Chapter 3 three

Seeing Erbei and Baiyin walk out of the doorway, Han Xuanzi let out a long breath and said: "Hey, I've been the mediator of so many family disputes in this town. When it comes to us, I'm helpless!" Wife said: "That's all, that's all, now we live in another room, turn a blind eye and close your eyes! How long can we live? If you close your eyes, it's not all theirs." Han Xuanzi said: "The division is divided, and outsiders say that I am too much. I don't want to divide it. I let them try it hard after they are separated. If they change their minds, just listen to it, and let's get together again. But you Look, people are getting more and more confident!"

Han Xuanzi's face turned gloomy, and he sat down for a while, then turned out the "Shangzhou Local Chronicles".The book had turned yellow and was in dire condition. He had replaced the cover with a cloth clip, and usually kept it under the kang mat, and often had to take it out to read.Today, I read a legend about Sihao in Shangzi Mountain, and wondered: During the period of Qin chaos, how did these four old men feel so worried here! After being dazed for a while, they stood in the yard and looked at the flower beds flowers on.The winter flowers were all frozen to death, only two phlox plants growing emerald green on both sides of the gravel path with water flow pattern.Then I squatted in front of the chicken coop for a while, and then sat back in the house to light a charcoal fire.

The wife knew that this was the time when the old man was most bored, so he stopped interjecting.She scooped rice out of the cabinet, scooped one liter, and poured it into the basket, scooped one liter, and poured it into the basket; she is a person who is used to living a small life, one liter is one liter, and if it is not enough, she finally asked: "I scooped four buckets, do you see enough?" "it depends on you." "I can figure it out?" my wife said, "I know how many guests you plan to have?" Han Xuanzi said: "I can't tell, I haven't counted yet; just take an extra bucket."

The wife scooped out another ten liters, but saw the old man put on the sheepskin coat and go out by the door. "Where are you going again?" Han Xuanzi didn't answer, the footsteps sounded from the gate of the courtyard to behind the screen wall, and could not be heard.The wife sighed, stopped the sheng in his hand, came over and pushed aside the newly lit charcoal fire, spit a few mouthfuls of saliva to let it go out, and muttered: "It's like you lost your soul, where did you go?" Han Xuanzi was looking for Gong Desheng.The hunchback came from Baigou to the widow's door in the town, and she had warm feet every night, and gained many benefits in life, and also suffered a lot of hardships that a bachelor would not suffer: the widow is a slut, she cursed the streets with one mouth, her tongue was like a knife, No matter how big or small, I can only be wronged by others, not by others. I am so strong and want to be strong, but I can't fight for one breath - I won't have children.Three women and three guest children, at the age of forty, adopted a boy who grew up to five years old.I can't speak yet, but I thought it was a bit late to speak, and when I was sixteen or seventeen years old, I still didn't speak, so I believed that I was really dumb.Now the two daughters are married, and the mute son is out of luck, so life is tight.So I came to say nice things to Han Xuanzi, begging for a business license for him, he wanted to run a grocery store.Han Xuanzi went to the commune to talk about it, and since then the hunchback has become the owner of a grocery store. After only two years of work, his money has gradually become more moist.Han Xuanzi's drinking capacity has increased in the past six months, and he must have something on his mind, so he drank there.

The fog this morning was not as usual, and the sun had already blown out, and it hadn't cleared up yet.Han Xuanzi stood on the head of Yuan, but he still couldn't see clearly the entrance of the town.This town is really good feng shui. The river flows down from the depths of the Qinling Mountains, and when it reaches Xishaoling, a large piece of ground suddenly flashes out. It can be described as "the willows are dark and the flowers are bright"! After five miles, Ma'anling stopped head-on, then flowed northward, flowed out for a mile, circled the mouth of Ma'anling and turned southeast. Here is a huge basin, high in the west and low in the east. The basin bottom in the middle is The whole town.Han Xuanzi knew the 2,300 families in the town like the palm of his hand; he knew whose dog bit people and whose dog didn't bite anyone:

