Chapter 32 Two-in-one I think her brain was kicked by that donkey
Life is always fragile yet tenacious, like the weeds peeking out from cracks in the rocks and the small flowers that grow with difficulty in the desert, which make people sigh at their tenacity.
When Song Ruan pushed open the kitchen door the next day, although the little donkey still couldn't move, it could lift its head slightly. Hearing the sound of her pushing the door, he moved towards it with difficulty.
Song Ruan touched its head and saw that its eyes were not moving as sluggishly as yesterday, so he breathed a sigh of relief - well, the two old men, Black and White Impermanence, had finally gotten off the donkey's back.
Without bothering to make breakfast for myself, I first found a basin and poured some milk for it - the mouth of the enamel pot yesterday was too small, and the donkey's mouth was stuck in it like a half-made badly made bridle, and it couldn't even open.
She squatted and put the basin aside when the little donkey raised its neck with difficulty and slammed its head into the basin with a bang, splashing milk all over Song Ruan's face.
Song Ruan: ...
She poked the donkey who was struggling to suck milk as if he was drinking life instead of milk, and said, "Luckily you have a long face, otherwise I would have drowned you."
The stupid donkey shook his ears and continued to mutter.
She went to wash her face, cursing, and made herself breakfast. Add some water to the pot and put four eggs in it, then put a steaming curtain on it and put two corns and sweet potatoes in it. I originally wanted to make myself a cup of milk, but when I glanced at the silly donkey who had a black face from drinking, I made myself a cup of malted milk instead.
Malted milk of this era is very fragrant, especially the more expensive one that Xiao Zhengde gave me. It tastes a bit like Lego, with a sweet cocoa powder flavor, and a bit of the taste of the white core in Maltesers.
It tastes pretty good.
Song Ruan was standing by the stove, grumbling, and Little Donkey was lying under the stove, panting. It was the first time that the kitchen was so lively.
By the time she had finished her breakfast, the donkey had also finished drinking its milk. It collapsed to the side as if exhausted, let out a long breath, and its stomach rose and fell slowly.
Song Ruan went over and touched its belly and felt that it was almost done. The donkey shook its ears and didn't move.
Seeing that it had recovered, Song Ruan took a basin of remaining hot water from the pot and found a rag to wipe it. It's covered in blood and gray, not to mention the stench, the main thing is that it attracts bugs. The key is that it is not easy to give this crispy donkey a bath directly now, so I can only wipe it first.
After changing the water twice, the donkey finally revealed its true colors.
The fur all over its body is brown and black, but if you look closely you can see a yellow-red glow, making it look like a thick wool blanket that implies luxury. The brown and black fur turns pure white at the muzzle, as if the ink has run out.
In addition, there is a circle of white hair around the eyes, which makes it look like eye shadow has been applied. The eyes have also regained their vitality and look flickering.
This little donkey is quite handsome.
Song Ruan moved it closer to the stove and used the remaining fire to thoroughly dry its slightly wet fur.
I don’t know if the donkey knew that the person in front of it had no ill will towards it, but it just watched her touch it all over without moving or resisting.
When the last spark in the stove went out and the donkey's hair was almost roasted, Song Ruan put the two remaining eggs in the pot into his pocket, cut a small piece of bacon sent by Xiao Zhengde and wrapped it up - it seems that bacon is not made much in the Northeast - and carried the donkey out to find the cart driver, Old Wang.
"Uncle Wang, Uncle Wang!" Song Ruan howled at the top of his lungs.
Old Wang was sitting at the door, rocking a chair and smoking a pipe. His eyesight was a little blurry due to his old age. He saw from afar a thing with a donkey's head on its shoulders coming towards him like the wind. He was so frightened that he almost fell over like a turtle. He grabbed the door frame and barely managed to keep his balance. He was so scared that he broke out in a sweat.
After taking a closer look, he breathed a sigh of relief: "It's Xiao Song, the educated youth. What do you want from me?"
"Uncle Wang, I want to borrow your ox cart. My donkey seems to have some problems with its legs. I want to take it to the veterinary station."
There are no secrets in the countryside, especially during the slack season, when information spreads faster than anything else. Old Wang heard from his wife that evening about Song Ruan exchanging several dozen centimeters and money for a half-dead donkey with ribs.
So it's not surprising now. He pondered for a while and said, "A veterinary station? We don't have one here. There's only an old shepherd in the Qingshan Brigade on the opposite mountain who can treat these animals."
Thinking about the meat bun from before, he patted his clothes and stood up: "You probably don't know the road, I'll harness the cart and take you there."
Song Ruan smiled and stuffed two eggs into his hands; "Thank you so much, Uncle Wang."
Old Wang waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, no, eggs are so expensive. You gave me a meat bun before. No, no, no."
