Chapter 45: Pork and Pot Bottom Ash

 Zhang Yuandong went into the alley and didn’t come out for a long time.

    Yang Wen waited anxiously at the hospital entrance, he thought Zhang Yuandong was just going to check the situation and would be back soon, he didn’t expect it to take so long.

    This area was full of people, because many family members who came to accompany patients rented here, there were too many transient people, management was very difficult, it was one of the places in the county where things were more likely to happen.

    Zhang Yuandong went into the alley alone; he was afraid that something dangerous might happen.

    Just as Yang Wen was getting anxious and wanted to take action, Zhang Yuandong came out of the alley with a gloomy face.

    Yang Wen saw the large piece of pork he was carrying; he understood everything, he had long heard that there was a large black market here, seeing Zhang Yuandong’s appearance, he must have followed someone into the black market.

    He hurried over in three or two steps, helped him put the meat into his bag, and said helplessly, “I said, brother, you really are my brother! You went to the black market, you didn’t arrest anyone, but you still bought so much meat, you didn’t even try to hide it, you’re still wearing your police uniform, what will people think if they see you!”

    Zhang Yuandong’s face was still very black, “What am I going to arrest, it’s the job of the patrol to clean up the black market, I’m just a small policeman, how can I manage it, there are so many people in the whole black market, none of them are afraid of my uniform.”

    “Okay, okay, then let’s go back to the Bureau? I think you’re just too nervous, maybe the female just went to the black market to buy things, although it’s not right, but it’s not a big deal, why are you still making a black face?”

    Zhang Yuandong didn’t think so, his intuition told him that Zhang Xiaohui must have a problem, there was something wrong with her.

    Moreover, with her salary as a temporary worker at the woolen mill, she couldn’t afford her current lifestyle, if there was no problem, where did she get so much money and tickets to dress herself up?

    Seeing that he didn’t say anything, Yang Wen patted him on the back, “Let’s go, the Bureau is having dumplings for lunch today, if we go back late, we won’t be able to grab any!”

    Zhang Yuandong thought of the breakfast he had at home this morning, he swallowed.

    Compared to the dumplings in the cafeteria, he wanted to eat the food Lin Yue made at home even more.

    But he also knew that Lin Yue had to go to work, most likely she wouldn’t have time to cook at noon.

    Back at the Bureau, the office was empty.

    Liu Qingjun, that mischievous fellow, had taken the two new colleagues to the village he was in charge of to help catch locusts.

    Most of the colleagues in the Bureau were from the city, they couldn’t empathize with the farmers’ suffering, they were still enthusiastically discussing various ways to eat grasshoppers while eating.

    Zhang Yuandong didn’t participate in the conversation, he ate a few bites and went back to the dormitory to change into a different outfit, he took the gifts he had prepared and left the Bureau.

    The sky was getting dark, the people of Xiaotuan Village went home in groups of three or five.

    The locust plague hadn’t passed, but they had already started planting wheat in the fields.

    The people worked hard in the fields all day; they were all listless when they went home.

    I don’t know which family was stewing meat, it was simply fragrant for miles.

    Before they even entered the village, a group of people smelled the fragrance, their eyes finally lit up, but the light was green and oily, it looked creepy.

    Everyone sniffed the air hard, wiping their saliva while discussing, who was so immoral to make such fragrant braised meat, they couldn’t eat dinner tonight.

    They wished it was their own families, but they still had to complain that it was a waste of money.

    Lin Yue returned home; she had just opened the courtyard door when the two little ones behind her ran ahead excitedly.

    Not long after, little Lingling ran out again, she shouted to Lin Yue, “Mom, come quickly, Dad made so much meat!” She shouted, and gestured with her hands to make a big circle.

    The people who passed by looked at them, Lin Yue was so frightened that she ran over in three or two steps, she picked up Lingling with one hand and quickly went home.

    Lin Yue entered the house, and sure enough, she saw Zhang Yuandong had already brought out a small basin of braised pork belly, she saw so much meat, she was very surprised, “You bought meat today?” The meat in the county’s food store was rationed, it would be sold out every day early in the morning, Zhang Yuandong was still on his way to work at that time, he could buy so much meat, Lin Yue was very surprised.

    Zhang Yuandong didn’t say much, he just said, “There’s another piece that I didn’t cook, I put it in the basin, if you have time tonight, marinate it.”

    Lin Yue agreed, she didn’t ask any further.

    Before dinner, Lin Yue asked Zhang Yuandong to serve some braised meat in small bowls and send it to Zhang Zhiwei and his wife first.

    If they made meat at home and didn’t send some to the old house, someone in the village would definitely gossip tomorrow.

    She never let anyone find fault with her, she wouldn’t give Sun Hongmei a chance to scold her for being unfilial.

    Zhang Yuandong actually didn’t know how to cook very well, he didn’t have the chance to touch the stove before joining the army, and he ate in the cafeteria after joining the army.

    The little cooking knowledge he had learned over the years was only enough for him to cook things or roast them, it was good enough to fill his stomach, he had no cooking skills, he relied entirely on feel.

    He braised the meat and braised ribs in the same way, he just put some scallions and ginger in the water and boiled them, but at least he knew to add some salt.

