"Knock knock—"

A few orderly knocks on the door were especially noticeable on this quiet winter morning.

In the sky, snowflakes scattered little by little along the eaves and alleys......

"Who? Knocking on the door early in the morning? ”

The woman's raised voice came from the courtyard of the house.

Hua Shi huddled in the narrow alley, stood under the eaves, hiding from the falling snow, her head and shoulders were covered with fine snow, and she shivered with cold.

"Bump!"

The small courtyard door was pushed open from the inside.

"Yikes! Who is this? Which girl?? ”

A woman in a floral cotton jacket and tightly wrapped in a quilted coat stood inside the doorframe, looking out at the young girl with a look of astonishment.

"Good morning, auntie."

Hanatoki took two steps back from the eaves and stood in the alley, politely greeting the visitors.

"This ...... What's the matter? Stand in, there is a lot of snow outside, and I don't want to come out with an umbrella, and my body is covered with snow. ”

The woman looked at her face flushed with cold, and with a look of sin, and as she spoke, she pulled the man into the courtyard.

Hua Shi followed her strength into the courtyard, and it was not until they stood under the wide eaves that the two stopped.

The woman enthusiastically reached out and patted the snow on her shoulder, and hurried her to stand next to the hot stove to warm her hands and feet, "You sit down first, bake the fire, warm up, and look at this little face is frozen." ”

Hua Shi didn't expect this woman to be so enthusiastic, welcomed her into the yard to hide from the snow, and let her bake the fire, she thanked her repeatedly.

The woman went into the house again, and in a few moments came out a bowl that seemed to contain hot water, and before she could say anything, the bowl of warm water was stuffed into the palm of her hand.

"Drink some hot water."

The woman waved her hand and said to her.

"Grandma, who's coming?"

A child's immature voice suddenly came from the house, and then a little girl wearing a flower cotton jacket and being tightly wrapped up and down her whole body ran out of the house.

The little girl was about eight or nine years old, with horn braids that soared to the sky, and she had just come out of the warm room, with a little face flushed and a pair of big eyes, and she was curiously looking at the flowers sitting by the fire in her house.

"Niu'er, it's cold outside, why don't you come out after sleeping for a while."

The woman lovingly touched the little girl's head.

The little girl didn't know what she thought, and pouted unhappily, "Daddy and mother secretly hid and didn't let me in, they said they wanted to give me a younger brother and sister, but it's been so long, and I haven't seen my younger brother or sister ......"

"Ouch, you can't talk nonsense." The woman quickly covered the little girl's mouth, and she couldn't laugh or cry.

Hua Shi drank a bowl of hot water, and her stomach warmed, and she suddenly felt empty.

She went out as soon as it was hazy, but she came out of Hua's house, walked all the way up the village, knocked on the doors of many households, most of them were closed, and some were willing to take care of her, but after seeing the worthless dates in her basket, they were not interested in refusing.

Not to mention the willingness to pay for her basket of dates......

This family was the first to welcome her into the door, and then shushed her for a while......

After the woman had comforted her little granddaughter, she had time to look at the flowers, and when she had finished drinking the hot water, she asked, "Which lady are you?" I don't think I've seen you before, did you knock on the door early in the morning? ”

When the flower is opened, the cloth covered by the basket is lifted, revealing the full winter dates inside, round and full of fruits, which look good, but ......

Although such large and plump white dates are rare in the village, they are not uncommon, and they are not unusual.

"Auntie, what do you think of this winter date? Do you want to try two of them, and if you want to try them, do you want to buy some? ”

Hua Shi swallowed his dry throat, and without waiting for her to ask, he said straight to the point.

When the woman saw this, she immediately understood the girl's intention of knocking on the door, and after hesitantly looking at the winter dates in the basket, she hesitated, and was about to speak, when the cuffs were suddenly tugged.

It was the girl who pulled down her sleeve, and the woman looked down at her granddaughter.

Niu'er blinked innocently, looked at the winter dates in the basket when the flowers, and then looked at her grandmother, and shook her head at her milk.

The woman didn't realize what she meant at first, but when she saw that her little granddaughter's head was about to shake into a rattle, she realized that she was just telling herself, don't buy it.

"Grandma, let's not buy it, the dates are not as delicious as the green fruits in our yard."

The little girl snuggled her chin, looked at the green fruits in her yard, and said, somehow, snorted in the direction of the flowers.