Song Ruan pushed him back with one hand: "Before was before, this time is this time, Uncle Wang, just take it, the eggs are cooked, you can use it as dry food on the road. After all, it's probably time for dinner after going back and forth. I treat you as my uncle, so I didn't ask you about money. But if you don't even provide a meal, what kind of person am I?"
"Ah, you kid..." Old Wang was at a loss, and finally pushed one back firmly, "Then I'll just take one."
"Okay then." Song Ruan glanced at the expression on his face and saw that he really meant it, so she gave up.
Old Wang's movements in harnessing the ox cart became much more agile. With a crack of the whip, the ox cart shook forward.
The little donkey stayed obediently in Song Ruan's arms the whole time, with its head resting on her arm. It looked at the slowly receding scenery with some curiosity, its eyelashes blinking.
Hey, this little donkey actually has double eyelids.
-
The old sheephead was sitting by the sheepfold. He turned around and saw two rams fighting each other. He shouted and dispersed them.
After taking a look around the sheepfold and seeing that most of the sheep were well behaved, he walked out and leaned against the gate and sighed deeply. His long goat beard trembled with the breath.
Old Sheephead’s surname isn’t really Yang. It’s just that because he deals with dozens of sheep in the team all year round and has a goat-like beard, everyone calls him that, and people get used to it after calling him that many times.
As the only veterinarian in the area, and in charge of dozens of precious sheep of the brigade, animals are more valuable than humans these days, so his status naturally rises.
He could even proudly say that in the surrounding area, people from other brigades might not know who the captain of their Qingshan Brigade is, but they must have heard of his reputation as Old Sheep Head.
But what's the use of this? Even if he was given full work points every day, he was still struggling to make a living in the countryside, and after deducting the cost of food and drink, there would be nothing left at the end of the year.
As for making money by taking private jobs, nowadays when small poultry like chickens and ducks get sick, their owners will usually kill them and eat the meat. When large horses and cows get sick, they will usually go to the brigade in the name of the brigade, and at most they will be given an egg and half a steamed bun, but all the money they earn has to be handed over. What's the use of that?
Seeing that the New Year was approaching, he thought of his little grandson staring at pork at the market, and he sighed deeply again. It was already time to let the sheep out to graze, but I just couldn't muster the energy.
Just as he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard the sound of cowbells coming from far away. He squinted and recognized the old cow in the front. It was from the Shandong Feng Brigade.
What are you doing here?
"Old Sheephead!" Old Wang jumped down from the car. "There's a girl in our brigade whose donkey broke its leg. Can you take a look and see if you can fix it?"
Um?
The old sheep head looked up to the sky unconsciously. Was it the Bodhisattva from heaven who appeared? Or did his ancestor finally learn how to flatter and become a high-ranking official? Should he sneak over to the old locust tree at the back of the mountain in the middle of the night to burn some paper and try to build some relationships with them?
Seeing a girl of about 17 or 18 years old who looked a bit like a vixen jumping off the cart holding a donkey, she smiled and stuffed a small paper bag into his hand: "It's a pity for your old age, and the medicine and other expenses are as usual."
The nose, which has been lacking in oil and water for many years, is particularly sensitive to the fishy smell. As soon as the paper bag was taken out, the old sheep head smelled the meat.
I weighed it, and it was pickled, so it should weigh about two taels.
He cursed himself in his heart for being blind and what a vixen. What a pretty girl! Look at her smiling face, so bright and adorable.
He put the small paper bag into his arms and rubbed his hands: "It's no trouble at all, just take this..."
When he saw the donkey in Song Ruan's arms, he almost blurted out the word "Pork Ribs". He coughed and swallowed the word, "Put the donkey on the ground, I'll go get the medicine box."
His home was next to the sheep pen, so he returned soon.
He knew at first glance that the donkey was a wild donkey, but he didn't ask any more questions. He squatted in front of the donkey's leg and touched it: "The leg is broken, it needs a splint, and you have to keep it well and don't move it too much, otherwise it will grow crooked. It's been hungry for a long time, and now it's recovering a little. I'm afraid it will have a fever, so you need to feed it some soup medicine, and it's best to feed it some oxytetracycline powder."
"Do you have oxytetracycline?" Song Ruan asked.
"Yes, but actually you can just feed herbal medicine. I can make some for you directly, it doesn't cost any money." The old sheep touched his beard, "Oxytetracycline is expensive, it costs two cents in total."
Two cents!
Can be exchanged for four eggs! You can buy a foot of white cloth! Buy a bag of salt and you'll have two cents left!
Old Wang moved his mouth and was about to persuade Song Ruan to forget it. Feeding the beast some herbs was already a blessing for it in its previous life. Why waste the money? Song Ruan had already handed over the money: "Just feed it some."
