Village hawker

Speaking of childhood, I have to mention those vendors who push wheelbarrows around the streets to make a living-Frye who sells chickens on credit, Dagang who sells ice cream, Jianmin who collects eggs, and Lao Li, a grocer-no one knows where they went later. They decorated my former hometown, happy childhood and wandering memories.

At that time, people mostly relied on these vendors to buy daily necessities and poultry cubs. After Tomb-Sweeping Day, Frye, a chicken seedling dealer, came to the village with a laundry list of chickens on credit. The so-called chicken on credit means that you choose a few chickens first and don't have to pay. In autumn, when hens lay eggs or cocks sell money, Frye will come to ask for accounts. Frye often sees people coming to the village while eating. At this time, there are people in every household. "Chicken on credit, chicken on credit, this year's chicken is good to feed-",Frye's voice was euphemistic and powerful, and everyone in an alley heard it. Frye let out a cry and got out of the car in the middle of the alley without leaving. He knew he was waiting and was confident. After half a cup of tea, people came out from home-some were holding a piece of dry food in their left hand and an onion in their right hand, chewing while walking; Some took out a cigarette from her pocket and took a sip of it. ...

"This year's chicken is absolutely delicious. Look at this appearance and this action, you can see eggs in four months. " Frye grabbed a reed chicken and boasted to the crowd. People are laughing and laughing around the bamboo basket, scaring these little creatures to chirp. You are next to me, and I squeeze you, jumping up and jumping into the corner of the bamboo basket, rolling around like a furry ball toy.

"What if I don't lay eggs for four months?"

"Don't lay eggs don't money after the autumn. You said that I can still smash my own signboard every year? "

"Ha ha, that's true, Mrs Anthony wong. How many are you going to have? "

"I need more hens this year. My daughter-in-law gave birth to a grandson after autumn, and she killed the stew. " Anthony wong said with a smile.

"Hey, don't milk too much, let your dead old man take advantage."

"Fuck you." Everyone burst into laughter.

"Is there a pure black rooster? After the autumn, the eldest son is engaged (northwest Shandong is engaged, and the man must give the woman a black rooster and a black hen, without hair). " Chuntang shouted at a dozen paces away.

"There are three pure black ones." Frye narrowed his eyes and said with a smile.

"I want both." Chuntang said happily.

"What do you want so much? Are you engaged, too? " Anthony wong sister-in-law asked, provoked another burst of laughter in the crowd.

"You women have long hair and short knowledge. Use one for yourself after autumn and sell the rest. Do you know how much a pure black rooster costs? At least this number. " Chuntang said, gesturing with three fingers.

"How much do you sell?" People laughed and said.

"Go and go, which pot does not open." Chuntang said bitterly.

In this way, your family needs three or five, and my family needs six or seven. Frye keeps good accounts. When the crowd dispersed, he smoked a bag of cigarettes, pushed the car, sang happily and ran to the next village.

This sales method feels incredible now, because how can you ensure that you can find someone when you want to pay the bill after autumn? However, at that time, this contract-based credit sales method actually prevailed for many years, and everyone felt reasonable and fearless. It's weird. I don't remember when the dealer who sold chicken on credit gradually disappeared. I don't think that must be a decent moment for human beings.

It's often a summer afternoon, when you are burying your head in your homework at home, or waiting to watch a Hong Kong and Taiwan martial arts movie in front of a 17-inch black-and-white TV, suddenly there comes a clear and crisp cry outside the door: "Sell ice cream, sell ice cream, milk is puffed ..." At this time, you must stop writing first, and then listen with your ears to make sure that you have heard correctly-it's the voice of ice cream vendor Dagang.

There are two kinds of ice cream, one is called popsicle with 50 cents, which is made of crystal sugar water, hard and sweet; Twenty cents a piece is called ice cream, made of milk and wrapped in paper bags. Whenever the ice cream vendor stops his car under the big locust tree in the alley mouth, he is often followed by a running child and a white-haired grandmother who is chasing the child with trembling steps.

