Chapter 10: Braised Rice with Sausage

After nightfall, the village leader secretly pushed a single-wheeled cart and delivered the items to Lin Chaoyang’s house.

To avoid drawing attention, the village leader quickly left after delivering the items.

Lin Chaoyang’s younger siblings were in awe as they looked at the supplies.

Lin Chaoyang quickly gave them a stern look. “These are rewards from the county. No one is allowed to talk about this, or you won’t be getting any!”

They all understood the importance of not talking about the food, and nodded, closing their mouths.

Lin Chaoyang didn’t let them see what was inside the bags, and quickly locked them away in a cupboard in his room.

“Although we have food now, we can’t eat it all at once. The next harvest is uncertain, so we need to make these supplies last,” he explained.

He didn’t want his younger siblings to become greedy and start eating too much.

Although Lin Chaoyang said this, it was clear that they had been hungry for a long time, and their faces were filled with longing.

“Big brother, we’re hungry…” one of them murmured.

Lin Chaoyang firmly shook his head. “We’ve already eaten today. We don’t cook at night. We’ll eat tomorrow.”

With that, he left the room and locked the door.

He didn’t even know what exactly was inside those bags. The room was too dark, so he decided to move all the supplies to the convenience store for easier storage.

The most important reason was that if the supplies were kept in the store, no one would be able to find them.

That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about the supplies being stolen when he wasn’t home.

Sitting on the floor of the store, Lin Chaoyang began to check what was inside the bags.

There was a sack of rice, a bag of cornmeal, a bottle of oil, and a piece of salted meat.

Each bag weighed several dozen pounds. With these two bags of food, a farmer’s family in this era could make it through a year if they were frugal.

Lin Chaoyang felt quite happy. Now, there was enough food for his family, and they no longer had to sneak around to eat.

What made him even happier was that he now had a job.

He hadn’t planned on staying in the countryside for long. He thought he would have to wait for the opening policies before he could enter the city, but now, he had unexpectedly become a worker so soon.

After moving to the city, he would be able to learn more about urban life and think about what kind of business he might want to do.

Although he didn’t know which position he would be assigned to, Lin Chaoyang hoped it would be in the procurement department.

In his past life, he didn’t have much experience, but he knew that working in procurement meant he could travel nationwide, helping the company acquire supplies. This would give him a significant advantage.

If he could get into the procurement department and become a buyer, he could take advantage of business trips to buy and sell supermarket supplies.

By rotating locations, he could avoid attracting attention while making some extra money.

However, that was just a thought. Positions in the procurement department were likely highly competitive, and as a new worker with no education or qualifications, he probably wouldn’t get in.

After storing the items properly, Lin Chaoyang left the store and went to bed.

The next morning, in the eager eyes of his younger siblings, Lin Chaoyang only gave them enough rice to cook porridge.

“No one’s cooking dry rice this early in the morning. We’ll eat at noon,” he said.

He still had to go to work today, and thought he could have a simple breakfast in the morning and a proper meal at noon.

After breakfast, everyone prepared to go to work.

Lin Chaoyang took a bowl of rice and a small piece of cured meat and handed them to Lin Chaoyun, instructing her to make braised rice with sausage for lunch.

He understood Lin Chaoyun’s temperament well—despite her age, she still had her pride and didn’t want to engage in the shameful act of secretly eating.

However, if it were Lin Chaoxia and Lin Chaoyu, by the time he returned, there might only be a few bites left in the pot.

After giving the instructions, Lin Chaoyang left for the field.

Before he even reached the worksite, the village leader, with a beaming face, approached him.

“Yangzi, get ready. This afternoon, we’re going to the commune to give a speech and talk about the human trafficker you caught.”

Lin Chaoyang was stunned. A speech at the commune?

The village leader looked proud. “The commune heard you were rewarded by the county, so they specifically asked you to give a speech. I hear there’s a reward involved too!”

Having someone from the village get so much attention was a great honor for the village leader. Moreover, he had a feeling that Lin Chaoyang’s heroic act of catching a human trafficker would definitely earn them favor in front of the commune leaders. It was likely that this honor would be attributed to their village.

Lin Chaoyang had absolutely no interest in giving a speech. He had never done it in both of his lives.

But since the commune had specifically requested it, he had no choice but to agree.

To make sure he had enough time, the village leader even gave him a day off to prepare his speech.

Reluctantly, Lin Chaoyang went home, but he had no idea what to say in the speech.

After a long time of thinking, he could only greatly embellish his experience of catching the trafficker.

He also took out a book on ideological education from the store and copied several phrases praising the leadership.

The gist of it was that it was the guidance from the commune leaders that had instilled in him the spirit of courage and righteousness.

After a morning of copying and editing, he finally finished a speech that was passable.

Just as he finished writing, he smelled the fragrance of rice cooking from the kitchen.

Luckily, their house wasn’t too close to the neighbors, or else the smell might have raised suspicions.

Feeling hungry, Lin Chaoyang put the speech away and prepared to eat.

When Lin Chaoxia and Lin Chaoyu returned from work, the family finally sat down to eat.

Braised rice with sausage was a rare and delicious dish, especially in their time. To have it fresh was even more of a treat.

The youngest, Lin Chaoxing, was drooling at the sight. Seeing his little brother so eager, Lin Chaoyang quickly served him a bowl.

The others didn’t get the same treatment. After serving his younger brother and himself, Lin Chaoyang dug in.

The remaining three siblings didn’t dare be greedy. They quietly served themselves and ate in silence.

It had been a long time since Lin Chaoyang had eaten such a warm, delicious meal. He couldn’t stop eating, his head nearly buried in the bowl.

The greasy, salty flavor of the sausage had soaked into the rice, making it incredibly tasty, even if eaten plain.

For a while, the only sound was the clinking of chopsticks and bowls. No one had the time to speak.

Once they finished their bowls, Lin Chaoyang patted his stomach and let out a satisfied burp.

The other siblings were equally content, licking their lips to savor the lingering taste of oil.

“This meal is a celebration of the reward I received. From the next meal on, we won’t be eating like this,” Lin Chaoyang said.

“Tonight, we’ll have wild vegetable porridge. Xia, pick more wild vegetables from the mountain this afternoon. Yu, don’t just watch the cows. Pick some wild vegetables while you’re at it.”

They didn’t object. Just having one meal like this was already enough. They didn’t dare hope for daily rice with sausage.

After the meal, Lin Chaoyang went back to his room to practice his speech. He recited it several times until it flowed smoothly.