He wore a sheepskin coat and walked down the path beside the bamboo grove, down the steep slope, to a large river beach, and then to the west, it was the town street.His family's two acres of land are all on the river beach.After the wheat was sown in early winter, he and Erbei came to irrigate once, but it took a long time for them to come.Now I turned to my own field and saw that the wheat was still tall, but it was yellow and thin.Several families began to carry pot ashes and kang soil, and applied floating fertilizer in the field. When they saw him from a long distance, they all smiled and said:

"Mr. Han, wake up early!" He let out a sigh, watched those people throw ashes in mist, and said: "It's so thick, isn't it afraid that the wheat will fall in the future?" This is a bald man, winter, winter, summer and summer, his chest is not buttoned, in fact there are no buttons, so he tightened it with a leather belt.A coarse cloth belt is tight around the waist of the elderly, and the young people definitely find it ugly; but he cannot do without the belt, and the belt must be a cowhide belt. It is a transitional person between the old and the young, saying:

"I can't compare with you. You can buy chemical fertilizers. Don't look at your wheat. When you sprinkle chemical fertilizers in spring, it grows like a hand! My family has no cows, no dung, and it's sweet when planted. If you don’t put some kang soil on it, it will really grow ears the size of a fly’s head!” The words of the bald head somewhat comforted Han Xuanzi.After the land was contracted, all cattle in the village were sold to private individuals.But people nowadays are empty-headed. They are farmers and they are also in business. They are both sellers and buyers. The people on the plain outside the mountain have grabbed cash.In this way, there is no fertilizer to apply in the field, and chemical fertilizer has become a rarity.Han Xuanzi also complained about this, thinking that in the past few years, the grain harvest has been abundant because of the greatest effort of people and the greatest effort of the land. If the land has hardened for a long time, will there be a bumper harvest?

I took a step back and thought: Forget it, forget it, we are not the government, and we can’t formulate policies. The world is like this, so am I! Fortunately, the commune allocates fertilizer quotas every year. Others can’t buy it, but he can buy it. There are also two bags of chemical fertilizer piled up. When he spreads the chemical fertilizer in the field, let those people be jealous! "Oh," he wanted to sigh, "how much wheat can we harvest, and the cost of fertilizer is tens of yuan a year!" The bald head curled his thick mouth and said in a low voice: "What are you worried about? You have money, and you can buy fertilizer!" As he said, he dropped the basket, came over and rubbed his hands, took out a pack of cigarettes from his padded jacket, and handed one to Han Xuanzi, "After a while In the next year, can you guys buy some bags for me?"

Han Xuanzi looked at the blue-glowed head, and said in his heart: If you want me to do something, just take out this cigarette; buy a few bags of chemical fertilizer, is this cigarette worth it? "What did it cost me? Didn't I often ask you for help? I said Gousheng, you only have a few acres of land, and the kang soil is so thick, you still need chemical fertilizers j" The bald dog said: "You don't know, I have six acres of land now. Wang Cai's family is busy building his processing plant, and his family's three acres of land have been transferred to me for planting."

