Starting a new chapter in life

Jingyan invited the two into the house, poured two cups of hot water with added sugar into an enamel mug, and handed them over. She then counted out forty-five yuan and handed it to Gao Mei: "Sister Gao, here's five yuan for the cutting board."

Gao Mei hurriedly said, "Three yuan is enough for me. You don't need to give me more. You've lost your job and don't have much money. You can't just spend it recklessly."

Jingyan pressed down her hand and said sincerely, "Sister Gao, you have to take this money. I still remember when you helped me find some tools, I bargained with you, and I didn't pay for the noodle-making table and cutting board. You gave them to me as extras. This time, I can't take advantage of you again. Normally, I would definitely not hesitate to bargain, but you have to know your limits. You can't always make me feel uncomfortable."

Gao Mei laughed heartily: "See, you know how hard I bargained back then, didn't you? My husband scolded me when I got home, saying I was a spendthrift woman who helped someone but ended up giving them things away. But after I got to know you better, I realized you're a really nice person, so I stopped caring. I never expected you to be here waiting to make it up to me. Fine, I'll accept your kindness."

She took the money and put it in her pocket, then continued, "I gave everyone in the office a piece of the ribs you gave me to try, and they all thought they were delicious. They even told me that if they want to eat them outside of market days, they should try to get together and let me order from you. We'll buy them at three yuan a pound, and you have to deliver them to our office. I've already agreed. So, if they want to buy them, how long do you think it will take you to make them?"

Jingyan thought for a moment and said, "They notified me tonight that the earliest delivery can be made is before you get off work the day after tomorrow. I need to order meat from the meat processing plant in advance, and it needs to be left to marinate overnight or for a day after it's cooked, which is quite time-consuming."

"Okay, I understand. I'll explain the time to them. It's getting late, so we're heading home. If you need anything, come to the neighborhood office to find me." Gao Mei finished the sugar water in the jar and left with her son.

Jingyan locked the gate, lifted the handle of the cart and tried pushing it around the yard. Surprisingly, it was very light. Satisfied, she placed the cart under the porch, covered it with a tarpaulin, weighed it down with a stone, and happily went back inside.

The next morning, Jingyan went straight to the meat processing plant and asked the gatekeeper if he could help her find Zhou Xuyang. She also gave him a few pieces of fruit candy. The gatekeeper remembered her and was happy to help her look for him. A little while later, Zhou Xuyang came out.

"Hello, sister-in-law, are you here to buy meat? Unfortunately, we're out of pork belly today. But if you're not picky, we still have some big bones and spare ribs. What do you think?" Zhou Xuyang said.

Jingyan smiled and said, "Hello, Section Chief Zhou. My surname is Zhang, Zhang Jingyan. You can call me Comrade Zhang or Sister-in-law He, it's fine either way. I'm here to buy meat, but I was thinking of arranging to pick it up tomorrow, is that alright? Didn't you say last time that we could pre-order?"

Zhou Xuyang nodded: "That's right. If you want to make a reservation, I can let the slaughterhouse know so they can reserve some in advance. When do you plan to need them, and how many do you need?"

"I need five catties of pork belly, thirty catties of spare ribs, and three pork bones. Can I come and pick them up tomorrow morning?" Jingyan asked.

"Sure, sure, I can give you more ribs. Would you like more?" Zhou Xuyang had finally found someone willing to buy ribs, so of course he wasn't going to let it go. After all, these ribs had little meat, no oil, and weren't very tasty.

Jing Yan smiled and nodded: "Then I'll take fifty catties of pork ribs, and keep the other two the same."

“No problem, Comrade Zhang, you can come between six and eight o’clock tomorrow. The earlier you take it back, the sooner it can be cooked, right? We always slaughter pigs early.” Zhou Xuyang set a time with her.

"How should we pay this money?" Jing Yan asked.

"If it's convenient for you, Comrade Zhang, you can give me thirty yuan as a deposit first, and settle the rest when you come to pick up the goods tomorrow morning. The prices will remain the same: pork belly for one yuan and twenty cents, ribs for one yuan, and pork bones for nine mao. It's just that I'm not sure how many kilograms three pork bones will weigh, as the pigs slaughtered each day are always slightly different, so the prices will fluctuate. Is that alright?"

Jingyan knew there was nothing wrong with charging this amount of money. "Do you have to come to work at six o'clock every day?"

"No, no, no, I arrived late. The people at the slaughterhouse will set aside what you want, weigh it, calculate the price, and register the cost with the gatekeeper. I'll give you a receipt, and you can pick it up from him tomorrow."

