After the disaster

After leaving Wang Chengliang's stall, Qiu Cheng and Ah Chang began to stroll around the night market.It was raining that night, and many stall owners stopped their stalls, but there were also many people who insisted on doing business. In the past few days, many large and small sheds have been set up on the street. Riding a tricycle through this street is even more difficult.

On the side of the road, under the eaves in front of some shops with closed doors, you can often see some stalls placed there to avoid the rain. The light in these places is not good, and now it is raining again, making it look darker. , and there were few people going out to visit the night market on this day, it seemed very deserted.

"Banana Bananas! Big bananas just brought back from Hainan! Big and fragrant! One tortilla!" Under the eaves not far in front, several young men were selling around a cart, some of them One even stood on a stool. There were so many of them, they shouted loudly, and the products they sold were fresh, so the stall was quite lively.

Qiu Cheng and A Chang also passed by when they heard the commotion, and when they took a closer look, they saw that there were indeed a lot of bananas piled on the cart, handfuls of big bananas, shiny green, not yet ripened.

"A tortilla for a banana? That's too expensive."

"Yes, yes, half a tortilla is too expensive for me."

"It's cheaper. If it's half a tortilla, I'll buy two and go home."

"That's what I said too."

"Half a tortilla, will you sell it?"

There were a few people at the side of the stall who were bargaining around the price. When Qiu Cheng and the others passed by, they were talking fiercely. Although Qiu Cheng didn't care much about the price difference, he didn't want to rush in and talk about himself right now. If you want to buy, you have to stand aside and wait.

The bananas this time are different from the live chickens last time. Few people can afford the live chickens. Everyone just gathers around to watch the excitement. But the bananas this time are affordable by many people, so At this time, it's time to negotiate the price. After talking about the price, everyone will buy one or two sticks and take them home, so that everyone in the family can try something new.

Therefore, this bargaining process is particularly intense. Both the buyer and the seller put in 100% of their combat power, and each voice is louder than the other. At first glance, those who don’t know it think it’s a quarrel.

"It's really impossible. We brothers have two sacks for each of us. We worked so hard to bring back these bananas and half a tortilla, which is not even enough for the capital." The black and thin man in his 30s said with a bitter face.

"Hey, it's not that there is no train ride. Don't put it so bitterly. Half a tortilla is a lot. It's not easy for everyone these days. Who would be willing to eat a tortilla and a banana?" covered.

"There is a train, but these days, who can rest assured to check in the luggage? You can't get on and off the train by yourself? There are too many things and I was almost stopped outside the station. I finally returned to Xinnan City, you know we This is just a passing station, and it doesn't stop for a few minutes. In order to unload these things, it's really... well, if you haven't tried it, you don't know. It's easy these days, half a tortilla will definitely not work , not enough money to sell.”

"Oh! How could it not be enough? So many people... small profits but high sales..."

There were more and more people around the cart, Qiu Cheng and Ah Chang stood silently in the crowd with umbrellas waiting, finally someone sold bananas in the city, Qiu Cheng planned to buy some to give Ah Chang a taste .

Ah Chang looked at the bananas on the cart, and at the crowd who were yelling at you and me, and tugged Qiu Cheng's sleeve uneasily.

"It's okay." Qiu Cheng smiled at him, Ah Chang immediately felt relieved, and concentrated on observing the bananas on the cart. He had never seen such a thing before. Judging by the reactions of these people, it should be delicious. Yes, I wonder how many Qiu Cheng plans to buy for him?

Half an hour passed, and there were many people around the cart, and the young man who was standing on the bench peddling finally got down from the bench at this moment: "It's cheaper, it's better than not selling at all. "As he spoke, he winked at several other people.

Several other young people quickly understood what he meant: "Oh, forget it, this trip will be considered a waste of time, two corn cakes and three bananas, folks, you can choose by yourself, there is no cheaper gone."

Qiu Cheng has clear ears and eyesight. Looking at the situation, he knew that they must have discussed it long ago. I believe that there are so many people present, and he is not the only one who can see it. However, judging by the situation, it is basically impossible to negotiate the price again. .

"Cut six bananas for me from here." Seeing that the overall situation has been decided, Qiu Cheng didn't wait any longer, and bought the bananas first.

"Oh, okay." A young man standing closest to him picked up the handful of bananas, neatly broke off six bananas for Qiu Cheng, and tied them with a thin straw rope through the gaps between the bananas. , first took the four tortillas that Qiu Cheng handed over, and then handed over the bananas.

Qiu Cheng took the bananas and handed them to Ah Chang. Ah Chang carried the bananas and brought them up in front of him. When I got to these few bananas, I stopped shopping in the night market and went home early.

The nationwide militarized management has been over for more than two months. Even though everyone’s life is still very difficult, the products between different places have begun to circulate. Qiu Cheng saw kelp and laver in the night market. I also saw a store facing the street posting words such as flour and soybeans, but he didn't plan to buy them for the time being, and he knew that these things must be very expensive now.

In their Xinnan City, it is normal for there to be heavy rain for half a month. Their crops don’t grow very well on rainy days, and the food he earned a while ago is almost spent. Now it’s not possible to waste money when.

Back in Jiayuan Community, Qiu Cheng saw the white paper that Aunt Chen and the others had pasted up in the elevator room. On the paper was written the room number and the number of voles each family wanted to buy. Qiu Cheng wrote down the first few sets of numbers. , and then took the elevator up to the fourteenth floor with Ah Chang.

