Siheyuan: There are three little cats at home

Chapter 514 Foreign Exchange Vouchers and Hearing Aids

The sunset was very red, shining on the distant western sky, but the sky in the courtyard was dark and dark. Before the fading glow and the approaching night, the entire backyard felt indescribably cold.

Although almost all the people in the compound who were off work at this time were returning one after another, it was already entering early winter.

The biting cold wind blew, adding an indescribable chill.

There was no summer activity in the courtyard at this time.

Xu Qing was sitting in his room, looking at his excited and smiling third brother and said:

"Well done! Aunt Feng will cook two more delicious dishes later. When Patriot comes back, the three of us brothers will be the factory director for you and have a good meal."

Xu Fengming took out the peony cigarette he was carrying, sat aside and hummed:

"That's for sure, brother. I'm going to go to the cheap shop now to have a look. If there's no proof, I'll buy a roast duck."

Xu Qing took the peony cigarette from his third brother, responded with a smile, let him push the motorcycle, and took his son Hongzhi out of the compound together.

Feng Ming is about to become the director of the factory. Although he will be the acting director from tomorrow onwards, the hardware factory has decided to let him officially take office after the Chinese New Year.

This is a great benefit for the family.

Xu Qing turned around and neatly stacked the half-written homework and textbooks written by his son Hongzhi aside, and said to his grandparents who were sitting on the kang and didn't quite understand:

"Feng Ming is going to be the factory director!"

Xu Qing shouted loudly, and the two old men, wearing thick military coats, looked at their eldest grandson, ah, and then said after a while:

"What does Feng Ming want to do?"

Seeing that his grandparents were deaf, Xu Qing couldn't hear clearly. He couldn't laugh or cry, so he said loudly again:

"Feng Ming will be the director of their factory from next year, just like Patriot."

Grandma, whose ears were relatively sensitive, heard it and heard it clearly. A smile appeared on her wrinkled face, her dim eyes suddenly lit up, and she said continuously:

"Okay, okay, Feng Ming becomes the factory director, which is a great blessing for our family, but why did he just come back and go out again?"

Xu Qing was about to tell her, but he saw his grandfather standing aside. His hands, which were thin due to age, were holding the cigarette stick that had not been used for a long time. He poked his grandma and said:

"What did our eldest grandson say? What does Feng Ming want to do?"

Xu Qing was a bit dumbfounded and felt very uncomfortable.

Grandparents have worked hard all their lives. As they get older, their hearing is getting worse every year. When I first moved to the city a few years ago, my hearing was quite normal.

Although I sometimes couldn't hear clearly, at least when I sat in front of me and spoke, there was no problem at all.

But now, even if you stand in front of you, you have to shout loudly.

"Old man, Feng Ming is the director of the factory, do you understand?"

Grandma whispered softly, and Grandpa nodded and said, "Oh."

Xu Qing thought that his grandfather understood, but he never thought that the next words made him even more confused whether to laugh or cry.

"Feng Ming wants to marry a wife again?"

Xu Qing turned to look at her grandma and saw her sighing:

"Xiao Qing, don't tell your grandpa. He is hard of hearing and can no longer hear."

Xu Qing nodded.

There's nothing you can do about it, that's what happens when you get older.

Time is not forgiving, and people are over seventy and almost eighty. It is not easy to have a smooth hearing.

Especially people who have come through hardships and have worked hard all their lives have suffered from many hidden diseases.

Just like the deaf old lady in the courtyard back then, even though she lived in the city, when she got older, she pretended to be deaf at first, but in the end she became really deaf.

I can't hear anything, and it's impossible to walk without a cane or someone to carry me.

It is worth mentioning that before the old deaf lady passed away, she could not hear anything.

But fortunately, he is not confused and is quite smart.

But now, the grandparents in front of Xu Qing are just like the old lady back then.

For a moment, Xu Qing didn't know what to say. He smoked a cigarette and looked at the door of the house. At this moment, he only dared to poke his head into the house to look at the civet cat Xiao Hui, who was peeking inside the house, and thought for a while.

I decided to discuss with Aiguo and Fengming after some time to get hearing aids for my grandparents.

These days, although hearing aids are not affordable for ordinary people.

They are expensive, and there are very few domestic products, so most of them need to be purchased from abroad.

But for Xu Qing.

Not a problem.

The business of his grain station and meat processing factory is stable.

The monthly income, after excluding various expenses, is a pretty good surplus.

Speaking of which, the meat factory cannot expect to make any money this year.

No worries about sales.

But giving birth to pigs has always been a temporary and difficult problem to solve.

Not only is the Xuqing Meat Factory short of pigs, but several large state-owned factories are also in short supply.

There is no large-scale breeding in China, what can we do?

But at the moment, Xu Qing can stabilize the newly opened meat factory and let it operate, which is already good.

