all the way

The next day, a large group of people got up before [-] o'clock, but Liu Changqing didn't let everyone take up space, but led them to the side of the barren field to pull out several brooms that had basically grown up, and began to clean from the The house they temporarily occupied was on the street to the south end of Commercial Street.

Liu Xia and the others didn't ask much, because it's almost everyone's habit in their family. Even if they stay in one place for a while, they have to clean up their surroundings, not to mention that this may be where the eldest brother and sister-in-law will often stay in the future. place.

The commercial street is not wide, at most 15 meters. The facade where they are located is about 50 meters away from Wangning Street. With so many people working together, they swept to the end within a few minutes.

On the street, some people have begun to use waste bricks and stone eggs as markers to occupy places.

Liu Changqing suddenly said: "Let's not take up space anymore, let's sell it at our door."

Everyone thought they heard it wrong, and Xiumei didn't believe it, so she asked Liu Changqing: "Uncle, you mean, let's put the stall here?"

Liu Changqing said: "That's right, let's put this business here and sell it."

Wangning’s meeting was held on the busiest and dirtiest Dongxi Street. The township government tried many times to guide the meeting to the commercial street but failed. The sellers seem to believe that the street is a place of wealth and wealth. Similarly, they stubbornly confronted the people from the industrial and commercial and taxation offices, refused to move to the deserted commercial street, and the police station to help them was just a lip service, and they stopped when they turned around and continued. Stay where you are.

Usually, the commercial street relies on four or five shops in Nantou to open their doors for business. Going inside, except for two selling chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the others are closed, and it even feels a little spooky at night.

On the day of the meeting, the commercial street will be somewhat lively. There is no public toilet on Wangning Street, and some urgent people will come to this spacious and deserted place to solve their problems.

Liu Kui often came to visit Ning. He knew these things, and he knew that Liu Changqing also knew about this situation, so Liu Kui couldn't help asking Liu Changqing: "Uncle, why is this so? It's still so far from the street. Few people are willing to go here!"

Liu Changqing explained to him and to everyone: "Our business is different from theirs. We are similar to those who sell chemical fertilizers. We are all independent businesses. Our cloth is very eye-catching, and we don't have to go to the most lively places. Squeeze, people who see it will naturally come to take a look if they need it.

Another one, we should be more or less careful about selling this thing, so we can’t put it together with those who sell brooms, baskets, baby pigs, and lambs.

I remember that when I opened a silk and cloth shop in Chengcheng, I was very particular about how to place things. Although we are inferior cloth, no one’s stuff is so expensive, but we can’t treat it as a defective business. It also has to be viewed as a genuine product.

The space here is spacious, and no one is arguing with us. After a while, you and I will lift out the shelves and planks made by Xiaowei’s grandfather first, and then take out the things on the two shelves first, and put the two shelves side by side. Put it here, facing the street, with the two glass counters behind the shelves.

Xiumei, you pick out ten or twenty pieces of cloth that you think are the most beautiful, put them on the glass counter at the back, shake them out a few meters, fold them into a foot wide, put them on the shelf from the back, hang down from the front, the color It should be nice and fancy to match, so that people can see it from afar.

Liu Kui, Chuan'er and you guys arranged the cloth that needs to be put on the shelf in advance, try to put it as wide as possible, so that people can see it neatly.

We have a lot of fabric samples, so we can’t move them all out today, otherwise they will be dragged into a mess, and we may not be able to sell more. We can’t even take care of cleaning up the stalls.

Today we sell at most thirty or forty styles, and others will be added in a few days, and a few more will be added in a few days.

What kinds of cloth are sold today is still called Xiumei, and women are better at it than us. "

Liu Xia gave Xiumei a thumbs up: "Sister-in-law, you are the big boss today, you have the final say on everything."

Xiumei was almost frightened into a fool, she looked at Liu Kui and then at Liu Changqing in disbelief: "Uncle, I, I have never done this before, I am always afraid that I will miss it!"

Liu Changqing said: "There's nothing wrong with girls. They're all the same. He feels the same about good-looking people. Most of the cloth buyers are decided by women. You can come here as you like."

Liu Kui tugged at Xiumei's arm: "You must have hit it. Last time you just heard Jinhuan and Yinhuan say a few words about how they called those folds on their cuffs, and you were trying to learn it yourself. Give Yufang, Niu Dun's daughter-in-law, Pei Huan, and peony are also made. Didn't Jin Huan agree with her when she came back?

