Siheyuan: I just want to live

After Li Jianlin and Li Heiwa entered the village, Li Jianlin couldn't help but say to Li Heiwa.

"Brother Heiwa, that buyer Chen Feng is carrying a gun! Do we really want to cut grass and sell it to him?"

When Li Heiwa heard what Li Jianlin said, he said with disdain, "He has a gun, but doesn't our village chief have a gun? We are selling him things, not trying to rob him of his money. Why should we be afraid of his gun?"

Then he changed the subject and said, "Besides, if I were to carry so much money around, I would have to bring all the heavy machine guns in the village!"

Li Jianlin thought about it and realized that what Heiwa said was right. The militiamen in his village also had guns. If a conflict broke out, his village would not be afraid of him.

Seeing that Li Jianlin was silent, Li Heiwa continued, "Jianlin! Go home and get ready. I'll go ring the bell and tell the villagers to go cut grass. There will be no work today."

"Okay, I got it, Brother Heiwa! I'll be back right away!"

Li Jianlin nodded hurriedly when he heard it and responded quickly.

After Li Jianlin and Li Heiwa separated, he came to the open space in the center of the village and rang the big bell hanging on the big locust tree.

The open space is where villagers gather to work during the busy farming season. There is no radio in the village, so if there is something to be notified, the village chief will ring the bell to call everyone together.

The sound of the bell spread throughout the village. When the villagers who had just finished their meals heard the bell, they put down their work, walked out of their homes, and headed for the small square in the center of the village.

In the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, three or four hundred men, women, old and young from the whole village gathered in the small square. Everyone was talking about what the village chief had called them together for.

Gathering everyone now is definitely not for collective work, because it is still early and we have to wait for a while.

Li Heiwa saw that most of the villagers had arrived, so he spoke up. "Everyone, be quiet, be quiet, and listen to me!"

At this time, the crowd that was talking gradually quieted down, and they all looked straight at the village chief Li Heiwa who was speaking on the stage.

Li Heiwa saw that the villagers had quieted down, and then he said, "I called everyone here today because I have something to tell you!"

"Today a buyer came to the village entrance to buy green grass. The price is one cent for ten kilograms of green grass."

"I called you all together to tell you that you won't be working this afternoon. Go cut grass and sell it to the purchasing comrades!"

Li Heiwa had just finished speaking when someone asked:

"Heiwa Village Chief! Is what you said true? Don't lie to us. Who would harvest green grass? Isn't it everywhere?"

Seeing someone raise doubts, Li Heiwa said, "I just went outside the village to see for myself, and there are indeed people harvesting grass. I didn't lie to you!"

"Besides, this morning, Goudan from Jianlin's family and Shitou from Dasheng's family were sold for a few cents. There were other children with them. If you don't believe me, you can ask them!"

Before other villagers could ask, Li Dasheng was the first to speak, "Village chief, if they don't believe me, forget it! You should quickly announce the disbandment so that I can go home and pack my tools to cut grass and sell it!"

At this time, the child who was mowing the grass with Goudan today said to his family

"Dad! What the village chief said is true! I also cut grass with Goudan and the others this morning and sold it for money. I earned 1.5 cents for my hard work. If you don't believe me, just look!"

In order to make his father believe his words, the child took out the money he earned today from selling goods from his pocket and put it in his palm to show his father.

His father took the money and asked the child, "You didn't lie to me. Is this all what you earned this morning?"

The child said proudly, "Of course! I cut the most grass this morning! Goudan only earned eight cents, and I earned fifteen cents!"

The child's father touched the child's head with satisfaction and said happily, "Well! Our Shanzi is the best! I will save the money for you first! During the Chinese New Year, Dad will buy you meat!"

Then Shanzi's father put the money into his own pocket.

When the kid named Shanzi saw his father putting the money into his pocket, the proud expression on his face froze instantly.

Then he started to look sad and stood aside without saying anything. Shanzi's father also noticed Shanzi's sad face, but he didn't care.

In his opinion, why do children need money? The family has enough food and drink for the children, so it is more useful for him to keep the money.

Li Heiwa, who was standing in front of him, heard what Li Dasheng said and said, "Villagers, I have already informed you of the news. It is up to you whether you want to cut the grass or not! Okay, let's adjourn the meeting now. We won't be working in the afternoon. Everyone, go home!"

Hearing Li Heiwa's words to disperse, the villagers also went home in twos and threes.

The parents of the children who played with Goudan and Shitou today started asking questions after they returned home.

The children nodded one after another to indicate that this was the case. After receiving a positive answer, the parents immediately took action, and the whole family picked up sickles and headed towards the grassland.

On the way to the meadow, they met their uncles and brothers, who told them the truth without hesitation.

The news spread like wildfire, and before long, the whole village had heard about it and believed it.

In this way, all the villagers in Dalizhuang walked out of the village with sickles in their hands and joined in the grass cutting.