"This note is the money. You just need to make up the difference, okay? Don't worry, a meat processing plant as big as ours wouldn't cheat you. It's all public property, there's no need for us to rip people off," Zhou Xuyang explained.

Jingyan looked at the gatekeeper, who smiled and said, "Don't worry, girl. Don't let my age fool you. I can still read a few words and do simple calculations. I won't make a mistake with the price. Don't worry."

"Okay, then I'll trouble Section Chief Zhou to take care of it." After Jing Yan finished speaking, she took out her small wallet from her pocket, counted out three ten-yuan bills, and handed them to Zhou Xuyang. Zhou Xuyang took out a small notebook from his pocket, and then took out the pen clipped to his Zhongshan suit jacket pocket. He wrote a receipt on the table in the guard room, signed his name, and the witness was the old guard. It must be said that the old man could actually read, and his signature was quite neat.

Jing Yan took the receipt, said goodbye to the two men, and went back. Zhou Xuyang watched her figure disappear around the street corner before turning around and handing the old man a cigarette. The old man took it and cursed, "You little brat, you're really stingy, only giving me one."

Zhou Xuyang said helplessly, "Smoking is bad for your health. I'm already being generous by giving you one to satisfy your craving. Besides, if I'm not giving you any, go buy some yourself. Do you even have any money in your pocket?"

The old man said, "My wife holds all my money. I don't even have a penny for spending money. How am I supposed to buy anything?"

"Then you still complain that I'm not giving you enough? The reason you're so healthy is all thanks to my master's wife taking good care of you. As your disciple, I'm taking a huge risk just to give you one every day. If my master's wife finds out, I'll get a beating with her shoe. Don't you care about me at all?" Zhou Xuyang complained.

Unable to argue with him, the old man waved his hand irritably and said, "Get out of here, don't get in my way."

Zhou Xuyang gave a forced smile and left happily.

After returning home, Jingyan kept thinking about it and felt something was off. Were there really so many people who could read and write and do math these days? Even the gatekeeper was so educated? Suddenly, thinking about the current social climate, a chill ran down her spine. Could it be that educated people had been sent to the countryside? But being sent down to work as a gatekeeper at a meat processing plant seemed even more suspicious.

Forget it, it's none of my business what he knows. I'll be going to the south in two or three years anyway, so there's no need to worry too much. I noticed that Section Chief Zhou was quite polite to that old man. I'll be dealing with that old man a lot more often in the future, so it's better to be on good terms with him. Being respectful won't hurt me. After thinking it through, I rummaged through my things for a while but couldn't find anything inexpensive that I could give away. In the end, I decided to make some dumplings. I'll make a lot and bring a bowl to the old man tomorrow. Homemade dumplings are a good deal.

The next morning, Jingyan got up early and cooked dumplings. After eating her fill, she still had more than half a lunchbox's worth left. She packed it up and put it inside her coat. Although the weather was getting warmer in May, it was still cold in the mornings and evenings. She pushed her handcart and headed briskly straight to the meat processing plant.

It was only seven o'clock when she arrived at the gate. She gently knocked on the window, and the old man stood up from his rocking chair and opened the window: "Young lady, you're here. Wait a moment, I'll bring the meat over to you."

Even if Jingyan was naive, she wouldn't dare let the old man carry it. What if he strained it? She quickly pushed open the door and went in, placing the lunchbox in her arms on the table: "Grandpa, I cooked dumplings this morning, with cabbage and pork lard filling. They're still warm. Would you like to try my cooking? There's not much meat in them, I can carry them myself, I'm very strong."

The old man looked at the nylon bag of meat on the ground. Seeing that she had already bent down, picked it up, and left, he didn't insist anymore. Well, he didn't want to move either. His old arms and legs were too weak, and he had to take care of himself. He walked back to the table, opened the lunchbox, picked up a dumpling with his hand, and threw it into his mouth. "Mmm, delicious."

She quickly went to the back room and grabbed an enamel basin, then dumped all the dumplings from the aluminum lunchbox into it. Jingyan had already walked to the window by then. There was meat on the cart, so she couldn't let it out of her sight. She took the lunchbox from the old man through the window and casually put it on the cart. "Grandpa, how much more money do I need?"

The old man opened a new booklet and said, "Add another thirty yuan and fifty cents," before handing the booklet to her. "Take a look, this is the account book."

Jing Yan looked at the account book specially prepared for her and was speechless. How much confidence did Section Chief Zhou have in her that he even made an account book just for her? He really thought too highly of her.

