, call me brother!"
"Okay, brother, I'll help you. You come and get the water, then hand it to me and I'll pour it in."
"Mummy!" Village Chief Shitou looked very happy.
The two passed the water and quickly filled the bucket on the donkey cart. Liu Fang used the remaining water in the bucket to wash two tomatoes and share the food with the village chief Shitou. Village Chief Shitou asked Liu Fang to wash up with the remaining water in the bucket. After Liu Fang finished washing up, he also washed his face. But in the end, he was reluctant to pour the water away and hung the bucket on the shaft of the car.
After the sound of a whip, the donkey kicked on the ground, struggled to pull the frame cart filled with a barrel of water, and walked forward along the loess road with a squeaking sound. Originally, the head of Shitou Village wanted Yang Liufang to sit directly on the shaft of the cart. Liu Fang was afraid of tiring the donkey, so he just put the goods and bags containing tomatoes and melons on the cart, but he still had to walk for a while. The village chief couldn't resist and had to agree.
"Brother, you travel so far every day to fetch water, why don't you dig a well in the village?"
"Well, Mr. E and Mr. E have both led people to dig. They have tried many wet lands in the village. People have trampled on them all day long, and it just doesn't work. Only later did I find out where the well is now."
"Oh, that's it. Big brother. How many people are there in our village?"
"In addition to those doing business outside, there are more than 200 households."
...
Yang Liufang and the head of Shitou Village walked and chatted until he couldn't walk any more, then he started riding the donkey cart. After returning to the village around noon and distributing water to the waiting villagers, Village Chief Shitou took Liu Fang home.
The village chief's mother-in-law and son were already waiting at the entrance of the courtyard. Seeing Yang Liufang, Gawa struggled to get out of her mother's arms to find Liu Fang. Liu Fang took out two milk candies given by the market owner from his handbag and gave him two . After peeling off the remaining one, the blue and white cellophane was torn open, and the white toffee like shrimp crackers was exposed, and the little Gawa was already so greedy that her mouth watered.
"You can't do that, uncle, you're going to spend money again." The village chief's mother-in-law tried to dissuade her while getting some water to wash her face.
"Sister-in-law, it's okay, as long as the child likes it."
Gawa couldn't wait to put it in her mouth. At this time, the industrious village chief's mother-in-law had brought face wash. Liu Fang and the village chief finished washing one after another. When they entered the main room to prepare for dinner, Liu Fang remembered something.
"Brother, let me borrow the kitchen. I'll mix some tomatoes for us to eat as a vegetable."
"You are a guest, let your sister-in-law come. Gawa mother, Gawa mother?"
"What?"
"Mix some tomatoes."
Yang Liufang gave the remaining tomatoes in the plastic bag and the melon to the village chief's aunt. She took them and walked to the kitchen to mix the tomatoes.
"We will take the goods and set off after dinner. I have already said hello to the Cong (village) chief of the neighboring Cong (village)."
"Thank you, brother. You took the trouble."
After a while, a bowl of cold tomatoes was brought in. Yang Liufang and the village chief Shitou ate it with steamed potatoes.
After dinner, Village Chief Shitou took out the remaining goods from last time and asked Yang Liufang to count them before he stopped. The hard-working and simple farmers in the northwest may have never left the Loess Plateau in their lives, but their simple and honest character and this heavy land The plateau is also awe-inspiring.
Yang Liufang packed all the goods together, walked to the courtyard with the village chief Shitou, helped him remove the oil drum-turned-water tank from the donkey cart, hitched the donkey, and the two set off. All the way to the west, there were the same ravines and ravines, and the donkey carts bumped along the trail. Except for the rhythmic "clack" of the donkey's hooves and the random "squeaking" of the donkey carts, the hot road was quiet and boring.
Village Chief Shitou noticed Yang Liufang's boredom, whipped his whip in the air, and sang a song called "Xintianyou" at the top of his lungs:
Sheep's belly (zi'er) hand towel (kerchief) yo
Three Doug Blue
It's easy for us to meet each other
Oops, it’s hard to talk
One is on that mountain
One is in the ditch
We can't talk about that
Oh, beckoning hand
wave your hand
Oh oh oh oh
Village Chief Shitou closed his eyes and tilted his head. Every time he sang, his shoulders sank and his singing voice was loud and clear. The simple lyrics passed through the undulating loess plateau and through the mottled sand and wormwood, echoing continuously, making people remember for a long time.
When the sun's shadow sets to the west, the green of crops can be faintly seen in front, and even closer, the appearance of a village sitting on a cliff is vaguely visible. Entering the village, Liu Fang found that it was very similar to Shiyi Village. The villagers lived in scattered cave dwellings. Yang Liufang, who had studied carpentry for two years, was extremely sensitive to wood products. He found that the cave dwellings here rarely had wooden doors. Some windows are made of branches crossing into a "field" shape.
The head of Shitou Village drove the donkey cart to the courtyard of the village headquarters. In the courtyard, four poplar trees towered in front of the cave dwelling of the team headquarters. A man was wearing a shirt and a white vest with "Advanced Individual" printed on the chest. The old man sat on the grinding wheel under the shade of the tree and smoked a cigarette. The village chief Shitou called out, "Come on (I)."
"Hey," the old man nodded, took a deep breath of cigarette, exhaled thick white smoke, knocked the long copper pot head on the grinding plate, and shouted into the cave, "Wang Shan, your brother-in-law is here." Come out and give him a drink." Only then did Liu Fang understand that this village is the natal family of the aunt of the village chief Shitou. It seems that the village chief's father-in-law should be the leader of this village.
After a while, a young man came out of the cave and shouted to the stone, "Brother-in-law, come here."
"Hey." Village Chief Shitou agreed and got off the donkey cart. Yang Liufang also jumped down.
The young man named Wang San drove the cart to the barn with ease, tied the donkey, and unloaded the cart. Village Chief Shitou took out the tomatoes and melons given to them by Yang Liufang from the pocket made of fertilizer bags under the car. Handed it to Wang San, "Here, Xiaoyang people brought it back from Xizhou at this time, you can keep it to eat."
He turned around and called Liu Fang, "Come on, Xiao Yang, this is Eda, my name is Uncle (Sou)."
"Uncle, I'm Xiao Yang, I'm causing trouble for you."
"Mu Ma Da (no problem), listen to (me) Shitou Zhu (said) you know how to break furniture?"
"Yes, uncle"
"Hey, the third son of the E family is getting married. Could you please help me make some tables and chairs?"
"I..." Liu Fang was a little hesitant. Firstly, he had never done it before, and secondly, there were no tools here.
"Why, don't give the old man face."
"No, no, uncle, I, I don't have anything."
"Well, it looks like this. I'll help you sell tools, um, and stones, and slowly buy a wife. The third son will get married on the 28th of the New Year, and there are still more than four months left. It's too late."
"That, that's good. Uncle, I promise you."
