1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 230 This World (3)

As the news of Mo Mo Bai Zha's shortage of chicken ingredients spread to various counties through various unofficial channels, everyone realized that the old man Chang Tou Dong Feng who always liked to hang around and show up at the entrance of each village might not be a liar.

………………

Boshan, Houyu Village.

"In exchange for a live chicken~ Notebooks, diaries, exercise books, extracurricular books, pens, pencils, erasers, letter paper... take your pick~!"

Three days later, when that hoarse voice came out from the iron speaker again,

The rough-faced man, carrying a little kid with snot on the corner of his mouth, walked through a dilapidated but historical stone gate and came in front of the paint-peeling Long-Headed Dongfeng.

"Are you really a silent bomber?"

The man still looked at the driver who was resting with his eyes closed in the driver's seat with some vigilance, and then asked Shen Yong, the stationery wholesaler who was being led by a fool to do his job.

After three days of failure, Shen Yong, who had a small cut on his lip, looked a little depressed: "No, I just felt like joining in the fun and wanted to help out."

The man looked at Shen Yong's uninterested look, then glanced at the frayed cardboard boxes beside the car and asked, "Is there really no chicken over at Momo Baizha?"

Shen Yong shook his head, then nodded: "I'm not sure, but judging by the situation, there should be almost no chickens left."

The man thought about it, then nodded and kicked his son who only knew how to make mischief all day long on his buttocks: "Look, choose a few exercise books by yourself... I spend money to send you to school so that you can learn knowledge, not to let you sit at the table and work all day long (not to let you gang up and make mischief all day long)!"

Seeing the little brat looking worried as if he was facing a bunch of scorpions, squatting in front of the cardboard box with a sad face, looking around but still unwilling to take action, Shen Yong put down the broken trumpet in his hand and looked at the man in surprise: "My friend, what are you doing...?"

The man handed over a flapping fertilizer bag behind him: "Aren't you here to exchange chickens? I have four chickens here... Let's see if we can exchange them for two school supplies."

Shen Yong took the fertilizer bag, opened it and looked at it. He was immediately overjoyed: "Yes! Yes! It's absolutely possible! Second brother, just choose whatever you like and take it away!"

The man tilted his head and looked at him: "Take whatever you like? ... We farmers are obedient and serious. If you take all of this, won't you be at a loss?"

Shen Yong was stunned, then he remembered that the men in many areas of Qi and Lu were stubborn. If the other party really took his casual words seriously and moved away those boxes of things, he would be at a great loss.

Shen Yong was a little embarrassed and held back for a while, then thought of his painful experience of having no results in three days, and waved his hand with a bit of boredom: "Brother, if you are right, you can take all of them... Anyway, I have no intention of moving these goods back to the warehouse after I took them out."

The man stared at him for a while, then suddenly grinned: "You said it... I believe it."

Before Shen Yong could figure out what this meant, the man suddenly snatched the worn-out iron trumpet from his hand and shouted loudly: "Young and old men in the village, don't be fooled, I'm not a liar... If you have any extra chickens at home, take them out and exchange them for something for your children!"

After shouting the name three or four times truthfully, villagers began to come out one after another, carrying their chickens.

Some people hold one in their hands.

Some carried two or three.

The one with the most was a couple who came over carrying nearly twenty fat chickens on a shoulder pole.

I don’t know if it’s because the people in Houyu Village don’t like to talk much, but when these villagers came over with the chickens, they didn’t say anything to confirm anything. Instead, they glanced at Shen Yong briefly, put the chickens with tied legs in their hands next to the car, and then walked silently to the cardboard boxes to choose stationery.

And what is quite strange is that, among these boxes of things, except for those extracurricular books, nothing else is valuable... at least compared to those big roosters that cost seven or eight dollars in the market, they are not valuable things.

But the villagers just casually picked up one or two pens, two notebooks or letter paper, and walked away in silence.