The business at the grain station is even more prosperous than last year.

Although there are many private grain stations in the city that have opened this year, after nearly a year, those that have closed down and those that are still there can only make ends meet.

Xu Qing had the ability to divide into two parts, and he also collected and processed grain by himself.

In the face of the huge advantages of the two combined, how can the other personal grain stations compare?

Aiguo became the director of Factory No. 5. In almost two years, he had already established a firm foothold in Factory No. 5.

Feng Ming wants to be the director of the hardware factory again.

The three brothers are all developing very well in their careers.

They have no difficulty buying hearing aids for their grandparents.

I wouldn't have dared to think about it before.

But now, this time is different from the past.

If you want to buy it, you can afford it and you have the means.

After the reopening, especially this year, Chinese people can go in and buy foreign things in the Friendship Store as long as they hold foreign exchange coupons.

Before this year, if you wanted to buy foreign goods, you had to ask someone to get them from abroad.

But it's different now.

Xu Qing can buy foreign-produced hearing aids from there without having to trouble anyone. He can just hold the foreign exchange coupons.

As for domestic production, Xu Qing didn't consider it, but the number of factories that could produce it could be counted on his fingers all over the country.

And the most important thing is that most of the domestic hearing aids are provided to leaders and cadres who have contributed to the country.

Even if it is reopened, the output of domestic hearing aids has not been high.

Therefore, it cannot be mass produced and sold externally.

Capacity constraints are one aspect.

In addition, things like hearing aids need to be specially customized if they want to be fully adapted.

But in these days, how can ordinary people enjoy the benefits of hearing aids.

It's great if you can buy it. As long as it can improve hearing, who would pursue such precision.

Xu Qing had no intention of taking his grandparents to a special match. To get a hearing aid, you need to obtain an approval or a letter of introduction.

This is not a big problem for Xu Qing, Aiguo, and Feng Ming.

All three brothers can get it.

But the difficulty is that the two old people can't stand the trouble.

If he really had to hire a car to take him to the production factory, he was very worried that the two old people's bodies would not be able to bear it.

Furthermore, it’s not that grandparents can’t hear at all, but they can’t hear clearly and clearly.

Xu Qing thought about it and bought a pair of foreign-made hearing aids from the Friendship Store.

Help grandparents improve their hearing problems.

When Feng Ming, who was patriotic and went out to buy roast duck, came back, Xu Qing said to his second and third brothers:

"My grandparents' hearing is getting worse and worse. I plan to buy them hearing aids. What do you think?"

Xu Aiguo handed the briefcase to his nephew Hongzhi and asked him to take it back to the room where he lived. He looked at his third brother who would become the factory director tomorrow, and then said to Xu Qing:

"Brother, I don't have any objections. It's really time for grandparents to get hearing aids. What did Ai Qian say last time? Grandpa mistakenly heard that there was a fire in the kitchen and shouted for me to scoop out water to put out the fire."

Xu Fengming looked at his grandfather who was holding a dry tobacco rod without filling it with shredded tobacco and enjoying it. He turned around and said:

"Brother, I listen to you and the second brother."

Xu Qing nodded, and when his second brother and third brother expressed their opinions, he said:

"That's it, it's settled. During this period, let's get some foreign exchange coupons and then go to the Friendship Store to buy a pair of hearing aids for my grandparents."

Xu Aiguo responded: "Okay, brother, I have some on hand recently, not much, one hundred and twenty yuan in foreign exchange coupons."

Xu Fengming scratched his head and grinned:

"I still had some foreign exchange coupons in my hand last week, but they have been spent."

Xu Qing looked at his third brother and said angrily: "What did you use it for?"

Xu Fengming bared his teeth and touched his neck and said, "I bought some foreign chocolate for my wife."

Xu Qing smiled and did not ask any more questions. He reached out and took out two foreign exchange coupons with a face value of fifty and four ten yuan coupons and said:

"I only have these on me at the moment, plus the patriotic one hundred and twenty, it's two hundred and sixty yuan. I'll go find Brother Shazhu and Brother Damao and ask them later to see if they have it."

Xu Fengming said hurriedly:

"Brother, Brother Damao must have it. If he doesn't have the foreign exchange coupons, then no one in our compound will have them."

Xu Aiguo echoed: "Feng Ming is right. Brother Damao doesn't work in the cinema all day long. He spends his business outside every day. He must have bought a lot of foreign exchange certificates issued this year."

Xu Qing felt that what the second and third brothers said was reasonable.

Foreign exchange coupons, like food stamps, can also be resold, according to Xu Damao's temperament.

If you can make money by playing with foreign exchange coupons, how can you let this business go?

Just as Xu Qing, Patriot and Feng Ming were getting together, Liu Aiqian and Tang Xiujuan came back from get off work one after another.

