The next morning, after breakfast, Huo Haocheng took Ruan Ruan and Huo Haoshen into the city on the village's tractor.

As soon as they got off the bus, the three of them headed straight for the grocery store.

When they arrived, there was already a long queue. Huo Haocheng asked his younger brother to help him queue first, and then took Ruan Ruan to a less crowded place to rest.

"Little sister, you should rest here for a bit. There are too many people over there, and you'll get jostled if you do."

At this moment, what Ruan Ruan saw was a line of relatively healthy old ladies and women chatting in small groups, moving step by step toward the entrance of the grocery store. Not far from the long line, there were sounds of children playing in twos and threes, and young women like her waiting for their families in the crowd. Occasionally, there were also a few middle-aged men hurrying along, probably because they were going to be late for work.

Ruan Ruan had never seen such a scene before, so this scene now seemed to her to be full of warmth and happiness.

Huo Haocheng, who had been keeping an eye on Ruan Ruan, noticed her sudden smile and wondered if she had seen something that made her happy.

"What is your little sister looking at?"

"Brother, look, even though they're all just trying to make a living, people like that have life."

Huo Haocheng glanced at the scene before him, somewhat puzzled. He couldn't understand why Ruan Ruan would suddenly make such a statement.

When it was their turn, there wasn't much meat left; just a few ribs, two large bones, and a few pounds of not-so-good lean meat.

"Boss, how much are your spare ribs?"

"The pork ribs are 5 mao (0.5 yuan), and there are about 5 jin (2.5 catties) of them. If you want them all, then I'll charge you two yuan. No receipt required."

Where is this big bone?

The bones were removed completely, leaving not a single piece of meat.

"If you want it, I'll give it to you."

The owner peeked outside and saw that there was no one in line anymore, so he just gave it to them.

There were people queuing up before, but when they saw that there was no meat left, they just left and didn't want to waste their time there.

"Boss, we'll take the ribs. Could you please pack them for us? Thank you."

Just as the boss turned to get the bag, Ruan Ruan, with her sharp eyes, spotted a pig's head on the ground where the bag had been placed.

"Boss, are you selling that pig's head?"

After packing up the ribs and bones, the boss turned to look at the pig's head on the ground, then back at Ruan Ruan. Seeing that she was just a young girl, he asked the Huo brothers, "..."

"You want this pig's head?"

Pig heads have never been popular; they always sell out of meat and then deal with the rest themselves. But now this little girl wants to buy one? The two big men next to them kept making noise, which made the shopkeeper have some reservations about Huo Haocheng and his companion.

"My wife is the head of the household."

"My sister-in-law is the one who calls the shots."

The two brothers understood what their boss meant and replied at the same time.

"He's a good man"

The boss smiled knowingly upon hearing their answer, and then spoke to Ruan Ruan...

"If you want this, just give me a dollar."

"Okay, thank you, uncle."

Hearing that the boss gave it to her for such a low price, Ruan Ruan started trying to get closer to him.

"Haha, what a sweet talker, little girl."

After saying that, the shopkeeper handed over the things Ruan Ruan had bought. Huo Haoshen took them, and Huo Haocheng stepped forward, paid the money, and also offered the shopkeeper a cigarette.

"Uncle, can I trouble you for a favor?"

The boss took the cigarette and lit it using the lighter in Huo Haocheng's hand.

"Go ahead and tell me. For the sake of the girl, as long as it's not excessive, I'll definitely help if I can."

That's what he said, but the boss could tell that the real talent was in the young man in front of him. However, there weren't many people who were both talented and loving towards their wives these days. He himself was a loving husband, so as long as it wasn't excessive, he was willing to befriend the young man in front of him.

"Well, our wedding is in a few days, and we were wondering if you could reserve some meat for us on the day?"

"Oh, getting married! How much are you planning to spend?"

"If I could, I'd like a whole pig. Is that okay?"

A wedding doesn't require this much, but Huo Haocheng thought that he was away from home most of the year and didn't have many opportunities to prepare things for his family. He didn't have many meat coupons when he bought meat, so he wanted to take this opportunity to see if he could prepare more. Also, his second brother was getting married, so they could use them then.

"oh....."

These days, it's really rare to get a whole pig right away. Even city officials and their families only ask for a few dozen kilograms at most.

This made the boss glance at Huo Haocheng a few more times, and he said to Ruan Ruan...

"Girl, you have good taste."

"I don't want anything bad, after all, I'm so lovable."

Ruan Ruan rested her chin on her hands, playfully winking as she echoed the boss's words.

"Ha ha......."

The boss was genuinely charmed by Ruan Ruan's cuteness, and at the same time, he thought of his own adorable daughter, who loved to cling to his leg and act spoiled.

"Come with me."

As he spoke, the shopkeeper picked up the remaining lean meat, closed the door, and led Huo Haocheng and the other two through the alley behind the food store to a rather dilapidated courtyard.