Influenced by her past life, Wen Jiajia believed that the New Year’s Eve dinner had to be lavish, with pork, chicken, duck, fish, and mutton.

If beef weren’t so hard to come by, she would have wanted it too. In her previous life, she had a dish of braised steak every New Year’s Eve, and it was delicious.

Although she didn’t have the means last year, this year she had a job and the vegetable market was full of various foods. She was determined to prepare a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner.

Just as Wen Jiajia was considering who else she could ask to exchange some meat tickets, the manuscript she sent out last month was published in the Workers’ Daily.

In the entire pharmaceutical factory, only Wen Jiajia had been featured twice in the Workers’ Daily, which generated even more excitement than the first time.

The first appearance could be seen as a fluke or mere luck, but making it a second time suggested genuine ability.

This was no city newspaper!

Pharmaceutical companies were financially strong and generous with rewards. It was said that researchers received substantial subsidies and bonuses for every new drug developed.

So, when Wen Jiajia received her salary this month, she noticed that her paycheck was significantly thicker.

Before she could fully react, the finance person said, “Jia Jia, you have a few extra tickets here. They’re allocated to you from above.”

Wen Jiajia was thrilled but quickly suppressed her joy, considering the people queuing behind her. She hurried back to the office.

The office was empty, as Sha Yue and the others were all still waiting in line.

The three of them, reluctant to go out in the cold wind early and not as well-prepared as Wen Jiajia, had waited until almost everyone in the workshop had received their medals before going out to join the line.

Taking this opportunity, Wen Jiajia took the money from her pocket.

The money was still the same. 

Wen Jiajia wasn’t surprised because the amount was fixed and distributed monthly according to rank. Even when researchers were awarded, they would receive tickets or supplies, not cash. Moreover, tickets were harder to come by than money these days.

For many workers, money was not an issue, but tickets were extremely scarce.

Wen Jiajia counted the tickets one by one, and her eyes lit up.

She had two extra industrial tickets. Wen Jiajia had always wanted to buy a sewing machine, and with these two additional industrial tickets, she could finally make the purchase.

However, there was no rush since there wasn’t much clothing to make recently. Wen Chun and Wen Xuan’s cotton-padded jackets were still wearable, so Wen Jiajia didn’t plan to make new clothes for them just yet.

She also had two meat coupons, each worth two catties, totaling four catties. Combined with the meat coupons issued this month, the total came to four and a half catties.

With the five kilograms of meat she already had and Wei Dai’s additional two kilograms of meat tickets for this month, she had more than eleven kilograms in total.

Additionally, there were festival benefits at the end of the year. Wen Jiajia wasn’t sure if they would give out meat. Last year, they provided canned food and other items, but no meat. The year before, they had distributed half a pound of meat.

Wen Jiajia looked through the tickets again and saw two furniture tickets.

Furniture tickets were of little use to her. Although Wei Dai was skilled in carpentry, these tickets could be exchanged with others. In the city, where housing was in short supply, city dwellers needed furniture tickets to buy furniture. Even if you were a carpenter, without access to trees, and with villagers reluctant to let outsiders cut them down, it was challenging.

The finance department had kept the fact that they gave Wen Jiajia extra tickets confidential, demonstrating a strong sense of professional ethics.

So, Wen Jiajia went to the city early the next day with a clear goal: to buy meat.

Not only did Wen Jiajia go to the market herself, but she also gave tickets to Wei Dai, asking him to buy meat from his friend at the meat processing factory when he had time. She even enlisted the help of a chef from a state-owned restaurant to purchase meat for her.

The chef had his own channels, and Wen Jiajia not only provided the ticket but also offered extra money, so he agreed without hesitation.

Wen Jiajia suspected that the chef’s private channel was likely the black market.

To be honest, she hadn’t ventured into the black market in over a year. She had never seen it in her hometown and still didn’t see it here.

Wen Jiajia was timid, and with frequent inspections of the black market, those who couldn’t run fast had been caught several times. As a slow and cautious person, she had no courage to go to the black market, even if someone she knew took her there.

After buying the meat, she went to the restaurant to ask the chef for additional meat. She bought ribs and pork belly, and the chef procured the best leg meat for her.

Looking at the thick fat, Wen Jiajia couldn’t help but smile, feeling satisfied that her money was well spent.

After purchasing the meat, she went to the Hao family. Wen Jiajia had arranged with Hao Qingying the day before to deliver the meat today. The Hao family was also making bacon at this time.

Hao Qingying had just finished her meal and was not yet ready to go out. She was surprised and asked, “So early today? I thought you’d come by noon.”

Wen Jiajia, patting her head which ached from the cold wind, said, “Forget it. I just didn’t want to go out after lunch because I feel sleepy.”

Hao Qingying quickly took the meat from her hand. “Okay, then come in. My dad is mixing the spices.”

The Hao family was relatively well-off and had their own yard in a city where housing was scarce.

The yard was a traditional courtyard layout. Upon entering through the front gate, you would see the main house with wing rooms on both sides.

“Oh, it’s Comrade Wen!” Hao Weidong said with a smile, surprised at the sight of her basket full of meat. “I didn’t believe you when you said there were at least six pounds of meat. You’re really generous.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “I saved up meat coupons for several months and spent them all here.”

Hao Weidong remarked that even with meat coupons, obtaining meat was challenging as the New Year approached. 

