Chapter 17: Staying Alive (I)
Binbin, my poor child, like me, didn't know what my mother looked like, I lost my grandfather when I was ten years old, and Binbin lost my father when I was nine, but he showed a manly and brave spirit, unlike me, when my grandfather died, I felt that my sky had fallen.
But what am I going to do with my two children? The family is in debt.
What will I do? Going to be a babysitter? But who will take care of my two children?
I wandered the streets and walked up to a fruit seller: "Do you buy fruit?" ”
I shook my head,
"Do you live in a certain building in a certain neighborhood?"
I nodded.
"I know you, I live in the basement of your building, I watch you and your husband go in and out every day, I hear about ......"
He saw my tears rolling in his eyes and didn't speak.
"What are you looking for?"
"Yes."
"It's hard to find a life now, why don't you learn from me to sell fruits?"
"How do you sell it?"
"Go to the fruit wholesale market in the early morning to wholesale fruits, and then sell them on the street to earn the difference, don't underestimate my flatbed car, I can also earn fifty or sixty thousand a year!"
"Fifty or sixty thousand?"
I asked in surprise.
"Yes, I didn't lie to you."
"Tomorrow you go downstairs at four o'clock in the morning, I will take you to the wholesale market, you recognize the way, and you can go wholesale by yourself when you know it later, you have to have a scale, I happen to have two, borrow you to use it first, buy a new one and then return it to me, you first wholesale a basket of seasonal fruits, sell it every day, and the living expenses of the day will come."
I thanked him and went home.
You can earn 50,000 or 60,000 yuan a year! My mother-in-law's pension money has to be repaid, Zhang Xiaoning's colleagues have to pay back, and my sister-in-law's money has to be repaid.
After wholesale fruit in the morning, I can just cook for Binbin, and eat three meals in the kindergarten, I don't have to worry about it, just pick her up, and let Binbin take the school bus, so that I can go out to sell fruit early.
Thinking about it, I think everything will be fine.
In the early hours of the next morning, I got up early and went downstairs to wait for the man, and soon after he came and rolled out his flatbed in the grimmery shop on the first floor, and we pushed the flatbed to the wholesale market.
The fruit wholesale market is brightly lit, and the big trucks pulling fruits enter the market one by one, and the small traders crowd to the front of the car to look at the fruits, which is a busy scene.
The man asked me to stay, and he squeezed into the crowd, and after a while, he brought a lot of fruit, some in frames, some in cardboard boxes: "I'll load the flatbed with fruit, and you can go in and see how they wholesale the fruit." ”
I squeezed into the crowd, and those people were so stinky that I almost threw up, and they negotiated the price with the wholesale owner: "Your fruit is not very good, and it will be reduced by two cents." ”
"If you don't drop it, you won't drop it, you can take it if you like it, and if you don't like it, you will go to someone else's house."
Oh my! I still have to bargain, what should I do, a person who is not good at words by nature?
I walked up to the flatbed, and he had stacked all the fruit neatly onto the flatbed: "Do you think this is okay?" You just started to learn to sell, you have to have a process, now it is when the kiwifruit is on the market, you sell kiwifruit, ten yuan and five catties so sold, the wholesale price of kiwifruit is one pound and one yuan, you can earn about forty-five yuan by selling this basket, and the zero sale will fold the scales, and if you sell it, you give me the capital, and the one that can't be sold is mine. ”
"How can that work?"
"Okay, that's it, it's never easy for everyone to come over, but you have to follow me to sell today, and when you learn to sell alone."
There was a glimmer of light in the sky, the night was about to pass, and the dawn had come.
Sending the two children to school and kindergarten, I followed the man to the gate of a morning market, which was very lively, and he helped me move the kiwifruit to the side and put the scales on the ground: "Everyone is seven or eight taels of scales, and your scales are enough for two pounds." ”
I was standing there, not knowing how to sell it.
"When you see people, you have to shout, you can't sell much if you stand like this."
"Everybody come and see, fresh fruit, cheap fruit."
People gathered around.
I felt so embarrassed that my mouth was filled with lead, and I couldn't open it.
