Chapter 3 third chapter

Cao Ershun followed Xiao Taiping and Brother Cao Tuan to Baijiayao. It was the third day after Mr. Bai Er visited Zazipo. Cao Ershun remembered the situation that day very clearly.It was still dark, so Xiao Taiping woke him up and told him to go all over the slope to yell at people.When I led the shouting brothers to Baijiayao, there was only a smear of whiteness in the eastern sky.When we arrived at the Baijia Kiln, the sky was bright, and the brothers signed their names in the accounting room at the upper entrance of the kiln, and each received their badges. Mr. Bai Er keeps his word, he really only cares about two meals!With the work card in his hand, the kiln shopkeeper Zhang Sanye asked the people in the kiln to distribute a thick magnetic sea bowl to each of the brothers, each with a bowl of sorghum rice hot porridge, and two yellow corn stacked squarely. pancakes.The pickled vegetables for dinner are served in a big earthen basin, which is full, cut into shreds, and placed under the big mat shed for everyone to eat.The formation was a bit like a rich family holding a wedding ceremony, it was very lively.

Cao Ershun never liked to join in the fun, so he took a bowl of porridge and two pancakes, grabbed a handful of shredded pickles, and took refuge in a wooden cart behind the big mat shed.At first, he only cared about eating, and didn't pay attention to the surrounding scenery and people, nor the sound of the bellows ringing beside him.It was only at the end of the meal that Cao Ershun felt a little thirsty when the last bite of pancake slipped down with the shredded pickles—he ate too much shredded pickles for free, and he didn’t know if there was any water under the kiln, so he thought of looking for water.

This is where I saw Dani. Dani was less than five steps away from Cao Ershun, helping an old blacksmith with gray braids to maintain a red stove, holding the bellows in one hand, and drinking water from a ladle in the other. This was the first time Cao Ershun saw Dani, and what he saw was Dani's thin back.That back view definitely doesn't look like a young woman, but rather a boy of fourteen or fifteen years old.By the way, Cao Er thought that Dani was the old blacksmith's son or apprentice, so he walked over, patted Dani on the shoulder and said, "Hey, brother, give me some water!"

Dani was startled, and the water ladle in her hand almost fell to the ground. Cao Ershun hurriedly held the ladle in Dani's hand, and poured half a bowl of water into his bowl. When pouring water, Cao Ershun discovered that Dani was not a "brother", but a thin woman.I can't tell the age at once, it seems to be in my teens, and it seems to be in my twenties.Wearing an old blue homespun gown full of patches, he has a bulging chest.His yellow face was upturned, two handsome and confused big eyes were staring at him, and there was a strange sound of Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Cao Ershun felt that he was a little rude for patting a woman on the shoulder, so he apologized directly to Dani embarrassedly, and seemed to respectfully call Dani "big sister".

The old blacksmith who was fiddling with the fire looked up at Cao Ershun and said, "My niece is dumb, so I can't talk to you!" After that, the old blacksmith gestured to Dani, asking her to pull the bellows.Dani pulled up the bellows again with a "puff and puff", and pointed to the bucket beside her with a smile, signaling Cao Ershun to scoop up more water.Cao Ershun's belly was quite full, so he didn't need any more water, but because of Dani's kindness, he scooped up half a ladle of water by accident, and drank it desperately... This is the whole process of Cao Ershun and his future wife Dani meeting for the first time.Fate is water, and the situation is as plain as water, without any legendary color.At that time, Cao Ershun didn't know that the dumb Dani had a bad reputation, let alone that her uncle, the old blacksmith, was also incestuously fucking her every night.Later, the bell on the cabinet above the kiln rang, and the brothers all took the coal picks and iron mills and went down the kiln. Only then did Cao Ershun slowly put down the water ladle and went to the kiln entrance.When we arrived at the entrance of the kiln, almost all the brothers had left.

At the kiln entrance, Cao Ershun first met his brother-in-law Xiao Taiping, and then saw Mr. Zhang with a big beard. Xiao Taiping pointed at Cao Ershun, and quietly said to Third Master Zhang: "...Third Master, this is my brother-in-law, you can always see if you can...can you give him a lighter job?" Zhang Sanye behaved like a grandson in front of Mr. Bai Er, but he was very fierce in front of his brothers, so he didn't buy Xiao Taiping, the former head of the second regiment.Zhang Sanye looked at Xiao Taiping up and down for a long time as if looking at something rare, and then he gave a bull's eye a look, and said: "If you want to be light, go home and hug your wife, there is no light work in Baijiayao!" After that, he threw a broken coal basket full of wet charcoal to Cao Ershun, and another to Xiao Taiping, "You all go carry coal!"

