After waiting until the afternoon, Zhou Jiaming and his friends who didn't study in the afternoon kept urging Zhou's mother to cook. "Grandma, cook. Let's go early to grab a seat after dinner."
We were going to watch a movie. Zhou's mother didn't scold anyone but said happily, "The bamboo rat feet and sweet potatoes are all stewed. Wait for me to cut the cured pork ribs. You guys can eat first and save a seat."
"Oh oh!" Zhou Jiaming and his brothers brought the stewed bamboo rat with sweet potato to the table. After Zhou's mother had cut the cured pork ribs, they brought it over and started to eat.
Mother Zhou covered the rice steamer and reminded him, "Remember, don't fight with others, and don't run around, or your stool will be stolen."
"Got it!"
The children ate more than twice as fast as usual. Zhou Jiaming, holding a cured pork chop in his mouth, picked up a bench, walked to Lai Fu Wangcai's doghouse, and put the bone in his bowl. The others also put the bones they had gnawed on in their bowls and walked away carrying the benches.
When I walked out of the yard, I saw some villagers carrying benches and walking towards the village entrance. Several people hurriedly walked towards the village entrance along the small path.
Everyone wants to go early to get a good seat, for fear that if they go late, the front seats will be taken and they can only stand on a stool at the back to watch.
The adults came back from cutting corn stalks and had dinner at around six o'clock. Yang Chunyan and her sisters-in-law were busy feeding the pigs, the old man drove the chickens and ducks back to the chicken coop, and Zhou's father and Zhou Huaian stacked the corn stalks under the eaves.
The family quickly packed up and started to close the door. Zhou Huaian gave a few words of advice to Wangcai and Lai Fu who were lying on the ground gnawing on bones, and then started the tractor.
The old man came out with a pipe in his mouth, frowned and said, "Youngest, are you really going to drive a tractor?"
"Yes!" Zhou Huaian pointed at his watch, "Look, it's already 7:15. If we go over there, the movie will start."
Yang Chunyan came out holding Xiao Jiuer, "Grandpa, let's go up. It's already past ten after the movie, and it will take more than half an hour to walk back. The tractor will be there in about ten minutes."
"Yes!" The old man still gave her face when his granddaughter-in-law spoke. He turned around to carry a few straw stools and put them on the tractor, and took the child from her.
Yang Chunyan got on the tractor and took the child to sit in a position with the wind shed behind him.
Zhou Yumei also came up and took the child from the old man. "Look at your uncle. He drives a tractor to watch a movie. I look at the three brigades. I'm afraid my family is the only one who drives a tractor to watch a movie."
Zhou's father and mother came out and saw that everyone was on the tractor, so they climbed on as well.
When I went out, I saw Zhou Huaishan's family of five standing at the door. Li Qiuyue, who had been hiding in the house for half a year, had become much rounder and fairer.
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "Third sister-in-law, are you going to the movies too?"
"It will be full moon tomorrow!" Li Qiuyue handed the baby to Zhou's mother with a smile, "It's okay. In the past, I would go out to work for most of the month. This time, I will be forty days in one day."
Mother Zhou took the child and said to Zhou Huaishan, "Get Xiaolong some thicker clothes. It's cold at night, so you better be careful."
The youngest child in Zhou Huaishan's family was named Zhou Jiahong, nicknamed Xiaolong. He was fair and chubby, with a pair of small hands like lotus roots.
Li Qiuyue nodded with a smile, "We brought them. We also took the amulet you bought for the child. It's so lively in the sunbathing area, nothing will happen."
At this time, Zhao Huifang, Zhang Xiuxiang and others also came out. Zhou Huaian and others climbed onto the truck bed, started the tractor and drove forward quickly.
As soon as we arrived at the grove, Xu Erchun's family of three came out with a bench, "Youngest, stop."
Zhou Huaian waved his hand, "Hurry up, there will be no seats left if you are late."
Zhao Huifang and Zhang Xiuxiang pulled Yang Hui and Xu's mother up. Before the tractor started, Ma Chunhua and her husband ran out quickly, "Youngest, wait."
Zhou Huaian: "Hurry up."
Along the way, there were villagers carrying benches to watch the movies. Some of them saw the tractor coming and climbed up while shouting. By the time the tractor arrived at Zhou Yiding's house, it was completely loaded and drove towards Fangtian Drying Dam with black smoke coming out.
Yang Chunyan felt that the entire Funiu Village had been mobilized.
When they got there, they saw the drying dam was crowded with people. Yang Chunyan saw Zhao Meina pushing a box of ice cream, Xiu Na and Xiao Chuan, one holding melon seeds and the other holding a triangular bag made of brown paper, and they kept filling them with melon seeds for the moviegoers.
As soon as Yang Chunyan got off the tractor, she heard someone say, "Look, the Zhao family's kids are so smart. They sell melon seeds for five cents a bag, and their business is pretty good!"
"All three kids are very capable. My oldest is in the same class as Mina. He studies in town and goes out to pick mushrooms and sell ice cream and melon seeds on Sundays. He still gets first place in exams."
"Aunt Yang, Uncle Zhou, you're here too!" Zhao Meina greeted them with a smile, "Grandma Zhou, have some ice cream and melon seeds."
How could the adults bear to eat the food that the children earned money for? They all smiled and waved their hands, "We just had dinner."
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "How is business?"
"Okay!" Zhao Meina said with a smile on her face, "I bought 20 kilograms of spiced melon seeds in town and 10 kilograms of white melon seeds that I fried myself. I've almost sold half of them."
Mother Zhou patted her head and said, "What a capable child."
At this time, someone shouted, "Buy ice cream! Buy ice cream! Where is the ice cream seller?"
"Coming! Coming!" The little girl hurriedly pushed the ice cream box over.
