Today at noon, the educated youth ordered cornbread for lunch, and the dish was still cabbage stewed with potatoes.

For three days in a row, the meals at the educated youth settlement were always made with cornmeal and a large cabbage without a drop of oil.

This had no impact on Jiang Xile, who always had special meals prepared for him, but Liu Hongtao, a foodie, found it hard to resist.

"We've been eating this all year round at our educated youth settlement! When will we be able to improve our meals?"

The veteran educated youth were not surprised by Liu Hongtao's complaints, because they had felt the same way when they first arrived.

"It's already pretty good that cornmeal can fill our stomachs; the few work points we earn are only enough to eat this."

Want to improve our meals? No problem, but you'll have to pay for it yourself. We'd love to eat meat, but alas, we don't have any meat coupons!

Sitting next to Liu Hongtao, Shi Zhiming chimed in, "Who doesn't want to eat meat? It's just a pity that the longer you stay in the countryside, the more frugal you become."

Only these newly arrived educated youth were unaware of the hardships of life in the countryside, so they could openly shout that they wanted to improve their meals.

As soon as Shi Zhiming finished speaking, Zhang Hao chimed in:

“Zhiming is right, we also want to improve our meals, but unfortunately we don’t have the means. If any of you can contribute a meat coupon, I’m willing to contribute two cents to our get-together!”

"Ha, you think you can eat meat for two cents? Zhang Hao, you're dreaming!"

"What's wrong with two cents? Improving our meals is everyone's business, not just mine alone."

Two cents per person, and for twenty of us together, that's no small sum—enough to eat whatever we want!

Everyone looked at each other, and who didn't want to eat meat?

The educated youth settlement hadn't seen any meat for over two months, and just thinking about it now would probably make their mouths water.

Without a ticket, all that drooling is for nothing!

So all they can do now is watch these new educated youths with longing eyes, since they've just come from home and might be carrying receipts with them!

A sense of anticipation rose in everyone's eyes as they looked at the new educated youth, as if they saw a big piece of meat beckoning to them.

Jiang Xile did not express any opinion, and sat there quietly and obediently.

Meat coupons? Whether it's meat coupons, oil coupons, or grain coupons, Jiang Xile has quite a few in her possession. She exchanged them before leaving Anding City.

In addition, there was the military pass that Jiang Xile obtained from Liu Haizhu on the train, but unfortunately, Jiang Xile was unwilling to hand it over.

With this ticket, wouldn't it be better to keep it for a meal at a restaurant? When a large group of people have a meal together, even three pounds of meat wouldn't be enough, let alone one pound.

Keep in mind, there are twenty-four people in total!

If I used those three jin of meat coupons to eat out, I could probably eat at a state-run restaurant three or four times. If I saved a little, I could eat there six times.

Why bother going to a dinner party and competing with a bunch of people for meat? It's not worth it!

As the first person to complain, Liu Hongtao naturally bore the brunt of the eye attacks, but Liu Hongtao was no fool, especially when it came to the issue of food.

Although he brought a lot of money with him when he left home, he had very few receipts, so it was impossible for him to use them for the family dinner!

Li Xiaojuan and Zhou Caixia, needless to say, were completely different in every way, from their luggage and belongings to their manner of speaking and their clothing.

They were clearly no match for the other four, so the attention focused on these two was almost negligible.

Duan Chengyu also wanted to eat meat, but unfortunately, he didn't have any meat coupons. He only had some cash and ten jin of national grain coupons left in his pocket.

These grain coupons were his last trump card; he would never casually throw them away and waste them.

Mu Tianye had been observing everyone's expressions from the sidelines; eating meat was undoubtedly a very tempting thing.

He figured that since he had just arrived, it would be worthwhile if he could win the favor of the crowd by offering a hostage.

It wasn't his turn to shine yet, so Mu Tianye decided to wait a little longer. After all, the big shots always have to make their appearance last!

Zhai Qiaoyun glanced at Qiu Wenbin and saw him stealing glances at Jiang Xile from time to time. The sour feeling that had gathered in the morning surged up again.

"Why is everyone so quiet? We old educated youth have been sent to the countryside for so long. Without any family support, we must have run out of ration coupons to spend."

But you new educated youths have just come from home, so you didn't come empty-handed, did you?

"Jiang Zhiqing, you're dressed so beautifully, and you've brought quite a lot of luggage. It seems you're highly valued by your family!"

Jiang Xile was taken aback when her name was suddenly called, not understanding how the fire had spread to her.

Especially when she met Zhai Qiaoyun's hostile eyes, she felt even more confused.

I didn't provoke this woman, so why is she targeting me?

Jiang Xile had countless questions in her mind, but she still couldn't figure out the reason.

"Why isn't Jiang Zhiqing saying anything? Does she look down on us poor wretches?"

That's a very thought-provoking statement; if not handled carefully, it could easily bring trouble upon oneself.

Before Jiang Xile could even speak, Qiu Wenbin frowned and scolded:

"Qiaoyun, what nonsense are you spouting! If you can't speak properly, shut up!"

"How could I be talking nonsense? Our educated youth settlement has always advocated freedom of speech. What, are you trying to deprive me of my right to speak just to protect Jiang, the educated youth?"

You've only known her for two days, how long have you known her? We've known each other for so long.

Don't forget, we're from the same city and went to the same school!

I don't understand why the usually docile Zhai Qiaoyun has suddenly become so sharp, aggressive, and unreasonable.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!