Appreciation of Chen Ziliao's Prose "Going to the Next Town"

It's almost seven o'clock in the afternoon when we talk about this. It's seven o'clock, afternoon? I thought the sun had not set yet. In summer, our grandmothers and grandchildren have finished their dinner and sat at the gate to enjoy the cool, so we can wait for a gust of wind from time to time, which makes us particularly comfortable. I looked down at my mobile phone, and grandma shook the old cattail leaf fan.

"Then buy it." I made a casual remark.

I didn't expect her to get up again without looking. She turned her head and muttered reluctantly, "I don't want to buy it." I have many clothes. I can't finish wearing it. "

I sighed secretly, just like a child. Then he looked up and said to her, "buy it, buy it." You have no new clothes. Last time I bought clothes, Beijing was called Beiping. "

She shook her fan and thought for a moment, then said, "I can't buy it in our town."

"Why?"

I clearly remember walking through all kinds of turbid smells in the town's vegetable market, passing by the small vendor selling live chickens in the innermost part, and then walking 50 meters, that is, selling clothes. Although there are only a dozen stalls, and the styles of each family are relatively heavy, it is the favorite place for the elderly in our area. Bargaining can kill the stall owner.

At this time, I saw my grandmother proudly look up and said disdainfully, "Those women all know that I am desperate to cut prices and don't want to do my business."

I was taken aback, it's so hard to cut! I remember when she bought long trousers, and my heart was at a loss. Once grandma came back from the market with two dark green autumn trousers in her suitcase, which made me guess the price with great interest.

"You'll never guess!" She looks a little excited and her face is wrinkled like a walnut.

I looked at those two pairs of trousers and wanted to know their prices. In fact, it's not autumn trousers. There is a belt at the trouser leg to step on the heel, which is a bit like the "fitness trousers" worn by girls in primary school, but the fabric looks like knitting. Anyway, grandma said she wanted to wear them as long pants, so they are long pants. Seeing my grandmother's uncontrollable joy, I knew she must have picked up a big bargain. I tried to guess less.

"Ten dollars ... one?" I said tentatively.

"clear! Ten dollars! ? "Grandma gasped and leaned back as if to kill her.

I was just about to change it to a smaller answer, but she didn't give me another chance and directly quoted the price.

"Two fives." She held out a hand with a forbearing joy on her face. Then she folded her trousers and put them in a plastic bag, thinking, "I don't want two for ten dollars."

I said, "It's so cheap, it must be bad quality pants. It will be broken in two days. "

Grandma is extremely disdainful: "You wear it as long pants, how can it be broken?" It doesn't work out there. Broken, the pants outside are broken first, then broken. "

"How much do people shout?" I asked again.

"Three dollars a piece. Who will buy three dollars from him? I will pay two and a half dollars at most. "

"God, three dollars a piece is not cheap?"

"It's cheap, but you have to bargain when you buy something. Do you tow it by truck? Many people buy it. Others buy a few. If I say two is enough, I can wear a few on my legs. " Then she went to the kitchen to cook.

I looked at grandma and said to her, "grandma, let's go to the next town to buy it." There is a small commodity market with a lot of things and very cheap. I will take you there. "

"Next door? That's a bit far. "

"Not far, if you ride a battery car, you don't want it for half an hour."

"Well, tomorrow at noon, I'll go after I finish my work and eat."

"Don't cook, we'll eat there."

"You eat there and I eat at home."

After discussing this matter, it will be dark, so we will pick up the bench and go into the house to sleep.

The next day, the appointed time arrived, and when grandma appeared, she was already well dressed. Holding a purse like a vegetable basket on his arm, wearing small leather shoes, obedient shirt collar, buttoned to the top one, the whole person looks bulging. Ask, know grandpa offended her.

"I would have told him, go out with you today, let him cook the meal first. I came back to cook. As a result, I just came back from the field and saw that there was no fire in the stove. He is still watching TV! "

"So what now?" I asked.

"Leave him alone, let's go our way and starve him to death. Too irritating! "

"Ok, ok, come on up."

Grandma stepped into the back seat of the battery car, and her voice still sounded bulging: "Let's eat out today, it's my treat."

