attack stream of life

A package was sent from Beijing, which contained a letter, a pair of rubber-soled cloth shoes, ten yuan, a few tickets, and a large bundle of dried persimmons.There are not many things, but Zhaoming is in a good mood because he never thought that he could get things from home before.

The letter was written by his father, which was just half a piece of paper, which said a little bit about the family situation, and then let Zhaoming work and live here with peace of mind, which was not nutritious.He glanced at it roughly and put it down.

It was the persimmon that surprised him a bit.

Nowadays, sweets are expensive, but you have to eat something sweet during the Chinese New Year, so people with average conditions will use persimmons to visit relatives and friends. If you plant persimmon trees at home, it would be even better, and press your own persimmons.

Therefore, persimmons are generally only available during the Chinese New Year, and they are not available on weekdays, because there is a time limit, and it is considered rare to take them out.

After the persimmons are cooked, there is a layer of hoarfrost on the outside. Everyone calls it icing sugar. The meat inside is compacted, sweet and waxy.I chose yellow persimmons that grow just right, they are hard, and the core has not yet grown out, so the prepared persimmons only have waxy flesh in them, and the sweetness is just right.

Persimmons made from peeled yellow persimmons have the same taste as ripe persimmons. They can be eaten by the elderly and children. It is a very popular candy that can last for a long time.

Zhao took a lot of free yellow persimmons before next year, fearing that things would go to waste, so these persimmons were basically made into persimmons.These yellow persimmons grow well and taste good, big and sweet, and the pressed persimmons are also delicious and big.With better ones, it is not so rare to send them from home.

So he gave away most of the dried persimmons, some to educated youths, and some to people in the village who had frequent contacts.Because there is a need for others, more are sent to the head of the brigade. There are six of them, wrapped in paper, and tied with thin hemp rope.

He wanted the captain to write two letters of introduction, one for him to go shopping in the county town, and one for him to visit relatives on a certain farm.

The farm is not far away, there is a shuttle bus going there in the morning and back in the afternoon.The farm is closer to the mountains, more remote and poor than here, and his mother, grandfather and others were sent there.

The team leader refused to write at first, but after being here for more than half a year, Zhaoming has learned the local dialect fluently now. The team leader likes his temperament, seeing him is the same as seeing the young people in the village, and he really can't bear to refuse.

"Oh, it's a good thing to say that you don't forget your roots. But you know the current situation, child. I don't agree with any of these changes. Wouldn't it ruin your bright future if you involve these?"

"But I also understand that as a child, you also want to take care of your mother, so I wrote it. However, you can't say that you are going to see your mother when you are away. You can say that someone asked you to see your distant relatives. I won't tell others about this matter, and neither should you, as others generally don't look into it carefully, can it work?"

"Hey, sorry for the inconvenience, Uncle."

"Hey, why are you being polite, you call me uncle... You speak the local language, I almost didn't recognize that you were an educated youth."

Zhaoming scratched his head in embarrassment and smirked.

Taking a letter of introduction was like taking an imperial decree. Zhaoming set off for the county seat early in the morning before dawn.But he didn't go to the commercial street immediately, but went to the local 'free market', that is, the black market.

The policy is to allow farmers to exchange their own agricultural and sideline products for extra money and other things, but urban residents are not allowed to spend money to buy these extra things.This is a very contradictory thing, so it is difficult to say whether it is legal or illegal for people in the city to pay for eggs from the country.

Now it's one size fits all, and everything is considered illegal, so the 'free market' has become a black market.

In fact, there is a black market everywhere, and where there is demand, there is a market, but Zhaoming has never seen anything more blatant than the local "black market". The aunts with baskets on the street even communicate in local dialect very naturally. What fresh vegetables did you buy at the 'Morning Market', or were you lucky enough to find eggs and fine grains.

The breathing patrols on the street seemed to be dead, leaning crookedly against the wall, talking and chatting, often holding hot breakfast such as steamed buns in their hands, without even looking at the aunts.

So Zhaoming easily asked for the address of the 'Morning Market', under the Sanshi Bridge.The aunt who was asked was very experienced. Seeing that he was carrying a big and solid bamboo basket on his back, she knew that he was here to sell things in the county.

She mysteriously pulled Zhaoming into an alley, "Young man, what do you want?"

Zhaoming just showed her that big red apples, big yellow pears, high-quality glutinous rice and white rice, and big pieces of fat pork cut by the catty are all the best-sellers year after year, even if they are not given away. It’s also good to keep it at home for the New Year.

Zhaoming has saved up these things for more than ten days.

"Hey, there are a lot of good things here." The aunt's eyes were straightened, "Young man, how do you sell them? Auntie doesn't have anything else here, but there are a lot of tickets. See if you can use them."

She took out a stack of small tickets, the most conspicuous ones were two milk powder tickets, and then there were some scattered industrial tickets, food tickets, cotton tickets and the like.This is still an experienced veteran, so well prepared.

Zhaoming had inquired about the market before he came, and probably knew the value of these tickets, so he exchanged a small bag of glutinous rice for milk powder tickets, and exchanged those fruits for money, cotton tickets, and a few grain tickets.

