Starting a new chapter in life

He Zhijun looked at her smiling like a little fox and said helplessly, "Yes, he is skilled in cooking and does cook often. Whenever I come back on vacation, I will take care of the kitchen. I can't let this man from the Great Northern Wilderness outdo me."

Jing Yan nodded repeatedly: "Okay, let's see how you do!"

He Zhijun pinched her chubby cheeks, and Jing Yan naturally struggled to pinch him back. As they teased each other, well, let's continue our nightlife as a couple.

After seeing He Zhijun off, Jing Yan took an aluminum lunchbox, put the ration certificate, two empty bags, and an oil bottle into her basket, locked the door, and headed straight for the street office. When she arrived at the place where she would receive her monthly grain rations, she didn't stop but went directly to Gao Mei's office.

He knocked lightly on the open door twice, poked half his body inside, and smiled at Gao Mei, who looked up. "Sister Gao, are you busy?"

Gao Mei walked over happily: "Not bad. You're here to collect your grain rations today, right? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Seeing that other people in the office were looking this way, Jing Yan smiled and replied, "My things are quite heavy every month when I come here. I was wondering if Sister Gao could help me find out if anyone in the neighborhood has a spare trolley and could help me get one. I think the community would be able to help with this, right?"

Gao Mei glanced back at the other people in the office and replied, "No problem, I'll inquire about it for you later." She then walked to the door.

“Then let’s find a place to talk about my specific needs for the stroller, okay? I’d feel bad if I disturbed other people in your office,” Jing Yan continued.

“Okay, let’s talk over there in the hallway.” Gao Mei said, leading her to the end of the hallway. When they reached the end and leaned against the window, Gao Mei’s expression visibly relaxed: “You really want to buy a stroller? Didn’t you say you wanted a used bicycle? You’ve changed your mind?”

Jingyan took out the lunchbox that was under the grain bag and handed it to her. "I'm not working in the army canteen anymore, and I was thinking of finding something to do. The head chef in our canteen taught me a recipe for braised meat. I wouldn't dare to do business normally, but there's a big market here every month, and it's legal. I'm planning to go to the market and try selling it. That way I'll need a cart, and it's much more convenient to have bowls and plates there than a bicycle."

Gao Mei took the lunchbox, opened the lid, and saw a lunchbox full of braised pork ribs. She stared at Jing Yan with wide eyes: "Is this what you're going to sell? This is pure meat. How much are you planning to sell it for? If it's too expensive, you might not be able to sell it. If it's too cheap, you'll definitely lose money."

"This is what I'm planning to sell. It's three yuan a pound. Is that okay? This is for you to try. You can take it home and add it to your dishes. If you have any suggestions about the taste, feel free to let me know, and I can make improvements based on that." Jing Yan smiled playfully.

Gao Mei swallowed hard, then closed the lunchbox and handed it back: "I'll help you find out about the handcart. I can't accept this. It's too valuable. There aren't many families who can afford to eat meat like this these days. Your business hasn't even started yet, and you're already giving away so much. I don't feel comfortable accepting it. I really can't accept it."

Jingyan forcefully shoved the lunchbox into Gao Mei's arms, pressing down on her hand: "Sister Gao, this is something I sincerely wanted to give you. It's not because of the stroller. Even if I didn't run a business, I would still send you a portion if I made it myself."

Since I met you, you've helped me so much, yet you've never gotten anything in return. Yes, we get along well, and your care for me isn't for anything material, but I still want to express my gratitude.

But words of gratitude are ultimately too insignificant. This is my own cooking; what's wrong with giving you a little something? Don't push me away. You'll be staying here from now on, and we'll be visiting each other often. It's not something that can be measured in a box of ribs, right?

Seeing Jing Yan's sincerity in offering the gift, Gao Mei accepted it: "Then I'll take the lunchbox back to you tonight. I'll shamelessly accept this. If you need anything in the future, just come to me. Let's treat each other like sisters."

"But can you buy that much meat? Running a business isn't like eating at home; you need a lot. For each stall, you need at least 20 or 30 jin (10-15 kg). Less than that and it'll be too much trouble. But I don't have any connections at the meat processing plant, so I can't help you. No, I'll go home and ask your brother-in-law to try and find out if he can get in touch."

