Gao Shujing: "The bones are delicious. When you get home from work, break the bones into smaller pieces, put them in a pot, and simmer for an hour to extract the marrow. The soup is nourishing and fragrant, and drinking more of it will be good for you."

“We brought over ten kilograms of bone fragments with us this time, you can try them.”

To make a good soup, you need to simmer pork bones for several hours, but the Xia family has limited resources, so they can only break the bones into smaller pieces to reduce the simmering time. This wastes some marrow, but it's better than nothing.

On the day of the market, the weather was as cooperative as ever, with the sun shining brightly early.

Outside Yu Rujia's house at the edge of the village, the sounds of people going to the market could be heard again. Yu Rujia, who had planned to get up later, was awakened by these sounds and felt more excited about going to the market. She hadn't experienced the atmosphere of the New Year for a long time.

After dressing the little ones and having breakfast, Yu Rujia carried baskets and bags and led the four children to the front.

Gao Guojing followed behind, holding onto his bicycle which had a long wooden plank attached to it. He planned to let the children sit on the plank and walk while holding on when they couldn't hold on any longer.

The children were leaving the group for the first time and excitedly chased each other along the road. Even Duoxi, who was just over a year old, didn't feel tired until they were halfway there.

The reason Yu Rujia brought the children along was that she wanted to take some photos of them so that Gao Guojing could take them back to Jiangcheng to show Xia Taishun and the others.

It's because she's lazy and doesn't usually want to leave the group, so she could only bring them along during this trip.

Following the flow of people into the town, Yu Rujia realized that she had underestimated people's enthusiasm for the market. She could see the bustling scene from a distance, and when she arrived at the market, it was packed with people.

Aside from the train station, this was the first time Yu Rujia had ever seen so many people gathered in one place at the same time; there were even more people than when they distributed grain and meat at the end of the year.

Going to the market was such a distant memory for her, long forgotten, that she was proven wrong.

Yu Rujia paused for a moment and said, "Guojing, you and the others wait here. I'll go in first and take a look. After I've looked around enough, you can go in and walk around again."

With so many people around, Yu Rujia was worried that something might happen to the children. She even had the urge to send the little ones home, but ultimately gave up on the idea.

Gao Guojing may have fun in his spare time, but he also knows what's important when things get serious: "Okay, I'll listen to Sister Rujia."

Yu Rujia thought for a moment, then took out the rope and handed it to him: "Use the rope to tie them together. You just need to hold the rope so they don't get lost."

This rope was originally intended for tying things up, but it's being used on a few children first.

Pulling along Duolu and Duoxi, who kept craning their necks to look into the market, Duofu took a moment to reply, "Auntie, I'll be watching over my little brother with Uncle Guojing."

Since Gao Guojing came over, Duofu, who had been relaxed for many days, has started to feel that his younger brother is too much of a worry.

Duoshou was a little better. Although he was craning his neck to look at the market, he still knew to pull Duolu, who was rushing over there. Seeing this, Duofu felt that he finally had a reliable younger brother.

Gao Guojing deftly tied the children together with a rope, afraid they would get lost.

Duolu, who was thoroughly enjoying the show, was repeatedly pulled back by the ropes, making it impossible for him to move forward. Touching the ropes binding him, he pouted and said, "Auntie, I don't want to be tied up."

Yu Rujia: "Your Uncle Guojing can't keep an eye on all of you. If you're not tied up, he might not even notice if someone else takes you away."

"If you are taken to someone else's house, you won't get any meat or good food, and you'll go hungry every day."

The gluttonous Duolu immediately changed his attitude: "Tie him up, tie him up tighter, Duolu doesn't want to leave his aunt." As he spoke, he grabbed Duoshou and Duoxi, who were tied to him.

Yu Rujia: "Good to know. Auntie is going to buy meat. You stay with Uncle Guojing and behave yourself."

Yu Rujia was planning to have hot pot on New Year's Eve and barbecue on the second day of the Lunar New Year, so she focused her energy on finding ingredients that could be used for hot pot and barbecue.

As soon as I entered the market, I found all sorts of things: chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, and many wild animals hunted from the mountains.

Yu Rujia saw someone selling mutton. The meat was fairly fresh, having been caught yesterday. The weather wasn't too hot, so the meat wouldn't spoil overnight.

Yu Rujia immediately asked, "Brother, how much is this mutton?"

The middle-aged man selling meat said, "One yuan per jin, no coupon required."

Pork with ration coupons cost 0.78 yuan per jin (500g), while without coupons it cost a little over one yuan. Lamb doesn't have as much fat as pork, so even though it was scarce, in an era when fatty meat was considered beautiful, lamb was still cheaper than pork.

Yu Rujia pointed to the half-eaten mutton and said, "Cut this piece for me."

The middle-aged man happily said, "Okay, I'll cut it for you right away."

Goodness, she's a rich person! She lost over thirty pounds in one go. There aren't many people in town as generous as her.

After weighing it, the middle-aged man said, "Thirty-five catties and three ounces, that's thirty-five catties. Sister, let me put it in your basket."

Yu Rujia handed him the bag: "Boss, just put it here for me." Then, ignoring the spendthrift voice coming from the side, she calmly took out thirty-five yuan and gave it to the boss.

Wherever she went, she was bound to be criticized, which is why Yu Rujia did not buy all the mutton according to her own whims.

You should know that some of what she bought had to go to the cowshed, for a hot pot dinner on New Year's Eve and a barbecue on the second day of the Lunar New Year. Thirty-five pounds of meat simply wasn't enough for them. After all, even the kids in their family are big eaters.

Yu Rujia thought for a moment, then carried the mutton back to Gao Guojing's side and instructed him to buy another dozen or so muttons. This was a rare opportunity, and since there was an ice bucket at home, they weren't worried about it spoiling.

After buying the mutton, Yu Rujia strolled around the market, intending to buy some fabric to take back. Unfortunately, the town only had a small amount of very rough fabric, which she didn't like, so she didn't buy it.

The market mainly sells locally produced goods, such as vegetables like greens, beans, and radishes; handicrafts like bamboo baskets and brooms; and wild animals, fruits, and mountain products.

Yu Rujia made a round and took back two old hens, more than ten kilograms of beans, some mountain products, some snacks such as melon seeds and peanuts, and a few couplets.

Yu Rujia put down her things, took out some money and slipped it into Gao Guojing's hand: "Guojing, go see if there's anything you need to buy. Buy whatever you want. The New Year should be lively and joyful, without any regrets."

Gao Guojing took the money: "Okay, I'll be right back."

There was a bustling market just ahead; if it weren't for his child being the priority, he would definitely have gone to join in the excitement.

Finally, Yu Rujia came back from shopping and let him go shopping. Of course, he had a good time, so he immediately stuffed the rope into Yu Rujia's hand and rushed into the crowd.