Xu Damao held onto the pool, lifted his foot to shake off the water from his feet, otherwise it would seep into his cotton shoes.
As a result, because his eyes were still fixed on Sha Zhu's back, he missed and fell into Uncle Zhou's full bucket of water in the front yard with a thud.
Xu Damao instantly regained consciousness and struggled to get up from the ground.
Unfortunately, this was by the pool, and it was the dead of winter. I was completely naked, and the more anxious I became, the harder it was for me to get up. The cold water stung my face like needles.
Uncle Zhou stepped forward and helped him up.
"I told Da Mao to keep an eye on things, he's always thinking about arguing with Sha Zhu. I'm taking this water back to cook."
After helping Xu Damao up, Uncle Zhou said with displeasure, "Alright, hurry up and go home to change your clothes and dry your hair. It's so cold, don't get sick."
"I'm sorry, Uncle Zhou, I really didn't see it."
Xu Damao was about to explain when Uncle Zhou waved him off, telling him to hurry home and change his clothes.
Xu Damao ran home carrying the bucket, cursing as he ran, and bumped into Liu Guangtian, who was carrying a chamber pot, at the moon gate.
As a result, Xu Damao and Liu Guangtian ended up together.
When the two sat up, not a drop of urine remained in the chamber pot; it had all soaked them.
"Xu Damao, are you blind? Can't you see clearly this early in the morning?"
Liu Guangtian sniffed himself with disgust. "Not a single drop of this jar of urine was wasted. It all pissed on me. So what are we going to do about this?"
Xu Damao's face and neck were still wet, and he was shivering from the cold.
On the other hand, Liu Guangtian is fine for the time being. After all, the urine has been brought out of the house for a while and is still at room temperature.
"Alright, it's my fault for letting you down. Let me go change my clothes first, and I'll get you some cigarettes later."
"That's more like it. You'll keep your word."
Liu Guangtian dusted himself off, picked up the chamber pot, and turned to walk back.
The chamber pot was emptied, which saved him from queuing at the public toilet outside and having to endure the stench.
Seeing Liu Guangtian return so quickly, an old woman who was roasting melon seeds glared at him and said, "You little rascal, where did you pee? Be careful your dad beats you again when you get home."
"What? No matter what, I can't just dump things like that. I know the rules here."
Liu Guangtian craned his neck and glanced into the pot, then grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, which made his second aunt, Yan Bugui's wife, roll her eyes.
"I had just reached the moon gate when Xu Damao, that blind man, bumped into me on the head, and I ended up spilling everything on the ground."
"Oh dear, this is so rushed."
Upon hearing that the urine had been spilled all at the doorway, the old woman frowned deeply. "In this freezing weather, there's no way to splash it with water. If you splash it on the ground, it will freeze in no time."
With a creak, Wang Dabao walked out of the house.
"Hey, Da Bao, your sister-in-law and I didn't stir the pan too hard when we were frying melon seeds today. We didn't wake you up, did we?"
When an older woman saw Wang Dabao come out, she grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, walked over, and handed them to him, saying, "Try them while they're still warm."
"They didn't wake me up. I just woke up and was sleeping soundly."
Wang Dabao happily took the sunflower seeds and started cracking them open.
He did sleep quite well, because he didn't sleep in the yard at all.
After eating a few seeds, Wang Dabao exclaimed, "Wow, this is amazing! The two sisters-in-law have really mastered the craft. These sunflower seeds are so fragrant and crunchy. If I keep eating them, I think I'll have to buy two pounds to take home."
"What do you want to buy? I'll have Lao Liu bring you some of the leftovers tonight."
The older woman said politely.
Wang Dabao didn't reply, but turned to look at Liu Guangtian, who was carrying a chamber pot, and handed him a cigarette: "Guangtian, what have you been doing so early in the morning? How did your clothes get like this?!"
Liu Guangtian knew that cigarettes from Wang Dabao were never of good quality, so he quickly stepped forward and took the cigarette from him.
A quick glance reveals the Great Double Ninth Festival.
He knew the power of this "Da Zhong Jiu" cigarette; his father, Liu Haizhong, had boasted countless times at the dinner table about how much face that pack of cigarettes had brought him.
I was thinking that maybe I should take the cigarettes back to appease the old man, so that I could avoid a beating if I angered him again.
Seeing Liu Guangtian chuckle as he took the cigarette but didn't put it in his mouth, Wang Dabao assumed the kid was reluctant to smoke it. He glanced at the two cigarettes left in the pack and stuffed them directly into Liu Guangtian's hand.
"Take this one, and quickly smoke the one in your hand."
"Oh, thank you, Uncle Da Bao."
Liu Guangtian happily took out a match, lit it for Wang Dabao and himself, and took a satisfying puff.
Wang Dabao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, stared at Liu Guangtian's clothes.
Liu Guangtian then realized what was happening: "Oh, Uncle Dabao, you're asking about that? Sigh, I didn't check the almanac before I went out today, and that idiot Xu Damao bumped into me..."
"Hey, Liu Guangtian, who are you calling a bastard? Don't you know how to talk badly behind people's backs? We all live in the backyard, so watch your words."
Xu Damao rushed out of his house at this moment. If it weren't for the old lady there, she would have grabbed Liu Guangtian by the collar and given him a good beating.
“Guangtian, Da Mao is right. Just listen to him and change your bad habits.”
Liu Guangtian was caught red-handed talking badly about Xu Damao, which made the old lady a little embarrassed. She quickly spoke up and said a few words to her son to make amends, since Xu Damao was, after all, the third oldest man in the courtyard.
"Take it, and don't talk nonsense in the future."
As he spoke, Xu Damao threw a paper package into Liu Guangtian's arms.
Liu Guangtian opened the paper package and saw that, wow, although it was an economy pack of cigarettes, there were seven or eight of them.
The curse words that were about to come out immediately disappeared, and he said instead, "Alright, Brother Da Mao, don't hold it against me. I was just being careless with my words."
"Alright, alright, I know you too well. If it weren't for this cigarette, you'd probably be making fun of me a lot."
Xu Damao didn't take Liu Guangtian seriously, after all, Liu Haizhong was there.
After greeting Wang Dabao, Xu Damao seemed to remember something, "Oh right, last night Dabao found you a nice job. You don't have to do much work, and you can even get some money to buy cigarettes."
"ah?"
Xu Damao's words left Liu Guangtian bewildered; Liu Haizhong hadn't mentioned it to him when he got home last night.
Xu Damao pondered for a moment and said, "Here's what you'll do. Go to Lao Yan's place later and see if Yu Li needs any help. I doubt Yan Jiecheng will be there, so she won't need you. After that, go check on Qin Huairu. She's going to sell tea tonight, right? Help her with the big pot or something, and just say I sent you."
Touching the cigarette in his hand, Liu Guangtian curled his lip.
Good grief, you're the one who asked me to go, so you're saying I do all the work and all the favors are yours?
Liu Guangtian verbally agreed, but he still planned to go home and ask his father, Liu Haizhong, what kind of job he had found for him.
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