Zhao Huifang sighed, "Mina and her brother are really hardworking. I'd be happy if I could do half as well as the other three in my family."
Zhang Xiuxiang smiled and gave him a sideways glance, "Your family and my family are all out."
Zhou Jialiang and Zhou Jiakang ran out and saw Zhou Yiding and said, "Uncle Yiding, we are late and can only occupy the middle position."
Zhou Jiakang said angrily: "Someone else tried to take our place. Fortunately, Uncle Hongbing came and didn't take it away."
Several people also helped Zhou Yiding and Xu Hongbing's family to reserve seats. Each family paid 20 cents as wages, and they bought melon seed popsicles and had some left over because Zhao Meina and her brother gave them the wholesale price.
Zhou Yiding patted the two of them and winked at them, "The middle one is not bad either."
Zhao Huifang grabbed Zhou Jialiang and said, "Look at you, the sisters and brothers of Mina. You are not even half as good as them."
"They are like that because they have no mother!" Zhou Jialiang said and glared at the siblings who were selling things over there with dissatisfaction.
"You are so disappointing..." Zhao Huifang reached out to pull his ears, but was stopped by Zhou's mother, "Huifang, forget it. It's a rare opportunity to watch a movie. Why are you crying?"
Yang Chunyan and her group walked into the sunbathing area and saw that the screen had been drawn, but the projectionist was not there. "It's almost seven o'clock, why hasn't the show started yet?"
"They are probably still drinking at the brigade secretary's house!" Zhou Huaian walked in holding the child. "The most popular job is the projectionist. Every time they go to the countryside to show movies, no matter where they go, there are village cadres who will personally greet them and prepare good wine and food early."
Zhou Huaishan: "When will we be able to watch TV like in the city?"
Xu Hongbing smiled and said, "Third brother, when the village has electricity, your family should buy one quickly and we will visit your house every day."
"I can't afford it!" Zhou Huaishan complained, "You know, my family just paid the fine, where can I get the money to buy it!"
A neighbor from the same village said, "Zhou Laosan, if your family can't afford it, who can?"
"Yes, then each of your four brothers can buy one, and we will visit your place every day."
At this time, someone shouted, "Here he comes, the projectionist is here..."
Everyone turned around and saw the projectionist, who had eaten and drunk his fill, coming down accompanied by the brigade cadres.
Someone whispered, "Look at how red her face is. Secretary Fang has made a big decision. The movie she's showing this time will definitely be good."
"It's not a war, what's so interesting about it?"
"They are all stupid idiots who only know how to watch the fight!"
"Don't talk, turn on the phone."
Before he finished speaking, the projector emitted a strong beam of light, illuminating the white screen. During the test shot, Zhou Jiaming and others stood on stools and waved their hands mischievously. Human figures in various postures and hand shadows, in strange shapes and shadows, flashed on the screen of the adjustment light beam.
The drying dam became quiet only when the movie started.
Yang Chunyan turned her head to look at Zhao Meina and her brother, only to see that she was still selling ice cream and melon seeds. Xiaochuan and Xiu Na were standing on a long bench, looking at the screen and then turning their heads to look at their sister.
Zhou Huaian also looked over and said, "Mina is such a capable child. She works harder than us adults."
"With no one to rely on, they can only rely on themselves, otherwise the siblings would have been given away long ago." Yang Chunyan also admires this smart and strong child and thinks she can handle things better than some adults.
The first film played was A Dream of Red Mansions. When everyone saw Lin Daiyu spitting blood and burning her poems, and the sound of gongs and drums from the wedding of Jia Baoyu and Xue Baochai next door, some people started cursing, and some people with shallow eyes followed Lin Daiyu in wiping tears.
When the film A River of Spring Water was shown, when the soldiers used their guns to force the common people to jump into the river, and when the protagonist's father was hanged by them, sighs and curses were heard from time to time...
"The people in these places are so pitiful. No wonder the old saying goes, it's better to be a dog in peacetime than a man in troubled times."
"Fuck it, we're all going to die anyway, there are so many of them, just pick up your knives and chop them up!"
"How scary! We are lucky in Sichuan, the Japanese haven't come here yet."
"If they hadn't attacked us, wouldn't a lot of soldiers who went out of Sichuan to fight against the Japanese have died?"
Seeing the house leaking, grandma hugged Kang and curled up on the balcony waiting for the dawn, Zhou's mother remembered that her own house used to leak when it rained heavily, and also when it leaked lightly, she also cried...
This movie made everyone cry. Yang Chunyan's handkerchief was wet. There were sobbing and sniffling sounds all around. In the end, the heroine jumped into the river. Some people couldn't help cursing...
It was already past eleven o'clock when the movie ended. The three younger ones, Zhou Xiaoru, Zhou Xiaowen and Zhou Jiakang, had already fallen asleep, while the Zhou Jiaming brothers and Zhou Xiaoqian were also yawning.
Zhou Huaian held Xiao Jiuer in his arms and protected Yang Chunyan as they walked towards the tractor outside the drying dam. When they arrived there, they saw Zhao Meina already waiting there carrying Zhou Xiaochuan and her sister.
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "Go up, let's go together?"
Zhao Meina smiled and shook her head, "No, we've already made an appointment with Aunt Su, so we'll wait here for them to go back together."
Yang Chunyan looked at the wooden box tied to the back seat of the car and asked, "Are the ice creams sold out?"
"Sold out! Melon seeds are sold out too." Zhao Meina said happily, "It would be nice if we could show movies every day."
Yang Chunyan: "Silly, if we show movies every day, we won't have the time to watch them every day!"
"Well! I don't have time to sell things every day!"
After talking for a while, Zhou Huaian waited for Mrs. Su and her family to come over before he started the tractor and headed back. (End of this chapter)
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