Wang Cai, Wang Cai again, when Han Xuanzi heard this name, he felt a surge of anger in his heart.he asked: "What did you say? He transferred the land? Who allowed this? He is so capable that he dares to rent out the land casually. He is exploiting you and hiring you as a long-term laborer!" Seeing that Han Xuanzi's face turned pale, Gou Sheng felt "thumping" in his heart, and squinted around to see that there was no outsider, so he struck the match, lit a cigarette for the old man, and said: "You guys, don't say anything. This is a negotiation between our two parties. Wang Cai's family first wanted to sell Shangzhi, but when it failed, they also bought a noodle press machine to press noodles. Now they are just focusing on his food processing and bought a lot of machines. , a workshop was set up in the yard, and they can make dim sum, shortbread, and sugar with beans. It tastes heavier than the oil from the county food processing factory, and it is so crisp that it falls off the dregs. Small merchants and peddlers come to buy his products. He has a family of eight and two sons-in-law, and he is recruiting everyone's shares. He wants to do a lot in the spring! Of course, there is no room for planting here. , can only dig the dirt. We agreed to give his family two dans of grain twice a year on more than three acres of land. This is Zhou Yu's fight against Huanggai. Han Xuanzi called out: "Nonsense, nonsense! Who gave him the policy? If he wants to transfer you, you dare to accept it?" Gousheng said: "I didn't dare at the beginning. Wang Cai said that Henan has already done this, and I am afraid that there will be regulations from the higher authorities soon. I also think that the current policy is changing as it is being implemented. It may really be like this. Besides, now It is a society where capable people do things. Whoever is capable will be supported by the state. We can only grow crops, and we can grow crops with only three acres of land? Mr. Han, Uncle Han, you must not tell the people in the commune about this. !" Han Xuanzi hesitated and walked past the wheat field. In the middle of the land, there used to be a wide road, which can pass a carriage, one end leads to the town street, the other end leads to the Ma'an Ridge, and can go straight down to Henan and Hubei.In the early years, there was a temple by the roadside, which was built in the Han Dynasty. The four mud tires in the temple were Sihao, which collapsed during the "Cultural Revolution".Soon after.When the road was built on the plateau, the road became barren.Every time Han Xuanzi came here, he would sigh with emotion at the pile of stones after the collapse of Sihao Temple.It's been a long time since I've been here, and now I see that the farmers are expanding the area of ​​their land, encroaching on the road so that it twists and turns.As Han Xuanzi walked away, he scolded "Sin!" "Alas, people's hearts are blind, blind, no one builds roads!" Regarding the policy of land contract farming, Han Xuanzi is straightforward and wise; he is not the kind of vested interest in the big pot.During those years, he taught abroad, his wife was sick all the year round, the four children could eat but could not work, and there was always a food shortage at home, and the monthly salary was almost all on his lips.Now that the land is divided into homes, although the farming is not good, there is enough to eat and drink, and there is still surplus, and the money earned will be lost one by one, which can be used for family civilization construction.He believes in an old saying: The most laborious people in the world are farmers; farmers are water to the country, and the country is boats to farmers; water can float a boat, and water can also capsize a boat.If the big pot of rice continues, the country will be poor and the people will be poor, and the world will be in chaos. I am afraid it is inevitable. However, the promulgation of the new policy made him increasingly dislike many people and many things.When the land was contracted, the production team held five all-night meetings, and the meeting was full of troubles.Because no matter what, the quality of the land is difficult to be equal. Whoever gets the good land and who gets the bad land, each only sees less meat in his bowl.As a result, egalitarianism became popular on a whim, and paper eggs were very popular, so the flat and large areas were divided into a row, and boundary stones appeared all over the place like watermelons.The willows, poplars, and neem trees on the bank are also marked with prices, and the amount of money is written on the trees with red paint, which can be grasped with paper eggs. Cut down, cut down.The big ones are used as beams and pillars, and the small ones are used to build sheds and rings.No one managed the canal, and the stone weir was taken away to make the foundation of the house.Han Xuanzi looked down on these messy phenomena, and couldn't figure out how the future of the countryside would develop.After all, he is a man of letters, and he carefully studies every