At 11:30 p.m., Zhou Wenzhong and Ma Erbao, wrapped in torn bath towels, lay on the bed in the bath to rest.
"Hiss... Huh... I'll probably lose 3 or 4 pounds this time after taking a bath."
"That's right! The bath master told me that I haven't seen anyone like you in years! You don't even need a bath towel. The mud on your body rolls up and falls off. How long has it been since you took a bath?"
"Since I can remember, I have never been in a bathhouse. The last time I took a bath was when I splashed twice in the river in the summer."
Ma Erbao held a big steamed bun in his left hand, and picked up the chopsticks in his right hand to put some shredded pickles in it.
"Brother Zhong, please rest first. I have to return the favor. I'll just have a steamed bun in a while."
"Hmm~"
Zhou Wenzhong looked at Ma Erbao's back as he ran out, and praised, "Not bad, he's sensible."
Just as I picked up the tea cup and took a sip, two people came from the door. One was a staff member in the bathhouse, and the other was a man who had been sent to the department store to pick up clothes. He was carrying a thin hemp rope that tied up the clothes.
.
"Where is Zhou Wenzhong? Someone is looking for you! Zhou Wenzhong, Zhou Wenzhong!"
"coming!"
Zhou Wenzhong clapped his hands, picked up the cigarette, and walked over barefoot.
"Take a good look. Is this the person you are looking for?"
Wobo looked at Zhou Wenzhong carefully and said, "It's him. He didn't get a haircut just now, so I almost didn't recognize him. Fortunately, I recognized his voice."
"Come on, come on, smoke one piece, smoke one piece."
After giving them a cigarette and giving Wobo a dime, Zhou Wenzhong took the clothes, walked back to the bed, sat down, and patted the dirt on the soles of his feet. Looking at the receipt in his hand, Zhou Wenzhong was happy.
Open your mouth from ear to ear.
"Lao Zhou is really bleeding this time! The cotton coat costs 28 yuan. The cotton pants are 12 yuan. A pair of five-eye cotton shoes is 1 yuan and 9 cents. This sweater is 9 yuan. A pair of pants is 8 cents. A pair.
Woolen socks cost 6 cents. What is written on the receipt are ready-made clothes. I guess Lao Zhou can’t afford it with two months’ salary, haha..."
"Why is it so high-end... Huh! Cotton coat! Come and take a look at it."
Ma Erbao didn't wait for a reply. He picked up the cotton coat and shook it open. He held it between his neck and looked at the hem of the coat hanging at his knees.
"Good boy! We can only buy one piece with our monthly salary. Who is Zhou Deming? He's really good to you! If I go to the department store to buy something later, will it be helpful to mention his name?"
"I guess it won't work. Zhou Deming has nothing to do with me."
"It's okay to buy you such expensive clothes? Even a dog wouldn't believe it."
"Believe it or not, eat it quickly. It will be cold in a while."
Ma Erbao folded his coat with envy in his eyes, put it carefully on the bed, picked up the steamed bun, gnawed on it, and started to comment on the cotton pants and shoes.
"I'll give you a pair of cotton shoes later."
"real?"
The wotou in Ma Erbao's hand fell to the ground, so he quickly picked it up and blew the soil on it.
"Really, I'll give it to you as promised. Just a pair of cotton shoes."
"Brother Zhong... I don't even know what to say. I should have known you earlier. Don't say anything. I will take you to a good place in a while! You must go!"
"Where?"
"You'll know when you go there."
"You kid is still cheating on me."
"Hey, it's boring to say it. You'll come with me in a moment. I guarantee you haven't seen it before! It's an absolutely great place!"
"Then I really have to wait and see!"
Ma Erbao was so excited that the food almost spit out from his mouth. Zhou Wenzhong put on his underpants for the first time, lay flat on the bed, buttoned his nose and wiped it under the bed board, and fell asleep with his coat covered...
Not knowing what time it was, Zhou Wenzhong was woken up from his sleep by Ma Erbao.
"Let's go! It's almost time. If I keep you sleeping like this, will you be able to sleep at night?"
Zhou Wenzhong sat up and stared for a while, then changed into new clothes from the inside out.
Ma Erbao neatly folded the clothes that had been washed but not yet dried, and tied them with hemp ropes, not forgetting to criticize Zhou Wenzhong.
"I told you just now that I won't let you wash it like this. The cotton-padded jacket and trousers can't be exposed to water at all. Just wash them with sand and soil. Is it okay now? You can feel what the cloth on it is like. I'll let you wash it like this again.
Once, you definitely have to make clothes again. After you go back, remember to hang the clothes up to dry, spray some more water in your mouth, and stretch the clothes more to avoid shrinkage. If it doesn't work, just wash it with some fine grain pulp. The cloth can also be thicker.
.well……"
"Why are you nagging so much? Put on your new shoes, let's walk?"
"I won't wear them anymore. My brother's shoe size is the same. Let him take it with him when he goes to the countryside later."
"Okay, it's your thing anyway."
"Let's go?"
"Let's go."
Zhou Wenzhong was carrying a heavy baggage in his hand, and the two of them got out of the bath again. When the breeze blew, Zhou Wenzhong felt a chill on his head.
"Then, you stand here and wait for a while. I saw my former classmate and went over to say a few words to him."
"good."
Zhou Wenzhong ran quickly into the alley and returned half a minute later, throwing a pair of cotton shoes to Ma Erbao.
"Where's the thing in your hand just now?"
"I asked him to help me take it home."
"Oh, what's your classmate's last name? As long as he's from this street, if you tell me, I might even know him."
"Jiumozhi."
"This surname is quite rare. You are not a local, right?"
"Well, a comrade from Tibet."
