Chapter 210 Test
Xu Hexiao has been practicing calligraphy intermittently for nearly ten years. When he was young, he was taught by the elders of the Xu family and the teachers hired by the family. In recent years, the three old Yi brothers have taken turns to teach him. His calligraphy and paintings have been unanimously praised by the three old Yi brothers.
"It's vigorous and powerful, with its own style. Very good!" The director looked at Xu Hexiao with admiration.
Xu Hexiao had a calm expression and was not surprised by fame or disgrace.
"Okay, it's you. Come with me. I have some notices to write."
On this day, Xu Hexiao was busy writing notices, notifications, and organizing some meeting minutes.
Not only does he write well, he also writes quickly.
When he got off work, the director handed him a stack of documents and said, "Take it home and read it. Learn how others write it."
Xu Hexiao agreed, and felt relieved. His hard work today was worth it. He didn't plan to be a driver forever. Not to mention whether being a driver was tiring, he often had to go on business trips, which could be as short as one or two days or as long as four or five days. He couldn't bear to be away from home for such a long time, and he was also worried about Qiqi and the four children.
If given the opportunity, he hopes to change his job.
Now, he appears to have seized that opportunity.
Xu Hexiao went to the hospital again before returning home.
"Are you tired of eating bear meat these days?" Xu Hexiao asked Lin Qi.
Lin Qi raised her eyebrows, "Planning to go to the black market again?"
"There have been a lot of coughs recently, so pears should be selling well. I'm going to go and get some chickens and pork." It's so cold, and there are so many sick people. I guess the inspection and security teams won't go out.
"Didn't you say that the black market often changes its location? Do you know where they will open tonight?" After eating bear meat for several days in a row, Lin Qi was indeed tired of it.
"I'll go ask Brother Cao later." Xu Hexiao said. The rotation of the black market locations should be regular. It would be easier to find them once you figure them out.
"Pick up some snow pears and go over. I don't know if my sister-in-law has been discharged from the hospital."
Zhao Hanshuang was supposed to be hospitalized for four days, but the hospital was now overwhelmed with patients. After learning that she was one of the "five black categories," the patients kicked her out.
Now she is recuperating in Cao Zheng's house.
After they registered, she continued to live in her small room. The reason was that the soundproofing of Cao Zheng's room was too poor, and the couple could not do anything at night. Now that she was sick, Cao Zheng was worried about her staying alone in the damp, cold and narrow room, so he took her home.
When Xu Hexiao arrived, Cao Zheng's family had just finished dinner.
Cao Zheng had been sweeping snow for a whole day and his whole body ached. His hands holding the chopsticks couldn't help but tremble.
When Grandma Cao saw this, she felt very distressed, but she couldn't say anything. If her son didn't go to sweep the snow, her daughter-in-law would have to go. Her daughter-in-law was sick, and if she went to sweep the snow, she might die.
She couldn't do such a cruel thing.
"He Xiao, why are you here?" Cao Zheng's face was full of surprise. He hurriedly stood up and invited Xu He Xiao to his home. "We just finished our meal. Please sit down and eat some more with us."
Xu Hexiao shook his head, "I've already eaten. I came to see you for something."
"Are you going to the black market?" Cao Zheng lowered his voice.
Xu Hexiao nodded and said, "Go buy some things."
"Let's go inside and talk." Cao Zheng grabbed Xu Hexiao's hand and wanted to lead him into the house.
Xu Hexiao put the basket in his hand on the table, "Some fruits for grandma and sister-in-law."
The two chatted in the room for a short while. When Xu Hexiao came out again, there was an empty set of bowls and chopsticks on the table.
Xu Hexiao shook his head. "No more eating. Qiqi and the kids are still waiting for me to come back. I have to leave first."
Cao Zheng did not force him to stay. He took out the snow pears from the basket and returned the basket to Xu Hexiao. "Just come directly next time. Don't bring such expensive fruits. Snow pears are one yuan per pound now. This must be more than ten pounds."
