I can see the book of life and death

"Ah, no money?"

The old man looked at Zhang Mingtu, who was smiling. A large pot of mutton soup was radiating heat, and next to it were steamed white flour buns.

Zhang Mingtu casually handed the mutton soup and steamed buns to him, then turned around and distributed them to other people passing by the restaurant.

Seeing this, the old man picked up the haggis soup with his somewhat stiff hands and took a small sip.

The mutton soup is delicious, and the white flour steamed buns are fluffy and delicious, and the more you chew, the sweeter they become.

As more and more people passed by, the old man quickly pushed his wheelbarrow to the side of the alley. The cart was blocked at the door, which already affected the image of the restaurant.

I drank the mutton soup quickly, and my whole body felt warm. Even my hands and feet were warm, and I was sweating a little.

He has been selling charcoal in Jianyi for many years, and this is the best bowl of mutton soup he has ever tasted.

The old man hesitated for a moment when Zhang Mingtu gave him four steamed buns. He couldn't help feeling hungry, so he took out one and ate it. The remaining three were carefully wrapped in cloth bags and carried in his arms.

He returned the bowl to the store owner, thanked him carefully, and moved a basket of charcoal from the car. Regardless of Zhang Mingtu's refusal, he moved it directly to the kitchen.

After doing all this, the old man pushed the car to the store with a happy face.

After having a good meal, even though I was wearing thin clothes, I felt warm all over in the snowy weather.

Zhang Mingtu looked at the old man's retreating back and sighed in his heart.

The old man is poor but has no ambition and can still maintain his dignity.

Unfortunately, Zhang Mingtu could not do much.

I told Zhang Jishi and Wang Yulan about distributing mutton soup and white flour steamed buns.

Zhang Jishi agrees. He travels all over the country and has seen some big restaurants use such activities to attract people when they open.

It is easy for a newly opened restaurant to accumulate reputation. In the short term, it will be a loss, but in the long term, it will be very good.

Wang Yulan felt a little distressed and couldn't help but talk about it, but when she looked at the thinly dressed passers-by who came to Jianyi City to go to the market, even though she was talking about it, she steamed two more steamed buns.

She has endured hardships, and now it seems that she will not be short of money in the future. If she can do some good deeds within her ability, she will not refuse.

It’s just that I’ve been used to running a house for many years, and I still can’t get over spending money like this all at once, and I can’t help but talk about it distressedly.

Zhang Mingtu was in charge of the distribution, and he spotted another familiar figure along the way. He was the old man whose son reported the problem of the dam, which led to his son's death.

But at this time, the old man was not as discouraged as when Zhang Mingtu saw him. He had a smile on his face and his eyes were full of longing for the future.

He picked up two large baskets of fish and hurried slowly to the market.

"Come here, uncle, the restaurant has opened a new one, you can drink mutton soup for free, and you will get four steamed buns as a gift."

The uncle took it enthusiastically. The mutton soup that had been saved in advance was no longer as warm as before. The uncle drank the whole bowl and wiped the corners of his mouth numbly.

It was obviously mutton soup, but it gave him the feeling of strong liquor.

"Slow down, don't be anxious. If you want to drink, there's still another bowl, but the haggis is gone, so you can only drink soup."

"No, no, thank you very much. I'm in a hurry to sell the fish. If I wait a little longer, the fish may not be fresh. The fish our sons have worked so hard to catch can't be wasted by a bad old man like me."

The old man waved his hand and gave Zhang Mingtu a large carp weighing seven or eight kilograms.

It was sent directly to the kitchen without any explanation.

These simple and simple working people sometimes show admirable qualities.

Zhang Mingtu was familiar with Jianyi and knew that there were many kinds of fish in the Gan River.

A large carp weighing seven to eight kilograms may not look big, but because it is difficult to handle and is quite fishy, ​​it cannot be sold at a high price in the market, and many people are unwilling to buy it.

Regardless of the size of the fish, in terms of value, it may not be as good as a full bowl of haggis soup and four steamed buns.

However, this is not a value exchange. It is always satisfying to be reciprocated by others for the goodwill you send out.

After being busy for an hour, a large pot of mutton soup was distributed, as well as several large steamer buns.

During the break, Zhang Mingtu sat in the restaurant and watched the people coming and going in front of the door.

It was quite hard for everyone, but after sharing the haggis soup and steamed buns, everyone had a smile on their face.

The crowds of people continued to hustle and bustle until noon gradually approached and the number of people started to thin out.

There are all kinds of hawking sounds, including those selling fish and shrimps, those selling charcoal fires, those selling wood, and those selling prey brought from the mountains...

Various characters walked among them, not interfering with each other but influencing each other at the same time. The tax collectors in the store were high-spirited and collected taxes from the east store to the west store.

When I came in, my hands were empty, but when I left, there was a pile of fish, rabbits, firewood, charcoal, and all kinds of things behind me.

Zhang Mingtu just looked at it like this, feeling a sense of new life in a trance.

Without his intervention, the charcoal seller would have died of hypothermia due to hunger this morning just to save money.

The old fish seller will probably become hollow-eyed in a few months, and he will tell everyone he meets that his two sons were beaten to death for reporting that the dam was about to collapse.

About half a year later, the market tax collector wanted to take away the donkey cart of the old man selling firewood, but he was only willing to give two pieces of cloth.

The old firewood seller who used to be docile was forced to take out firewood and struggled with the tax collector, and accidentally beat the tax collector to death...

But now these people appear vividly in front of Zhang Mingtu, and their destined destiny has changed.

"Boy, boy!"

The charcoal seller's voice woke Zhang Mingtu out of his deep thoughts. The old man was carrying a small half basket of charcoal with a smile on his face.

"This is what is left from today's sale. It will be too tiring to drag it back. My body and bones can't bear it. You restaurant owners are honest in their work. I just thought about it and will give you this half basket of charcoal. Don't dislike it..."

The old man had gray hair on his temples and looked quite thin, but he was very strong and carried half a basket of charcoal to the kitchen with familiarity.

Zhang Mingtu was busy cutting into half a piece of sauced wild boar for the old man.

As a result, this time, the old man refused.

"It can't be like this, it can't be like this. You can drink the free mutton soup, but the soy sauce pork is not good. I can't afford it back, I can't afford this favor..."

The old man's attitude was quite firm, and he kept repeating the same words over and over again. It was obvious that he had not read much.

But his behavior made Zhang Mingtu feel good about it. He pondered for a moment and said: "Well, let's use your charcoal fire today. It started the fire very quickly and burned for a long enough time.

"From now on, you can send as much charcoal as you want to the restaurant. This half a pound of wild boar meat in sauce will be regarded as a deposit between us..."

The old man became interested when he mentioned charcoal.

"That's because my charcoal fires are famous in Ximen Market. No deposit is required. You should be open and honest. If you want them, I will send them to you every few days. It's snowing now and it's hard to get charcoal."

The old man said, and before Zhang Mingtu could say anything else, he turned around and walked away in a hurry.

Zhang Mingtu watched intently, and the strange feeling in his heart became stronger and stronger.

In the future we saw before, the charcoal seller had frozen to death in the market this morning.

But now, he walked home in a hurry, walking briskly.

The ever-changing clouds and fog in my mind have changed.