day's newspapers.The government's policy did not seem to have changed, so he thought: contracting land must be an expedient measure for the country.But this idea was denied by myself from time to time.The last is those frivolous people, the rice in the bowl is thick, and they have some money in their waists.So complacent, he warned those people more than once: "In general, human affairs, state affairs, and world affairs. If they are united for a long time, they must be divided, and if they are divided for a long time, they must be united!" Just think for yourself; think for yourself.Why bother to say it. Now, Wang Cai actually transferred the land again, which made his already disturbed mood by family and village affairs even more confusing. Wang Cai, what kind of role is that?Han Xuanzi has always ignored him: But Wang Cai's influence is getting bigger and bigger, and he has almost become the number one news person in this town! Everyone is talking about him, and they are threatening and protesting almost all the time. With the influence of his Han family.He was indignant. When he was still teaching in the county, Wang Cai was his student, thin and small, with a blind old lady at home, what was it like to live in a panic?In winter, I can’t wear socks – my legs are slender, my nails are thick, and I wet the bed. A quilt is always drying on the back wall of the school.When will I be able to approach people with dignity? In the second year of junior high school, Wang Cai's elder sister was getting married, and the family wanted a lot of property, and even asked the man to buy a birthday coffin for the blind mother.This matter spread to the school, so that people could not laugh at it, but Wang Cai couldn't hold his head up. In the autumn, he secretly rolled up the quilt and went home, and never came to school again. When he became a farmer, Wang Cai was still not tall.He doesn't know how to plow the land, he doesn't know how to sow seeds, so the work points are always six points.Until the blind mother passed away and the new daughter-in-law came over, he still had nothing. Just such an inferior person, after the land was contracted, he exploded! "Hmph, no one is going to get rich!" Han Xuanzi was unconvinced as he walked down the town street.Seeing from afar in the water mill by the river, a large water wheel with a height of half a person turning there, he knew that Wang Cai's family was still grinding wheat there, so he spat bitterly: Am I not as good as you?Even if you have money and food, but who do you live for? My surname is Han, a family of eight, two earn money in the provincial capital, and two earn money locally. Although I am not in the commune compound, in this town Who doesn't know me, I'm afraid of you? ! Walking into the town street, people in one street and two rows are busy.The street is very low, but the foundations of houses on both sides are high, with brick steps and black-stained open panel doors.The people on the street are blessed by nature, all of them are both farmers and businessmen, amphibious hands and feet.The rooms are very crowded, full of doors and windows. Although they are not as good at crowding as the Shanghainese, everything is used to the sky: every family has a large cabinet; , Vermicelli shop, living in Xiaoju Lao, a wire is tied to the window sill, quilts and blankets are also hung to dry, and pants and diapers are also hung.It is the day of the twelfth lunar month, the "Laba" has passed, and every family is open for business, or preparing for the new year.Some moved all their belongings to the street, sweeping dust and painting the walls on the ground; some were making tofu and brewing rice wine in a cloud of smoke;Those professional and self-employed children had already put on their watches and trousers. Three or four of them walked sideways on the street in a row. When they saw Han Xuanzi, they scattered and went into someone's shop. went.Several families are repairing the house, a group of carpenters, and a group of masons, in a mess.When they saw Han Xuanzi, they all stopped what they were doing and greeted him with a smile.Han Xuanzi walked over, Standing in front of a house being repaired, he said to a man on the scaffolding at the top of the gable: "Ha, it's really the Chinese New Year, clean up the house!" "Ah, it's Mr. Han! Let's smoke for Mr.!" The man on the scaffold yelled happily, and jumped down, "The house is old, so I can't clean it up. I want to build another one and set up a consignment store." ah!" "Did Gong Desheng's business attract red eyes?" Han Xuanzi said with a smile. "How much money can I find? Once the work in the field is over, there is nothing to do. Mr. Han, when am I going to find you? Now that the house has been repaired, the business license has not yet been issued." Knowing what he was going to say, Han Xuanzi called out: "I'm setting up a shop now, God, how many people are there to buy? It's incredible. Secretary Wang of the commune told me that there are so many people who want to apply for a business license that they have