Chapter 85: Craving Meat

The Qinghe Alliance announced that future housing requests should be made through their housing management office. This policy change aimed to improve population control. By centralizing housing resources, the government could more easily assist those displaced by disasters in the future.

Naturally, this announcement spurred activity within the housing property department. 

Selling and buying homes became commonplace. 

Those with multiple properties were discreetly selling them, likely due to specific concerns. Even if the price was a bit lower, as long as they sold before the official statistics were compiled, it would be fine. 

Potential buyers, meanwhile, were motivated by both a wider selection of properties at lower prices and a fear of losing access to desirable locations if they waited for official Alliance listings. So, they bought without hesitation.

When Shen Yanming saw this news, he immediately sent messages to Ji Kangyong and Li Zhaozhao, urging them to pay attention. Many people in the Qingyu Community owned multiple properties. Who knew if someone might be interested in selling a house there?

Actually, Shen Yanming suspected that Li Zhaozhao likely didn’t need another house. After all, his family was wealthy, and he could easily have one of their many properties transferred to his name. However, to avoid appearing biased, Shen Yanming sent him a message as well.

As for Ji Kangyong, the situation was different—he probably did need a house, as his family would never buy one for him.

And that was indeed the case. After receiving the message, Ji Kangyong quickly replied to Shen Yanming with a “Received!” Meanwhile, Li Zhaozhao joked that if they missed him, they could go to Zhang Heping’s place as he’ll be freeloading a room there.

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A few days later, Ji Kangyong called Shen Yanming and suggested they gather in the evening. Since it was Friday and there was no work the next day, Shen Yanming invited Li Zhaozhao and Zhang Heping to join them.

For this occasion, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an prepared a few hearty dishes: crispy fried chicken, squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, mushroom and beef tenderloin, braised prawns, and a few stir-fried seasonal vegetables.

Just as they finished preparing the meal, the doorbell rang. When Shen Yanming opened the door, he was shocked to see how much weight Li Zhaozhao had lost.

“Fatty, who mistreated you? How did you lose so much weight?” Shen Yanming exclaimed. After a moment of stunned silence, he laughed and put his arm around Li Zhaozhao’s shoulder, bringing him inside.

“Screw you. It’s because of the energy rain!” Li Zhaozhao laughed, playfully swatting at Shen Yanming.

“We were also shocked when we first saw him. Who would have thought that in just three months, Fatty would become so skinny?” Zhang Heping added as he closed the door.

“How many pounds did you lose? It’s truly a miracle!” Bi Qiao’an was also incredibly surprised to see the transformed Li Fatty.

“From 220 to 160 pounds, I guess. Not particularly skinny, hehe!” Li Zhaozhao laughed, rubbing his head. His heart felt as sweet as honey.

“Come, sit down first and tell us all about it!”

Shen Yanming invited everyone to take a seat. When Zhang Heping, Li Zhaozhao, and Ji Kangyong saw the eight dishes on the dining table, they all felt that coming here today was totally worth it.

“Oh my, I knew there would be good food at your place. Tell me, how’s Yanming so capable? He has everything he wants!”

As soon as Zhang Heping saw the sumptuous spread, he threw away his titles of “Surgical Male God” and “Heartthrob Doctor”. He picked up his chopsticks and stuffed a piece of beef tenderloin into his mouth.

“You little shit, at least show some restraint. Eating like a pig, who are you disgusting?” Seeing Zhang Heping’s behavior, Li Zhaozhao rolled his eyes and slapped away the chopsticks reaching for the crispy fried chicken.

“Tsk, who doesn’t know each other? Why all the fuss? Hurry, hurry, I’m starving!” Zhang Heping handed Li Zhaozhao a pair of chopsticks.

“I haven’t had a good meal like this in ages. The hospital cafeteria repeats the same dishes endlessly. The last time I ate something delicious was when Yanming treated me. Speaking of which, Yanming, how is your house stocked with everything?”

Shen Yanming served them rice and sat down. “My freezer is packed with meat. You’re welcome to look—it’ll last us months without a problem.”

Zhang Heping opened the freezer drawer. “Wow, it really is! There must be dozens of pounds in here. My god, Shen Yanming, where did you get all this? The last time we went out, we only bought a few pounds, right?”

Li Zhaozhao and Ji Kangyong looked at Shen Yanming. “We’ve been buying meat according to the maximum limit recently. Each person only gets a few pounds, not even enough for one meal. If you have any other ways to get meat, hurry up and tell your buddies.”

Shen Yanming raised his eyebrows. “This was all bought before the purchase limits. I’ll give you some when you leave. However, you might consider checking with rural households that raise chickens and ducks. Maybe someone will be willing to sell.”

“That’s right. Maybe if we offer a little more money, someone will sell,” Li Zhaozhao said with a nod.

Hearing this, Bi Qiao’an quickly reminded them, “If you want to buy, hurry up and go. After the water supply is cut off, don’t go to the countryside to buy meat.”

“What does that have to do with the water being cut off?” Li Zhaozhao asked with a frown.

“If people don’t have water to drink, will they give water to livestock? Those animals will either die of thirst or be forced to drink dirty water. Listen to my advice. It’s better not to eat meat from private sources at that time.”

Zhang Heping nodded in agreement. “Yes, if you contract a parasitic disease, it’ll be terrible.”

Shen Yanming patted Bi Qiao’an’s head. “Don’t worry. We prepared a lot of canned meat beforehand. We won’t lack meat.”

“Who said that? Canned meat doesn’t taste as good as fresh meat,” Li Zhaozhao replied, smacking his lips. “But fortunately, I stored a lot of canned meat before. Otherwise, what joy would there be in life? It’s just that every time I go to get the cans, my heart pounds with fear of being discovered.

Then, even after I get them, I can’t bring myself to enjoy them alone. If I take them home, I barely get a taste, and I have to come up with excuses…

You wouldn’t believe it—I saw my dad craving for meat and my sister barely touching her food, so I took home five cans. But you know what? While I was getting rice, they ate two and a half! That was meant to be my meat for two weeks!

Now, they look at me with those hopeful eyes every day. My poor heart…it aches. But with a whole family to feed, no amount of supplies will ever be enough!” Li Zhaozhao clutched his chest, his shoulders slumping for added effect.

“Fatty, don’t tell me you’ve lost weight from craving meat!” Zhang Heping laughed at his antics and kicked Li Zhaozhao playfully.

“Bah! I told you, it was from getting drenched in the rain. Why would I lie about something like that? Honestly, I didn’t expect to lose weight myself, but I just became skinny.” Li Zhaozhao spread his hands, shrugging with a smug expression. “The first day I got soaked, I felt so grimy. When I showered, I scrubbed off layers of dirt!”

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