They all worked hard to cut the grass, and everyone was full of energy.

Village chief Li Heiwa also returned home, took a sickle and pushed a cart, and went to the fields outside the village to cut the grass.

The whole village was filled with an atmosphere of hard work. After all, the village chief did not say that the money from selling the grass would be handed over to the public.

The money you earn has to be put into your own pocket, so how can you not work hard?

In the end, other people sold it for 100, but we only sold it for 50. That would be really embarrassing!

More than an hour later.

Li Jianlin brought his wife, Old Man Li and two older children, carrying some grass, to where Chen Feng was.

Li Jianlin looked at Chen Feng who was still working hard to cut the grass, and shouted to Chen Feng, "Purchaser Chen, we are here to sell grass! Come and help us weigh it!"

Chen Feng looked back at the green grass that Li Jianlin's family was carrying, quickly threw away the sickle in his hand, and ran over.

Chen Feng came to the scale he had set up, and said to Li Jianlin, "Brother Li, carry the grass over here, I'll help you weigh it!"

Li Jianlin and his family came to Chen Feng carrying the green grass and then put it down.

Li Jianlin's family was considerate enough to help Chen Feng bundle the cut grass. Chen Feng hung all the grass on the scale hook one by one, and the final weight was more than 950 kilograms.

Chen Feng took out a handful of change from his pocket, counted out 95 cents and gave it to Li Jianlin.

After paying, Chen Feng took out two cigarettes from his pocket and handed them to the two men from the Li family.

Seeing that they were carrying the grass, Chen Feng asked curiously, "Brother Li, why don't you use a cart to pull it here? Why do you need to carry it manually?"

Li Jianlin and Old Man Li took the money, took out matches from their pockets and lit them. Then Li Jianlin explained to Chen Feng:

"The cart belongs to the production team. Cutting grass and selling it to you is a personal act, so we can't use the team's cart."

After listening to his explanation, Chen Feng finally understood that public buses cannot be used for private purposes!

While Chen Feng and Li Jianlin were talking, someone else came carrying some grass.

This was a family of three. When they saw Chen Feng and Li Jianlin standing next to the scale, they came to Chen Feng carrying some grass on their backs.

Seeing this, Chen Feng didn't bother to chat with Li Jianlin and quickly weighed them.

Li Jianlin saw Chen Feng busying himself, so he said, "Purchasing Manager Chen, I won't keep you busy any longer! I'm leaving first!"

Chen Feng also replied, "Okay then! See you later!"

The weight of the green grass was more than 520 kilograms. Chen Feng handed him 52 cents.

After taking the money, the family turned around and left without staying for long.

After waiting for a few minutes, another person came with grass on his back. Chen Feng still weighed it and paid for it.

The villagers gradually finished the first wave of harvest and rushed to Chen Feng.

As a result, a long queue gradually formed in front of Chen Feng, and Chen Feng slowly began to lose track of the villagers' pace.

The queue was not a big deal, but the change Chen Feng had saved in his pocket over the past few months was almost gone, and now there were only a few stacks of ten-yuan bills left in the space.

Just when Chen Feng was getting anxious, he saw the village chief Li Heiwa standing in line. So Chen Feng shouted to the team, "Everyone wait a moment, I'll be there soon!"

Then Chen Feng put down the scale in his hand and ran to Li Heiwa in the team. He said to Li Heiwa, "Comrade village chief, come with me!"

When Li Heiwa saw Chen Feng calling him out, he put the grass on his body on the ground, and then went outside the team with Chen Feng.

Li Heiwa walked out of the team, took two steps with Chen Feng, and then asked in confusion, "Purchasing Chen, what is the matter with you calling me out?"

Chen Feng said to the anxious Li Heiwa, "Comrade village chief, I have run out of change. As you know, I only brought ten-yuan bills, not much change."

"The villagers sell grass by the hundreds of kilograms, and I don't have that much change!"

Li Heiwa had seen the money in Chen Feng's schoolbag, and he also knew that Chen Feng only carried ten-yuan bills.

So he thought about it and said to Chen Feng, "Purchaser Chen, do you think this is okay? We still have a few dozen yuan in change in our village account. How about I ask the accountant to take it out and exchange it with you?"

Chen Feng didn't feel relieved when he said this, and then said, "Comrade Village Chief, although this can solve your problem temporarily, you see such a long queue."

"I'm afraid that a few dozen yuan in change won't last long, and there won't be any change left by then!"

Li Heiwa glanced at the team and believed it too. He asked Chen Feng, "Then what do you think we should do?"

After hearing his question, Chen Feng no longer hesitated and said, "Comrade village head, how about this! You ask the villagers to form a group and collect ten yuan's worth of grass, and I will give them ten yuan."

"Then you return the money in the village account to me, and I'll give you change for anything over ten yuan. What do you think?"