On the morning of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, the sky finally cleared up.
Chen Wang came to the town alone on his bicycle.
He was not here to sell goods today. He was going to the market to buy two pairs of Spring Festival couplets, some fireworks and other New Year items.
By the way, I have to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to see if I can find Xiao Xu's father to ask about the leopard skin.
There were more people at the market than last time, and it was very lively. People coming and going all had bright smiles on their faces.
Chen Wang bought a fried dough stick from an old lady's stall and ate it while pushing his bicycle forward, looking for a stall selling Spring Festival couplets and fireworks.
Soon, Chen Wang saw a stall selling Spring Festival couplets.
The stall owner is an old man. In front of him are some Spring Festival couplets he wrote himself, and he is introducing them to customers.
There were a lot of customers. Some were squatting there choosing, some were bargaining with the old man, and some ignored the old man's advice and just touched the couplets with their hands.
The couplet was written with ordinary red paper, a brush and ink. Even if the words were dry, they were still easily rubbed out by touch.
And if you are not careful, the paper may be torn.
Chen Wang parked his bicycle aside and went over to take a look.
This old man's calligraphy is quite good, and his brushwork is not as abstract as that of some later masters. His characters are vigorous and powerful, yet simple and unpretentious.
The couplets written have good meanings.
Chen Wang saw one of them at a glance.
The first couplet is about bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new year with abundant wealth, while the second couplet is about celebrating family reunion with joy and happiness.
The horizontal banner reads “Abundance every year”!
"Uncle, how much is this couplet?"
Chen Wang asked.
The old man looked up at him and replied with a smile, "50 cents a pair, pick whatever you want."
Chen Wang nodded, thinking it was quite cheap, and pointed to the one he liked.
"I want this one, and the one next to it, too."
After saying that, he took out a dollar and handed it over.
"Okay!"
The old man happily took the money, carefully rolled up the two pairs of couplets, tied them with two thin strings and handed them to him.
"Here you go!"
"thank you."
Chen Wang smiled, thanked him, took the couplet, turned around and left.
"Look at this young man, how straightforward he is. This pair of couplets is 50 cents a pair, and it's meant to be festive. Why are you still haggling with me about the price for so long?"
The old man had a speechless expression on his face. He arranged the couplets on the stall and spoke in a tougher tone.
"If you want to buy it, go find another one. Also, don't touch it. It's just ordinary red paper. What's there to touch? The words on it will be easily ruined if you touch it. Several pieces have been ruined. Please consider it a favor."
After hearing this, the customers felt a little embarrassed.
Several customers looked at Chen Wang and asked for one.
Chen Wang pushed his bicycle and walked past the stall with a bright smile.
After a while, Chen Wang found a stall selling firecrackers and fireworks in a relatively remote and open place in the market, also for the sake of safety.
Many people came to buy firecrackers and fireworks, some of them brought their children with them. The children happily selected the fireworks and firecrackers they wanted and wished they could take them all back home.
"Dad, I want all of these."
A little boy was holding a pile of firecrackers he had selected, and was yelling at his father to buy some for him.
The man looked unhappy and angrily said, "Why did you buy so many? I told you to buy only one and put the rest back."
"No, I want them all, buy them all for me."
"Hurry up, put it back, don't ask for a fight."
“No, I want to buy it.”
The boy's eyes were determined, and he had no intention of letting go.
The result was two hard slaps on the back of the head.
The boy's eyes turned red and he sat on the ground crying and throwing a tantrum.
"Wuwu... I'm going to go back and tell mom that you beat me. You left me alone at home. You only came back to celebrate the New Year the day before yesterday. You clearly said you would buy me everything, but now you beat me again, wuwu..."
"Xiao Zhiguo, stand up."
Under the gazes of everyone around him, the middle-aged man's face flushed red, and he gritted his teeth as he gave the order word by word.
The boy did not respond, but just sat on the ground and cried loudly, looking pitiful.
The people around couldn't stand it anymore and started to persuade them.
"Comrade, just buy it for your child. It only happens once a year."
"Yeah, I just heard from the kid that you guys went out to work and left him at home. My wife and I are the same. We go out to work hard to make money, isn't it just because we want our family to live a good life?"
"It doesn't cost much, and the child will only play with it for two years. When he grows up, he won't play with it anymore."
"Brother, please stop hitting children like this, especially on the head."
…
Listening to these persuasions, a bitter smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face.
How could he not understand these principles?
It’s just that the couple has no education and no ability, so it’s not easy for them to make money outside!
I have elderly parents at home and three children to support, so every penny has to be calculated carefully.
It took him a long time to persuade his wife to bring their son over and buy him some firecrackers.
My son had agreed in advance to buy only one, but he changed his mind when he arrived.
At this moment, the seemingly well-intentioned advice from the people around him was equivalent to roasting him on the fire, leaving him speechless and unable to express his grievances, only feeling the noise.
When the naughty child saw so many people speaking up for him, he cried even louder and more pitifully. In fact, his tears had stopped flowing. He was secretly glancing at his father, expecting him to agree.
"Brother, don't listen to others. If this kid gets these firecrackers in this way, he will only go further in the future."
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
Including the middle-aged man, everyone looked at Chen Wang in astonishment.
The little brat sitting on the ground glared at Chen Wang angrily.
Chen Wang looked at the kid with a smile and said, "Look, brother, he's still glaring at me. If I were you, I would use the money for the firecrackers to buy him some books and school supplies so that he can study hard and read more books, and learn how to cherish his parents' hard-earned money."
The little brat was completely dumbfounded when he heard this, and looked at him as if he was looking at a devil.
The middle-aged man heard what he said and felt that it made sense.
As for the passers-by who had just persuaded the man, they all looked embarrassed and their cheeks were hot.
"The child is still young..."
Someone tried to justify what he had just said.
Chen Wang glanced at the woman who was speaking, and said calmly, "No matter how young the child is, it is not an excuse to indulge him. I know everyone has good intentions, but please put yourself in this brother's shoes. If your child cried like this just to buy these firecrackers and fireworks, would you compromise?"
Sweeping the people present, Chen Wang asked himself, "If we compromise, there will definitely be a next time."
There was complete silence all around, and people looked at each other, realizing that they had meant well but ended up with a bad outcome.
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