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Sister-in-law Tao glanced at her, wearing an expression that said, ‘I know everything; there’s no need to feel embarrassed’:
“Xiao Li, there’s no need to be shy. I’m a woman too. Yesterday morning, Commander Gu came to our house to borrow some nails, saying your bed collapsed. Tell me, if he wasn’t being too… you know, how could the bed just break like that?”
“Li Xia: …”
She wanted to know the answer to that question, too!
But no matter how much she explained, Sister-in-law Tao wouldn’t believe that nothing had happened between her and Gu Weicheng last night.
Besides, she and Gu Weicheng were husband and wife. It was perfectly normal for a married couple to have marital relations. If she kept denying it, it would only make people suspect that something was wrong in their relationship.
So, Li Xia simply chose to remain silent, neither confirming nor denying Sister-in-law Tao’s words.
Instead, she went along with it and said, “Alright, Sister-in-law, I understand. I’ll talk to Weicheng about it.”
“I’ll tell him to make sure the bed frame is nailed down properly! I never want to experience such an embarrassing moment again!”
After Li Xia went along with Sister-in-law Tao’s words, the latter finally dropped the topic.
When they arrived at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, the place was packed with people buying groceries. However, those buying meat were mostly military families. Nowadays, purchasing meat required both money and coupons. Aside from military families and workers who could afford it, local farmers could only enjoy a meat meal once in a long while.
“I’d like to buy five pounds of meat,” Li Xia said.
Since they were hosting guests the next day—with the visitors plus their family of three—there would be over ten people in total. If she bought too little meat and someone didn’t get enough, it would be quite embarrassing.
Who knew that, as soon as she said that, she would feel countless eyes turning toward her in an instant?
The woman selling meat immediately spoke up. “Comrade, don’t you think that’s a bit much? There’s only so much meat, and if you buy it all, what’s left for everyone else?”
Sister-in-law Tao chimed in from the side, “Xiao Li, you don’t need to buy that much meat. Right now, times are tough for everyone. A housewarming meal is just a gesture, no need for a grand feast. When we hosted ours, we only bought a little over a pound of meat.”
She then turned to the butcher woman and said, “Give me half a pound of meat, make it a bit fattier.”
Li Xia followed up, “Then give me two pounds of meat.”
“Alright,” the butcher woman didn’t object this time. It seemed that the limit per person was two pounds at most.
Despite her indifferent attitude, her butchering skills were impressive. The two pieces of meat she cut—one for Sister-in-law Tao at half a pound and one for Li Xia at exactly two pounds—were precise to the ounce, not a gram more or less!
At that time, there were no plastic bags, so the meat was carried home by tied with a string.
As the butcher handed the meat to Li Xia, she sized her up and asked, “You’re a military family, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Li Xia nodded.
“Military families really have it better—money and food coupons. I’d love for my daughter to marry a soldier,” the woman said with a smile. Then, she pointed to a portion of pork offal she had stashed away.
“Do you want this? It’s in high demand. I was planning to buy it myself, but if you help introduce my daughter to a good soldier, I’ll let you have it. If things work out, I’ll even give you a big matchmaker’s red envelope!”
Li Xia had seen many period dramas and farming novels where pork offal was often depicted as something nobody wanted. But in reality, the exact opposite was true—it was highly sought after.
After all, a single pig only had one set of offal, and it was cheaper than regular pork. That price difference alone made it incredibly appealing!
People who couldn’t afford pork would find ways to buy some offal to improve their meals. Who would turn their noses up at it, waiting for the heroine to conveniently snatch it up?
It was something everyone scrambled to get, and most people couldn’t even buy it unless they had connections with someone working at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
And as for the cliché where only the heroine could turn it into a delicious dish while others failed miserably—absolutely ridiculous.
A plate of stir-fried pork intestines at a state-run restaurant wasn’t cheap, and it tasted amazing too.
But introducing a match for the butcher woman’s daughter…
Li Xia didn’t dare make such a promise. She had only been at the army base for a short while and barely knew anyone. If she couldn’t make a good match, it wouldn’t be right to take advantage of someone’s favor.
However, Sister-in-law Tao’s eyes lit up at the opportunity. She immediately said, “Alright, leave this to me. But your daughter can’t be ugly—she needs to have good character. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee anything will come of it.”
“My daughter may not be stunning, but she’s definitely not unattractive. She just turned twenty this year and has been going on blind dates recently. If you’re willing, take this set of pork offal today, and in a few days, I’ll bring her over for you to meet. If you think she’s a good match, then you can introduce her. If not, consider this offal as my gift to you,” the butcher woman patted her chest confidently.
Although she was older now, it was easy to see that she must have been quite good-looking in her youth. Her daughter was likely decent-looking as well.
“Alright, it’s settled then.”
And just like that, the matter was decided. Before Li Xia could even process it fully, the pork offal was stuffed into her hands.
“Sister-in-law, is it really okay to agree to this so easily?” she asked, still feeling a bit unsure.
Sister-in-law Tao replied casually, “Of course! There are plenty of young men at the army base without a match. Just the other day, someone asked me to help introduce him to a girl, and I was worried I didn’t have a suitable one to recommend. This works out perfectly, and we even got a set of pork offal out of it.”
She then nudged Li Xia with a grin. “Weren’t you just worrying about not having enough meat? Cook this pork offal, and you’ll have more than enough for the meal.”