It's okay, it's still early, think about it for a while, and then pick and choose carefully, at worst, let's make a few more troubles, and the rest of us won't blame you. "

By the time Xiumei had finished choosing the colors for today's sale, a group of men from the Liu family had already carried out all the things and arranged them according to Liu Changqing's instructions. Liu Chuan and Liu Xia even cleaned the street for more than 20 meters to the north to ensure their own business. Even the neighborhood is clean.

The first business came a bit too early, before they had moved out all the cloths that Xiumei had picked out, the woman from the house at the southernmost end of the east row of houses came to clean the front of her door and asked them who they were. To set up a stall to sell cloth, I immediately pointed to the small roll of cloth that the cat was holding and asked, "How much is this one foot?"

Everyone turned their attention to Liu Kui, Xiumei was frightened at the thought of bargaining with others, and everyone had already decided that Liu Kui would be the leader today.

Liu Kui put away the cloth he was carrying, and took the roll of cloth from the cat, while the others pretended to be nonchalant and went about their work, but they all stared at Liu Kui from the corner of their eyes.

Liu Kui seemed to be proficient in quoting the price, which was six times the real purchase price, and twice the fake purchase price made by Liu Xia and Liu Chuan.

The woman didn't quite believe that it was so cheap, so Liu Kui pointed out to her the inconspicuous flaw on the cloth, made it clear that what he was selling was a defective product, and added an extra sentence at the end: "There are only so many left in this suit. , I just bought the goods yesterday, the quality of this cloth is good, and the color is foreign and attractive, my brothers and friends are coaxed by my wife, and now there are only so many left."

Liu Chuan and Liu Xia hugged Bu, and smiled very cooperatively at the woman, indicating that they were the two brothers Liu Kui mentioned.

The first business was done before the stall was opened. The woman bought 13 meters at five times the real purchase price, and said that she would go back and sweep the floor. When they put out the cloth, she would come to pick two more .

Xiumei took the money that Liu Kui handed her, and said excitedly incoherently: "This is the winning? Oh, that's it? She said less, and you can get a good price if you wipe the fraction?

Ah - ah, I am no longer in a panic, it turns out that it is so easy to do business? "

Liu Wei said: "Mom, you just have to think about it, the cloth is ours, whoever messes up the price, it's fine if we don't sell it to him, why are you so scared?"

Xiumei nodded again and again: "That's right, it's fine if we don't sell it after paying the compensation, I understand."

The previous more than 30 businesses were all sold to several people who opened shops nearby, which made Liu Kui and Xiumei's heart rest assured. These people have been working on Wangning Street for many years. Those in small businesses have a higher vision than those in the nearby villages. They can see it, and the price is acceptable. Others are sure to be fine.

Facts proved that they were right, and it also proved that Liu Changqing was very correct in letting them put the stall in front of the door instead of on the crowded street.

When it was cooler at noon, before the meeting and visiting relatives came, they did dozens of business with nearby merchants. At noon, when it was hottest, there were few people on the street, and the Liu family also temporarily hid in the house. , although the house is too hot to die, but at least not directly in the sun.

After four o'clock in the afternoon, the flow of people quickly increased.

Liu Xia looked at the women who opened the cloth several meters, gesticulating and discussing calculations there, and those women who walked around the stall eager to pull all the cloth to look at it and bargain, and said to the cat: "If you don't listen to the old man, you will suffer a disadvantage. We have listened to your grandpa today, so we have not suffered a disadvantage. Otherwise, even if we have eight pairs of eyes, we can't see so many people!"

The cat snorted and drank half of the pot of cold water, and wiped its mouth: "That's right, our things are good and cheap. If you don't go to the street, there will still be a lot of customers. Uncle, it's getting hot now, don't you Get out, why don't you go buy an iced soda to drink, I'll pass by." After speaking, he jumped down the steps and ran to Liu Kui's side.

Liu Xia stood on the steps and said to him, "I have made great progress. You are right in every idiom and idiom today."

Mao'er shook out the bundle of rags pointed by a woman with chicken coop head, turned her head and smiled triumphantly at Liu Xia.

Liu Xia instructed everyone to learn from the experience of Su Lirong and Feng Hongxiu when they were in the hydrology team, and they were divided into two groups:

Liu Chuan, Xiumei, and Liu Wei were in a group. Liu Chuan and Xiumei were in charge of the price, taking care of measuring the torn cloth, and Liu Wei was in charge of calculating the accounts and collecting the money, and putting the messed up cloth in order;

Liu Kui, Liu Changchun, and Maoer were in a group. Liu Kui and Liu Changchun were in charge of prices and measuring the rips, and Maoer was in charge of accounting, collecting money, and disposing of them.