"I bought it somewhere else. It's not that expensive." Xu Hexiao lied.
"Fresh fruits are not cheap. Grandma and your sister-in-law have both been coughing recently, so I accepted them. If you take such expensive fruits next time, I will be angry." Cao Zheng looked serious.
Xu Hexiao nodded, "Okay, I understand."
That night, Xu Hexiao carried two bags of pears to the black market and exchanged them for a rooster, a hen and thirty kilograms of pork.
"We have to go again tomorrow night. We will have beef and mutton tomorrow night, but the other party wants us to exchange them for liquor and flour." Xu Hexiao said. If they go again tomorrow, they will have enough meat for the New Year.
"I still have 30 kilograms of high-concentration liquor, but not much flour left. I'll grind it tomorrow during the day." She planned to grind more so that Xu Hexiao could exchange more.
"Beef or lamb, which one do you choose?"
"Beef, beef is rarer."
"OK."
The next day, Xu Hexiao brought Zhao Shu meat porridge and buns for breakfast again.
"Qiqi will kill a chicken at noon and bring you chicken soup then." Xu Hexiao said.
"Do you have enough meat coupons?" Zhao Shu was a little worried, afraid that because of him, Xu Hexiao's family would have to tighten their belts.
"Have you forgotten the bear we caught last time? The meat is enough for us to eat for a month or two. Wouldn't that save us meat coupons?" Xu Hexiao thought that the chickens bought on the black market were expensive, so they didn't need meat coupons. As for the meat coupons, they had already used them up.
"What you save is yours, you go to my house, my ticket--"
"No need." Xu Hexiao interrupted Zhao Shu, "If you really want to give it to us, then wait until you are discharged from the hospital and give it to us after that."
Zhao Shu thought about it and agreed, "Okay."
In the evening, Xu Hexiao took two bags of flour and thirty kilograms of high-concentration rice wine to the black market.
"Your snow pears are very effective. The effect is immediate. After eating one, my child's cough was immediately relieved. Do you have any more? I want them all." said the uncle selling meat.
Things that are born from Qiqi's energy are naturally good. Xu Hexiao raised his eyebrows, "Isn't it enough after all that last night?"
"I didn't know the effect was so good at the time, so I gave them to others to sell and only kept ten for myself. If you sell me some more, I will give you all the mutton and beef."
"Don't you want the wine and flour?"
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll bring you some chickens tomorrow."
"I want a pullet."
"OK!"
It was half a side of mutton and a full fifty kilograms of beef. Xu Hexiao was very satisfied with it.
After returning home, Xu Hexiao first divided the mutton and beef into pieces. He set aside the amount he would eat in the next two days and put the rest into a large outdoor vat. The bear meat was also in the vat. At this time, the meat was frozen into pieces and could be kept for half a year.
The next morning, Lin Qi cooked beef porridge, chopped the beef, and made beef patties.
Zhao Shu ate the cake and drank the porridge, looking directly at Xu Hexiao with his sharp eyes, almost asking him where the beef came from.
These days, few cows are slaughtered. Even if cows are slaughtered in slaughterhouses, the beef cannot flow into the market. Where did Xu Hexiao get the beef?
Xu Hexiao pretended not to notice Zhao Shu's inquiring eyes and said, "I'm going to work. I'll come over in the evening."
Watching Xu Hexiao's back disappearing at the door, Zhao Shu laughed out loud. This kid, haha, was testing him.
If he were to find out where the beef came from, he could be sure that the boy would definitely not come tomorrow.
Forget it, he just wants to have a godson, he doesn’t care about anything else.
In late December, the snow melted.
Xu Hexiao wrote for a few days and was notified to go on a business trip again. His partner was still Zhao Shu.
