Right at the entrance to the cattle and horse market, Xiaoyue looked around but didn't see Li Lei. Instead, inside the market, a lone man selling donkey carts stood there. It was almost New Year's, and the cattle and horse market in this town was quite deserted. It would be better next spring…
Just as things were getting lively, Xiaoyue tugged at Liang Qi's sleeve and pointed towards the donkey cart vendor.
Liang Qi and Xiao Yue went inside. There were only a few scattered people. Apart from the man who was selling donkey carts, there was no one else who was actually selling anything.
Liang Qi walked up to the donkey, stood opposite it, held the reins with one hand, and tried to open the donkey's mouth with the other. The donkey, however, wouldn't cooperate, twisting and turning but refusing to move.
Finally, the man who was selling donkey carts by the cart came over, opened the donkey's mouth with both hands, and Liang Qi looked at the donkey's teeth, nodded to the man, and the man released his hands and affectionately stroked the donkey's head.
Liang Qi stroked the donkey's fur and asked, "Buddy, do you sell this cart as a complete set?"
Seeing that the two were genuinely interested in selling the car, the salesman said, "The car plus this two-year-old donkey will cost five taels of silver."
Xiaoyue looked around the small canopy on the donkey cart, thinking happily, "If I rode in this cart, there would be no howling north wind, and it would keep me out of the rain in the summer." She lifted the cotton curtain at the back of the cart...
Because of the vehicle's long and narrow shape, there is still space for seven people inside. There is a seat for one person in front, six seats on each side, and a fixed table in the middle.
There is a small window on each side of the carport.
After finishing his speech, the car salesman came to the carport, lifted the curtain, hung it with a hook, and then held the inner and outer layers together, saying, "You see, the carport is double-layered. The bottom edge of the outer carport has hooks on the bottom of the car."
As he spoke, the man bent down and led the two to the bottom of the carport, pointing to several hooks and saying, "These hooks are what keep the car stable while it's in motion."
He then pointed to the two wide straps at the front and back and said, "These are two long straps. If you don't need the shed anymore, or if you need to clean the shed, just untie the hooks on the side and then untie the two straps at the bottom. Finally, four people can lift it down, and it will be no different from a flatbed cart."
After going around in circles, they went to the back and lifted the curtain again, letting Xiaoyue and Liang Qi see the structure inside the carriage shed.
Xiang Liangqi explained: The man moved a bench to the left of the carriage, tapped it three times, and a panel automatically rose up, revealing a box-like space about 40 centimeters wide, 60 centimeters high, and 80 centimeters long.
Xiaoyue stared wide-eyed, not blinking, and blurted out, "How did you move it?"
The man pointed to a curved groove under the carriage, and Xiaoyue nodded.
The man then pointed to the compartment and said, "This is for storing charcoal. Open the top of the table in the middle, and there's a charcoal brazier inside. You can burn charcoal when you go out in winter."
The man tore the board down again, restoring it to its original state. He then pointed to the left front and the right sides, saying, "There are four identical compartments in total. The front ones are for food, and the opposite ones are for clothes."
Liang Qi looked at the car in surprise and nodded to Xiao Yue.
The man looked at the donkey cart, stroked the little donkey reluctantly, and sighed, "If my parents hadn't both fallen ill at the same time, and my brother hadn't had to take the imperial examination, I would never have sold it."
Liang Qi patted the man on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, buddy, we'll treat this donkey cart well."
Xiaoyue handed the money to the car salesman, and the man walked away, turning back every few steps.
Liang Qi sat down in the driver's seat. There was a cushion on the carriage. Liang Qi smiled and whistled.
After driving the cart out of Niuma Market, Xiaoyue sat in the front seat, put her basket on the cart, and after the cart had driven for a while, she sat in the side seat.
After sitting for a while, I moved to the right side and looked at and touched the bicycle shed.
Before long, the donkey cart arrived at the spot where Uncle Liang had parked. Xiaoyue jumped off the cart and saw that there were already many people on it. Liang Qi said to Uncle Liang, "Dad, you should leave early. You don't need to wait for us."
Uncle Liang circled the donkey cart twice, smiled and nodded, "Not bad, not bad." He got on the cart and drove off with a load of people.
Liang Qi tied the donkey cart to a big tree and told Xiaoyue to wait there while he went inside to find Li Lei.
Lu Xiaomei bought five jin of millet flour, one jin of fine cornmeal, ten jin of wheat flour, one jin of sugar cubes, and a packet of saccharin before leaving the grain store.
Lu Xiaomei was walking alone with a basket on her back when she ran into Ge Sanlin, who was strolling around the street. Actually, Ge Sanlin knew that Da Lingzi had come to town when he couldn't find her that day.
Da Lingzi had mentioned to Ge Sanlin that she had an aunt. At the time, Ge Sanlin hadn't paid attention, but thinking that Da Lingzi was determined to marry him, he decided to visit her aunt's house.
So every market day, Ge Sanlin would stroll around Hejia Town. That's when he ran into Lu Xiaomei. A wicked idea immediately popped into his head, and he quickly ran to greet Lu Xiaomei.
Lu Xiaomei also saw Ge Sanlin, but she pretended not to see him and walked past with her head down.
But Ge Sanlin grabbed Lu Zhanmei's clothes and laughed, "Why are you shopping alone? Where's Xiaoyue?"
Lu Xiaomei frowned and struggled to leave, but Ge Sanlin wouldn't let go. In the end, he reached out and put his arm around Lu Xiaomei, whispering in her ear, "Come home with me, and the three of us will live a good life together from now on."
Then, ignoring the stares from the street, she loudly proclaimed, "I will be devoted to you."
As he spoke, the man on the street knelt down before Lu Xiaomei. Lu Xiaomei's face flushed red with embarrassment and anger. She tried to leave, but couldn't break free from Ge Sanlin's grasp.
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