After Mei Bin returned home, she slept in a separate bed with Hong Tu that night. She left home early the next morning and never came back. A month after he left home, the donkey meat restaurant also closed down because the two helpers, Xu Sangui and Yu Lonely, stopped coming, and it was not easy for her to run a house as a woman. Hong Tu felt that life was difficult, so she packed up two rooms in the house, used the original savings to buy some bed quilts and other things, opened a hotel, and asked Bao Xiangdong to write her an advertisement for the hotel and hang it in Baozhuang. Beitou.
One night a few days later, as expected, three middle-aged men came, one with a round face, one with a square face, and one with a long face. They said they came to Baozhuang to sell cattle and asked if there were good cattle to sell near Hongtu. Hong Tu shook her head and said that she had opened a donkey meat restaurant before, and she only knew where donkeys were sold nearby.
They no longer talked about this matter, but asked about the price of staying in the hotel. Hong Tu said that it was newly opened and you were also the first guests. It used to cost 35 yuan per room, but now it only charges 30 yuan, with a discount of 5 yuan. I hope you will come often. . The round-faced man said: "Shall we settle the bill tomorrow morning?" Hong Tu didn't care. By the early morning of the next day, the three guests had not gotten up yet, but there were sounds inside, indicating that they were all awake. The door was not open, so Hong Tu knocked on the door and asked them what they wanted to eat in the morning. One of them answered : Eat braised beef.
Okay - Hong Tu readily agreed, but there was no braised beef in the store. She thought: They haven't gotten up yet, and it's not too late to go to the market to buy braised beef. Then he took the coins and went out. After taking only two steps, he turned back and looked at the bed on the side of his bedroom. The two children were sleeping deeply and hadn't woken up yet. It might as well be that when he came back from the market, he would prepare breakfast for the guests. Take care of them again.
At this time, she walked past a locust tree in front of her door, and suddenly she felt something black and white fall from the top of the tree, and it landed on her hair. She touched it with her hand and felt very angry. A piece of bird droppings stuck to her finger. Alas, she sighed in her heart. Early in the morning, a piece of bird excrement fell on her head.
She returned to the room, dipped her head in a basin filled with warm water and rubbed it several times until she felt that the dirt was gone. When she went out, she said to the unopened guest room over there: Guests, if you are up, just wait a moment. I have gone to the market to buy braised beef for you, and I will be back soon.
middle! Go ahead! The man in the room replied with the same rough voice.
The market vegetable market is about two miles away from Baozhuang, separated by a farmland, a steep slope, an embankment, and a village with mixed surnames. Hong Tu hurried, almost like a trot. Although the morning breeze was a bit cold, there were still beads of sweat on her forehead. When she arrived at the braised beef stall at the vegetable market, she asked how much it cost per catty. The stall owner said 5 ounces and 5 ounces. She said she bought 3 catties and took out a total of 17 pounds and asked him to change. However, he weighed the braised beef, bandaged it properly and gave it to Hong. Tu, collected the money, and dug through the money bag repeatedly, but could not find 0.5 cents. Hong Tu looked at him, feeling anxious to leave, so she said hurry up.
The stall owner said awkwardly: "It's unfortunate that you were the first one to buy the braised beef from my stall this morning, so you don't have any change. I'll wait and see if anyone else comes to buy. If so, maybe we can make it easier." Break into parts.
Hong Tu waited impatiently for a while. Several people came and took a look at the stall, but they left without making any purchase. Hong Tu was thinking that the guests staying in his hotel might have all gotten up and washed up. If they didn't come back, what would happen if they lost their temper and left? So she said to the stall owner: Just remember the unchanged change. I will come find you next time.
The stall owner was an old man with a beard. He rubbed his hands and said, "Just remember my stall."
When we went out, only the white fish belly was exposed in the east. Now we are returning from the market, the sun has risen very high, but the clouds are thick, and the sun is wrapped in it like a bright cocoon, sometimes brilliant, sometimes bleak, like a ball of confused thoughts. The feeling of red tea.
Hong Tu returned home happily carrying the braised beef, but an unexpected scene made her very angry. Before she even got to the locust tree, her child Bao Shuaiying said as if complaining: Mom, those three guests left and I didn’t even stop them. I said Mom went to the street to buy braised beef for you. If you want to eat that, why are you leaving now before my mother comes back? You can leave if you want, but you can keep the accommodation fee, a total of 30 yuan.
I also said that I heard everything my mother said about the price last night. But they looked strangely together, chattering together, and looked at me indifferently.
The round-faced man said, "Little girl, we know your mother well. We will go to your mother to pay off the accommodation fee." I said no, give me the money. Mom is not here, so I can collect it on my behalf.
Fang Lian said, no, I gave it to you. You are a child and cannot be relied on. If the money is lost, how will we explain it to your mother? They were talking and walking, and I couldn't stop them. When Long Face saw me, he pushed me up, stretched out his leg and tripped me, so they took the opportunity to speed up and ran away.
After listening to the child's explanation, Hong Tu said: Shuaiying, I can't blame you for those three bad guys running away. You are so good. She picked up Shuaiying, and Shuaiying asked again: Can you find those three people?
In order to make the children feel better, Hong Tu lied that sooner or later I would find them to pay the bill. But those three people were all strangers, and Hong Tu had no confidence in finding them. The more she thought about it, the more resentful she became. What was even more resentful was that she was deceived into making a trip to the vegetable stall in vain and paid more to the braised beef stall. The main price is 0.5.
Hong Tu put down Shuaiying who was holding him, twisted the braised beef in his hand, gritted his teeth again, and then said with a curse: If we meet them next time, we must kill them.
The news that Hong Tu opened a hotel and let three cattle dealers fool him quickly spread. This is what Shuaiying said. She walked around the locust tree and went to the neighboring house to play with the children. When the adults saw her, they asked: Shuaiying, I heard that your donkey meat restaurant is closed and now you are running a hotel business. Okay?
What a ghost. Shuaiying squatted on the ground and grabbed Zai'er while answering casually. The adult asked: Why is business not doing well? Shuaiying said: Don't ask, don't ask, let me tell you after I finish this game of catching boys. The adults watched the outcome of her play with another child. Shuaiying lost. She rubbed the baby in her hand and said idealistically: Not only did my family have bad luck today, but I also had bad luck.
how do I say this? Your Excellency needs to find out. Shuaiying refused to say anything and wanted to play a game of catch with the children. It was a boy with a bald oval head and a lock of hair on top of his head. He said naughtily: Have you answered the adult's question?
What did you ask? Shuaiying's rhetorical question was obviously a pretense.
The adult smiled and said: You lost at Zai'er's game, that's good. What did your family lose? Shuaiying said: Just say it, three cattle dealers stayed in the hotel run by my family and left without paying a shilling.
Your mother will let them go?
They took advantage of the fact that my mother had not returned from the vegetable market to buy braised beef, and forced them to walk. Even my little boy couldn't stop them.
The adult's mouth was like a trumpet, and the matter soon spread in Baozhuang.