He sold out what a wave of people wanted: "Shout, you can't do it if you don't shout." ”
"Fresh and sweet kiwifruit is ten yuan and five catties, and fresh and sweet kiwifruit is ten yuan and five catties."
A few people came around, and he covered his kiwifruit and said, "My kiwifruit is expensive, and the one over there is ten yuan and five catties." ”
"Hurry up and call everyone." He said hurriedly.
I finished weighing and handed it to an old lady, who was just about to leave, and he hurriedly grabbed it: "Auntie, how much do you pay?" “
"Ten Dollars"
"It's wrong, it feels like it's more than five catties, isn't it weighed by kilograms?"
I'm pointing to the 5 on the scale, and it's right here. ”
"This is a kilogram scale, and a kilogram is two catties."
I am ashamed that Zhang Xiaoning taught me the conversion of units of measurement, and I learned it, but today in a panic, I forgot it all.
The old lady muttered and didn't want to retreat: "Auntie, she sold it for the first time today, she doesn't know how to do it, her husband just died, it's not easy for a woman with two children, you just raise your hand." ”
The person who was picking kiwifruit: "That's it, it's not easy for a woman to come out and set up a stall, add another ten yuan." ”
Old lady: "There are so many, how can you finish eating."
"Auntie, I'm half with you, right?" A woman said, handing me ten dollars.
"There is also art in selling things, just like your kiwifruit, they are all ripe, you can't let them pick them, they are cheaper than others to sell, you should bag them yourself."
I looked at him gratefully, "Got it." ”
I only had a few kiwis left, and he asked me to give him forty yuan, and he sold the rest, and told me to go back and come back tomorrow.
Just two hours in the morning, I made nearly fifty yuan, so what if I sell it for a day?
I went home happily, thinking that I would wholesale more the next day, sell a little more, and sell it until I made lunch for Binbin and then go home, but how could I get it back after I wholesaled?
I called Zhang Xiaodan and wanted to borrow her bicycle, Zhang Xiaodan: "Okay sister-in-law, I will let Wang Lei send it to you later, and let Binbin come to my house for dinner, or how can you be busy?" ”
"I can do it, you have a big belly, Wang Lei has to take care of you, you two still have to go to work, you take good care of yourself."
"Then I'll give my parents a call to help you."
"No need, Mom is not in good health, Dad has to take care of it, I can do it."
Wang Lei sent the bicycle over, and by the way, he brought food to the two children, and he had to give me my money, so I had to accept it.
I have the capital to wholesale fruits, but I haven't learned to ride a bike, what should I do? After settling the two children, I pushed the bicycle to the square, but I couldn't grasp the direction, I fell down as soon as I went up, and I fell down as soon as I went up, and the blood on my knees and elbows flowed down, and I was okay to bleed, and the bicycle was broken, but it was troublesome, which was Zhang Xiaodan's. Frustrated, I was about to push my bike home.
"I just learned to be supported by someone, how can I learn without help? I'll hold you in the back, and maybe you'll learn it. ”
Turning around, it was him, the one who sold the fruit.
I went up hard, and he was holding the bike behind me: "Sit up straight, ride the bike and pay attention to balance, your waist is crooked, you have to sit up straight, keep the balance on both sides of the bike, relax your body, hold the handlebars, look forward, look into the distance." ”
"Don't be afraid to fall, I'm holding on to the back."
One lap, two laps...... Slowly, I rode better and better, I found the trick, turned my head, he had long since stopped helping my car, and stood far away: "You see you will, I won't fall if I don't help you, right?" ”
"Thank you, sorry for the trouble."
"What's polite, my surname is Zhao, just call me Lao Zhao."
The next day I rode my bicycle to the wholesale fruit market and wanted to wholesale two boxes of kiwifruit and one box of grapes: "One box and two boxes are not wholesale, the retail price." The wholesale boss said.
I was just about to beg them to give me some wholesale.
"I'll do it." It was Lao Zhao, and he wholesaled a flatbed truck, including my two baskets of kiwifruit and a box of persimmons, I had to give him money, and he accepted it because he had no choice.
He helped me tie the fruit to the back of my bike.