I have already taken ninety-nine steps, why should I leave this last one?
Oh, I forgot that Xiao Song, the educated youth, was a rich man. He could rent a house or get meat buns whenever he wanted. He could go to the commune to buy a lot of things. He spent several dollars, not counting centimeters, and two cents to buy this half-dead donkey... He still felt sorry for it.
Old Wang felt as if his heart and liver had been given away as well, his eyebrows twitching, and then he simply turned a blind eye and hid aside.
It's not his money, and asking for too much might make people dislike him, but it's really heartbreaking to see the money go down the drain, so he'd better not watch it.
The old sheephead happily accepted the money: This girl is rich, generous and willing to treat animals. I really hope she can pick up more wild animals with missing limbs in the future.
He intended to win over this big customer, so he bandaged the donkey very carefully and skillfully put the splint on it. While he was working hard to tie the rope firmly, he imagined in his mind: It doesn't matter if the donkey falls a few more times.
The little donkey lying on the ground shivered suddenly and subconsciously bit the corner of Song Ruan's clothes.
While the old sheep's head was being bandaged, Song Ruan's eyes fell on the sheep pen behind him and stopped on a few ewes with swollen udders.
"Is the goat milk here enough for the lambs? Can you exchange any extra?" she asked.
This donkey still needs milk for two or three months. She can't feed it with milk powder every meal. Not to mention the price. If she doesn't find a way to cover it up, people will make speculations. It will be terrible if the news of feeding it with milk powder gets out - other people can't even get enough food, and you feed the donkey with milk powder every meal. No matter how you listen, it feels like its future destiny is to be hung on a street lamp.
The old sheep-head raised his head in a flash - his ancestor really became an official! He was determined to go to the old locust tree to burn paper at midnight today, and he would also bring his little grandson with him so that their ancestors could recognize their faces.
"Change it, why not? How much milk can a lamb drink? It's so small, why should it drink so much milk?" said the old sheep without hesitation.
Lamb in the sheepfold: Thank you.
He glanced at Old Wang, who was very tactful and kept away from them, and lowered his voice, "This unprocessed goat milk is cheap, but your donkey is so big now, you need three or four pounds a day. But this goat milk, you gave it to the donkey on the spot anyway, they can't stare at how much the donkey ate, nor can they turn over the ewe's milk... they can't tell how much is squeezed out of the ewe's belly, right? They can't tell either."
Song Ruan nodded in understanding.
The old sheep head laughed out loud, his eyes narrowed, and his beard trembled, making him look more like an old goat.
In the end, the two agreed that Song Ruan would buy a month's worth of goat milk from Qingshan Brigade at the rate of one and a half pounds per day, for a total of three dollars and fifty cents, but Song Ruan honestly gave four dollars and fifty cents to Lao Yangtou.
He was so happy that he patted his chest and promised: "Don't worry, from now on, when I pass by your door while herding sheep, you can just lead this donkey out. Look at this little donkey... Look at this little donkey, it's so skinny and pitiful. Drink more, drink as much as you can, and squeeze a bowl for you to drink at night, don't let it get hungry and thin!"
He was grinning with excitement.
That’s a whole dollar!
Forget about driving the sheep to the door to feed them, even asking him to hold such a cute little donkey and feed it would be no problem!
Song Ruan didn't refuse the service that she paid extra for: "Then when will you come tomorrow? I'll take you to the village entrance to familiarize you with the road first?"
The old sheep waved his hands repeatedly, asking the God of Wealth to pick him up! Can't he ask questions with his mouth full of food?
"No, no, I'll come when the time comes."
"That's fine." Song Ruan didn't force it.
After tidying up the donkey, the old sheephead offered to let it drink a meal first to "adapt" to its needs. Then he enthusiastically sent the two of them to the car, watched the God of Wealth walk away, turned around and counted the money in his hand again with a smile on his face.
One dollar! It’s so easy to get it!
He finished counting excitedly, and vaguely felt that he seemed to have forgotten something.
Forget it, I’ll remember it after counting the money again.
The sheep of Qingshan Brigade were so hungry that they were bleating and wanted to bang their heads against the wall today, while all the members of Dongfeng Brigade were very happy and excited.
The team leader specially kept a deer and did not exchange it or hand it over. Today at noon, the whole village shared deer soup!
Cooking for the entire team is a huge project. When Song Ruan came back with the donkey in her arms, she saw a row of women squatting by the river washing vegetables. There were a wide variety of vegetables, including corn, potatoes, radishes and cabbages.
After washing and peeling, the vegetables were brought to the shore a little upstream, where there was a large, flat stone. Several other women were chopping the vegetables, putting them into baskets, rinsed them in the river water, and then handed them to a few children. The children took the baskets and ran towards the brigade headquarters.
Orderly and well-organized.
