Chapter Forty-Six: Selling Fish
Zhou Wanwan knows too well how funny Zhao Xiaosan'er looks like, she can't help but want to bully, let alone an old lady like Zhao Simi. Anyway, he was also trying to protect himself, Zhou Wanwan felt that it was better for her to have a conscience, so she took Zhao Xiaosan'er's hand and ran.
The two ran across the street to look at the back door of Xiao San'er's house, and Zhao Simao was still standing at the door of Zhou's house watching them and laughing. Zhao Xiaosan'er pulled Zhou Wanwan and ran quickly, and did not let go until he ran back to Zhao's house and closed the courtyard door.
Zhou Wanwan looked from the shoji sky, Zhao Simao laughed a few times and turned around and walked into Zhou's house. Who is this matchmaker? It doesn't matter who he is, it has nothing to do with his brothers and sisters anyway, so Zhou Wanwan won't go to explore.
No one in the Zhao family is here, Aunt Zhao and his wife went to work in the production team, Zhao Dazhuang went to school, and Zhao Erzhuo should have gone to fight pigweed. The Zhao family is also an adobe thatched house, with three rooms, with an open door in the middle. Zhao Xiaosan'er warmly invited Zhou Wanwan into the house to see his collection of stones, glass bottles and a string of dead cockroaches, and Zhou Wanwan ran out with a black face. Zhao Xiaosan'er, this perverted child, why do you say you are collecting dead cockroaches? I really regret knowing him!
Zhao Xiaosan'er followed out very depressedly, and refused to go home with him no matter how much she coaxed Zhou Wanwan. However, Zhao Xiaosan still thinks that Zhou Wanwan should take a look at his treasure collection, so many good things, maybe she will be happy to see it, and she will go home with him to be a sister!
So Zhao Xiaosan'er continued to lobby Zhou Wanwan to go home with him to have a look, especially the string of dead cockroaches, which were well preserved!
Zhou Wanwan swore with a black line on her face that she would never pay attention to this little fart child again! Be sure to break up with this little pervert!
After waiting for another two days, the rain that the Zhou brothers and sisters were looking forward to finally came. Scared for a whole day and night, not the spring drizzle, this rain fell simply and thoroughly, incisively, three years without heavy rain Sanjiatun ushered in the first rain, the drought that lasted for three years finally ended!
After the heavy rain, the sky is blue and high, the earth is verdant, the sun is clear and transparent, the world seems to have been completely cleansed, and the hope in people's hearts is like a seedling that has drunk enough water.
Early in the morning, the three brothers and sisters of Zhou Yang were ready to go out. Zhou Chen first secretly took out the wooden barrels, sticks and other tools that he had prepared last night, and Zhou Yang carried Zhou Wanwan on his back, using a backpack used by Li Xiuhua when their brother and sister were children.
The structure of the back is very simple, a square cloth, just enough to support the child's back, and the four corners of the cloth have two long and two short four belts. Put the child on your back, wrap it in a cloth, tie two short straps around your waist, and two long straps around your shoulders and cross them on your chest and tie them around your waist. It looks simple, but the child is safe and comfortable in such a backpack, and the three siblings were all raised by their mother.
Zhou Wanwan is also prepared. She turned Zhou Chen's schoolbag out, it was a one-shoulder satchel sewn with blue thick labor cloth, her mother made it herself, Zhou Yang used it for a few days and gave it to Zhou Chen, Zhou Chen used it for a year, and then he never had a chance to use it again. Zhou Wanwan turned it out to stimulate the Zhou Yang brothers, they couldn't forget their mother's expectations, and they couldn't give up going to school.
Zhou Wanwan had the insulated small kettle in her bag, which was filled with spiritual spring water.
Zhou Yang saw that Zhou Chen walked away smoothly, so he went out with Zhou Wanwan on his back.
As he had previously discussed with Zhou Chen, he did not take the route of the highway and then south to the Hetao, but made a detour from the field road at the east end of the village before passing. This is one of the brothers' secrecy measures.
When he arrived at the Hetao, Zhou Chen had already entered the water. Because of a heavy rain, several bubbles in the river loop have become quite larger, and there are also many small ditches on the river that temporarily accumulate water. But fortunately, the river is a sand and gravel bottom, and it is easy to enter, and there is no mud sticking to the feet when walking.
Zhou Wanwan wanted to touch the water as usual, and Zhou Yang patiently hugged her so that she could touch enough, and then found a clean small sand dune for her to stay there and wait.
The fish put in this time Zhou Wanwan are bigger than last time, each one is a little more than a catty, and the species is relatively single, mainly carp. They are still more accustomed to eating carp in this area, and some of the more formal feasts are also used in carp.
Soon, the Zhou Yang brothers caught more than 30 fish, and the wooden barrel could hold these, and they had to put a little water into it and carry it for ten miles, which was a very heavy burden.
Everything was ready, Zhou Chen went to pull some grass again, and after a few pulls, a simple grass cover was completed. Placing it on a wooden barrel will both prevent the fish from jumping out and provide shade from the sun.
It was still Zhou Yang who carried Zhou Wanwan on his back, and the three brothers and sisters walked around the field road first, planning to walk out of the village and then go on the main road.
The field road, which had just rained, was muddy, and the brothers were reluctant to wear shoes, so they walked barefoot, with their trouser legs held high, and walked cautiously. After walking more than a mile, Zhou Wanwan felt that the eldest brother's back was soaked with sweat, and the second brother's forehead was also sweaty.
