In the afternoon, the tall and thin man came on time, carrying a thermos and a cloth bag.

Opening the cloth bag, the tall and thin man took out two glasses with lids from them, with tea leaves in the cups, and said with a smile: "Playing chess is an elegant thing, you can't help but drink tea, I specially brought you a cup......"

Zhenhua hurriedly took the cup, took out the chessboard and chess, and thanked him: "Thank you so much, I don't have anything here, it's really ...... Excuse me. ”

"What's so embarrassing about that? I live in town, it's very close, and it's easy to bring a bottle of boiling water. The tall and thin man nodded and smiled, poured tea, took out a pack of cigarettes, unpacked them and threw them on the bed, began to play chess, and said: "Smoke cigarettes casually, take out yesterday's energy, but don't let me!"

Zhenhua nodded and smiled: "Okay, try to make you lose three sets in a row today!"

"Come on!" the tall, thin man set up his head cannon and was engrossed.

Zhenhua soldiers came to block, saw the moves, and fought with the thin and tall man.

The tall, thin man was playing chess and asked, "Which village are you from?"

"From the third group of Dongwan, my name is Zhao Zhenhua. ”

"Zhao Zhenhua......" The tall thin man nodded, shook his head again, and said, "I don't know." ”

"My father's name is Zhao Chenghai. Zhenhua said again.

"I don't know. The tall and thin man shook his head again and continued to play chess.

Zhenhua wanted to ask what the other party's name was, but he held back. It's just a chess friend, so there's no need to ask too much.

After three games, it was a draw. In the first game of chess, the tall and skinny man won the second game, and Zhenhua won the third game.

The tall and thin man looked at his watch again, got up and said, "I'm going back, ...... tomorrow Are you still here?"

"Yes. Zhenhua nodded.

"Okay, tomorrow after lunch, I'll come back to you to play chess. The tall and thin man nodded, lifted his water bottle and teacup, but threw the remaining half of the pack of cigarettes on the bed in the shack.

Zhenhua hurriedly picked up the cigarette and handed it over, saying, "Your cigarette ......"

"I'll leave it to you to smoke, a person here to look at the bricks, must be in a hurry. If I were here alone, I would have become insane in three days. The tall and thin man shook his head again and again, and was already far away.

Zhenhua looked at the cigarette in his hand, and then looked at the back of the thin and tall man, and thought to himself, this guy must be a 10,000-yuan household in the town, ordinary people, I'm afraid there is no such atmosphere.

……

For seven or eight days in a row, the tall and thin people came to play chess in the shack, each time they brought cigarettes, boiling water and tea, and every time they left, they threw the remaining cigarettes to Zhenhua.

That afternoon, the thin and tall man came to play chess again, and after setting up the array, he said: "Zhao Zhenhua, I can't play chess with you for half a month, and I have to go to other places to study." ”

Zhenhua woke up a little and asked, "Are you ...... Cadres of the township government?"

"Pretty much. The tall and thin man nodded, and then said, "You live in the third group of Dongwan, right? When I come back, I will have time to play chess with you." ”

"Okay, go to the third group and ask Zhao Zhenhua, and you can find me. Zhenhua nodded.

When he was leaving, the tall and thin man threw two packs of cigarettes to Zhenhua, and said, "Come back to play chess with you, these two packs of cigarettes are fixed money!"

"Thank you, when you go to my house to play chess later, I will invite you to drink. Zhenhua was so enthusiastic that he was not polite and accepted the cigarette.

Looking at the back of the thin and tall man gradually moving away, Zhenhua suddenly felt a little lonely. Qi Lei is gone, this chess friend is also gone, and he will look at the bricks here in the future, and he will be like a lonely ghost again......

But Zhenhua didn't expect that not long after the thin and tall man left, a figure flashed in front of the shack door, and Qi Lei came in with the quilt and luggage!

"Qi Lei?" Zhenhua felt very cordial, hurriedly stood up, took Qi Lei's quilt, and asked excitedly: "Are you back so soon?"

Qi Lei looked tired, put down his luggage, rolled his eyes and said, "It's not that I didn't have a job, it's the foreman...... There was no money to give, and the people who worked said he was unreliable, and they all ran away. They went to Huaibei, I didn't go, I went home first to see......"

Zhenhua nodded, looked at Qi Lei's face, and asked cautiously, "Then you did it too...... How much did you do?"

"It's about 100 yuan, but it hasn't been settled yet, and it is said that it will be paid at the end of the year. The foreman is Xiao Gezhuang's, and he can't run away!" Qi Lei said.

Zhenhua sighed and said, "That's not a penny, and I also posted the round-trip fee, right?"