Regarding the use of elevators, people in their building now have a consensus, that is, try to rely on walking when going downstairs, and try to save as much as possible when you can save it, and don’t keep coming and going when you have nothing to do. , It counts as long as you use it. Fortunately, there are no disabled people in their building.

After returning home, Qiu Chengcheng found a bucket, put a few pieces of clean cloth in it, put the bananas in it, and then sprinkled some white wine in the bucket.This half bottle of white wine was sorted out from a stronghold in Ah Chang before, because it was opened and kept for so many years, Qiu Cheng didn't dare to drink it, and he didn't dare to use it as a seasoning for food. It's good to ripen these bananas.

In the end, the bucket was covered by Qiu Cheng and placed in the corner of the small dining room opposite the kitchen. This small dining room is connected to the living room, but a dining table is placed there, and a short one-meter-high one is built. Separated by cabinets, it becomes a dining room.

In the next few days, Ah Chang went to look at those bananas several times a day. Sometimes when Qiu Cheng was not paying attention, he would secretly lift the lid of the bucket with his fingers and observe the changes of the bananas inside through the gap. Those bananas are turning yellow day by day, and the fragrance is getting stronger and stronger.

"Don't keep lifting the lid." Qiu Cheng knew what he was doing without looking.He also wanted Ah Chang to eat bananas earlier, but how could the old man lift the lid to ripen them quickly?

"How many more days?" Ah Chang asked, licking his paws and looking at the bucket in front of him.

"Wait for another two days and see." Qiu Cheng was also not sure.

It has been raining in Xinnan City for the past two days. This is how it is in their place. There are always many days of rain in a year, especially in May and June. It rains endlessly, and it often rains in winter. It was cold and damp.

Qiu Cheng sprinkled a pot of leeks that had just been chopped with salt and rubbed them until they were almost ready. Then he poured in the chili peppers he had chopped before, mixed them well and put them into the prepared jars, stuffed a jar full, and covered it Put the lid on and put it in the corner next to the sofa.

There are already many canned bottles piled up in this corner, which contain tomato chili sauce, chili chives, and chili green onion leaves, all made by Qiu Cheng these days.The cans used to hold these pickles are all second-hand, but they are all washed and scalded with boiling water. I think no one will care about this in these years.

Qiu Cheng and the others lived a peaceful life, but this did not mean that Xinnan City was as peaceful as it seemed on the surface.

"What did you say in this meeting?" This afternoon, as soon as Ai Wenhai went back, Ge Hongchang and the others surrounded him.

"What else could it be for? Let us vigorously exterminate armyworms, and prevent them from developing into adults and migrating to the north to harm crops." Ai Wenhai reached out to wipe the rainwater from his hair, and said impatiently: "Who wouldn't Do you know that you need to put it out? Damn it, it’s raining and we haven’t played yet, and the pesticides won’t work.”

"You can light a few lamps to trap adults, but there's nothing you can do about larvae. We used to do that when we were in the temporary base. We sprayed the medicine first, and if the medicine didn't kill us, we arranged for people to go down to catch the insects. It's been raining recently, and spraying medicine didn't have much effect. , Do you want to recruit another group of people?" said a tall and thin man who was slightly older.

"It's useless." The strong man who had dealt with Qiu Cheng last time waved his hand: "We caught the ones in our own field, but we had to crawl over the ones in the nearby field. Those things came in a large group, and they caught them all. Not finished."

"I don't believe it anymore." Ai Wenhai said: "You have spread the news in the past few days, saying that we collect worms, a pound of worms and half a tortilla, and only collect this sticky worm."

"Why did you take that worm back? Although half a tortilla is not much, it can't stand the crowd and worms." Ge Hongchang didn't want his brother-in-law to go bankrupt if he got too hot-headed. What to eat?

"You arrange for a few brothers to go out for a walk and get some piglets back. These bugs will be dried and ground into powder to feed the pigs." Ai Wenhai said.

They have people in the city, and their sources of information are much better than ordinary citizens. For example, what is the overall situation in the country now? , where there are farms, all of these are well known.It is not too difficult to buy a few piglets back, as long as they find the right place, they will be given enough food, and they are not afraid that they will not sell them.

"Why don't you raise chickens?" asked the strong man.It is most suitable for worms to raise chickens, and chickens grow faster than pigs. What kind of instant chickens can be slaughtered in 45 days. Even if they don’t raise instant chickens, three months is enough, right?

"Do you want to eat pork or chicken more now?" Ai Wenhai asked him.

"Pork!" The strong man said without thinking, lack of oil and water, who doesn't want to eat pork?

"Then it's over."

Afterwards, they discussed it again and decided that this bug can be collected, but they can't open it up. They will release the news first, and collect it for three days from May 11th to May NO.[-], and then decide whether to accept it or not in the future depending on the situation. , How much to charge.

Soon, they set up a red shed on the square of the train station, and released news that they would collect armyworms. A pound of armyworms and half corn cakes were posted on the streets and alleys of Xinnan City. Use less colored paper for publicity.

It didn't take long for everyone to hear that on May [-]th, someone collected armyworms in the train station square, and exchanged a pound of armyworms for half a cornbread.A pound of armyworm is not so easy to catch, and half a tortilla is not much, but it is better than nothing. Nowadays, everyone's life is not easy. Earning an extra bite is a bite, and catching insects is a good thing in itself. If you catch more bugs, the crops in the field will suffer less disasters, and if the food production is guaranteed, everyone's life will be easier.

Then, Xinnan City suddenly became lively. Even on a rainy day, Qiu Cheng and the others stood upstairs, and they could see many people wearing raincoats or holding umbrellas of various colors to catch insects on the ground.