12. Public grievances

The matter of borrowing wheat from the villagers alarmed the whole village, because it involved the vital interests of every household and everyone. They got together in pairs, with different moods, and poured out their opinions without restraint:

"The construction of the reservoir is the superior in charge of food, why do you still ask the village for food?"

"Who knows what's going on!"

"It's a loan, that's a nice thing to say, who knows if you won't pay it back!"

"What do you want to pay? Now the land has been contracted, and the village committee does not produce wheat. ”

"A few years ago, Wang Wensi led a team to dig a river in other places to let everyone pool money to buy a small cart, and at that time he also said that he was temporarily borrowing, but now after so many years, there is no way to say let alone pay it back."

……

The matter of borrowing wheat is in a hurry, and Aunt Wang is in a hurry. To say that Aunt Wang is in a hurry, there are two main reasons: one is that the few acres of land she contracted are planted with cotton this year, although she planted some wheat last year, and the harvest was not good in time for the drought. Her two daughters, the eldest daughter is married, the younger daughter works in the provincial capital, she is alone at home, and the eldest daughter's two children often come to her to ask for delicious food. This is a little bit of that, where is the little wheat that was harvested last year? Second, I heard that she was going to collect wheat and send it to the reservoir repair site, and I also heard that this was an order from the village committee, and no one could take it, and this was a matter of attitude towards water conservancy construction, so how could she not be in a hurry! She is a face-loving person, and she has always responded positively to the call from above, and if someone says that she is backward in her thinking, it is really worse than slapping her twice. When such a thing happened, how could he not do it. At this time, she was walking towards Xiao Laofu's house, in her eyes, Xiao Laofu's family in Shagang Village was the richest, he not only planted the land well, but also could he pinch and live a fine life, could there be no wheat?

Xiao Laofu, the big name Xiao Shunde, he usually doesn't say much, he is an honest farmer, everyone calls him Lao Fu, at this moment, Xiao Laofu is squatting in the yard polishing the hoe, as soon as the door knocks, Aunt Wang came in.

"Big brother, what's the busy?"

"Ah, why do you have time to come to my house?" Xiao Laofu said with a smile.

"Ahem, I don't want to go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, please help."

Xiao Laofu put down the hoe in his hand, patted the dust on his hand and stood up and said, "Can you really joke, can I, a hillbilly who farms the land, still help you?" ”

"Don't pull the gourd and the scoop, lend me a few catties of your wheat, and pay you back as soon as you have it."

As soon as Xiao Laofu heard about borrowing wheat, his smiling face immediately showed a look of embarrassment, and said, "You are a coincidence, I'm really embarrassed, I didn't say when I would come back when I left my mother's house." ”

Second Aunt Wang glanced at him dissatisfiedly and said, "You can't be the master of this little matter when your daughter-in-law is not at home?" ”

Xiao Lao Feng smiled and said, "Sit down in the house, it's weird cold outside." ”

Second Aunt Wang was anxious: "You don't know that the old donkey is going around in circles, are you in charge of the house?" If you don't lend it to me, it's better to borrow it from another house. ”

As soon as Xiao Laofu heard this, he got off the donkey, smiled and said, "I'm not afraid of your jokes, I'm like a servant with a key, and I can't be the master of the house." ”

Second Aunt Wang's heart was cold, where else could I borrow a mile if she couldn't do it here, he said dissatisfiedly: "I said Lao Fu, your children are so old and you are afraid of your daughter-in-law, look at your little interest." After speaking, he turned around and left, saying as he walked, "The people who repair the reservoir are beautiful, and eating white noodles outside makes it difficult for others at home, which really worries me." ”

Xiao Lao Fu took the stubble and said, "You can't say that, you should repair the reservoir, this bowl of rice is delicious?" It's not an easy task. Can you stand up to working hard all day without eating? Besides, it's for everyone. ”

Second Aunt Wang stopped, turned her face and said unconvinced: "You are facing them, I see that they have gone outside to raise fat, look at your precious son, he is not like a fat pig when he comes back from the reservoir construction site!" ”

Xiao Laofu looked at the back of Aunt Wang's departure, and said to himself: "It's the leader's business to ask for wheat, why are you in a hurry, isn't it salty and eating radishes!" After saying that, he squatted down and polished the hoe.

Second Aunt Wang came out of Xiao Laofu's house disappointed, and ran into Mu Cunli who came with a dung basket on his back at the mouth of the alley.