"No wonder you know a little bit about everything. It's not easy to love your classmates."
"Hey, great national unity! Let's not talk about him anymore. Take me to the good place you mentioned!"
"Okay, come with me."
Zhou Wenzhong stood up the collar of his coat and put his hands in his pockets.
This black cotton coat is very lively. It can be worn as a long gown after removing the lining. It can be removed and washed separately. After traveling through time for so long, I finally got a piece of clothing with pockets.
After following Ma Erbao for nearly an hour, Zhou Wenzhong looked at the railroad tracks under his feet with some confusion.
"Where are we going? You won't take me to steal the railroad tracks, will you?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Stealing railroad tracks is punishable by shooting!"
"It's not okay to steal sleepers!"
"The more you talk, the more nonsense you are getting. It's about to happen, it's a two-step process."
"That's what you said half an hour ago."
"We'll be there soon, we'll be there soon. Keep holding on... there's a train coming!"
Zhou Wenzhong quickly lay down on the ground and listened, watching the pebbles beating next to the sleepers in the railway track.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way."
Zhou Wenzhong pushed Ma Erbao away, put his hand into his coat pocket, took out the 10 long iron nails that he had signed in a few days ago, placed them diagonally on the railway track, and grabbed Ma Erbao's hand that was hiding aside.
In the hay.
"Brother Zhong, where did you get the nails? Give me one after you finish pressing it."
"Don't talk nonsense. Let's stay away. When the train comes over in a while, it might kill us both."
Zhou Wenzhong's heart was pounding with excitement, and he pulled Ma Erbao away for another 30 meters. He didn't know what kind of steel or iron the nails given to him were, and he couldn't figure out which one was stronger, the rails or the nails.
I haven’t played with these things in years!
According to the law decades later, Zhou Wenzhong's behavior was regarded as damaging highway facilities and he must be sentenced. Thanks to the slow speed of trains these days, things such as wine bottle caps, nails, and coins could be put on them.
It will cause the train to derail and roll over.
If it were replaced by a high-speed train with a speed of 299 kilometers per hour, an accident would probably occur.
Besides, what's wrong with putting a nail on the rail? If you want to arrest him, you have to arrest Luo Xiang first. He did this when he was a child. He also thought about pulling out the rail and letting the train run over it. In his understanding
Here, Luo Xiang thought he could get a sword in this way. Life these days without playing with railroad tracks would be incomplete!
"Bangchi...bangchi...bangchi..."
A black train rushed past, kicking up a burst of dust. Watching the black smoke train go further and further away. Zhou Wenzhong quickly touched his body for any wounds, and even checked with Ma Erbao.
"It's okay. Hurry up and take a look."
The two quickly ran over to check. Where the nails had been placed, there were strips of white marks on the rails, and there were also some marks left by others.
Ma Erbao shouted from a distance: "Only 7 were found! The others were missing! They probably collapsed, right?"
Zhou Wenzhong pinched the sleeve of his clothes and picked up a small knife to look at it. It was a little more than 10 centimeters long, silver-white in color, and slightly curved. He scratched it twice on his finger. It didn't have an edge so it wasn't sharp. It seemed like it was not sharp.
You still have to grind back.
"Just go back and tie it with a rag! This one belongs to me."
"OK."
Zhou Wenzhong put these knives away in the space and continued to follow Ma Erbao on the road, walking through dry grassland and passing through two dilapidated alleys. Ma Erbao stopped.
"arrive!"
Zhou Wenzhong sat down on the stone and gasped: "I'll go back if you don't see me again! Today I was tricked by the Japanese! These bitches are all in the suburbs! I won't say anything later."
If you don't want to walk back, take a look! The pair of cotton shoes I just bought are almost on the side. You'll pay for the bus fare back soon!"
"No problem, no problem! The bus costs 3 stops per penny, and if we take the tram, it only costs 10 cents in total. I can still afford it."
Ma Erbao held Zhou Wenzhong's arm and helped him up from the stone.
"Don't talk nonsense for a while! Everything is up to me."
"knew."
Ma Erbao walked to the courtyard of a private house and knocked on the door.
"Dong dong...dong dong...dong dong..."
"Are you sending signals to the secret agents? You're knocking very rhythmically! Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
When Ma Erbao heard the footsteps coming from the yard, he quickly reached out and covered Zhou Wenzhong's mouth.
"Do not talk!"
"squeak………"
The wooden door opened a crack, and a man in his 30s stared at one eye and asked: "Who are you looking for?"
"Match buyer!"
"How many?"
"For the two of us, just buy two!"
"squeak……"
This time, the two doors were completely opened, and the man who just spoke stood in the courtyard, wearing a black cotton coat, with his right hand in his pocket.
"You came quite early! I thought you were taking great care of me. You are just delaying things. Haha~"
"Hey! I've been here so many times, hurry up."
"If there are two of us, give us 1 catty of food stamps."
Ma Erbao took out a Beijing food stamp from his eyes and handed it over. After the other party took it, he checked it, took out a box of matches from his pocket, and poured out most of them, leaving only two.
It seems that the matches are a little different from those commonly used in peacetime, and they must have been processed again.
"Go in. North Room."
"Eh."
Ma Erbao took Zhou Wenzhong's arm and walked into the courtyard. The courtyard was not well built, with clay walls and few bricks. The courtyard was about 40 square meters, with roofs on the east, west and north sides.
A good house has a gate on the south side.
"Dong dong..."
As soon as I knocked on the door, I heard a woman's voice like a broken gong coming from inside.
"The door is open."
Ma Erbao dangled the matchbox in his hand and said with a smile: "Brother Zhong, please go first."
"Let's go together."
"Okay!"
Ma Erbao opened the door, followed by Zhou Wenzhong into the main room.