Bai Fumei in the 70’s

By the time she reached the grocery shop, there were already two long queues lined up in front of the store.

Pork, chicken, and duck meat, which were the most sought-after meats, were sold out very quickly. When it was her turn, only the pig's offals, trotters, and poultry's liver, head, and claws were left.

These internal parts did not contain any oil or sauce, so people did not like to eat them, but Zhao Lanxiang did not dislike them. These parts were all good in her eyes, and their value was not worse than fat. It was just that people during this time lacked seasonings such as oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar, so they can't bring out the delicious flavor of these meats.

In the end, Zhao Lanxiang grabbed two pounds of pure lean meat and two pounds of trotters. She didn't miss the chicken and duck kidneys, heads, claws, and other scraps as well, and she put everything into the bag with a smile. She had bought some meat tickets from the black market, but they were quickly running out.

The clerk in the grocery store glanced at the girl who bought meat generously and stared at her.

Zhao Lanxiang coughed and explained, "I am a new purchaser for the cafeteria, I'm responsible for the purchase of meat."

Zhao Lanxiang said this sentence to dispel the salesperson's doubts. People in the city sometimes eat lavishly, but it's not the same for those in the countryside. The monthly share of pork was usually only half a pound to a pound per person. But Zhao Lanxiang bought one person's share of pork for at least a whole year.

Zhao Lanxiang packed the meat in a bamboo basket and quietly withdrew from the dragon-like long queue. She winked at He Songbai, who was hiding in the street alley.

To not be too eye-catching, Zhao Lanxiang does not take a car, but chooses to walk back to the village on foot. She also decided to walk along a remote mountain road.

There was no such thing as a free market in this era, except for a small amount of produce sold by self-producing farmers, the action of reselling food or materials was considered to be "speculation."

Speculation was a very dangerous act. If she were caught, she would be sent to a labor camp or jailed according to the seriousness of the crime. She did not want to lose her life to make some money.

Zhao Lanxiang walked ten miles and finally returned to the village before the sunset.1

He Songbai's dark and thick brows were wrinkled ever since they were at the street in the black market, and he still hadn't let it go.

He followed this "extremely audacious" educated youth Zhao. He watched her walk carefully around the mountain all the way to the village, while grabbing several plants and putting them in her basket to disguise herself as "harvesting wild vegetables." His stretched expression was not so ugly anymore.

If she were caught, their He family would not be able to escape from being labeled as "accomplices." He Songbai said this to himself to explain his behavior towards this educated youth Zhao.1

Zhao Lanxiang doesn't know the man's complicated psychological activities at this time. After returning home, she went into the kitchen and busied herself cooking.

She cleaned the meat briskly, picking out the chicken and duck meat, sliced some ginger and scallions, and marinated them with cooking wine and salt. The time to steep was very long. It will not be thoroughly marinated until noon the next day. She found a clay pot and put them away, and then started the preparation of another delicate marinade.

The dish she wants to make was similar to the cold duck neck and claws that would be popular in later generations. The flavor was unique and very appetizing.

At that time, because she and Sister He loved food, her old man paid a considerable sum of money to a popular food show so that Zhao Lanxiang would be invited as a guest judge. The program's theme was to find folk cuisine and explore secret or lost recipes. She followed the show with incredible excitement. From the first to the last episode, she had collected a lot of secret recipes.

There were folk foods in all major cuisines, but she had remembered some that were unique and delicious to her. Unexpectedly, the interest that was cultivated for fun during that leisure time had now become a skill for her.

Zhao Lanxiang shook her head, her face only showing these emotions for a few seconds.

She boiled together more than 30 kinds of seasonings, such as: star anise, galangal, cinnamon, fennel, grass fruit, clove, amomum, pepper, cardamom, Pao grass, bay leaf, etc., into a pot of marinade, and simmered it until it released the color then left it to cool to soak the seasoned duck meat tomorrow.

After she finished these tasks, the He family's kitchen overflowed with an incredible fragrance, the flavor of the enticing spices mixed with the sweet taste of meat.

