"What do you mean?" I turned my head and asked Captain Zhou.
Captain Zhou stood still, took out a lighter and lit a cigarette, then continued to walk and said, "When you went back to sleep in the house last night, I was still up. Because I knew that I would go to Tougouzi Village to find out the situation the next day. So I called the head of Tougouzi Village."
We all nodded and pricked up our ears, wanting to hear Captain Zhou's next words.
Captain Zhou took a drag on his cigarette and blew a smoke ring in the air: "I told him to find out the situation tomorrow and make him prepare. Tell the person who first found the body not to go out tomorrow and wait for us at home. Then Chatting and chatting, just like us, we unknowingly talked about this old Xia."
"This is Lao Xia." Captain Zhou subconsciously glanced at Lao Xia who was leading the way in front of him, and seeing that he didn't respond, he continued: "This Lao Xia is forty-two years old this year. His family is actually an ancestral butcher. From his grandfather's life, he was a butcher who slaughtered cattle and sheep at the entrance of the village."
After saying this, Captain Zhou couldn't stop.
Lao Xia's family is an ancestral butcher, and his grandfather was a butcher in his life. At that time, Lao Xia's grandfather was assigned to work in a meat joint factory and became a glorious butcher. At that time, Lao Xia's grandfather was in his twenties, and he had been doing this for a lifetime.
His grandfather was a butcher, and his father was also familiar with it. When he was ten years old, he followed his grandfather to the factory to butcher cattle and sheep, cut and weighed the meat, and he was very familiar with the process of each item.
After Lao Xia's grandfather retired from the factory, Lao Xia's father took this position. In the factory, no one is more familiar with the job of butcher than Lao Xia's father. Lao Xia's father soon became a well-known butcher in the meat factory, and Lao Xia also started a childhood like his father.
The only difference is that when my father was forty years old, the meat joint factory reorganized and all the employees were laid off. Although Lao Xia's father is very skilled, no one can appreciate it. Lao Xia's mother suggested that his father put down some capital to open a butcher shop, and Lao Xia's father did so.
At that time, people who were raised in the factory were lazy, but Lao Xia's father was different. He really loved this industry. Although they could slaughter the goods for Lao Xia's father in advance, Lao Xia's father insisted on doing it himself. Every night, Lao Xia could see his father sharpening his knife in the dark and slaughtering cows in the dead of night.
When he was in his twenties, Lao Xia's father finally handed over his shop to Lao Xia to manage, and the butcher knife that had been used for two lifetimes finally passed into Lao Xia's hands. Lao Xia couldn't study well, and he wasn't good enough to go to school. Naturally, his son inherited his father's business and took over the butcher shop.
We listened to Captain Zhou telling the story of Lao Xia, while Lao Xia was walking in front without saying a word. It is really a bad thing to talk about others behind their backs, but when the person you talk about behind their backs is not far in front of you, a strange feeling will appear in your heart.
One cigarette had burned out, and the three of us lit another one. Looking at the lingering blue smoke and the fluttering snowflakes falling in the sky, Captain Zhou continued to tell us the story of Lao Xia: "When he was thirty, something happened that completely changed Lao Xia's life. Life… "
When he was twenty-five years old, the family told Lao Xia about a marriage, and Lao Xia got married soon. Three years later, the two had a baby, and the world of two became a family of three.
In fact, this matter started from Lao Xia's grandparents. At that time, in the meat joint factory, most of the people just made up the numbers. To use a popular saying at the time, that is to do more or less, and to do or not to do the same. Most people are just dawdling, a golden rice bowl can last a lifetime.
An He is such a fool, he is the neighbor of Grandpa Xia.
The An family and the Xia family are family friends.
If he had known that the An family's grandchildren were like that, Lao Xia's grandfather would not have become neighbors with An's family even if he was killed.
Just as people couldn't believe that smartphones would appear in the world more than ten years ago, people at that time also couldn't believe that factories would close down one day in the future. An He's son and Lao Xia's father grew up together when they were young, and they grew up wearing a pair of crotch pants.
The two took over the work of their father's meat joint factory at the same time. They are like their respective fathers, one works diligently, the other drinks tea and plays cards in the factory, and spends their days as fools. At that time, no one could tell who was superior to anyone else, and the relationship between the two families had always been good.
This is the friendship of two lifetimes. Your grandfather and my grandfather are good friends, and your father and my father are childhood friends.
So Lao Xia and An He's grandson Lao An also became good friends.
But that year the factory closed down.
Everyone has become a vagrant. Although their wages are the same, Lao Xia's father has saved up wages and benefits, while Lao An's father believes in the creed of life every day, and has no habit of saving money. . After all, no one would have thought that the golden job that had been promised for a lifetime would be ruined like this.