"Grandma, I don't want to eat five cents today. I want to eat two cents. " The child said.

"Come on, our family will let you eat poor sooner or later." Grandma gasped in her mouth.

"Grandma, I want to eat two pieces today." The child took grandma's hand and said.

"No, your mother confessed before going uphill. You can only buy one." Grandma took out a floral handkerchief and unfolded it carefully. Inside is a small dozen crumpled Mao Piao banknotes.

"Grandma, you can't kill a greedy bug. You are a good grandmother ... "The child stamped his foot and shook his grandmother's hand hard, coquetry said.

"Well, you can't tell your mother in the future."

"Grandma, if I say, I am your grandson."

"You are my grandson." Grandma said with a tiger face and made everyone laugh.

At that time, the family was poor Seeing that my brother and sister are greedy for ice cream, my family only bought one piece. These two men are at the door. Brother let sister eat first. My sister reached out to small tongue and licked the juice, for fear of missing a drop. My brother drooled and asked if it was delicious. Sometimes they will run home quickly, put the ice cream in a bowl and dig it with a spoon.

Later, my brother gave my sister a chance to study, but he became a gangster himself. It is said that he likes to drink before each robbery, and no matter what wine he drinks, he should fill it with ice cream or ice cubes until the wine overflows the glass, then pick up the glass, close his eyes and drink it off. On the night of his sister's graduation from college, he was going to resign after finishing his last job. That night, he asked two brothers to stop a motorcyclist. He wanted to make some money, and the two brothers had a farewell drink. He didn't think much, but he found a Jin of gold jewelry on the man. The man knelt down and begged first. He thought it was begging for mercy, but he didn't expect it to be begging not to rob his gold. What a joke! For so many years, I have only seen those who give up their wealth and not their lives, and I have never seen those who give up their lives and not their wealth. He was handed a knife, and the man fell with a plop, as if someone had knocked over a bag of food. Three days later, when the police questioned him, they asked him why he was so hard. He only said one thing: there was too much ice in the wine, and his head was numb with cold.

Many people don't know the correct way to eat ice cream: first peel off the oil paper, lick the juice inside the oil paper and put it in your mouth. You can't touch it with your teeth, or the ice cream will break easily. If you accidentally sip a large piece, you can't swallow it even if your teeth tremble and your tongue is numb. The sample is tasteless, so you must spit it into a clean tea bowl quickly. By the time the ice cream was only a quarter left, it could not stand up straight. This is the most challenging time. Be sure to look up and gently bite a small piece from below before eating the other side, otherwise the rest will easily hit your feet and face, and you will regret it.

After eating ice cream, you have two things to do. One thing is sucking your fingers. You must suck the juice with your fingers three times until your fingers leave a salty taste. There is also drying the ice cream stick, polishing it, weaving it into a small bamboo basket to put some small objects, or making a hole to make a bamboo dragonfly and flying to the sky.

The best vendor is Jianmin, the vendor who collects eggs. You may not believe it. At that time, eggs were hard currency in rural areas, which could be sold and exchanged. Listen, here comes the egg collector: "Exchange eggs for money ..." Later, I learned music, and learned that Jianmin sang in four or four beats with three three five three two three two two (Mimi Somy Mi Lai), which was long, euphemistic and crisp.

Behind Jianmin is often a rural woman or an old lady with little feet. They wrapped a bag of eggs in flower handkerchiefs, holding four corners in their right hand and the bottom of the bag in their left hand. I walked slowly because I was afraid of beating eggs, and my stride was slightly smaller than usual. They stared ahead and walked towards Jianmin step by step-but they had money in their hands.

Jianmin also took the eggs carefully. After counting them, he said with a big smile: "Auntie, an egg 15 cents should give you three eggs, but you have five small ones. It seems that chickens have just started laying eggs this year. Tell you what, I'll give you two and a half dollars. "

"These eggs in my family are not small, but they are thin and yellow. It is impossible to guarantee that this nutrition is higher than other eggs." The old lady said unconvinced.

