Siheyuan: There are three little cats at home

Chapter 462 Persimmon

It's chilly on the streets. It didn't snow yesterday, but it lasted all day.

It made the early morning even colder than the previous few days.

The sky was getting brighter little by little. Xu Qing was riding a motorcycle at a slow speed. He passed by the steaming breakfast stall and took a nose at the scent.

When he arrived at the grain station, he didn't see anyone else arriving first.

He parked his motorcycle outside, took out his keys, and went in carrying his military coat.

It was cold inside the grain station. The fire in the stove was extinguished when he left last night. Four cats were hiding together behind the counter. When they heard the noise, they ran out one by one and gathered around Xu Qing's trouser legs, rubbing their heads and yelling. .

Xu Qing ignored it and put the ten military coats he had brought in the morning on the counter, divided them with his ability, and then put the separated ones behind the counter. Then he bent down and teased the little white ones at his feet. Then as usual, start the stove and boil water.

When Er Mazi came, Xu Qing was feeding four cats.

"Qingzi, you've been so early these past two days!"

Er Mazi took off the hat on his head, took a breath, walked to Xu Qing, and sat down on the chair.

Xu Qing straightened up and took out the flue:
"Brother Mazi, from now on, Lihua and the other three are also working here. Please take care of them more in the future."

"What?"

Er Mazi was shocked and dumbfounded, "Qingzi, aren't you kidding me?"

Xu Qing handed the cigarette to Er Mazi and said calmly:
"Are you kidding? The three of them will be here later."

Er Mazi took the cigarette with a look of disbelief, thinking that Xu Qing was teasing him.

However, at this moment.

Hui Lihua and Li Shuzhen came in from the outside together. Er Mazi turned around and was stunned.

"Comrade Lihua, Comrade Shuzhen, do you two really come to work here?"

Er Mazi asked hurriedly when he came back to his senses.

Hui Lihua untied her scarf and said, "Yes, Er Mazi, do you have any objections?"

Er Mazi said with a smile on his face:
"No, I don't expect you to come. It would be great if there are so many people."

While they were talking, Sanhuzi's wife and Meijuan also came.

When Xu Xiaoya arrived, she met Luo Hongjuan on the road, and the two of them entered the grain station together.

The last person to come was Jing Hong. She sent her son to school in the morning and then rode over.

When Xu Qing saw everyone gathered, he stood in front of everyone, cleared his throat and said:

"Jinghong, Sister Wang, Meijuan, Brother Mazi, Xiaoya, starting from today, Lihua and the others will be our new colleagues at the grain station. Please help me."

Er Mazi grinned happily and said, "No problem, I'll take care of it!"

Xu Qing rolled his eyes at Er Mazi, then simply said a few words, and asked Jinghong to watch and arrange the three of Hui Lihua, while letting him familiarize himself with the business.

He took Er Mazi away from the grain station and rode his motorcycle to the warehouse in the suburbs.

Today is the day to deliver food to several branch factories.

It was previously scheduled for the weekend, but since the event was held, the grain station was crowded with people on weekends and could not spare manpower to deliver to several branch factories, so some time ago, the date was moved to within the week.

As soon as Xu Qing rode his motorcycle and took Er Mazi out of the city, the two of them couldn't help but shrink up.

The outside of the city is desolate, unlike the city, where there are buildings everywhere to block the wind.

The weeds on both sides of the road outside the city are withered, and in the fields that can be seen in the distance, the crops have long been harvested. The northwest wind is raging, and the blow on the face is like being cut with a razor blade.

Er Mazi was better, sitting behind Xu Qing, lowering his head, shrinking his body, and hiding himself behind. The cold was not a problem, relatively speaking, but his face could still feel better.

Xu Qing was riding a motorcycle, even though he was wearing the scarf Jinghong knitted for him, and even though the speed was not fast, his cheeks still hurt.

Halfway through the journey, I couldn't bear the cold. I avoided the truck honking its horn behind me and stopped on the side of the road.

After the truck passed by, he said:

"Brother Mazi, come on, if you don't like riding, I'll do it for you."

Er Mazi has no interest in riding a motorcycle at this time. It's okay in the city. At least someone can see it. If a girl sees it, he will feel energetic no matter how cold it is.

But after leaving the city, he didn't see five people all the way. Er Mazi stood by the roadside stamping his numb feet. He took out the economic cigarettes hidden in his military coat and handed them to Xu Qing. After moving his hands and feet for a while, he He stretched out his scarf to cover his mouth and nose, pulled off the ear protection on his hat, got on the motorcycle, raised his head to Xu Qing, and signaled to get on the bus quickly.

