Wangcun.
Wang Song bought 500 jin of watermelons wholesale from a watermelon farmer, and the watermelon truck was parked in the yard.
After finishing dinner, he discovered that one watermelon was missing.
Li Guifen was convinced that Wang Xia had cheated on her, and she berated her harshly, using vulgar and offensive language.
"I didn't steal the watermelon, my second brother did. He planted the watermelon rind in my room as evidence," Wang Xia denied.
"You little brat, how dare you talk back to me?" Li Guifen raised her hand and slapped her three times.
Snap, snap, snap!
Wang Xia dared not argue any further, covered her face and ran back to her bedroom, where she lay on the bed and cried bitterly.
She cursed Wang Peng in her heart, "Why did you have to cause trouble? Why did you have to sell watermelons? If you hadn't run away from home, there would have been no watermelon selling, and I wouldn't have been beaten."
She was so upset that she couldn't sleep all night.
The next morning, she saw her father and second brother leave with a cart full of watermelons.
...
Wang Peng was pulling his cart through the cemetery when he suddenly sneezed a few times and muttered to himself, "Which villain is cursing me?"
We continued on our way, following the wall of the railway staff quarters to the main road, heading straight for the textile factory staff quarters.
Here, Wang Song and his son arrived in the county town. Just after crossing the Longhai Railway Bridge, they were stopped by six road bullies.
"Old man, you know the rules, right? Fifty yuan for a cart of melons. You can only pass if you pay." Bei Batian touched the pig-slaughtering knife at his waist.
"Comrade, what kind of money is this?" Wang Song was terrified. "I'm a local."
These people looked like troublemakers; they had kitchen knives on their waists and sticks in their hands.
Wang Cheng didn't even bother to utter a sound, his heart pounding, hiding behind Wang Song and not daring to look up.
“Locals and outsiders are the same.” Bei Batian sneered. “I’m collecting a sanitation management fee. If you want to sell melons in the city, pay 50 yuan. If you don’t want to sell, pay 10 yuan. Take your melons and get out of here.”
But he also had to pay for the road, which left Wang Song completely bewildered. "Brother, please make an exception..."
A thug with a mustache grabbed him by the collar, saying, "Can't you understand human language? Pay up now."
"Brother, don't fight, let's talk this out." Wang Song quickly backed down, "Let's talk this out."
"Say something stupid." The man with the mustache slapped him on the head. "Don't you know who Bei Batian is? If you dare to say another word of nonsense, I'll slap you a few more times."
The slap was powerful enough to stun Wang Song, leaving him completely stunned and terrified.
He knew that Bei Batian was a local tyrant in Ping'an County. He would curse people whenever he opened his mouth and beat them whenever he wanted. Everyone was afraid of him.
"Dad, give it to him quickly." Wang Cheng grabbed his father's arm, afraid that he would also get beaten up.
Wang Song dared not offend them, nor did he dare to resist. "I'll pay you, brother, please don't do anything."
"Hmph, where were you before? You won't shed tears until you see the coffin?" The man with the mustache loosened his collar.
As he took out his money, Wang Song's heart was bleeding.
That's fifty yuan. At the current grain price, that can buy one or two hundred kilograms of rice.
This truckload of watermelons weighs 500 jin (250 kg). The original cost was 1 mao (0.1 yuan) per jin, but now it's 2 mao (0.2 yuan) per jin.
If you pay ten yuan to avoid going into the city and instead take this cart of melons to the rural market to sell, you can only sell them for 15 cents a pound. Although you earn less, you won't lose money.
But he couldn't bear to give up the chance to sell it for three cents, so he had to reluctantly pay the toll of fifty yuan.
"Be smarter next time, don't wait until you get beaten up to pay up." Bei Batian patted him on the shoulder and turned to intercept the second melon truck.
Wang Cheng's hands were trembling, his mind was blank, and he suddenly felt a pang of regret.
"Dad," Wang Cheng said softly, "Let's go quickly, consider it a loss to avoid further trouble."
"I shouldn't have listened to you. Why did I have to talk nonsense?" Wang Song glared at Wang Cheng.
For the first time, I felt that my second son was a good-for-nothing. His own father was beaten up, and he didn't dare to utter a sound.
You should know that half a year ago, he had a fight with his neighbor Lao Li over a dispute about homestead land, and Lao Li kicked him.
As a result, Wang Peng came out with a kitchen knife and chased Lao Li for two blocks. If it weren't for the village chief and the villagers stopping him, Lao Li would have been stabbed.
Comparing the two, he felt a mix of emotions.
"Dad, I didn't know it would turn out like this," Wang Cheng said weakly. "How about we go back?"
Wang Song shook his head. He had already paid the toll, and turning back would only make things worse.
"Dad, I'm sorry, I was so scared just now, I embarrassed you. If anyone dares to bully you again, I'll fight them to the death," Wang Cheng vowed through gritted teeth.
Hearing this, Wang Song felt much better. "It's okay, I didn't blame you just now."
The father and son arrived at the textile factory's residential compound in silence.
Wang Song saw Wang Peng's cart parked on the east side of the gate, so he pulled his cart and parked it on the west side of the gate.
Wang Peng looked up at them and couldn't help but shake his head slightly. Were they here to steal his business?
Seeing that Wang Song looked very unwell, they guessed that he might have been extorted by the road bullies.
"Even if I get extorted for fifty yuan, as long as I can sell all these melons, I shouldn't lose money," he thought.
"Who gave you permission to sell here?" Huang Biao, the gatekeeper, walked out of the guardhouse and pointed at Wang Song. "Get out of here. You're not allowed to set up a stall here."
Wang Song was confused again, and immediately pointed at Wang Peng, "Then why is he here?"
“The factory manager allows him to sell melons here. Go and argue with the factory manager.” Huang Biao strode up to him. “Hurry up and leave, or I’ll call the factory police to come and chase you away.”
Factory police are enterprise police, commanded by public security organs, responsible for protecting the normal production of state-owned enterprises, and they are armed.
"Brother, I'll stay here for one day, I'm not coming back tomorrow." Wang Song was seething with anger again.
"Not even half a day, not even a minute, are you leaving or not?" Huang Biao shouted.
Seeing this, Wang Peng sighed softly, thinking to himself, "Just give me two watermelons and that's it. Why say so much nonsense?"
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