Shiyi Village is short of water, and the village chief Shitou must rush back overnight to ensure that the villagers can have water the next day. So after dinner, the two of them couldn't wait too long, so they had to hitch up the car and catch up with the donkey and drive back to Shiyi Village. The old village chief was worried that the road was uneven, so he asked his son Wang San to go to the team headquarters to take out the team's horse lantern, pour some kerosene from his own kerosene lamp into it, light it, put a glass lampshade on it, and give it to the village chief Shitou to hang on the shaft of the car. After getting on the bus, the two of them drove back. The dim lights of the lanterns illuminate the way forward, giving people a very warm feeling in the dark night. Yang Liufang lay on the swaying donkey cart and actually fell asleep.
It was already midnight when the two returned to Shiyi Village. Village Chief Shitou asked Yang Liufang to go back to the empty cave dwelling to sleep, while he took the donkey into the stable by the light of the lantern and added night grass to it. Just went to bed.
There was no talking all night, and at dawn the next day, the two of them got up early, worked together to install the oil drums filled with water on the donkey cart, and set off to the well together. When he arrived at the well, Yang Liufang said goodbye to the village chief Shitou and made an appointment with him to return in three days at the latest so that the village chief Shitou could prepare a straw mat for him to sleep on at night.
Yang Liufang, who has traveled back and forth many times, has gradually become familiar with this loess road. He can estimate the time at which he will arrive at the three-way intersection, and successfully catches a transport tractor, trying to reach Yantan Vegetable Farm before the sun sets. Uncle’s vegetable patch, so that you won’t have to sleep on the streets of Xizhou at night. This time was different from the past. There was a sick child in the father-in-law of Stone Village who was in urgent need of medical treatment. Yang Liufang thought of this, and there seemed to be a sense of mission in his mind urging him, and he speeded up his pace unconsciously.
When I arrived at the vegetable field, the uncle was working. He is a kind-hearted person and always hopes that the people he has helped will be successful. When he saw Yang Liufang arriving, the uncle showed a happy smile on his face.
"Gewa, come back early this time. I'm going to piss you off (what are you going to do?)"
"Yes, uncle, the sales went smoothly this time." Yang Liufang had only a partial understanding of the uncle's Xizhou dialect, so he could only guess and answer.
"Hey, that's good. Oh, last time you walked away (I) Buddha (said) I didn't want your money, and you put me on the bed again, but I won't allow it this time."
"Uncle, it's your duty to pay. Besides, I can't thank you enough for letting me sleep on your own horse bed."
"You're starving, go ahead and pick some food yourself. Fei (sleep) here at night. Well (I) will go back later and let your aunt warm up some more pot helmets."
"Thank you, uncle." The vegetable farmer continued to be busy, and Yang Liufang went to the melon field to pick melons to eat.
When it was getting dark, the uncle walked out of the fields and finished work early. He told Yang Liufang that he would not come over in the evening and would ask his son to deliver food. Yang Liufang quickly thanked him. Taking advantage of the weak light, Yang Liufang walked into the vegetable shack, lit the kerosene lamp, and found that the indoor furnishings were the same, except that there was an extra military coat on the bed. Yang Liufang then remembered that it was already October and the weather was getting cold.
"Brother, brother, uh (I) brought you food." The little boy's clear voice sounded, and Yang Liufang hurriedly came out to greet him.
"Thank you, little brother." Yang Liufang took a rice bag wrapped in a white towel. The warm rice bag was full of aroma. He put down his rice bag and asked the little boy:
"Little brother, how old are you?"
"He's 8 years old. You see, his front teeth are almost falling out." The little boy raised his upper lip, and sure enough, a tooth next to his front teeth started to move when he touched it with the tip of his tongue.
"Oh. It's true. Have you gone to school?"
"I'm in second grade."
"How was studying?"
"Well (I) got first place in the exam twice." The little boy said proudly.
"Okay, next time you take the first place in the exam, tell your brother what you like, and he will buy it as a gift for you."
"Really? Brother, Li Yingying ranked second in Meng (our) class. Her father bought her a stationery box from Journey to the West. It has three compartments and can hold pencils and erasers. I also want it, but uh I came first in the exam, but I won’t buy it even if my quota is too big.”
"Well, I'll buy it for you, brother, I promise."
"Nala Gou."
"Well, if you hang yourself with a hook, you won't be able to change it for a hundred years."
"Hang yourself with a hook, and you won't be able to change it for a hundred years."
"Goodbye brother."
"goodbye."
Yang Liufang finished eating and washed the dishes and chopsticks. He took a bath in the pool again when it was dark. Sure enough, the water was much cooler than before. Especially when he stood up from the pool, a cool breeze blew by, which made his skin crawl. I quickly dried my body with my vest, then squatted naked by the pool and washed my clothes. Then put on the wet shorts and return to the shack at the end of the field. When I walked in, I hurriedly took off my wet shorts. I didn't have time to wipe myself, so I wrapped myself in a military coat. Then he came out, put his clothes on the supports extending out to support the shack to dry, and then went back to lie down on the mazha bed to sleep.
In the early morning of the next day, the vegetable harvesting truck made a clicking sound again, and the vegetable farmers began delivering vegetables, weighing, and loading the trucks noisily. After Yang Liufang got up, he took off his shorts and vest. Although they had been blown by the wind all night, maybe it was due to the dew, the clothes were a little damp. There was no change of clothes, so he had to put them on and quickly went to the fields to help. The uncle was busy moving vegetables, weighing and loading trucks.
After finishing the work, it was still dark. Yang Liufang was sweating profusely, and his already damp clothes made his whole body as sticky as oil. He returned to the horse bed in the shack and tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. The uncle who was sleeping in his clothes felt a little sorry after feeling this, so he asked Liu Fang to go to the sink to wash up, while he got up and went home to go to bed.
Yang Liufang returned to the pool and washed his body with cold water again, shivering from the cold. I simply made up my mind, used my vest as a towel, and wiped my body from head to toe. Gritting my teeth and tightening my muscles to resist the coldness of early autumn, I washed my clothes again, squeezed out the water, then returned to the shack, wrapped myself in a military coat, and lay down again. As expected, I felt much more comfortable.
After all this tossing, I no longer felt sleepy. He simply opened his eyes and stared at the dark roof of the shack, letting his thoughts wander.
From mid-September to now, I count on my fingers that it has been almost a month since I left home. I wonder if Brother Tongfu has already arrived in Xizhou? Mom, dad, master, master, wife, junior sister, how are these relatives at home?
Li Tongfu arrived in Xizhou by train the day after he left Zhengzhou. Using the wooden stick given to him at the gate of Zhengzhou Oleochemical Factory, he walked out of Xizhou Railway Station carrying two travel bags filled with most of the shoes. , he looked around the square a few times, hoping to see in a corner the little brother who had only one or two yuan when he came out of Hangzhou. I am a brother who is unfamiliar with the place, has no money, and is traveling far away for the first time. I wonder how he is doing now? Begging in the square or doing hard labor...
He carried the burden and walked around until his mouth was dry and his tongue was dry. He didn't find Yang Liufang at all. He was a little disappointed and a little worried.