Xu Qing smoked half of the cigarette and had no intention of smoking anymore. It was too cold and his hands were stiff. He threw it on the ground. After stamping it out, he straddled the back and the two of them continued towards the warehouse.

When they arrived at San Huzi's house, Er Mazi parked his motorcycle in the yard because of the cold. He stamped his feet and covered his cold-red face with his hands, and quickly got into San Huzi's mother's house to warm up.

Xu Qing was better. The first half was unbearably cold. In the second half, he sat in the back and didn't rush into the house. He took a look at the dogs that Sanhuzi's mother was feeding in the yard. He saw that they were all very big and strong. Quite a few.Only then, at the urging of Sanhuzi's mother, did he go inside to keep warm.

Sanhuzi's mother poured a teacup of hot water for the two of them, asking them to drink some to warm their bodies.

Xu Qing sat on the hot kang, covering the tea vat with both hands and said:
"Auntie, are you okay at night in the warehouse?"

San Huzi's mother took out the persimmons that had been dried just two days ago, and once she let Xu Qing and Er Mazi taste them, she smiled and said:
"It's okay. Those dogs in the yard. As soon as it gets dark, I will tie them up to the warehouse. If anyone dares to go over, I will bark immediately."

Xu Qing nodded, this was the effect he wanted.

Er Mazi didn't say anything, sitting aside and drinking hot water from the tea vat. Seeing that the persimmons were good, he reached out and grabbed one, took a bite, and felt sweet and waxy. He couldn't help but say:
"Auntie, your persimmons are so delicious!"

Sanhuzi's mother smiled and said: "It's delicious. When you finish your work later, I will pack some for you and take it back to the city to eat."

Er Mazi responded and quickly thanked him with a smile.

Xu Qing picked up the teapot, drank the hot water, smiled, and said nothing.

After a while, he took off the military coat he brought to Sanhuzi's mother.

"Auntie, this military coat is for you. It was too cold on the way here, so I wrapped myself up. Please forgive me."

Sanhuzi's mother heard this and hurriedly waved her hands to refuse.

"How can I ask for such an expensive thing? You young people can wear this, but I, an old woman, don't need it.

Xu Qing said with a smile: "Auntie, I brought this here specially for you. If there is something in the warehouse at night, I have to ask you to go out and take care of it. It's so cold in the winter, so what's the point of not having a military coat?"

After Xu Qing finished speaking, he took out three AA batteries, put them on the kang and said:

"Last time you said that the flashlight was not very bright. Before leaving the city, I passed by the state-owned store and bought three."

Sanhuzi's mother hurriedly took the flashlight from the cabinet, unscrewed the back cover, took out the three old batteries inside, and replaced them with new ones.

After Xu Qingnuan recovered, he went to the warehouse with Er Mazi.

Sanhuzi's mother came to the door of the hospital and said, "Xiaoqing, please remember to come over for dinner later. I have specially steamed pickled cabbage buns for you in my pot."

Xu Qing responded with a smile, turned around and led Er Mazi quickly toward the warehouse.

The warehouse is only a few hundred meters away from Sanhuzi's home. It's neither far nor close.

Standing in the courtyard, you can see the four-meter-high roof of the warehouse from a distance.

Er Mazi puffed on his cigarette, and after leaving San Huzi's house, he curled his lips and said:

"Qingzi, that's not interesting. Let me tell you, you are wearing two military coats today. The love is for your aunt. Why don't you give one to your brother too."

Xu Qing turned around and said: "Brother Mazi, who made you anxious to buy it from Xu Damao a few days ago? Originally, I was planning to give it to you. Since you bought it yourself, I will give it to you."

Er Mazi had a look of remorse on his face. The smell of smoking suddenly disappeared. He lowered his head and his intestines turned green with regret.

Xu Qing laughed, looked up at the red sun in the eastern sky, puffed out the smoke from his mouth, walked to the warehouse, walked around with Er Mazi, checked it, and took out the key from his cotton trouser pocket. Open the warehouse door.

In addition to food, there is also food in the spacious warehouse.

Processed and unprocessed, each piled in one place.

And the finished grain sent by the state is another pile.

The large machines used to process wheat and corn stand on the far right, towards the back.

Er Mazi shrank up from the cold and said, "Qingzi, let's go back to San Huzi's house first. We just walked around outside, nothing happened."

Xu Qing turned a deaf ear to Er Mazi's words.

I didn’t see anything outside, but I had to take a look inside.

If there were rats, who knows how much food would be wasted this winter.

Although when he was building the warehouse, he asked workers to stir lime and gravel into the soil, lay a very solid foundation, and plaster it with cement.