This surprised Xiao Taiping. Cao Ershun found out later that Xiao Taiping didn't intend to go to the kiln that day.Xiao Taiping thought that as long as all the brothers Cao Tuan were moved from Lijiayao and Wangjiayao to Baijiayao, and the brothers were well managed, and they did not cause trouble, even if they had fulfilled their responsibilities for Mr. Bai Er, they would be taken for granted. With those three kiln salaries, he will be able to hire a kiln for Mr. Bai Er in the future. Xiao Taiping didn't expect that he would be kicked out by Zhang Sanye the first day! People under the eaves have to bow their heads.Xiao Taiping was taken aback for a moment, then coiled the thick and long black braid behind his neck around his neck, picked up the back basket on the ground, patted Cao Ershun on the shoulder with a sullen face and said, "Second brother, let's go!"

Cao Ershun didn't know Mr. Bai Er's private promise to Xiao Taiping, so naturally he couldn't feel Xiao Taiping's grievance, so he followed Xiao Taiping obediently along the inclined shaft extending into the ground, and walked down the charcoal kiln step by step. . When he first arrived at the kiln, Cao Ershun felt a bit like the cellar of his hometown in the country.There are loess everywhere on the top of the kiln and the side of the kiln, which is not very scary.But the more you go down, the more stuffy you feel, and it feels a little scary.The soybean oil lamp in his hand was beating like a will-o'-the-wisp, and the light could not be five feet away.There was still water everywhere, splashing and splashing from the roof of the kiln, dripping from the bottom of the kiln, Xiao Taiping who was walking in front accidentally fell and fell.Then I looked around with an oil lamp, and the loess had long since disappeared.Moldy wooden pillars and wooden beams support a dark world, and the eyes are full of things that are not soil.Turning around and looking up, the kiln mouth has become very small and empty, like a thin moon hanging in the sky.

Cao Ershun felt timid, and said to Xiao Taiping: "This...how deep is this kiln, it's...so scary!" Xiao Taiping said viciously: "What are you afraid of? I...I'm going to make a fortune here!" Cao Ershun couldn't understand the ferocious ambition hidden in these words. Cao Ershun thought he understood, and was taken aback for a moment, then said: "Yes... yes! No matter how good the land is, it doesn't grow as fast as this kiln. The kiln is in charge of our two meals, and five liters of sorghum a day is a net profit." Five liters a day, one hundred and eighty buckets and eighteen stones a year. This is the harvest of seven or eight mu of land in my hometown! If you work like this for three to five years, you will earn a few mu of land. ..."

Xiao Taiping yelled at Cao Ershun again: "Eighteen stones a year, your wife, children, and family don't eat or drink anymore?! You all tied up your necks?!" Only then did Cao Ershun see that Xiao Taiping was in a bad mood, so he stopped arguing with Xiao Taiping, but he was still dissatisfied in his heart. When carrying the first basket of coal to the kiln, Cao Ershun secretly calculated in his heart: Even if he finds a wife in the future and has a few more children, he will definitely not be able to eat eighteen stones of sorghum in a year!How can food be eaten?Always add some bran vegetables.No matter how bad it is, in five to eight years, he will earn a few acres of land...