The woman knew her granddaughter's temperament, and naturally knew that what she said was not sincere, "Didn't you say that the green fruit was sour and astringent, and you won't eat it in the future?" ”

was ruthlessly debunked by her own grandmother, the little girl's face turned red, and she stomped her feet in annoyance, "Grandma......!" ”

But the woman misunderstood what she meant, thinking that she wanted to eat, and that she was afraid of wasting money, so she said these things.

When she turned to look at the flowers, she really hesitated.

She didn't plan to buy these dates, and her family was not rich, so she didn't have much money to spare, although she had a little money on hand, she wanted to keep it for the New Year's Day to buy meat to eat......

But if her baby granddaughter wants to eat it, she can still buy some through gritting her teeth.

This thing is not rice meat, she remembers that there are several such jujube trees in the village, which will bear fruit in the early years, but they have not borne fruit in the past few years, and it is not worth spending money to buy and eat.

"Girl, how do you sell these dates?"

After a moment's hesitation, the woman asked.

Hua Shi had already thought about the price, and when she asked for the price, he hurriedly replied, "Ten for one penny, twenty-five for two pennies, forty for three cents, and seventy for five cents." ”

She made a casual offer, and the woman frowned when she heard the price.

Ten pennies a penny, a little expensive, she can buy a pound of coarse rice for this penny......

The girl on the side, listening to her quote the price, her milk's expression, seemed to be buying a posture.

Niu'er was a little anxious, pulled the corner of her milk again, and hurriedly explained, "Grandma, don't sell it, I don't want to eat it!" Don't waste your money! ”

As soon as Niu'er said something, the woman was even more sure that she wanted to eat it, but she was too embarrassed to say that, and after hesitating for a while, she decided to buy it.

"You give me two to try first, and I'll see how it tastes."

The woman was obviously moved, and before she could boast about it, she hurriedly took two from the basket and handed them over.

The woman took it and shoved one into the girl's mouth.

Niu'er was just thinking about how to explain to her milk that she really didn't want to eat, when she was suddenly stuffed with a mouthful of dates, subconsciously caught it with her hand, and took a bite.

"Click." The sound of the crisp flesh being gnawed sounded, and the juice in the dates overflowed from the flesh.

The crisp and sweet taste of the mouth is indeed what she loves to eat, and I don't know if it's her illusion, I always feel that the peel is sweet.

The sweet taste is indeed her favorite food......

The greedy girl ate the dates into her stomach in three or two bites, reacted, and smiled at her grandmother's expression, her little face was red, and she was so ashamed that she couldn't say a word.

She had just said not to eat it, but she only ate one at this time, and she couldn't wait to swallow it......

Niu'er looked at her grandmother's self-conscious expression, and then looked at the flowers waiting on the side, and pouted in annoyance.

It's over, grandma is really going to misunderstand now......

The woman could see that her granddaughter liked to eat very much, but she just said that she didn't like to eat, and that the most important thing was that the child was happy.

"Bring me a penny."

Twenty-five can also stop the mouth of this little gluttonous cat.

"Okay." Hua Shi's eyes lit up, and he nodded busily, and counted twenty-five for her neatly.

The woman put a bowl in it, and put it into the girl's hand, along with the one she was about to taste, and looked at the flower and said,

"I'll go back to the house and get the money for you, you wait here, I'll be back in a moment."

Grandma turned around and went into the house, leaving the girl and the flower standing under the eaves.

Niu'er held the bowl, was stunned for a moment, looked back at her grandmother's missing back, and looked up at the flowers, and suddenly snorted angrily,

"Hey, I know you! Don't pretend to be in front of me! ”

The little girl's brainless sentence is full of question marks.

Niu'er looked at her puzzled expression, and said angrily, "Your name is Hua Shi, you are Hua Xiao's vicious sister, just like those vicious stepmothers in the village, you often bully Hua Xiao and her younger brother, as well as her second brother, don't think I don't know!" You are so vicious that you tricked my grandmother into buying this ...... of yours Broken dates! Bah! ”

The little girl's words were a thorough explanation of the question marks when she cleared the flowers.

This should be Hua Xiao's little sister, who is about the same age as Hua Xiao, and she is vicious......

Thinking of Hua Xiao's sharp teeth, there was no need to guess, and she knew that Hua Xiao taught her to say it, so Hua Shi touched her nose in a sneer.

