If there is an afterlife (novella) Zhang Baotong

After two or three days of consideration, she decided to go to the market today. Early in the morning, she woke up the child, fed the child, and then, without taking care of breakfast, put two cold steamed buns into the satchel, put the child's milk in a bottle, and then carried the child behind her, tied up a large roll of reed mats with a rope, and carried it out of the door.

At this time, the sky was just dawning, and the village was deserted, and there was hardly a single person to be seen. Because this is the coldest and most idle season of the year, people are still lying under the covers. She walked from the village with a cloth bag on her back, a child on her back, and a large bundle of reed mats, and followed a large road towards the market town. After walking about three or five miles, it was completely bright, and the wind was whistling from the wilderness in the distance, and it was very cold. She carried so many things, and she happened to be walking against the wind, and it was very difficult to walk.

Usually, on the day of the market, there will be many people talking and laughing on the road, and walking in groups towards the market town. However, there is no one to be seen on the road today. It was very overcast, like it was going to snow. Further on, we came to a tuyere, and on both sides of the road were deep ravines, and the wind followed the ravines like madness towards this side of the road, almost blowing down the pedestrians passing by.

Li Xiuying walked to the tuyere, a little unable to hold on, and wanted to stop, take a breath, and walk forward again. At this moment, a minivan suddenly stopped beside her. The driver got out of the car and said to her, "Auntie, why did you come out if you didn't stay in the house on this cold day?" Li Xiuying looked up and saw that it was Cui Zhicai. Cui Zhicai graduated from high school two years ago, and after graduation, he was unwilling to stay at home and farm, so he started a fruit business in the county.

Lee so-young said, "I thought about selling these mats at the Jishang. Cui Zhicai said, "Don't you look at the weather, is it the season to sell mats?" Of course, Li Xiuying knew that on this cold day, mats would definitely not sell at a high price, but she said, "No way, the family is in a hurry to use money." Cui Zhicai said, "If you take your children and carry so many things, when will you be able to walk to the market town." Otherwise, you get in the car and I'll send you there. ”

Hearing this, Li Xiuying hurriedly waved her hand and said, "You still have to do business, I can't delay you." Because she knew that Cui Zhicai was going to the county seat, and going to the county seat was not the same road as going to the market town. Besides, she felt that she was not from the village, but just occupied a place in the village. As long as people don't dislike her and don't rush her to leave, she is already thankful that she doesn't want to trouble others anymore. However, the young man could not say anything, picked up the bundle of mats, threw them into the car, and then helped her into the car.

When Li Xiuying got out of the car and looked over, she saw that the bazaar in Baishan Town was empty, and there was hardly anyone in sight. So she went to the door of a small fried fritter shop and asked the owner of the small shop where she was making a fire, "Is it the day to go to the market?" The boss replied while putting firewood in the stove. She asked, "Why can't you see anyone rushing to the market?" said the boss, "You came too early, it's early in the morning, and no one has gone out yet." Then, the boss asked, "Don't you come here often?" She thought for a moment and said, "Yes, I haven't been to the market for months, and usually my man comes to the market, but he has a car accident and no one is gone." The boss said, "Is your man the old man who sells reed mats?" and killed a farm truck pulling bricks?" Li Xiuying asked, "How do you know?" The boss said, "Your man happened on the edge of the market town that day, and almost everyone in the town knows about it." ”

The boss saw that it was cold for Li Xiuying to stand outside with the child on her back, so he asked her to come into the house and sit. So, Li Xiuying put the reed mat in front of the door, entered the house, sat next to the stove, and put her two frozen hands on the fire to roast. After roasting for a while, she remembered that she hadn't eaten breakfast in the morning, so she took out two cold steamed buns from her shoulder bag and roasted them next to the fire, so that she could eat them when they were hot. However, the boss had already lit the fire, put the oil pan on it, and began to fry the fritters. Therefore, it is not easy for her to bake steamed buns anymore.

However, the boss asked for her steamed buns, cut them into slices with a knife, and threw them into the boiling oil pot. When the oil in the pot fried the steamed buns to golden brown, the boss took the steamed buns out of the oil pan, put them on a bamboo plate, and put them on the small table, poured her a cup of hot soy milk, and let her eat it while it was hot.

