Grandma Qi is a very skilled cook. In just a few minutes, she stir-fried it over low heat, flipped it a few times, and served it. It was original, fragrant, and full of flavor, without any other seasonings.

He Tiantian grabbed a handful of pine nuts and started cracking them like a little squirrel. Grandma Qi San had bad teeth, so she could only purse her lips and keep chewing the fragrant pine nuts.

Eating such delicious food reminded He Tiantian of her parents at home, as well as Huo Yingjie and Huo Yingjie's parents. She wished she could send some to her parents and Huo Yingjie.

"Grandma Qi, I know there are more on the mountain. I'll pick some more. Could you roast them for me? I want to mail some home," He Tiantian whispered. "They've never eaten pine nuts before."

“Okay!” Grandma Qi said. “After we finish this bunch, I’ll separate the rest and stir-fry them together. Wrap them in several layers of oil paper so they won’t get soggy and can be stored for a long time. I can mail them.” Grandma Qi said that these were free items from the mountain, and as long as He Tiantian could get them, she could help stir-fry them.

"That's great!" He Tiantian said with a smile. After eating a handful, she began to process the remaining unshelled pine nuts.

In times of scarcity, having a few snacks was a blessing. He Tiantian has this happiness and wants to share it with her loved ones!

Dinner was cooked late tonight, and everyone is waiting to get their share of the meat so we can make dumplings or stew. Everyone's taking advantage of the meat to enjoy a good meal. Having meat on a day feels like celebrating the New Year.

As dusk fell, Qi Ergou personally delivered twenty catties of meat to He Tiantian's home, saying with a smile, "Secretary Qi said that you, Comrade Xiang, and Comrade Zuo have made the greatest contributions, so you will be given twenty catties, and Comrade Zuo and Comrade Xiang will each be given fifteen catties. Third Grandma, you will be given one catty and one tael of meat. I also brought some big bones for Third Grandma, so we can make soup."

He Tiantian thought she would be lucky to get ten pounds, but she was surprised to receive twenty pounds. She was overjoyed.

"Did I give you a little too much?" He Tiantian said, feeling embarrassed to accept the rest.

"Alright, this is something everyone agrees on. If it weren't for you, none of us would get a single piece of meat," Qi Ergou said. "The distribution is very fair; it's based on headcount. Adults get one share, and children under twelve get half a share. That's exactly one jin for adults and half a jin and five qian for children. Every household gets some, so nobody has any complaints."

After hearing Qi Ergou's explanation, He Tiantian stopped refusing and said, "Thank you, Second Brother. Put it in that basin over there."

Qi Ergou put the things away and said, "Alright, I still need to deliver these to Comrade Zuo and Comrade Xiang of the livestock team! I'll head back now."

"Goodbye, Brother Qi," He Tiantian said politely.

"Third Grandma, Sweetie, I'm leaving now. If you need anything, just come find me or my mom." After saying that, Second Brother Qi left in a hurry.

After everyone left, He Tiantian was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Grandma Qi, we have so much meat!"

"Hehe, yes, I haven't seen so much meat in years," Grandma Qi said with a smile. "It's all thanks to Sweetie."

He Tiantian carried the meat to the kitchen, cut off two pieces, estimating each piece to weigh about three pounds, and strung them together with two small ropes. She said, "Grandma Qi, I have more than twenty pounds of meat. I'm cutting off two pieces for Brother Dajun and his cousin Lili. If they hadn't told me beforehand that Qi Jianguo had reported me, I would have been doomed!"

"We should give them some," said Grandma Qi. "They've been kind to us, so we should give them some of our good things. By the way, the county town is far away, so how will we send them over?"

“Brother Dajun came to deliver the letter, but Xiaoyan dragged him home for dinner,” He Tiantian said. “I’ll deliver it first thing tomorrow morning and have Brother Dajun take it with him.”

“Let’s deliver it tonight. It’ll be dark, and no one will see it. If we run into someone in the morning, they might think you’re delivering it to Secretary Qi,” said Grandma Qi. “It’s getting late now, let’s make some vegetable and shredded pork noodles, and tomorrow we’ll have braised pork and dumplings.”

“Okay!” He Tiantian agreed. “It just so happens that the bok choy in our garden is ready to eat. Grandma Qi, you knead the dough, and I’ll go pick the vegetables. When I come back, I’ll roll out the dough.”

Grandma Qi didn't have enough strength left; she could only knead the dough, not roll out the noodles.

He Tiantian picked two bunches of green vegetables from the vegetable garden not far from the door, washed them, chopped half a pound of meat, minced it, and made a bowl of fragrant meat sauce so that it would be easier for Grandma Qi to chew.

After the dough had rested, He Tiantian started rolling out the noodles, kneading it into a round dough ball, and then turning it into a thin sheet under the pressure of the long rolling pin. She folded it a few times and cut it into noodles about half a finger wide.

Grandma Qi boiled water, He Tiantian put the noodles into the pot, brought it to a boil over high heat for a few seconds, then threw in the greens. Once the greens were cooked, the noodles were ready to be served.

He Tiantian found two large soup bowls at home, filled two large bowls with noodles, added some vegetables, then poured on minced meat sauce, stirred it, and a bowl of delicious and flavorful vegetable and minced meat noodles was ready.

Seeing that there was a lot of noodles in the bowl, Grandma Qi picked out two pieces of noodles and gave them to He Tiantian, saying, "You're too old to eat that much. You'll feel uncomfortable if you have indigestion tonight."

He Tiantian didn't refuse or show any disdain, and said, "Thank you, Grandma Qi."

"Eat quickly, stir it a bit, otherwise the noodles will stick together and won't taste good," Grandma Qi reminded her. It smelled so good; she hadn't eaten anything this delicious in years. It wasn't just because the food was good, but also because there was someone at the table with her. Before, when she was alone at the table, even eating good food didn't taste right!

"Mmm." He Tiantian ate her noodles in silence. The large bowl of noodles was gone in no time. She was sweating and felt warm all over.

My stomach is a little bloated; I've eaten too much.

Grandma Qi ate with a beaming smile and took a walk in the yard to digest her food.

He Tiantian wrapped two pieces of wild boar meat, each weighing three jin (approximately 1.5 kg), in oil paper and delivered them to Secretary Qi's house.

When He Tiantian arrived, Secretary Qi and Niu Dajun were drinking.

Liang Hongyu greeted He Tiantian warmly, asking, "Tiantian, have you eaten? If not, let's eat together."

After playing with He Tiantian, her daughter became much more cheerful, and Liang Hongyu also liked He Tiantian very much.

“Aunt Liang, I’ve already eaten. I received some wild boar meat and wanted to give some to Brother Dajun and Sister Lili to thank them for taking care of me,” He Tiantian said. Secretary Qi’s family also received pork, so He Tiantian didn’t plan to give any to Secretary Qi.

"Sweetie, I can't take it, you keep it and eat it." Niu Dajun refused. He had already taken He Tiantian's pastries and wild rabbit last time, how could he take anything else now!

Niu Dajun was not greedy and would not accept rewards without merit.

He Tiantian has had a tough time too, and he can't accept her kindness anymore. (To be continued.)