His father didn't disappoint his mother. He really used the small oil lamp to exchange for fifteen eggs from the farmer. In his sack, besides the turnip and turnip tassel, there were also some sweet potatoes and sliced pumpkin. There was also a bundle of clothes stuffed in the sack. When he opened it, it was a bag of rice.
He exchanged all his small oil lamps, one egg for one small oil lamp. The women in the village accepted it. Those who didn't have eggs at home could exchange them with rice. Those who refused to give rice could also exchange them with rice. In the end, someone brought the leftovers from home. Father thought that it was winter now, and the rice wouldn't go bad, so he wrapped the rice in clothes.
People were divided into groups. Father was willing to deal with the villagers. Once he arrived in the village, he felt like he had found himself again. He knew that the farmers would not look down on him. He had traveled far and wide. Compared to the villagers who had never left their homes, he had really become Master Niu in their eyes. Although he did not have much to say to us brothers, when he went to the village, he did things while chatting with the people who surrounded him to watch the fun.
His father was not a businessman, and he would never be a businessman. However, he was good at dealing with rural people. He shoveled kitchen knives, firewood knives, sharpened scissors, and repaired farm tools. He asked people to give him some random rewards. He did not accept any money because he knew that it was difficult for rural people to take out money. Therefore, every time he came back from the countryside, he carried some miscellaneous things in his sack, such as vegetables, dried vegetables, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, turnips, chaff, beans, rice, wild vegetables, rice, rice crust, and so on. His father had very low requirements for living conditions and was not particular about food. Other than what his faith forbade, he would not refuse anything that could help him survive.
Every Sunday, he wanted to go to the countryside. Although walking hundreds of miles made him sore and tired, he was still willing to go. He was at ease with the farmers. He could use his craftsmanship to exchange for a bowl of rice to eat. Sometimes, people would even pick up a piece of salted vegetables fried with bacon and put it on his rice. These were all impossible at home. His stomach, which had been flat for a week, could be filled up on this day.
Sometimes, his father would secretly use the scrap iron from the workshop to bring the kitchen knife to the countryside to exchange for rice. His father often knelt on the ground in the middle of the night, praying for repentance for his theft, admitting that he was guilty because he had committed the commandment of "not stealing"(the Ten Commandments of Moses). He complained to his believers about the difficulties of not being able to keep the commandment and asked the Lord for forgiveness. After praying, he secretly made a kitchen knife and brought it to the village to exchange for rice. Because his children were suffering from hunger, he had to bear the sins of his children on his own. Therefore, repeatedly breaking the precepts and repenting became his father's homework.
We brothers could have followed him to the countryside on Sunday to help, but he never asked us to do so. He would rather bear the fatigue alone and risk being attacked by wild beasts. The most important reason was that he did not want us to know that he used public iron to privately sell knives to farmers. Because his faith required him to be an example of a tree that bore good fruit for his children, even if this example was disguised under difficult circumstances.
For some reason, I suddenly told my father on a Saturday night that I wanted to go to the countryside with him tomorrow. He was stunned for a while, but he still nodded and agreed.
Because he had to bring me along, he didn't dare to go out as soon as the rooster crowed, nor did he dare to go too far. After thinking about it, he decided to go to a village not too far south. He didn't need to push the cart.
The next morning, we didn't go out until dawn. After walking south for more than ten miles along the highway, we turned off the highway and walked along the winding path into the mountains. Dad carried his orange and let me carry a bag. There were ten small oil lamps made of ink bottles in the bag.
After walking around the mountain path for more than an hour, they finally turned around a small hill and came to the mouth of a small basin. Looking from afar, there were some houses scattered on both sides of the basin that extended along the valley. This place was different from the villages on the flat land outside the mountain. It was called a village. In fact, there were one family in the east and one family in the west. They were scattered in twos and threes like sheep pooping. Father was very familiar with the roads here. Clearly, he had been here before.