Other tickets are easy to buy, only milk powder tickets are not easy to buy, you have to be a lesbian with a registered permanent residence in the county, with the child's birth certificate issued by the county, and get one every month for a total of six months.Therefore, there are only six sheets for a newborn baby, which are extremely rare in the market, and the supply exceeds the demand.

If it wasn't for the lack of glutinous rice in the market, and Zhaoming said that he would have to exchange it with milk powder tickets if he died, this aunt would not be willing to take out two milk powder tickets.

These fruits are all big, and they filled the large-capacity burlap bag of the aunt in one go.She didn't think it was enough, so she spent money to buy another piece of fatty pork, and she enthusiastically asked him to go to the morning market quickly, otherwise the crowd would be gone by seven or eight o'clock.

The aunt swaggered past the patrol team with a bag in her hand. Zhao Ming didn't have the guts to walk from the other side of the alley, asking a few people along the way before finding the entrance to the morning market.

The morning market already has the feeling of a mobile vegetable market in later generations. Most of the people who come to sell things are nearby farmers. If they have a lot of things at home, they come here with their burdens.Most of them are fruits and vegetables grown in the family’s private land, and there are also by-products made by the family. There are many common local pickles, pickles, and spicy radishes.If it is eggs, fresh fish and meat, they are basically bought in one go.

Straw hats, straw sandals, and bamboo baskets made by farmers are also selling well, as well as homespun cloth woven by rural women, which are cheap and durable.

People in the county town have high wages and have money in their hands, but they have no tickets, so if they want to improve their food, they have to come to the free market to buy some high-priced ingredients that don’t require tickets.

Zhaoming also found a corner and sat down halfway, and opened the big bamboo basket a little, revealing a little red peel, and the fruit fragrance slowly leaked out.

The few with the best sense of smell quickly gathered around and opened their eyes wide to see what was inside.

"Little comrade, how do I change things?" A middle-aged man wearing glasses asked.

"Money is fine, tickets are fine, don't choose. There are also good glutinous rice and full-fat pork in it, so I want to change some brown sugar."

Zhaoming pulled out Bai Shengsheng's fat from the bottom, and a big piece of fat caught everyone's eyes.Although people in the city have a supply of pork every month, fat meat is rare, and you have to be a household related to the slaughter of pigs, so they leave the fat meat to you.

Pig butchers these days are really more respectable and ostentatious than civil servants.

"There's also glutinous rice. For Chinese New Year, we must have rice cakes, fried sesame glutinous rice dumplings... Look, they are all high-quality glutinous rice. If you are okay in the supply and marketing cooperative, you can't even see them. Finally got up in the middle of the night and lined up You can’t be angry if the queue is up and it’s out of stock.”

Everyone was moved by what he said, thinking that the Chinese New Year is coming soon, they should prepare something, and they crowded together to watch.

"Little comrade, how many do you have?"

"It's not much, just six catties of meat. I still had some before. I've exchanged for a milk powder ticket."

"Little comrade, to be honest, I don't have brown sugar, but I have this." The middle-aged man took out a small bag, and poured out a slightly transparent reddish-brown lump from it, "This is my relative from Shandong. There are still two liang of the donkey skin gel sent over here. If it is about nourishment, it is better than brown sugar, even the hospitals in our county are not easy to buy."

Zhaoming was a little moved, and the two bargained for a while, and exchanged a catty of meat and an apple for the two taels of donkey skin glue.The middle-aged man also exchanged three yuan and two coarse food coupons for some white rice.Others didn't have any brown sugar, nor Ejiao, so they exchanged money or tickets for the large fruits that looked fresh and the leftovers.

There are not many fruits on the market, and the county only supplies some ordinary-looking and somewhat dry oranges and pears in a limited amount.The fresh fruits that Zhaoming brought out were very popular, and after a while they were replaced, leaving only half a bag of white rice.

Zhaoming packed up his things and was about to leave when a young woman came up.

"Little comrade, do you think it will be okay to exchange this thing for your rice?"

Seeing the bag the woman opened, Zhao Ming was startled, because it contained neither money, tickets, nor food, but a floating green jadeite bracelet with an excellent head.

"This is the real thing. It can be sold for more than ten yuan. I want to exchange it for your rice and milk powder tickets." The woman clutched her bag tightly.

Zhaoming was silent for a while, and took out a milk powder ticket and the remaining white rice, all of which were given to her.

"Thank you." The woman grabbed the bag and quickly disappeared into the corner like a frightened rabbit.

Zhaoming walked away from the other end with an empty bamboo basket on his back.

At seven o'clock, there were no idlers on the street. For those who went to work and those who took care of the housework, Zhaoming went to the commercial street, where there was everything, all kinds of state-run stores, and a four-story department store. One of the landmark buildings in the county, citizens can buy most of the things they need there, just ask for money and tickets.

At this time, he had wiped his face clean with a wet towel, combed his messy bird's nest-like hair, straightened his waist, and was a handsome young man again.