Mu Cunli is a person with a strong personality, although he is fifty years old, he is still very tough, speaks loudly, and likes to call a real person when he encounters problems, and he will not give up if he fights for high or low. The people in the village are a little afraid of him, because he doesn't care about his three relatives and six aunts, and no matter what the occasion, he can't get off the stage with a straight face, so many people call him "powder gun". I don't know who beat his pig the year before last, he stood on the roof of the north house and scolded for three days, until the secretary Mu Qinglin came forward and persuaded him again and again. His big name is Mu Cunli but few people call him, some call him "powder gun", and some call him "stunned green", but the most called is "powder gun", and the nickname "powder gun" is often louder than his big name. Once, a distant relative who had not seen each other for many years came from out of town, and asked a few little boys who were playing where Mu Cunli lived, and the children were stunned and shook their heads and said they didn't know. At this time, Li Yongqing's mother came out of the house and said that Mu Cunli was Mu Cunwang's brother, and the child hurriedly said, "I know, I'll take you there." "Messed up that relative inexplicably. Mu Cunli and Aunt Wang's men are the same generation, and he has to be called Aunt Wang and Aunt Wang in terms of age, and they were originally in a production team. Mu Cunli is a "powder gun", and Aunt Wang is a "machine gun", and they are not less connected to fire when they work in the team. But their personalities also have something in common, they are both rectal people with knife mouths and tofu hearts, they don't pretend to be troublesome in their hearts, and everything will be over in the past, even if they are noisy and scolded their mothers, they will laugh as before after two meals. Some people say that they are rats, and they forget when they put down their claws. So although they were noisy, they had no prejudices. As soon as they met today, they connected to the fire.

"The second sister-in-law is in such a hurry, did you tell your eldest brother that my daughter-in-law should go?"

Second Aunt Wang was so amused by Mu Cunli, the sadness on her face flew away half, and said with a smile: "Fifty is not forty, Qingming should not be stunned, you don't look in the mirror, you have a lot of beards and want to find a bride when you are about to see the land lord!" ”

"Have you forgotten what people said? Fifty-five down the mountain tiger, old and strong. ”

"Come on, a few years ago, I introduced you to a widow, you suspect that the family with a child is unwilling, and now, hum, the person who carries the water turns back to the scene (well)! You will be a single person for a lifetime, and you will sleep alone for a lifetime! ”

Mu Cunli smiled and said: "But there are also benefits of beating a singleton, and the whole family is not hungry after one person eats." It's not like you have grandchildren and grandchildren, and you save good things for them to eat, and when the time comes, when you enter the soil, you don't even have some oil and water in your stomach. ”

Aunt Wang put her mouth up and said, "Don't interrupt, you didn't lend me some wheat at home, and I will pay you back as soon as I have it." ”

Mu Cunli had just returned from the field, and he didn't know about the wheat borrowed from the village, so he laughed and said, "The pancakes for your grandson are out of face, aren't they?" I don't borrow it, I keep my wife. ”

Second Aunt Wang said anxiously: "Don't make me happy, to be honest, is there any wow?" ”

Mu Cunli saw that Aunt Wang was talking seriously, patted his stomach and said, "Look at my belly, I can still have stock like Zhu Bajie?" ”

When Aunt Wang heard this, her heart was cold again. At this time, she understood that she didn't look at the object when she borrowed something, how could this "powder gun" live alone and have wheat miles, she was really anxious.

Mu Cunli knew that it was impossible for Aunt Wang to borrow wheat for her grandson in a hurry, so he asked, "What are you borrowing wheat for?" ”

Second Aunt Wang said unhappily: "Cough, isn't it in the village!" ”

"The village wants wheat?"

"Ahh

"What do you want wheat for?"

When Aunt Wang saw that the other party was still in the dark, she said: "Oh, you haven't known who died after crying for a long time, it's the village committee that wants it, and every household has to hand over wheat to send to the reservoir construction site." ”

Mu Cunli was stunned: "What did you pay back?" ”

Aunt Wang said impatiently: "Didn't I run around begging grandpa to sue grandma for borrowing!" No one can do it if they don't pay it, and people say that this is a matter of attitude towards water conservancy construction. I'm so saddened. ”

Mu Cunli's head jumped with green tendons, the wheat season disaster only harvested so little wheat, and there was no coarse grain to eat, how could there be wheat at this time. He blinked his eyes and said dissatisfiedly, "Whoever has it will hand it over!" I don't, they can do whatever they like. There are no ordinary people in the village, and there are no people at home! ”

Second Aunt Wang took the stubble and said, "That's right, I'm really worried about me." ”

Coincidentally, the two old men were discussing, Mu Yongchang came out of the house with the scales, and the straight-hearted Mu Yongchang didn't look at the complexions of the two people and said: "Uncle Cunli, Aunt Wang, hurry up and hand over the wheat, and I'm in a hurry to send miles to the construction site." ”

Mu Cunli stared at him and said, "Don't let your mother's stinky fart!" ”

Mu Yongchang was anxious: "Why are you scolding?" ”

"What's wrong with scolding you? You called the police, and I didn't either! ”

Mu Yongchang was a little stunned when he heard that he was touching cucumbers in the black field, and he was a little confused: "What do you mean by this?" It seems like I'm going into debt. ”

"You don't talk nonsense here, tell you, I just feed the wheat to the pigs and don't pay it!"