He weighed the meat in front of Wen Jiajia and said, “Half spicy and half not spicy, right? Don’t worry, I’ll have Qingying let you know when it’s done, and you can come and pick it up.”

Wen Jiajia tried to give him some money, but Hao Weidong refused. “You’re my Qingying’s friend; I won’t take it.”

He felt that accepting the money would be awkward.

Wen Jiajia realized that supplies were tight and that spices were not easily available. She had only bought seasonings like salt and sugar, with the rest provided by Hao Weidong. Additionally, labor was more expensive than seasonings.

Seeing that Hao Weidong genuinely didn’t want the money, she didn’t press him.

After leaving the meat and saying goodbye to Hao Qingying, Wen Jiajia handed over two furniture tickets. Before Hao Qingying could refuse, Wen Jiajia said, “Don’t refuse. Furniture tickets are useless to me. They’ll expire if I keep them. You might as well use them.”

Hao Qingying was taken aback. “How can a ticket expire? If it’s about to expire, I can exchange it with someone else.”

Wen Jiajia replied, “You should keep it. Otherwise, I’ll keep thinking about it. The bag of chili powder and spices isn’t worth much.”

On the road, Hao Qingying decided not to argue and accepted the tickets. “Don’t mention it. My family is planning to buy a wardrobe, and since we don’t have enough tickets, my mother was considering a bamboo one. Your two tickets came at just the right time.”

She smiled again and said, “Didn’t you want to buy a stone mill? I’ll ask my dad where to get one. He’ll definitely know.”

Wen Jiajia responded, “That’s great. As long as it can grind soy milk, it doesn’t need to be too big.”

“Okay!”

Arriving at the workshop, the two parted ways.

Sha Yue’s belly was growing larger and larger, and Wen Jiajia was alarmed just looking at it.

“Is your belly getting a little too big?” Wen Jiajia asked, unable to help herself. “Are you having twins? Having twins isn’t easy on the mother. Do you remember Old Yu on the second floor of the department store? His wife gave birth to twins twice and is still taking medicine to regulate her body.”

The doctor Wen Jiajia recommended was a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. At that time, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners were struggling, but fortunately, the grandson of the old doctor was in the army and was not as affected.

The grandson of the old Chinese medicine doctor, Wei Daihang, was a good friend of hers. When Wen Jiajia came here, he helped her recover her health.

As a patient, Wen Jiajia could clearly feel that this old Chinese doctor’s skills were much better than those of Doctor Fang in her hometown. The original owner’s physical deficiencies were addressed by the bowls of Chinese medicine the doctor prescribed.

“Of course not!” Sha Yue shook her head. “I went for a checkup at the beginning of last month, and they said I only had one baby. The doctor mentioned it was related to the food I ate and advised me to eat less. I couldn’t help it; I was starving all day and night. I started to feel hungry if I didn’t eat for more than three hours, and I often woke up in the middle of the night because of hunger.”

She had never been a big eater, and now that she was pregnant, her stomach naturally swelled up as she ate more.

Wen Jiajia frowned. “You should eat smaller, more frequent meals. It will be difficult to give birth to a baby that’s too big.”

Sha Yue smiled. “You can always have a caesarean section^[1]refer to as a C-section, is a surgical procedure used to deliver a baby through an incision made in the mother’s abdomen and uterus..”

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes. “Are you silly? If a caesarean section were the answer, why would the doctor tell you to eat less? A baby that’s too big is not only a big burden on the mother but is also not good for the baby.”

“What do you mean? Isn’t eating more good for getting more nutrition?” Sha Yue was shocked.

Wen Jiajia shook her head. “If you eat too much, your baby could become overweight. Just ask the doctor.”

Sha Yue did go to ask.

After lunch, she visited the factory’s infirmary.

This was common knowledge even among dentists, and certainly, the doctors in the factory would know it too.

After receiving the answer, Sha Yue became even more worried and begged Wen Jiajia to accompany her to the hospital.

Prenatal^[2]refers to the period of time before birth, specifically the duration during which a baby is developing inside the womb. check-ups were not common at that time. Over a month had passed, and the doctor who had advised her to eat less had no idea that Sha Yue’s belly had grown so large.

The doctor measured her with a tape measure and said, “Control your diet. To be honest, you are the first patient I’ve had who needs to control their diet. Fortunately, it’s not late in your pregnancy yet. If you continue eating like this later on, the baby will definitely be overweight.”

Wen Jiajia: “…”

Why did this sound so strange?

Sha Yue sighed with relief, as if a taut rope had suddenly loosened, and said hastily, “Don’t worry, I won’t eat so much again.”

The doctor smiled and said, “Why should I be relieved? It’s your child, so you need to reassure yourself.”

The doctor then looked at Wen Jiajia. “Does this comrade need medical attention as well?”

Wen Jiajia’s mouth twitched. “No need. Uh… wait.”

She suddenly turned back, hesitated for a moment, and, seeing that the door had not yet been opened, asked, “Can we get free condoms at our hospital?”

The doctor almost spat out the water he had just drunk. “What?”

Wen Jiajia had a blank expression on her face. “…It’s okay.” She had read in the city newspaper that women of childbearing age could get condoms at the hospital regardless of their household registration.

Since she was already here in such cold weather, it would be a waste not to accept them.

The doctor took out a box from the drawer and handed it to her, then pushed a form and pen towards her. “Register first, and then you can get it. You’re allowed one box per month.”

It actually existed! Wen Jiajia quickly registered, put the box in her pocket, and left happily.