60s: I have a store

Chapter 564: The man is here, the donkey is here

It was noon, the scorching sun was shining on the country dirt road. Zhou Zhiming was driving a tractor, loaded with relief after paying the grain tax, and was rumbling towards Zhoujiazhuang.

In the carriage, Erzhu and several villagers were humming songs comfortably, and the smell of wheat mixed with sweat filled the air.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise coming from the front.

Zhou Zhiming squinted his eyes and saw several donkey carts lying in a mess on the side of the road, with golden wheat grains scattered all over the ground, and several villagers were busy cleaning up.

"Oh no, something happened!" Zhou Zhiming slammed on the brakes and the tractor stopped a few meters away from the accident scene.

Erzhu and others in the carriage staggered, and after the tractor stopped, Zhou Zhiming jumped out of the car impatiently to help.

When Erzhu and the others saw Zhou Zhiming do this, they did not hesitate and jumped out of the car and ran towards the accident site.

The villagers of Changxin Village were sweating profusely in anxiety.

Ou Jianguo, who was in the lead, had a red face and veins bulging on his forehead. He was trying to prop up an overturned donkey cart, but no matter how hard he tried, the heavy cart did not move at all.

Seeing the people from Zhoujiazhuang rushing over, he was stunned at first, and then a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes: "Comrade, can you help me?"

After all, this kind of thing is very energy-consuming. Many people nowadays can't even get enough food to eat. If you are not a kind-hearted person, you will not waste your energy to help.

"You're welcome, we'll do it!" Erzhu responded loudly, rolling up his sleeves and rushing forward.

Zhou Zhiming directed everyone to work together, some holding the shaft, some lifting the carriage, and some steadying the frightened donkey.

More than a dozen hands exerted force at the same time, and with the sound of "one, two, three", the heavy donkey cart was finally straightened.

Ou Jianguo wiped the sweat from his forehead and said gratefully: "Thank you so much! If it weren't for you, we really don't know what to do."

But when he looked down at the donkey cart, his face turned pale instantly - the frame was severely broken when it fell and could no longer be used.

The villagers of Changxin Village gathered around and looked at the broken frame, despair written all over their faces.

This place is still two or three kilometers away from the commune grain station. There are several thousand kilograms of wheat on the truck. With less than ten people, it is impossible to transport it by manpower.

Ou Jianguo squatted on the ground, grabbed his hair and sighed: "What can I do? If it's any later, I won't be able to pay the public grain in time."

Zhou Zhiming saw it and was worried.

He walked up to Ou Jianguo and patted him on the shoulder: "Let us help you deliver the wheat to the grain station!"

"What?" Ou Jianguo raised his head suddenly, his eyes full of disbelief, "Comrade, what did you just say?"

"I said, we will help you transport the wheat to the grain station." Zhou Zhiming repeated.

Ou Jianguo was speechless for a moment, his lips trembling: "This... How can I be so embarrassed? I am so sorry to bother you so much!"

But looking at the damaged frame, he couldn't think of any other solution, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Thank you, comrade!"

As he spoke, he took out a pack of homemade cigarettes from tobacco leaves from his pocket and handed them to Zhou Zhiming and others.

Zhou Zhiming and the others took the cigarette and lit it without any disdain. The pungent smell of the cigarette made Erzhu cough, but he still grinned and said, "That's powerful!"

Everyone immediately began to move the wheat, carrying bags of grain from Changxin Village to the tractor in Zhoujiazhuang.

Ou Jianguo arranged for two villagers to stay and look after the donkey cart: "You stay here and come back after we deliver the grain. If this donkey cart is lost, our village will be in ruins."

After hearing this, the two villagers quickly made a promise: "As long as we are here, the donkey will be here too!"

After receiving assurances from the two, Ou Jianguo felt relieved.

There is no other way. The donkey cart is very important to the village. If the donkey is gone, many things will require manpower.

The tractor started again and continued to drive towards the grain station carrying grain from the two villages.

Along the way, Ou Jianguo kept talking about the situation in Changxin Village.

It turned out that their village had a poor harvest this year, and the villagers had to tighten their belts to collect enough public grain.

The donkey cart accident was undoubtedly further misery for them.

When it was less than one kilometer away from the grain station, a long line of vehicles had already formed.

Zhou Zhiming shook his head helplessly and slowly drove the tractor into the team. It was noon, the sun was blazing, and the scalp was numb.

They didn't know how long the queue would end, and they were a little hungry, so before they set off, the old branch secretary gave each of them some dry food.

It is not clear how long this queue will take, but we must be fully prepared.

Zhou Zhiming and his companions thought that this dry food would not be used, but they did not expect that it would come in handy in this situation.

The villagers of Zhoujiazhuang took out dry food, including hard steamed corn bread and steamed buns mixed with white flour.