to queue up..." "It's difficult." The man said, "We don't know anyone, so I'm afraid we won't be able to do it. It all depends on your old age." "It's easy to talk about. I can talk to Secretary Wang and see if it works." Han Xuanzi wanted to leave immediately, but the man still held him firmly, saying: "As long as you say a word, can it work? Who doesn't know who Mr. is! Hey, I heard that our girl is married, why are you so silent and treat me as an outsider?" Han Xuanzi said: "It's important to travel and get married now, and the baby's business will be done on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.", The man said: "Travel is travel, but we have a custom here, we must give the baby a 'way'! When is the date?" "Forget it, don't alarm the townspeople." The man said: "How can I do that? If you don't tell me, I will find out." Han Xuanzi just smiled and said nothing, wanted to leave, but couldn't get away, when someone shouted sharply: "He, Uncle Han, why doesn't he come and sit in the room!" Everyone turned their heads and saw that it was Gong Desheng's wife.This is a jujube stone woman with a small head and small feet, but her waist is as thick as a barrel.I must have taken out a basket of red radishes early in the morning and washed them in the river before returning to the street.Holding a basket in one hand and keeping warm under the skirt of his clothes with the other, he yelled loudly when he saw Han Xuanzi.Most of the yelling was for Han Xuanzi to listen to, and most of it was for people in the same street or two rows to listen. "This jujube core essence!" The man cursed in a low voice, and said to Han Xuanzi, "Go into the house and have a rest, there is a charcoal fire in the house." Han Xuanzi said: "No, I'm going to buy some wine." After finishing speaking, he left, and heard the man say from behind: "Sir, I'll leave that to you!" Gong Desheng's grocery store has the highest steps.In the three rooms, one asks for a counter, and three large shelves are installed inside, displaying all kinds of department stores and sundries.The tables are two old tables stained with lacquer, and the stools are eight wide board stools for people who eat wine to sit on.Gong Desheng has a hunchback, so his clothes can only be made short in the front and long in the back.The nose is big and always red.The life-long hot eye, only went to the county hospital for treatment last year when he had savings in his hands, but there was no good medicine, so he got a pair of glasses to wear. Seeing Han Xuanzi go up the steps, Gong Desheng came out from the counter and said: "It's been four days and I haven't seen you here. I guess you should have finished your wine. It's either noon or evening. I didn't think it would be early in the morning..." After greeting him and sitting down, he took out the cigarettes and handed them over, and said to his wife: "Cut a plate of pig's ears, and I'll have a drink with him, Uncle Han!" The Zaohe woman followed the case with a knife, and cut a plate of pig ears with sauce three times, then took the wine pot to the urn, and poured it slowly with a wine spoon. Han Xuanzi said: "Don't drink it. If you want to drink, I will buy it. How can you do business like this?"' The Zaohe woman brought up the spoon slowly, but it was not level. With a movement of her hand, a few drops of wine spilled out, and she said: "If you care about others, you still care about you!" Han Xuanzi smiled, and said in his heart: People really dare not do business, they regard money as precious! Look, let me drink, and calculate it spoon by spoon, and it's not fair, it's treacherous, hmph, that urn Can the wine not be mixed with water?The wine was brought up and scalded with hot water from the vat.After Han Xuanzi took a sip, he tasted that there was indeed a lot of water in it.asked: "Is business going well these days?" "It's okay." Gong Desheng said, "Small troubles, finally the money is not tight, isn't it all thanks to you?" After drinking two pots of wine, both of them became dizzy. Gong Desheng asked about Han Xuanzi's family affairs. Talking about Baiyin—from her hairstyle, to her western-style spring and autumn shirt and the slippers on her feet—the more she talked, the more angry she became.Gong Desheng's every word was in favor of Han Xuanzi, Han Xuanzi recognized him as his confidant, and took off his sheepskin coat.Say: "Brother, I'll keep this in my stomach, I can't say it to others, what kind of family are we, why did this kind of thing happen! The world is changing fast, and it has become unpopular! Now look. Who Who can I control? I can’t control my children, and the captain can’t control the members; once the land is in the household, the economy is independent, and each manages its own affairs. In such a large commune, there are six or seven secretaries and cadres, and they can only manage family planning!” Gong Desheng said: "Now freedom is freedom, but what should be respected is still respected. The cadres in the commune compound. In the final analysis, they are our leaders. Your