"Why didn't you pay it?"

"You can't control this, I just won't pay it!"

"If you don't pay it, you can't do it!"

"Why not? You kid have the ability to tell me to go, I'm waiting at home! What the hell are you? You've treated yourself like a green onion, and I really don't have time to eat your dipping sauce! ”

"You 'powder gun' have the ability to go to the reservoir construction site and play a majestic role on me!"

"Whoever comes is like this, Lao Tzu is not afraid!"

The two of you are talking to each other, and the more noisy he is, the more they are.

Mu Yongchang was aggrieved and wanted to cry, Mu Cunli was panting angrily, and Aunt Wang was so frightened that her face changed color and her voice changed tone. Talking about this and persuading that, I'm afraid that the two of them will start to move, and they will be at a loss like ants in a hot pot.

The noise alarmed Wang Wensi, who was drinking tea and smoking on the hot kang, he walked into the yard, climbed the ladder to the wall, stared wide-eyed, surrounded many people, pricked up his ears and listened carefully, understood the content of the quarrel outside, and showed a smile on his face. He came down from the wall and hummed a Peking Opera accent in his mouth: "I was lying on the wall watching the scenery, and I could hear the chaos on the street......

"You sang it wrong, it was Zhuge Liang who sang it, and he was standing in the city tower and watching the scenery......" his wife Zhang Guilan waved her hand and shook her head and corrected with a smile.

"I'm feeling it, hehe."

Zhang Guilan said happily: "There's a commotion outside, why don't you go out and have a look?" ”

"The crops can only be harvested when they are ripe, and the fruits can only be picked when they are ripe, I have to look at the fire." Wang Wensi said and went back to the house and sat down, picking up the teacup again.

The noise slowly subsided, Wang Wensi hurriedly got off the kang and put on his shoes and walked into the yard, and then kicked the ladder on the wall to take a look, and a few people were walking towards this side from the mouth of the alley, and he hurriedly walked out of the gate.

Second Aunt Wang seemed to have seen the savior, and grabbed Wang Wensi and said, "Wensi, they all scared me to death, you can persuade them quickly." ”

Wang Wensi pretended to be puzzled to look at this, look at that, and said, "What's going on?" ”

Mu Cunli and Mu Yongchang looked at each other with hateful eyes, and neither of them squeaked. Mu Yongchang leaned against the root of the west wall and wiped his tears, and Mu Cunli squatted under the root of the east wall and tilted his head and swallowed a cigarette.

Wang Wensi approached Mu Yongchang and said, "If you have something to say, talk slowly, what kind of temper will you have with the old man." ”

Mu Yongchang threw the scale in his hand to the ground and said, "I lost my temper? I'm not going to do this thankless job! ”

Mu Yongchang's action aroused Mu Cunli again, he got up from the ground with a "pout", and said: "It's better if you don't do it, Lao Tzu can't wait for it!" Chicken feathers in bats, what kind of bird are you! He was foaming at the mouth.

"You're still swearing!"

"Why am I scolding you? Do you still want others to offer you as a god? Dream on! ”

"You 'powder gun' can play red-eyed in front of others, but here, no way!"

"Am I playing with a red eye? I didn't hold a scale and ask someone for wheat! ”

"Who's forcing it? This is the decision of the village council! ”

"Whoever makes an unreasonable decision will not work!"

Wang Wensi walked up to Mu Yongchang and said, "Yongchang, how can you quarrel with the old man." You are a member of the village committee, a village cadre, and you have a higher posture and admit your mistake in the past. ”

Mu Yongchang glared: "I admit my mistake? What was wrong with me? ”

Wang Wensi walked up to Mu Cunli again and said, "What are you doing with young people!" Otherwise, you'll be over. A road for people, a wall for people, all living in a village, looking up and looking down, why bother making such a stiff mile. ”

Mu Cunli frightened Wang Wensi with a big fist, and roared: "I will freeze to death to stand in the wind, and I will not bend down when I am starving!" What does he love! If you have the ability, he asked the police to arrest me and sit in the shift room! Going to other places to build reservoirs makes the people in our village unlucky, what is this called? ”

Both of them swallowed bean sprouts, full of grievances.