Tearing cloth can be regarded as a somewhat technical job. If it is not done well, the cloth will be torn obliquely. The local people say that it is "connected feet".

At first, everyone worried that they often didn't need scissors. There were so many people who needed cloth, and Xiumei was the only one who could tear the cloth. They couldn't cut a piece of cloth for half a day, what a waste of time!

Unexpectedly, Liu Changchun picked up the scissors and used them very easily. It was only then that Liu Xia and the others remembered that the second uncle had a pair of particularly dexterous hands.

Liu Changqing, Liu Xia, and Liu Rui are in charge of tidying up things and taking them to the market. Market people in rural areas are very mixed, and incidents of stealing sheep often happen. Some of their cloth has been sold and only a few feet of cloth head is left, which is as big as a tofu when folded. It's easy to stuff a good-for-nothing into your bag.

After working for more than an hour, Liu Xia felt very thirsty. At noon they took turns to eat stewed noodles, which was a bit salty.

But the water coming out of the tap water pipe was hot and unpalatable. Liu Xia didn't want to drink it. He wanted ice cream and iced soda.

He asked: "Brother, sister-in-law, third brother, do you drink soda or ice cream?" Liu Changqing and Liu Changchun never ate ice cream, and of course they would not take the initiative to buy soda, but they would drink it if they bought it, so there was no need to ask.

Liu Wei and Liu Rui are the same as Liu Xia and Mao'er, they never refuse anyone who comes to these two things.

Liu Kui said: "I'm not thirsty, baby, I don't want anything. Cat, follow uncle to buy soda and drink, and ask your brother Rui to collect the money."

Liu Chuan and Xiumei were pulling a piece of cloth, and said at the same time, "I'm not thirsty either, so go buy soda yourself, baby."

Liu Xia smiled and looked at Liu Changqing, Liu Changqing said: "Go, after selling for a long time, your brother and the others are all proficient, don't panic, there is no need for so many people to guard. Or, I will replace you three times." Brother, you go home with your third brother and cat?

As soon as your third sister-in-law went back at Ye'er, the two children asked, "Why didn't Dad come back?" Your third brother must be missing a baby too. "

Liu Xia said: "No, I'll go back with you. I'm just thirsty. I'll go buy a bottle of soda and I'll come back. Tell my third brother to go back first."

Liu Changqing said: "Forget it, you won't leave, and your third brother won't leave. You can take the children to play for a while. You are nervous about going to work all day. Although we don't have any expensive things here, take a look around. It's also interesting to watch."

Mao Er came over wiping his sweat, Liu Xia took his hand, and the two walked towards the street.

Both sides of the street are filled with all kinds of items for sale, which are basically the daily necessities of rural people. The sellers sit on the horses, calmly watching the pickers squatting on the opposite side, and make timely purchases for their own goods. Something nice to say.

Those who picked things let the people behind them push and push, and the drivers who got angry broke their horns and turned a deaf ear, as stable as Mount Tai.

Liu Xia and Mao'er jumped over from a stall selling baskets and baskets. Before the man could start scolding, Liu Xia and Mao'er pointed at him at the same time and said, "This is a crossing. I don't scold you if you get in the way." Now, if you dare to scold us, try it!"

Before the middle-aged man showed a vicious look, he directly persuaded: "Then you can't even tell me first? I'll let you do it for a while, just rub (cross) my spine directly, man You can't let people rub it on your body." The man muttered, his voice getting lower and lower.

Mao'er dragged Liu Xia and squeezed into the crowd: "If you talk nicely, you won't block the intersection. If I say nice things to you, I ask you to give way. You don't know how sexual you are!"

Although Liu Xia didn't plan to buy any of the things on the roadside, although the sun was scorching hot, although the people on the street were very uncomfortable, and the horns of the coal carts made people's ears hurt, Liu Xia and Mao'er's hearts But it is as cool and refreshing as bathing in the cool water of Fengxi River.

Liu Xia caught a glimpse of the crystal-clear deep purple from the gap between the crowd, tightened the cat's hand and said, "There seems to be plums for sale over there, let's go buy some?"

Mao'er turned against the guest and pulled Liu Xia to squeeze over there: "Let's go."

When Liu Xia first remembered Li Zi, he couldn't remember clearly. Liu Chuan said it was when he was over three years old and he came to Wangning with his whole family for a meeting.

At that time, Wangning was not meeting every ten days as it is now, but the ancient meeting that was preserved before, and there were only three meetings a year.

That time, Liu Xia saw the round, purple-red and shiny plums for the first time, crying and begging to eat them. Liu Changqing bought three for two cents, and Liu Yu, Liu Ling, and Liu Hai bought two of them. , Liu Xia himself.