After finishing my work, I pushed my bicycle to the intersection with a lot of people, where there were many people selling small goods.
I put the kiwi and persimmon on the ground and learned to shout: "Fresh kiwifruit, fresh persimmon, kiwi ten yuan and five catties, persimmon ten yuan and six catties!" "The more you shout, the more confident you are, and the more you shout, the better it sounds.
People came around, I weighed the fruit for them, and all of a sudden, the sellers of small goods ran away with their stuff.
What's wrong with them?
At this moment, three uniformed men flew up to me and carried my scales, kiwis, persimmons, bicycles and baskets of kiwi on the bicycle directly to their pickup truck.
I grabbed a man in uniform and said, "Why are you robbing me of something?" ”
"I'm robbing you of something? Don't you let you sell things here? ”
The person who bought the thing said: "It's not easy for a girl to sell something, criticize and educate it, just don't sell it next time, why do you have to confiscate other people's things?" ”
"Go to the XZ Law Enforcement Brigade and pay the fine, and you can take your things when you're done." After speaking
The pickup truck roared and drove away.
"Pay the fine?"
I sat down on the ground, what should I do?
I came home lonely, oh my God! Isn't this a way to live?
At night, I was staring downstairs from the window and found that Lao Zhao had come back with a flatbed cart, so I hurried downstairs: "Your scale, my fruit and my bicycle, were all taken away by a group of uniformed people. ”
"You're stupid! See how not to run? ”
"Run? Why run? ”
"The construction of urban civilization does not allow random stalls to sell things, when we go to the street to sell, we are watching and listening to all directions, and we will run away when we see them coming from afar, but how can they accept your bicycle?"
"There's a box of kiwis on the bike."
"I'll try my luck tomorrow and see if I can get the bike back for you."
"They said to pay the fine, and if you pay the fine, you can take it."
"Your little bit of fruit isn't worth the fine, forget it, it's good that the bike can be returned."
As soon as I got home, I cried secretly under the quilt.
Someone knocked on the door, it turned out that my father-in-law came to give braised pork to the children, and my father-in-law looked at me: "People are gone, don't be too sad, the two children are looking at you, I heard that you are setting up a stall outside to sell fruits?" ”
I nodded.
"Your mother has been okay recently, I'll come over at noon to cook for Binbin, pick up Yiyi at night, you can sell your fruit with peace of mind!" In the past, we felt ashamed to do this, but now that society has changed, it is not a shame to rely on our ability to eat. ”
"These hundreds of yuan, you take the subsidy to the family, although our retirement salary is not high, but it is paid on time every month, Ning Ning is our child, we can't let you pay the arrears alone, your mother and I are frugal, and we can save a little every month."
"Dad, I can't ask for your money anymore, I'm young and have long hands." I cried. "Take it! Your mother is a knife-mouthed tofu-hearted person, she is overly sad, say those cruel words, don't worry about her, Ning Ning's death hit her too hard, but Ning Ning's illness has nothing to do with you. ”
Warm family affection is the strength to live.
In the afternoon of the next day, Lao Zhao came back on a bicycle: "I'll give you the bicycle to come back, you can't run, don't sell it on the street in the future, sell it at the intersection of the morning market or the vegetable market, CG doesn't care there." ”
Live well, for the sake of my two children, and for the people who were willing to lend us money in the first place.
In the early morning of the next day, I followed Lao Zhao to wholesale kiwifruit and persimmons. After dropping the children off at school, go to the market to sell fruit.
The vendors in the vegetable market were pulling the vegetables to the counter, I unloaded the fruit from the bicycle, wrote on cardboard that kiwi was ten yuan and five catties, persimmon was ten yuan and six catties, and inserted it in the fruit basket, at about 8 o'clock, the people who bought vegetables began to increase, they almost all bought my fruits, and my fruits were sold out at ten o'clock, and I happily rode home.
I also have to buy a flatbed truck and sell it so that I can earn more every day, and I also clean up the grocery store downstairs and put my flatbed truck and the leftover fruit in the grocery store at night, thinking about it, I feel full of strength.