Shen Yong was stunned by this scene, staring blankly at the man who came first: "Second brother, the price hasn't been calculated yet, what are you doing...?"

The man with a rough face smiled and said, "It's written on your sign, eight yuan for a chicken. The items in the box are also labeled with prices. Don't worry, we country folk won't take more from you."

Shen Yong was anxious: "No, second brother... the fellow villagers took too little!"

That’s right, these villagers did not take advantage of the chaos and take more, but took less... and much less.

Shen Yong saw clearly that the couple who carried nearly twenty chickens, after putting down their shoulder poles, took a total of two pens, four pencils, an eraser, two notebooks of stationery and a bottle of ink... The total value was less than ten yuan, and could only be exchanged for a chicken.

The man grinned nonchalantly: "We country folk are not good at math... If you take less, then you take less."

Seeing his heartless look, Shen Yong was a little mad: "That won't do. We should be conscientious and not taint those literary works... How can I live my life in the future if I take advantage of such a thing!"

Seeing Shen Yong about to shout and chase after the villagers who had already turned around, the man grabbed him and said, "No need to chase them!"

Shen Yong looked at the man in astonishment: "Why?"

The man smiled and said, "We are not stupid. You don't need to chase us."

Shen Yong stared at him in disbelief with his eyes wide open... You exchanged nearly twenty roosters for such a small thing, and you still say you are not stupid?

Seeing that Shen Yong was determined to get the answer, the man sighed and said, "Let me ask you, are you really going to send these chickens to Momo Baizhaha?"

Feeling that his character was being questioned, Shen Yong blushed: "Of course... Second brother, if you don't believe it, you don't have to change it, but you can't..."

The man interrupted him before he finished speaking: "That's fine... I believe you, so... you don't have to chase her!"

Shen Yong didn't understand what was going on and just stared at him.

Seeing this, the man turned sideways and looked at the villagers who were returning one after another, with a somewhat proud expression: "Although our Houyu Village is poor, we were able to build a Xinglong Temple and a Bi'an Temple in the village hundreds of years ago... To be frank, looking at the entire Qilu, there are not many villages with a better foundation than our Houyu Village!"

As he said this, the man turned around, his eyes somewhat far away: "We have learned about what Mo Mo Bai Zha has done from the neighboring village recently... It's a good company!"

"Although we in Houyu Village have never received their kindness, we in Houyu Village are not so narrow-minded."

"If you do good things, you should be rewarded. If you encounter difficulties, you should lend a hand... This is cause and effect, and it is also morality. It has nothing to do with you or me, it is only about right and wrong... If you can't even figure this out, then you have no face to burn incense in the temples in the village."

As he spoke, the man patted Shen Yong on the shoulder and said, "Second brother, you are also very kind. You are not from the company, but you are running around without caring about the gains and losses... When you finish delivering the chickens, come back to me and I will invite you to my house for a drink!"

After saying that, without waiting for Shen Yong to react, he kicked his son, who was still crying and refusing to take action, then took out a copy of "The Complete Works of Mr. Shu Ren" from the box and left.

Looking at the cardboard box that was now half empty, and then at the hundreds of chickens crowded next to the car, Shen Yong looked absentmindedly at the weathered and cracked stone gate, and a heat that made his scalp numb surged into his brain.

Still saying not stupid...

TMD, they are all a bunch of idiots!

It’s just...it has nothing to do with you and me, it’s just about right and wrong...right?

........................

On October 10, Qilu officially entered the season of "each layer of autumn rain brings a layer of coolness".

In the slightly heavy autumn rain, a mule cart covered with felt was driving on National Highway 308 at an awkward speed.

"Uu~!"

Old man Zhao cracked the whip and tightened the reins to stop the mule cart. He placed his right hand on the lower right side of the seat in a move that was not easily noticed by outsiders, and then shouted to the side of the road: "Kid, what's going on!?"

