Bai Fumei in the 70’s

When Zhao Lanxiang arrived at Qinghe Town to buy a pound of pork, a new batch of rich and good quality flour had been delivered to the grain store. The residents of the town had lined up like a long dragon since before dawn. Zhao Lanxiang couldn't get her hand on it before it was finished. She had enough money in her pocket, but there was no place to spend it, which made Zhao Lanxiang, who was accustomed to buying things as she wanted in the later era, felt uncomfortable.

Zhou Jiazhen said, "If we don't have any of the rich and good flour, can we buy other ones?"

One visit to the county town will cost three cents, and a round trip will cost six cents. She was reluctant to spend the money in vain, and it wouldn't hurt to have Zhao Lanxiang's meat dish again.

In the end, Zhao Lanxiang could not care about quality and bought a bag of all-purpose flour. The country distinguished the quality of flour according to the gluten content and fineness. The fine flour she bought last time was the best, equivalent to No. 1 flour, and then followed by this all-purpose flour.

She gave the 30-pounds food stamp to the salesperson. In addition to the money and food stamp, she also pushed a small envelope to the counter and gave a sum for the person in charge of the food station.

In the 1970s, there were no fair and upright food sales. Everything was purchased and sold by the state. For non-agricultural household in cities and towns, food were divided according to headcount, while for rural household food were divided by production teams at the end of the year. Before she went to the countryside, Feng Lian was worried that the points her daughter was likely to earn would not be enough to feed her, so she handed over her grain and oil food stamps to her daughter. 

Generally, the average monthly food distributed by the residents in the city ranges from 30 to 35 pounds. However, Feng Lian's school had a good welfare system, which gave older employees a five-pounds monthly food supply.1

Last month, from Zhao Lanxiang's 30 pounds of food, she ate 20 pounds worth and saved 10 pounds. She lent five-pounds of her surplus grain and oil food stamps to Zhou Jiazhen.

Now Zhao Lanxiang bought 30 pounds of flour in one go, which made Zhou Jiazhen took a deep breath.

Zhao Lanxiang was definitely the most spendthrift rich man Zhou Jiazhen had ever seen. She always bought food without blinking, and she ate good things everywhere. Every time she came to town, she bought pork, and she liked to pick lean meat. People usually consider fatty meat as much more valuable than lean meat. Fatty meat can be squeezed for oil, and it was delicious. It was crispy when fried. However, Zhao Lanxiang bought pork and oil separately.

However, when it was time to buy pork, the lavish "rich man" Zhao Lanxiang discovered that if she ate meat at the speed she had yesterday, the meat ticket sent by her parents would soon bottom out. Her brows visibly twisted.

In fact, it wasn't that Zhao Yongqing and Feng Lian didn't give enough tickets, but Zhao Lanxiang's appetite was quite different from other people in this era. After coming to the countryside, she could only eat a bit of meat to resolve her greed. In the past, the 18-year-old Zhao Lanxiang was used to the lack of materials and food, and this kind of thing seemed to be extravagant and wasteful. But now Zhao Lanxiang had gone through decades of developments, and it was normal for her to eat meat regularly like in the later era.

Zhou Jiazhen saw that Zhao Lanxiang had raised her foot again and went to the grocery store. She quickly caught up her and said, "You are still buying pork. Yesterday's meat was finished?"

Zhao Lanxiang replied, "It's finished."

Although the meat ticket cost more, and she was distressed, but the worms in her stomach have been screaming. People who live in this era barely ate anything. They worked hard and saved for three times a day. In the past, the 18-year-old Zhao Lanxiang hadn't seen the world. But now, Zhao Lanxiang has gone through decades of vicissitudes. The spirit of the new era has completely changed the idea of conservative savings in her bones.

Finally, she decided to buy... a pound of meat, half a pound of pig intestine, and half a pound of pig feet.

Zhou Jiazhen watched the "rich man" bought pork and then turned to the supply and marketing cooperatives to buy some cloves, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon, and other spices, soy sauce, white wine, vinegar, and so on. Zhao Lanxiang folded her shopping list and put it in her pocket steadily. There were too many things to buy, and she was afraid that she would forget.

Although Zhao Lanxiang in her previous life was the kind of person who wouldn't even touch spring water with her fingers, but to please Jiang Jianjun, she became a military wife who was a virtuous and worked hard on cooking to give him a good meal. After such a long time, her hands gradually bent out of shape, her palms became rough, but the food she cooked was famous in the entire courtyard. Once the oil heated the pan, the smell overflowing from the kitchen will catch everyone's attention.

Later, Zhao Lanxiang married He Songbai, and the He family also had a big foodie, and the two happened to be together. As soon as the weekend came, the He family kitchen was filled with delectable fragrance, and she fed He Songbai for a while.

She had written down more than 30 different kinds of spices on the list, but after searching everywhere, she could only get a small part of the list. Zhao Lanxiang was not discouraged. After all, the economic conditions and ingredients in the county are far inferior to those in the city. It was already good to be able to buy half of them.

Zhao Lanxiang's returned from the trip full of things. Zhou Jiazhen also piggybacked two feet of cloth to prepare summer clothes. The conditions of her family were incomparable to Zhao Lanxiang's, but she had the right attitude. She had saved a small sum of money following many years in the countryside.

However, she was almost of marriageable age. Zhou Jiazhen, who had never been bored or depressed, was worried for the first time.

Is she really going to put her roots in the village?

She glanced at Zhao Lanxiang, who returned to the brigade satisfactorily with a big bag, and envied her youth and vitality for the first time.1

...

Zhou Jiazhen helped Zhao Lanxiang carry a bag of white flour back to the old house of He's family. Zhao Lanxiang took out the wild fruit that Sanya had left for her and gave it to Zhou Jiazhen. This kind of purple-black fruit is called Nianzi. It was sweet when it was ripe, and it was all over the mountains and the wild. When Sanya went to the mountains to get pigweed, she could bring back a bag. Sanya, who had no candy to eat, regarded it as a precious treasure. Every year she looked forward to summer, when the Nianzi in the mountains would be ripe.1

Obviously, Zhou Jiazhen also loved this kind of fruit very much. She was surprised to get such a big batch, and her fingertips were soaked with juice. She licked her mouth with satisfaction after eating.

"You managed to pick it. I went to the mountain to pick firewood a few days ago, and I can't find it. It was already gone."

Sister He and Sanya, who were used to find pigweed on the mountain, were familiar with the treasures in the mountain. 

Zhao Lanxiang just smiled and poured her a glass of water.

Zhou Jiazhen drank two large bowls of water and burped, "Unexpectedly, although the He family is poor, these old houses are quite real. Although you don't like to listen to my words, the people of the He family are really--"

As she spoke, she walked out of Zhao Lanxiang's room, she suddenly discovered something and shook her head.

Later on, Zhao Lanxiang was carrying a pair of pig large intestines and was about to go to the well to clean it. She is surprised to find a man who was squatting in a field to water the seedlings. The pea seedlings crawled up the fence and covered his tall and thin body.

When he saw Zhao Lanxiang's surprised eyes, he turned his head indifferently.+

[T/N: Nianzi fruit picture above.]