Era: Craftsmen in the Siheyuan

Chapter 191 Nails

He Yuzhu opened his mouth and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He didn't know what to say, so he paused.

Xu Deyong raised his eyes to see his slovenly appearance, couldn't help but smile and said, "What's the matter?"

He Yuzhu scratched his head and said hesitantly: "No, nothing happened..."

With that said, he turned around and entered the house.

Xu Deyong felt a little baffled and continued to work as a shit shoveler. The chickens had grown a lot, but one of them had died, and there were two or three left. The space in this chicken coop could only raise four big chickens.

But I don’t know if this old hen can survive this year. If Xu Huizhen gets pregnant, her grandmother will most likely turn this chicken into nutrition.

He Yuzhu entered the room and looked at his sloppy look in the mirror, then thought about Xu Deyong's neat appearance, and then looked at the messy furnishings in the room.

As soon as he gritted his teeth, he started to pack it up.

After simply putting it away and smelling it, he took the basin and soap to the sink to wash his hair.

After some troubleshooting and looking at himself in the mirror, He Yuzhu gained some confidence again.

He went out and saw that Xu Deyong had finished cleaning up and was washing his hands, so he went over and said, "Hey, Deyong."

"Is something wrong?" Xu Deyong raised his eyebrows. This guy didn't have the right string so early in the morning!

He Yuzhu's eyes flickered and he said: "Um..., where is your partner's tavern? I'll go there later to support you."

Xu Deyong smiled and said, "Thank you then. It's not close to Qianmen Street from here. You have to take a car there."

He Yuzhu said as if he didn't care: "You look down on my brother, you only have a few cents for the ticket."

Xu Deyong said with a smile but not a smile: "Sure, we welcome you wherever you go, but now it's a public-private partnership. It's a public business, so we can't give you any discount."

He Yuzhu said: "Don't be polite, we will pay you tomorrow. On the weekend the day after tomorrow, I will take my sister to Dashilan for a stroll and have a drink later in the evening."

"Welcome." Xu Deyong said with a faint smile. If someone wants to go, he can't stop him.

But it always feels like this guy has other thoughts.

At this time, Xu Huizhen also got up and went out to wash up. He Yuzhu said hello and went back to the house to make breakfast for his sister.

"What are you talking about?" Xu Huizhen asked casually.

Xu Deyong smiled and said: "Zhuzhu said that the day after tomorrow he wanted to take his sister to visit Dashilan and stop by our tavern for a drink."

Xu Huizhen said: "Okay, you didn't say you would invite me to your house to sit down. We are all neighbors in the same courtyard."

Xu Deyong said: "Let's talk about it then."

"Hmm..." Xu Huizhen responded and started brushing her teeth.

Xu Deyong waved his hand and opened the blind box with a thought.

"Dang, Dang."

Xu Deyong was amused when he saw it. It turned out to be two copper hot pots. Hey, you can eat hotpot mutton later.

He returned to the house, where millet and corn crumbs porridge was cooking on the stove, with faint steam rising from the pot.

Xu Nan was wearing reading glasses and was sitting by the bed doing something with colorful thin threads. Xiao Lier was lying on the small wooden bed and curiously playing with her little feet. When her little feet moved from time to time, she would grin and look silly. happy.

Seeing Xu Deyong coming over, he stretched his hand and said, "Ah...".

It seems to say, "Look, it's really fun."

Seeing this warm scene, Xu Deyong couldn't help but smile, rubbed Xiao Li'er's little feet with the back of his hand, looked at Xu Nanshi and said, "Grandma, what are you doing?"

Xu Nan lowered his head slightly, looked at him through his reading glasses, and said slowly: "As the old saying goes, 'the good month is the first month, the bad month is the fifth month.' In one week, it will be the fifth month of the lunar calendar. May is hot and humid, and there are many plagues and evil spirits." It’s the Dragon Boat Festival in May, so I’ll make a little colorful rice dumpling for Li’er.”

"Cai Dong?" Xu Deyong came over and asked, "What the hell?"

Xu Nanshi waved him away and said, "It's not Dongdong, it's colorful rice dumplings."

"Oh..." Xu Deyong deliberately said in a long voice: "There is something special about it!"

Xu Nan said angrily: "What do you know? The five colors of green, red, white, black and yellow represent the five directions and five elements. Use five-color silk threads to make colorful rice dumplings and hang them on the baby, which can keep the baby safe and healthy. growth."

"That's right." Xu Deyong said with a smile, "Grandma, do I have one?"

Xu Nanshi said without raising her head: "You are an adult now, just go back and wrap some five-color thread around your wrist."

"Hey..." He then sighed and said, "You didn't have this kind of thing when you were a kid. You couldn't even get enough to eat, let alone colorful threads. It's better to live a more stable life now."

When Xu Huizhen came over after washing up and heard Xu Nanshi's words, her heart felt warm. It was the feeling of care from the elders that she had not seen for a long time after her parents passed away.

