Chapter 045 Chapter 45 Pork and Pot Ash

After Zhang Yuandong entered the alley, he did not come out for a long time. Yang Wen waited anxiously at the hospital entrance. He originally thought that Zhang Yuandong was just going to check the situation and would be out soon, but he did not expect it to take so long.

This area has a chaotic population, because many family members who come to accompany their children rent here. There are too many floating populations, and management is very difficult. It is one of the places in the county where accidents are more likely to happen. Zhang Yuandong entered this alley alone, and he was very afraid that there would be some danger.

Just when Yang Wen was getting anxious and wanted to take action, Zhang Yuandong came out of the alley with a gloomy face.

When Yang Wen saw the large piece of pork in his hand, he understood everything. He had heard that there was a large black market here. Judging from Zhang Yuandong's appearance, he should have followed someone into the black market.

He hurried over and helped him put the meat into the bag, saying helplessly: "Brother, you are really my dear brother! You went to the black market and didn't arrest anyone, but you bought so much meat in such a blatant way without covering it up. You were still wearing a police uniform. How would it look good if someone saw you!"

Zhang Yuandong's face was still very dark: "Who am I arresting? Cleaning up the black market is the job of the police. I am just a small police officer, how can I manage it? There are so many people in the black market and none of them are afraid of my outfit."

"Okay, okay, okay, then if there's nothing else, let's go back to the police station first? I think you're just too nervous. The lesbian might just be going to the black market to buy something. Although it's not right, it's not a big deal. Why are you still looking so gloomy?"

Zhang Yuandong didn't think so. His intuition told him that there must be something wrong with Zhang Xiaohui. She was too illicit. Moreover, with her salary as a temporary worker in a woolen textile factory, she could not afford her current life. If there was nothing wrong with her, where did she get so much money and tickets to dress herself up?

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Yang Wen patted him on the back and said, "Let's go. We're going to have dumplings at the bureau for lunch today. If you go back too late, you won't be able to grab any!"

Zhang Yuandong swallowed his saliva when he thought of the breakfast he had at home this morning. He wanted to go home and eat Lin Yue's cooking more than the dumplings in the cafeteria. But he also knew that Lin Yue still had to go to work and probably didn't have time to cook at noon.

When we returned to the bureau, the office was empty. Liu Qingjun, the timid one, had gone with two new colleagues to help catch locusts in the village he was in charge of.

Most of my colleagues in the bureau are city dwellers and cannot empathize with the farmers’ suffering. During meals, they were still enthusiastically discussing various ways to eat grasshoppers.

Zhang Yuandong did not join in the conversation. He finished his meal in a few bites, returned to the dormitory, changed his clothes, took the gift he had prepared, and left the police station.

As it got dark, people from Oda Village went home in groups of three or five.

The locust plague had not yet passed, but wheat had already begun to be planted in the fields. People worked hard in the fields all day and returned home feeling listless.

I don't know which family is stewing meat, but the aroma spreads all over the place. Before entering the village, a group of people smelled the aroma, and everyone's eyes finally lit up, but this one was green and looked creepy.

Everyone was sniffing the air, wiping their saliva and talking about it. They didn't know whose family was so wicked to make such a delicious stew. They couldn't have dinner tonight. In their hearts, they wished it was their own family, but they kept complaining that they were just wasting money.

Lin Yue returned home and just as he pushed open the gate, the two little ones behind him ran in first, shouting happily.

Not long after, little Lingling ran out again and shouted to Lin Yue, "Mom, come quickly, Dad has cooked a lot of meat!" While shouting, he made a big circle with his hands.

People passing by all saluted this way, which frightened Lin Yue so much that he ran over in two or three steps, picked up Lingling with one hand, and hurried back home.

Lin Yue entered the room and saw that Zhang Yuandong had already brought out a small pot of stewed pork belly. She was surprised to see so much meat: "Did you buy meat today?"

The county's grocery stores all have a quota for meat, and the meat is sold out early in the morning. Zhang Yuandong was still on his way to work at that time, and Lin Yue was surprised that he could buy so much meat.

Zhang Yuandong didn't say much, just said: "There is still one piece left, I put it in the bowl, if you have time tonight, pickle it."

Lin Yue agreed and did not ask any further questions.

Before dinner, Lin Yue asked Zhang Yuandong to serve some stewed meat in a small bowl to Zhang Zhiwei and his wife. If they didn't send some to the old house after cooking meat at home, there would definitely be gossip in the village tomorrow. She would never let anyone catch her in these matters, and would never give Sun Hongmei the opportunity to scold her for being unfilial.

Zhang Yuandong is actually not very good at cooking. He didn't have a chance to touch the stove before joining the army. After joining the army, he ate in the canteen. The little cooking knowledge he has learned over the years is only enough to cook or bake things, which is good enough to fill his stomach. There is no skill in cooking and it all depends on the feel of the hand.

