Cross-country exchange

"Uncle Xia, are you leaving so early?"

In Hexi Village, the sons of Wang Laosan's family at the entrance of the village carried the lei and got up early to go to work in the fields.There was still no light in the sky, so I thought about doing more work before the sun came out, finishing the work early, and going back to rest early.This summer, the temperature was so high that it almost steamed him, but he didn't expect that he would meet an acquaintance just after he left the house.

"Hello, Brother Wang."

Xia Yu's stature followed Xia's father's. He was big and strong, and he followed Xia's father's buttocks. Wang Qi really recognized him in no time.Hearing that the other party greeted him first, he nodded in a hurry, but he was a little flattered, "Oh, well, Xia Yu, you are also going out to sell vegetables with Uncle Xia so early."

Xia Yu smiled and nodded. He and Xia's father each picked two baskets of vegetables, which were grown behind their house. These days, Xia Yu is watering and catching insects. The whole family is not willing to eat them on weekdays. I thought that I could save some money by going to the county town to sell it every day.Accumulate a little and make a lot, and slowly you can save up to one or two taels of silver.

Xia Yu remembered that the eldest brother said that the money for the medicine bought for him before was saved by his father's daily vegetable sales.At that time, he was injured, and the family was in turmoil for a while. He needed to be taken care of, and he needed someone to do the work in the field, so Dad put aside the daily work of selling vegetables in the county town.

"Wang Qi, are you planning to go to the fields to do farm work?" Daddy Xia glanced at the farm tools on his shoulder, and a look of admiration flashed in his eyes, "Wang Laosan is really blessed to have you A kid, don't worry about your old age."

Wang Qi was so blushed by Xia's father's teasing, he scratched the back of his head embarrassedly and said, "Uncle Xia, Xia Yu of your family is also very filial, you can enjoy happiness in the future."

Father Xia laughed, "You two are good kids, go quickly, we are going to the county town before the sun comes out."

"Yeah, Uncle Xia sells more dishes."

It was a long way to go from Hexi Village to their nearest county seat.Among them, there are more than a dozen villages, large and small, such as Qinghe Village, Minghe Village, Weizhuang, Pingzhuang, etc., three of which are the same size as their Hexi Village, with more than a dozen families.

Fortunately, Xia Yu has been practicing health cultivation skills recently, and his body has recovered very well. Otherwise, he would definitely be out of breath if he hastily walked such a long distance, not to mention carrying two baskets of vegetables on his shoulders.

"Father, stop and have a rest and drink some water." Xia Yu saw that the shoes under Xia's father's feet were almost worn out, and there were signs of wear on the toes, but he was wearing a pair of relatively new shoes.

The father of the Xia family looked back at his boy, his face was neither red nor out of breath, he nodded and said with a smile, "You are tired, then let's stop and rest for a while before rushing."

The two of them picked the grass and sat down, Father Xia took a sip of water and said, "It's the first time I followed Father out, are you tired from walking?"

Xia Yu smiled, nodded, then shook his head and said, "Father, I'm fine." Just because I'm afraid you will be tired.

Xia's father looked at his own boy, and couldn't help but think of what happened many years ago. He said to himself, "When we were young, our Xia family was so poor that we couldn't get rid of it. When I was only seven or eight years old, I had to cut weeds and pick up bark every day. I was only ten years old when I followed your grandpa to sell vegetables for the first time. I had several blood blisters on my feet after walking such a long distance. I walked fast again, and every time I looked back to see if I could keep up, when I got home and took off my shoes, I found that the shoes on my feet couldn’t be taken off, the soles of my feet were covered in blood, and the skin and flesh were sticking to the soles of the shoes. The bruised appearance really shocked them, and your grandpa was read by your grandma for several years after that."

After hearing this, Xia Yu couldn't help but said, "Father, what happened next?"

Father Xia's eyes turned red, "Later, your grandpa refused to take me to the county seat. I insisted on following him, but he refused. Isn't there a hill next to our Hexi village? At that time, I would go to the mountain every day. Running, running back and forth three times a day, non-stop exercise. After a period of exercise, people's physique improved a lot, and I promised your grandpa that he would not try to be brave again, so your grandpa took me there. Later, our village met During the famine, there was no food at home. At that time, your grandfather was sick and wanted to eat a small piece of meat every day, but the family was poor. Many people in the village were so hungry that they could only gnaw bark. Where is there meat? Feed him."

Seeing that Dad was in a low mood, Xia Yu didn't talk too much, and just listened seriously.

"Or your uncle got a dead hare from somewhere, and secretly got it for your grandfather to eat when he came back, but this is not known to others. A hare was skinned and bled, The meat is just such a small bowl, and the whole family is greedy when they see the meat, but everyone wants to satisfy your grandpa's hunger, but they didn't expect to eat that meal, and your grandpa went away."

