Xiejiaba is much farther away from Shiqiao than Yangjiawan, and the people who come to the scene will naturally be a little later.

Xie Jingfeng is an old stonemason, who is going around all year round to build stones and build houses. The three sons also learned to beat stones, all of them with brute strength. Xie Lao's second name, Xie Guoqiang, is honest and honest, looks like he is ten ** years old, and there are girls who have been introduced before, and they all dislike him for being stuffy.

In the countryside of northeastern Sichuan in the eighties, it was very rare for a man who was not engaged at the age of ten to be married, either with poor family conditions or too simple, Xie Lao Er obviously belonged to the second type. A blue tunic that obviously didn't fit, the hem of the newly sewn canvas pants was too long, the toes of a pair of cloth shoes that had been worn out by the stone were leaking out, and the naturally curly hair was not popular in those days. In any case, Xie Guoqiang is already trying his best to show his best side, as for the worn cloth shoes, it is because the new pair of cloth shoes that his mother sewed for him are the same as the pants - too big!

Xie Lao Er came to Shiqiao under the guidance of the matchmaker. After all, he doesn't come here a few times a year - there is so much work to do to break stones, especially with a big hammer and a big wedge, and no one else can really do it without his brute strength!

The young man is simple, but he is not stupid, he has long heard that the girl of the Yang family is a top beauty. Just passed by Xishi Qiaotou and met Yang Laosi, and he handed over cigarettes and had to pull him to eat, but it was not for the matchmaker's persuasion that he almost pulled Yang lame and fell. When I arrived at the market, I saw Shufang and her mother, and greeted her innocently, and my heart was happy.

Guoqiang looked at the exposed toes, touched the bulging dozen yuan in his bag, and the first thing he did was to go to the department store of the old supply and marketing cooperatives to buy a pair of semi-rubber shoes. According to the matchmaker's meaning, you have to buy a pair of handkerchiefs and a pair of pillow towels - this is the old rule of the Shiqiao meeting, and if the two parties fall in love, the man has to use these four things to make a decision.

At the end of West Street, next to the blacksmith shop, Xie Lao Er and the matchmaker Wang Dazu ordered the best restaurant in Shiqiao, first asked for a pot of eagle tea, and sat quietly looking across the street - Shufang's mother and son were buying back at that end.

"Yo, Yang Shuzi is very fierce, he has made so many baskets in a few days, has he cut down all the bamboos in your house?" Lao Li Tou of the same village came over to choose the back line, and looked at this posture to make a bargain, "You see, this back line must be made of bamboo in the next year, and it is soft and lying on its stomach!" Lao Li pressed his back while beckoning his fellow travelers to come and see. In fact, Lao Li is a good person, he not only has to buy the memorization, but also has to help the two of them shout; He didn't advocate positively, but first attracted onlookers and then slowly propagated it.

"That's what you said, Uncle Li, you don't know that there are so many bamboos in our family, my old man weaves a memorization, and he never has to take bamboo less than three years old!" Shufang was obviously anxious, even though she knew that this Uncle Li was his old partner with the old man Accountant Yang.

"Shufang, you little girl is quite honest when she speaks," Lao Li pressed the back fence again, "Yang Weizi's back fence is soft, and the elasticity is very good!" I'm afraid I can't weave a five-year-old bamboo! Buy one! ”

The next thing is bargaining, Lao Li will not let the two of them suffer, but bargaining is also an old rule for Shiqiao to catch the market.

"That's a lot of money, huh?" Lao Li asked.

"Wujiao, Uncle Li, you are an acquaintance, and you are buying it again after a long time, you know it!"

"Pentagon? It's expensive! That time, the pentagonal sliver was a dense backing, and the strips had to be used more. Today I bought a lazy back, forget the four corners! ”

"He Li Bo won't tease the little baby, most of the lazy backs are much bigger, look at this hem and back tie, is it worth the money!" It was Shufang Niang who spoke, in fact, she already had a reserve price in her heart in the face of this old customer.

"Lao Yang has nothing to do with this. But the pentagram is still expensive, four corners and five, we all let five cents, and they also buy four corners and five, you just have a few of them, the sun has climbed to the braincase, sell it! ”

"Yes, yes, four corners five, we will buy it too!" A few old women who were going to buy memorization and baskets at the next few houses also came around to coax!

"Four corners eight, I'll give you one by one to catch thorns!" The clever Shufang started a buy-one-get-one-free business.

"Yes, anyway, that thorn fisher sells for five cents a piece!"

