The bus to Xizhou was late, and although it was empty, the driver staggered into the station. Yang Liufang bought a ticket for four stops, drove away from Yantan, and got off at Beiguan after four stops. Transfer to No. 31 again, after six stations, arrive at the north of the city supply and marketing cooperative.

Chengbei Supply and Marketing Cooperatives is a row of bungalow-style buildings, a row of doors facing the street, on the basis of the door I don't know whether it is a stone, or on the basis of cement painting, carved with a book of "Chengbei Supply and Marketing Cooperatives" several big characters, the cinnabar red flag has been mottled above, and the six façade rooms are hung with black characters on a white background at the door, and the above from left to right is: supply and marketing cooperatives hardware and electrical materials store, supply and marketing cooperatives sugar, tobacco and liquor stores, supply and marketing cooperatives labor insurance stores, supply and marketing cooperatives building materials stores, supply and marketing cooperatives living materials stores, supply and marketing cooperatives production materials stores.

The materials placed at the entrance of each store department are different, and there are wires, steel wires and other materials stacked at the entrance of the hardware and electrical materials store department. The entrance to the grocery store is the most spectacular, with several brand-new Phoenix bicycles locked and chained from the middle of the triangular beam to the telephone pole at both ends. Two sewing machines, one left and one right, were placed under the eaves of the doorway, covered with plastic sheeting. The entrance to the production materials is relatively deserted, but there are also water pumps, water pipes and the like. Yang Liufang thought that the tools he wanted were all iron, and they should belong to the hardware department, so he walked in. The door face room looks not big, I didn't expect there to be a hole in it, there is a depth of 20 meters, a long row of glass counters, and the salesperson behind the counter is wearing the same blue labor cloth overalls as Yang Liufang, wearing a white hat and white sleeves on the cuffs. Seeing Yang Liufang come in, no one greeted him, he looked at the counter counter one by one, stopped in front of a counter full of nails, and the salesperson behind the counter was a delicate woman.

"Hello, I want to buy nails."

"Want that?"

"1 to 6 centimeters and 1 pound each."

The salesman put on canvas gloves, picked up an iron spoon, scooped different types of iron nails in the bag behind him, poured them onto the miniature scales on the counter, weighed one pound each, wrapped them with kraft paper, and finally found a small snakeskin bag and put six pounds of iron nails into it.

"Comrade, where do I want to buy carpentry tools?" Yang Liufang asked after paying.

"Tools belong to production materials, you go to the production materials store and ask."

"Okay, thank you."

After Yang Liufang thanked him, he walked out of the hardware store with iron nails and went to the production materials store, which was also a row of more than 20 meters of counters, and all kinds of production materials were very complete. Yang Liufang looked over one by one, and at the third counter, he saw the woodworking tools he was familiar with: saws, hammers, chisels, planers, files, rulers, axes, drills, ink fountains, whetstones, etc.

Yang Liufang bought the tools he needed according to the list he had listed, paid the fee, and several salesmen sorted out the corresponding tools together and piled them up like a hill in front of the counter. Yang Liufang was dumbfounded when he looked at these tools, such a pile, even if it wasn't heavy, he couldn't finish mentioning it at all. This does not yet require hardware products such as saw blades and various planer knives. The salesman looked at Yang Liufang, who was in trouble, still indifferent, and went to stand behind the counter again.

Yang Liufang thought, the service of these salesmen is too poor, compared with the enthusiasm of their fellow villagers Boss Chen and Boss Zhou in the Xizhou Wholesale Market, these people are like official masters, and they have a feeling of being on top. But there is no way, people are state-run, and the scorpion tail - poison (alone) one.

Yang Liufang thought to himself that he couldn't lift it anyway, and he couldn't lose it if he put them here, so he went to buy hardware consumables such as saw blades, planer knives and drill bits. I returned to the hardware store, and the toss back and forth was too inconvenient. Why doesn't the 20-meter-long counter have a passage in the middle? Isn't it good to provide convenience to the masses? It seems that they really don't know how to do business.

Yang Liufang used his newly budding sense of doing business to silently judge the unreasonable layout of the counter of the supply and marketing cooperative. When I came to the hardware store, I found that the counter of gadgets selling drill bits and planer knives was adjacent to the counter of iron nails and valves. Seeing Yang Liufang returning again, the fair-eyed salesman who sold him iron nails asked, "What?" Didn't buy it? ”

"Oh, comrade, I bought it, but there are too many things, I can't get it."

