Selling persimmons
Beginner
The first time I went to Linqu County, I was just fifteen years old. That time from Baopantai Village to the county seat, it was with three selling persimmons. My third brother and I pushed four flower baskets of persimmons with a trolley and walked more than eighty miles to the county seat to sell.
It was the era of large collectives, and everything was distributed by the production team, and persimmons were no exception. Every year in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, the persimmons on the trees begin to turn red. The production team sent people to pick the persimmons and peel them to make persimmon cakes. The persimmons (dwarf cylindrical) are plucked and distributed to each household.
The water persimmon divided by the production team cannot be eaten directly, it contains a large amount of brine, and it will be astringent to stick out the tongue when you bite it. This persimmon must be soaked in warm water for two to three days before it can be eaten. This method of soaking persimmons in warm water is called persimmons. The pickled persimmons are crisp and sweet, and a bite will make them sweet.
As soon as my family got the persimmons, my father began to work. He first used a large iron pot to boil several pots of hot water into a large sand urn, and then mixed it with cold water to make the water in the sand urn not lukewarm or hot. If the persimmons are too hot, the brine will not come out. If the water is too cold and the persimmons are too long, it will make the persimmons discolored, feel bad, and taste bad.
After the water temperature is set in the large sand urn, put the persimmons in it and cover it. Then pile a circle of burning asa (broken grass foam) on the ground around the urn to keep warm. Asa burned through one circle, and then burned another circle. In this way, keep warm for two to three days. When you take a persimmon and taste it, it is crisp and sweet, and the persimmon is well brewed. At the same time as the persimmons are stored in the large sand urn, the persimmons that cannot be held in the large sand urn are served in an iron pot. When the persimmons in the cauldron and the urn are all pickled, you can rush to sell them.
Because most villages in the mountainous area produce persimmons, they are sold at both low and low prices at several sets near our Village of Baopantai. Sometimes two baskets of persimmons are sold for an episode, and at the end there are two half baskets left.
In order to sell out the pickled persimmons as soon as possible, my father asked me and my third brother to push four baskets of persimmons to sell at the Linqu County Market, and he picked the remaining two baskets to the temple head set to sell.
That day at breakfast, my father carried two baskets of persimmons to the temple to the head of the market. My third brother and I began to pack persimmons at home, first laying a layer of wheat straw or fresh pine leaves on the bottom of the basket, and then putting the persimmons in the urn into the basket one by one. With each layer, plug some soft pine branches around the basket to prevent the persimmons from being squeezed through the skin. When the persimmons are filled with four baskets, a layer of pine leaves is covered with a layer of pine leaves, and then a layer of old cardboard or old newspaper is covered on top of the pine leaves. Then brake the four baskets of persimmons tightly on the trolley and tie a bag of pancakes to the front of the cart. At this time, the sun was almost southeast, and my third brother and I set out with four baskets of persimmons.
The two of us took the small road from Yinyang Shuling, passed through Zaoxing and Baijiazhuang, and got on the big road in Wamiaozi Village. Along the way, I was very happy and walked very energetically. I think the first time I went to the county seat, it was like going to see the Tiananmen Tower. From time to time, I also took the handlebar from the third brother and pushed it up a few steps.
When my third brother and I walked to the main canal of the reservoir south of Yeyuan Gongjiapo, the sun was already west. My third brother and I parked our cart on the side of the road and sat on the handlebars to rest. My third brother and I took advantage of the break and ate a few pancakes each. With no water to drink, I choked on pancakes and burped.
When I was full, I looked up and looked around. I saw that the main canal of the reservoir passed through the road according to the principle of connecting cylinders, from under the road. On both sides of the road are wide cement square columns. On the pillar is a quotation from Chairman Mao: If you are poor, you think of change, you must do it, and you want revolution. I pointed to Chairman Mao's quotations and said to the third brother: "If you are poor, you will think of change, you must do it, and you want revolution." Now we are indeed very poor, but how to think? How? How revolutionary? My third brother was not good at words, but just smiled and said, "Then who can know?" At this time, I also saw the factory building and the large chimney of the county cement factory, and smoke was rising from the chimney. I said to my third brother, "This is the county cement factory, and the third brother of the second eldest mother's family works here." The third brother looked at it and said, "This cement factory is still very big."
My third brother and I rested for a while, and then pushed the trolley to continue on the road. By this time, my legs were so tired that I didn't want to take a step. With each step, I felt that my legs were sore and sore. The third brother pushed the cart slowly in front, and I struggled to follow in the back. My third brother and I felt that the road from Gongjiapo to the county seat was particularly long.
It wasn't until dark that we both arrived at the county seat. The county seat has only one street that is not long from north to south, and there are a few dim street lamps on the street. My third brother and I found a hotel at the north end of the street, and each of us spent a dime to stay. We lived in a two-room bunk with a single bed and a dozen people asleep. My third brother and I ate pancakes, bought two jars of hot water for a few cents, stuffed them into the side of the men, and slept in our clothes. At first I could still hear snoring and smell of sweaty feet, but after a while I fell asleep.
