Bai Fumei in the 70’s

He Songbai was too lazy to lift his eyes this time. He lowered his head to eat and took a giant mouthful. He was chewing on the oily tenderness of the meat, and his mouth was full of flavor.

The fatty meat was delicious, but the lean meat was also fragrant.

Liang Tiezhu looked at the calm expression on Brother Bai's face and even had some disdainful emotions that he was too lazy to completely disguise on his face. His chest felt stuffy.

Liang Tiezhu explained slowly, "Look how good she is to you, willing to give you such a delicious meal."

Although Liang Tiezhu was wealthy, he doesn't often eat meat at home. It was good to get a meal soaked in oil even just once a month. When had Tiezhu eaten a bowl of rice covered with slices of meat? Where could you taste such delicious braised pork rice? If a woman ever treated him so well, he can't wait to dig out his heart, and he would be willing to die for her.

He Songbai finished off the rice bowl and said lightly, "My grandma used to make rice porridge when she was rich. It was only a few meals. If she gave me a pitiful meal, I would still eat it. What do you mean?"

Liang Tiezhu clutched his liver and suffered mentally from He Songbai's contempt. He buried his head in exasperation and grabbed the meat from He Songbai's bowl, placed it in his bowl, and ate it.

"My eyes are shallow, poor, and greedy. All I can see is this meat."

He quickly finished his own bowl of rice, but also licked the fragrant salty sauce in the bowl, which gained him a beating from He Songbai.1

...

Liang Tiezhu patted his stomach after lunch and said goodbye to He Songbai. Although Zhao Lanxiang had served him a lot of rice, he still felt that he was still not satisfied. He hadn't had enough to fulfill his craving.

He wiped his mouth, knowing clearly that he wouldn't be able to ask for a second bowl of rice. However, he didn't ride home immediately, but instead, went to Zhao Lanxiang.

He enthusiastically asked Zhao Lanxiang: "What will you make to sell next time?"

Zhao Lanxiang said: "I won't know until next week. The meat and noodles at home are almost used up. I will go to the store to check in a few days. I will make whatever I can."

Zhao Lanxiang had already felt how scarce the supplies were in the 1970s. Even with money and tickets, there was still a lot you could not get. The queues were so scary, only those who have experienced this era would understand.1

She often went to supply and marketing cooperatives and grocery stores and bought what she saw. And every time she went to the county town, it would be pretty good to return without empty hands.

Zhao Lanxiang's answer, this was inside Liang Tiezhu's expectations.

He grinned, showing his white teeth. Although he had no way to get meat, his business was selling food!

"Well... what kind of food do you want to buy? If I have anything, I can give it to you."

After listening, Zhao Lanxiang's eyes widened with surprise.

"Really? If so, it would be great!"

"Of course, if it's convenient for you to get me flour, rice, millet, rice, beans, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Although, whatever you can get, I will..."

Zhao Lanxiang ess not just talking big. After many years of research and refinement of various cuisines, although she was still not a "recipe encyclopedia", she can make anything with any ingredients. But even a clever woman cannot cook without rice. She used to do whatever she could, but now Liang Tiezhu wanted to supply her with food. What else could Zhao Lanxiang say?

This made Zhao Lanxiang very happy.

Liang Tiezhu was doing black market transactions. Of course, buying food from him was safer than buying it from a grocery store. She would not have to work so hard to buy food every week.

After Liang Tiezhu listened to her requests, he said in a low voice, "Sure, I will send it to you when I receive it."

Zhao Lanxiang went on to ask Liang Tiezhu the price of grain. Liang Tiezhu waved his hand in the air, "Forget it, because you take care of my brother Bai and you are one of our own. I will give it to you at purchase price. It may not be as cheap as the supply and marketing cooperatives, but you don't need food stamps."

Zhao Lanxiang was very grateful, this is undoubtedly a very good deal.

She knew that the food price in the black market was slightly higher. Farmers who have surplus rations will secretly sell them to the black market at slightly higher prices in exchange for living expenses. They do not need food stamps, which was also convenient for Zhao Lanxiang, an urban person who received a fixed share of food every month.

Liang Tiezhu said, "I'm going. Brother Bai fell off the bicycle today, and his legs are now injured. If you, if you have..." Just go and see him.

Liang Tiezhu bit his tongue secretly, and under Zhao Lanxiang's doubtful eyes, he stopped for a moment before saying, "If there is medicine, you should lend it to him."

Although he was ignored by He Songbai, Liang Tiezhu still hoped that there was a woman who knew how to take care of him.

Where could he find a woman who didn't dislike Brother Bai's family and wanted to cook for him! This was really difficult.

Although Liang Tiezhu was not smart, but he was also at the age of thinking about a wife. If there was a wife who was so good to him, even if she was not interesting to him, he would grind it to make it interesting.

Zhao Lanxiang remembered the man's pale lips. She thought it was caused by low blood sugar having gone without breakfast, but she didn't expect him to be injured?

He still behaved so normally, so she didn't notice it at all.

Zhao Lanxiang resisted the urge to immediately scold He Songbai, and still sent Liang Tiezhu away calmly.

Immediately after turning back to her room, she searched through the boxes and quickly found a bottle of medicated oil. It should be suitable for all skin injuries and bruises! Alas, this kind of commodity was bought when she went to the county town and went to the health clinic.

You can't be stingy about spending a few yuan for some medicine!

She went to He Songbai's room and knocked on the door.

"Is anyone there?"

He Songbai was so full that he was taking a nap. He was awakened by the voice unexpectedly. He slept shirtless, so he got up reluctantly, and first put on a jacket.

"What's up?"

Zhao Lanxiang heard the man's lazy voice coming from the room. The deep voice was full of husky, unconcealed ambiguity, and it was also mixed with a slight annoyance as if he had just been abruptly awoken.

He opened the door suddenly, staring at her condescendingly, his sharp eyebrows frowned, "What... is the money short, or the tickets short?"

Zhao Lanxiang glanced at the bloodstains on the man's trousers and put the medicated oil in his hand. "Tiezhu said that you fell and got injured. He told me to take a look."

"You can take this medicine first, you need to apply it three times a day."

He Songbai only felt the soft hand belonging to the woman touch him, causing a sudden numbness to spread throughout his rough palm. The electric current seemed to flow all the way from his fingers to his heart, and he felt as if the blood in his chest was about to flow backward.10

He was stiff as if he had been electrocuted. The next moment, the medicine bottle flew out in a straight line. The delicate glass bottle dropped to the ground suddenly and shattered.2

Zhao Lanxiang froze.

He Songbai's pupils shrank slightly.

Even the air became stagnant at this moment. He Songbai was also stunned, his fingers quivered, and then he spoke calmly.

"This...how much was this bottle of medicine, I will pay you."

Zhao Lanxiang was angry, sad, and upset.

In that moment, the man had acted like he had touched something dirty and shoved her hand away, Zhao Lanxiang felt so shocked and devastated.

"You always have to pay here and there. How much money do you owe me at this point?"

She didn't care that her good intentions were ruined, nor did she care about his subconscious body resistance. However, He Songbai's desire to keep his relationship with her clear at all times, and feeling that it's better not to owe her anything, made her very angry.

She stooped down to pick up the broken glass carefully and left silently