"Mingcheng, don't rush. Take this piece of meat to the regimental commander's house, and while you're at it, tell him about our wedding banquet and ask if he can buy that expensive flour."

Lu Fangfang handed a piece of bear meat to her husband.

"Okay, leave it to me."

Zhuang Mingcheng quickly took it, told his wife to watch over it and light the fire, then turned and strode away.

The wedding banquet is in two days, and it's a bit rushed, so we really need to discuss it carefully.

We're inviting the soldiers to eat bear meat, but we can't fit it all at home, so we'll have to borrow the regiment's auditorium. The event is the day after tomorrow, so we need to start making arrangements tomorrow.

He glanced down at his arm and suddenly sighed.

It's really unacceptable that he injured his arm on such an important day.

...

Lu Fangfang had no idea what her husband was thinking, otherwise she would have comforted him.

These injuries are a mark of honor and glory, but she doesn't care about that at all.

After her husband left, she was alone in the yard and started busying herself again.

After a while, she carried several pieces of plump bear meat, preparing to deliver them to her sisters-in-law's homes.

In this day and age, fatty meat is the best, and these large pieces of bear meat were specially cut out by her.

As she stepped out of the house, she turned her head and glanced back.

My sister-in-law was sitting under the birch tree at the entrance of the family compound.

Not wanting people to gossip, she picked up the bear meat and turned to go into the alley behind.

When they reached the last house, Lu Fangfang knocked on the door of Sister Manling's house and handed her the bear meat.

"Little Lu, I... I can't accept this."

"Sister-in-law Manling, please don't be so polite, please accept this. Sister-in-law, Mingcheng and I are preparing for our wedding banquet the day after tomorrow, and I would like to ask you to come over and help out tomorrow..."

Before Lu Fangfang could finish speaking, Sun Manling immediately agreed.

"Little Lu, don't worry, I'll definitely be there tomorrow."

Lu Fangfang thanked them a few times, then turned and went to the other two houses.

...

Sun Manling closed the door and carried the bear meat into the yard, where her son saw her.

"Meat, Mom, it's such a big piece of meat!"

Sun Manling picked it up and glanced at it, feeling secretly pleased.

Such a big piece of meat, and so fatty, Miss Lu really put her heart into it.

"This is bear meat, DouDou. Mom will cook it for you right away, so we can taste the bear meat."

After a while, Sun Manling's man returned.

Smelling the rich aroma from inside the house, he asked curiously, "Manling, did you stir-fry some meat at home? It smells so good!"

He casually took off his military uniform and draped it over the rope.

He went into the small kitchen and saw his wife rendering lard, while his son sat in front of her with a small bowl, eating the fried pork cracklings.

"So fat, Manling, where did you get all this meat from?"

"It was given to me by Xiao Lu. Let me tell you, Xiao Lu killed a bear, a huge one, it couldn't fit in a donkey cart. It was bleeding when it came, it was terrifying..."

As Sun Manling spoke, she picked up a large piece of fried pork fat with her chopsticks and sent it to her husband.

"I've heard about this in the regiment too. This Comrade Lu is really something."

Zhang Wenjun opened his mouth and began to chew the fried pork cracklings.

This afternoon, he smelled this strange aroma in the troupe, and it made him incredibly hungry.

"Wenjun, how's things at the camp today? Still busy?"

"I'm busy. Xu Jinbu keeps insisting on divorcing his wife, so all the work in the camp is piling up on my shoulders."

Zhang Wenjun shook his head and said, "But at least it's better than the Third Battalion. Liu Erkui was dismissed from his post, and he's busier than our battalion."

...

Neither Meijiao nor Lanying's sister-in-law were home, so Lu Fangfang gave the meat to their families and then went home.

There were still several hundred pounds of bear meat left in the yard, so she picked up a knife and got busy again.

Apart from the bear's head, she removed the meat from the remaining bones and set them aside.

Seeing a few large bones, she picked them out.

"This bone is really big; it'll be perfect for the little ones to use as a teething toy."

These bear bones are good stuff. She plans to cook them all the day after tomorrow, along with the bear head. That should be enough to cook two big pots.

"Eating dumplings and drinking bone broth, this banquet... is quite substantial."

Lu Fangfang thought for a moment, then smiled and shook her head.

After finishing her work, she cut the bear meat into pieces. There were no extra bowls in the house, so she decided to just leave it there.

The nights in the Qilian Mountains are very cold, so leaving it outside is perfect for keeping it fresh. With my pet dog and Tibetan fox at home, I don't have to worry about other small animals stealing it.

Tomorrow, we'll move the meat to the inner room and chill it in cold water; it should last until the day after tomorrow.

Since her husband hadn't returned yet, Lu Fangfang chopped some pork ribs and put them on the stove to stew with mushrooms.

One vegetable wasn't enough, so she took her basket and went to the field by the river to pick some more greens.

It was getting dark, and she carried her basket without rushing back.

"The rapeseed is growing so well, we'll have more oil than we can eat this year."

Lu Fangfang touched the long rapeseed capsules, feeling quite troubled.

She already has some rapeseed oil at home. After harvesting the rapeseed and pressing the oil, she won't have enough jars to store it all. She's thinking that she might as well give more to the group.

She glanced at the sunflowers again, then left happily.

When she arrived at the entrance of the family compound, she felt nauseous and gagged a few times.

"Comrade Lu, are you alright?"

Xu Jinbu had just returned from the troupe. He adjusted his glasses and felt a little strange.

"It's alright, it's alright."

Lu Fangfang spat out a mouthful of sour water, then quickly waved her hand.

Not wanting to linger with this person, she picked up her basket and walked away quickly.

"Is this...is she pregnant?"

Xu Jinbu watched her retreating figure, lost in thought.

The thought of this outcome made him feel even worse.

He glanced at it again before walking home with a gloomy expression.