"No need." I said, while riding out the door.

"That can't do. I must invite you today. I won't eat if you dare to pay. "

"Good good, listen to you."

Grandma's mood seemed to calm down gradually when the battery car drove up the empty street in the town. Looking at the scenery along the way, she said that she should have walked this road countless times-when I was in high school, I went to school in the next town, and my grandmother always brought me food from time to time-but I still felt fresh.

"It won't rain, will it?" Grandma suddenly asked.

"No, the weather forecast is cloudy."

"That's good." Grandma said. After a while, he asked, "You haven't been here for a long time, have you?"

"Well, yes, for a long time." I answered.

When we arrived in the town, we looked at the gate of the high school where I used to study. Grandma asked, "Do you want to go in and have a look?"

"No, let's go to eat first."

"Well, yes, there is nothing to see. Still the same. No one is there. "

"It's summer vacation." I explained.

It happened to be dinner that day, and the chefs in the small restaurant were very busy. Originally, I was going to buy some dishes with my grandmother and sit down for a meal. As a result, my grandmother insisted on paying, so I had to find something cheaper. I thought to myself, and then asked my grandmother, "Grandma, what do you want to eat?"

"I don't care, I eat what you eat. It's my treat today to see what you want to eat. "

Finally, we sat down in a self-service fast food restaurant. All the dishes are fried, and they are put on the iron shelf with iron plates. There are only a dozen dishes in one * * *, which is very good. Diners take their own plates and put them on the scale after eating. The price of vegetables is eleven yuan a catty, and the price of meat and vegetables is the same. One person can't eat much money. This model of fast food restaurants can be seen everywhere in Hubei, but my grandmother has never seen it. She just asked me, imagined it in my description.

I gave her a plate and a clip, and she was at a loss for a moment. Look at this, flip through that and mutter, "None of them look delicious." There is a little novelty in the eyes, and at the same time, it is cautious. At that moment, she was in a world she knew nothing about, like a rural child who ate KFC for the first time, at the mercy of adults. I suddenly want to take her away.

The two of us sat in front of a small table against the wall, eating quietly. Seeing that she was almost finished, I reminded her in time: "The rice cooker is there, and there is no money to add rice." Then she went to add a bowl of rice, and without any twists and turns, I began to feel at ease. After dinner, I took her to the local small commodity market to buy clothes. We walked in tandem, and she walked slower than me, so I often stopped to wait for her.

"It tastes good." She remembered the meal just now. "But it's too cheap. The two of us ate 14 yuan and asked you to eat something good. "

"Nothing, I ate very well."

Talking, I took a few steps and arrived at my destination. Looking from a two-meter-wide entrance with no door, the vendors were crowded, most of the shops were cramped and the walls were covered with clothes. If gravity can be overcome, so should the ceiling. When I first came to school here, I came with one of my classmates, and then I was stunned to see that she bought a skirt with a price of more than 200 yuan for 50 yuan. I couldn't believe it when I came out. She said with experience: "When you come to a place like this, you have to bargain like crazy, especially us students. If you don't bargain, you will be * *. "

The scene in front of me seems to be the same as that day in my memory. A fat female boss pulled my grandmother and said politely, "Who wants to buy clothes?" I guess you want to buy it. Your bag is really beautiful. I have clothes in the shop that match your bag. "

My grandmother turned around and let the arm holding the bag completely fall into the eyes of the shopkeeper, and then proudly said, "My grandson bought this for me. It's a good bag. "

The shopkeeper looked at me and said, "Oh, how filial!"

I have to smile at her. I did buy this bag for grandma, but it's not a good bag. That was the year when I graduated from high school. I went to my parents' house in the summer vacation and brought her a gift. Actually, I bought it on Taobao. I thought about what to buy her for a long time. She has so many clothes and shoes. My eyes suddenly lit up when I saw an old lady carrying a bag. So why not buy a bag? Then I bought a bag that an old man can carry. My dad kept reminding me: "Don't buy anything too fancy. When others see it, they will definitely think that their daughters and granddaughters don't want to move for her. Then she will lose face. " Finally, I chose an old-fashioned bag. At first glance, I knew it was the logo model of the cottage LV, but fortunately, the space was large enough and it was very stylish to pick up. Grandma is very satisfied.