Before we reached the house, he started to shout," Sharpen the scissors and shovel the kitchen knife." Following his shout, a teenage boy ran out of the house and waved at us. Dad shouted as he walked towards the house. When he reached the house, a woman came out of the house with a kitchen knife in her hand. She should be the boy's mother. Dad used a local accent that he was not familiar with and greeted her. He put down the orange and took the kitchen knife from her. The woman pointed at me."Is this your baby?" "Aiya, you're so short, how did your little one grow so tall?" Are you in your teens?" Dad looked over and motioned for me to say it myself. I blushed and replied," Ten years old."" Oh, my child is twelve years old. He's not even as tall as you." I lowered my head and smiled." Your face doesn't look too good. Why is it so yellow?"”Dad took it and said,"I'm hungry. I haven't eaten enough."”As his father spoke, he had already stuck the kitchen knife on the orange and started to shovel." What are you cutting with this knife? Why is the blade so blunt?”" Chop the pig grass. You were the one who shoveled it last time. It's been a few months. You have to help me shovel faster." His father said," Bring the scissors at home and sharpen them together. I don't know when the next time will come."”"How do I pay you?" " You can give my son a bowl of rice at noon."" Sure." She turned around and went into the house to take out an old pair of scissors and a chopper." You can sharpen them."”
Why didn't Father ask me to take out the small oil lamp that I carried on my back? I put down the bag and was about to tell my father, but he stopped me with his eyes.
His father worked hard to shovel the family's kitchen knives, hatchets, and scissors. It took him about an hour. The mistress of the family looked at them and was obviously very satisfied.
The father tidied up the oranges, stood up, and said to the mistress of the house," My son won't go in with me. He'll wait for me here. Please fill a bowl of rice for him to eat at noon."”
Dad pulled me to the side and said,"You wait for me here. I'll go into the house and take a look. I'll probably come out in two or three hours." This family will give you lunch at noon. Don't run around.”After saying that, he took the bag on my shoulder and walked towards the house in front of him.
At noon, the hostess cooked rice and sweet potatoes, steamed a small bowl of egg soup on the rice, and then a bowl of salted vegetables. She asked her son to eat with me first. She packed more rice and less sweet potatoes for me, while her son had more sweet potatoes and less rice. Her son said that they rarely ate such good rice and cooked mainly sweet potatoes and vegetables. When I told him that our family had been eating wormwood and lovegrass for several months, he didn't believe it at all. He said that the workers (Dad told the villagers that he was a worker) were much more senior than the rural people, so it was impossible for them not to have food.
However, I can't believe that there are no natural disasters in the countryside. Will their family's life be as bitter as he said? It was not until after the implementation of the reform and opening up in China that he found out about the reasons for the poverty in the rural areas around 1960. It was the absolutes of the People's Communes at that time. They abolished the private land of farmers and even regarded the few chickens raised in the farmers 'homes as the tail of the capitalists. They were forced to cut off, causing the southern rural areas, which were originally rich in products, to fall into artificial poverty.
Since the small oil lamp made by dad could be exchanged for eggs from the countryside, the ink bottle was equivalent to eggs in the eyes of us brothers. We rushed to pick up the ink bottle at home. Unlike the students in the doctor's village who used stone tablets to write, they all used paper and ink to write. Dad would not lack ink bottles when making small oil lamps.
But not long after, the situation changed. The small vendors also placed small oil lamps made of ink bottles on the roadside. Even the baskets that went to the villages to collect waste were also placed with these small oil lamps. They did not come to the village once a week, but carried a load every day. In the village, they sang and shouted. To be honest, his father's invention was too low-tech. It was quickly imitated and popularized by other poor people who were also in a hurry to find a way to survive.
Our family was not the only one threatened by hunger. In the two rows of low brick houses not far from the west of the canteen, all the young college students and technicians from the mine lived. At night, they gathered at Fangshantou and chatted happily. They heard that there was a small restaurant on the old street of the county town. If a person was willing to pay eight yuan, they could eat five good things in an unlimited amount. The rule was that they had to eat in order. After eating the first one, they could eat the second one. If you violate the rules, you won't get a refund, and you won't go to the back. The order of eating was to first finish five big bowls of porridge (each bowl weighed about one catty of water), then one catty of dry rice, then one catty of white flour steamed buns, then one catty of meat buns, and then one catty of braised pork.
Many people went to eat, but none of them could eat the braised pork. In the end, a life was lost. It turned out that a person desperately wanted to eat the meat buns. He finished the porridge and the dry rice, but as soon as the steamed buns were served, he suddenly fell to the ground and died. His stomach burst. He didn't know if what he said was true or not, but it sounded really chilling.
People changed the topic and started talking about personal wishes. One person swore," If anyone gives me three meals a day, I'll be his baby for the rest of my life." Another person said," If I eat meat, I'll die immediately." Another person said," As long as I'm full, I'll do whatever the leader wants." These so-called " wishes " seemed so insignificant today, but in that era, they were such " extravagant " dreams that were beyond reach.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。