The way he stewed the meat was the same as the way he stewed the ribs, that is, he boiled them in water with some scallions and ginger, but at least he knew to add some salt. At that time, everyone was short of oil and water. If it was in someone else's house, as long as it was meat, boiled in water would be considered a delicacy. The two children gave their father face, each holding a large piece of meat and eating it with gusto.

Although Lin Yue also loves meat, she couldn't resist this method. In order not to discourage Zhang Yuandong's enthusiasm, she didn't cook another dish, but just took some hot sauce from the pot and picked a piece of meat that was not so fatty to eat.

Seeing that she ate too little, Zhang Yuandong thought she was still worried about the village, so he said, "I went to see an old battalion commander today and asked him about the relief rations. He told me yesterday that there are too many disaster-stricken areas in our county, and relief rations will not arrive for a while, but there should be news before the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Originally this matter had not been confirmed yet, and he didn't want to tell her about it now, but Lin Yue had been thinking about this matter recently, so he could ease her mind by telling her about it now.

Lin Yue felt much better after hearing this. She hadn't thought he was so powerful. In the past few years, no production brigade in Cangshan Commune had ever received food from above. As soon as Zhang Yuandong made a move, the news came out.

Of course, this year is different from previous years. The authorities may have approved relief rations this year, but if Zhang Yuandong had not asked someone to inquire, then there would have been no news until after the public rations were handed over. Everyone would have been extremely anxious at that time.

Zhang Yuandong saw that Lin Yue's eyes were full of admiration, and his face instantly turned red. Although she didn't say anything, just this look was unbearable. He hurriedly finished the rest of the meal, said "I'm full", and hurried out.

The two children were still shouting from behind: "Dad, wait Lingling/Wanli, we want to go out and play!"

Lin Yue lowered his head and smiled secretly. This man looked tall and big, so how could he be so shy so easily?

At night, Zhang Yuandong did not dare to take a bath in the yard. He waited until Lin Yue lay down to sleep before he dared to sneak into the kitchen and wipe his body with a wet towel.

Lin Yue didn't know about his little thoughts. She usually took a shower in the space and had never encountered such embarrassment.

We were so exhausted from the heavy workload during this period, and today I had the news of relief food, so I felt relieved and fell asleep quickly. Except for getting up in the middle of the night to change the diapers for my two children, I slept soundly the whole night.

Zhang Yuandong was different. He lay stiffly at the other end of the kang, his body still pressed against the edge like a chaste young wife. He did not dare to move at all. When he got up the next day, he inevitably felt sore all over.

In the morning, Zhang Yuandong got up early as usual to go for a run. Before leaving, he first lit a fire in the stove and boiled a pot of hot water for the three people on the kang to use when they got up.

It was not yet the beginning of autumn, so the temperature was lower in the morning and evening, but still quite hot. Lin Yue was unable to sleep due to the heat from the kang, and when he got up, he saw a tall and long-legged man squatting in the stove, skillfully adding fuel to the fire while picking a handful of chrysanthemums that were almost eaten up by grasshoppers.

Zhang Yuandong saw her and greeted her naturally: "You are up. The water in the pot is hot now. Wash your face with hot water."

It's very different from the weird look he had before going to bed last night. It seems that this person is an e person during the day and becomes an i person at night!

But this is too much hard work. The kang is so hot that it is impossible to sleep.

Lin Yue would not discourage him since he had gotten up early to work. She smiled and walked over to him, took the dish from his hand, and praised him, "I didn't expect you to get up so early and boil so much water. I'll do the rest, you go and do your own thing."

Because Zhang Yuandong was there, Lin Yue didn't wash her face at night. After a night, there was not much left of the things she put on her face. When someone approached, Zhang Yuandong found that there was something wrong with her skin.

Because skin care products contain things like wood ash and pumpkin powder, they don't fade naturally like cosmetics, but instead leave patches of yellow-brown on the face, revealing the originally delicate and fair skin, making it feel dirty, like a little cat.

The original owner's skin was not so good. Zhang Yuandong thought of his own skin which had become much smoother. He knew that this was her natural ability. She must have put something on her face to cover it up. He smiled and pointed at his face and asked, "Your face is dirty. Do you want to wash it first?"

Lin Yue was startled, but he suppressed the urge to cover his face. A few days ago, when he lived with Wang Xiuxiang, she would get up early and secretly go to the living room to clean her face before anyone else got up.

The two of them had talked things out, and Zhang Yuandong also knew her background. Lin Yue relaxed his guard for a moment and forgot about this matter in the morning.

Zhang Yuandong saw that her exposed skin had turned dark and yellow again. He was very curious and asked, "Did you make your face like this on purpose?"

"Change?" Lin Yue was stunned for a moment before he understood what he meant. He waved his hands to explain, but because of his anxiety, he stuttered: "No, I wiped it with the soot from the bottom of the pot..."

Zhang Yuandong: …

He is still quite easy to deceive, so there is no need to exaggerate.