Although the old house of the He family was located in a relatively remote place, it was not like there were no other people who live in this neighborhood. Zhao Lanxiang deliberately closed the window when cooking, and also used a pot of unburned activated charcoal for odor adsorption. After finishing the cold-dish duck, she went out to breathe a bit of fresh air. The kitchen with the window closed was sweltering like a simmering stove, and her dark hair clung to her face. It was sticky and uncomfortable.

She had just pushed open the door and immediately saw He Sanya, who was drooling.

Zhao Lanxiang took a piece of caramel out of her pocket and smiled, "Eat it."

This was a candy she bought from the town. He Sanya loves to eat sweets, but growing up like this, she doesn't have many chances to eat sugar.

He Sanya's dark and bright eyes looked like she had been enlightened. She accepted the sugar, but her eyes couldn't help glancing towards the kitchen. The dilapidated and old kitchen of the He family was what she yearned for. It seems like heaven. She sniffed the aroma that spilled from the doorway, drooling to the tip of her tongue, though her throat swallowed it back from time to time.

Zhao Lanxiang looked at her pitiful and lovely look, and she felt helpless.

She said, "There are trotters to eat tonight, rest assured, you will have a share."

As she said that, she pinched the child's nose, and the corners of her lips rose subconsciously. If the food she made was pleasing to others, then that was already the greatest affirmation she could need.

Although this little kid probably had never eaten something delicious, she can't stand this slight fragrance. But that's okay. She will use what she learned in her previous life, and take one step at a time, to feed this thin and poor child.

Zhao Lanxiang wasn't quite sure why the aroma from the kitchen had leaked out. She went back and took the pile of unburned charcoal and smashed it into small pieces to lay flat on the ground. Then she tightly sealed the jar of marinated cured meat. She waited until the fragrance had mostly dissipated before she started to stew the pig's trotters. The five-spice trotters were not as troublesome as the marinade. When she made the five-spice trotters a few days ago, the spices she had found at that time were not complete. This time, she went to the black market to search around and filled many of the missing ones. The trotters tonight will be even more delicious!

When He Songbai returned home, he chopped firewood, gathered water, and finished some scattered work for the family. Only at this time was he free to think about the "restless" Zhao Lanxiang at home.

When he inhaled the fragrance overflowing from the kitchen window, he saw He Sanya biting into meat with satisfaction, his dark eyes became dark, holding complex emotions.

Countless thoughts were swirling in his heart that wanted to tell this woman to settle down. On the way back, he suffered repeatedly, but when he saw this scene, He Songbai was shaken.

Over the years, they have been honest farmers. They never dared break rules or did terrible things. But does God let them go and let them live peacefully?1

No, ever since he could remember, the gossip and words surrounding him have never stopped, not for a day. Rumors maliciously warped his life, and he was branded with a bad reputation. He was grateful that the country did not completely abandon them and allowed them to reform. However, he knew that as long as he was still alive, he and his family could never erase their tails and be humans. They were marked with shame that could never be washed away... 

The situation is already so bad, what could make it worse?9

... 

...

At night, Sister He drove the brigade's cattle into the cowshed. When she washed her hands by the well, she smelled the aroma of meat in the air. She thought that it was the educated youth Zhao who bought pork and came back for the tooth festival again! Tonight she must not eat her meat anymore. She has already eaten so many good things in vain. However, she couldn't come up with something to pay her back! Sister He felt very ashamed.

However, the next minute Sister He was beaten.

Zhao Lanxiang glanced at Sister He and pulled her into the kitchen enthusiastically. The white and clean soft rice was well packed into a bowl, and each bowl of rice was sprinkled with a layer of delicious gravy. The stewed agate-colored trotters glowed with oil under the kerosene lamp. Zhao Lanxiang didn't say anything, and just put a piece of soft glutinous pig's trotters into her mouth.

"Delicious? Sanya already ate two bowls of rice with this sauce."

Sister He could only discern a strong yet mellow flavor spreading in her mouth, her tongue and teeth cooperated perfectly without listening to anything, and she chewed involuntarily. She also seemed to feel a joy that she never had before. The sweet and mellow honey-like juice made her irrational, and her hands and feet began to move. She walked to the table, picked up the bowl of rice, and ate the meat happily.

After eating one bowl and thinking about another one, the last bowl of rice bottomed out, and the full satisfaction came from her stomach. Sister He suddenly woke up...