The money was not wasted, but it also prevented rats from getting in from under the ground.

But I'm still a little worried.

After all, the warehouse is full of grain, just in case a mouse sneaks in through the door of the warehouse.

If you can't get out, if you cause trouble inside, there will be no limit.

Er Mazi didn't care. He was an employee and didn't feel anything. He worked and got paid every month.

But as Xu Qing is the boss, if the food is harmed, the losses will be huge, not counting what is eaten. It will not be easy to hire people to clean up.

Not only does it cost money, it also takes time and effort.

Fortunately, I looked around and saw no signs of mice, so I locked the warehouse and returned to Sanhuzi's house, where I sat on the hot kang and ate pickled cabbage buns.Sanhuzi's mother is very good at cooking, she can pickle pickled vegetables well, and the buns she makes are very delicious.

Xu Qing ate two of them, and three of them went straight into his stomach.

Wait until after ten o'clock.

As soon as the driver hired every week arrived, Xu Qing slipped off the kang, and with Er Mazi, led the surrounding farmers hired by San Huzi's mother to reopen the warehouse and watched as Jean loaded grain into the car.

Er Mazi stared.

Xu Qing sat aside, smoking and basking in the sun.

When you are a boss, you cannot do everything yourself.

After delivering all the grain to several branches, it was already past four o'clock in the afternoon.

The setting sun sets in the west, making the sky in the west turn red.

The temperature, which had finally risen at noon, began to drop again.

Xu Qing and Er Mazi stayed in the warehouse for nearly a day.

Before returning to the city, San Huzi's mother took out four cloth bags from the house, which were filled with persimmons. One bag was for Xu Qing, one bag was for Er Mazi, and the other two bags were intended to be given to San Huzi and Mei. Juan.

Er Mazi had two bags in his left hand and two bags in his right hand, with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth and said bluntly:
"Auntie, don't worry, we will deliver it to Sister Wang and Meijuan."

Sanhuzi's mother had nothing to worry about. She smiled at Ermazi, turned around and forced the military coat Xu Qing had brought back in the morning back into Xu Qing's hands, saying:
"You give my aunt 30 yuan a month, and she feels bad and asks you to pay less, but you still can't do it.

I can't take away this military coat. If my son knows about it, he will have to make trouble with me! "

Xu Qing was riding a motorcycle, holding the handlebars with both hands and resting his right foot on the ground. He looked at Sanhuzi’s mother and said:

"Auntie, you help me keep an eye on the warehouse. I should give you a salary. This military coat is the work clothes I gave you. You can wear it at night. You can keep warm when you go out."

Sanhuzi’s mother still refused to accept it.

But Xu Qing started his motorcycle, stepped on the accelerator, and was gone in a flash.

Sanhuzi's mother was left standing at the entrance of the courtyard, holding her military coat in a daze.

For her, she has lived in poverty for most of her life. Xu Qing asked her to take care of the warehouse, with a salary of 30 yuan a month, which is more than what a young man earns as an apprentice in the city.

The old neighbor who lives nearby is not envious of her.

It is said that her family is on a high branch.

She felt in her heart that her son's greatest success in his life was to make a friend like Xu Qing.

After watching Xu Qing and Er Mazi go away, Sanhuzi's mother took the military coat and turned back to the house. She neatly folded the general's coat and put it away in the cabinet while thinking about when her son would come back. He returned the military coat.

She can't have it.

My daughter-in-law and daughter also work at the food station.

Xu Qing's benevolence and righteousness should be properly explained to her son and daughter-in-law.

Xu Qing and Er Mazi returned to the city more than half an hour later.

The sky was starting to get dark and people were coming and going on the street.

Xu Qing knows this. People who work in the workplace and in the factory are all getting off work one after another.

He took Er Mazi on his motorcycle and hurried back to the grain station.

At this time, people were already visiting the grain station to buy grain.

Jinghong took Hui Lihua, Sanhuzi's wife, and the others, and the seven women were socializing.

Today is the first day of work for Hui Lihua, Li Shuzhen, and Luo Hongjuan.

Although I'm a bit unwieldy, I helped out a lot yesterday.

Besides, selling food is not difficult.

To put it bluntly, it is a careful job.

Be more accurate.

Listen clearly whether the customer wants white noodles or stick noodles.

When pretending, don’t be too short or too much.

As for collecting money and food stamps, there are Xiaoya and Jinghong.

They don't need to worry about it.

As soon as Xu Qing parked his motorcycle at the door, he felt happy when he saw several women taking care of the grain station in an orderly manner. He and Er Mazi placed the persimmons behind the counter and got busy together.