brother has been a hero all his life. Now which family has weddings and funerals? Didn't they invite you to sit on the table? After all, a gentleman is a gentleman; what kind of society, what kind of world, is a dragon or is in the sky, is a worm or is on the ground!" These words fell on Han Xuanzi's heart again, and he said: "That's a well-known saying! Let's just talk about Wang Cai's little man. Don't look at him now. He has forgotten his bitterness in the past few years. How can he live like a human being?" Gong Desheng lowered his voice and said: "Brother, do you know? I heard that the little man has so many bills in his hand!" He stretched out his hand, shook it back and forth, and continued: "How can he get so much? He can succeed in the future? Can he succeed without tax evasion? The government's policy is to let some people get rich first. Could it make him so rich?" Han Xuanzi's ears and cheeks were already hot, but he still went to touch the jug, but the wine was spilled on the table. Gong Desheng hurriedly bent down, put his mouth on the table and sucked it dry.Han Xuanzi was about to answer his words, when he saw this, he burst out laughing: "You really know how to live. This wine has been mixed with water. How much does it hurt?" A drunken joke made Gong Desheng turn red and said: "Where is this wine mixed with water? Who are we to do such wicked things?!" Busy excuses to get cigarettes to smoke.Han Xuanzi laughed again and said: "I'm afraid I'm drunk. Let's drink another pot. I'll pay for this pot." Gong Desheng pretended to be generous, and called the Zaohe woman to pour wine, saying: "Brother, this store is said to be run by me, or it can be said to be run by you. I am very happy when you come! As the saying goes: banquets are hard to invite. For example, the little man heard that there is Fenjiu at home. The dishes may be richer than mine, but there are three tables and five tables with seven dishes and eight dishes, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to invite you. Come on, let’s punch a few times and have fun!” He shouted three times and five strokes a few punches, but Han Xuanzi won all punches, and Gong Desheng's eyes straightened up.The Zaohe woman had been watching the battle, not because she felt sorry for the old man, but because she regretted the wine, so she called the dumb son in the backyard to come in and drink for her father.The dumb man staggered in, stood aside with crooked eyebrows and squinted eyes, took the wine cup from Gong Desheng's hand and drank it, Gong Desheng pushed it past, and shouted: "Get out! Where can I get drunk? You, Bo Han, and I are drinking to the fullest, and we won't get drunk after drinking ten pots or eight pots. Brother, I am able to drink these few drinks now, and it is all thanks to your support. You Look, with our small profit, the neighbors in this neighborhood are jealous. There is a person surnamed Liu on the other side of the street, who is going to open a grocery store and sell wine! The little man ran away, can this person get a business license?" Han Xuanzi said: "It's hard to say, if you can take it, I'm afraid others can take it too." "Then get rid of us honest people!" Gong Desheng said, "Brother, can this store survive? You have to take care of it!" Han Xuanzi drank his head a little heavy, but he knew it very well in his heart, so he didn't say: as long as I go to the commune to talk, his surname Liu won't be able to get a business license! Instead, he just smiled. "Am I that kind of person? If I don't like you, I won't drink your wine. I just tell you now, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, I will 'send the way' to Ye Zi, and I won't say hello to anyone. You do it." Gong Desheng said: "How can I not go? Your woman is my woman. How are things prepared?" Han Xuanzi said: "Everything is fine, you leave me a dozen bottles of good wine, and I will bring five bottles today." The money was taken out of the pocket, and it was placed on the table hard.Gong Desheng was not in a hurry to talk big, so Han Xuanzi said again: "I'm not bragging to your brother. Four people in a family earn money. If you charge less, I won't mention this wine." At this moment, Han Xuanzi's youngest daughter ran into the store, and when she saw her father's eyes were red from drinking, she said: "You are drinking, drinking, what is there to drink from horse urine!" Han Xuanzi has very strict requirements on his children, but he loves his little daughter very much; he doesn't blame his little daughter for talking about him on any occasion, so he smiled and said: "Look at my little girl! What's going on at home?" The little girl said: "Brother Wang Cai has been waiting for you at home for a long time." Everything is quiet in the grocery store.Gong Desheng looked at Han Xuanzi's face nervously, thinking that he was going to get angry.Han Xuanzi didn't say a word, just drank, drank quickly and vigorously, picked up the empty cup and lifted it up.But he put it down gently and said: "He is looking for me, why is he looking for me?"