Chapter 12: 12 Bit to death, refused to admit
In the room, Zhou's mother and father put the wrapped bezoar into his coat pocket, took out a rusty pin to seal the bag, and told him to be careful and not let anyone see it.
Father Zhou put on his coat, feeling very nervous. He clasped his right hand tightly, nodded repeatedly, and walked out with both hands and feet together.
Zhao Huifang packed some boiled potatoes and sweet potatoes into her backpack and filled a bamboo tube with rice soup for the others to eat on the road.
Zhou Huairong was carrying a backpack and holding a wooden stick as thick as a child's arm. Zhou Huaian and Yang Chunyan were carrying military green satchels that had been washed so much that they looked pale. They followed Zhou's father to the gate of the yard.
Yang Chunyan discovered that from the main room to the courtyard gate, Zhou's father kept holding his right hand tightly, and his walking posture was very stiff. She thought that they might have sewed a secret bag and put the bezoar in it.
She reminded him in a low voice: "Old man, you need to walk more naturally. A thief will see at a glance that you have valuables on you if you are so restrained."
Zhou Huaian also noticed it, "Yes, old man, you have three hands and I can tell at a glance."
Father Zhou said unhappily, "I want you to teach me."
Zhou's mother pulled her husband and said, "Chunyan and Laoyao are right. You don't realize it because you are so stubborn, but others can tell at a glance that you have something good in your bag."
After hearing this, Zhou's father pulled his clothes and said uncomfortably: "Don't worry, it will be fine in a moment."
Zhou's mother became more and more worried when she saw his expression, so she could only remind him: "Be careful on the road, and come back quickly if you can't sell it."
Father Zhou glanced at his wife and nodded, "Don't worry, I know what to do. Hurry and close the door when we get out."
Zhou Huairong unbolted the door, and the four of them went out, turned right and walked towards the main road.
It was pitch black outside. Zhou Huaian looked back at Yang Chunyan and held her hand: "Can you see?"
Suddenly, Yang Chunyan was held by his warm big hand. She was stunned for a moment and whispered, "I can see it."
I followed him for several steps before I could see the path clearly.
The four of them walked across the field ridge in front of their home and came to a slightly wider dirt road. Yang Chunyan pulled away her hand and walked side by side with Zhou Huaian towards the road down the mountain.
After Zhou's father went out, he tried his best not to touch the bezoar around his waist. After walking for more than half an hour, he felt a little more normal. However, he still touched his pocket with his elbow from time to time to feel at ease.
To get from the Funius Brigade to the county seat, one has to go around a shallow mountain, and it will take more than three hours even if one walks fast.
Walking down the mountain road, we could hear the chirping of insects and frogs from the rice fields below. After the Dragon Boat Festival, the temperature began to rise.
After crossing a small stone bridge and walking for another half an hour, the four of them arrived at the foot of the mountain. It was already dawn.
The small pond beyond the stone bridge is half covered with flowers, and there are two tall climbing lily trees standing on the mountain like guards.
There are also a few wild guava trees at the foot of the mountain, as well as a lot of herbs, including Xanthium sibiricum and Cyperus rotundus...
Yang Chunyan thought that after selling the bezoars, she would go up the mountain to dig herbs and send them to the county town to exchange for money.
After turning the hill, it was the Fangtian Brigade. Zhou Huaian glanced at her and took out a bamboo tube from the backpack Zhou Huairong was carrying. "Are you thirsty? Do you want some rice soup?"
"Hmm!" Yang Chunyan took it and took a sip, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and walked forward holding the bamboo tube.
Maybe it was because enemies often meet on a narrow road. As soon as they turned around, they saw Ma Changgui, the person they least wanted to see, riding a 28-inch bicycle and wobbling towards them.
Zhou Huairong hurriedly grabbed Zhou's father and said, "Old man, what should we do?"
Father Zhou took the stick from his hand and whispered, "Let's go, ignore him."
Ma Changgui quickly came up to the group, stood up from the bus with his legs raised high, and looked at them with a fake smile, "Hey~ Brother Zhou, are you going to the county town so early in the morning?"
Father Zhou leaned on a wooden stick and took a breath. "Boss Ma went to buy cattle so early?"