The two of them got off work later than usual today, but compared to Jinghong at the grain station, it was still very early.

When Jinghong came back, the sky was completely dark, and the stars were twinkling in the cold night sky.

The bright moon hangs high, pouring out the deserted moonlight.

"Aiqian, Xiujuan, I bought you two new hairbands. How about you two wearing them and having a look?"

After Ma Jinghong parked her bicycle outside the house, she opened the door curtain and spoke.

She just saw a whole family of people, who hadn't eaten yet, waiting for her, and said hurriedly:

"What's happening in our family today?"

Xu Hongzhi was lying on the edge of the kang and had just finished his homework. He stuffed the abacus, homework books and textbooks into his schoolbag without thinking, and said with a smile to his mother:

"Mom, my third uncle is now the director of the factory. He even took me to the street to buy roast duck at night."

Hearing this, Ma Jinghong handed the plastic hairband to Ai Qian and Xiujuan, stretched out her hand to brush her hair, looked at Xu Fengming who was refreshed and happy, and said:

"Feng Ming, my sister-in-law knew that you could become the director of your factory. Was it decided today?"

Xu Fengming smoked a cigarette, his head lit up again and again, and he said with great joy:

"Yes, sister-in-law, my old factory director told me today, but I am only the acting director this year and will officially take office next year."

When Ma Jinghong heard this, she pursed her lips and smiled.

As a sister-in-law, she was of course happy for her brother-in-law to be the factory director.

At this moment, Aunt Feng took out the last dish and the roast duck that had been heated in the pot for a while. When she saw Jinghong coming back, she hurriedly said:

"Are we going to eat now?"

While talking, he placed the roast duck on the plate on the hot kang, and at the same time quickly drove off the civet cat Xiao Hui who jumped onto the kang.

There is a cat in the house, and if you want to eat meat, you have to get rid of it first.

Otherwise, during the meal, it will lie on the side with its eyes rolling around, barking non-stop, and will use its paws to reach into the food when no one is paying attention, and grab a piece of it to taste.

But when the weather gets cold, Xu Qiaoxin and Xu Hongfu are reluctant to drive out.

Two markup or on weekdays. I play with Xiao Hui every day. Even when I go to sleep, I don’t want to let go. I have to hug him by my side.

Aunt Feng helped drive Xiao Hui off the kang. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Hui jumped onto the edge of the kang again. His eyes were shining, staring at the roast duck, wanting to rush up and take a big bite.

However, with Xu Hongfu and Xu Qiaoxin around, there was no room for it to misbehave. Xu Qing raised his hand to block it, and Xiao Hui rushed towards the roast duck, twisted lightly, and jumped to the side. Xu Hongfu was slightly bigger than Qiaoxin. As soon as he grabbed it with both hands, he hugged her, turned his head and stuffed it into the quilt, raised his hand to press the corner of the quilt with the buckwheat skin pillow, and said with Qiao Xin's milk:

"Little Hui, stay under the quilt and we'll feed you duck bones later."

After Ma Jinghong washed her hands, she took the towel from her son Hongzhi, wiped her hands and said:

"Silly girl, cats don't eat bones."

Xu Hongzhi shook his head and followed: "That's right, cats eat mice, dogs only chew bones."

Xu Qing and Patriot Fengming had already started drinking and did not interfere with the children's play.

The two old men, who did not drink or smoke due to their age, watched their great-grandson and great-granddaughter treat the cat as a treasure. They meant to say a few words, but in the end they said nothing.

It is said that they are close to each other one generation apart. Two generations apart, they are closer to, love and love their great-grandchildren even more.

Looking at Qiaoxin, Hongfu and Hongzhi, as well as Hongbin who was still sleeping in the quilt, his kind eyes were full of doting.

Holding the spoon handed to her by her granddaughter-in-law Xiujuan and Ai Qian, she slowly ate the egg custard.

Because his teeth were not good, Xu Qing specifically asked Aunt Feng to steam them every morning and evening.

After dinner, Xu Qing, Aiguo and Feng Ming chatted with their grandparents in the house for a short time, then turned around and left the house, heading towards Xu Damao's house.

The night was bitingly cold.

Although winter has just entered, it is already freezing.

The clothes were left to dry overnight in the courtyard, and they would be frozen and stiff the next day.

The day before yesterday morning, Mrs. Jia Zhang in the middle courtyard splashed water at the door of the house. As a result, she sprained her foot that day. She has been unable to walk with a limp for the past two days.

Xu Qing had just left the house, and the leather jacket he was wearing was cold to the touch.

Xu Damao lived in the backyard. Xu Qing couldn't walk more than two steps and didn't go back to the house to put on another piece of clothing.

Standing at the door of Xu Damao's lighted house, Xu Qing raised his hand to lift the heavy curtain, knocked on the door and said:

"Brother Damao, are you at home?"

(End of this chapter)