In a blink of an eye, it’s the day of the big fair in the town.
Zhuang Keqing had soaked the beans the afternoon before. She had to prepare the tofu and dried tofu before departure. In addition to the portion she took away, she also left some more for her family to sell in the morning.
She got up early in the morning. Amidst the rustling sound of clothes, Qin Manzhi also got up. Mother and daughter carried Aman to the inside of the bed, blocked the outside with a quilt to prevent him from rolling down, and then entered the kitchen.
Start getting busy.
Now they are very skilled at making tofu, and the two of them cooperated and finally finished it before the time agreed by Aunt Li.
We had a long journey today, so Zhuang Keqing didn't plan to bring any tofu, so he just packed some dried tofu, tofu skins and the like that were light to carry, wrapped them in lotus leaves, put them in the rattan basket and left.
As soon as they left the yard, they heard Qin Manzhi shouting urgently: "Ke'er, wait."
"Mom? What's wrong?"
"Hey, silly boy, I forgot the dry food! The kang pancakes that mom gave you are still warm. You can eat them on the way to the meeting, and this." As she spoke, she handed over two more bamboo tubes, which were full of water.
The small holes are tightly plugged with corks so that nothing will leak out.
"Look, I'm in a hurry, thank you, mother!" Zhuang Keqing showed a big smile, "I'll try to come back as soon as possible!"
Qin Manzhi had been standing at the door. When she saw her daughter walking away and meeting Aunt Li's family who were waiting at the intersection, she returned to the house with confidence.
Zhuang Keqing was carrying a rattan basket on his back, and put most of the copper coins at the bottom. The top was covered with dried beans, and the rest was put in his purse and carried on his chest, so that he was not afraid of being discovered.
Uncle Liu pushed a cart with rattan baskets of radish and other things that he wanted to sell this time in the town. Aunt Li stood aside and waited for him.
"Where's the silly boy?"
The two couples have come out, and they can't leave their children at home alone. Zhuang Keqing was just worried when he saw a little head popping out of the pile of children in the cane basket on the cart. It was Hanwa.
"So you're hiding here." She made a face at the silly boy, causing the child to scream strangely and shrink back into the basket.
Aunt Li said with a smile: "This child was unwilling to get up just now, but I grabbed him, and now he's really excited."
Seeing that everyone was here, Uncle Liu pushed the cart and left. Aunt Li and Zhuang Keqing stood behind the cart talking.
"Girl, you put the rattan basket on the cart. It doesn't take much effort, but the road is still long."
"No need, Aunt Li. Silly boy is still up there. It's hard for Uncle Liu to push the cart alone. I didn't bring anything with me and it's not heavy to carry."
Zhuang Keqing originally asked someone to take him to the town, but now he had the nerve to ask someone to help him pull things, so he smiled and refused.
The family lives at the end of the village, and if they want to leave the village, they have to pass through the main road in the village.
Just as they were walking out, some villagers, some carrying baskets or pushing carts, walked on the same road as them. It seemed that they were all going to the market.
Among them, Aunt Wang and Mrs. Liu were prominently listed.
Aunt Wang's eldest son recently saved some firewood and planned to go to the town to sell it. Originally, she didn't plan to go with him this time. After all, his legs and feet were not as good as before as he got older, but he couldn't resist his eldest grandson's pestering for candy, but she couldn't stand it.
I was afraid that my son’s hands would be loose after selling things, and he would not be able to control himself when buying things. I thought that he would have to go with me. It would be more appropriate to put the money in his own pocket after selling the goods. In short, there is no separation of the family now, and all the income should go to her.
to distribute.
Mrs. Liu had other reasons for going to the town. Her eldest grandson had a daughter-in-law from the next village, and they were about to make a decision soon. She had to go to the town to prepare some things for the decision.
Mr. Zhang was tall and tall. He pushed a wooden cart and asked his mother to sit on it. The old man took a piece of cake and ate it leisurely.
However, Aunt Wang had a sharp eye and saw Mrs. Liu in the car at a glance. Thinking that her family was pushing a cart, she wondered if there could be an empty space for her son to put bundles of firewood, or for herself to sit on it.
Thinking of this, she put a smile on her face and moved closer to Mrs. Liu.
"Aunt Liu, are you going to town too?"
"Of course, so are you?" Mrs. Liu failed to extort money last time. When she came back afterwards, she thought that if it hadn't been for the instigation of Wang, she wouldn't have been so greedy. Now her eldest grandson told him that because
This matter was frowned upon in the village, and it almost delayed the meeting with my wife.
Mrs. Liu spoke in a weird manner, but Aunt Wang didn't take it seriously. She just wanted to take advantage of this so that her family could relax.
"Looks like I'm going to town to buy things. Look at this empty car. It's going to be full of things when I come back." Aunt Wang complimented her and went out for free, "In the village, your family is the most prosperous.
"
Zhuang Keqing and Aunt Li's family were not far away and could hear clearly. The two of them looked at each other and knew who Aunt Wang was. Now after hearing these words, it was clear that the other party must have some purpose.
Mrs. Liu didn't answer, she just wanted to see what kind of evil this person had in his belly.
Aunt Wang didn't give up even though she was disappointed. She simply didn't bother to flatter her and said directly: "Aunt Liu, you see that your car is empty. How about you make some space for my house to put some firewood? When you return, you can buy some things."
There are so many that I can’t fit them all in. My Wang Da can also help me carry them.”
Wang Da on the side was so embarrassed that he couldn't even lift his head. The man pulled Aunt Wang by the corner of her clothes to tell her to stop talking, but Aunt Wang instead spat at him and cursed: "Shut up, what do you know?"
!”
Wang Da was scolded and hesitated twice, then walked aside with his head lowered.
Mrs. Liu raised her drooped eyelids and glanced at Aunt Wang. When she saw that the other party was smiling with the same shrewd calculation as that day, she couldn't help but become annoyed. She turned around and spat out of the car: "What a cruel thing, what do you think?"
Beautiful you!”
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Liu suddenly got angry. Aunt Wang didn't pay attention, and the straw sandals on her feet were splashed with thick phlegm. She was so angry that she was about to go into a rage.
So the two old women started scolding each other on the spot, which made all the dogs in the village bark. In the end, the sons of both parties started a scolding war and apologized to each other.
"These two old guys are not easy to get along with. This is called evil people getting their own evil." Aunt Li watched the whole process clearly, couldn't help covering her mouth and laughed, turned around and looked serious again
He said: "But girl, don't argue with them, most people in the village are good."
On the way out of Erlizi Village, Zhuang Keqing turned around and counted, there were seven or eight families going out to the market, mostly men going out, but not a few women.
At this time, a man came up from behind and talked to Uncle Liu: "Liu Zhuzhu, you are good at weaving this rattan basket. I think you can sell it for a good price."
"This craft can only earn me some candy money, not much more." Uncle Liu buried his head in pushing the cart, looking like he didn't want to say anything more to the other person, so he was polite and silent for a moment.
The man was not angry even though he was bored, but he turned around and started chatting enthusiastically with other villagers who were traveling with him.
Zhuang Keqing knew that Uncle Liu was a man of few words, but he was not unreasonable. There must be some reasons why he did not want to talk to him at this time.
Just when she was curious, her right hand was pulled by Aunt Li, who came close to her ear and whispered: "Do you know who that person is?"