"Yes, as the saying goes, once born, twice cooked, so does the chicken lay eggs. Which chicken lays big eggs at first? There must be a few small bellies first! Although it is small, it laid an egg for the first time, and it knows its intention. In order to lay this egg, it chooses something delicious, and after eating it, it lies in the nest to recharge its batteries. Chickens, like people, are used to everything and start to deal with it when they are tired. " Anthony wong sister-in-law echoed said.

"Aunt, don't say anything, I'll give you three pieces, but there is one thing. Your eggs are waiting for me to collect them next time. Don't let others take it by mistake. " Jianmin said with a smile.

"Don't worry, young man, I'll leave all my eggs to you." Aunt said happily.

Every time the school starts, the children take some eggs, go to the village club for some four-line checkered books and a ballpoint pen, and then go to school happily. But children are children after all. Some parents put their eggs in their schoolbags when they leave. On the way, they listened to the cries of several old women, drove away a few Xiaohua Mall who didn't know whose family it was, kicked a few pebbles that didn't slip, and forgot the stubble when they walked. When it's class time, they dig out their books and hold yellow eggs in one hand. That's sour!

Eggs can also be exchanged. I have seen aunt Zhenhai change her dressing with eggs. She wrapped five eggs in a small handkerchief and walked step by step into the barefoot doctor Chang Shun's house. "Shun son, I have a bad stomach these days. Give me some medicine. It will work. " As he spoke, he walked across the threshold of Changshun's house.

"Aunt, how many days?"

"two days"

"I'll pack it for you for a day first, and you can eat it." Changshun poured the tablets out of the big medicine bottle, skillfully wrapped them in toilet paper and handed them to Aunt Zhenhai.

"Here are five eggs. Is that enough?" Aunt Zhenhai put the eggs on Changshun's table one by one, then held them in her hands, paused until the eggs shook slowly in her hands, and then put away her handkerchief.

"Aunt, I don't want your eggs. Please take this medicine first. If you think it works, I'll wrap it for you another day. "

"That can't do. Aunt has no money, but she has eggs. " Aunt Zhenhai said that she took the medicine and turned away.

Changshun shook his head helplessly. The next day, he asked the child to send the eggs back.

Lao Li, the grocer, has the most skills. Lao Li is actually a big boy. He just walked up and down the street in the wind and the sun like an adult. Like a knife, his skin was cut and finally cracked into wrinkles. Lao Li pushes a wheelbarrow with two long bamboo baskets filled with needles, chopsticks, bowls, hooks, fishing lines and pencil stickers. Everywhere, Lao Li parked his car in the shade of a tree, sat on Mazar, shook the vendor's drum and sang, "The vendor's burden is wobbly, and he doesn't need horses and cattle to walk instead of walking. Come to our hutong to see my new line. "

The birds in the tree flew away with a loud cry, and men, women and children chattered together. Three floors inside and three floors outside, several little suckling dogs crawled around under people's legs, and occasionally someone stepped on their tails and ran away with a sigh. The boys bought hooks and fishing lines. They were arguing about where the fish was. The girls quietly bought a small mirror, shone it on their heads and brains, and then ran away to shine bright sunshine on the vendor's face.

Lao Li blocked his eyes with his hand and said with a smile, "whose child is so thin!" " "

The girls ran away laughing.

The old lady who caught up with the spinning gathered around, and Lao Li sang, "Auntie, you run slowly. Here are needles and thread heads, which are cheap and good. Three to five years will not be bad ... "

"Lao Li, I won't give you money if it is broken."

When the women knitting sweaters came around, Lao Li sang, "The red line knits a small hat and the green line knits a wool coat. If you turn it upside down, put it on your head and make people laugh. "

"Lao Li, you are singing again." The women said with a smile. Lao Li also smiled, revealing a row of neat teeth.