Liu Hai was so greedy that he was anxious to eat as soon as he got it, and ended up swallowing the whole plum, which got stuck in his throat. Liu Changqing hurriedly picked him up and patted his head down.

Liu Hai spat out the plums, and Liu Xia's plums were gone: Liu Hai was carried upside down in a strange situation. Liu Xia was young at the time, so he just looked at the rare plums and dropped the plums he had just bitten into on the ground. Then he was stepped on by someone who came from behind.

In the end, the four little brothers ate a plum, and Liu Xia didn't eat enough. He was sad when he thought of his own plum, and cried until he fell asleep on Liu Changqing's back on the top of Shangyaopo.

Liu Xia didn't believe what Liu Chuan said, but he did have an inexplicable obsession with plums. When he was studying in Wangning, he went to Wangning's several summer clubs, and he liked plums as soon as he saw them, but his At that time, I was sensible and knew that my family had no money, so I never asked the price of plums, let alone ate them.

There are very few plums here, and he only sees them once a year, so every time he forgets them very quickly.

But when he saw it again today, and he had the money to buy it casually, he was immediately fascinated by that little thing again.

Mao'er has never been short of money now. He bought the small basket of plums generously.

Liu Xia laughed happily as he looked at the basket of beautiful gadgets.

Mao'er picked the one with the darkest color without any spots or blemishes, wiped it carefully on his undershirt, and handed it to Liu Xia: "Give it to uncle, eat slowly."

Liu Xia opened his mouth and bit, then... gritted his teeth and hissed a few breaths: "Oh—it's delicious——" He held the bitten piece in his mouth, and handed the rest to the cat's mouth Bian: "Hey, it can be sweet or delicious, you can take a bite too."

The cat took a sip happily, and then said, "Hiss... oh-poof, uncle smelly-I'm so sour, uncle, why are you so cowardly now?"

Liu Xia laughed triumphantly and spat out the piece in his mouth: "Hahaha, calling you a little stinky cat is disobedient, telling you to go home, won't you..."

Mao'er was covering her cheeks, looking at her uncle who was extremely happy because of his successful prank, and was about to think of some way to get revenge on him, but when he saw Liu Xia's face suddenly turned cold, Mao'er was startled, Shouted "Uncle", and turned his head following his gaze:

A woman with a child in her arms was looking up at Liu Xia. Mao'er only felt that the large scab and bruise on her forehead was shocking, which made the gloomy and resentful element in her gaze towards Liu Xia more intense, covering up her entire body. Instant surprise.

The cat said to the woman: "I didn't touch you, why are you staring at my uncle?"

The woman's gaze turned to the cat, her gaze still scrutinized and sullen.

Puzzled, Mao'er turned to look at Liu Xia, wanting to ask him if he knew this woman, but heard the child say, "Mom, let's go, let's eat stewed noodles."

Liu Xia stretched out his hand and took the cat to his other side, and said, "Let's go, baby, let's go buy ice cream." As he spoke, he pulled the cat and squeezed into the crowd.

Mao'er felt that there was something following him all the time, he knew that it was the woman staring at him and his uncle from behind, but he didn't want to ask Liu Xia, he already guessed who the woman was.

Neither of them mentioned Liu Dongju, but they couldn't be as happy as before. They seemed to be very happy to drink two bottles of soda directly in the store, bought another sixteen bottles, and carried that one with them. The little basket of plums entered the commercial street again from the man selling baskets, and Liu Xia adjusted his mood. He said to the cat: "Boy, we can't make ourselves unhappy because of a pile of stinky shit, it's not worth it. right?"

There was no evidence, but he was sure Mao'er knew who the woman was, just like when he saw Liu Dongju for the first time.

The cat said: "Uncle, I am unhappy because you are unhappy. What does that pile of stinky shit have to do with me? Why should I be unhappy because of her? Are you happy now? If you are happy, I will Just be happy."

If there were not so many people around, Liu Xia would have wanted to pick up the little guy and give him a big kiss. He blew a melodious whistle: "Uncle is happy, my baby cat will be by my side, our business today My son is so nice, what's wrong with my uncle?"

The stall was still surrounded by a large group of women. Two people opened the soda and distributed it to the family next to each other. Liu Xia pushed Liu Changqing back to the house to sit and rest for a while, and stood there watching; the cat handed the soda to the family. Liu Rui began to settle accounts and collect money by herself.

The two of them didn't need to discuss it, and neither of them thought of bringing up the matter to the family members. They were already disgusted and didn't want their family members to follow suit.

