The other villagers were also filled with indignation.
"I went to inquire a few days ago. Even if the watermelons grown in the fields this year are of poor quality, they charge a minimum of six cents per catty. You give us three cents?! We are busy all year round.
, in the end you will make some fertilizer money!”
"There are also sweet potatoes. I'll give you a penny per catty! Are you going to accept the goods or eat people? Isn't it clear that you want to chew our bones!"
There were two people surrounded in the middle of the crowd.
One is a young man wearing a floral shirt, jeans, and a toad mirror hanging on his face.
One is an old man wearing a white undershirt and polyester trousers.
Facing the angry questions from the villagers of Taoxi Village, the two looked calm, with obvious arrogance in their eyes.
"Brothers and sisters, it's not that we want to lower the price, the market is like this now." The old man in a sweatshirt smiled lightly, and spoke with a condescending attitude, "Your village does not have a lot of things together. Besides, Taoxi Village is remote and there is a mountain road into the village.
It’s very difficult to walk, and the ordinary merchants who receive goods are not willing to come, and they will lose money just for the return freight. I was kind enough to take you with me because the two villages are adjacent to each other. But in the end, you were complained and tricked.
I feel like I am no longer a human being inside and out."
The young man from Toad Mirror said even more rudely, "The price has been quoted. If you want to sell it, just sell it. If you don't want to sell it, then just wait for it to be thrown into your hands! I don't want to think about the quality of the fruits and melons you grow.
My uncle's kindness is in vain, otherwise who would be willing to accept it? He doesn't know what is good or bad!"
"You!" The villagers of Taoxi Village were trembling with anger, but there was nothing they could do.
What others say is also true.
The land in their village is barren. Even if the things in the land are carefully taken care of, it is difficult to grow anything of good quality, and even the yield is very small.
When planting crops, the crops are empty husks. In other villages, the yield of rice per acre is over a thousand kilograms, but in their village, a harvest of six to seven hundred kilograms is considered a bumper harvest.
When you grow watermelons, most of the finished products are small, and their butts are crooked and unsightly.
When planting sweet potatoes, some people can dig out four or five on a vine, but the three they plant in each nest are very few.
Not to mention other corn, potatoes, fruits, etc.
The most important thing is that they want to find someone to collect them themselves, but they have no way to find anyone.
In the past two years, some people in the village went to the farmer's market in the county to find a consignee on their own, but for some unknown reason, when they heard it was from Taoxi Village, they shook their heads and said they wouldn't accept it, and they didn't even talk about it.
Things grown in the ground have a certain period of time. After the picking period, the fruits will rot in the ground, and then all the money will be lost.
For a while, the atmosphere in the courtyard was very depressing and dull.
The villagers in Taoxi Village were silent, their eyes full of sorrow and hopelessness.
Day by day, year by year, I suffered in the days of hard work and poverty.
They don't know when they will be taller.
There is no hope at all.
The two people from Xizhong Village left the quotation and left.
The villagers in the yard also dispersed. When they left, everyone's back was stooped, as if they were bent down by something.
When Zhang Xifeng was about to leave, she was stopped by the village elder.
"Aunt Zhang, please wait a minute. I have freshly cooked corn on the stove. You can take some home and try it with the baby."
"Sister-in-law, there's no need to take it. There's food at home." Zhang Xifeng hurriedly refused.
"It's just a few corns, not something valuable. Just wait a minute and I'll pack some for you." Luo Yuqiong, the village elder's companion, is several years older than Zhang Xifeng. She is almost seventy and has white hair.
Hair, face old.
She found a clean small bamboo basket in the kitchen, picked up a few freshly cooked corns with her hands and feet, and stuffed them into Zhang Xifeng's hands without any explanation.
"The buffalo at home went crazy yesterday and Hua Zi came back to tell us. I was so scared that I broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, nothing serious happened. I was supposed to go over to see you and my son yesterday, but it was getting late at that time so I thought about going there during the day.
"After saying that, Luo Yuqiong looked at Qiqi, who was following him obediently, and her eyes softened, "Is this Qiqi? She is a good girl."
"Yes. You are only four and a half years old, and you already know how to help me with my work, and you are well-behaved and obedient." Speaking of Qiqi, Zhang Xifeng's heavy face dissipated, and she patted Qiqi's little head, "Qiqi, this is
Grandma Luo."
Qiqi immediately called someone, timidly, with a sweet and waxy voice, "Hello, Grandma Luo."
"Hey, okay, good boy." Luo Yuqiong had a smile on her face. She looked at Qiqi with very focused eyes, looking up and down, as if she couldn't see enough.
As I watched, my eyes turned red.
At this time, the old village chief Li Shuigan, who was also full of hair, also came over, looked at Qiqi twice, and caressed Qiqi's little head with his big palm, "I will come to grandpa's house to play when I have time in the future, your brother Hua Zi
A few years older than you, let him take you to catch birds and fish."
Qiqi timidly responded. The feeling of her little head being caressed made her shy and uncomfortable.
After coming to Taoxi Village, her forehead was touched several times.
That strange feeling of closeness made Qi Qi a little at a loss as to what to do.
Zhang Xifeng chatted with the old village chief and his wife for a few more words, then left with Qiqi.
When walking out of Li's courtyard, Qiqi couldn't help but look back.
Grandma Luo was still standing there, staring at her.
The village chief's grandpa squatted under the shadow of the corridor eaves, holding a cigarette pole and smoking dry tobacco. The thick smoke obscured his face, making it difficult for people to see clearly.
However, Qiqi felt a little sad for no reason, "Mother-in-law, the village chief is crying."
Zhang Xifeng sighed softly, "Your grandfather, the village chief, is worried about all the big and small things in the village. Everyone can't make money this year, so he is worried."
"Grandma Luo seemed to be crying just now. Is she also worried that everyone can't make money?"
Wa'er asked innocently, but this time Zhang Xifeng was silent for a long time.
When she was almost home, she whispered to her baby about Luo Yuqiong, "Your grandfather, the village chief, and Grandma Luo had five children in total, four sons and one daughter. Later, there was a famine, and four of them died in infancy, leaving only three sons.
Survived. Among the four who died in infancy, the youngest was their little daughter. Like you, she was a four-and-a-half-year-old baby. She was well-behaved and sensible. That year, the baby was really hungry and couldn’t help stealing.
He gave someone a handful of rice bran and was beaten to death... When he left, he was so thin that only a handful of bones remained..."
"Your Grandma Luo saw you and thought of her little baby."
Zhang Xifeng's voice became choked and she turned her head to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Her only son also died in the last year of the famine.
And her husband also stayed on the battlefield and never came back.
Most of the elderly people in the village have experienced that era, and every family has unspeakable pain.