To celebrate her successful first day at work, Bonnie went to a hidden little market.
This small market, I don't know who organized it, isn't very big. It sells chickens and ducks raised by farmers, and occasionally pork.
Since there have been no restrictions on the number of livestock raised in rural areas, there are more chickens and ducks in the market.
It's not open during the day, but after 3 pm, people who have finished get off work start coming in to buy groceries and cook dinner.
When Bonnie arrived, there was a pork vendor selling freshly slaughtered pigs. The pigs must have weighed around 300 pounds and looked very fat with thick layers of fat.
Bonnie bought seven or eight pork ribs and two pieces of meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat. She also bought five or six catties of lard, as the family was running low on lard.
It's too hot, and without a refrigerator, Bonnie doesn't dare buy too much. If it were winter, she would have bought at least a hundred or two hundred pounds.
Bonnie bought a lot, but she couldn't openly bring it into the family compound. The butcher gave her a small basket, saying it was homemade and worthless.
Bonnie is a big customer; she bought over ten kilograms by herself, along with pork fat and ribs.
Bonnie walked around again, bought a few tomatoes, but didn't find anything else she liked, so she went home.
Upon entering the residential compound, some people noticed Bonnie carrying a basket and wondered what she had bought.
Bonnie didn't know them, didn't say anything, and went straight to her building.
"Bonnie, what did you buy? You even need to use a basket?"
The old lady on the first floor is very friendly and always greets me when we meet.
"Auntie, the market has some pork, a whole head, with lots of fat. We're out of oil at home, so I bought some lard to render the fat, and some bones to make soup for the kids."
Bonnie talked a lot, some true and some false. If they saw what was in her basket, they would have a new topic of conversation.
The wife of Brigade Commander Gu on the third floor doesn't know how to manage money; she buys meat by the pound or two at a time.
"Really, I'm going to buy some too. The meat at the grocery store is sold out."
The old lady went back inside to get the money, and Bonnie went upstairs.
I called Sister-in-law Gu and asked her to come pick up the meat after get off work.
Bonnie plans to stew pork ribs for dinner and make a persimmon salad with white sugar, so she'll have both meat and vegetables.
She doesn't know how to stew pork ribs herself; she relies on oil first, which she does.
Clean the pork fat thoroughly, cut it into small pieces, put a little water in a pot, then put the chopped pork fat in and simmer over low heat.
I cut the meat I bought into tofu-sized pieces, and I'll fry them in oil later so they can last for a couple more days.
The aroma of the fried dough sticks was so irresistible! Bonnie could even hear someone downstairs asking, "Who's making fried dough sticks? It smells so good!"
On such a hot day, Bonnie can't close the windows, so she has to apologize to her neighbors. The aroma is quite appetizing.
The oil has mostly rendered out; Bonnie scooped the fried dough sticks out, otherwise they'd burn and wouldn't taste good.
Next, put the chopped meat pieces into the oil and fry them for a while until the outer skin turns golden brown.
Bonnie scooped the meat chunks and oil into a basin, and after they cooled, she poured them into the oil jar.
Bonnie was cooking meat at home when Aunt Lan returned home, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.
She was criticized all day, while Lin Baoni was praised. Why should she, a girl from an island, be praised?
Lan Hua has already inquired and found out that Lin Baoni doesn't have much of a background. She has an older brother in the military region who is a junior regimental commander.
Having no connections is no big deal, but there's limited room for advancement.
Her husband was a brigade commander, which was a higher rank than her husband, but she had an uncle who was a division commander, a much higher rank.
As for Commander Gu's elder brother, he's no longer with the military region, so we don't need to worry about him.
As the old saying goes, "A local official is more powerful than a distant one," and at this stage, her uncle is the most powerful.
Lan Hua, whose brain capacity was barely larger than a fingernail, had already thought things through clearly. Lin Baoni was nothing to fear.
Lan Hua secretly thought that she could make Lin Baoni look bad so that she could save face.
Lin Baoni had no idea that someone was going to cause her trouble. She had just finished blanching the ribs and was waiting for the three men to come back and cook.
A delicious meal of braised pork ribs gave me a boost of energy for my busy life.
Bonnie was doing her job very well, and Liu Jiu would occasionally come over to help out quietly, putting the misplaced books back in their proper places.
Lan Hua couldn't find an opportunity to humiliate Bonnie, and she was heartbroken.
Over the weekend, Bonnie took the children to the courtyard house, where their autumn vegetables were growing well.
The Chinese cabbage is half-hearted, the radish greens are bright green, and the spinach and cilantro are ready to eat.
Bonnie led the children to pull weeds and add soil. In another month, it will be almost ready for harvest.
When school resumed on Monday, Bonnie went about her business as usual. Interestingly, Aunt Lan would occasionally walk past Bonnie, trying to make her presence known, with an expression that seemed to suggest something but was too embarrassed to say it.
Bonnie felt bad just looking at her, but she wouldn't say anything to her, letting her brood over it. She didn't have anything nice to say either.
Finally, lunchtime arrived. Lan Hua was very enthusiastic, following Teacher Ma around and saying meaningless things.
After Bao Ni got her food, she heard Aunt Lan say, "Now there are more educated youth returning to the city. In the last two college entrance exams, some of them passed and got into university, but the rest have little hope. Those who were recruited to work in the city and brought their families back are having a hard time."
When Sister Lan brought up this topic, she would glance at Bao Ni every now and then, as if afraid that others wouldn't know that what she was going to say was related to Bao Ni.
Bonnie ignored her, leaving her to perform a one-woman show.
Looking at Lan Hua with confusion, Teacher Ma asked, "Comrade Lan, why are you staring at Bao Ni? There aren't any educated youths from her family who went to the countryside."
Teacher Ma is not from the military compound and is unaware of the Gu family's situation.
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