Zhou Huaian stepped forward to support Zhou's father, "Old man, don't delay any longer. By the time we get to the clinic, everyone will be off work."
"It's all your fault, you prodigal son!" Zhou's father scolded Zhou Huaian, nodded to Ma Changgui, and helped Zhou Huaian and his brother walk away.
"Slow down." Ma Changgui said, glancing at Yang Chunyan who was following behind him, "Sister, which one of you is Yang Quanqing from Hengshan Brigade?"
Yang Chunyan glanced at him indifferently and said, "It's me, old man." Then she walked over.
Ma Changgui watched the four people walk away, touched his chin, and rode away on his broken bike with a clanging sound.
The four of them walked for a while, and Zhou Huairong turned around and saw that Ma Changgui was no longer there. He whispered to Zhou's father, "Old man, do you think he will tell Old Bear about that thing?"
Father Zhou said in a deep voice: "He has a mouth. We can't control what he says."
Yang Chunyan stepped forward and said to the three men, "Brother, old man, Ma Changgui is not sure that there is really something in the cow's stomach. As long as we deny it to the death, they can't do anything to us."
Zhou Huaian felt that what his young wife said made sense. "That's right. It was Xiong Dahai who had to deny us in the first place. He sold the diseased cattle at the price of healthy cattle. We are not afraid to go to the county town to reason with him."
Zhou Huairong nodded: "Old man, there are four brothers in his family, and there are also four brothers in our family. We are not afraid of them in a fight."
Father Zhou said in a deep voice: "I know what's going on. If we refuse to admit it, he won't be able to do anything to us."
That being said, it is better to have less trouble than more. Who wants to have lice crawling on their head for no reason?
Father Zhou didn't notice that since he met Ma Changgui, he naturally walked more and no longer touched the bezoar in his pocket.
After passing Fangtian Brigade and going down the mountain, they reached the side of the road. The four of them sat down to rest for a while, then walked along the asphalt road for more than an hour, heading east and crossing the bridge to reach Anning County.
Anning County is built along the river, with a curved arch bridge connecting the east and west sides of the river.
The county seat is located in a river valley plain area, and the entire county is surrounded by high mountains and canyons. It is a Feng Shui treasure land where "even a carrying pole can sprout."
Here, spring and autumn are connected, the summer is particularly long, and there is almost no winter in the county town. The abundant sunlight makes the air here smell like sunshine.
Father Zhou asked, "Chunyan, do you know where the medicine shop is?"
Yang Chunyan nodded, "I know, you guys follow me."
A few people entered the county town and found that the weather in the county town was much hotter than in the mountains, as if it had entered the dog days of summer.
Zhou Huaian looked at people who were riding bicycles at full speed with envy, and wondered when he could buy one.
Yang Chunyan felt that the county town these days was much smaller than it would be decades later, and the streets were gray.
The few of them walked up about two hundred meters and reached a crossroads. They turned left and walked straight to the second crossroads. A refreshing scent of yellow horn orchid wafted in the wind.
The streets are lined with yellow horn orchid trees. When you walk past the intersection, the Xinhua Bookstore is on the right and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative is on the left.
Yang Chunyan found that the supply and marketing cooperative was very busy at this moment, so she took the three of them and walked towards the Chinese Medicine Hospital on North Street.
The Wang family has been practicing medicine for generations, and their home is just opposite the Chinese medicine hospital. After the hospital opened, they used their own shop to open a Chinese medicine clinic called Deshengtang, and also collected herbal medicines.
Doctor Wang can be considered half a teacher of her father Yang Quanqing.
During those years of catching little tails, Doctor Wang was sent down to Hengshan Brigade. Yang's father took good care of him, and Doctor Wang took him with him and taught him for several years.
Later, an important figure in the county fell ill, so Doctor Wang was brought back to the county.
Later, Yang's father became a barefoot doctor in Hengshan Brigade.
Zhou Huaian looked at Yang Chunyan walking in front of him, and the feeling that his young wife had changed came back to him.
Thinking that my father-in-law's home is even more remote than the Funiu Brigade, and seeing that my young wife seems to be familiar with the county town, I wondered: Could it be that my father-in-law used to bring her to the county town often?
(End of this chapter)
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