bookcurios Chapter 107 The Butterfly Fluttered Its Wings
Chapter 107 The Butterfly Fluttered Its Wings
Chapter 107 The Butterfly Fluttered Its Wings
In the staff compound, Zhang Yougen just rode his bike out of the house when he met Qiu Huoming who was walking back alone.
He drove slowly and stopped the car by stretching his long legs.
Before he could open his mouth, he heard Qiu Huoming greet him first.
"Brother Yougen, where have you been recently? My mother made some dumplings last time and asked me to send them to you, but there was no one at your house, so I brought them back..."
Qiu Huoming said with a smile.
"So...you ate my dumplings?" Zhang Yougen seemed to be in a good mood and actually joked with him.
Qiu Huoming:...
"If you're at home tomorrow, I'll ask my mom to make some more in the evening and I'll bring it to you after it's cooked."
He added, "The yellow eel you sent last time and the fish you sent a few days ago were delicious. My mother said that we should reciprocate. She made the dumplings herself, and you can't get them outside."
Zhang Yougen suddenly became thoughtful and remembered the fish basket he had set up yesterday.
"Okay, I won't be polite then. If I get some good stuff later, I'll give you some more, but this time it's not from the river."
"Thank you, Brother Yougen. The fish in the river where it flows into the river mouth tastes great too!" Qiu Huoming's appetite was aroused.
This fish is called "bath fish" and it tastes amazing.
"Okay, let's go." Zhang Yougen pushed hard with his feet, and the bike passed Qiu Huoming, and in a moment they rode a long distance away.
The weather has been good recently, and quite a few people come to the river to fish. However, the water is deeper near the river mouth, and the distance is far, so almost only people who know the place come here.
Near dusk, Zhang Yougen came over on his bike. He had placed two fish baskets nearby. There were a lot of aquatic plants here, so he could usually catch some eels and river shrimps, and sometimes loaches.
The car stopped on the dam. He went down and felt around for a long time, but couldn't find the rope he had reserved. The marks he made on the shore were still there, but the fish basket was gone.
He stood up straight and looked around, but there was no one nearby.
This is a wild ferry, and most people wouldn't come so far to fish.
There is a small fishing village next door where his best friend Yang Yuhu lives. Usually they would make an appointment to go fishing in the river on Yang Yuhu's boat.
The fish basket is missing, and the mission is off to a bad start.
He returned to his bicycle with a gloomy face. In just a short while, the sky had darkened and the river became eerily dark as soon as the sun set.
The clouds are a bit thick tonight.
Zhang Yougen held a flashlight in one hand and the handlebars with the other, climbed onto the bike, and pedaled along the dam towards the small fishing village.
The weeds on both sides swayed in the wind, and the sounds of insects rose and fell in the twilight.
The small fishing village was not far away. When he drove closer, he found that there was not even a light on in the window of Yang Yuhu's earthen house.
He turned a corner and went to where the ship was docked to find him.
People who are used to staying on a boat will feel uncomfortable staying on land for a long time. Their houses on land are not particular, but they are very particular about the living space on the boat. During the difficult times in the early years, they were still able to fish and did not starve.
There were more than a dozen ships docked, and the one painted green was Yang Yuhu's boat, with a kerosene lamp hanging on the bow.
He got married early, and his wife was the daughter of a family that made a living on a boat. After marriage, they had a son who was only 4 years old, chubby and strong. He had not yet gone to school. He would lie on the boat and play every day, and was tanned like a black monkey.
Zhang Yougen pushed his bicycle and carefully boarded the boat along the gangplank. Before he reached the bow, he heard Yang Yuhu's voice, "My dear son, shoot over there... Look, your father is so powerful..."
At the same time, he heard the sound of water flowing, and he called out, "Huzi."
"Hey, wait a minute, it will be over in a moment." Yang Yuhu's voice is rough, sounding like a man in his forties, often making people forget that he is only in his early 20s.
After a while, a dark, thin and tall man came out from the back of the boat holding a equally dark baby.
"Jinzhi, make more dinner, Yougen is coming!" He shouted towards the bow of the boat.
A crisp response came from the bow. It was his wife, "Got it. You go greet Brother Yougen first."
"Shuisheng, be good. Come here and call me uncle." Yang Yuhu taught his son.
Little Heitan didn't give him any face at all. He broke free from him and ran along the side of the boat to find his mother.
He chuckled, not surprised, and stretched out his hand, lifted Zhang Yougen's bicycle into the air and placed it in the empty space on the side of the ship.
"Why are you empty-handed? Was there nothing in the fish basket you put out yesterday?"
"Don't mention it. I'm so angry. I didn't know which bastard took away the two baskets of food I put down!" Zhang Yougen followed Yang Yuhu towards the bow of the ship with hatred.
"You're unlucky. Someone saw you doing this. Let's go. Let's have a mixed fish hotpot for dinner. Open a bottle of Lao Baigan and we'll have a nice drink."
"Okay, I'm in a hurry today, I'll bring a few bottles of good wine another day."