"And the living expenses for these ten days, it's also my own. Qi Lei simply lay down on the bed, sighed on his back: "I wanted to go out and get a handful, but who knows, I spent all the money in my pocket, alas, I have no shame to see Jiangdong's father!"

Zhenhua shook his head and smiled, threw the two packs of cigarettes that the thin and tall man had just given to Qi Lei, and said: "Fortunately, my father doesn't dislike you, take it to put on a façade, don't say it yourself, others don't know if you make money or not, and think you are returning home." ”

Qi Lei took the cigarette, was very surprised, and asked: "Zhenhua, you have made a fortune? Why is it a good cigarette every time?" This kind of cigarette, Wang Xiang, the pig killer in the village, and the secretary of the brigade can't afford to smoke it!"

Zhenhua was not easy to explain this matter, and Qi Lei might not believe it when he said it, so he said: "This is what I picked up, last time...... One guy got out of the car and threw a cigarette on the side of the road, and I saw it and picked it up. By the way, don't tell anyone about it. ”

"Damn, it's really good luck! Then I'm welcome, when I get rich in the future, I'll buy you two!" Qi Lei believed it and was envious, opened the cigarette, handed one to Zhenhua, and asked: "By the way, I've been gone for more than ten days, has Xiulian ever come back?"

Zhenhua glared: "How do I know? I'm not one of hers!"

Qi Lei grinned: "You, you still haven't forgotten Xiulian, you get angry when you mention her." Forget it, let's not talk about her...... Let's talk about what happened to me this time, although I didn't make any money, but there was a girl on the construction site who insisted on marrying me and pestering me to bring her back. That girl is good-looking, better looking than Xiulian, but she can't read, so I didn't agree......"

Zhenhua nodded: "You continue to blow, I'll listen." ”

"I didn't blow it to you, it's true! You always don't believe me, it's boring!" Qi Lei sighed.

"I believe it, the old bachelor Song Rengui also said that when he was young, there was a row of women behind his buttocks, and I also believe it. Zhenhua said casually.

"Fuck your uncle, am I the same as Song Rengui?"

The two of them chatted without saying a word, and before they knew it, it was already evening.

Zhao Chenghai came to replace the shift and went home for his son.

Qi Lei took out a cigarette, handed one to Zhao Chenghai, and greeted him with a smile.

Zhao Chenghai took the cigarette, sniffed it under his nose, and said with a smile: "Oh, Qi Lei went out to make a lot of money, and he smoked such a good cigarette ......."

"I didn't make a lot of money, so so-so. Qi Lei grinned, carried his quilt, and returned to Dongwan Village with Zhenhua.

The road was too muddy, five miles of road, and the two walked for an hour.

Zhenhua's family lived in front, so he said: "Qi Lei, are you going to eat at my house?"

"Forget it, I'm all back, let's go home and have a look. Tomorrow, I'll go buy some vegetables and invite you to dinner at noon. Qi Lei said.

Zhenhua shook his head: "I was looking at bricks in the town at noon, but you couldn't invite it." ”

"Then tomorrow night is fine, let's have two drinks. Qi Lei waved his hand and continued to walk forward.

In a blink of an eye, another three or four days passed, and the weather was still cloudy and rainy.

Zhao Chenghai finally ran out of patience, and when he came to replace him that night, he brought a basket and said to his son: "Starting tomorrow, we will pick these bricks back!"

"Pick it back?" Zhenhua felt that his father was crazy.

From the town to Dongwan Village, a full five miles of road, one back and forth is ten miles of road, how to choose?

Each red brick weighs about five catties, and on this muddy road, you can pick up to 30 bricks at a time, about 150 catties.

Here are 3,000 bricks, at least 100 loads!

Zhao Chenghai glared: "Isn't being idle also idle? I've calculated, I can pick up four loads a day, adding up to about 100 bricks." If you really pick it, it will be done in a month. If we picked at the beginning, we picked at least half of it now!"

Zhenhua shook his head: "The mud on this road is half a foot deep, and it is difficult to walk empty-handed, how can I pick it? I can't pick it, I want to pick you!"

"Lao Tzu didn't say to let you choose, go home and sleep!" Zhao Chenghai glared.

Zhenhua shook his head, carried the tea jar with lunch in his net pocket, and turned away.

When he returned home, Zhenhua discussed with his mother and told him that his father was going to pick bricks, and sighed: "Mom, my father is so stupid, he will be laughed to death! 3,000 bricks, can you pick them back?"

Cui Hong also sighed, spread her hands and said, "You don't know your father's strong temper." I also persuaded him, but I can't persuade him! You can let him too, wait for him to pick two trips, and when he is tired, he can't pick up, so he won't pick ......."

Zhenhua smiled bitterly and was speechless.