Dashan Makes a Living 1984 Chapter 15

  Chapter 15 015: Selling Rabbits

  Wang Tianxiao tied two snakeskin bags together with a rope, separated the two sides and put them on the back seat of the bicycle.

  This old-fashioned weighted bicycle is very resistant to things, the rear seat is very strong, and a pig with a few hundred catties tied to its head is no problem on it.

  Two bags of hare weighed more than a hundred catties, which was easy for him and the bicycle.

   Walking along the alleyway of the pit yard to the flat ground, the first ray of sunlight began to appear in the east. Wang Tianxiao took a deep breath, raised his legs, and rode his bicycle to face the rising sun and headed towards the city.

   "My family lives in Huangtu Gaopo,

  The strong wind blows across the slopes and mountains.

  Whether it is northwest wind or southeast wind

   are all my songs, my songs..."

  The north wind was blowing, and the cold air in the morning made him a little short of breath, but he was in a good mood, and began to hum Xintianyou.

   At the beginning, the sound was relatively small, but gradually it became louder and louder, and finally it almost became a yell. The sound echoed over the mountain village, awakening countless chickens and dogs.

   From Wangjia Village to Qingcheng, the road is more than 30 miles, and the road is mainly uphill.

  Wang Tianxiao rode halfway in one breath, feeling out of breath, took a rest on the side of the road, and ate some corn cakes made by his wife. The coarse grains were hard to eat, and he almost choked to death after eating a few bites.

  In this era, food is generally in short supply, and the land in mountain villages is not very fertile. The harvest of wheat planted is not good, and there is not much left after the public grain is paid.

  The main rations of the common people are still corn and sorghum, as well as millet and grain.

   Even worse are potatoes and sweet potatoes.

   It is good to eat these coarse grains for one or two meals, but if you eat them every day, you will be prone to constipation, and many people will suffer from poor health. Many elderly people will eventually starve to death because they cannot digest them.

  Take corn as an example.

  Later people's understanding of cornmeal is to remove the skin from the corn, beat it into corn flour and then drink porridge.

  But in this era, many people eat corn not only to eat corn kernels, but to smash it together with the corn cob, which is the small cob in the middle of the corn.

   It is conceivable that although the food can satisfy the hunger after eating, it is not easy to digest. Human beings are not cattle and sheep, and the stomach does not have such a strong function.

  The same is true for sorghum. When you eat too much, it feels like a piece of iron is stuffed in your stomach, and you can't even turn when you walk.

  Wheat can replace other coarse grains as the staple food, and it has its own reasons.

   I took a few mouthfuls, but I couldn't swallow any more. I forgot to bring a water bottle when I left.

  Wang Tianxiao put the cake back into his pocket, looked at the road ahead, took a deep breath, and continued to move forward.

   There was no further delay on this journey, and it was exactly eight o'clock when we arrived at the entrance of the city.

  Wang Tianxiao has a "Shanghai" brand watch head, which was picked up on the road one time, without the watch chain, it is estimated that someone dropped it on the ground.

  He originally wanted to get a watch chain, but after asking how much it cost, he was reluctant, so he tied the watch up with a rope and tied it to the belt of his trousers, and kept the watch head in his trouser pocket.

  On weekdays, I happen to check the time from here, and it is very punctual, with very little error.

  He didn't stay, and rode directly to the west of the city.

  Qingcheng is a small county town, which has only been promoted to a county-level city not long ago. Small cities in the northwest have a small population. However, Qingcheng is even more closed because it is surrounded by mountains on three sides and only has one exit in the east. The scale of the city is very limited. The progress of urbanization is also very backward, and many places still retain the appearance of townships.

   For example, the living animal market in the west of the city.

  This market was originally a market for trading cattle, sheep, pigs and various poultry, but because of the backing, there are often many hunters and even villagers who bring their prey here for sale.

   Gradually, a small corner was specially formed, in which there were no domestic things, only wild things.

  Wang Tianxiao didn't come early, there were already some people at the wild animal market, he looked around, parked the car at a corner, and put down the snakeskin bag.

   This location is very good. Although it is a bit small, it can take care of two roads at the same time.

  He looked at it when he was looking for a place just now. Although there are all kinds of wild animals in this wild collection, most of them are dead and few are alive.

  I also saw two people who sold hares, but they were both dealers, and the hares had already been dead.

   His living hare is the only one.

   "Live big hare, it's full of oil, come and see it."

  Wang Tianxiao spread a snakeskin bag on the ground, took out two hares, put them on the bag, and started yelling.

  The two rabbits have their feet and mouths tied, and they are full of wildness. They keep trying to struggle, and they look very energetic.

   Sure enough, two people approached soon.

  Pointing to the hare, he asked: "My fellow, how do you sell this rabbit?"

   "Twenty yuan each, no bargaining." Wang Tianxiao knew two people, and knew that they were probably businessmen.

  In his previous life, he also sold wild things many times, and each time he sold them to these traffickers, so he recognized them at a glance.

   "Why don't you go grab it?" one of the traffickers blurted out.

  The other one was a little calmer, and said with a smile: "Brother, the rabbit can't be sold for 20 yuan, you can see if there is such a price in the market, you can talk about it."

   "Then there are no live rabbits in the market." Wang Tianxiao was not in a hurry, and said with a smile: "The two elder brothers also know that the taste of a hare that is bled alive is completely different from that of a dead hare."

"That's the way to say it, but no matter what, twenty yuan is too expensive. This rabbit looks like four or five catties at most. If it sells for twenty yuan, it will be counted as five or six yuan per catty. Pork is only as much as one catty." money?"

   "That's right, you can't exchange ten catties of pork for a rabbit."

  Wang Tianxiao didn't want to sell things to two dealers at all. These guys couldn't give him a good price, so he asked for an inflated price from the beginning.

  Actually, people's living standards are generally not high in this era, and many families can't get enough to eat. Where do they get the extra money to buy such wild things for tooth festivals?

  A reasonable price is about three or four yuan per rabbit. Even if it is alive, it is best to cap it at six or seven yuan.

  Anyway, he is not going to sell to traffickers, so it doesn't matter if he asks for a high price, and saves them from entanglement.

   "Two big brothers, if you buy it, we will pay for it and deliver it. If you don't sell it, let's move aside and let others come and see if it's okay."

   "Hey, what are you in a hurry for? Your things are here for sale. Negotiate the price."

   "That's fine, 18 yuan a piece, just weigh it."

   "I see you are really crazy about money."

  One of the dealers shook his head and left after seeing Wang Tianxiao's determined expression on his face.

   "Brother, let me ask you again, how much do you sell?"

   "I said eighteen."

   "Then you keep it, if you can sell it, I will cut off your head."

  The other peddler also reluctantly turned around and left, not forgetting to say something cruel before leaving.

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end