bookbashuk Chapter 427 A Matter of Mutual Consent
Chapter 427 A Matter of Mutual Consent
"It's a matter of mutual consent, so there's no question of raising prices. If you're willing, I'll let you eat; if you're not, then forget it." Old Qi curled his lip, his attitude far from friendly.
Xu Sui remained silent for a moment, then looked up at Old Man Qi without saying a word.
The atmosphere inside the room gradually became heavy and oppressive, extremely quiet, so quiet that it seemed that only one's own heartbeat could be heard.
Old Man Qi, who had initially thought he had it all figured out, gradually began to feel uncertain and started to get anxious.
However, he didn't show any abnormality on his face. He continued to drink tea while secretly glancing at Xu Sui.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything? Does that mean you disagree? If you don't agree, then I'll leave?"
"Anyway, there's no room for negotiation on thirty catties of refined grain and one catty of meat, and there's no room for negotiation on anything else I just mentioned."
After saying that, Old Man Qi glanced at Xu Sui, only to find that she hadn't even looked at him or paid him any attention.
He gritted his teeth, pretended to get up, and made a gesture as if he was about to leave.
However, even after he opened the door and stepped outside, Xu Sui still didn't call out to him.
Old Qi tentatively stepped into the courtyard again, looked back, but still couldn't stop him. He paused, his heart sank, and he gritted his teeth and ran out of the Xu family's house.
Even after he had run far away from the Xu family and could barely see them anymore, no one called out to him.
Old Qi was dumbfounded. He waited and waited but no one came. So he ran back to the Xu family's door and craned his neck to look in that direction. But after looking for a long time, he found that no one came out to look for him.
He stood in the corner, hesitating for a long time, caught in a dilemma, and finally slunk back.
Forget it, let's not argue with them. Less is less. Let's solve the immediate problem first.
Inside the cowshed, his wife and two grandchildren were waiting for food to save their lives.
They had originally thought that with these thirty catties of grain, their family could hold on for a while longer, but now it seemed they could only barely get through these days.
But speaking of Xu Sui, she seems like a respectable intellectual who is not short of money and is generous. So why is she so stingy, haggling over even these things with him and being so calculating?
Old Qi was somewhat unwilling, but there was nothing he could do. He could only slink back to Old Madam Xu's room. When he pushed open the door, he still looked a little uncomfortable.
After all, he had just said he was leaving, and now he's come back. Isn't that just contradicting himself?
Xu Sui didn't seem surprised that Old Man Qi would come back. She was fetching water for the old lady to wash her face, and didn't say a word from beginning to end, her expression was calm.
She was able to remain so calm.
But Old Man Qi couldn't stay calm. He was waiting to finish this deal and take the grain back to save his family's lives, so he couldn't afford to delay.
He lost all his composure, gritted his teeth, and hastily admitted defeat, saying:
"Comrade Xu, if you don't accept this, we can discuss it further. If thirty catties of refined grain isn't enough, then fifteen catties of refined grain, or fifteen catties of coarse grain, will that be alright?"
"I'd rather you only give me half a pound of meat than a pound of meat. That's my absolute bottom line."
"To tell you the truth, my whole family is in the cowshed, and they're counting on this little bit of food to save their lives."
As he spoke, Old Qi's eyes unconsciously reddened, and he raised his hand to wipe away his tears. He truly had no other choice.
That's why he risked making this trip; otherwise, given his status as a member of the "Five Black Categories," he wouldn't be able to leave the brigade so easily.
If he gets caught, he'll be in big trouble.
Xu Sui paused for a moment while wiping Grandma Xu's face.
"It's not that we don't want to help you, but we simply can't provide all this food."
"Now, no matter who you are, your monthly food ration is fixed. Regardless of your position, you get exactly how many food coupons you're entitled to each month. There's no way you can have any extra."
"And you want refined grains, which are much harder to obtain than coarse grains, and they are also much more expensive."
Even Qin Yunzhou, a deputy political commissar at the division level, could not possibly produce so many grain coupons all at once without prior preparation.
Old Qi remained silent for a while, then nodded. "I understand... How about this, just tell me how much you can afford."
The current policies are different from those of their youth. Back then, they didn't need ration coupons to buy grain; all they needed was money.
As long as you have money, you can buy any kind of grain, whether it's refined or coarse.
Things are different now; you need a ticket to buy anything.
Xu Sui silently did some mental calculations.
"Here's what we'll do: if you can really cure my grandmother, I'll give you ten catties of fine grains, twenty catties of coarse grains, and half a catty of meat. I'll do my best to get all of that done for you."
"But if you ask for thirty catties of refined grains right off the bat, then I can't help you, you'd better leave."
Old Qi was stunned for a moment, hesitated for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and agreed.
"Okay, we'll do it your way, but there's one thing: you absolutely can't skimp on the weight."
Something is better than nothing. At least with this little bit of food, his family living in the cowshed can barely survive for a while.
……
Once the agreement was reached, Old Man Qi began treating Old Lady Xu that very day.
Xu Sui was worried and kept watching from the side, afraid that something might happen.
As for Qin Yunzhou, he went to the train station to pick up Xu Fei, and he hasn't returned yet.
Xu Fei took leave overnight and rushed back from the military medical university. Because he was in such a hurry, he had difficulty buying a ticket.
It was only through Xu Sui's connections, using her position as a senior external engineer at the train station, that Xu Fei was able to buy a sleeper ticket.
Because of her, the sleeper ticket was half price, which was incredibly cheap and shocked Xu Fei.
He knew his brother-in-law was very capable, and he also knew his sister was capable, but he never knew his sister was so capable.
With just a simple phone call, you can book a sleeper ticket for the same day that was in high demand, and at half price.
The other side is the train station.
Qin Yunzhou had been waiting there for a long time. The train station was quite a distance from the Qin family home, so he specially borrowed a bicycle to ride over and pick him up.
After arriving at the train station, he glanced at the time on his wrist, waited a while, and finally saw a train slowly approaching.
When the two children heard that they were going to pick up their uncle, they both wanted to come along.
They usually receive gifts from their uncle, but they have never seen what their uncle looks like.
I was quite curious.
Qin Yunzhou refused outright. He was riding a 28-inch bicycle, not a jeep, so he couldn't carry that many people.