"Hey, I've been waiting for you to say that." Yang Yuhu smiled so hard that his narrow eyes narrowed into two slits.
Xiao Qian's boat was parked at the front of the long line of fishing boats, more than a hundred meters away from the other boats. His boat looked simple, but it was quite okay inside, with enough space to fit in a room on shore.
The boat is fully equipped with food, clothing and daily necessities, and the "open-air toilet" on the boat leads directly to the river, saving the effort of emptying the toilet every morning.
Xiao Qian came over in the dark with a flashlight and brought him the famous leftover pork and fried peanuts from the east of the city. There was wine on the boat, so Fang Jun opened a bottle of wine and sat on the left and right of Xiao Qian under the bamboo shed, eating and drinking in the light of the kerosene lamp hanging on the bow.
"Brother Jun, you are not a child anymore, why don't you start a family and have a sister-in-law to cook for you, which is much better than doing everything by yourself..." Xiao Qian took a sip of wine and suggested bravely.
"Let's just get through this year. I'll get married next year when I meet the right person." Fang Jun looked at the dark river surface in the night, his mind flying far away.
"Is there any movement in the street?" He took a bite of the leftover meat, smacked his lips with satisfaction, and asked casually.
"Same old, it's all just a passing fad, it died down in less than a week. Today I ran into Heizi, he even asked me where I was, I said you went to the provincial capital..."
"Okay, that's fine." The fewer people who know his whereabouts, the better. Although truth will come to light sooner or later, he has no intention of hiding forever. He will have to go back in a week at most.
Halfway through the drink, his eyes started to blur. Xiao Qian wanted to pour him more wine, but he waved his hands and said, "No, I can't drink any more."
"Then Jun, you should go to bed early. I'll wash the dishes and go back to the fishing village. I'll turn off the light and you can stay up late to watch over it."
"Okay... the road is dark, you... should be careful too." Fang Jun drank too much and his tongue was a little tied.
Xiao Qian watched him go behind the curtain of the cabin, then carefully picked up the leftover food and poured it into the river, fetched some water, washed the dishes, and hung them aside.
There was some oil spilled on the bow where people often moved around, but he glanced at it and didn't pay any attention to it.
After getting off the boat, he folded the gangway and walked straight back into the night.
In the middle of the night, Zhang Yougen, who had eaten and drunk his fill, was riding his bike back with a "crooked mouth" hanging on the handlebars. At this moment, a new moon had already peeked out from the clouds in the sky, illuminating a wide line in the middle of the water, making it sparkle.
He tied a flashlight to the front of the bike and rode forward unsteadily along the road illuminated by the beam of light.
He had always been a good alcoholic, and the wind had almost sobered him up. Just as he passed the fishing village, he heard a "plop" sound coming from the direction of the river on the right. It was particularly clear in the silent night. He looked at an isolated boat and it seemed like someone was struggling under it.
His eyebrows were twitching immediately, and he braked the car almost subconsciously, then lay down on the dam, kicked off his shoes while running, and dived into the water.
It took a lot of effort to drag the person who fell into the water to the boat closest to them.
Fortunately, the body was rescued in time. The other party only drank a few sips of water and coughed a few times. After a while, his vision gradually became clear.
Zhang Yougen was close, and when the other person's face turned towards him, he immediately saw the person he had just rescued, "It's you!"
"Fuck, if I had known it was you, I would have kicked you down again!" Zhang Yougen was exhausted and cursed the man on the ground.
He was too lazy to do it himself. The furnishings on every boat were generally similar, and he knew a thing or two about them. He took out a match and lit the kerosene lamp on the bow.
I pulled a towel from the clothesline on the boat, sat down on the ground, and dried my wet hair. My clothes were dripping, but I didn't bother to care.
"Who the hell told you to mind your own business..." Fang Jun stood up and was about to say something harsh, but suddenly he got stuck. He looked at the other person who was soaked all over, and immediately changed his tone.
"I owe you a favor."
The hooligans from South Street and East Street have been at odds with each other for a long time, and these two are even more at loggerheads with each other, and neither of them can tolerate the other.
The incident that Zhang Yougen caused some time ago was also related to Fang Jun.
"Whoever wants your favor can take it." Zhang Yougen was furious when he thought about the compensation his family had paid out.
"I said what I owe you is what I owe you!" Fang Jun said with his neck stiff, "I am not in the habit of owing favors to anyone." He consciously changed the term "Laozi" that he used all the time to "I", which was a clear sign of his goodwill.
Zhang Yougen looked away, too lazy to pay attention.
"Shit, my mom was right. I have water in my destiny and south represents fire. It is right for me to live peacefully on South Street." Fang Jun muttered after he came to his senses.
Zhang Yougen grinned and said, "You believe this, so I am your destined benefactor..."
Fang Jun didn't even refute. "There are clean clothes in the cabin. Go in and get them. I'll treat you to a meal when I return to the city another day."
"No need." Zhang Yougen stood up and said this, but he still bent down and went into the cabin, took out a shirt, and gestured, "With your short stature, how can I wear it!"
While saying this angrily, he changed his wet clothes.
