Siheyuan: I can always stay out of it

Chen Xu was too lazy to wait at the steel mill until dinner, so he took a walk around the pigeon market and returned to the courtyard with some vegetables to conceal his presence.

Without Sha Zhu, Chen Xu felt a lot more peaceful. He walked through the front yard and the middle yard very comfortably. There was basically no one in the yard now. Most of the aunts and young wives were still squatting in the pigeon market. It was difficult to get supplies now, and many residents in the yard were not able to eat enough.

The men go out to make money, and the women have no interest in getting together and chatting. They basically wait in various pigeon markets, hoping to be lucky enough to get some cheap food or something, or food that can replace food.

Generally speaking, sweet potatoes and potatoes are the first choice, but now even these things are not so easy to buy, and you need to rely on luck.

It was rare for the old deaf man not to sit at the door, and Chen Xu was happy about it. This old woman was too cunning, and he didn't want to have anything to do with her at all.

Locking the door first has almost become Chen Xu's habit.

in space.

Chen Xu casually killed the sparrow that made a few chirping noises from time to time. This thing had an equal effect on the space as the small fish, so it was totally uneconomical. It would be better to roast it directly.

Looking at the empty oil bottle, Chen Xu felt a little headache. The half bottle of oil that Xu Damao brought over last time was almost gone. He first compared it with other people who added oil drop by drop when cooking. Chen Xu was used to the fast food of the 21st century, so he felt something was wrong when the food was without oil.

In fact, compared to vegetable oil, Chen Xu prefers lard, and the pigs of this era are all born and raised locally, so the lard refined from it must be very good. However, nowadays, one can only get two taels of meat coupons per month, and fat and lard are in great demand and are usually unavailable.

There is wild boar meat in Chen Xu's space, but just think about using wild boar meat to refine oil. Wild boars basically have no fat, which is why wild boar meat is cheaper than domestic pork in this era.

Chen Xu did have some meat coupons in his hand, so he began to consider whether he should get up early tomorrow and go to the vegetable market to buy a pound of fat to make oil. It was not that he only had one pound of meat coupons, but that the quantity was limited, and no one would sell it to him if he wanted to buy more.

The shortage of supplies is so terrible that Chen Xu can only adapt to the local customs.

"Dong~dongdong~"

Hearing the knock on the door, Chen Xu immediately returned to the room from the space, feeling a little puzzled. Who would knock on the door at this time?

When I opened the door, I saw Mr. Xu.

"Xiao Chen, I have something to trouble you..."

Mr. Xu went straight to the point. Chen Xu was completely confused. He had no idea why Xu Damao's father would come to see him.

"You say."

"Let's talk about it inside..."

"Oh, please."

Father Xu walked into Chen Xu's house, took a casual look and then sat down on a stool beside the table. Chen Xu was still considering whether to boil some water or something. After all, he was a guest and some courtesy was required.

Seeing that Chen Xu was about to boil water, Xu's father hurriedly spoke.

"Xiao Chen, don't bother me. I'll just say a few words and leave."

"That's fine. I really don't have anything to entertain at home."

Old Xu spoke only after Chen Xu sat down in front of him.

"This is what happened. You know Damao's current condition. His mother and I heard that there is a folk remedy that can cure him. We need to go on a long journey, so we want to trouble you to take care of Damao for a few days. How about that?"

Chen Xu looked confused. He felt that things were not that simple. Why did it take two people to find the remedy together? Couldn't one person do it?

"Well, if it's just a meal, it should be no problem, but I might need to go to the countryside to make purchases. I wonder how many days you'll need to be gone, uncle?"

"About a week..."

Lao Xu thought for a while and said.

Chen Xu was in a dilemma. To be honest, it was no big deal to send a meal to Xu Damao, but it would be bad if it affected his purchases in the countryside. He was planning to stock up some game in case of emergency.

The time he stayed in the city might not be as long as a week.

"Uncle, I can only stay in City 49 for about three days at most. Purchasers have tasks to complete every month. I can't stay in City 49 forever."

Chen Xu told the truth.

"Is that so? Then three days will be fine."

Father Xu hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke.

"Row."

Chen Xu had nothing to hesitate about. No matter what Xu's father wanted to do, it had nothing to do with him. At most, he would just deliver meals to Xu Damao for a few days.

Looking at the money and tickets left by Xu's father, Chen Xu felt that nothing this man said was true.

Leaving Sijiu City at this time is problematic no matter how you look at it. Although the matter of Xu Damao and Sha Zhu has become clear, the result has not come out yet and the compensation has not been received. No one would believe any folk remedies at this time.

Chen Xu's guess was correct. Xu's father really had no plan to leave the city. Sha Zhu was still hesitating whether to compensate the Xu family with the house. Xu's father was already impatient and planned to give this guy a hard beating even if he didn't want the house.

The most important thing is that he accidentally learned that the deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai had informed He Daqing who was far away in Baoding, and guessed that the guy would be back in the next two days. Father Xu didn't want to argue with him at all, so he simply found an excuse to hide for a few days.

As long as the other person is not around, there is no question of compensation, and he won't be the one in a hurry. What's more, his reasons are reasonable and no one can find fault with them.

When the time comes and Sha Zhu is about to be sentenced, then show up. No matter who you are, it will be useless. If you don't want Sha Zhu to be disabled, you can only listen to him. At that time, whatever he says is what it is.

Chen Xu naturally didn't know what Xu's father was planning, but he didn't care much.

As Xu Damao's brother, sending him a few days of meals is nothing.

Besides, it wasn't all in vain, as the money and notes left by Xu's father were obviously more.

After seeing off Xu's father, Chen Xu didn't think much about it and went back to the space to busy himself with roasting sparrows. Anyway, Xu's father said that they would leave tomorrow, so he had nothing to do today.

Chen Xu went to bed early and planned to get up in the middle of the night to go to the black market. He hated the lack of time concept and had to get a watch no matter what. If he couldn't get it in the black market, he planned to buy one at a trust store.

I didn't know what time it was when I woke up. The moon was high outside and the yard was quiet.

Chen Xu wrapped himself in old clothes like a dumpling and walked towards the gate of the courtyard in the dark.

As soon as he walked into the middle courtyard, Chen Xu spotted two guys dressed similarly to him.

The two men were whispering as they walked towards the front yard. Obviously, they did not notice Chen Xu.

Chen Xu guessed that these two people were probably similar to him. They all went to the black market. This kind of thing was actually very common nowadays. If the family's ration was not enough and nothing could be bought in the pigeon market, then they could only try their luck in the black market. They couldn't just watch their whole family starve.

At first, Chen Xu couldn't tell who the two people were, but after listening carefully to their conversation, he already knew their identities.

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu.

Chen Xu understood that Jia Dongxu needed to go to the black market to get food. There were five people in the Jia family now, but only Jia Dongxu had a ration, so the food was definitely not enough, so it was normal to go to the black market to buy food.

But he didn't quite understand why Yi Zhonghai would go to the black market. He and the aunt had rations, and they had no children, so they didn't lack food at all. Why would he go to the black market for no reason?

You know, there are great risks in going to the black market. If you are caught by accident, you will be detained in the police station for a few days at least. The factory may even be notified and you may be criticized or paraded through the streets.

This is just buying food on the black market. If you have contraband on you, it would be even more serious. At the very least you would be sent to a labor camp, and in serious cases you might even be shot.