Gesturing to buy kapok

Section 4, Chapter 19 Bloodstained Chai He/Nanfan Chronicle

It was still early before the sun went down, and Marinthi and the others were not walking very fast. Anyway, I rushed back to dinner, and I was really tired, so I hurried back slowly, like a straggler.

Wang Changsong has been with Ma Linxi all the time, first, because they are in the same shop, second, the communes of the two are adjacent, and the six communes in the eastern district are two of them, and the third is that their interests and life experiences are similar, so they can talk about it.

After a while, Fan Guangjie caught up from behind. In this way, the three of them got together and became lively again.

On the mountainside ahead, Marlinsi saw a stockade with curling smoke rising. It suddenly occurred to me that there would definitely be kapok in the mountains, so why not buy some and go back to make a pillow for my parents? The last time I went into the mountains to pick a little less, I asked Wang Changsong: "Hey, do you see it, there is someone in front of you." ”

"Where?" Wang Changsong asked.

"Well, I saw it. This way. Fan Guangjie pulled Wang Changsong and showed him his finger.

"Let's see if there's kapok?" asked Marinthi.

"It's getting late. Let's go, let's go. Wang Changsong was a little worried that he wouldn't be able to go back.

"What are you afraid of? Early. Fan Guangjie said as he pulled Wang Changsong onto the fork in the direction of the village.

I climbed two small hills and came to a very small stockade.

The stockade was built on a small hillside in the morning sun, and in front of it was a small flat land, with only two houses.

The so-called house is actually the simplest grass house with a mix of tree branches and sticks. The middle and lower part of the outer part of the wall was plastered with a layer of mud and topped with a thin layer of thatch. Perhaps because of the ease of ventilation in summer, the walls and roofs are hollowed out, like a row of low connecting windows.

On the right side of the doorway of the house was a pot made of three large stones, and the flames flickered under the pot, and a large hat was covered with it.

A middle-aged man sat on the ground, adding branches to the stove, his face blackened by the firelight.

The room was completely blackened with smoke, and a few planks of a stone frame were considered beds, and there was nothing but some farm tools.

It was the poorest family Marlinsi had ever seen in his life.

Fan Guangjie asked the middle-aged man if there was any kapok for sale. However, the man did not understand his words and shook his head blankly. Fan Guangjie gestured, but he still didn't understand their intentions. Just then, another young man came in, and it seemed that it was his son.

Wang Changsong said to him in stiff Hainanese: "Kapok?"

Now he understood, smiled innocently, and nodded. Led them outside and pulled out a worn-out hemp bag from the back of the house. When I opened it, it was full of kapok.

Everyone laughed, gave a thumbs up, and nodded.

Marlinsi pointed to the kapok and tapped his chest with his finger, meaning: "I want this kapok." ”

The young man smiled and nodded.

But at what price? Because you can't communicate in words, this becomes a new problem.

After a while, the youth drew a symbol on the ground with a branch. First he pointed to the kapok, drawing a bar on the ground, and then pointing to the pocket of Marinsi's jacket, drawing two bars on the ground.

Ma Linxi understood, he was talking about kapok for two yuan a catty.

Fan Guangjie made a gesture, wiped off a bar with his toes, and raised a finger, which means one pound and one dollar.

The young man shook his head like a rattle.

Marlinsi redrew the two bars, wiping a finger off the middle of one bar, turning it into two disconnected short bars. It means a pound and a penny.

He still shook his head.

At this time, a little girl came, it seems that it is his little daughter. The young man hurriedly muttered to her.

The little girl wrote on the ground with a twig: "One piece eight." ”

It's just eighty-one pounds a piece, which is much cheaper than the one in the bazaar. Marlinsi thought to herself.

Ma Linxi bought two and a half catties, Wang Changsong bought three catties, and Fan Guangjie bought three and a half catties, totaling nine catties and sixteen yuan and two dimes. But after a long time of calculation, the family of three couldn't come up with a result.

Look at the sun is about to go down and can't stay any longer. Marlinsi took out fifteen dollars, meaning that there was no need to calculate. When the young man saw the banknote, his eyes shone strangely, and he was stunned for a moment, and immediately nodded. Marlinsi has estimated it, so that everyone will not lose.

It seems that the family may not have done such a big deal, and the excitement is beyond words.

After buying kapok, the three of them hurried back, and when they walked out of the mountain, it was already completely dark. It was already past nine o'clock when we arrived at the station, and everyone had already eaten dinner and was preparing to wash up and rest.

The next day, they weighed the kapok, which was a full fifteen catties, and it only cost one dollar per catty. For this matter, Ma Linxi and the others were happy for several days, but they didn't expect to go into the mountains to chop firewood and pick up such a big bargain.