plum city

Chapter 54 A lot of people came

Section Chief Ma pushed the bicycle and set it up under the pomegranate tree. He felt weak on the soles of his feet. He almost floated into the house, across the hall, to his bedroom, and fell on the bed. Only then did he feel a little more solid, as if he had support. .

Chief Ma's wife walked to the front of the house, stood at the door for a while, listened, and then shook her head.

She walked to the courtyard door, closed it, thought about it, and unlatched it.

She walked to the front of the house again, stood for a while, listened, shook her head, and then walked to the kitchen.

She walked into the kitchen and came out again, holding a basin in her hand. In the basin were the vegetables she had just bought from the vegetable market.

On the other side of the hibiscus tree, next to the courtyard wall, there is a platform built with cement boards. To the left of the platform is a cement pool. One side of the pool slopes down to create a cement washboard.This pool has been used for a long time, and moss has grown on the cement wall next to the washboard.

On the right side of the platform is a pressure well. It used to be a water well and buckets were needed to lift water from the well. Now the wellhead has been sealed and turned into a pressure well. There is a water tank next to the pressure well, which is full of water.

Mrs. Ma Ke first plugged the pool with a plug, then took a spoonful of water from the water tank and poured it into the pump chamber of the well. She held the handle and moved it up and down. After a while, water came from below. The water is pumped up from the well and flows into the pool through a plastic pipe connected to the outlet pipe.

After collecting most of the water in the pond, Mrs. Ma Ke began to cut open the fish on the concrete platform. She scraped the scales of the crucian carp with the back of a kitchen knife and cursed in her mouth.She was scolding her son and daughter-in-law. Such a big thing happened at home, and they didn't even know they were coming back.

After putting all the cooked dishes on the stone table, Mrs. Ma Ke walked to the cabinet in front of the hall, opened the cabinet door, and took out a bottle of Yanghe Daqu.She walked to their room with the wine in her hand. The door was open and Section Chief Ma fell on the bed. She thought he was asleep and walked over to wake him up.

Before she even came close, Section Chief Ma sat up on the bed. How could he be asleep?

My wife said, "It's good to eat."

After speaking, he turned and went out.

Section Chief Ma rubbed his face with his hands, stood up, and walked out.

He walked to the stone table and sat down. His wife had already placed the wine glass and wine in front of him. Chief Ma unscrewed the cap of the wine bottle, poured himself a glass of wine, and took a big sip first.

My wife went to the kitchen and came back with a bowl of rice. They sat down and one of them drank and the other ate without saying a word.

Chief Ma's father came out of the house, looked at the courtyard door, and muttered: "The sun hasn't set yet, why should we bolt the door?"

Go over and unlock the door.

When passing by them, he looked at the stone table and muttered: "The food is pretty good."

The two people sitting there ignored him. As soon as he walked away, Mrs. Marco stood up again, walked over, and bolted the door again.

She had just finished her meal and was about to get up when she heard someone knocking on the door. She looked at Section Chief Ma, who acted as if nothing had happened, as if he had not heard the knock at all.She stood up, walked over and opened the door. Standing outside the door was one of their relatives, and she quickly let him in.

The relative came over and sat down at the stone table. Mrs. Mark asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

The relatives nodded repeatedly: "I've eaten, I've eaten, you're welcome."

Section Chief Ma said: "The money I borrowed from you will be returned to you in two days."

The relative was a little embarrassed and quickly said: "It's okay, it's okay, I'm not here to ask for the money."

But everyone who spoke and listened knew that he came here just to ask about the money, because there was already word on the street outside that Chief Ma not only stole the chicken but lost the rice this time, but also lost a whole head. Pig, you can’t get back the money you’ve paid.

Of course it wasn't true, but when the relatives heard it, they were still worried. They didn't even have time to eat dinner, so they came over to have a look.

After Section Chief Ma said this, he said nothing and just drank his wine.The relative's stomach growled, he swallowed his saliva, sat for a while and got up and said:

"Then I'll go first, I'll go first."

Section Chief Ma still didn't say a word, and the relative walked away angrily.

As soon as he left, before Chief Ma's wife had time to bolt the door, a second relative came again, and the drama that had just been performed was repeated again. Chief Ma still said, "I'll borrow your money and you'll get it back in two days." I'll give it back to you." The relatives also said, "It's okay, it's okay, I'm not here to ask for the money," as if they had made an appointment, and then left angrily.