Seeing this, the woman who was hiding from the rain under the tree subconsciously hugged her child, looked at Old Man Zhao warily, and then shouted: "It's raining, hide, home is not far, we can go back when the rain stops!"

Listening to the woman's undisguised southwestern Shandong accent, Old Man Zhao looked at her with a mixture of amusement and anger... This is already the land of Laiwu, and you, a woman with a southwestern Shandong accent, are telling me that your home is not far away?

But after all, having lived for most of his life, Old Man Zhao naturally knew that in this world, a woman should be cautious when going out with a child.

Looking at the boy who was shivering from the cold, Old Man Zhao felt a little distressed. After thinking for a while, he jumped out of the car and took off his rain hat: "I am sixty-seven years old this year, I don't have so many concerns... This rain will not stop for a while, kid, where are you going? If it's convenient, I will give you a ride, don't let the child catch a cold!"

Seeing the rough face full of deep ravines and white beard of Old Man Zhao, the woman's defensive psychology suddenly dropped by more than half. She glanced at the trembling child in her arms. She didn't know if it reminded her of some past events. She hesitated for a moment, and then asked cautiously: "Uncle, my mother and I are going to Dezhou. Is your way there?"

Texas?

Old man Zhao was stunned. Although this place was close to Jinan, it was still more than 200 miles away from Dezhou. Why did the mother and daughter want to go there?
But it was just a helping hand. Although the way home had nothing to do with Texas, it wasn't too much effort to make a small detour and put the mother and daughter down in a crowded and safe place to shelter from the rain.

Without any hesitation, he waved his hand and said, "Get in the car, I'll give you a ride!"

Upon seeing this, the woman thanked him hurriedly, picked up a large package, and then got on Old Man Zhao's donkey cart with her son.

Seeing that the first thing the woman did after getting on the cart was not to take good care of her son, but to cover the rather large package tightly with the felt on the donkey cart, and then carefully opened a hole for air. Old man Zhao turned his head with some caution and asked, "Son, what is that thing you are carrying?"

A while ago, an incredible incident happened in a neighboring county. Someone used a snake to rob people on a minibus, so Old Man Zhao couldn't help but become more cautious.

Before the woman could answer, the boy, who was only about six or seven years old, took the lead: "Uncle, they are big roosters~ There are four in total, one here and three in my mother's cage... Am I good at arithmetic!?"

As he said this, he stretched out his hands and took out a colorful rooster from his raincoat.

It is not actually accurate to call it a big rooster. This chicken looks to be only three or four pounds in size. No matter which breed it is classified into, it can only be regarded as a "quasi-rooster" that has just lost its youthfulness.

Seeing this fierce boy showing off, Old Man Zhao laughed out loud: "Great! He knows how to count at such a young age. This kid is really amazing!"

After saying that, he gently patted the mule's butt, and after the mule cart started moving slowly, Old Man Zhao turned his head in surprise and asked, "Son, where are you from? You don't sound like you're from Laiwu. Why don't you take a car but just walk on the road with these chickens?"

The woman's expression was a little awkward when she heard this: "Uncle, I came from Yishui... I don't have enough money, so I can only take a bus to Yiyuantou. The rest of the way, I have to walk."

Coming from Yiyuan?
Old Man Zhao was a little surprised. Although Yiyuan was adjacent to Laiwu, even if one walked from the border between the two counties, it was still a distance of nearly two hundred miles.

"You two are coming over here?" Old Man Zhao stared at the child, with a hint of disbelief in his tone.

"Uncle, yes, we started walking before dawn yesterday, it's so far!" The boy straightened his neck fiercely, but there was inevitably a hint of frustration in his tone.

Obviously, walking such a long distance is not only an extremely tiring thing, but he is a child less than seven years old and needs to be carried by his mother for most of the journey... He is not afraid of hardship as he has lost his father, but he feels that he is useless and has made his mother suffer too much.