Wang Wensi saw that there were more and more people, so he said in a gentleman's tone that was not popular: "Look at what you said, isn't it the king of the stove dancing off the board?" I don't want to fight with you, I have reason to go all over the world, and it is difficult to move an inch without reason. He turned his face to the onlookers and shouted: "The matter of making wheat is the decision of the village committee, can the village director ask Yongchang to accept it?" What's wrong with Yongchang! Besides, who is this white noodle for? It's for the people to strengthen them, people are suffering outside, can the people give the village some white noodles? And ......"

Don't look at Mu Yongchang holding the scale and asking others to hand over the wheat, but he also has opinions on this practice, Mu Cunli put a shot at him, his lungs were about to explode, he didn't wait for Wang Wensi to finish speaking on the side: "If you work outside, you should eat and drink well!" No wonder Li Minqiang rushed to go as soon as he got home, it turned out to be for enjoyment, it's really unpredictable! Young people should be the first to endure hardships and enjoy the last, but others are ...... Alas, what kind of demobilized officer? Some people say that his consciousness is high, and this is the high Fa? What a disgrace to the PLA! ”

The loud noise made the onlookers gather more and more.

At this time, someone interjected and said: "I heard that Minqiang also bought several big fat pigs from other villages, and they eat big fish and meat all day long." ”

Mu Yongchang waved his hand and said, "If this is the case, I won't be at home anymore, who doesn't know that the bread roll meat is delicious!" ”

Mu Cunli roared again and picked up the stubble: "I thought that Minqiang was a good material, and after making trouble for a long time, he was also a person who cut the flesh on other people's bodies." The human heart is separated by a skin, and the skin is different from the outside. I don't think he, Li Minqiang, is a good thing. ”

There was a commotion in the crowd.

Wang Wensi glanced at everyone and said to Mu Cunli: "You can't say that. ”

Mu Cunli glared at him and said, "Why can't you say it?" Wasn't that tiring job when I was digging the Yuecheng Reservoir? They didn't eat and drink like them, they didn't go to work, it was purely for their mother's pleasure. ”

There was a lot of talk in the crowd:

"When I was in Xiuziyahe, Tianjin, I didn't always eat white noodles."

"Looking at Minqiang, the young man is very shrewd, why don't you know how to eat."

"He lived a communist life in the army, so he can know the hardships of our farmers!"

"You forgot to say it, if you don't have children, you don't know how to repay your mother's kindness, and if you don't have a family, you don't know that firewood and rice are expensive."

"There is no hair on the mouth, and the work is not firm."

"Tender shoulders can't carry the burden! Why don't you let him lead the team? ”

"It's just that the finger can't be used as a fist, and the rabbit can't be controlled."

……

Wang Wensi saw that everyone's dissatisfied words were directed at Li Minqiang, and his heart was like being filled with honey. He coughed dryly twice, cleared his throat and said: "Everyone knows whether what Minqiang is doing is right or wrong, and it is understandable that they have opinions about him. ”

There was another talk in the crowd about the absence of wheat.

Wang Wensi continued: "Not only is everyone dissatisfied, but Daejeon is also in trouble. It's no wonder that young people lack experience in work, they are used to living a cold and sour life in the army, and they lack understanding of life in the countryside, so they ......"

Mu Cunli roared again: "Just withdraw this kid Li Minqiang!" If you don't have that diamond, don't do porcelain work! He's a loser, he smashes the pot when he does things, don't let the whole village follow him unlucky! ”

Wang Wensi said: "Minqiang, lack of work experience, let's help him well in the future." But the wheat still has to be delivered, and Li Minqiang is not alone on the reservoir construction site, but also other people in our village! However, please believe that the wheat is temporarily borrowed from the village and will be returned in a few days, and Daejeon and I have already figured out how to return the wheat to everyone, so please rest assured. ”

While Wang Wensi was talking endlessly, Mu Yongchang's mother ran out of the house and dragged Mu Yongchang home. Li Baiwang also walked from the entrance of the south alley with a basket and a sheep on his back, and the crowd of onlookers dispersed with discussion.

Wang Wensi was secretly happy in his heart: Li Minqiang, you are a certificate tied to a broom, your reputation is discredited, in Shagang Village, it is already an old woman's footcloth that stinks, you want to be a little tender in front of me, and you are good-looking behind. Hum! I don't believe that I can't squeeze you out of Shagang Village.