Chapter 29: Foodie Dr. Li

Today, I went to the modern market, carrying a basket with thirty eggs, two butchered chickens in a small cart, a big pumpkin weighing about ten pounds, and some vegetables and peach gum.

Today’s gossip topic was real estate. Xiaomei was shocked to hear how expensive the houses here were—she really couldn’t afford to buy one.

By 7:30, everything was sold out. Xiaomei went to the supermarket to check the prices of various kinds of alcohol.

The prices on the tags surprised her: Wuliangye, Moutai, Fenjiu, Haizhilan, Tianzhilan, Mengzhilan… all sorts of brands.

There were also red wine and yellow wine, a dazzling array, making Xiaomei feel dizzy.

She bought some noodles, and what made her happiest was finding Yunpian Cake (a type of traditional rice cake). It was placed in a corner, obviously not bought by many.

Xiaomei was quite familiar with Yunpian Cake—it was like a hard currency in their food world. For weddings, funerals, visits to new mothers and patients, Yunpian Cake was always the first choice.

Overjoyed, Xiaomei quickly asked the clerk how to buy it. The clerk was already familiar with her and, seeing Xiaomei was a regular customer and noticing the stock was not moving much and close to expiry (still six months left), offered her a discount.

Xiaomei was very happy and bought five packs, promising to come back the next day and the day after to buy more.

Seeing her enthusiasm, the clerk pointed at some peach crisp cookies and asked if she wanted some.

Of course! These were the best snacks Xiaomei had ever eaten, but since she planned to go to the wholesale market later and peach crisps break easily, she said she’d buy them in the evening.

Feeling they were getting quite familiar, Xiaomei asked, “Sister, what kind of wine is good to give as a gift?”

“Of course, big brands like Moutai and Wuliangye,” the clerk answered, “but they’re pretty expensive. You might want to consider our Su Province’s own brand, like the Blue Classic series — more affordable.”

The clerk started promoting the Blue Classic series, probably because it had the biggest profit margin.

Xiaomei saw that Wuliangye was over a thousand to two thousand yuan, Moutai the cheaper ones under a thousand and the expensive ones over three thousand. Wow, too expensive.

Then she looked at Haizhilan, priced around a hundred, Tianzhilan about two to three hundred, and Mengzhilan with a wide range from six or seven hundred to over a thousand.

“Are Haizhilan, Tianzhilan, and Mengzhilan from the same company?” Xiaomei asked.

“Yes, they belong to the Blue Classic series, our Su Province’s own brand. ‘Hai’ means big sea, ‘Tian’ means bigger sky, and ‘Meng’ means boundless dreams — the biggest. That’s why their prices range from low to high, to cater to different consumers. This wine is affordable; you might want to consider it,” the clerk earnestly promoted.

Xiaomei smiled awkwardly, “I’ll ask the elders first, and if we decide to buy, please give me a better price.”

The clerk gave an “OK” hand gesture; Xiaomei didn’t understand it but got the idea.

The two chickens were stored at a repair shop next to the lunchbox store. Xiaomei took an early bus to the wholesale market.

It was rush hour; Xiaomei stood the whole way to her destination.

She went straight to vendor Wei’s stall, no need to haggle, quickly bought ten pounds of salted meat and ten pounds of Cantonese sausage, paid promptly, and left.

Although the meat was twenty pounds in total, it didn’t take much space. Seeing the cart could still hold more, Xiaomei bought ten pounds of biscuits.

The cart was heavy, but Xiaomei felt good, not tired at all, happily heading home.

Strangely, no one was home.

Xiaomei knew where the house key was: in the storage room, on top of the chicken box, covered by a broken straw hat — inside the hat.

After opening the door, she could only place the goods in the main room because both the east and west rooms were locked.

Xiaomei couldn’t help but laugh — Grandma was something else, buying six locks. Along with the original lock on the main door, the current setup was: two locks in the backyard (luckily Xiaomei had the key or she wouldn’t get out), one on the main door, one on the east room, and three on the west room — one on the bedroom door, one on Grandma’s camphor chest, and one originally not locking the kitchen door. The last lock was for the back door to the living room, but since the back door wasn’t open yet, the kitchen was locked too.

Xiaomei found it amusing and a bit exasperating.

She put the cart on a stool and blocked it with straw, so even if a stranger came in, they wouldn’t immediately see the cart.

Then she went out to find someone.

She looked at Grandma’s house and Aunt’s house, only saw Xiaohua playing with cousin Zongming, but no Grandma.

She checked the cooperative medical station and saw Dad and Godfather Xiangzong whispering together, heads close, seemingly discussing something.

Xiaomei called out, “Dad, Godfather,” and asked Wang Peigen, “Where’s Grandma? Where did she go?”

“Probably to town, said she was going to buy some matches.”

In rural townships, the name kept changing — sometimes called township, sometimes town, sometimes commune. People just mixed the terms; those listening knew what was meant.

Xiaomei stomped her foot, worried: Why spend money? If she needed matches, she could have told me. I would have bought them and brought them home.

Money in the modern market is easy to earn; money here is hard to make. If the family needs anything, it’s best to buy from the modern market to save expenses and pay Grandma’s medical bills sooner.

Actually, Xiaomei didn’t know Grandma Wang was really going to town, but not to buy matches — she was selling goods.

At this moment, Grandma Wang was happily chatting with the town’s most famous doctor, Dr. Li Sanxing.

Dr. Li was in his early thirties, wore glasses, and was thin.

His family was in Yushan, but he was the only one working in Yangcheng Town.

The two towns were separated by Yangcheng Lake; he went home every Wednesday after work, returned Thursday morning, then again Saturday after work, back Monday morning.

He mostly lived in the hospital.

Living alone, he enjoyed a little wine and small dishes — life was quite comfortable.

His medical skills were top-notch in town, and the locals trusted and liked him. Knowing he worked alone, they often brought him local specialties.

Even his weekly boat rides home were provided by his patients’ families, who volunteered. They wanted no payment, but Dr. Li insisted on paying.

Dr. Li knew Grandma Wang and had heard about her from Wang Peigen, admiring her wisdom.

Today Grandma Wang was officially consulting about her in-law’s illness, but during the chat, the topic turned to food.

Grandma Wang lifted the floral cloth covering her basket, and Dr. Li saw mouthwatering things:

Salted meat, sausages, and brown sugar!

Dr. Li loved good wine, his life was good, but his stomach was mostly filled with vegetables brought by villagers, sometimes some river seafood.

But now, Yangcheng crabs were still young; snails were small and inedible during Qingming; eels were still hiding; villagers only dared to secretly catch a little fish and shrimp, often dead or rotten…

There was pork in town but not daily, and even if available, they couldn’t buy it every time — the problem wasn’t money, but the ration tickets.

In short, foodie Dr. Li had very little fat in his stomach.

So at this moment, Grandma Wang saw green light flashing in Dr. Li’s eyes as he looked at her basket…