When the sunset called the birds back to their nests, Lao Li pushed the car back to the river bank of the village, one foot deep and one foot shallow, as if drunk. He proudly sang, "I bought needles and threads during the day and changed them into money at night." Don't worry, sister, brother, I will marry you, I will marry you ... "

Lao Li's name is Li Chunxing. He lost his parents when he was a child and grew up with menstruation. Chunxing liked the girl with ponytail in Menstrual Village when she was a child. Girls don't talk much, because their eyes can talk and they often don't need their mouths. When Chunxing first met the girl, the girl was in a corner, crying sadly because she lost her favorite hairpin with a bow.

"Is it a black hairpin, the bow is beige, and there are light blue tentacles?" Chunxing scratched his head and asked.

? The girl nodded her head.

"You wait for me here for a while, just for a while." Chunxing gestured in front of the girl for a while with her little finger and ran home.

It doesn't seem difficult to make a little girl smile through tears-Chunxing handed the girl an identical hairpin. The girl's eyes blinked, and two bean-sized tears hung on her eyelashes, reflecting two beautiful rainbows in the sun. This is the first time Chunxing has seen such a beautiful rainbow.

Later Chunxing asked the girl, do you know that the hairpin I gave you is not the one you lost? Why do you want it?

Because it's from you, the girl said, tiptoeing back and blinking.

Since then, Chunxing has been interested in girls' gadgets, such as wooden combs, small mirrors and hair bands. Chunxing can see what colors and styles are popular this year at a glance. He magically makes them appear in the holes of girls' notebooks and desks. Knowing that it was from Chunxing, the girl looked at him and smiled before she put down her heart. After Chunxing graduated from junior high school, he dropped out of school because he had no money to send him to school during menstruation, and the girl was admitted to the county high school. On graduation day, it rained heavily. He stood in the rain and said to the girl, will you wait for me?

After the rain clears, cicadas summon a rainbow, and Chunxing feels exactly like the rainbow on the girl's eyelashes.

After graduation, Chunxing became a peddler. He got up early, ran to the city across the river, took home cheap groceries, packed them neatly in a laundry basket, swallowed a few mouthfuls of rice at random, and went to the countryside. His liberation shoes kissed the streets of Shili Baxiang with the sunshine, and his shouts and rain penetrated the mottled old brick walls of every household. Once in stock, Chunxing saw a girl doing exercises through the school wall. He recognized her and the ponytail at a glance. Just as the girl looked this way, he pressed the brim of his hat and left quietly.

It is said that collecting waste products is profitable. Chunxing is a peddler and collects waste products. A few years later, Chunxing opened a waste collection station. One day, he read in an old book how to extract gold from old household appliances. He is like a treasure. For several weeks, Chunxing stayed at home and tried again and again according to the method introduced in the book.

Evil spirits are in spring. People shook their heads and sighed.

Chunxing's eyes sparkled when she came out of the room. He suddenly had a grand plan to build a pure gold crown for the girl when she graduated from college, so that she could wear it on her head and become the most beautiful girl in the school. He works harder. During the day, in order to buy as many used household appliances as possible, he once went to more than a dozen villages a day, drank cold water when his throat was smoking, and simply went barefoot when his shoes were worn out. In the evening, he got into his "laboratory", extracted a few gold grains the size of rice grains, and then carefully put them into a porcelain jar with a picture of a girl cut by Chunxing from graduation photo. In this way, in two years, Chunxing actually saved a catty of gold.

That day, he ate early, washed his hands, licked his lips, and poured these little creatures on a piece of white cloth with trembling hands. They struggled and turned around on the cloth. A kilo, 500 grams, more than 3,000 capsules, more than 700 days and nights, each capsule is his sweat and his heart. He knelt on the ground and carefully put them in an iron box. He held the iron box in his arms, started the motorcycle and headed for the jewelry processing shop in the city. Who knows that on the way back, I met a robber and Chunxing never came back.

I want to use this article to pay tribute to my childhood memories-if these vendors are still alive, I wish them well. If they have returned to the dust, may their souls be connected.