But where can I buy a flatbed? Ask Lao Zhao tomorrow, he must know.
In the early morning, I still followed Lao Zhao to wholesale fruits, I am a raw person, and the amount I want is small, so I can't get the wholesale price.
"I also want to buy a flatbed, where can I get it?"
"It's not easy to buy now, I'll ask you about my fellow countrymen to see who has excess or eliminated, and then I'll repair it for you, and you can use it."
Lao Zhao is a native of Henan, and he has a group of villagers who sell vegetables and fruits, who are well-informed and convenient to do.
"Okay, then I'll trouble you, I'll give you the manual fee!"
"I'll talk about it then, and I'll help you find it first."
I took an extra box of kiwifruit, and then went to the door of the farmer's market I went to the day before, and it was sold quickly, and I calculated the money I made, and after such a month, it was much higher than Zhang Xiaoning's salary.
Sold like this, full of hope for life.
One night, Lao Zhao told me that he found a flatbed truck, which was eliminated by others and did not need money.
"It's good, why knock it out?"
"He wants to go back to his hometown, I said I'll use it, good buddy, so he gave it to me."
I took the tablet to the wholesale market, the boss saw me every day, knew that I was also selling fruits, so he gave the wholesale price, and kindly told me what fruits are good to sell, take more, what fruits are not good to sell, take less.
I pulled a flatbed truck of fruits, came to the door of the farmer's market, I also learned to shout, learned terminology, people passing by to buy vegetables bought fruit from me by the way, and there were repeat customers, just when everyone was around to pick fruits, two fat and strong women came over, and the two directly overturned my flatbed truck: "Get out!" Get out! ”
"Your MD's is so cheap, you don't have a booth fee, my wife has to pay a few hundred yuan a month for the stall fee, management fee and property fee, since you came, our fruit can't be sold."
"Get out of here." As he spoke, he trampled on my fruit.
People have dispersed when they see it, I haven't quarreled with anyone when I'm so old, I haven't scolded anyone, I'm stupid, I don't know what to do, I just feel so sad and wronged.
"You're breaking the law, how can you overturn her car?"
"You are the oldest, you go to this market to inquire, who is the old lady. I overturned her car today to cheapen her, and the next time I let my wife see it again, I let her limp away. ”
A briefcase with a briefcase and gold-rimmed glasses walked up to me, and together with a few people passing by to buy groceries, he turned my car over and picked up the fruit that had not been stepped on to the car, and my mind went blank.
"Girl, don't come again, you can't afford to mess with these people, the vegetable market sells vegetables and fruits are all fellow villagers, they can be united." A couple of old people who were shopping for groceries told me.
"Go home! Where do you live? ”
"A certain building in a certain community."
"It just so happens that I also live in that neighborhood, so I'll help you push it back together." Said the man who carried the briefcase.
The intimidation just now made me tremble, plus the first time I pushed a flatbed truck today, I always couldn't push it well: "I'll help you push it, I used to pull frame cars in the countryside when I was a child, these two kinds of cars are the same, this is a different name." ”
He pushed and said as he walked: "I don't think you are like a Henan person who sells fruits, why are you doing this?" ”
"I'm not going to do anything else."
"And who do you live with here?"
"Son, daughter."
"Where's your husband?"
"Passed away."
Help me push to the grocery store: "This is my PHS number, you remember, what is the difficulty to call me, my surname is Liu, I am a teacher at a factory school, what is your name?" ”
"Zhao Lingling".
"Do you have contact information?"
"Yes", I told him my PHS.
I came home abruptly, feeling like the world was spinning, living, why is it so difficult?
After the child went to sleep, I came to the community square, looking at the stars twinkling in the bright night sky, I thought of Zhang Xiaoning.
Talking to himself: Brother! You know, it's too hard for me to live.
To Xiaoning
I'll never see you again
If only I could have protected you
You won't turn into smoke
Buried in the dirt
The moon is rising
I want to accompany you
But I don't know where you are
You can only appear in my dreams
May the beautiful stars accompany you
Although I love you so much
But I can't get near you anymore
If there is an afterlife
I will be with you as spring mud