At 07:30 in the evening, no one was there.

Xu Qing asked everyone to get off work. Er Mazi took out the persimmons placed behind the counter. He smiled and said to Meijuan:

"Your mother's dried persimmons are really good, and she's very welcoming. She gave me a bag of them today."

Er Mazi said, handed the two bags to Meijuan and San Huzi's wife and said:
"This is yours. Aunt asked me and Qingzi to deliver it to you."

As soon as Sanhuzi's wife took it, she opened the bag and let Jinghong, Xiaoya, Hui Lihua, Luo Hongjuan, and Li Shuzhen taste it.

Er Mazi stretched out his hand to catch one, but San Huzi's wife rolled her eyes and said:

"You kid, you are so dissatisfied. My mother gave me a bag, so go ahead and eat your own!"

Er Mazi withdrew his hand angrily, scratched his head and said, "Sister Wang, Qingzi also has a bag, why did you let Jinghong and Xiaoya eat it?"

Sanhuzi's wife didn't give her a good face, she laughed and scolded:

"How can it be the same? Jinghong is the wife of our shopkeeper, and Xiaoya is the shopkeeper's sister. I have to curry favor with you. If you, Ermazi, become the boss, I will also give you your wife and sister."

Hui Lihua and Li Shuzhen were very amused while eating persimmon cakes.

Er Mazi curled his lips, took out the cigarette from his body, and while wrapping his scarf around, he hummed:

"Sister Wang, just wait. When I become the shopkeeper, you can please me."

"Er Mazi, you kid, don't let me wait until the year of the monkey."

After Sanhuzi's wife finished speaking, Luo Hongjuan said:

"Sister Wang, next year will be the Year of the Monkey."

Everyone laughed again instantly.

Xiaoya ate persimmons, stood next to her sister-in-law Jinghong, and said with a smile: "Master Diao, can you become Boss Diao before the end of the month?"

Er Mazi frowned, looking troubled.

"Xiaoya, yesterday you and Meijuan called me Master Diao for a whole day. From now on, you are not allowed to call me Master Diao again!"

Seeing that Er Mazi was a little angry, Xu Xiaoya chewed the persimmon on her lips and changed her words: "Brother Mazi, your wife came over at noon today and said that she forgot to tell you last night that there was a parent-teacher meeting at your son's school today. When you were not there, she Went alone."

Er Mazi said oh and said indifferently:
"Hey, she still comes to me for such a trivial matter. She doesn't know that I'm busy. Seriously, I'll take care of her when I get back!"

Luo Hongjuan had always had a bad impression of Er Mazi. When she saw Er Mazi acting arrogantly, she said quietly:

"I visited your wife at noon. She is not like someone who is afraid of you. Don't come home and be punished by her."

San Huzi's wife echoed: "Er Mazi, you'd better go back and don't say anything, otherwise we will see you tomorrow with a bruised nose and a swollen face."

Er Mazi was so angry that he was surrounded by a group of women. He was crying in his heart. He looked at Xu Qing and said:
"Qingzi, tell me, am I afraid of my wife?"

Xu Qing saw that the situation was one-sided. He and Er Mazi were the only two men in the grain station. The dignity of men could not be lost. He raised his thumbs up and said in support:

"Brother Mazi is at home, that's the emperor!"

When Er Mazi heard this, he immediately said proudly: "Did you hear that? Did you hear that?"

After saying that, he greased the soles of his feet, carried a bag of persimmons in his hand, left the grain station, rang the car bell, said hello and left.

Sanhuzi's wife, Meijuan, and Luo Hongjuan chatted and laughed for a while, and then they all went home from get off work.

Xu Xiaoya left in no hurry and helped her elder brother and sister-in-law close the grain station.

Xu Qing gave some of the bag of persimmon cookies that Sanhuzi's mother gave him to his sister, and took the rest back to his home in the compound with Jinghong.

When I returned, the courtyard was quiet. There was no one in the front, middle and back courtyards.

It's always like this in the courtyard on winter evenings.

It's freezing cold, who has nothing to do in the courtyard?

Xu Qing did not take the initiative to share the persimmons hanging on the motorcycle with everyone in the courtyard.

It wasn't much at first, the bag wasn't big, it could hold just over five kilograms.

Before coming back, I divided some between Xiaoya and there was just over three kilograms left in the bag.

If someone in the courtyard wants to eat it, if you are lucky enough to find it, let him try it.

However, he didn't meet anyone all the way from the front yard to the backyard. Xu Qing parked his motorcycle at the door of the house, took the bag of persimmon cookies directly back to his house.

(End of this chapter)