After Ning Yuan washed her hands, she saw a plate of stir-fried garlic sprouts with cured pork, a plate of stir-fried water spinach with pork cracklings, and a pot of sweet potato porridge on the table.
"Eat up." Rong Zhaonan handed her chopsticks. Ning Yuan took the bowl and chopsticks and ate a few mouthfuls of food.
The water spinach with pork cracklings was stir-fried until very tender, and the garlic shoots with cured pork were very fragrant.
She couldn't help but exclaim, "You're a really good cook! I thought you couldn't cook at all!"
She usually takes care of cooking, while he takes care of cleaning the stove and washing the dishes.
Rong Zhaonan watched her eat with a satisfied expression and tugged at the corner of his lips: "I learned from the head chef in the army's mess hall. That chef used to be the head chef of the Jiangnan Huibinlou restaurant."
He was actually a picky eater, but in the army and in those days, being able to eat his fill was a blessing.
Ning Yuan suddenly remembered something, so she quickly got up, opened the basket, and took out something wrapped in oil paper.
She unfolded the oil paper, revealing half a roast chicken inside: "I was so busy fighting and eating that I almost forgot I bought it in the county town. It's still warm. Eat up."
Rong Zhaonan looked at the fragrant roast chicken, then at Ning Yuan: "Looks like the cured meat sold well today."
Otherwise, why would the little spy be willing to buy roast chicken?
Upon hearing this, Ning Yuan took out her personal purse and placed it on the table: "Forty yuan plus twenty-five jin of national grain coupons, five jin of provincial grain coupons, and five jin of snack coupons!"
With the addition of the 22 jin of city grain coupons, 12 feet of cloth coupons, 5 jin of oil coupons, and 1 jin of snack coupons she had before, she now had much more money in her hands.
It was truly a case of the serfs being liberated and singing songs of joy. She was now considered to be from an upper-middle-class family in the village, and no longer had to be as stingy as she had been when she was a sent-down youth.
She's not afraid of her family cutting off her living expenses anymore!
"I used some tickets to carry back twenty catties of grain, half a roast chicken, and some soda crackers. Now we can eat rice at least once a week." Ning Yuan smiled with her big eyes crinkling, filled with emotion.
She eats sweet potato porridge every day until she's about to throw up, and she also farts a lot.
Now we can at least improve our staple food, and although soda crackers are not as delicious as Shanghai Evergreen biscuits, they are still considered a high-end snack nowadays.
It's very convenient to use it occasionally to fill an empty stomach in an emergency.
Rong Zhaonan looked at the national grain coupons thoughtfully: "Where did you exchange your national grain coupons? On the black market?"
This is something that only full-time employees can get when they go on business trips; there aren't many people who can afford it.
Ning Yuan shook her head, eating with a hint of pride: "I found a good way. From now on, our cured meat can be sold to the county guesthouse. The tickets are provided by the people at the guesthouse."
Rong Zhaonan looked at the girl in front of him with surprise: "You have this skill too."
Ning Yuan straightened her back and said sternly, "Hey, hey, hey... Comrade Rong Zhaonan, you're underestimating me! What do you mean I have this ability? Women hold up half the sky!"
Rong Zhaonan adjusted his glasses and smiled slightly: "Yes, Comrade Ning Yuan is right to teach me a lesson. My ideological awareness was too low."
Ning Yuan couldn't help but laugh. Holding her bowl, she burst out laughing: "Pfft, I didn't expect Comrade Rong Zhaonan to be so humorous."
When Boss Rong was young, he wasn't always aloof, serious, and unapproachable.
As she spoke, she suddenly reached out and took off Rong Zhaonan's glasses: "Don't wear these glasses anymore. One of the lenses is broken. Be careful the glass doesn't hurt your eyes. I'll buy you a new pair next time I go to town."
Half of the money he earned belongs to him!
Rong Zhaonan was taken aback, only to feel her slender fingers unintentionally brush against the side of his face as she took off his glasses.