Despite my inner complaints, after looking at the various weights, unit prices, and totals, everything was clearly categorized and easy to understand. I did a quick mental calculation and confirmed there were no problems. I counted out the money and handed it to the old man, signing my name at the end of the bill as instructed. The old man also signed and noted the date. Hmm, quite professional.

Jing Yan thanked him and was about to leave when the old man smiled and said, "Girls are better than boys; they know how to be polite. When will you come again? Before the market day?"

“I will definitely come before the big market day, but not necessarily at other times. It’s just the beginning, so if I don’t sell well this time, I’ll bring you some to try,” Jing Yan replied with a smile.

"Pah, pah, pah, don't say such unpleasant things. Your grandpa doesn't need your food. It's best if you sell everything you have." The old man's attitude was very serious.

Jing Yan smiled and agreed, then happily pushed the cart away.

The old man closed the window, sat down, and without even taking chopsticks, picked up a dumpling and ate it. After finishing it, he picked up another one. By the time Zhou Xuyang came over with an older woman, the old man had already finished all the dumplings. He lay on the rocking chair, rubbing his belly and humming a little tune, looking very content.

"Master, your wife has brought you breakfast. Has Comrade Zhang come to collect the meat?" Zhou Xuyang asked as he walked into the house.

The old man slowly got up, handed him the account book, and took out thirty yuan and fifty cents from the drawer: "She came around seven o'clock and even brought me some dumplings. I must say, the young lady's cooking is quite good; the dumplings are very fragrant."

"Oh? What kind of filling?"

"Cabbage and pork cracklings, so juicy!" the old man replied subconsciously, then immediately realized what he meant and turned to the old woman who had just entered with a smile: "Wife's here. Making breakfast is so hard work. I only need two meals a day, I won't go hungry. I don't do any work every day, haha."

The old woman glared at him: "He who eats another's food is bound to him, so don't be too greedy."

Zhou Xuyang smiled and smoothed things over: "Don't worry, Master. Master was talking about the military dependents of the Construction Corps. I contacted them before, and we deliver meat to them every day. We also promised that the military dependents could buy meat from me as a favor. I can't speak for others, but military wives, no matter what, can't be too bad in terms of character. Military marriages are strictly vetted. If someone's character isn't up to par, they can't be a military wife."

The old lady nodded: "Okay, as long as you two know what's going on, that's fine. Xuyang, have you had breakfast yet?"

Zhou Xuyang shook his head: "Master's wife, why don't you let me have breakfast? You know I usually don't eat breakfast."

The old lady handed him the lunchbox: "Take this and eat it. Or next time I cook, I'll bring you a portion too, so you don't have to cook for yourself."

"No need, Master's wife, I usually eat at the cafeteria."

The old lady didn't insist. After all, she knew her own cooking skills. Her husband wouldn't dare to complain, but her apprentice wouldn't do. Anyway, she was too lazy to bother, so she turned and walked out, saying, "Then I'll go home first and bring you lunch later."

The old man really wanted to say that he also wanted to eat at the cafeteria, but unfortunately, he didn't dare. Ever since he fell ill two years ago, his wife, who wasn't very good at cooking to begin with, had started cooking for him every day, controlling the amount of oil and salt. The cafeteria food was too salty, and the doctor didn't recommend that he eat it. So, although he was tempted, he still considered his wife's hard work. It didn't matter that the food was bland; as long as life was enjoyable, he was content.

Jingyan pushed the meat home, found three large basins and placed them at the backyard gate. She poured the meat and bones into the three basins, each basin was more than half full. However, there was no basin for washing vegetables at home, so she had no choice but to wash them in batches.

I took a hose, connected it to the tap, and poured tap water into the basin. Looking at the ribs and a few large bones in the basin, I suddenly felt a bit sore in my wrist. The kitchen knife at home can chop bones, but after only a short time, the tip of the blade near the handle already showed signs of chipping. The knife wasn't thick enough, so chopping bones was indeed a bit difficult.

After figuring all this out, I filled the three basins with water, carried the hose back inside, and pulled out the coupons I had saved up over the past six months. I had already saved five industrial coupons. After thinking for a moment, I put them all into my small wallet, picked up the basket I had placed by the door before leaving, locked the door, and headed straight for the supply and marketing cooperative.

When she arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative and went to the counter selling kitchen knives, she told the salesperson that she wanted a kitchen knife for chopping bones. After confirming that she had an industrial invoice, the salesperson turned around and took out seven knives from the counter and placed them on the counter: "We only have these kinds of knives here. Which one do you want? As for which one can chop bones, I think any large kitchen knife will do."