When he walked out of the cabin, he heard a "puff" sound. Fang Jun covered his stomach and looked at him with great joy, "I'm sorry, it's a little small. How about you put on another coat?"
"Okay, let's just consider it as a good deed I did every day. Let's go." Zhang Yougen stood on the side of the boat, looked at the river and turned to look at Fang Jun.
"Where's the diving board? You're not going to let me swim back again, are you?"
"Wait, don't be impatient. I will make sure to get you to the shore safely." Fang Jun stood up from the ground, still dripping with water.
"Let me change my clothes first." He didn't shy away from it and took off his wet clothes on the spot. He bent down and went into the cabin, changed into a set of dry clothes, and returned to the deck barefoot.
"You can't swim? And you dare to stay on the boat?" Zhang Yougen looked at him as if he were a fool.
"I...my mother said that I was cursed by water, so she never let me play in the water since I was a child..."
"It's great that you still have a mother to take care of you." Zhang Yougen looked at the waxing moon in the sky with melancholy.
"He died a long time ago, otherwise I wouldn't have dropped out of school."
"Where's your dad? Does he not care about you?"
"I haven't seen him since I was a child. My mother said he died of illness."
"Then you are more pitiful than me. At least I still have a father."
The gangplank was set up and Zhang Yougen staggered off the boat.
"Wait until I get back to the city, I'll treat you to a meal!" Fang Jun shouted at him.
"I know, I won't eat cheap food!"
Fang Jun: ...
Just as he was about to go back to the cabin, he heard Zhang Yougen cursing on the dam, "Which grandson took my fish!"
It was probably taken away by some wild animal, either a wild cat or a weasel.
Zhang Yougen rode away on his bike, cursing all the way, and the light from the front of the bike gradually disappeared into the night.
Fang Jun then blew out the kerosene lamp and returned to the cabin.
He half leaned on the bed. Having escaped death this time, his mind vaguely became clearer.
Greed is a sword hanging over your head. As one of the earliest self-employed business owners in Wucheng County, he has experienced a lot of ups and downs and has long since mastered the skill of observing people's words and expressions.
It was clearly stated on the radio that “cracking down on speculation and profiteering” has nothing to do with this item. This is generally related to obtaining permits in violation of regulations.
What he did was the latter type, "driving up prices". He would then adjust the prices in the store and sell goods in small quantities. He would rather not sell anything than show off. The first bird to stick its head out gets shot, this saying has been around since ancient times.
We will make adjustments once the policy becomes clear in the future.
He thought about all the details and made up his mind. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep immediately.
On Dongmen Street, in the staff compound, Qiu Huoming was still unaware that several things had happened that night. In a sense, it was he who flapped his wings, causing the original story to deviate.
Early on Monday morning, Qiu Huoming had breakfast, rode his bike with his older sister, and rushed to school.
Before they reached the school gate, they saw Ding Yu squatting on the curb eating a bun, his eyes staring in the direction they were coming from.
Seeing Qiu Huoming was about to pass him on his bike, he stood up hurriedly.
"Crack" Qiu Huoming stepped on the brakes and stopped.
Ding Yu trotted a few steps to catch up with him, reached out and smoothed his chest, and then swallowed the bun he had just bitten.
"Riding so fast!" He glared at Qiu Huoming.
At the same time, he raised the paper bag in his hand in front of Qiu Hongye, "Sister Hongye, I said I would bring you some meat buns."
Qiu Hongye was stunned, "Brother Ding Yu, I...have already had breakfast."
"You're too thin. It won't hurt if you eat more." Ding Yu stuffed the paper bag into her hand.
Qiu Huoming turned his head and looked at Qiu Hongye, "Give me one, I can still fight harder."
Qiu Hongye smiled and nodded, took one out of the paper bag and put it to Qiu Huoming's mouth.
There were three meat buns in the paper bag. It seemed that Ding Yu had indeed prepared some for Qiu Huoming.
"Thank you, Brother Ding Yu." Qiu Hongye thanked Ding Yu with a smile.
"You're welcome. Wait for me." He trotted back to the original place and pushed his parked bicycle out from the intersection.
"Let me show you how to slide onto a car with one foot!" Ding Yu said with a smug smile, "I spent an entire afternoon learning it yesterday, and I've mastered it now."
"Oh, come here." Qiu Huoming replied vaguely while biting a bun in his mouth.
Ding Yu stretched out his left foot and stepped tremblingly on the pedal. He pushed with his right foot and the bike slid forward smoothly. He tremblingly spread his right leg and stepped onto the bike in an arc. At this moment, the front of the bike seemed to be shaking, swaying from side to side, and it seemed like it was about to fall.
Qiu Hongye exclaimed.
Ding Yu suddenly propped himself up with one foot and stabilized the car. He held the front of the car steady and looked back, "How was it? Wonderful, wasn't it?"
Qiu Huoming glanced at his slightly trembling hands. If it weren't for this flaw, this kid really acted well.
This time it is a combined chapter, that is, two chapters are combined into one chapter, which is said to be able to save the subscription:)
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