The villagers of Changxin Village also took out their own dry food - each person only had a dry steamed bun, which was all they could take out.

Seeing the people from Zhoujiazhuang taking out several times more food than themselves, their eyes were filled with envy.

Ou Jianguo took a bite of the steamed bun, his throat tightened and he swallowed it with difficulty.

In order to fill his stomach, he could only drink water in big gulps. His stomach was bulging with water, but he still didn't feel full.

Zhou Zhiming saw all of this.

He winked at Erzhu and the others. Although they were a little reluctant, they still silently handed over their two steamed buns.

Ou Jianguo was stunned, staring at the steamed bread handed to him, his voice trembling: "Comrade Zhou, what are you doing..."

"We are full and can't eat these. Let's not waste them." Zhou Zhiming explained with a smile.

Ou Jianguo's eyes were red. He took the steamed bread and said in a choked voice: "Thank you, thank you so much..."

The villagers of Changxin Village gathered around and took the food with trembling hands.

In this age when food is more precious than gold, this kindness is like the warm sun in winter, warming everyone's heart.

Time passed by minute by minute, and the team slowly moved forward.

More than an hour later, it was finally Changxin Village's turn to pay its grain tax.

When the staff at the grain station saw the tractor from Zhoujiazhuang, they were puzzled: "Didn't you already hand it in? Why are you here again?"

He had a deep impression of Zhoujiazhuang. After all, the two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes were still fresh in his memory. Anyone who could produce such cigarettes was obviously not an ordinary person.

Zhou Zhiming informed the grain station staff of the situation truthfully.

The staff did not expect that the people of Zhoujiazhuang would be so enthusiastic and gave a thumbs up! The staff began to check the wheat in Changxin Village, frowned and shook his head: "The wheat grains are not dry enough, and there are too many impurities. According to regulations, they cannot be collected."

Ou Jianguo's heart suddenly sank and he was so anxious that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhiming quickly stepped forward and said something nice: "Comrade, their village is indeed in trouble, please be flexible."

As he spoke, he quietly handed over one of the remaining cigarettes.

The staff hesitated for a moment, and finally sighed: "For the sake of Zhoujiazhuang, I will reluctantly accept it this time. This will not happen again!"

Ou Jianguo was so excited that he almost knelt down. He held Zhou Zhiming's hand and thanked him non-stop: "Comrade Zhou, you are the lifesaver of our Changxin Village! We will remember this kindness!"

Zhou Zhiming quickly said: "It's okay, we are all comrades, it's normal to help each other."

Then he sent everyone from Changxin Village to the place where the accident had just happened, and then said goodbye.

Soon, Zhou Zhiming drove the tractor back to Zhoujiazhuang and first went to the old branch secretary's home to tell him the good news.

After Zhou Zhiming arrived at the old branch secretary's house, he didn't even bother to shake off the wheat bran on his body. He jumped out of the car and ran to the old branch secretary's house, with half-dried mud still on his trouser legs.

The old branch secretary was squatting on the doorstep rolling a cigarette, the tobacco falling on the bluestone slabs. Seeing his anxious look, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "What's going on? What happened at the grain station?"

"First-class grain! Our village has been rated as first-class grain!" Zhou Zhiming's voice was filled with undisguised excitement. "The grain inspector said that the grains are full and have few impurities. We are the only one in the entire commune who has this!"

The old branch secretary's pipe dropped to the ground with a clang, and his cloudy eyes lit up instantly: "Really? Quick, find the old silk banner on the wall of the team headquarters, and we will hang it on the old locust tree at the entrance of the village tomorrow!"

He paced back and forth, rubbing his hands, muttering, "We have to let everyone who passes by see that we in Zhoujiazhuang are not vegetarians!"

As the night deepened, the lights in Zhoujiazhuang went out one after another, only the windows of the old party secretary's house were still lit.

Wearing reading glasses, he carefully wiped the wrinkled banner. In the light of the kerosene lamp, the big words "Advanced Collective in Grain Production" glowed dark red.

The next morning, after Zhou Yimin got up, he simply washed up, opened the store space, and bought all of today's flash sale products.

There are 100 kilograms of pork, 100 barrels of gasoline, 100 kilograms of barbecued meat, and 100 kilograms of pomegranates!

Then he walked towards the river with his fishing rod, and the dew wet his trouser legs.

When I turned the corner of the threshing ground, I suddenly heard soft sobbing sounds.

Following the sound, I saw Xiulan sitting next to a haystack, her shoulders twitching and the handkerchief in her hand was almost wet.

"Xiu Lan?" Zhou Yimin walked forward quickly, knocking his fishing rod against the ground. "Why are you crying like this? Did that kid Er Zhu bully you? Tell Uncle Sixteen, and I'll take care of it for you!"

His heart skipped a beat. He was the one who took the lead in organizing that lively blind date conference. If word got out that his new wife had been wronged, how would he put his old face?

