Chapter 54, Chapter 55...

Chapter 54

The people who went out to help with disaster relief have returned, and the whole residential compound has become lively again, unlike before when everyone was lifeless.

Yao Anhui was also quite remarkable; she got up at the crack of dawn and went to the supply and marketing cooperative early in the morning to queue up to buy meat. The supply and marketing cooperative only had a limited amount of meat each day, and if you went too late, it would be gone.

Especially now that the men who went out to help with disaster relief have returned, almost all of them, like Lu Yuanqing, have lost a lot of weight. Needless to say, there will be a lot of people rushing to grab meat today.

Sure enough, when Yao Anhui arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, there were already four or five people in line. Yao Anhui quickly ran to the back of the line and joined the queue.

As it turned out, her decision was absolutely correct. Just three seconds after she stood still, people started coming from behind Yao Anhui, and the pace quickened. Five minutes later, the queue had grown to more than a dozen people.

"An Hui? That's unusual, it's the first time I've seen you at this time." The speakers were Xiang Xiaowen and Zhuang Dajuan, who were in third and fourth place respectively, while Yao An Hui was in sixth.

That's certainly rare, Yao Anhui. Let alone queuing at the supply and marketing cooperative before dawn, she hadn't gotten up earlier than 7 a.m. in the past eleven days, let alone at this unprecedented time.

"Well, we just came out to buy some meat since we didn't have any at home." Yao Anhui deliberately put on a blushing and embarrassed look, but she was actually quite at ease. She was living her own life and didn't care what others thought. Of course, that didn't stop her from putting on a show for others.

“I saw your husband yesterday too. He’s lost so much weight, just like mine. How about it? You must be heartbroken,” Zhuang Dajuan said, winking.

If this had happened when she first got married, Yao Anhui might have been shy, but now she's completely different. Yao Anhui feels that her skin has become thicker and thicker since getting married. Although she still can't tell dirty jokes like other people, at least she doesn't feel shy after hearing them. It's only been a short time, and the speed at which her skin has become thicker can only be described as a leap.

"What you're saying, sister-in-law... You've been here for so long before me, so you must be more distressed than I am." Not only could she listen, but she could also retort a few times.

Zhuang Dajuan was no less shameless than Yao Anhui: "Of course! I've lost all the money I had on me after this trip. If I don't feel sorry for myself, who will?" She didn't take Yao Anhui's teasing seriously at all, and spoke with a straight face and as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

*

Yao Anhui had never queued up at the supply and marketing cooperative to buy meat before. She had no idea what time the cooperative opened. She waited and waited in the crowd. I thought I would be able to buy meat soon and make breakfast. I never expected that she would wait from before six o'clock to eight o'clock.

At one point, she considered leaving. It's just meat, right? She could just not eat it, or she could use Hua Fangling's connections, or… Damn it, she'd already waited for over an hour; it would be such a waste to just leave now…

It was only because Lu Yuanqing returned so thin and bony that Yao Anhui left, and because Lu Yuanqing had treated her well; otherwise, she would have left long ago.

Anyway, Yao Anhui would never want to queue up to buy meat again, even if you killed her. If she didn't really feel sorry for Lu Yuanqing, who had to queue for more than two hours just to eat meat, she might as well not eat it at all.

Finally, at eight o'clock, as soon as the door of the supply and marketing cooperative opened, Yao Anhui didn't even need to lift her leg; the crowd behind her was already pushing and shoving her forward. Yao Anhui quickly followed Xiang Xiaowen and Zhuang Dajuan to the meat stall. They had been queuing for two hours; she was determined to get some meat today.

It can only be said that 90% of them were worried about their men, and they all kept squeezing into the meat stall. Luckily, Yao Anhui arrived early, otherwise she would have been one of those squeezing from the back to the front.

Yao Anhui had already decided what kind of meat to buy. Although her family ate meat from time to time, Yao Anhui actually had quite a lot of meat coupons. This was because Hua Fangling had helped her buy most of the meat in the past. And like Hua Fangling, Yao Anhui didn't like to eat fatty meat; she preferred lean meat and ribs. Therefore, she still had several kilograms of meat coupons left.

But today's protagonist is Lu Yuanqing, so naturally we have to make the dishes that Lu Yuanqing likes to eat. Like most people in this era, Lu Yuanqing loves to eat braised pork, braised pork belly, and braised pork belly.

Therefore, Yao Anhui decided to make braised pork with preserved mustard greens today. A few days ago, her classmate Qi Chunfang had already sent her everything she needed: a big bag of dried bamboo shoots and preserved mustard greens, dried chili peppers, Jiangxi rice noodles, fish floss, and lots of scallions.

I haven't eaten this in a long time and I'm really craving it. Today at noon, Yao Anhui plans to cook a table of Jiangxi cuisine, including cold pickled scallions, braised pork with preserved mustard greens, braised pork with dried bamboo shoots, and Xingguo fish shreds. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Yao Anhui had already planned to buy pork belly today, as it's the best for making braised pork belly and braised pork with dried bamboo shoots.

So when it was Yao Anhui's turn, she immediately said, "Hello comrade, I want two pounds of pork belly and two pounds of spare ribs."

To nourish the body, soup is naturally indispensable. However, as soon as she finished speaking, she saw a pig's stomach on the cutting board and quickly said, "I'll take the pig's stomach too."

Pork tripe and chicken soup is highly nutritious; buying one is definitely worthwhile.

The man at the meat stall was tall and burly. He looked up at Yao Anhui without saying a word, but gave her everything she wanted.

Yao Anhui was still sighing, saying that the man at the meat stall was actually quite easy to talk to, not at all like what others said about him being fierce and rude, and stingy when buying meat, refusing to give an extra penny.

