20.芦花鞋

Lesson Twenty

Reed Flower Shoes

1.Here we produce a kind of reed flower shoes for winter wear.

2.The manufacturing process of the shoes is: first, the superior reed flowers are picked back, and then they are evenly rubbed into the straw rope, and then woven into shoes.

3.The shoes are very thick, which are as warm as a bird’s nest.

4.After harvesting the crops in autumn, Qingtong’s family has decided that during the winter leisure this year, the whole family will start weaving 100 pairs of reed flower shoes, and then let Qingtong carry them to sell in Youmadi Town.

5.This is the source of household income, a very important income.

6.Thinking of this income, the whole family was very excited, feeling bright in their hearts and bright in the future.

7.Qingtong took a big cloth bag and went deep into the reed marsh to pick the brushy, fluffy and silvery reed flowers, and smoothed them off the ears.

8.The reed flowers of the current year rather than that of the last year will be taken.

9.The reed flower looks like duck’s down, and people will feel warm when they look at it.

10.Kuihua, the sister, followed Qingtong and walked into the reed marsh.

11.She raised her head and kept looking for it.When she saw a particularly beautiful spike, she would not pick it and always called, “Brother, here are some!”

12.When Qingtong heard that, he would come.

13.He smiled when he saw that the flower was really good.

14.When the first pair of men’s shoes and the first pair of women’s shoes were knitted out of the hands of father and mother, the whole family was very happy.

15.Two pairs of shoes were passed from hand to hand in a family to see.

16.They were really beautiful.

17.The soft reed flowers seem to grow on it.

18.Blown by the wind, the flowers turned upside down in one direction, revealing golden straw

19.It reminded people of the birds that fall on the trees.When the wind blew, the soft fluff was blown away and showed up the body.

20.Two pairs of shoes were like four bird’s nests and two pairs of birds.

21.The family, old and young, spent all their spare time weaving reed flower shoes.

22.They knitted 101 pairs of shoes.

23.The 101st pair was made for Qingtong.

24.Qingtong should also have a new pair of reed flower shoes.

25.In the following days, Qingtong carried dozens of pairs of reed flower shoes to sell in Yaumati Town every day.

26.Those reed flower shoes were so popular that they were sold one by one.After only three days, there were only 11 pairs left.

27.It snowed heavily all night, and the snow was a foot thick, thus it was hard to open the door in the morning.

28.It was still snowing.

29.Grandma said to Qingtong, “Don’t sell shoes in town today.”

30.Parents also said to Qingtong, “The remaining 11 pairs, one pair is for you, and the other 10 pairs are sold.It’s OK if they cannot be sold, we can keep them for our family.”

31.Kuihua also said, “Brother, don’t go today.”

32.But Qingtong insisted on going to town.

33.He said to his grandmother, “It’s cold today, and more people will buy shoes.”

34.His mother said, “Choose a pair of them, or you won’t go.” Qingtong agreed.

35.He picked out a pair of reed flower shoes suitable for him, washed his feet clean and put them on.

36.Then he picked up the remaining ten pairs of reed flower shoes, shook hands at the family, and ran into the snow.

37.When He got to the town, there was almost no one in the street, only heavy snow kept falling on the empty street surface.

38.After a while, ten pairs of reed flower shoes hanging on the rope were covered with snow.

39.The man in the opposite room, who was warming up in the stove, called Qingtong, “Come on in.It is OK for you to stay here.Your shoes will not be lost.”

40.Qingtong shook his hands and stuck by the reed flower shoes.

41.At noon, it snowed heavily and dropped in groups.

42.Looking at the heavy snow, Qingtong kept saying in his heart, “Those who buy shoes, come quickly, please! Those who buy shoes, come quickly…

43.The snow gradually stopped in his prayer.

44.Qingtong took off the shoes, slapped the snow on them off, and then hung them on the rope again.

45.At this time, here came a line of townspeople.The New Year was coming soon.They would go back to the city by steamship from here.

46.They came over with their bags on their backs or hands, laughing and crunching on the snow all the way.

47.Qingtong did not greet them.

48.Because he thought that the city people would not buy his reed flower shoes, they only wore cotton padded shoes and leather padded shoes.

49.But when they passed by, a few people stopped.

50.The rest saw that these men stopped, and they all stopped, also.

51.The ten pairs of reed flower shoes reflected by the snow attracted them.

52.One or two of them must be artistic.They looked at these shoes, and couldn’t help sighing.

53.They forget what those shoes were for, and they just thought the shoes were good-looking—not in general, but in particular.

54.They came forward and stroked them with their hands—a stroke that made them even more fond of the shoes.

55.Several people took them under their noses and smelled them.The smell of straw was very clear in the fresh air.

56.A man said, “It’s good to buy a pair and hang it on the wall.”

57.Several people nodded and took a pair of them for fear that it would be too late to be taken by others.

58.A total of nine people took reed flower shoes, and one of them took two pairs.Now, ten pairs of shoes were in their hands.

59.The next step was to talk about the price.

60.Qingtong kept wondering until people kept asking him how much a pair of shoes were.

61.He didn’t raise the price because of the joy in their eyes, but he quoted the price he wanted to sell.

62.They all thought it was cheap and paid without saying a word.

63.Qingtong, who was standing in the snow with a fistful of money in his hands, was a little confused.

64.It’s sunny and it’s bright all around.

65.Qingtong went back along the way it came.

66.A man came after him and yelled behind him, “Stop, boy!”

67.Qingtong stopped, turned around, and looked doubtfully at the man running towards him.

68.The man ran to Qingtong and said, “I saw the reed flower shoes they bought.I like them very much.Do you still have any else for sale?”

69.Qingtong shook his head and felt sorry for the man.

70.The man stood his hand in disappointment and sighed.

71.Qingtong looked at the man and felt a little sorry for him.

72.The man turned and headed for the wharf.

73.Qingtong turned and went home.

74.As he walked, Qingtong slowed down.

75.His eyes fell on the pair of reed flower shoes on his feet.

76.The snow creaked under the reed flower shoes.

77.He walked more and more slowly, and then he stopped.

78.He looked at the sky and the snow, and finally his eyes fell on the reed flower shoes on his feet.

79.He felt his feet warm.

80.But after a while, he pulled his right foot out of the reed flower shoes and stood on the snow.

81.His feet felt a stabbing cold.

82.Then, he pulled his left foot out of his reed flower shoes and stood on the snow.

83.It was a piercing cold again.

84.He bent down, picked up the shoes and put them in front of his eyes.

85.Because there was snow all the way, the shoes were still clean.It looked like a new pair of shoes.

86.He laughed and ran after the man.

87.When he stepped across the snow with his bare feet, he spattered with snowflakes…