The shopkeeper took out two clothes for grandma to try on. Grandma is too thin. Although she is strong, she has almost no meat. The clothes looked big and empty on her, like an empty sack. She was ashamed and took them off at once.

"What's the matter? Don't like it? " Asked the shopkeeper.

"The neckline is too big, and old bones around his neck is outside. Scary and ugly. " Grandma said discontentedly.

"There are smaller ones."

"No, no" Grandma waved her hand and turned to the next one.

I walked several times in a row, picking and choosing, and I didn't like any of them.

"Not good-looking, I don't like it." She touched this one, pinched that one, and said to herself, "These flowers are not for an old woman. I am embarrassed to wear it. " He looked at the plain one again. "It's getting dark. I'll wear it next time I go to the funeral. "

When the shopkeeper heard that his clothes were criticized as worthless, his attitude gradually became rash. She casually hung the clothes back to the high place with the clothes rail, and casually said, "You can't buy clothes like this. This style is very popular now. You can't buy it here, let alone in others. "

We went on to the next shop. I have some doubts. I don't know if grandma really thinks those clothes are as bad as she said or just like me. When she meets something she likes, she often dares not show sincerity, but habitually denies it in a hurry. But I didn't say anything, just followed her.

We entered another shop, and the owner was having lunch. He stood up from the bench with a bowl in his hand and greeted us warmly.

Grandma seems to have finally found the right one, but her expression is ok. She picked it up and asked the shopkeeper, "How much is this?"

"Fifty dollars." The owner said.

At the moment of hearing this sentence, grandma's face changed, her body shrank back involuntarily, and she took a step back in resistance, as if the other party was holding a gun to her head.

"Fifty dollars! ? "Grandma reconfirmed in fear.

"Fifty dollars is not expensive, and I didn't let you make any money. This is good material. Do not believe you feel it. " The shopkeeper put his rice bowl on the small bench, and I knew that a tug-of-war was about to begin again.

"Thirty." Grandma said.

"Thirty? I can't even earn back that book, so I can't do business. Thirty-five, this is the lowest price. I can't give a penny, mother-in-law. "

"Thirty-two."

"I really can't let go."

Finally, Grandma spent 32 yuan to buy this dress. When paying, she took out a palm-sized wallet from the wallet in her hand, which was given to her with the wallet that year. I can't help it A few years ago, grandma's shopping and saving money were terrible. If one or two dollars is worth dozens of dollars, she has to lift her trouser legs, take out a plastic bag from the short * * * of flesh color and open it. That's not money, but a neatly folded small towel. Then she opened the towel and the money was in it. This kind of wallet tied to the leg was once very popular with the old ladies nearby. Later, grandma introduced the old man and sewed a pocket on the inside of the waistband. Every time she gives a lot of money, she has to pay ...

Before buying clothes and leaving, the shopkeeper said to grandma with a bowl, "grandma, you are really amazing!" " "

Grandma smiled: "I'm not good, but you can do business and you will be rich in the future."

"Oh, thank you for your kind words. Take care! "

As soon as she walked away, grandma muttered, "Don't look." "Even the corners of my eyes are full of smiles.

Let's go home by bike. On the way, I asked my grandmother, "Did you buy your favorite clothes?"

"Yes," grandma said, "if we had this dress, they would all shout fifty." I can't see her face, but just listening to the voice makes her happy.

"If you want to buy clothes after that, call me. Very convenient. "

"Worried about you! Oh, I have many clothes. I can't wear them all. I won't buy any more clothes. "

Here we go again.

In the afternoon, grandma put on new clothes and appeared in the yard. I am washing vegetables.

"how about it? Are you dressed well? "

"Very good." I looked up and saw many colorful flowers printed on my chest, which was different from her previous clothes.

"It suits you very well. Old people only need to wear a little. "

"No, I changed it myself. Look at the neckline here. "

I approached, only to find that the neckline was really tightened, and the originally prominent bones were seriously wrapped inside.