"Beep, beep."

"Sisters, please sit down. We're about to start driving."

Once everyone was on the bus, the driver slowly started moving.

The military vehicle headed east and it took about half an hour to reach the county.

In the back car, the women were still chatting excitedly.

The day they go to the county town each month is the happiest time for them.

"Hey, have you heard? Our regiment's medic, Xiao, has been reported in a letter."

"I know about this. It seems to be quite serious. The division commander called her back and I heard he got angry."

Hearing her sisters-in-law talk about Xiao Ting, Lu Fangfang sat to the side and immediately pricked up her ears, listening curiously.

"Why was Xiao Ting reported?"

One of the sisters-in-law asked the same question as Lu Fangfang.

Just as she was about to hear the reason, she saw her sisters-in-law looking at her.

The sister-in-law who had just asked the question immediately understood. What else could it be? It must be a matter of conduct.

Lu Fangfang: "..."

She cursed her bad luck inwardly, never expecting that this would involve her again.

"Huh? Comrade Lu, I just realized, you're really fair-skinned."

"Yes, yes, none of the wives who came from the city to accompany the army are as fair-skinned as you, Comrade Lu, your skin is really nice."

The women looked Lu Fangfang up and down, each one filled with envy.

The Qilian Mountain Grassland is a high-altitude grassland, and the sun there is extremely strong. When the women first saw Lu Fangfang's fair skin, they were all amazed.

"You only look fair now, but you'll definitely get tanned in two months. Why are you all making such a fuss?"

Some of the women in the crowd looked on with disdain.

Lu Fangfang smiled and turned her head to look, only to find that the speaker was a woman with a long face.

"Oh……"

She remembered this person; the deputy commander's husband had wanted to buy her a large wardrobe, but she had refused. At that time, this same woman had made sarcastic remarks.

When the long-faced woman said that, everyone paused for a moment, and then started discussing Xiao Ting again.

"It wasn't all because of the matter between Doctor Xiao and Battalion Commander Zhuang. Cough cough, I heard that someone also reported that Xiao Ting's ideological awareness was not high."

Upon hearing this, several women immediately nodded in agreement. "It's really not high. That Dr. Xiao doesn't even respect us. When I ran into her the other day, I greeted her, but she ignored me."

"Alright, let's stop talking about this," the long-faced woman interrupted them.

The other women pursed their lips and ignored her.

"Xiao Lu, pull your leg back."

Lu Fangfang frowned slightly. She was already curling her legs up, so where else could she tuck them in?

However, the long-faced woman's foot was already on the sack she was sitting on.

Lu Fangfang was very unhappy. She didn't provoke people, but she wasn't one to be bullied either.

She reached out and pulled the sack off the woman's feet, then closed her eyes, too lazy to pay any attention to her.

"you……"

The long-faced woman felt a little embarrassed.

Seeing everyone looking at her with smiles, she was angry that Lu Fangfang didn't give her any face.

However, she couldn't vent her anger at the moment, so the long-faced sister-in-law could only silently sulk.

The sisters-in-law chatted and laughed for a while, then quieted down.

In those days, the roads were all dirt tracks, and the military vehicles had no shock absorbers, so the ride was extremely bumpy. It was torture to ride in them, and the women lost their appetite for chatting and laughing.

The military vehicle swayed and rattled for half an hour before finally arriving in the county.

The driver didn't go anywhere else; he drove the military vehicle directly to the most bustling area of ​​the county, in front of the department store.

As soon as the military vehicle came to a stop, the women hurriedly ran off, as if someone was chasing them, which left Lu Fangfang stunned.

Wang Shufen, who was standing next to her, was also staring blankly.

Sun Manling jumped off the car and saw the two women still standing inside. She hurriedly said, "Fangfang, Shufen, hurry up and catch up. We need to get to the food market quickly, or we won't be able to buy meat if we're late."

Upon hearing this, Lu Fangfang and Wang Shufen quickly climbed out of the car and followed behind Sun Manling.

The grocery market is just west of the department store. The women who had just come down from their shopping trips didn't rush to the department store; they all headed there instead.

Lu Fangfang looked up curiously.

The county's non-staple food market was rather rudimentary, with a large shed erected above it, much like a modern-day vegetable market.

Once inside the market, she looked around and found that there were quite a few people.

"Fangfang, hurry up and keep up."

Lu Fangfang quickened her pace and followed Sister Manling into a long queue.

Despite their hurried pace, they were still late and ended up at the back of the line.

Lu Fangfang peeked out and saw that most of the women from the family compound were in line.

At the end of the line was a state-run stall with meat hanging on the shelves.

"Stop queuing, stop queuing, we're selling beef today, not pork."

"Huh? Beef? Didn't the county slaughter any pigs today?"

"Who knows? Anyway, they only sell beef."

Hearing the murmurs, the women in line were immediately disappointed.

Beef isn't as fragrant as pork, and you can't render lard from it, so they don't want to buy beef.

Some of the people in the group immediately left.

"I heard from Sister-in-law Meijiao that there has been no pork supply for the past two weeks, it seems that all the pork has been sent to other places."

"Why should we? We don't even have enough to eat."

The women's wives were all talking about it. Sister-in-law Meijiao was a grocery store clerk, so what she said must be true.

Alright, now no one in the line is leaving.

Beef it is, after all, it's good to have meat to eat, and beef is cheap, so it can save some money.

Yes, in those days pork was more expensive than beef and mutton. Pork was rationed and cost 85 cents a pound, while beef and mutton only cost 65 cents, a difference of 20 cents.

Lu Fangfang listened intently from the back of the line, finding it fascinating and broadening her horizons.

After a while, she suddenly realized that she didn't have any meat coupons and couldn't buy meat even if she had money, so why was she queuing?

Lu Fangfang immediately greeted Sun Manling and Wang Shufen, and then strolled around the market.

In addition to pork, the grocery market also sells salt, oil, soy sauce, vinegar, cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, and tea.

There were still dishes on the counter in the first row.

Of course, at this time, they only sell cabbage, radishes, and potatoes; nothing else.

Lu Fangfang was somewhat disappointed; even a small supermarket in the future had a better selection of goods than the market today.

As she walked to the very back of the market, she saw a stall selling chickens.

In those days, chickens, ducks, and fish were only available during festivals, so it wasn't easy to come across them. She quickly went over to ask about the prices.

"A rooster has eight feathers, a hen has nine feathers."

"One pound?" Lu Fangfang was shocked by the price.

This is a live chicken; after slaughtering, only about 80% of the meat will be available, and it's much more expensive than pork.

The chicken vendor looked at Lu Fangfang as if she were a fool, "If it's not one jin, how many jin could it be?"

Lu Fangfang: "..."

"Um, the price is so high, do we need a ration coupon to buy chicken?"

The sales clerk stared at her speechlessly for a long while before saying, "One poultry ticket for one chicken. Comrade, you still need to ask that? Haven't you ever bought anything before?"

Lu Fangfang: "..."