Jingyan smiled gratefully: "The meat processing plant has a partnership with the logistics department of my husband's unit. They're willing to provide certain conveniences for military families. I bought the bones from the meat processing plant through them."

Good cuts of pork belly might be hard to find, but bones are relatively easy to get. After all, people these days don't like bones with little meat. I could easily get 30-40 pounds, and I don't eat it every day, once or twice a month is fine.

"This lunchbox isn't urgent, I don't use it much anyway. I'll go downstairs now, I still need to collect my food rations." Jing Yan waved to her and turned to go downstairs.

Gao Mei took the lunchbox back to the office. Someone saw her return and asked, "Gao Mei, is that the person you took with you when you bought winter vegetables before? What did he want to see you about this time?"

"She wanted me to ask around to see if anyone in the neighborhood had a stroller they didn't need anymore, because she wanted to buy one, and I agreed to help her find one."

"What are you holding? Did she give it to you?" someone asked, quick to speak without thinking.

"You mean this?" Gao Mei waved the lunchbox in her hand and replied with a smile, "She used to work in the army canteen. She knows how to braise meat. A while ago, I bought some ribs and asked her to cook them for me. She came to pick up her grain rations today and brought them to me on the way."

"Did you pay a processing fee?" someone asked.

Gao Mei shook her head: "I didn't give her any money. I just gave her five pounds of pork ribs, and she made me a lunchbox. The rest was her hard-earned money."

"Oh, so expensive? You helped her a lot, why are you being charged meat? This person is hard to deal with." Someone pouted, clearly dissatisfied.

Gao Mei laughed and said, "You wouldn't believe it, she uses a dozen or twenty kinds of seasonings to make this braised meat. Not to mention other preparations, it takes at least one or two hours to stew the meat. Not to mention the labor, it also uses a lot of coal. And the meat shrinks as it cooks. This lunchbox's worth is already quite substantial."

She wanted to buy a cart so she could make some food to sell at the market and earn some extra money to help with household expenses. It's not easy for anyone, so I didn't want to take advantage of her. After all, I have a job, and she relies on her husband for support; life must be tough for her."

The others, who initially thought Jing Yan was tactless and stingy, now felt sorry for her after Gao Mei's words and stopped saying anything. Gao Mei's eyes darted around, and she opened the lunchbox.

"I haven't saved up many meat coupons, and I can't afford to treat more. Everyone in our office can have a piece. If you like it, you can go to her to buy it at the market. She said it's free of coupons and only three yuan per pound. Don't think it's expensive. Just the fact that it's free of coupons and cooked directly makes it worth it. Come on, everyone, have a taste."

Although everyone likes to take advantage of small things, they are all colleagues, so they would restrain themselves a bit and sensibly pick out small pieces to taste. One woman finished eating and said:

"This tastes really good, it's also delicious when eaten cold. It's perfect for the men in the family to have with their drinks. Gao Mei, could you help us ask if we could cook it for us privately if we couldn't buy it at the monthly market? We'll buy the meat ourselves and pay her a processing fee. Let's see if she'll take on the job."

Gao Mei laughed and said, "Buy the meat ourselves? How much can we buy at once? Which part is the best? Don't bring back scraps, it's a waste of materials. Since she dares to do business, she must have found a way to buy meat. If you want to eat meat, just tell me in advance, I'll make the calculations and give them to her. She'll prepare it, repackage it, and send it to us. We'll just pay the market price. It'll save us the trouble. My sister won't have trouble collecting processing fees, will she?"

The others also thought it was feasible, as the two catties of meat coupons per month were indeed not enough, so they all nodded: "Okay, we should buy together, so that people won't waste food when they cook. If it's two catties today and three catties tomorrow, it's too much trouble for them."

Gao Mei closed the lunchbox and lowered her head to get busy. From an angle where no one else could see, she couldn't suppress the smile on her face. This time, the ribs in her hand weren't too hot to handle.

Two days later, Gao Mei and her son brought over a stroller in the evening, along with the lunchbox. Jing Yan invited them in. The stroller wasn't big, but the edges were higher than usual. The young man explained to Jing Yan:

"Don't let its smaller size fool you, it can hold a lot. The two wheels are also more stable than a unicycle. The high rim makes it less likely for things to fall off. The rim at the base of the handlebars can be removed, turning it into a long bench. Although it's a bit rudimentary, you'll get tired standing around all day setting up a stall, so this is a good place to sit."