So Lao An's father had to borrow money from Lao Xia's father frequently, and the two had lived for half their lives, and their relationship was stronger than that of relatives. Lao Xia's father is a good man. He caught up with all the people and made a lot of money by running his own butcher shop. Therefore, I often lent hundreds of thousands to Lao An's father, and never asked Lao An's father to return it.
Lao Xia's mother talked a lot about this matter. After all, it was for emergency, not for the poor. If there is an emergency, you can borrow money, but he has been poor for a lifetime, can you still borrow money for the rest of his life
When Lao Xia married his wife, Lao An was still hanging around outside. Like Lao Xia, he is not a material for learning, but he doesn't even have a craft that can make a living. He once naively imagined that if he took over his father's position, he could live his whole life drinking tea and chatting.
Lao Xia's father couldn't see that his young son became such a fool, so he lent him 40,000 to 50,000 yuan, hoping that he could start a small business by himself and sell everything.
But Lao An, like his father, was used to being undisciplined, and the tens of thousands of dollars were quickly squandered.
After that, Lao Xia's father lent money to Lao An several times until Lao Xia's father passed away.
From then on, Lao Xia's mother never allowed her son to lend money to Lao An.
Lao Xia's mother is a sensible person, he knows that lending money to Lao An is like throwing money into a bottomless pit, there is no end at all. Over the past few decades, the money lent to An's family has ranged from 500,000 to 200,000, and they have done their best.
Besides, Lao Xia and his wife have a child, and the burden will be even greater in the future.
Which parent doesn't want to be able to provide a better living environment for their children
So Lao Xia decided to give Lao An 100,000 yuan at one time. This is the last time to give Lao An money. Lao An looked at the 100,000 yuan, and said at the time that he must use this money to do business well from now on, and must make good use of this money.
In fact, Lao An did the same.
However, even if Lao An intends to run a business, in his nearly thirty years of life, he has no awareness or ability in this regard. Naturally, within two years, the 100,000 yuan was wasted, and Lao An lost nothing. At the same time, Lao Xia plans to open a chain of butcher shops.
This year, Xia was twenty-eight years old and had a three-year-old child. Lao Xia moved to a new house, moved out of the house allocated by the meat joint factory a long time ago. The new home is very big, more than 130 square meters. Although it is not particularly rich, Lao Xia is enough to live a life of adequate food and clothing.
You can eat whatever you want, and travel wherever you want is not a problem.
The character of the Xia family is simple and pragmatic. I remember that when I was young, Lao Xia and Lao An were walking on the road. Others said that Lao An was smart and would be a person who would do great things in the future. Others said that Lao Xia was too introverted and shy, and he would not be able to achieve any great things in the future.
But the facts slapped everyone in the face. Maybe Lao An was smarter, but Lao Xia succeeded.
Lao An found Lao Xia again, hoping to lend him another 100,000 yuan, so that he could have a chance to make a comeback.
Lao Xia rejected Lao An's request.
That night, Lao An stood at the door and yelled: "When your father is here, how dare you treat us like this? Well, you Lao Xia, you have developed, but you have forgotten your hair? What are you? If not Because you are rich, I will flatter you like this? What kind of human nature! Your family is rich, why give me one hundred thousand?"
Lao Xia still didn't give it.
At that time, Lao An could often be heard slandering Lao Xia everywhere. Said that Lao Xia has money, so he doesn't recognize his former brother. Lao An even often slandered Lao Xia's daughter.
In short, there are only things you can't think of, and there is nothing that Lao An can't say.
Doumi En bears Mi En's revenge.
Reach out and give someone a small favor when they are most in need, and he will thank you for a lifetime. But if it goes on like this, as long as you stop helping him once, the other party will hate you, and will hate you for the rest of his life.
Lao An has been supported by the Xia family since he was a teenager, but after twenty years, the Xia family no longer unconditionally helps An's family. Lao An took Xia's support as a matter of course. He thought, since Lao Xia is so rich, why can't he give some to himself
But Lao Xia is determined this time.
Lao An held a grudge, and chose a good day. According to the almanac, it was not easy to sacrifice on that day.
Then, he made a decision.
Having said that, our journey is more than half done.
There was still snow in the sky, Captain Zhou muttered that the weather was really bad.
"And then?" Guan Zengbin asked curiously.
Captain Zhou made a fool of himself and said, "Guess what decision Lao An made?"
"What?" the two asked.
"Guess?" Captain Zhou said.
I frowned and said, "I should talk about the origin of his burn..."