Seeing the tiredness on the mother and daughter's faces, Old Man Zhao frowned and said, "You two walked such a long way with these chickens. Are you sending gifts or delivering goods?... Don't we have the post office? It's a bit expensive, but it's convenient. Is it worth it to bring your children through so much suffering?"

The woman just smiled softly when she heard this. "It's to send gifts to people, but also to express gratitude... At the beginning of the year, thanks to their help, my child and I were able to survive... Now they seem to be in trouble, so I have to make this trip... And by the way, let the child thank his benefactor in person... This is a courtesy, don't save the trouble."

Hearing this, the boy nodded heavily. "My mother said that we should be grateful, otherwise we are worse than animals... If it weren't for the uncles and aunts who silently helped us, my mother and I would have died of illness. When we get to Texas in two days, I will kowtow three times to the uncles and aunts... This is what I should do. I won't be tired even if I walk for three more days and three nights!"

Silently bombing?

Old man Zhao looked at the serious-looking boy with some surprise. For some reason, the more he looked at this face that had nothing bright except its fierce look, the happier he became.

Thinking of the various stories about this unit among the people, as well as the things he had seen or heard during this period, Old Man Zhao suddenly laughed, and after cracking the whip, the mule cart accelerated and turned off at a small intersection not far away.

The woman was shocked when she saw this and hugged her son tightly in her arms: "Uncle, where are you going?"

Old man Zhao turned his head and glanced at the woman who looked like she was ready to jump out of the car at any time. He shook his head helplessly, "I'm afraid you and your daughter haven't eaten for a whole day. The kid's stomach is rumbling. You can handle it, but what if the kid gets starved? My home is another four or five hundred meters ahead. Let's go home and have two bowls of yellow porridge to fill our stomachs first."

The woman shook her head firmly: "I'm not hungry, and neither is the child. I still have half a pancake in my bag. I can give it to him on the way."

Old man Zhao looked at him speechlessly: "Girl, even if you are not afraid of hunger, I am sixty-eight years old and my body cannot bear it!"

The woman was stunned. What did this mean?
Seeing this, Old Man Zhao sighed, "The Momo Baizha incident has been making a lot of noise lately, and I know a thing or two about their situation... Although your thoughtfulness is really commendable, but even if you send these four half-grown chickens over, they won't be of much use, right?"

Upon hearing this, the woman immediately hugged the cage under the felt from which some movement came, with a look of vigilance, fearing that the other party would try to snatch the chicken.

Seeing the other party's posture, Old Man Zhao's forehead jumped: "You woman... I mean, I have a dozen chickens at home, all of them are fat and big!"

"When you get to my house, I'll prepare some food for you and your mother. I'll also tie up the chickens and send you and your mother and the chickens to Texas in a mule cart!"

After saying that, he glared at her angrily and said, "Don't be so defensive when you get home. The old woman at home is very fierce. If she misunderstands you, you will really have to walk to Texas on your own two feet."

The woman heard this and stared at Old Man Zhao in disbelief. She couldn't even speak. "Uncle, why is this happening?"

Old Man Zhao had never received any favor from Mo Mo Bai Zha, so out of kindness, he would have given her and her mother a ride on this rainy day, which would have been fine. But why did he also give away the chickens he raised and then go through the trouble of delivering them to Texas?
Hearing the woman's question, Old Man Zhao just smiled and said, "No reason, it's just that recently there have been a lot of people from all over the place who want to send their chickens to Momo Baizha, and I suddenly got interested... Anyway, my teeth are almost falling out, so I can't eat meat very well."

After giving this specious reason, Old Man Zhao didn't care whether the woman believed it or not, and leisurely changed to a sitting position that made him a little more comfortable.

Call ~
A car with several rain felts on its roof was driving along the National Highway 308. Old man Zhao glanced at a few chicken feathers floating down in the autumn rain, with an incomprehensible look of contentment on his face.

Ah……

A stupid person who silently exploded so many things;

Tsk tsk,

This world finally has some of the flavors that should be in the human world...

(End of this chapter)