My mom said that since you sell braised meat, you need a lightweight cutting board, so she specifically asked me to go to my grandma's house to get one. It would be more convenient to carry it with me to cut meat." After saying that, she took a square, relatively thin cutting board out of the cart.

Jingyan was deeply moved and hugged Gao Mei, saying, "Sister Gao, how can you be so kind? You've really thought of everything for me."

Gao Mei struggled a little, feeling a bit embarrassed: "Put away your gratitude for now. Even though the cutting board is homemade, you still have to pay for it."

Jing Yan chuckled: "I still have to thank you. I won't renege on the money, hahaha."

"This stroller belongs to my colleague. When she was in postpartum confinement, her mother came to help her. She would bring millet, a hen, and other things with her, and she would also take some things back with her when she left. So, she ordered this stroller from a nearby production team. Now her son is over one year old, and the stroller has been sitting idle at home."

They hadn't originally planned to sell it; their family used it occasionally. But you mentioned wanting to buy a stroller, and coincidentally, her husband's sister-in-law had her eye on it. If she could just give them a little money as a token of appreciation, she would have given it to them.

But they wanted it for free, saying it was taking up space at home and that it would be better to give it to them so they would remember the favor. If the two brothers had a good relationship, they would have given it to them anyway; both the husband and wife have jobs and wouldn't need a few measly coins.

The problem is that her husband is the second child in his family, in the middle. The eldest child has a close relationship with their parents, and the youngest child is spoiled and pampered. It's this middle child who's left behind.

Her husband was neglected since childhood. Despite being the best student in the family, he only graduated from elementary school. Every day after school, he couldn't do his homework; he had to go back to feed the chickens and cook for the whole family. If it weren't for the fact that we were hibernating in winter and there wasn't much work to do at home, he would have studied hard during that time and always ranked in the top three in every exam. If he had fallen behind, the neighbors would have gonessiped. He probably wouldn't have even finished elementary school.

From what she said, her husband was very hardworking and ambitious. By chance, he got a job as a temporary worker in a steel factory, doing the hardest work. Fortunately, he was good at talking and had good judgment, so her father took a liking to him and thought he could be her son-in-law. He was given the opportunity to become a permanent employee, and now he is a small leader.

After they got married, her husband acted like a live-in son-in-law, rarely coming home unless there was a major reason. Even when he went back to the company, he would go alone and never bring his wife. Her husband's family visited twice, but her father and brother beat them out. It caused quite a stir, and the neighbors talked about it for a long time. However, the woman's family was tough, so the man's family didn't dare to cause any trouble. Her husband gave his parents two yuan a month, and they stopped causing trouble.

When it came time to allocate apartments, the young couple met all the requirements and got a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment with its own yard in our community. They couldn't be more comfortable living there. Occasionally, the groom's family would come to the city to try and build connections, which, although not exactly welcomed, they still enjoyed doing so.

Yesterday, his younger brother and sister-in-law came to town saying they needed to buy daily necessities, but they didn't have enough coupons, so they came to ask his older brother for some. You can imagine how shameless he is! He knows they don't want them, but when he came in and saw this cart in the yard, he had the nerve to try and get it for free. Pshaw! Dream on!

She'd rather sell it cheaply than let that family profit. I'm just pushing it over here for you. How about it? Pretty good, right? Well maintained; the truck bed is always covered with a tarpaulin, hardly any dust has settled on it, it looks brand new.

Jing Yan was speechless, but she did enjoy hearing this kind of gossip: "How much does this person want to buy this car for?"

"She said it was around eighty when she bought it, but now, forty is fine. I think that's a good price, don't you think?" Gao Mei, being from the neighborhood committee, really knows how to talk, rambling on and on, revealing everything.

Forty is indeed not expensive. Jingyan gestured towards the cutting board again: "How much is the cutting board? Let's calculate it together."

Gao Mei scratched her head and looked back at her son: "Did your grandma say how much she wanted?" Her son shook his head: "I just said I wanted a thin, light cutting board that's easy to carry. My grandma gave it to me and I came back without asking."

Gao Mei slapped him: "You kid, you're such a blockhead." Turning to Jing Yan, she said, "Three yuan, I don't know the price."