Yao Anhui didn't see how fierce and rude the other person was; on the contrary, she thought he was a nice person who even put the meat in her basket, although his face was a bit dark.

After struggling to squeeze through the crowd, Yao Anhui emerged from the supply and marketing cooperative with disheveled hair, wrinkled clothes, and her feet trampled on several times. She walked with a limp.

After coming out, Yao Anhui met Xiang Xiaowen and Zhuang Dajuan, who also had messy hair, so they went home together.

"Wow...you bought so much! There's pork belly, ribs, and even a pig's stomach! I wanted to buy some earlier, but people wouldn't let me. I didn't expect you to buy it for me, An Hui." Zhuang Dajuan was very envious, but since he was a good person, she only had an envious expression on her face.

"Then have you forgotten who the comrade in charge of selling meat is? That's Guan Jingshan," Xiang Xiaowen said.

"What happened to Guan Jingshan?" Not only Zhuang Dajuan was confused, but Yao Anhui was also completely baffled by Xiang Xiaowen's words.

"Guan Jingshan is Guan Xier's brother, have you forgotten?" Xiang Xiaowen revealed.

No wonder Yao Anhui and Zhuang Dajuan looked enlightened. It makes sense, since Yao Anhui can be considered Guan Xier's savior.

After that, Yao Anhui never saw Guan Xier again. At that time, she was so badly injured that she was said to have gone back to her hometown to recuperate after treatment. Even when she came to thank her, it was her husband who came to her door. Yao Anhui really didn't know that Guan Jingshan was Guan Xier's brother.

However, Yao Anhui didn't have any other thoughts about Guan Jingshan's secret care. In fact, she thought it was quite normal. After all, Yao Anhui could be considered Guan Xier's savior. If it weren't for Hua Fangling and Yao Anhui, Guan Xier would definitely have died from blood loss.

Yao Anhui didn't think too much about it, because she herself wasn't the type of person who could get up early, and she probably didn't know when she would get up this early again to buy meat at the supply and marketing cooperative.

Therefore, no matter how Guan Jingshan treated her, Yao Anhui didn't think too much about it, since they wouldn't see each other very often in the future anyway.

As the three were talking, they saw Lu Yuanqing approaching from afar.

"Anhui, your Lu Tuan has such a good relationship with you, he even came to pick you up when you just came out to buy some meat," Xiang Xiaowen joked.

Before Yao Anhui could speak, Zhuang Dajuan interrupted, "Xiaowen, how dare you tease Anhui? Your husband used to be even more clingy. Lu Tuan is here to pick someone up, and your husband was going grocery shopping with you every day. Oh my, so many people in our military dependents' compound envied you back then..."

“You know that was in the past, it’s not like that now…” Xiang Xiaowen couldn’t continue, because behind Lu Yuanqing was a familiar-looking person, none other than her husband.

"Oh ho ho, I'm the poor one. I shouldn't have gone out with you. We were fine when we came, but now I'm all alone on the way back."

Zhuang Dajuan spoke in a strange tone, then quickly walked a few steps, leaving the two behind: "I'm not going to be a third wheel here anymore, I'm going back first, you two take your time on your way back."

Although Zhuang Dajuan's words sounded strange, she wasn't actually the kind of person who liked to complain. While she admired Yao Anhui and Xiang Xiaowen's husbands for being so considerate, she didn't think her own husband was any bad.

Zhuang Dajuan is the kind of person who takes on big responsibilities and doesn't like being clingy or wishy-washy. If she were to have her man act like Lu Yuanqing and the others, she herself would be the first to find it unbearable.

However, this doesn't stop Zhuang Dajuan from using these words to tease Yao Anhui and Xiang Xiaowen; that's just Zhuang Dajuan's quirky sense of humor.

Lu Yuanqing quickly took the basket from Yao Anhui's hands: "Why are you up so early to buy meat? Don't we have vegetables at home?"

Lu Yuanqing held Yao Anhui's hand tightly, feeling sorry for her. In just a short while since they left the supply and marketing cooperative, Yao Anhui's palms had turned red, and the scars from her previous injury were still there. It was enough to make Lu Yuanqing feel sorry for her.

Yao Anhui wasn't the type to say sweet words. She genuinely cared about Lu Yuanqing and wanted to help him improve his health, but she couldn't bring herself to say it on the street. So she made up an excuse and said, "My classmate sent me a package, so I'll make you some special dishes from southern Jiangxi today."

How could Lu Yuanqing possibly understand Yao Anhui's thoughts? Lu Yuanqing is a very thoughtful person. Yao Anhui, who usually wakes up naturally, would go out so early in the morning to queue for hours to buy meat, which hides her deep concern for him.

Lu Yuanqing felt warmed but also reluctant. Of course he was reluctant. How could someone who would rather get up early to cook for Yao Anhui so that she could sleep a little longer bear to make her queue for more than two hours just to make him a delicious meal?

“I’ll get up to buy it next time, you can sleep a little longer.” Lu Yuanqing was touched, but he wanted Yao Anhui to get some rest even more.

"Okay." Yao Anhui answered readily. It was really not worth queuing for so long just to eat a bite of meat. Next time, she would go through Hua Fangling's back door.

Yao Anhui said she was going to cook a local specialty dish for Lu Yuanqing, but when they got home, Lu Yuanqing wouldn't let Yao Anhui do it, simply because her hand was still injured and hadn't fully healed.

However, today is probably a special day, with good news coming one after another. Before Yao Anhui and the others had even started cooking, someone came to announce some good news.

Yao Anhui has a job, and it's a job that's extremely suitable for her.

A job that Yao Anhui couldn't refuse.