Siheyuan: When I became the control group of Qin Huairu

Yang Hehua had a mouthful of noodles in her mouth that she hadn't swallowed yet. Before she could swallow them and answer Xiao Qian, she heard a loud voice coming from outside the courtyard:

"Sharpening scissors - sharpening kitchen knives!"

It was the sound of a knife sharpener. The tone he played was very long and had strong penetrating power.

Xiuxiu and Manman even started to learn it, and laughed out loud after they finished learning it.

"Master! I have kitchen knives at home that need sharpening!"

There was a sudden noise in the yard. Yang Hehua, who was at home, heard the sound of someone going out of the yard.

Xiao Qian took a few steps and came to the door. She glanced into the yard through the glass. She saw the woman in the back yard holding the scissors and kitchen knife in her home and walking towards the outside of the yard.

"Sister-in-law, the kitchen knives and scissors at home are dull. I'll take them out to the knife sharpener to sharpen them." As she said that, Xiao Qian walked into the kitchen, carried out two kitchen knives in a willow basket, and searched the room for a while. After finding three pairs of scissors, she put them in the willow basket. Just as she was about to go out, the two little girls, Xiuxiu and Manman, who had just finished their meal, pulled her pants at the thighs.

"Aunt, we want to go with you too!"

The knife sharpener comes here once every six months on average. The last time he came, Xiuxiu and Manman also went to see it, so naturally they wanted to go and see it this time as well.

Xiao Qian subconsciously glanced at Yang Hehua, and after seeing her nod, she said, "You can go and see, but you have to be obedient, okay? You can't run around, and stay by my aunt's side."

"Yes! We will definitely listen to our aunt!" Xiuxiu and Manman nodded hurriedly.

Xiaobao, who had already finished his noodles and was chewing a meat bun in his hand, also came to join in the fun: "Auntie, I want to go!"

Xiaobao is already more than two years and five months old. He speaks much more fluently and can express his ideas.

Yang Hehua hadn't finished her sour soup noodles yet. She was afraid that if Xiaobao went, Xiao Qian wouldn't be able to take care of three children alone, so she didn't agree.

Who knew that Xiaobao insisted on going, so Yang Hehua asked Xiao Qian to carry him in a sling. Now that the weather was getting hot, it was very hot to be carried in the sling. Xiaobao was small, but not stupid. He just wanted to shake his head, but was rejected by Yang Hehua: "You have to carry me, otherwise I won't let you go!"

Xiaobao pouted and tilted his head to avoid looking at Yang Hehua.

It means agree.

Xiao Qian was already holding a baby carrier in her hand. With the help of Yang Hehua, she carried Xiaobao on her back, carried a willow basket in her hand, and took the two little girls, Xiuxiu and Manman, out.

As soon as the four of them went out, they met Zhou Qi in the yard, who had also gone out with his grandmother to get a knife sharpener to sharpen kitchen knives.

"Sister Qiqi~"

"Aunt Qianqian, sister Xiuxiu, sister Manman, brother Xiaobao~"

Zhou Qi, who was held by his grandmother, greeted everyone one by one. Today, Zhou Qi had two high ponytails on his head, with two silk flowers in gradient colors, which made him look very beautiful.

Xiuxiu and Manman had their hair in low ponytails today and were not wearing any silk flowers. The three little girls got together and had a lot to talk about.

After Xiao Qian greeted Zhou Qi's grandmother, they walked side by side, chatting, but her eyes were always on the three little girls walking in front of them.

As soon as you walk out of the courtyard gate, you don’t have to walk far. At the entrance of an alley to the right of the gate of their courtyard No. 95, you will see the knife sharpener surrounded by women and children.

The knife sharpener looked to be about forty years old. The first impression he gave was that he was thin, shrewd, and had bright eyes.

Under him was a long wooden stool with a whetstone fixed on it. On his left shoulder was a bag, which usually contained tools for sharpening scissors and kitchen knives.

"Master, you haven't been here for almost half a year. You finally come here today. You have to sharpen our scissors and kitchen knives more sharply!" A fat old lady who was about fifty years old said to the knife sharpener with a smile.

The knife sharpener had a smile on his face, and he didn't mind the old lady's chatterboxing: "Okay! I don't have any other skills, except the skills of sharpening scissors and kitchen knives. I guarantee that your scissors and kitchen knives will be sharpened very sharply, so that everyone can cut meat without any effort!"

As he said this, the knife sharpener skillfully turned the two blades of the scissors over and over, first grinding them roughly on the coarser grindstone, and then finely grinding them on the finer water grindstone.

After sharpening, the knife sharpener handed it to the fat old lady for inspection. The fat old lady skillfully took a handful of cotton and cut it repeatedly, trying it over and over again until she was satisfied.

The people watching from the sidelines did not feel bored and watched very seriously.

Soon, the fat old lady left with her own scissors and kitchen knife, looking satisfied.

The knife sharpener continued sharpening.

While waiting, everyone also started chatting about other topics.

"…The supply and marketing cooperatives and grain stores now have fixed grain sales hours, from 9 to 11 a.m. and from 2 to 4 p.m., and there are purchase limits. My family has a large population, and one trip is not enough to buy enough for my family for a month. I can only go a few more days…"

"Who said it wasn't? Everyone was anxious at the beginning, but after the people from the street office came to the hospital and held a general meeting, people stopped being anxious..."

After hearing this, Xiao Qian did not completely believe it. Although they said there was no rush, some people even got up at three or four in the morning in order to buy enough food for their families, and went to the grain store or supply and marketing cooperative to line up early.

There are also some families who do not have urban household registration and do not have food rations. Some of their family members get up early in the morning and go to the pigeon market or the black market to buy food.

The official purchase of grain has now resulted in a surge in grain prices on the pigeon market and the black market.

But what can we do?

For the sake of the family's livelihood, I have to buy it even if it is expensive.

Although Xiao Qian did not witness it with her own eyes, she knew a little bit just from listening to Zhou Qi's grandmother and Aunt Zhang in the courtyard talking about this topic.

It's only because we are good friends that we can talk about this topic, otherwise we wouldn't talk about it.

After all, the black market can be said to be an area where severe crackdowns are carried out. If anyone in the courtyard has a disagreement with their family, and they know that they have been to the black market, they know that if they report it, the militia or industrial safety officers will come to arrest them.

So, we try to keep this matter as low-key as possible.

Xiao Qian basically looked at the big jar used to store rice and flour at home every day. She found that it had basically never been deflated. When she learned from her sister-in-law Yang Hehua that there was still other stored grain at home, her anxiety was naturally not as strong as that of other people.

So at this moment she just listened to other people chatting and did not get involved in the issue of food.

The knife sharpener worked very fast, but there were too many people coming to sharpen their scissors and kitchen knives. They waited in line for more than half an hour before it was Xiao Qian and Zhou Qi's turn to sharpen their scissors and kitchen knives.

The three little girls held hands and looked curiously at the grindstone operated by the knife sharpener, discussing from time to time.