She saw that the woman really loved this little girl, and if she knew that her precious granddaughter had been instigated, she would say vicious things one by one......

There was a sound of footsteps in the house, and the little girl who was still baring her teeth and scolding Hua Shi just now, as soon as she heard the voice, she immediately changed her face and recovered her harmless appearance.

The woman came back with two pennies and handed them to Hua Shi, "Take it, don't lose it." ”

Reaching out to take it when it is spent, today's first order is also the first income.

Although the two pennies are not much, she has an income, and she is in a good mood, and she doesn't bother to care about the few words that the younger girl said......

"Auntie, then I'll go first."

She said goodbye, and walked out of the yard under Niu'er's indignant gaze.

In the courtyard, it seems that the conversation between the grandparents and grandchildren can still be faintly heard......

"Grandma, I really don't like to eat, why do you waste money on this ......"

The girl muttered unhappily.

"I don't know you yet, I don't like it, but I don't know how happy I am."

"How can I have! And do you know who that one was just now, you were so good to her! ”

"Where is grandma good to her, I am the best for this little pimple."

"Humph! Anyway, when you see her in the future, don't laugh with her anymore, and it's better not to talk to her again! ”

"Ouch, that sister you off just now?"

"Yes...... Uh, no...... She's not a good person anyway......"

…

Walking out of the alley, the snow falling in the sky seemed to be getting bigger and bigger.

Hua Shi touched a date from the basket, and took two bites of it, filling a few mouthfuls of empty stomach.

He covered the basket tightly again, regained his spirits, and walked towards the village road.

The snow kept falling, and the whole village was covered in snow, and there was not a single person to be seen......

With the previous successful case, Hua Shi ran to several houses in the snow, knocked on the courtyard door repeatedly, and tried his best to sell the dates in the basket, almost all of which ended in failure.

There are few wealthy families in the village, and no one wants to spend a penny or two on these worthless things, not such strange things as rice and meat.

And those who have a little spare money in the village, they don't look down on these gadgets, by the mountains and rivers, this kind of fruit, the mountains abound, and some of the doors of the house also planted a lot of various fruit trees.

This thing is not full, and it is not unusual, although the fruit in her hand is full and fleshy, but no one will want to spend that kind of money on it.

Therefore, I ran to more than a dozen families when I was flowering, and after eating the closed-door soup, I felt a little discouraged.

She estimated that it was already noon, and in the morning, she had earned two cents, and her hands carrying the basket were counted, her shoes were wet, and she was almost freezing.

It seems that just selling this bit of wild winter dates can't be sold, and after she still wants to sell this basket of winter dates, she has the capital and can move on to the next step.

At the moment, this first step is difficult to take......

Hua Shi's thoughts lingered, hiding under a towering banyan tree, patting the broken snow on his body, and his eyes fell on the surface of the lake that had condensed into some ice.

It is very difficult to promote their consumption in a self-sufficient village with few consumption needs and desires......

If there is no demand, she will not consume, and if she will not consume, she will not be able to sell her goods at all......

Although it was a setback, it was not without gains.

At least, according to what she has observed along the way, most of the villagers' families rarely even have enough to eat.

Many people, because the weather is cold, there is no work, in order to save, most of them do not have stoves, there is no fireworks in the house, old and young, almost all hide in the house to sleep.

In order to reduce hunger, as long as you lie on the kang and cover the quilt, you will not be hungry when you fall asleep......

Therefore, it was really a wrong choice for her to sell goods in the village like this.

If it can't be sold in the village, then you can only think about other places......

A town hundreds of miles away?

It's too far away, back and forth, two days and one night of footsteps, and the fruit picked in the mountains is not fresh when it is sent to the town......

Speaking of freshness, Hua Shi touched two winter dates from the basket, put them in his mouth and took two bites.

Nothing has changed, it's still very crispy, and the juice inside is also very rich, and it's been almost a day since I picked it back, and it's still as fresh as if I just picked it off......

"Hey, is there a guy sitting over there? Who will sit on a snowy day? ”

She was distracted when there was a sudden sound of rustling in the distance, and when she looked up, she saw two figures in the distance, wandering in the snow, walking in her direction step by step.

Hanashi frowned and squinted.

Can't see clearly...... It seems to be the figure of two grown men......

…