The girl's tone and smile gave him a strange illusion that they were a real young couple.
Rong Zhaonan picked up his bowl and chopsticks and said nonchalantly, "It's okay, I'm not nearsighted."
Ning Yuan was taken aback. Looking at the broken glasses in her hand, she realized that they were actually non-prescription glasses.
She suddenly realized that the glasses were really just a prop for him to hide himself.
Looking at the injuries on his face, Ning Yuan suddenly asked, "You could have avoided them, why didn't you?"
In the chaos just now, she didn't have time to look closely, but she only noticed that there was some bruising on the corner of his lips and a bloody scratch on his cheek from a shard of broken porcelain.
Now that we're sitting closer together, I noticed that he has bruises on his forehead and collarbone.
This made her grip her chopsticks tightly, and she felt inexplicably angry.
She had witnessed his skills firsthand; he was so swift and ruthless in dealing with wild boars, how could he possibly be unable to handle those people?
Rong Zhaonan paused in his chopsticks, then said nonchalantly, "You think you can hide from people who come looking for trouble a second, third, or fourth time after you've dodged them once?"
He gave a nonchalant smirk: "Once they're comfortable and feel powerful, they won't bother me anymore."
Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Ning Yuan felt inexplicably sad.
Even the most fragrant cured meat doesn't smell good anymore.
How much torment and torture did he endure to become accustomed to being treated this way, given his unruly and privileged nature?
Swept up by the tide of history, everyone feels so powerless.
He couldn't fight against the tide of the times, and his experience in the army made him unable to harm ordinary people. He honed his skills, initially to protect the people.
Ning Yuan was silent for a while, then suddenly reached out and pressed his hand: "Rong Zhaonan, believe me, things are different now. Everything will be alright. Things are different now. Soon no one will dare to treat you like this again!"
Time flows forward, and looking back decades later, the turning point of this era of great change is so clear—the late 1970s.
From then on, those who always strive upwards, dare to dream, dare to fight, and dare to forge ahead, all stand at the forefront of the times.
"So, Rong Zhaonan, don't tolerate anyone bullying you anymore. If anyone dares to bully you again, beat them up!" Ning Yuan said with utmost seriousness and determination.
Rong Zhaonan looked at her, a strange light flashing in his dark eyes.
He was able to get the closest news to the capital from Chen Chen, and he also knew that his situation would change.
Why was she so certain that everything would get better?
but……
Looking into her bright, determined black eyes, his cold heart stirred, and he blurted out, almost as if possessed, "Okay."
She felt sorry for him, but unlike with other people, this sympathy didn't make him dislike her.
Ning Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief and picked up her chopsticks: "Let's eat. Next week I'll go back to the county to sell meat and get you a new pair of non-prescription glasses. Let's go all the way with this act..."
They also have over 100 jin of cured wild boar meat, which can be sold for a long time and exchanged for a 'huge sum' of over 100 yuan!
Even if the county guesthouse can't sell them all, they can sell them on the black market, and Rong Zhaonan can also get some mountain products!
The thought of her on the road to wealth and prosperity made Ning Yuan feel very happy.
This is what it means to have money in hand and not panic.
Rong Zhaonan listened as she enthusiastically talked about wanting to buy this and that.
The dark and cold ice field in his heart seemed to loosen a little with the warmth of the cooking in the room.
He pushed the plate of stir-fried cured pork towards her: "Eat more."
Ning Yuan returned the favor and immediately put a roasted chicken leg in his bowl: "You should eat too, it's rare to have chicken all year round!"
Rong Zhaonan looked at the chicken leg in the bowl; it was only one leg from half a roast chicken.
The young woman before me, bathed in the light of the setting sun, had her face painted with a gentle yet radiant orange glow.
He suddenly lowered his eyes, feeling hungry.
He picked up his bowl and started eating heartily. Tsk, what's with that little spy's smile that makes you look so appetizing?
Later, he realized that some appetites could only be satisfied by 'eating people'.
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