A total of five or six batches came, and Mrs. Ma Ke also delivered five or six batches. After sending the last batch, it was already dark. Mrs. Ma Ke bolted the door and stood in the darkness and sighed.

Chief Ma was sitting there alone, pouring and drinking by himself. He had already drank most of a bottle of Yanghe Daqu.

Mrs. Marco looked at him, shook her head, and walked into the house. As soon as she stepped through the front door with one foot, there was another "bang bang" knock on the door. It didn't sound like knocking, but more like It was a banging on the door.

Then, I heard someone shouting outside the door: "Boss Ma, Boss Ma!"

Chief Ma’s wife was stunned for a moment, and then realized that they were calling Chief Ma.She looked back to see Section Chief Ma sitting there indifferently. She could only retract one foot that had already stepped on the threshold from the front of the hall, turned around and walked towards the courtyard door.

As he walked, he muttered: "Call me, Boss Ma, Boss Ma, what's your mother's size!"

The people outside the door kept banging on the door, and she shouted impatiently: "Come here, come here, knock on it, you will almost break the door panel."

When she opened the door, she was startled to see six or seven people standing outside the door, none of whom she recognized.

Chief Ma’s wife asked: “Who are you looking for?”

Those people ignored her. They all saw Chief Ma sitting and drinking alone in the yard, and walked around her.

They gathered around Chief Ma and started chattering, asking him what would happen to their wages during this period.It turns out that these are the people that Section Chief Ma himself recruited into the factory and asked them to study in the library.

Chief Ma took a sip of wine and put down the cup. He raised his head and saw his wife standing behind them. Chief Ma said to her:
"Go get a knife."

"What?" my wife asked, puzzled.

"Bring me a knife. Just take it if I tell you to." Section Chief Ma said again.

The wife was confused and didn't know what he was going to do, but she still went to the kitchen, took a kitchen knife, walked over, and put the kitchen knife in front of Chief Ma.Those people were also confused. They didn't know what Section Chief Ma was going to do with the knife.
Section Chief Ma looked up at them and said to them: "I have been raising you for two months. I can't support you anymore. Come on, come on. Take a look at my body. If you like any piece of meat on me, cut it off. Don't do it." polite."

The few people looked at each other, and Section Chief Ma said, "Come on, cut it if you like. What are you afraid of? I asked you to cut it."

Section Chief Ma's wife heard this and knew that these people were here for factory matters. She began to criticize:
"You out-of-towners really don't have any rules at all. If something happens, it won't be discussed in the factory tomorrow. If you want to come to someone else's house this late at night."

Those few people were no longer convinced. Someone said: "Why tomorrow? The factory is already owned by Director Zhao. The first person he fired was Boss Ma. Can he still go to the factory?"

Another person said: "Yes, we went to Factory Director Zhao, and he told us that he had never recruited us. He didn't care who recruited us. We went to find whoever he asked us to find." .”

The words Director Zhao are here. At this time, not only does Section Chief Ma sound harsh, but his wife also sounds harsh. She got angry for a moment, picked up the kitchen knife on the table, and slapped it twice on the bluestone table. Next, he shouted loudly:

"If the person named Zhao asks you to come, just ask him to bring you here! If he brings you here, I will settle the score with him!"

Several people were stunned. Mrs. Mark continued to get angry, wielding a kitchen knife in her hand to chase people away: "Get out of here! Get out! Get out! This is my home, and I don't owe you a single copper!"

The few outsiders fled as if they were running away. At the entrance of the courtyard, neighbors gathered around to watch the excitement. Elder Ma Ke's wife slammed the courtyard door and bolted it.

When he came back, he was still angry. He glanced at Section Chief Ma, threw the kitchen knife on the ground in front of him, and cursed: "You've done evil! Look at what you've done, what you've done. What kind of people!"

She walked back to the front of the hall, turned around and saw Chief Ma sitting there, raising his glass and continuing to take a sip of wine.

The suffocation came up again, and she cursed: "Drink, drink, I'm watching you drink!"

He reached out and grabbed the switch cord of the light outside the door. With a click, he turned off the lights in the yard. He walked to the bedroom and fell on the bed.

(End of this chapter)