Xu Nanshi continued to ramble: "In the past, in May, calamus and mugwort leaves were hung on both sides of the gate. They said it was the "Moxa Tiger Pu Sword", which could kill insects and avoid poison. There was also a paper cut with the mouth facing downwards attached below. The gourd is said to be "unfortunate", so you have to wear cattail slippers and collect the cattail mugwort when you turn around. It can be used for medicinal purposes, and it can also be used to "wash" newborns..."

People in Laosi Jiucheng believe that there are two major events in life: one is "washing three" three days after birth; the other is "receiving three" three days after death.

When I was "washing three", I talked a lot. I used a mallet to stir the basin and said: "Stir once, stir twice, stir three times, and the elder brother leads the younger brother to run away..."

When giving a bath to a baby, if the baby is cold and cries, not only is it not a taboo, but it is considered auspicious, and it is called "ringing the basin".

While washing, he recited a congratulatory message, something like "wash your hair first, and you will become a prince; wash your waist second, and you will be taller than the previous generation; wash your eggs, and you will become a county magistrate; wash your ditch, and you will become a magistrate of the state"...

In short, there are many such words and details. Our country's folk customs are very interesting and ritualistic, including the simple expectations and emotions of the people. If you are interested, you can search for it yourself, but I won't get started.

Of course, as sanitary conditions improved and babies were delivered in hospitals, this custom gradually disappeared.

Xu Deyong listened, turned around and smiled at Xu Huizhen, and Xiao Lier also listened curiously to the adult's words.

Xu Huizhen went over to stir the pot. Xu Deyong waited for Xu Nanshi to chatter for a while and said with a smile: "Grandma, I will get some calamus and mugwort leaves for you outside the city."

"Yes." Xu Nan nodded and said, "Get more mugwort leaves and dry them in the sun to ward off mosquitoes."

There was also a box of mosquito repellent incense in Xu Deyong's blind box space, which was enough to smoke out mosquitoes, but he didn't say anything, just nodded in agreement.

After dinner, everyone going out to work, including Xu Deyong's family, was enviable.

This means that with more people working and earning more, life will naturally be better.

Yi Zhonghai's attitude improved a lot when he saw Xu Deyong. After all, Xu Deyong was the first to burn briquettes in the courtyard, but it made him and the courtyard famous in the streets.

He represented the hospital and held several meetings just by going out. He was very shameless!

When people gave him a smile, Xu Deyong naturally greeted him with a smile. He thought about it, it was already June, and a comprehensive wage reform was just around the corner.

By then, Yi Zhonghai will be at least a seventh-level worker, or even an eighth-level worker.

Even a seventh-level worker is quite impressive. He is someone who can fight with the factory director several times.

You can challenge him in terms of words, deeds, and reasoning, but if you really don’t understand him, he will always “slap” or “beat him violently.” It’s just...

Of course, everyone is pretty much the same. They all enjoy watching it when they think about it. I am not as happy as others.

"Deyong, go get busy!"

"Aunt Nan, go to the neighborhood committee."

……

After saying hello, a group of people dispersed in the alley and went their separate ways. Mrs. Jia Zhang looked at the empty yard and muttered sourly: "Hey, what's the air?"

Then she looked at Qin Huairu and said angrily: "Hey, Huairu, how did you go to the literacy class every day to study? Have you succeeded?"

Qin Huairu said: "It's not like you just learn a word. How can you learn it so quickly? Don't you see that those who go to school have to go to school for several years?"

"Several years!" Mrs. Jia Zhang said with a serious face: "That can't be done. My body sometimes feels uncomfortable. What should I do if I am tired from taking care of the children and the work at home?"

Qin Huairu pursed her lips and said, "Then just rest and wait until I come back to do the housework. You can just watch the children and buy groceries. If you find it tiring to buy groceries, leave this job to me."

Mrs. Jia Zhang said quickly: "No, there is a lot of care in buying vegetables. You don't understand the intricacies."

Qin Huairu lowered her eyebrows and rolled her eyes secretly. This mother-in-law is still on guard against her. Is she still afraid that she will use the money to help her mother's family?

Jia Dongxu is a man who doesn't speak. She has no choice at all. She doesn't have more than twenty cents on her.

At this time, Xiaobanggan took the small wooden broken sword and said: "Mom, I don't want to be at home with grandma. Grandma won't play with me. I want to go out with you."

Jia Zhang immediately said: "Hey, you little heartless kid, grandma still has to play with you all the time! The shoes you are wearing were not made for you by grandma!"

Xiaobanggan pouted and said, "Mom can do it too."

Qin Huairu said: "Okay, Banggen, be good, Banggen. Mom can't take you when you go out to read. In a few years, you can go to school to read, and then mom can't accompany you either."

"Oh." Xiao Banggeng nodded and said, "I want to go to school and be as good as Uncle Yong."