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Yantan."

"Yantan, that's far enough. This way you can call a donkey cart or a tractor. ”

"Oh, is there one? That's great! Where is it? ”

"There are casual workers and coachmen in the Yellow River labor market behind the supply and marketing cooperatives."

"Thank you, comrade. I want to buy a planer, a saw blade or something, you see there's no one here. ”

"Oh, I'll get it for you, my colleague went on a blind date today."

The delicate woman walked out of the counter where she sold iron nails, entered this counter, and took the goods according to Yang Liufang's requirements. The goods are ready, plus my own six catties of iron nails just now, it is already more than 20 catties. Yang Liufang tried it, and the saw blade swayed softly, and it was really hard to carry it.

"You can put your things here first, and then you can load them together when you come back after calling the car."

"Thank you so much, I have to take care of it."

"Don't worry, comrade. Go for it. ”

Yang Liufang walked out of the supply and marketing cooperative, and according to the instructions of the saleswoman, walked around the west wall of the supply and marketing cooperatives to the Yellow River labor market behind. After about ten minutes, I saw a clearing of the ground, where people were gathered in groups. When I walked in, someone was spreading a piece of paper on the ground, and it was written crookedly: carpenter beating furniture; Some of them say build walls and houses. There are also people sitting on the ground with a bed roll next to them, and some people simply lazily sleep on the bed roll on their backs. They make a living by selling their strength and craftsmanship, waiting here for an employer in need to greet them.

Maybe he thinks that Yang Liufang is looking for work like them, and no one takes care of him there. It's just that Yang Liufang needs a car, so he bypasses those people and goes to the area where tractors, donkeys, horses, and mule carts are parked to look for them. As soon as he passed, several people gathered around.

"Little comrade, do you want a car?" ......

"Yes."

"Use mine, novice tractor, horsepower, can run far."

"Use mine, cheap, sturdy mules."

"Use my ......"

"How much does a tractor cost?"

"Where to go?"

"Yantan."

"Pull what?"

"Woodworking tools, and 200 pieces of soap."

“20。 Help you move your goods. ”

"It's expensive."

"Yantan is so far away, 20 is not expensive, I have to be a comrade."

"How much does a mule cart cost?" Turning his head to ask the middle-aged man who was driving the mule cart.

“15。”

"What about you?" Then he asked the old man who drove the donkey cart.

"Little brother, you can give 10 yuan."

"Can it still be cheap?"

"I didn't dare to ask for more, my car was slower than theirs, and I pulled less."

"Okay, it's up to you, let's go to the supply and marketing cooperatives to pull tools first."

"Okay!" The old man untied the reins and went to the side to put on the donkey cart.

"Come on, come up." Wait for Yang Liufang to get on the bus and sit down. The old man "bang", the donkey pulled the car and the two of them walked to the supply and marketing cooperative, first went to the production materials store, loaded the tools, the old man also wanted to enthusiastically go over to help, but Yang Liufang refused.

"Suo (uncle), just help me watch it."

"Oh, okay."

Yang Liufang carried the tools several times, put them on the donkey cart in turn, and then went to the hardware store to get consumables and nails.

"Got it?"

"Hmm!"

"That's fine, how much?"

"The tractor costs 20, and the donkey cart is 10 yuan cheaper, so I called the donkey cart later."

"20 is a real pit, and it will be 20 when you go to Hanwangchuan."

"Han Wangchuan? Do you know Hanwangchuan? ”

"Yes, my mother is the principal of Hanwangchuan Middle School."

"Oh, that's where I'm going. Do you know Wang Shan and Yinhua? ”

"Ah, they, we're high school classmates, you know each other?"

"Yes, I'm just making furniture for them this time."

"Oh, we haven't seen each other for a few years, I didn't expect them to get married so soon."

"Oops, what a fate."

"Yes, the city in Xizhou is small, and they are all acquaintances. Come and I'll help you. "Saying that, let's help Yang Liufang carry nails.

"No, no, I'll do it myself, this one is too heavy."

"It's fine. Get used to it. As he spoke, he lifted the snakeskin bag containing the iron nails and helped Yang Liufang deliver it to the donkey cart.

Yang Liufang thanked and said goodbye.

"Say hello to Wang Shan and Yinhua on my behalf."

"Okay, I'll bring it." Yang Liufang sat on the donkey cart and waved goodbye to the salesman. The old man picked up the donkey cart and drove in the direction of Yantan.