Chapter 26: Male Lead (Part 4)

Because he had special meat coupons, the chef in the restaurant knew that with these coupons, he could definitely buy pork, and when buying meat, he had priority and could even choose the fattiest ones. Even though pig’s trotters are good, they’re still not as good as fatty meat, so it’s worth the exchange. Otherwise, as the waiter said, there really was no more meat left in the state-owned restaurant!

After hearing the waiter’s explanation, Zhao Xiulan finally understood that there were so many loopholes in between.

In this era, you needed coupons to buy things, and the coupons were divided into different categories.

Seeing that Zhao Xiulan didn’t know anything, the waiter secretly thought that she was indeed a country bumpkin and didn’t know where she got the money and coupons from to eat at the state-owned restaurant.

After understanding the difference between the coupons, Zhao Xiulan didn’t continue to argue with the waiter. Instead, she looked at Lu Qingguo and Jiang Cheng with some envy.

Jiang Cheng coughed awkwardly, feeling like he had taken Zhao Xiulan’s things.

Although ladies were supposed to go first, there was only this pair of pig’s trotters left in the state-owned restaurant. Jiang Cheng couldn’t bear to give them up.

After all, he still had to treat Lu Qingguo to a meal. If he ate alone, he might give them to Zhao Xiulan!

Zhao Xiulan didn’t fuss anymore. Not long after, the waiter brought her noodles and a plate of stir-fried radish.

The noodles were made from buckwheat flour, not as attractive as white flour. But in this era, white flour was so precious that ordinary people couldn’t afford it. You might not even get to eat it a few times a year. In the black market, white flour and rice were rare delicacies, so it was normal for the state-owned restaurant not to supply white flour.

But in the current situation of food shortage, even though buckwheat flour wasn’t as good as white flour, it was still considered fine grain.

Zhao Xiulan didn’t mind. After all, compared to the food at home, buckwheat noodles were pretty good!

There was a bit of clear soup in the noodles, with some chopped green onions floating on top, and two baby bok choy leaves added, emitting a fragrant aroma.

The stir-fried radish was crispy and delicious, probably marinated, and tasted pretty good. It was just a bit lacking in oil and was a bit light.

Zhao Xiulan understood that oil was expensive now, and the state-owned restaurant couldn’t afford to use too much oil when cooking.

Probably because she was hungry, Zhao Xiulan started eating from her bowl.

Meanwhile, the dishes for Jiang Cheng and Lu Qingguo’s table also arrived.

A pair of braised pig’s trotters emitted a tempting fragrance, and Zhao Xiulan couldn’t help but glance enviously at Jiang Cheng’s table.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t take out things from her space at will. Otherwise, she would have liked to cook a braised pork dish when she went back to satisfy her craving.

Jiang Cheng and Lu Qingguo were really hungry. After the dishes arrived, they started eating quickly.

Although Lu Qingguo was an urban worker and could receive some meat coupons every month, the meat coupons at home had long been used up.

Every time they bought a little bit of meat, with several children at home, there wasn’t much left to eat when it was divided up.

Faced with such a pair of fragrant pig’s trotters, he couldn’t help but salivate.

Lu Qingguo was embarrassed to eat first, but Jiang Cheng went straight for it. With one pair of pig’s trotters, he shared one with Lu Qingguo.

Jiang Cheng wanted to give all of them to Lu Qingguo, knowing that the mouths to feed in Lu Qingguo’s family all relied on him alone, and they didn’t live comfortably.

He didn’t usually eat much pork trotter meat, so he wasn’t so keen on it now.

But Jiang Cheng also knew that if he gave them all to Lu Qingguo, Lu Qingguo would definitely feel embarrassed to accept them.

(End of Chapter 26)