He took a few empty bottles and made half a catty of peanut oil, one catty of soy sauce and vinegar, one pack of salt and sugar, another pack of needles and threads, two boxes of matches and a bundle of candles.I exchanged cotton tickets for three catties of new cotton, cloth tickets for four feet of dark blue wear-resistant woven cloth, industrial tickets for a small thermos pot and toothbrush, and milk powder tickets for a pack of milk powder .

There are also creams, clam oil, wooden combs for lesbians, erythromycin ointment for wounds, high-priced snacks such as marijuana flowers and dragon beard crisps that a few comrades with a good appetite asked him to buy, and even chalk, blank notebooks, Pencils, ink, etc.

Zhaoming bought something and didn't leave right away. He went to a state-run restaurant to have a meal. Today there was roasted lamb's trotters, so he ordered a plate, ready to have a good meal.Who knew that halfway through the meal, the state-run restaurant said that it was going to close, so I troubled Zhaoming to eat quickly.

"..."

Although I know the urine nature of state-run restaurants, I really don't know what to say.I always feel that the waiter should not be like this, even if they give a smile?Is it really okay to use a broom to drive away unfinished guests?For money.

However, from north to south, these people are exactly the same as if they were trained by a master.

Maybe it's not the world that's wrong, it's me.

At six o'clock, Zhaoming went to the Sanshi Bridge again. There were not as many people as in the morning, but there were still a lot of things.This time he was a customer, walking around empty-handed, and went to see where there were too many people.Luckily, he finally got the brown sugar he had been longing for.

It is said that the other party’s village has a brown sugar workshop. The village collectively grows sugar cane. After each harvest, the surplus will be distributed to the villagers as a welfare. Every household has no shortage of brown sugar to eat.

Zhaoming just exchanged half a catty, and the people on the multilateral side were not happy about it, and they were waiting to buy it.Zhaoming then asked where the man's village was, and whether others had much brown sugar, and made an appointment with him when to change it.Then he also changed some lotus root powder, lotus seeds, millet grown by the farmers themselves, wild mushrooms and other things.

Later came a young man with live chickens, three live and thriving local chickens, two old hens and a young rooster.

Live old hens are especially popular. The aunts can tell at a glance that this is an old hen that has been raised for two years. It eats well and is a good soup material.No, one said that there was a daughter-in-law who was going to have a baby at home and needed chicken soup from an old hen, and the other said that her daughter had just given birth and wanted old hen stew. So I divided the two old hens, one for you and one for me.

When Zhaoming reacted, he could only buy a small cock.

As soon as the bamboo baskets were full, Zhaoming went back without stopping, with a lantern in his hand, and hurried back, and finally got back before the comrades went to bed.

Today, his share is not used yet, he took three catties of apples, these apples are not small, each weighs half a catty.The rest were all replaced with millet. He heard that millet porridge nourishes people, and it is not as eye-catching as good white rice. He wanted to prepare some for grandpa.

The comrades are all gathered in his room to wait for him now, others don't go to the county as frequently as he does, and gradually they get used to asking Zhaoming to bring some things by the way.

I don't know how he bought it. Zhaoming can buy some that are hard to find in the market.He has been here for half a year, and his local language is so smooth that he doesn't look like a northerner. If you think about it, maybe it's because of this reason that he can always buy things that everyone can't buy.

"I saw someone selling apples, so I bought some, one for each person, and took it by myself."

"The apples in this season are not cheap, how can I get yours?" Everyone refused, but their eyes were shining, and they were reluctant to take it back from the red peel.Now the county also supplies apples, which are small in size and soft in taste.But the apples that Zhaoming was looking for were crunchy and sweet, and they were also big, so there was an educated youth who liked the crunchy and sweet taste very much.

Zhaoming smiled and said, "It's just a coincidence, it might not have happened in the past."

But they refuse to take it for nothing. They are really greedy for fruit. They put down five or six cents after taking one apple. They are particularly greedy. They take two and put down a few cents. Although I don’t know the exact number, I know for sure. not cheap.

Even though Zhaoming is generous, they don't want to collect cash all the time, so the money they give is enough.

Zhaoming had no choice but to give up, took out the things and began to divide them one by one.

"Comb, cream, Comrade Xiaohua, yours."

"Hey." Comrade Xiaohua smiled sweetly, put the change on the table, and then took her own things.

The same is true of the comrades in the back. You and I took everything and put down the money.

Comrade Spectacles suddenly took two round persimmons and put them on his table, and smiled shyly, "My family also sent persimmons over today. My grandma made them herself. Try them."

Zhaoming took a look, and sure enough, the persimmon cake was yellower in color and thicker in flesh. He took it bluntly, "I'm not polite." He took a bite hard, and some of the firm and elastic skin Next, the compressed pulp is like a jelly-enriched fudge, with a strong fruity aroma, "It's so delicious."

"You guys like soft ones, but I like this kind of crunchy and sweet ones. It sounds delicious." The glasses comrade also took a bite of the big apple, smiling until his eyes turned into crescent moons.