Grandma walked out with the lighted kerosene lamp buckled, looked at her crying grandson and scolded him several times, telling him to hold the lamp, saying that she had to make midnight snacks and had no time to spare.
Ye Wufu stopped crying and took the lamp handed to him by his grandma. He saw that his grandpa had taken a long-handled iron climbing comb from a corner of the hall wall and said to him, come with me to the toilet.
In the latrine, Ye Wufu stood by the latrine holding a lamp. Grandpa used an iron climbing comb to spread the two wooden boards on the latrine and asked Ye Wufu to stand up and be careful not to fall into the latrine.
Ye Wufu immediately got out of the way and raised the lamp high. The lamp was like an upright brush, spreading light, as if the hope of salvaging a flashlight from the latrine was brilliantly written in the eyes of the grandfather and grandson.
I saw grandpa putting the iron crawling comb into the latrine and fishing it out from left to right, from top to bottom, from the middle to the surrounding areas, or picking up rocks, cloth strips, wires, wooden stakes, etc. that contained maggots and feces. Yes, I just can’t get the flashlight.
Due to the stirring of the latrine, the stench was stronger than before, but Ye Wufu and his grandfather, who were eager to pick up the flashlight, didn't care so much. They seemed to be assimilated by the stench, and they no longer felt stinky or that they didn't feel so uncomfortable.
Grandpa changed many positions, sometimes straddling the latrine to fish, sometimes standing on one side, sometimes bending over to fish, sometimes squatting down to fish, and dug through every part of the entire latrine, and finally fished out the flashlight. , lying wet and smelly on the iron comb.
Grandpa came out of the toilet with the handle of the iron climbing comb. Ye Wufu followed behind, still holding the lamp with the lanterns tied on it to shine.
Grandpa did not enter the house immediately through the back door, but walked along the dirt road surrounding the toilet to the ditch on the side of the mountain, and cleaned the dirt on the iron comb and the flashlight.
Grandpa said nothing and pressed the button of the flashlight. It could no longer be turned on. He unscrewed the back cover and poured out the two soaked batteries.
Although the battery was not stained with obvious dirt, it still smelled bad. Grandpa suddenly raised his head and looked at Ye Wufu who was standing by the ditch and said in a complaining tone that both batteries were scrapped. He shook off two batteries and said, "I don't know if this flashlight is broken."
The next day, grandpa put the flashlight with the back cover open and the back cover together on the window sill of the sun to dry. Ye Wufu came home from school at noon, took the almost dry flashlight and squinted one eye inward. Upon taking a look, I found that there was still dirt that was difficult to remove in the gap between the front of the flashlight and the bulb. He walked away quietly, fearing that his grandfather would scold him again if he saw him doing this.
At night, grandpa still complained about him because grandpa went to town to buy two new batteries and put them in the dried flashlight. After closing the lid and pressing the button, it still failed to light up.
On the third day, grandpa took the battery to the department store in town and could not return it. The salesperson said, you tore off the plastic packaging paper of the battery, put it into a flashlight and tried to use it. Then you returned it to me and others didn’t buy it. You left it here and the battery ran out. Aren’t you harming me?
Grandpa left without hesitation. When he got home, it was noon when his grandson finished school, so he complained to him loudly, "Wu Fu, that's good, these new batteries won't be returned to the store, and they can't be used, so they will be scrapped." . You are really a prodigal. Now that the sparrow is not tied, you are still looking for a thread.
If you buy a new flashlight, won’t this pair of new batteries be enough to use it? Taketomi turned his head and retorted.
You put it lightly, where can I have the money to buy a flashlight? I paid for this pair of new batteries by exchanging an ox horn from under the bed with a load-carrying man. Grandpa said, regretful in his eyes.
Grandma glanced at the no longer useful flashlight that was lying upside down on the windowsill to dry, and scolded her grandson. As if he was being driven into a panic, Ye Wufu suddenly raised his voice and said, I will try to get another flashlight from my classmates. If the new battery my grandpa bought can be used, how can it be scrapped?
After hearing this, his grandparents stopped scolding him. But grandma asked him, Wufu, you used to have a little book to trade with someone for a flashlight, but now you don’t have it anymore, what do you give in exchange for it? Ye Wufu replied casually, I will think of a way.
As for what to do, the grandparents didn't ask, but they secretly felt that the child was a bit stubborn. Sure enough, one night a week later, Taketomi took out a brand new Tiger flashlight from his schoolbag and flicked the bright beam of light in front of his grandfather's eyes.
Grandpa asked him where he got it. He frowned and said, I helped a classmate’s family make briquettes several times. His family became rich and he said he would give me money. He asked me how much it would cost. I said as long as I could buy one. Money for flashlights. The classmate’s parents gave me a new flashlight from his family in exchange for my wages for making briquettes for his family.
When my grandpa touched the Tiger flashlight that he wanted for his grandson, he opened the lid and found a rusty defect on the spring of the lid. He said that this was not a new flashlight.
Regardless of whether it is new or not, my Wufu is still pretty good and I got another flashlight. Grandma looked at her grandson and kept praising him.
A few days later, Ye Wufu didn't know why he didn't go to school, and his grandma didn't tell him when asked. Grandma was about to call back her husband Ye Wenliang, who was working outside, to take her grandson to school. As soon as she walked out of the door, she saw a police car driving over from the road over the field and parked in the field. Three people got out of the car. , two policemen and a middle-aged man. The middle-aged man asked her, old man, do you know where a student named Ye Wufu lives?
He is my grandson. Grandma answered the middle-aged man and glanced at the two policemen. She felt something was wrong in the atmosphere and was about to ask something when she saw the middle-aged man telling the two policemen, "Wait a moment and let me explain to the old man before you act."
One of the policemen nodded, and the other policeman said, do your job well and ask classmate Ye Wufu to come out and follow us voluntarily, don't be afraid.
of course. As the middle-aged man spoke, he raised his hand and pressed the dark glasses on the bridge of his nose, as if he was worried that they would fall down.
Grandma was a little scared, and suddenly asked the middle-aged man who walked directly into the main room of his house, what happened to Ye Wufu? And grabbed a chair and motioned for him to sit on it.
The middle-aged man sat down and did not answer directly. He only introduced himself. I am Ye Wufu's Chinese teacher and class teacher. My name is Kong Zongru. Your grandson did make a mistake. We teachers also have the responsibility to teach laxly.
What mistake did Ye Wufu make? Grandma asked and thought, it must be serious, otherwise, why are the police here?
Well, your grandson stole a flashlight from his classmate Hu Juan at school. Kong Zongru didn't finish his words, but just started, and grandma rushed to say, no wonder, I saw he had a flashlight, I don't know if he stole it from a classmate, if he knew, we would not allow it, now ask him to return it! Make a review. With that said, grandma was about to call Ye Wufu, but there was no reply.
Grandma was very surprised. He was in the main room just now. Where did he go now? Kong Zongru said, let me finish what I said, and then call me classmate Ye Wufu!