Xiulan raised her head, her eyes swollen and red like ripe peaches: "Uncle Sixteen, Erzhu is very good to me, but... he just doesn't know how to live!"

She choked up and took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears. Zhou Yimin breathed a sigh of relief, sat down on the haystack beside her, picked up a piece of dogtail grass and put it in his mouth: "Tell me slowly, what happened?"

It turned out that Erzhu’s distant cousin came yesterday evening.

The man was wearing a gray cloth shirt with patches on top of patches. He wiped his tears as soon as he entered the door and said that his family was so poor that they could not even afford to eat. His son had found a wife, but they could not even get enough food for the wedding banquet. He wanted to borrow some money from Erzhu and buy some coarse grains on the black market to make up the difference.

"Erzhu didn't even ask, he just said 'Just tell me how much you want'," Xiulan became more and more angry as she spoke. "I was just about to advise him to think it over, but he said he had five pounds of pork at home and told me to take it if it wasn't enough!" She was so angry that she stomped her feet, scaring away the sparrows that were foraging for food near the haystack.

Zhou Yimin frowned. The five catties of pork was Erzhu's first prize in the fishing competition, and the whole village envied him.

Just as she was thinking, Xiulan continued, "When the cousin heard about the meat, he didn't even want the money, and shamelessly insisted on borrowing the meat, saying, 'I'll use it for the emergency first, and I'll definitely pay you back later.' Erzhu was easily deceived, and after a few nice words, he gave all the meat!"

"I just said, 'Leave half a pound for you to replenish your body,'" Xiulan's voice began to tremble again, "and he yelled at me, saying, 'Women should stay out of men's business.' Isn't this for the good of this family?"

Having said this, she started sobbing again, and her shoulders shook like fallen leaves in the autumn wind.

Zhou Yimin sighed and patted her shoulder.

Five pounds of meat is not a small amount of money these days. The price of food on the black market changes every day, and meat is even more scarce. If you lend it out, you will most likely never get it back.

But Erzhu has always been a man who cares about his reputation and values ​​friendship. When a relative comes to him for help, how can he have the heart to refuse?

"Let's go find him!" Zhou Yimin stood up and put the fishing rod on his shoulder. "We can't just let this go!"

Xiulan hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Uncle Sixteen, don't go. Family disgrace should not be made public..." "What are you afraid of?"

Zhou Yimin glared, "I arranged for you to marry into my family, so you are my family! Today I must let Erzhu know that he has to be thrifty in his life!"

When the two men rushed to Erzhu's house, they saw Erzhu squatting in the yard chopping firewood.

Hearing footsteps, he stood up in a hurry, with fresh sawdust still on his axe, and put on a flattering smile on his face: "Uncle Sixteen, Xiulan, why are you here?"

He avoided looking at Xiulan.

"Why are you here?" Zhou Yimin poked the fishing rod on the ground and said, "You are really good, you can lend me five pounds of meat just by asking me to. Are you going to have trouble making ends meet at home?"

Erzhu blushed and stammered, "He's my cousin, there's really nothing I can do..."

"Is there no way?" Zhou Yimin stamped his feet in anger. "Your life is so tight! You worked hard to earn those five pounds of meat, and you are so generous!"

He became angrier and angrier as he spoke, spit flying everywhere, "Xiu Lan is doing this for your own good, but you are so mean to her! Tell me, if your family really gets into trouble in the future, who will help you? Relatives? Humph!"

Erzhu lowered his head like a child being scolded, and the axe in his hand scratched the ground unconsciously.

Gradually, many villagers gathered around to watch the fun and talked among themselves.

Xiulan was so anxious that she kept pulling Zhou Yimin's sleeve: "Uncle Sixteen, stop talking..."

"No! I have to teach him a lesson today!" Zhou Yimin insisted, "Erzhu, let me ask you, what will your cousin pay you back with? Food? Meat? These days, he can't even afford to feed his family, how can he pay it back?"

Erzhu finally raised his head, his eyes red: "Uncle Sixteen, I was wrong. I just couldn't save face at that time..."

He turned to Xiulan and softened his voice, "Xiulan, it's my fault. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you."

Xiulan's nose felt sore and tears fell again: "It's not that I don't want to give up that little piece of meat, I'm just afraid that you are too naive and will be bullied..."

Zhou Yimin finally calmed down when he saw the two men reconcile. He snorted, "If you do this again next time, I'll break your legs!"

He picked up his fishing rod and waved to the villagers who were watching, "Go away, there's nothing to see!"

The crowd gradually dispersed. Erzhu scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "Uncle Sixteen, let's eat at home at noon. I'll go to the river to catch some fish..." "Forget it!"

Zhou Yimin rolled his eyes at him and said, "Living a good life with Xiulan is better than anything else!"

After saying that, he took his fishing rod and walked towards the river.

(End of this chapter)