Song Ruan sent the donkey back home. After eating, the donkey fell asleep. She put a basin of water next to it and ran to the river to help.
The current food ration distribution is basically "six parts per person and four parts per labor". In addition, the educated youth are not as hard workers as the old masters in the village, so they actually take away a part of the villagers' food rations. It is understandable that the villagers have complaints about them.
You've been taking advantage of others all the time, and now the whole village is going to distribute the meat. You didn't participate in hunting and didn't do any work, so you're just eating for nothing, while making the villagers run around. Do you think you're the boss?
Nowadays, all the uncles are being criticized and struggled against.
Didn't you see that all the people at the educated youth point arrived neatly one by one?
She took a quick glance but didn't join in. Instead, she squatted next to Xu Daya - it was so funny. Since she was working, she must be doing it for the villagers to see. Wouldn't it be a waste of time if no one saw her work?
Xu Daya moved to the side to make room for her: "Why didn't I see you before?"
Song Ruan took a potato out of the basket and said, "I went to Qingshan Brigade to find a veterinarian to treat my donkey. I'll be back soon."
After she said this, the aunties who were still washing vegetables around her turned towards her silently.
First-hand information about the educated young man Xiao Song spending a huge sum of money to buy a half-dead donkey!
The skinny old lady couldn't help but ask: "The donkey is not dead yet?"
She saw it clearly at the time. He was so thin that he was just a skeleton. His stomach hardly moved at all. He looked like a shriveled eggplant and was about to kick his legs. Otherwise, the villagers would not have agreed to let Song Ruan be exchanged.
Who doesn’t know that a donkey can be a great help when it is raised up? As long as she is alive, this good thing will never happen to her, a foreigner!
Can you still live like this? This donkey is a turtle. How can it be so enduring?
Song Ruan sighed, "I made a jar of salt and sugar water for it last night and fed it to it. I also took the last piece of White Rabbit candy and dissolved it in water for it to drink. Don't people say that seven White Rabbit candies are equivalent to a cup of milk? We tried our best and it barely survived last night."
The people around could hear a hissing breath, which was supplemented by salt, sugar, and a piece of White Rabbit. Even if they only had one breath left, they could hold on for a little longer.
But if this can save a donkey, it is not unacceptable, and some people's eyes began to flicker.
Song Ruan calmly said that everyone's reaction was in sight, and then he added fuel to the fire: "Then early this morning, we went to find the veterinarian of Qingshan Brigade. He said that he didn't know what would happen to the donkey after its leg was broken. He tied it up with a board first, and prescribed some kind of earth medicine. It's quite expensive. I don't know if I'll have to take it in the future. After all, the leg hasn't healed yet, and I don't know when it will get a fever again."
Hearing this, those people frowned.
Song Ruan ignored him and continued to add: "Besides, donkeys need two or three months to be weaned. This little donkey was already dying, so it can't be weaned early. It may take a little longer. I ordered a month's supply of goat milk from Qingshan Brigade, one and a half pounds a day, and I will have to add more when it grows bigger. And when it gets cold in winter, I have to modify my firewood shed, otherwise it will freeze to death."
The brows of the people around jumped, and many of them calculated in their hearts: It cost fifty centimeters and a few dollars to exchange for this donkey, and there are medicines and milk. The milk will have to be consumed for several months, and the firewood shed needs to be rebuilt. All in all, it will cost more than ten dollars!
More than ten yuan!
Xu Daya gasped as if he had a toothache, and expressed everyone's thoughts: "This is too much money!"
Song Ruan lowered her head artificially, innocently, gently and kindly: "We have already saved them, so let's save them to the end."
"But if the aunts want to take over, it's not impossible. I'm not selling it. Just give me the previous things."
At this time, he no longer looked as fierce as if he was going to kill a wild boar with one punch.
Everyone looked away silently.
If they take over, they are not aunts, but fools.
They spent more than ten yuan to buy a sick donkey that might have problems with its legs in the future. If they really had the spare money, they might as well add a few more dollars to buy a healthy piglet.
When the educated youth Xiao Song stepped in, he found out it was a bottomless pit. He wanted to become a water ghost and find a substitute.
It was quiet by the river. Everyone wanted to bury their heads in the water and rub the vegetables in their hands carefully, as if a large piece of dirt had suddenly appeared on them.
The skinny old lady laughed dryly: "Forget it, forget it. We are rough and clumsy, not as delicate as you, little girl."
"Yes, yes, yes." Everyone responded in succession. It was the first time that these aunts, who were capable of arguing more than eight hundred ducks, were unanimous in their opinions.
Chen Guifen, who was listening to the noise while cutting vegetables, said to her sister-in-law Ye Xiang, who was busy cutting vegetables:
"Do you think she got kicked in the head by that donkey?"
She muttered.
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