Thinking about it this way, the moon hanging high above the kiln mouth turned into a fiery sun, bursting out with hope. The light of hope shone on Cao Ershun's body, and gradually Cao Ershun no longer felt afraid... After carrying the fifty-third basket of coal, Cao Ershun and Xiao Taiping and a group of brothers carrying coal ate at the mouth of the kiln on the ground.The brothers who plowed and charged the coal could not go up to the kiln, so they ate at the bottom of the kiln.There were a lot fewer brothers eating on the ground, and it seemed a little deserted. Because he carried coal on the first day, and ate lunch on the kiln because of carrying coal, Cao Ershun saw Dani again. Dani was still pulling the bellows in front of the stove, and her face after washing in the morning was covered with smoke and dust.The old blacksmith with gray braids was holding a pair of tongs and a coal pick was jingling on the anvil, and the sparks splashed directly to Dani's side.Cao Ershun became worried for Dani for no reason, thinking, if sparks fell on Dani's face, wouldn't it ruin Dani's appearance?Although Dani is dumb, she has a pretty face... With half a mouthful of pancakes in his mouth, Cao Ershun stared at Dani obsessively, and a local kiln worker named Qian Chuanzi found out. Qian Chuanzi nudged Cao Ershun with his elbow and said, "...Hey, have you fallen in love with this little girl? Dude, you only need to give her blacksmith uncle five liters of sorghum, and she will let you go back once a day. Soon?" Cao Ershun hurriedly looked away from Dani, and shook his head at Qian Chuanzi. Qian Chuanzi thought that Cao Ershun didn't like Dani, so he teased and said: "If you think this dumb woman is not good, let's go to the Sankong Bridge in Qiaotou Town in the dark, how about the girl on the Rihua boat? But the price is expensive Once a day, you get two or three days of kiln wages!" Cao Ershun's heart was beating wildly, his face was flustered, he looked at Qian Chuanzi at a loss, and shook his big head again. "Then...then let's play cards at night, how about playing cards? Winning or losing is not a big deal, it's just a day or two of wages. If you win, you take it. If you lose, you can owe it first." Cao Ershun still shook his head. Qian Chuanzi was upset, and pointed to Cao Ershun's forehead and said, "You are so boring. Women don't play cards someday. If you get crushed to death under a kiln someday, will you lose money?" This situation was seen by Xiao Taiping who was eating on the side of the charcoal pile. Xiao Taiping came over and pulled Cao Ershun away. When he went down to the kiln again in the afternoon, Cao Ershun's heart was shaken.The Jingui girl on the flower boat didn't dare to think too much, but Dani at the kiln mouth kept pretending in her heart, and wanted to tell Qian Chuanzi, who was carrying coal together several times, that he would stick these five liters of sorghum, and once a day with Dani—— Anyway, he has no family and no food, so it is useless to earn these sorghum.When loading coal in the coal pit, Qian Chuanzi was right in front of him, and Cao Ershun almost wanted to say, "I'm going to die..." It so happened that Xiao Taiping came over, and he said to Cao Ershun nonchalantly: "Second brother, one must have a big ambition in one's life!" This made Cao Ershun wake up. Cao Ershun followed his own way of thinking to understand what his brother-in-law said, and after understanding it all the way, he once again felt that his brother-in-law was brilliant: Yes, one should have a big ambition in one's life, what kind of big ambition is just thinking about it once a day?What should we do tomorrow when the day is over?Besides, five liters of sorghum per day is too expensive.If you go to Japan every day, wouldn't you be doing this hard work for nothing every day?Isn't his world over at the end of the day?I'm afraid I won't be able to make money at the place where Lao Lian's corpse is buried! Have big ambitions!Cao Ershun thought ambitiously, he had to get this dumb woman to be his wife at home, so that he could live every day without spending a penny. Imagining all the simple and obscene scenes of being a dumb woman every day, the crotch of the legs has become inflexible, and the heels have also become soft... Since then, Dani's pretty face and figure are like a scene, always sticking to Cao Ershun's eyes.On the kiln is a big girl, and under the kiln is still a big girl, and the whole world is full of big girls.Every time I walk past Dani's blacksmith shed, I can't forget to drink water in the shed and work hard to pull the bellows for Dani. Accompanied by the fictitious Dani and the sound of the bellows from time to time, Cao Ershun's dream of earning a piece of land became more and more fulfilled day by day, and going to the kiln became a kind of attachment and enjoyment of his young life.This made Cao Ershun never forget this hopeful and sensual year for the rest of his life, and he kept admiring Xiao Taiping in his heart until his death.Xiao Taiping not only fulfilled him and Dani, but also fulfilled a vigorous era of small kilns in the struggle for that great ambition in the future. From this, Cao Ershun decided that the seventh year of Tongzhi was not only an important year for him, but also an important year for Qiaotou Town.The real history of the coal industry in Qiaotou Town should be counted from that year, from the day when Xiao Taiping walked into the Baijiayao with him, carrying a heavy coal basket on his back. That day, not only in Qiaotou Town, but also in the entire Cao Tuan, no one knew how great Xiao Taiping was, only Cao Ershun knew.Cao Ershun heard what Xiao Taiping said to him very clearly: "One must have great ambitions..."