plum city

Chapter 53
Section Chief Ma and Zheng Datang went downstairs and walked to the corner of the stairs connecting the second floor to the first floor. They saw many people in the foyer below. The two stopped and it was too late to go back. The people below had already seen them.

There was a commotion in the crowd, and several people's whispers combined became louder: "Here it comes, here it comes, these two Amulings (fools, idiots) are here."

The two of them could only go downstairs.

Chief Ma's face was livid, and his teeth were almost broken. If there was a tunnel in front of him, he really wanted to get into the tunnel and escape from this place, but there was no way. He could only continue walking down step by step.

He tried his best to maintain his demeanor and smile, but the smile was too light and thin, as if he could blow it away with his own breath.Chief Ma could only hold his breath.

He looked numbly to the left and right, but his vision was blurry. He only saw the black heads, smelled the bad breath coming from their mouths, and couldn't identify who was who.It was as if he had just seen these people for the first time today and had never known them before. When he looked at every face, he had an unreal feeling.

The two people walked into the crowd, and the crowd consciously gave way to a path. As they passed through, someone behind them suddenly shouted in a high voice:
"Boss Ma!"

The crowd burst into laughter, and the laughter seemed to be powerful, punching Chief Ma on the face, body and back.

Before that, when people called "Boss Ma," Section Chief Ma could tell that the call contained compliments and flattery.Listening to it now, these three words were so harsh. The needle penetrated and picked out the flesh. All he heard was ridicule.

Section Chief Ma sighed secretly. He knew that from this moment on, he had become a joke, hanging on the lips of the entire factory, and even the entire Meicheng Town people.

The two people left the building without saying a word, and a voice came out from behind:

"Boss Ma, Boss Zheng, why don't you send me away!"

What followed was another wave of laughter.

After leaving the building, the two of them separated naturally without saying a word to each other. Section Chief Ma walked to the bicycle shed and walked to his bicycle.Zheng Datan turned left around the building and went to the back. He lived in the dormitory at the back.

What Section Chief Ma said yesterday also applies to the two of them today, that is, "drinking at night is indispensable." However, they are no longer in the mood to eat together, but eat separately.

Zheng Da arrived at the dormitory, went upstairs, walked to the door of his room, opened the door, and saw his wife inside. Looking at him, he knew that disaster was coming. She flinched and hid, trying to avoid his gaze, and her body began to tremble involuntarily. .

Zheng Datong didn't say a word. He took off the belt from his waist, took two steps forward, swung the belt and whipped his wife violently, covering her face.The belt fell, and the woman screamed.

Section Chief Ma rode his bicycle out of the gate. It only took seven or eight minutes. He felt that it was a long journey today.Since he became "Boss Ma", more and more people have gotten to know him along the way. Many people greet him along the way to and from work every day.

Today, Section Chief Ma hopes that no one knows him.But it was impossible. Along the way, there were still many people calling "Boss Ma", but they were all doing so with a smile. From every "Boss Ma", Section Chief Ma could tell that they had bad intentions. and gloating.

He felt like he was not going home, but being stripped naked and paraded through the streets.Laugh, laugh, I know that I have become the biggest joke in Meicheng today, funnier than Zhu Shengjiao, you all laugh, laugh as much as you want.

Section Chief Ma felt that his vision was blurred again.

Riding to the three-way intersection on Beimen Street heading to Xin'anjiang Electronic Tube Factory, Section Chief Ma said "Ouch", he was shot, and there was a sharp pain in the back of his head.What hit him was a paper bullet gun made of wire and rubber bands. The bullets were also made of paper, but they were very powerful when they hit people. If they hit people, a bag would appear on their faces. As for the eyes, the eyes will be red and swollen for several days.The children in Meicheng all like to make this kind of paper bullet gun by themselves, and then you and I will go to war with each other.

The person who shot Chief Ma in the back of the head was probably a child playing a prank.However, Section Chief Ma felt that it should be one of those in the factory who was preparing to buy out his seniority, and he was specially ambushed here.

Section Chief Ma didn't have time to think about it at this time. He didn't even look back and stepped on his pedals twice to escape.After riding for a while, he held the bicycle faucet with one hand and reached out to the back of his head with the other hand to rub it. A bag had already formed there.

Damn it, it must have been shot with one of those long paper bullet guns mounted on a bamboo pole.

Chief Ma's home is at Shuimentou. When entering through the gate, there is a small yard. There is a pomegranate tree and a hibiscus tree in the yard. There is a small flower bed between the two trees, which is full of peonies. When the peonies bloom, they look very much like peonies, with large and beautiful flowers.

This piece of peony was first planted by Chief Ma’s grandfather, and it has been more than 40 years ago.In the old Meicheng family, everyone has a natural division of labor. Each family specially grows a kind of plant, which is actually a medicinal material, both for viewing and for treating diseases.When people in the town are in need, they all know where they can go to ask for something.

For example, some families specifically planted mulberry trees, some planted Eucommia ulmoides, and some specifically planted ear grass and money grass.

When the peony flowers bloom, people often come to Chief Ma’s house, both familiar and unknown, to ask for petals, take them home, dry them in the shade, and use them to make peony petal porridge.Peony petal porridge can nourish blood, regulate menstruation, and treat hypochondriac pain, irritability, and abdominal pain during menstruation due to imbalance of liver qi and weak blood qi.

In front of the flower bed, there is a round bluestone table and four bluestone stools. As long as the weather is slightly warm and it doesn't rain, this is their dining table. Chief Ma and his wife are used to eating here.

Their son is married and living independently. The couple are both workers at the Xin'anjiang Electric Meter Factory and live in the Xinbiao dormitory on Dongmen Street, not with them.

There is a three-room bungalow with mud walls and black tiles in the yard. In the middle is the front hall. In the small room behind the front hall, Chief Ma's parents live.The room on the right is the room of Chief Ma and his wife.The room on the left was originally my son's room. After my son moved out, half of it was decorated as a living room, and the other half contained a bed where guests from the country could sleep when they came.

Next to the head of these three bungalows, there is a small room, which is their kitchen.There was a wood stove in the kitchen, but it had not been used for a long time and even the pots were rusty.Opposite the wood-burning stove, a platform was built with cement boards and tiled, and a gas stove was placed on it.There is a gas tank on one side of the concrete platform and a water tank on the other side.

Chief Ma's wife cooks on this cement table every day.

Under the eaves at the door of the kitchen, a shed was built with asbestos tiles and plastic sheets. There was a briquette stove inside. This was where Chief Ma's parents cooked. The two old men wanted to smash everything and stew it. , and they cannot eat together.

When eating, the old man did not eat at the stone table outside with Chief Ma and his wife, but at the Eight Immortals Table in front of the hall.On rainy days or winter, when Chief Ma and his wife go inside to eat at the Eight Immortals Table, the two old men retreat to their rooms and eat at a small square table.

The ajar door was knocked open. Chief Ma's wife heard the commotion and walked from the kitchen to the kitchen door. She saw her man coming in dejectedly pushing a bicycle.

About Chief Ma's trip to Maicheng, his wife heard someone tell her when she was buying vegetables at the vegetable market. She specially bought two more crucian carps that Chief Ma liked to eat, and steamed them in the evening.She also knew that tonight's meal would be indispensable.

　Thanks to Brokeback Mountain, Xinghai Bookworm 1977, third from top to bottom, flipping through books every day, two fishes at the same time, three o'clock in the middle of the night, and Doll Tin Soldier for the reward!Thank you for your monthly pass!Thanks for all the votes and reading!I wish you all good health!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)