Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

Zhao Shanhe said reluctantly only after he sent Chen Xueru to her residence.

"You and Hou Kui go in. I think he is so sleepy that he is about to fall asleep. You should go to bed early. I will visit you in the store tomorrow when I have time."

Chen Xueru looked at Zhao Shanhe with tenderness in her eyes. She was really very satisfied with this man. He was tall, handsome, and exuded a sense of security.

"Then you must come early tomorrow. I will wait for you to have lunch together at noon."

Her feminine modesty and the spirit of the times would not allow her to say things like "come in, sit down, have a cup of coffee" before leaving. For her to say "I'll wait for you to eat" was already the ultimate insolence.

"Okay, I'll come over early tomorrow, and we'll go eat fried triangles at Duyichu for lunch."

After Chen Xueru entered the yard, Zhao Shanhe rode his bike back to the courtyard. When he arrived at the gate of the courtyard, he saw a group of men, young and old, who were still awake, chatting and playing chess in the light of light bulbs at the door.

There are strong sandstorms in the city in spring and autumn, it is extremely hot in summer and extremely cold in winter, and the groundwater tastes bitter. If it were not the capital, no one would like to live here. People in the courtyard gathered here because the weather started to get hot in June and they couldn't sleep in the house because of the stuffiness.

Liu Guangqi and Yan Jiecheng saw Zhao Shanhe coming back, so they interrupted their conversation and asked.

"Shanhe, where have you been? Why are you back at this time?"

Zhao Shanhe didn't dare tell them that he had gone to accompany his girlfriend for a day, otherwise who knows what might happen. If Yi Zhonghai or Jia Zhang found Chen Xueru in the store and said something, he would have nowhere to cry.

"What are you doing? I went to the countryside to look for a way out. Life in the countryside is pretty tough right now. The land is dry. I've been running around all day but haven't found anything."

Liu Guangqi saw that Zhao Shanhe's bicycle was empty, and thought of what he heard at school today, so he asked.

"I heard that there's a drought in Heilongjiang. Have you heard about it?"

Zhao Shanhe would read the newspaper when he had nothing to do, and he had heard about such national events a long time ago.

"This news is outdated. It was reported in the newspapers a few months ago. From January to April this year, Heilongjiang and Hebei suffered severe spring droughts. In March, the Pearl River, Yangtze River, and Huaihe River basins experienced floods three times. We'll see. If things go wrong, grain production may decrease this year. I'm going to stock up on some grain these two days. Don't wait until there's a real shortage to buy it. Then I don't know what the price will be."

Zhao Shanhe was also using Liu Guangqi's words to remind everyone, but as for whether they listened or not, that was not something he could control. He did not live by the sea, so he could not control that much.

But when he pushed the cart into the yard, the younger ones were fine, but the older ones started talking.

For example, Yan Bugui started asking Liu Guangqi.

"Guangqi, has anyone in your school told you about the drought in Heilongjiang?"

"Uncle, I didn't mention this, but a classmate's relative from Heilongjiang wrote to me saying that there was a severe drought there, and asked me to help buy some food to see if I could mail it over."

These old guys who had experienced the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation were all shrewd people. They could guess almost exactly what was going on after hearing this. They had already asked people to help buy food and mail it over, which meant that the drought in the north was inevitable.

"Old Yan, I'm afraid it's just as Zhao Shanhe said. We need to make some preparations. It's safer to buy more food and store it at home. Even if everything turns out fine and nothing happens, the food won't go bad if stored for a few months."

Peng Yimin, as Yan Bugui's neighbor, is also a calculating man. However, he works in the welding workshop of the steel rolling mill and his salary is much higher than that of old Yan. He can even afford to buy high-priced grain in the Pigeon Market.

As for Wang Dawei and Li Wenxi who were chatting just now, they were a little worried. After all, their salary was only slightly higher than Sha Zhu's. If their family bought large quantities of grain, it would be a considerable expense for their not-so-rich family.

Yi Zhonghai, who was playing chess with a stranger in the back room, also heard what Zhao Shanhe said, but he did not express his opinion. He earned more than 80 yuan a month, so even if there was a famine in Sijiu City, a good place, he would not starve.

However, he also kept this in mind and planned to go to the newspaper room of the steel mill to look for newspapers tomorrow. If there is a possibility of food shortage as Zhao Shanhe said, he will not miss this opportunity...

The next day, Zhao Shanhe went to the factory early in the morning to attend the Monday meeting. Before he entered the purchasing department's large office, he was stopped by Li Lianjie.

"Shanhe is here. Director Li wants to see you and asked you to come to his place."

"Okay, Chief. I'll be right there."

As Zhao Shanhe walked, he wondered what Li Huaide wanted to talk to him about. Could it be that he knew the result of yesterday's selection?

I arrived at the office door and knocked, and when I entered the room I saw Li Huaide with a smile on his face.

"Director, Section Chief Li said you have something to talk to me about?"

Li Huaide took the initiative to stand up and pour him a glass of water, and then spoke after he asked him to sit down.

"Shanhe, I didn't expect you to be a track and field athlete, but you did a great job keeping it a secret. If I hadn't had dinner with a few friends yesterday, I would probably still be kept in the dark."

When Zhao Shanhe heard that it was indeed because of this matter, he quickly stood up to explain.

"Director, you can't blame me for this. It was Deputy Director Nie who said it needed to be kept confidential, otherwise I would have told you a long time ago."

Li Huaide waved his hand and said.

"Don't think too much. I don't mean to blame you. I just want to know if there is any way to let Deputy Director Nie eat meat while our logistics department can also have some soup?"

If it came to food and drink, Zhao Shanhe could still think of a way, but he was just an ordinary National Games athlete, and he really had no way to meet Li Huaide's request.

He touched his nose and was about to refuse, but then he remembered that if he said no as soon as the leader made a request, he would definitely lose points in Li Huaide's mind.

"Director, please give me some time to think about it. I really don't have any ideas at the moment. But I'm just an ordinary athlete, so don't think too highly of me."

In fact, Li Huaide was just trying his best. If he could achieve some political achievements, that would be even better, but if he couldn't, it didn't matter. He also knew that Zhao Shanhe couldn't do much in this regard.

"Okay, let's think about this carefully when you get back."

After saying this, he stopped smiling and asked again.

"Shanhe, I have something to ask you. Do you have any other options besides Qiao Laoliu?"

Zhao Shanhe thought to himself, what is Director Li going crazy about today? I am just an ordinary purchaser, and my monthly salary is not even a fraction of yours. What's going on?

"Director, there are basically no more options in the city. There are still some villages outside the city that have good relations with me. What else does the factory need?"

Li Huaide picked up the water cup and took a sip before speaking slowly.

"During this period, disasters have occurred frequently across the country. The pork supplied to our factory by the Sijiucheng Meat Processing Plant has decreased a lot. I want you to help find out where we can buy more meat. For example, the wild boar we got last time is good. Fish meat is good, but it won't work without oil and water."