The next morning, my third brother and I had some dinner early, and we pushed the persimmons to the street to find a place. Finally, we found a place northwest of the department store, east of the corner store (the former site of the state-owned mall). My third brother and I put the cart behind us, moved down two baskets of persimmons in front of us and began to sell.
When selling persimmons, my third brother and I were embarrassed to shout, and sometimes we plucked up enough courage to shout, and both of us were blushing with shame. We don't bark, we just wait for the person who bought the persimmons to ask. After a while, a man came over, picked up the persimmon and looked at it, and asked, "How do you sell this persimmon?" And I rushed to answer, "Six for a dime." The man gave a dime, chose six large persimmons in the basket, put five in his pocket, and took one and ate it while walking. It didn't take long for us to sell two halves of the basket. My third brother and I took the remaining two halves of persimmons to the car, replaced the two whole baskets and continued to sell them, the price was still one dime and six. When there were two halves left, we poured the two halves of the car into the basket in front. The two baskets of persimmons were smaller than the ones sold, and we lowered the price to seven cents. After selling a part, the price dropped to a dime eight. It was sold until it was scattered, and there were still two halves of smaller persimmons left unsold.
My third brother and I pushed two and a half baskets of persimmons and went to the hotel again. Early the next morning, my third brother and I pushed persimmons to Yang Shanji. On Yang Shanji, we had nine dimes, ten ..., and finally twenty persimmons, small and soft, and we sold them for a dime.
My third brother and I pushed the trolley back along the road that came. When I walked to Shifo Village, the third brother said to me, "Let's take Cui Mu Shan Road to go home, and it may be a little closer to take that mountain road." I said, "Okay, the car is empty anyway."
My third brother and I went west from Shifo Village, through Hezhuang, Gongjiazhuang, and Xiahe to Cuimu Village. After walking south from Cui Mu Village, you will reach the steep Cui Mu Mountain. The road up the hill is winding, and in some places steep steps have to be climbed. When going up the hill, the third brother pushed in the back and I pulled in the front. When we encountered the steps, we both carried the trolley up.
By the time we reached the halfway point, my third brother and I were so tired that we were breathing heavily. The third brother tilted the cart across the stone steps, and the two of us sat on the stone steps to rest. At this time, the third brother took out the persimmon money sold for two days from his pocket and counted them one by one. Most of this money is a dime, two cents, and there are also a few pieces. The third brother finished counting the money and said, "The persimmons sold for sixteen yuan and seven cents." I said, "Okay, we sold all the persimmons."
The third brother put the money in his pocket, and the two of us continued to climb the mountain. Climb to the top of the mountain, walk a flat walk at the top of the mountain and start descending. Pushing the cart down the mountain is easy, and the third brother pushes it himself. He clutched the sticky feet of the car with both hands (the brakes), and when he went down the steps, the car jumped down one by one. I walked slowly behind me, looking at Matou Mountain in the distance from time to time. When I got to the flat road, I took the handlebar from my third brother and began to push the trolley. The flat road distance is relatively short, and I arrived home in a short time with the trolley.
Dad watched us sell all the persimmons with a satisfied expression on his face. He took the money given to him by the third brother, drew two of them, and said, "One person will give two cents of pocket money!" Neither my third brother nor I wanted anyone.
Decades have passed, and our Baopantai Village has been bathed in the spring breeze of reform and opening up, and has changed from a guanggun village that was famous in the county in the past to a rare wealthy village in the southern mountainous area. The trolleys and flower baskets that sold persimmons have long since withdrawn from the stage of history, and the way of selling persimmons is also changing.
When the village was just reformed and opened up, several ideologically emancipated peasants bought three buses. These three buses depart from Baopantai Village every day and drive to Linqu, Weifang and Yantai respectively. These three buses have been driven out successively, which has become three beautiful landscapes in Baopantai Village.
Farmers selling persimmons also got on buses coming in and out. They take persimmons by car to the county seat early in the morning and go to the farmers' market to wholesale persimmons to retailers. Then drive back to Baopantai Village, which is the time for every family to eat lunch.
Later, farmers selling persimmons had cars. They drove their families in small cars to the county seat to wholesale persimmons to farmers market merchants. Then they drive to the mall to shop, to the park, to the theater to watch a movie. At noon, they had a nice meal at the hotel and drove home.
Now, the peasants of Baopantai Village go to the county town to sell persimmons, which has no meaning at all of the significance of me and the third brother going to the county town to sell persimmons.
About author:Junior student, male, born in 1957, Linqu, Shandong, retired cadre, now doing junior high school mathematics tutoring. After retirement, I fell in love with literature and liked to reminisce about the past and record them in words.
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