But things didn't develop as they hoped. About half an hour after they came back, Xiumei's natal family came: they were worried, and wanted to see for themselves how Xiumei's business was going.

Xiumei's two sister-in-laws took over the duties of Liu Changchun and Liu Kui. Liu Changchun, Liu Kui, Liu Changqing, and Liu Xia accompanied the rest of Xiumei's natal family to talk.

He Jialiang's eldest son, He Haoning, is eighteen years old. He just took the college entrance examination a few days ago. He knows that he has absolutely no chance of being admitted, and he doesn't plan to study again. He has already started learning carpentry skills from his grandfather at home these days. As soon as he arrived, he went to stand beside Xiumei and prepared to help her with work.

The youngest son, He Yanning, is two years younger than Liu Rui, and has been following Liu Rui since he came, watching the cat settle accounts and collect money.

About half an hour later, the two families saw Liu Dongju holding Liu Dengke not far away almost at the same time.

When He Jialiang and He Jiashun gave Liu Yu the wedding furniture, they had been to Luoge Village, so they all knew Liu Dongju.

Liu Dongju probably came here after seeing the brightly colored cloth here. She didn't know in advance that the Liu family was selling cloth, because she was obviously stunned for a few seconds, then suddenly turned around and left.

Liu Kui sneered faintly, and continued talking to his father-in-law as if he had never seen Liu Dongju appear.

But Liu Xia noticed that Liu Chuan had been squinting at Liu Dongju's back, and he didn't look back until Liu Dongju was completely submerged by the crowd.

Liu Xia had never seen Liu Chuan's eyes like that, contemptuous and cold.

Xiumei's mother's family helped them pack all their things before they left. Why did Liu Changqing invite them to a restaurant and eat before leaving? It's good to eat.

But when Liu Xia was washing his face in the tap water, when he heard that He Jialiang and He's sister-in-law had returned together, the Liu family quickly stood up again and asked what happened.

He Jialiang said very embarrassedly: "Hao Ning's second aunt is always waiting to see your roll of cloth with pinyin letters. She is afraid that you don't want money, so she has always been embarrassed to say it, but she is also afraid that if you sell it out... "

Liu Chuan turned back and took out the roll of cloth and shook it on the shelf: "How much does the second sister-in-law want?"

Mrs. He said: "This is narrow cloth. She wants to make a sheet with ruffles. I calculated it and it's nine meters."

Liu Changchun came to help, and the two quickly cut the cloth, Liu Chuan said: "Sister-in-law, tell me what you see, or you may lose it in the future, don't be embarrassed, I will count the money with you Not yet?"

Mrs. He felt relieved when she heard Liu Chuan said that it was money, and asked for three pieces of cloth at once.

But after Liu Chuan folded the cloth, he suddenly changed the topic, and pushed He Jialiang and Mrs. He out: "I've been busy all day today, and I'm always flustered. When my sister-in-law returns, you can follow her slowly." Let her settle the score."

He Jialiang and his wife resolutely refused and insisted on giving money. Liu Xia and Mao'er ran over to help Liu Chuan and forced them away.

Xiumei felt a little uncomfortable, and before she could speak, Liu Xia spoke first with a smile: "Brother and sister-in-law, these cloths have nothing to do with me since I brought them back early this morning. I will be in charge of contacting you and getting it back when it is new, I don’t care about anything else, please don’t reimburse me, and I won’t listen to it.

Everything is here, if you lose money or make money, it’s you and our family. If you have anything to tell my uncle and mother in the future, don’t tell me.

You can't blackmail me for contacting you with these cloths just because I'm old and capable. Usually, if you settle accounts with me, if you lose money, you must come to me, then I won't do it. "

Although there is no detailed inventory of today's sales, Liu Kui and Xiumei only need to take a casual look at the remaining cloth, and then think about how much turnover there is today, and they know that this business is absolutely impossible to lose.

Liu Kui patted Liu Xia's face; "Baby...you..."

Mao'er imitated Liu Kui's tone and continued: "What a good boy!"

Liu Xia threw the ruler in his hand and walked towards the cat: "You bastard, you haven't rented a house for three days, how dare you take advantage of my uncle!"

Mao'er ran behind Liu Changqing and hid, only showing one head and looking at Liu Xia: "Come on, come on, come on and hit me!"

Liu Xia ran over, Mao'er pulled Liu Changqing's shirt, used him as a shield, and spun around to avoid Liu Xia.

Liu Changqing blocked the cat cooperatively, Liu Xia couldn't catch it no matter what.

Liu Wei, Liu Rui, and even Liu Chuan were all yelling to cheer for the cat. In the already extremely hot house, the current atmosphere could light a match.