Black Market Boss: His Beloved Wife's Lazy Life

The two of them bought pastries, malted milk powder, and other things.

Shang Yanfang bought some stationery and envelopes and then left the supply and marketing cooperative.

After wandering around for a while, it was already noon, so the two of them went into a state-run restaurant to have lunch.

The two men sat in the state-run restaurant, put their things on their seats, and went to look at the menu for the day written on the blackboard.

Today's menu includes braised pork, braised fish, egg noodles, shredded pork noodles, egg and chive dumplings, pork and cabbage dumplings, sweet and sour pork, and rice.

The two ordered a braised pork dish, a stir-fried vegetable dish, and two portions of rice.

After taking my number, I sat back down and waited.

The two sat there quietly for a while before their number was called.

The two went to the windowsill, brought the dishes to the table, and started eating.

"Mmm, it's so delicious!" He Lingling exclaimed.

"Mmm, so delicious, so delicious."

He Yanfang, who hadn't eaten meat in a long time, couldn't help but sigh.

After the two devoured the food on the table, they sat for a while to digest.

"Lingling, wait a minute. I'll get you the money."

Braised pork costs 3 cents, stir-fried vegetables cost 6 cents, and two bowls of rice per person cost 1 cents.

On average, each person received 25 cents and two ounces of grain coupons.

Shang Yanfang took out money and food coupons and handed them to He Lingling.

"Lingling, here's the money and the tickets."

He Lingling took her and Shang Yanfang's money tickets and went to pay.

"Yanfang, shall we buy some meat? Let's treat our friends at the educated youth settlement to a meal."

"Great! I have a pound of meat coupons left. Let's go buy them now."

"Okay, I still have two jin of meat coupons. Let's buy them together."

"Okay, let's go to the meat processing plant and see if they still have any meat left."

The two, who had decided to leave on a whim, headed towards the meat processing plant.

Meat processing plant

"Hello comrade, is there any meat left?"

"Also, what kind of meat do you need?"

The two looked at the meat placed there: first-grade meat, second-grade meat, third-grade meat, and second-grade meat.

First-class meat is now the most popular pork fat.

Second-class meat is braised pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat.

Third-grade meat is pure lean meat.

Second-rate meat consists of large bones and pork offal. "What kind of meat do we want?"

"Let's buy some pork fat and pork belly, and add some lard when we get home."

He Lingling suggested.

"Okay, comrade, we want one and a half pounds of pork fat and one and a half pounds of pork belly."

"Sure, comrade, I need three jin of grain coupons and seventy-five cents."

First-grade meat costs 30 cents per pound, and second-grade meat costs 20 cents per pound.

That's seventy-five cents in total.

“Lingling, I’ll give you four cents and a pound of grain coupons, and you can give me three and a half cents and two pounds of meat coupons.”

"Ok."

After buying the meat and putting it in their baskets, the two of them carried the baskets and prepared to return to the brigade.

The journey back took them a full fifteen minutes longer than the journey there before they finally reached the educated youth settlement.

The educated youth settlement. When the two returned, the new educated youth were sitting in the hall, while the old educated youth were still working in the fields.

"You're back. Have some tea and rest for a while."

Upon seeing the two return, Li Zhaodi quickly went up to them and inquired about their well-being.

"Come on, let me help you take the baskets down."

Liu Yan silently took the baskets off their backs and placed them on the open ground beside them.

"Thank you, thank you Yanzi, thank you Zhaodi."

Shang Yanfang thanked the two of them while drinking the water poured for her.

"We bought some meat and pork fat today, so we can have a good meal tonight. Consider it a way of thanking the older brothers and sisters who came before us."

"Then let's go get some more food."

"No need, we seem to have vegetables in our backyard."

He Lingling questioned.

Can we use it?

Liu Yan asked, puzzled.

"Let's go to the villager's house to exchange some vegetables first, and then ask the team leader and the others when they come back."

Shang Yanfang discussed it with the others.

"Okay, Liu Yan and I will go to the village together to exchange for some vegetables. Is that alright, Liu Yan?"

"Come on, I'll go with you." Liu Yan went back to her room to get some things, and the two of them headed towards the village.

"Lingling, I'm going to rest for a bit," Shang Yanfang said, putting away the household items she had bought.

"I'll take a break too. I've been busy since I got up this morning and I'm exhausted."

The two went back to bed and fell asleep soon after.

"Could they have already started cooking?"

"do not know."

Li Zhaodi took the vegetables she had exchanged back to the educated youth settlement.

"Huh? Where did they all go?"

"Yes, they're resting."

"Let them rest for a while. They won't be able to rest tomorrow even if they want to."

The two of them quietly came in and quietly went out to cook.

Shang Yanfang woke up to the sound of meat being chopped.

I checked the time and realized I'd been asleep for half an hour.

After dozing off for a while, Shang Yanfang got up and went to the kitchen to help.

"What, do you need help?"

Seeing that the two were both doing their own thing, Shang Yanfang asked cautiously.

"Yanfang, I saw you bought pork fat, so I thought I'd cut it up for you so we can render the oil later."

Seeing that Shang Yanfang had woken up, Li Zhaodi asked cautiously.

"It's alright, Zhao Di, you cut it, I'll do the cooking later, okay?"

"Why not? Should we cook the whole piece of pork belly or just half?"

"Let's cook it all. It's the middle of summer, and meat won't keep well."

"Then let's stew it with potatoes."

"Okay."

As they talked, they put the pork fat into the pot to render lard.

After rendering the pork fat, Shang Yanfang added some salt to the oil press.

Pick up a crunchy piece.

"It smells so good, it really smells so good. Zhaodi, you should try some."

He picked up a piece of pork and held it to Li Zhaodi's lips.

"Delicious, really delicious."

Li Zhaodi chewed as she spoke.

When they arrived in the yard, Liu Yan was washing vegetables, and Shang Yanfang ran over excitedly.

"Swallow, have some pork scraps."

He took a piece of fried pork crackling and fed it to Liu Yan's mouth, saying...

"good to eat."

My aloof and elegant sister Yan.

He took out a handful of pork cracklings, placed them on the table, and instructed, "Yanzi, I've put the pork cracklings on the table. Remember to eat them later."

"I'll put some on the table for you to eat later. I'll take it to Lingling to try."

"What should I try?"

After He Lingling came out of the room, she heard Shang Yanfang say that she should try it.

"The freshly rendered pork cracklings smell delicious, let me have you try some."

"Okay, let me try it."

As He Lingling spoke, she picked up a piece of pork crackling and started eating it.

"You guys eat first, I'll go make potato stew with meat."

He put the bowl he was holding on the table and went to the kitchen to cook.

I simply stir-fried some greens with the oil left in the pan, and then made a potato stew with meat.

Li Zhaodi made coarse grain porridge and steamed mixed grain buns on the side.

After preparing the food, they would leave it there, chatting and waiting for the older educated youth to come back from work so they could eat together.