    Everyone was short of oil and water these days, if it was in someone else’s house, as long as it was meat, even boiled water would be considered a delicacy.

    The two children were very polite to their father, each holding a large piece of meat, they ate with gusto.

    Although Lin Yue was also craving meat, she couldn’t stand this kind of cooking.

    In order not to discourage Zhang Yuandong’s enthusiasm, she didn’t bother to stir-fry a dish, she just took some chili sauce from the jar and ate a piece of meat that wasn’t so fatty with it.

    Zhang Yuandong saw that she was eating so little, he thought she was still worried about the village’s affairs, he said, “I went to see an old battalion commander of mine today, I asked him about the relief grain, he told me yesterday that there were too many disaster-stricken areas in our county, and the relief grain wouldn’t be coming down for a while, but there should be news before the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

    Originally, this matter hadn’t been confirmed, he didn’t want to say it now, but Lin Yue had been worrying about this matter recently, he said it now to ease her mind.

    Lin Yue’s mood immediately improved.

    She didn’t expect him to be so capable, the whole Cangshan Commune hadn’t had a production brigade get grain from the higher-ups in these past few years, Zhang Yuandong had made a move, and there was news.

    Of course, this year was different from previous years, maybe the higher-ups had already approved relief grain this year, but if Zhang Yuandong hadn’t asked around, they wouldn’t have gotten news until after they paid the public grain, by then everyone would have been in a panic.

    Zhang Yuandong saw that Lin Yue’s eyes were full of admiration, his face instantly turned red to the ears.

    Although she didn’t say anything, just that look was enough to make him unbearable.

    He hurriedly finished the rest of his food, he threw down a sentence, “I’m full”, and rushed out the door.

    The two children were still shouting behind him, “Dad, wait for Lingling/Wanli, we want to go out to play!” Lin Yue lowered her head and chuckled, this man looked tall and strong, how could he be so easily shy?

    That night, Zhang Yuandong didn’t dare to take a bath in the yard, he waited until Lin Yue had also gone to bed before he dared to sneak into the kitchen and wipe his body with a wet towel.

    Lin Yue didn’t know his little thoughts, she usually took a bath in the space, she hadn’t encountered this kind of embarrassment.

    The double harvest had been too tiring lately, and today they had received news of the relief grain, her heart was at ease, she fell asleep quickly, except for getting up in the middle of the night to take the two children to pee, she slept soundly all night.

    Zhang Yuandong was different, he lay stiffly on the other side of the kang, his body still pressed against the edge of the kang, like a chaste little wife, he didn’t dare to move, when he got up the next day, he was inevitably sore all over.

    In the morning, Zhang Yuandong got up early to go for a run as usual.

    Before leaving, he started a fire in the stove, he boiled a pot of hot water and left it for the three people on the kang to use when they got up.

    It was still before the beginning of autumn, the temperature was a little lower in the morning and evening, but it was still quite hot.

    Lin Yue was so hot from the heat on the kang that she couldn’t sleep, she got up and saw a tall and long-legged man squatting in the kitchen, he was skillfully adding fire, and he was picking a bunch of chrysanthemum greens that were almost eaten by grasshoppers.

    Zhang Yuandong saw her and naturally greeted her, “You’re up, the water in the pot is just hot, wash your face with hot water.”

    It was a stark contrast to the awkward way he was before going to bed last night, it felt like this man was an extrovert during the day and an introvert at night!

    But he was too diligent, the kang was so hot that people couldn’t sleep.

    Since he got up early to work, Lin Yue naturally wouldn’t discourage him.

    She smiled and went forward, she took the vegetables from his hand and praised him, “I didn’t expect you to get up so early, you even boiled so much hot water.

    I’ll take care of the rest; you go ahead and get busy.”

    Because Zhang Yuandong was there, Lin Yue didn’t wash her face clean last night.

    The stuff she put on her face had already disappeared after a night.

    Now that he was close, Zhang Yuandong noticed that her skin was wrong.

    Because she had added ash, pumpkin powder, and other things to her skin care products, it didn’t fade naturally like makeup, but left patches of yellow-brown on her face, her original delicate and fair skin was also exposed, it just felt dirty, like a little kitten.

    The original owner’s skin wasn’t this good, Zhang Yuandong thought of his own smoother skin, he knew it was her innate ability, she must have put something on her face to cover it up.

    He smiled and pointed to his own face and asked, “Your face is dirty, do you want to wash it first?”

    Lin Yue was startled; she suppressed the urge to cover her face.

    When she lived with Wang Xiuhong a few days ago, she would get up early, she would sneak into the space to fix her face before everyone else got up.

    They had already talked about things, Zhang Yuandong also knew her secret, Lin Yue had relaxed her guard for a moment, she forgot about this in the morning.

    Zhang Yuandong saw that her exposed skin was black and yellow again, he was very curious and asked, “Did you deliberately make your face like this?”

    “Change?” Lin Yue was stunned for a moment before she understood what he meant, she quickly waved her hand to explain, but because she was in a hurry, she slipped up, “No, it’s because I put pot bottom ash…”

    Zhang Yuandong: …

    He was still easy to fool, he didn’t have to be so exaggerated.