"Have you finished cooking?" Liu Xinlan was about to leave work and was thinking about going home to cook.

On her way back, she passed by Shen Qiaoyue's house and happened to see Jiang Jinyao there. Out of curiosity, she just wanted to come over and chat for a bit.

"Well, they should be able to eat around the time they get off work. Come in quickly, I'll make you a fire pit to warm you up." Shen Qiaoyue came out of the kitchen and shivered from the cold wind.

"That's perfect, I'll go back and get all the buns." Jiang Jinyao put down the buns and went home to get food.

Liu Xinlan came in and put away the umbrella. She then went into the kitchen and saw several bowls full of meat.

"You... you've struck it rich, making so much meat at once?" Liu Xinlan looked at the two large platters of meat that Shen Qiaoyue had cooked, her mouth watering. "Braised pork, braised spare ribs!"

Liu Xinlan looked at Shen Qiaoyue in disbelief.

"We're taking the bus to Beijing tomorrow night, so you'll definitely want to have a good meal. Didn't you buy any meat when you slaughtered the pig yesterday?" Shen Qiaoyue asked Liu Xinlan with a smile.

Liu Xinlan nodded and said, "I bought a few pounds of pork for Qianli, including some fatty pork. I plan to render the fat into oil when I get back, and fry the rest of the pork to keep it for longer."

Xu Qianli was on duty at the military base, and Liu Xinlan missed her daughter. Since the hospital was also on holiday, she went with him.

"It's mainly because they're slaughtering pigs in the family compound. We've all had our first meat meal, but nobody has meat coupons. We're all waiting for the New Year so we can have a good meal after the pig slaughter." It's not that Shen Qiaoyue doesn't have money, it's that she doesn't have coupons to buy meat.

Liu Xinlan put her bag aside, went to the sink to wash her hands, and said, "Yes, I haven't eaten meat for two weeks. I don't even know what meat tastes like anymore. The food at the military canteen has been really bad lately."

Listening to Liu Xinlan's complaints, Shen Qiaoyue teased, "You miss my mom and aunt's cooking, don't you?"