Zhou Wanwan wanted to let his brothers rest, but on such a muddy road, his feet were in the mud, and there was no place to rest; She wanted to come down and walk by herself to reduce the burden on her eldest brother, but her little short legs had to fall into the mud and couldn't get out, so she could only cause trouble to her eldest brother. Zhou Wanwan bit her lip and didn't dare to make a sound, all she could do now was not to cause trouble.
Finally, after trekking more than two miles in the mud, they walked out of the field path and onto the main road. The road from Sanjiatun to the township is a gravel road, not to mention Suilin County at that time, even the twelve counties under the Xinghua area, and there is no cement road. So the gravel road was the best road at the time. On both sides of the road, there are small trees that were planted last year, barely providing shade, and there is a sand pile at intervals on the side of the road, which is used by road builders to maintain the road.
The three brothers and sisters of the Zhou family were all covered in sweat, sitting on the sand pile under the shade of the trees and blowing the cool breeze, feeling very comfortable. Zhou Wanwan took out the water in her schoolbag and gave it to her brothers to drink, listened to her brothers' praise with a smile, and tried to dilute the discomfort in her heart and not let her brother see it. There are still nearly eight miles away, and she is really afraid that she will be tired of these two children whose bodies have not yet developed well.
Zhou Yang and Zhou Chen didn't think anything of it, they were used to farm work, and it was really nothing to walk this way with a load.
After resting enough, he went to the ditch on the side of the road to wash his feet and put on his shoes, Zhou Chen broke two thin branches, and knitted a cool hat for Zhou Wanwan to wear.
The three brothers and sisters set off again, this time it was much easier to walk than just now, with the shade of the trees, it was not so hot, and the brothers walked through Dagaotun in one go. Dagaotun is five miles away from Sanjiatun, and after here, this road is half walked.
After this break, Zhou Chen's request to carry Zhou Wanwan on his back was resolutely rejected by Zhou Yang. In the end, seeing that Zhou Chen was in a hurry, Zhou Yang had no choice but to agree and carry it for him on the way back. Zhou Chen had no choice but to move the barrel in his direction as much as possible to reduce his brother's burden, but Zhou Yang moved it back without a trace.
Zhou Wanwan watched the small movements of her two elder brothers, and she never wanted to grow up quickly. Grow up a little more, at least, and don't be a burden to them at times like these......
The sun is rising higher and higher, and it is getting hotter and hotter, the Zhou Yang brothers are covered with sweat, Zhou Wanwan added energy supplements to the spiritual spring water for them to drink, although the physical strength has recovered a lot, but after walking for so long with weight, the body will definitely be very tired, which is something that no one can do.
Finally, they walked through Xiaogaotun. Xiao Gaotun is two miles away from his hometown, and he will soon arrive after here. Zhou Wanwan had already seen from a distance the brick houses painted with white ash on the small street of several tens of meters, as well as the big iron gate of the township government and the big red propaganda slogans on the door, and the words "Daban People's Commune" were eye-catching and unusual.
Yangshugou Township Government is in Yangshugou Town, half a mile road outside the town is a herringbone intersection, the road they took on the evening of Zhou Wan connects Xinghua City in the southwest direction, is the seat of Xinghua District Government, and the other road comes from Ling'an County in the northwest direction, the two roads are combined into one in Yangshugou Town, leading to Suilin County in the northeast direction, and then leading to the provincial capital farther away.
The three brothers and sisters of the Zhou family stopped at the intersection of the herringbone intersection. They plan to try it here first, selling the fish to drivers passing by.
There are often some long-distance transport vehicles passing by on this road, and these long-distance drivers have money in their hands and are willing to spend money on food. In the past, some farmers in the village would come here if they had any poultry, vegetables or mountain goods to sell, and they would put them on the side of the road, and the drivers passing by would stop their cars and buy them.
Slowly, a small market was formed on the road outside the town, which flourished for a period of time during the summer and autumn seasons, and it is said that there were more than a dozen stalls here.
But that was a few years ago. In recent years, farmers were not allowed to buy and sell things privately, and this small market was dispersed. Of course, the peasants have nothing to sell in the past three years.
The three brothers and sisters of the Zhou family stood on the side of the road for more than half an hour, and the three big trucks passed before and after, all of which were dark green long-distance transport trucks covered with canvas sheds, whizzing past without making any stops.
The long-distance transport trucks running on this road are all of this kind, with a load of two tons, Jiefang brand, which belongs to the transportation companies of various cities and counties. In this era, a truck driver who runs long-distance transportation is a very prestigious and oily profession, and it is said that many city girls hope to find a truck driver.
Seeing the anxious look in the eyes of the two elder brothers, Zhou Wanwan felt that the time had come, and pretended to ask casually: "Second brother, do they know that we are selling fish?" ”
Zhou Chen really didn't disappoint Zhou Wanwan, and immediately thought of the problem.
When the next car came over, Zhou Chen could already wave at the driver with a big fish dressed in wicker. Unfortunately, the car still didn't stop.
Although the three of them were disappointed, they did not give up, and continued to work hard, waving the fish in their hands at each passing big truck, and finally, after more than half an hour, the fifth big truck passing by them stopped today.
A young man in an army-green liberation cap jumped out of the high driver's seat of a large truck. As soon as Zhou Wanwan looked at the driver, he knew that today's fish had fallen.