She had never spent money on food in a market town, and she knew that people were doing business to make money, so she said to her boss, "How much does it cost?" I don't have any money yet, and I'll give you the money when I sell the mats." The boss smiled and said, "What kind of money does this cost?" Li Xiuying said, "But you are in business." The boss said, "I don't lack your money to do business again." ”

Eating fried buns and drinking hot soy milk, Li Xiuying felt that her body was suddenly much warmer, and even warmer than her own home. In order to show her gratitude, Li Xiuying wants to help others wash the dishes. However, the boss wouldn't let her wash it, and told her to hurry up and go about her own business. So she came out of the house, laid the mat on the side of the road, and squatted on the side of the road, and when she saw someone passing by, she asked, "Do you want a mat?" and the passer-by asked, "How much is it?" and she said, "Thirty dollars." Passers-by shook their heads. She hurriedly said, "Otherwise, I'll give you a cheaper price, twenty-five yuan." But the man shook his head and walked away.

By ten o'clock, there were more people in the market, but the weather was gloomy and the streets were still deserted. Li Xiuying kept shouting at the people, "Do you want mats? But they just glanced at her and hurried away. By about eleven o'clock, it was not so cold. But Li Xiuying felt a little anxious, because she didn't even sell a mat. If she couldn't sell the mats, not only would she have no money to buy the food and items that the child and the family needed, but she would have to carry the heavy mats back again. At this time, she remembered what Cui Zhicai had said to her in the morning, which is the season to sell mats? Yes, many things in the countryside pay attention to the season, and if the season is not right, things will not be easy to do.

She had to lower the price even further, so she shouted, "Sell mats, fifteen yuan a piece, sell them cheaply." As soon as she shouted, a man came over, looked at the mat, touched it with his hand, and asked, "What is the quality of this mat?" Li Xiuying said, "The quality is fine, I knit it myself." Then she added, "I'm anxious to go back and breastfeed my baby, or I wouldn't have sold it so cheaply." The man looked at a baby behind her and said, "Buy me two." ”

Immediately afterwards, a countryman also came over and said to Li Xiuying, "Is it sold for 10 yuan a piece?" Li Xiuying said, "My mat was originally 30 yuan a mat, but I was in a hurry to go back to feed the child, so I sold it for 15 yuan a piece." The man who bought the table just now said very unceremoniously to the newcomer of the country while paying, "It's not easy for people to make a table, the price is already very low, so don't bargain any more." The countryman was a little embarrassed, so he took out fifteen yuan and bought one.

After a while, the child began to cry, and half of the mat had not been sold. As soon as Li Xiuying heard the child crying, her heart was in turmoil. She hurried to the door of the fried dough sticks shop and wanted to borrow the owner's stove to heat up the milk in the bottle. However, the boss has sold out the fritters, sealed the coal fire, and is ready to close the stall. The boss saw that the child was crying non-stop, so he said to Li Xiuying, "Your mat is too cheap." Li Xiuying said, "That's it, there are still so many that can't be sold." The boss asked, "How many more haven't been sold?" Li Xiuying said, "There are more than a dozen more." The boss said to her, "Well, fifteen yuan a piece, I'll buy all your mats." Li Xiuying said gratefully, "Then thank you so much." ”

So, the boss wiped his hands and walked with her to the side of the road to count the rest of the mats. Just as he was counting the mats, someone came over and asked, "How much is this mat?" Before Li Xiuying could speak, the boss said, "Thirty yuan a piece." The man said, "Wasn't it fifteen yuan just now?" and the boss said, "It was fifteen yuan just now, and now the price has gone up." The man walked away boredly.

The boss counted the mats, and there were thirteen in total. Fifteen yuan a piece, thirteen yuan is 195 yuan. The boss led Lee so-young to the small shop and gave her the money. Then, the boss used an electromagnetic pot to overheat Li Xiuying's milk and asked Li Xiuying to feed the child. After feeding the child, Li Xiuying took out the money on her body and counted it, a total of 300 yuan. This made her feel very bad, she brought a total of 20 mats this time, which should be sold for 600 yuan, but she only sold for 300 yuan.

She thanked the boss and went out with the child on her back. She went to a store and bought two catties of sugar, five bags of milk powder, a small milk pot, some flower cloth to make clothes for the child, half a catty of cotton, and a pound of oil and a bag of salt. She originally wanted to buy another twenty catties of feed for the goat, but she was afraid that she would not be able to carry it, but it didn't matter, corn could also be bought in the village.

After shopping, she was already a little hungry, but in order not to spend money, she decided to go home and eat again. So, she carried the child on her back and began to walk towards the house. Walking to the intersection of the town, there happened to be a tricycle carrying passengers passing by Lingquan Village. An acquaintance in the car told her to get in the car quickly. However, as soon as she asked for four yuan in Lingquan Village, she said that it was too expensive. The driver said to her, "It's not expensive, you still have a child and so many things." However, Li Xiuying still shook her head. Finally the driver said, "Otherwise, I'll only give you two yuan." However, Li Xiuying still waved her hand, she felt that two yuan could buy a pound of sugar, enough for the child to eat for half a month. Thinking like this, he walked straight to the side of the road.