Seeing Xia's father immersed in the grief of the past, Xia Yu felt a little oppressed, pressing on his heart like a big stone, breathing was not so smooth, and he didn't know where to comfort him. Although he was hungry, grandpa Before he died, he had never tried the pain of asking for a piece of meat.

"Father, we have to hurry, otherwise the best time to go to the county town to sell vegetables will pass."

After Xia Yu's reminder, Father Xia immediately calmed down, stood up quickly, shook his legs, and shook off the grass clippings on his body.

When the two rushed to the county seat, the sun was already high in the sky, and the county seat was bustling with people coming and going.Rao Xia Yu, who has experienced two lives, still looks around curiously.

"Xiao Yu, we are right here."

The place where the vegetables are sold is very messy, the good place has been occupied by people long ago, they only occupied a small corner, in the innermost corner, Dad of the Xia family took out a piece from somewhere and beat it a lot. Layers of patched old clothes were laid out on the floor, and soon, Xia's fresh dishes were put on the table.

"Fresh Chinese cabbage and cucumber, hurry up and have a look." Xia's father changed his usual seriousness and formality, and started yelling casually.

Xia Yu was stunned for the first time, and the tall and tall image of Dad in his mind was quickly subverted.He raised his eyes and saw that people on both sides of the road were squatting in front of their own vegetable stalls, shouting unceasingly, most of them were brothers and grandma doing this.

The father of the Xia family was full of anger, he yelled a few times, and sure enough, he attracted one or two elder brothers to come over, some of them came to look at it and then left, after one or two people asked about the price, they squatted down and took a closer look Satisfied with the color of the dishes, he decisively took out a few copper coins.

After a deal was made, Xia's father couldn't help pushing and shoving his own boy, "Come on, call with father, and the business will come when you call."

Xia Yu: "..."

Facts have proved that Xia Yu tried several times, and only the father on the side could hear the yelling, which made Xia's father laugh loudly, "Xiaoyu, you shouted so loudly, the mosquitoes were scared away .”

Xia Yu's face was flushed by his father's anger, and he sighed helplessly, inevitably feeling a deep sense of frustration in his heart.In the last life, he had the shimmering halo of a sculptor on his head and enjoyed the applause of everyone.Let him return to the market to live the life of such a small businessman, he can't adapt to it.

The father of the Xia family saw his boy downcast, quickly packed up his things, and comforted him, "Xiao Yu, it's inevitable that this will happen for the first time. It's okay. When your father and I came to sell vegetables for the first time, we didn't You did a good job. You just stood there all morning and didn’t sell anything. You did better than Dad today, look, you also sold two Chinese cabbages.”

Xia Yu really wanted to say that someone took the initiative to ask about those two Chinese cabbages, and he just took a fee.

"Let's go, Dad will take you for a stroll in the county." Father Xia's family thought, since it's the first time bringing his son here anyway, it's better to let him see the market, otherwise it would be a waste of time .

Xia Yuben was still a little depressed. He was dragged by Xia's father to look around in the shop, and he heard his father say from time to time, "Boy, look, these things are good things. You will know when you marry your brother in the future." gone."

When Xia Yu heard that he was going to marry his brother, Xia Yu's scalp went numb.Looking at the things in Xia's father's hand again, as if he had discovered something new, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Xia's father brought him to a place that sells hairpins, most of which are things that my brother needs, such as combs, painting cakes, small accessories and so on.

Xia Yu picked up a comb casually and played it back and forth in his hands. There were also some hairpins, some of which had one or two embellishments hanging on them. He looked at them carefully.

After touching this and that, almost touched the whole shop, the seller quit.

People in the county are also very good at reading faces. Zhao Rugang has been looking at the father and son. The clothes on the old man's body have been patched several times, and there are two or three tattered vegetable baskets in his hands. His hands are wet. It was very unclean, and although the young one was fairly neatly dressed, he still looked poor.

"Hey, do you want to buy it or not? If you don't buy it, don't touch my things casually. If it breaks, can you afford it?"

Xia Yu didn't seem to hear his tone, picked up the previous wooden comb, and asked, "How much does this wooden comb cost?"

Zhao Ru's eyes widened when he heard it, and he shouted loudly, "How much money? I said you don't understand, don't talk nonsense, I won't sell this Tie Yuxiu comb for thirty yuan. your."

"Tie Yuxiu comb?" Xia Yu had never heard of this word. In his opinion, a comb made of wood was not worth the money.

Thirty Wen?When Father Xia heard this, he thought that the money he had worked so hard to sell this morning was not worth a comb, so he immediately pulled his boy's sleeve and said, "Xiao Yu, you don't need to buy anything Comb, we're going back, if you don't go home, your grandma will have to chatter again."

Xia Yu nodded. Finally, before he left, he couldn't help but glanced at the wooden comb again, and the little abacus in his heart immediately began to dial.

"Hey, it looks like two poor ghosts."