"Their craftsmen are doing a good job, and they can't be broken for a few years!"

A few buyers who wavered, you said a word, and in less than a while, this pile of goods was swept away!

"See? Guowazi, Uncle Niang wants to introduce this grid to you this time? Wang Dazui pointed at Shufang and introduced, "The girl is sixteen years old, and you can also see that she is an old man, and she has a broken foot, otherwise she will not be allowed to meet with the two of you." Your baby has picked it up! ”

"Uncle, do you think that girl can take a fancy to me? I know I'm going to help me! Don't be like those again, I put away the pillow and handkerchief and didn't take a fancy to me! "Xie Lao Er's worries are too reasonable, there are many gifts under the guise of a meeting, and they don't like it and don't return it according to the rules.

"Uncle will definitely help you! Guowazi, you have also noticed the point of the dragon gate array, Mo Yu poked and poked for a day to know how to hit the stone, and a few times I saw the girl baby, I put you to hit the stone to make a lot of effort, and you how many masters carried the stone and hit which foot! "Mrs. Wang said that she wanted to laugh, this Han Bao'er saw the girl and wanted to put on a dragon gate array and had no topic, and he was beating stones when he saw anyone.

"Come and sit, he's a woman! Big girl, sit here! The matchmaker saw Shufang follow her mother into the store, and quickly got up to greet her—she was really enthusiastic, after all, this was the way Wang Dazui ate to eat.

Xie Lao Er also hurriedly got up, and he didn't know what to call it for a while. "Boss, here are five pot helmets, four bowls of cold noodles, and a bowl of pork brains!" He simply didn't call it, and yelled at the busy guy.

"Sit down! Guoqiang, if you ask Xia Xian and Shufang what they eat, just roar there! The matchmaker glared at Guoqiang fiercely, "He's a woman, what are you going to eat?" ”

"It's okay, it's okay, we'll eat whatever he eats!" Shufang sat down with her mother.

"Guoqiang, this is Wu Xianxian, and this is their eldest girl, Yang Shufang. This is Xie Guoqiang. Wang Xianxing introduced and hinted that Guoqiang got up and said hello!

"My name is Xie Guoqiang, I am a stonemason, I am nineteen years old this year, and I haven't picked up my mother-in-law yet!" I don't know where Xie Lao Er learned this, but suddenly these four sentences came out, which made Shufang giggle.

"You old men, we all know that the stonemason Xie also came to our bay to do a living. It's spring, you're still out hitting stones, wow? "Shufang's mother asked about some family matters.

"To fight, the spring rain in many places has washed away the dams, and we have to build them! You're calling us to go!" I'll tell you, it's not easy to do this job, especially in ......the spring, "Guoqiang is going to start bragging about his craftsmanship again!"

"Ahem...... Cough...... Wu Xianxian, your eldest lady is so capable, I think it's like you to sell back clothes there! The matchmaker changed the topic, "This country is strong, people are good-looking, and they do a good job, but they are a little too honest!" One day was still very pretty, and several people looked down on it, and when I heard that the daughter of the Yang family was a child, I came to the scene! ”

"Yes, yes! It is also our blessing to meet the second young master of the Xie family," Shufang's mother looked at Shufang, "I don't know what Xie Guoqiang's opinion is......"

"I don't have any opinion, it's very good, this is the handkerchief I bought......" Xie Erwa anxiously took out the "love token".

Shufen sat on the side, her head bowed, playing with her braids. In the first bloom of love, the introverted girl has not had time to outline the appearance of her sweetheart, he doesn't like the scholars in the second sister's textbook, and he doesn't like a strict man like his father. Perhaps, she doesn't want to get married at all, but what can she do? At least, this simple Xie Erwa looked at her and made her feel at ease.

Shufang asked for her opinion again, and Shufang nodded. After receiving Guoqiang's "token", the mother and daughter ate some cold powder, and agreed with the matchmaker on the day of watching people's households.

In early spring, the stone bridge blinked with a little greenery, the willow trees at the head of the bridge sprouted new shoots, the sugar gourd sticks that the children had fallen on the ground had already crawled with insects, and the new swallows had built new nests under the tiled roof of the blacksmith shop.

The stone bridge on March 3 was still nothing special, the bazaar dispersed early, and the big guys hurried back to spring plowing and spring planting, only the iron pulp in the furnace of the blacksmith shop was still rolling red, and the blacksmith Nie and a few of his apprentices were still "hey...... Hi-ho ...... banging on the iron!