Zhao Shu did not explicitly say that he wanted to take in an apprentice or adopt a godson, but he gave all the cloth coupons, industrial coupons, and meat coupons in his hands to Xu Hexiao. Xu Hexiao would sometimes bring him a lunch box of cooked meat, sometimes some steamed buns, and whatever delicious food was cooked at home, he would bring him a portion. Zhao Shu never ate these things at the factory, but took them home and saved them for dinner.
So people in the factory didn’t know that Xu Hexiao and Zhao Shu’s relationship had become so close.
But every day at noon, Zhao Shu would have lunch with Xu Hexiao and tell him some knowledge about cars. After talking about cars, he also talked about jeeps and even tractors, which he knew a little about.
"Can you drive a car?" Xu Hexiao asked curiously.
"Yes. It's not much different from driving a truck. I'll teach you when I have the chance." Zhao Shu said.
"Where can I find such an opportunity? What are the requirements to buy a car?" Xu Hexiao asked.
Zhao Shu shook his head, "I can't buy a car."
Xu Hexiao looked disappointed.
Zhao Shu smiled and comforted him, "It is said that every American household has a private car. Our country is developing rapidly. You are still young. Just be patient and you will eventually be able to drive a car."
Knowing that Xu Hexiao was going out to transport goods again, Lin Qi packed dozens of beef buns for them and filled two military kettles with high-concentration rice wine.
The other military kettle belongs to Zhao Shu.
"The snow has just melted and the roads are muddy. Please be careful." Lin Qi was not very reassured.
Xu Hexiao hummed, "Just go to the nearby counties and cities. Even if something happens, rescue won't be too difficult. Don't worry."
"How about I go with you guys?" Lin Qi suggested.
"No. It's so cold, I can't bear to let you and the child suffer from the cold." Xu Hexiao was a little helpless, "Trust me, ok?"
Lin Qi hesitated for two seconds before nodding.
Xu Hexiao had a safe trip, but when he came back, his clothes were covered with dots of mud. He said the car had fallen into a pit, and he accidentally got them on when he went out to push the car.
The sun only came out for five or six days, and on the twenty-seventh day of the lunar year, snow began to fall again, and this time the snow was even heavier than before.
When I woke up one morning, the snow was one meter thick.
Xu Hexiao didn't need to worry about the snow on the yard and roof of his house, because the vines would clean it up. After breakfast, Xu Hexiao followed the instructions of the street office and went to the street to sweep the snow. After sweeping the snow, he went to the machinery factory to drive out and transport the snow away.
The snow only stopped for one day and continued at night.
Seeing this, the machinery factory had no choice but to close the holiday early.
The snow kept falling and the snow-clearing work was suspended.
Xu Hexiao finally had time to stay home with Lin Qi and the four children. Now that the children were five months old, Lin Qi had started giving them some rice soup. In addition to rice soup, Lin Qi would grind the rice and cook rice paste for them.
The children accepted the rice soup and porridge well, and each of them could drink half a bowl of rice porridge at one meal.
One afternoon, Lin Qi was bathing her four children. Before she had time to put thick clothes on them, she suddenly saw the eldest child, Xu Boxi, support herself on the bed with her hands and slowly sit up. After sitting up straight, the little girl clapped her hands and grinned.
Seeing this, the second and third children also followed the eldest child's example and rolled around on the bed a few times. After a while, they sat up straight. Even the weakest fourth child grabbed the railing with one hand and sat up straight with the help of external force.
Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao watched this scene silently without interrupting them.
Just a few days after the children were able to sit, Lin Qi discovered that their teeth had sprouted.
On New Year's Eve, the snow still did not stop. Xu Hexiao and Lin Qi made dumplings and had hotpot for dinner.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the snow finally stopped, the sun came out, and the snow began to melt. The temperature was still very low, so Xu Hexiao and Lin Qi stayed at home to play with the children.
In the afternoon, there was a knock on their door.
Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao guessed that the person outside the door should be someone from Cao Zheng or the Chu family. But when they opened the door, they were surprised to find that it was Zhao Shu standing outside.
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