Jia Zhang said angrily: "He is so awesome."

Xiaobanggan pouted and said, "That's great. Why don't you make me a small wooden sword."

Jia Zhang said: "You are so heartless. Why do you turn your elbows outward at such a young age? I will take this piece of wood to make a fire for you."

The little stickman blinked, ran to the door, took out a small wooden gun from his waist, exposed half of his little head and said to Jia Zhang, "Hey..."

Jia Zhang was so angry that she stared at him.

……

As life moves forward, some people are stuck in place by old nails, some abandon the nails, and some like to pick up the "nails" and study them.

For example, the city wall and the Chaoyang Gate were being demolished at this time; for example, Guo Moruo was digging the tomb of Emperor Wanli for two years. It was so miserable for the emperor. He didn't even leave the coffin board, he just threw it away and was picked up by others. When they were chopped and burned as firewood, the losses caused by the crude technical conditions were immeasurable.

So if you want to dig in the future, you won’t be allowed to dig.

Moreover, judging from the bones of Emperor Wanli, Wanli had something wrong with his legs, and this was also the reason why he was unwilling to go to court.

Of course, all history is the same. To paraphrase:

Everything we hear is an opinion, not fact; everything we see is a perspective, not truth.

What's the truth?

The truth is... women are like sand, the more you hold it, the looser it becomes.

Unless you wet the sand.

At night, Xu Deyong stood and chanted "so wet" with his hands.

I don’t know who I am in the dream, and there is a sound of joy, in the clouds...

……

The weekend came as scheduled, and early in the morning, Liu Dezhu came to Xu Deyong and said that Director Ma of the grain store asked him to deliver a batch of grain to the construction site outside the city.

Xu Deyong doesn't go out to look for work much these days. In current parlance, his "reputation has begun to ferment." His main job is to provide attentive service. He will never look at someone who can help him. He doesn't charge too much money and just exercises.

Of course, sometimes people would give them 5 cents and 10 cents, and Xu Deyong didn't mind it either.

During the public-private partnership between vehicles, repeat customers or regular customers from nearby came to the tavern every two days to leave a message or something.

When he got married before, he looked like he had a lot of things, but he didn't actually spend much money, so these days, the amount of money in his 'pocket' has exceeded the two hundred mark.

Hey, among them, the sisters from the "First" and "Second List" contributed less than half.

This does not include the money received from the wedding, which was "divided" between Xu Huizhen and her grandma.

Moreover, Gangzi's money has never been settled, and it must be dozens of dollars anyway.

I can’t spend it all, I can’t spend it all, don’t you think it’s irritating!

Xu Deyong originally planned to go to the commissioned store to take a look and make some purchases, but now he can only work first.

I ran twice in one noon and earned 1.6 yuan.

When he came back, he saw someone selling Arctic orange juice soda on the roadside, and his eyes lit up.

Beibingyang soda originated in 36. Wang Yusheng, nephew of the former Hubei governor Wang Zhanyuan, opened the Peking Ice Factory in Peiping. After liberation, it was renamed the Beijing New Ice Factory.

Arctic Soda was first put into production in 1951. Deng Yi, then the director of the new ice-making factory in Beijing, specially hired a painter to design the "Snowy Mountain White Bear" trademark for Arctic Soda.

Xu Deyong asked about the price.

Good guy, 35 cents a bottle.

However, the bottle will be refunded 2 cents, and the actual price is 15 cents, which is a bit expensive and out of reach of most children.

In the envious eyes of the surrounding children and young people.

Xu Deyong bought two bottles for 70 cents. If he hadn't been able to get 40 cents back, he would have been a little distressed. After all, he only earned 1.6 yuan at noon.

After all, everyone is frugal at this time, especially according to the perspective of Dazayuan: "How good the food is, it tastes the same even after it passes through the throat!" "Smells in the mouth, smells in the butt."

Xu Deyong returned home happily carrying two bottles of Arctic Ocean soda.

Seeing Xu Huizhen, she took it out as if she was offering a treasure and said, "Mum, wife, drink soda."

Xu Huizhen smiled and said angrily: "What are you spending this money on? A bottle of expensive stuff."

Xiao Li'er on the side saw the bottle, especially the pattern on it and the orange juice inside. He immediately reached out for it impatiently and made an urgent sound in his mouth.

"Call daddy." Xu Deyong teased her.

Xiao Li'er was so anxious that she suddenly said: "Ah... come on, baba..."

Xu Deyong suddenly said in surprise: "Daughter-in-law, did you hear that? You will call me daddy."

"I heard that, you should call mom first." Xu Huizhen said a little jealously: "Li'er, call mom."

"Baba..."

Xu Deyong picked her up, kissed her and said, "Well, good girl."

Xu Huizhen slapped him angrily and said, "You stink so much, go wash up quickly."

……

(End of this chapter)