Jiang Ci was busy in the fields, while Zhou Mingli took his two children to find someone to exchange meat for meat.
In fact, some people in Shanding Brigade secretly went to the black market to sell meat. They usually went there early in the morning in the dark and returned before eight o'clock. Zhou Lao Er had seen which family it was before.
Zhou Mingli was heading to that shop to exchange meat.
Shanding Brigade was a village formed after the reform and reorganization. It had a small population, with only about eighty households. The houses were square in shape.
The main road of the village runs close to the fields, and at the east corner of the village is the entrance. A family surnamed Qian lives there. The Qian family has relatives who work in the city as employees of a supply and marketing cooperative, selling meat. Therefore, the Qian family members appear quite robust in a crowd of people who are generally thin.
Zhou Mingli brought his two children to the Qian family's house at the east end of the village and knocked on the door.
A young woman opened the door. "Zhou Lao Er? What are you doing at my house?"
The young woman said warily.
Zhou Mingli smiled and said, "Is Aunt Qian here? I'd like to ask her to buy some of the leftover meat from today."
Upon hearing this, the young woman's expression changed slightly. She looked around before letting Zhou Mingli bring the child in.
She closed the door and started calling, "Mother! Zhou Lao Er is looking for you!"
Soon, a brisk, energetic woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties came out of the room.
Aunt Qian glanced at Zhou Lao Er and said, "Well, you actually brought the child this time."
"My wife went to work, and I was injured, so I can only do what I can."
Hearing this made Aunt Qian feel terrible.
"Good heavens! I've really opened my eyes! You, Zhou Lao Er, actually know how to do chores around the house? And Jiang Ci actually went to work?"
"Did the sun not rise in the west today?"
Zhou Yang and Zhou Miao were still savoring the taste of that candy, their eyes blinking rapidly.
I thought to myself: If a knife is used to pull on someone's butt, how painful must that be? Today, Xia Xi pushed us and we fell and squatted down, and our butts hurt so much. This grandma is using a knife to pull on her butt, isn't she afraid of the pain?
Aunt Qian's daughter-in-law couldn't stand it anymore, "Mother, they've come to buy meat!"
If you treat your customers so rudely, Zhou Lao Er will leave in no time! Are you even going to sell the meat anymore?
It's so hot today, meat will spoil if left out too long.
Aunt Qian remembered the important matter and steered the conversation back to the main topic, "How much are you going to buy this time?"
Zhou Mingli gave the meat ticket and money that Jiang Ci had given him to Aunt Qian.
Tickets for three catties of second-class meat.
The price of second-grade meat is now 80 cents per pound. Zhou Mingli did not intend to spend all his meat coupons at once, so he only gave Aunt Qian one meat coupon.
"I'll buy three catties. If you have any offal, you can add it as a bonus to make it a round number." Zhou Mingli gave five yuan to Aunt Qian and mentioned the names of some spices. "Does Aunt Qian have any? If so, I'll buy some of everything. Just give me five yuan in total."
The Qian family has relatives who sell meat, so they must have these spices for stewing meat. She calculated and said, "Okay, three catties of meat is two yuan and forty cents, so it's three yuan. I'll add two catties of offal for you."
"I'll give you the larger pieces for the remaining two."
Zhou Mingli nodded, agreeing with Aunt Qian's words.
While Aunt Qian turned around and went inside to cut meat for Zhou Mingli, Zhou Yang and Zhou Miao were already drooling over the cured meat tied to the clothesline.
Wow, that's a huge piece of meat! I really want to eat it!
Aunt Qian's daughter-in-law looked at the two children and chuckled. She took a handful of melon seeds and offered them to Zhou Mingli.
Zhou Mingli didn't accept it, waving his hand in refusal.
Aunt Qian's daughter-in-law teased the two children, "Don't be greedy. Didn't your dad buy you meat? You'll have some for lunch. Don't drool over our meat."
Zhou Yang said, "If Mom says I want to eat meat, then I can eat meat."
"Mother won't lie to us!"
Zhou Miao nodded emphatically, "We'll be very obedient."
"These two children are so well-behaved. They're only two years old, but they can already speak so fluently."
Zhou Mingli had no idea how old they were. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Maybe they're smart."
"Their mother is very clever."
Aunt Qian's daughter-in-law almost burst out laughing.
Everyone knows that Jiang Ci is incredibly stupid, both stupid and wicked. Although she hasn't been married into the Shanding Brigade for long, she has already heard her mother-in-law talk about all the stupid things Jiang Ci has done.
"The child is young, so if you teach him properly, he will definitely become smarter!"
Zhou Mingli pretended not to hear the joke in her words and smiled casually.
Jiang Ci was very clever.
Others don't know.
He knows.
Meat is too conspicuous, so Aunt Qian gave them a basket with a bag of spices on top to cover it. "You have to return my basket next time you come," she said.
"I'll bring it to you this afternoon."
Zhou Mingli said goodbye and returned home with his two children.
He had been exposed to the sun quite a bit along the way, and Zhou Mingli, who was still recovering from his injury, was a little out of breath.
The two children played all morning, and then that incident happened, so they went back to their room and went to bed.
Zhou Mingli rested for a while before starting to process the pig offal.
He was from a poor family. Apart from going to school and taking care of his basic needs, Zhou Mingli spent all his time trying to make money.
Working in a restaurant is naturally an essential option.
Back then, some people still hired child laborers to wash dishes, and Zhou Mingli also went to wash dishes. But he was clever; while other children only knew how to bury themselves in their own work, he would secretly watch how the chefs processed the ingredients.
Once he's learned how to do it, he'll dare go to other shops and claim to be an apprentice who knows how to handle ingredients.
Zhou Mingli went from being a dishwasher to a junior apprentice who washed and chopped vegetables and meat for the cook.
Once he had secretly learned the chef's cooking skills, he saved up money during winter and summer vacations to buy a gas stove and ingredients, and set up a small stall to sell his own food.
Zhou Mingli didn't take out any loans; that's how he paid for his university tuition.
He was a very good cook, but after marrying Jiang Ci, he had a professional chef and pastry chef at home, so he didn't need to cook at all. Zhou Mingli didn't really love cooking, and he was also busy with work, so he never cooked again.
But Zhou Mingli could never forget the cooking skills that he had memorized so well.
He skillfully cleaned the pig offal. The second-grade pork had little fat and was a bit leaner than pork belly, but it was still good for stewing.
After washing the chili peppers and the spices he had just bought, Zhou Mingli lit a fire and first put the fatty pork in to stir-fry, rendering out the oil.
There was nothing they could do; they didn't even have any oil, so they just rendered out as much lard as they could.
Zhou Mingli sighed; even a skilled cook can't make a meal without rice.
He was busy in the kitchen but didn't notice that two little ones who were sleeping had crawled to the side of the kitchen and were sniffing hard.
Wow!
What a nice smell!
That's meat!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
