Chapter 6: There's Meat to Eat

Halfway there, Shen Yu remembered that her mother-in-law was ill; she should buy a fish to help nourish her old lady.

Seeing no one around, Shen Yu reached into her basket and, using the cloth as cover, quietly took out a large black carp weighing about five or six jin from the farm warehouse.

In her past life, she had once been hospitalized, and the doctor told her that making soup with large black carp was highly nutritious and could boost the immune system. The nutritional soup provided to patients in the hospital cafeteria was also made with large black carp.

However, because large black carp are rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, they were not suitable for those with allergies, gout, or kidney disease.

This basket of gifts was also Shen Yu's way of expressing gratitude to her father-in-law, mother-in-law, eldest brother, and sister-in-law for taking care of her family during this time.

Upon arriving at the old house, Shen Yu saw the three children playing "Eagle Catches Chicks" in the hall.

The three children, who were playing so hard they were covered in sweat, stopped playing the moment they saw their mother return. They all rushed to her, competing to ask her questions.

The eldest asked with concern, "Mom, you're back? Are you tired? I'll pour you a glass of water."

The second child's eyes sparkled as he eyed the basket in her hand. "Mom, what did you buy? Is there anything yummy?"

Little Shushu also tilted her small face up and said to her with a sweet smile, "Mom, I want candy..."

Shen Yu replied with a smile, "Mom isn't tired. I bought lots of delicious things, but we'll eat them when we get home. These things are for your Grandpa and Grandma."

Shi Zichen brought a glass of water to Shen Yu. "Mom, drink some water."

Shen Yu took the glass and praised him with a smile, "Thank you, Chenchen. You're such a good boy!"

Shi Zichen felt that his mother seemed a bit different since she woke up, but being praised made him very happy, and he grinned widely.

Shen Yu then asked the eldest, "Chenchen, where are your Grandpa and Eldest Aunt?"

The second child, Shi Kang, jumped in to answer, "I know! Grandpa and Eldest Aunt went to the fields to work."

Three-quarters of the land in their village had already been requisitioned, leaving only a small amount for everyone to grow vegetables to eat. But Shen Yu knew that even this remaining land would soon be developed to continue building the industrial zone.

Shen Yu reached out to pat her second son's head and habitually praised him, "Kangkang is so good~"

Having received praise, the second child indeed smiled happily.

Shen Yu glanced at the eldest and noticed that he wasn't dissatisfied that the second child had snatched the praise; she gave him a mental thumbs-up. If the eldest were nurtured well, he would surely be able to shoulder heavy responsibilities in the future!

Shen Yu carried the basket into her mother-in-law's room.

She said to her mother-in-law with a smile, "Mom, I went to the market just now to buy some things. You, Dad, and Big Brother and his wife have all been working hard lately, so I bought some meat and a fish. When Sister-in-law gets back, I'll have her cook it for you all."

She then took out the two boxes of mung bean cakes and placed them in front of her mother-in-law. "These two boxes of mung bean cakes are soft and sweet. Save them for you and Dad to eat."

Looking at her youngest daughter-in-law, Liang Sanmei said with a helpless expression, "Xiao Yu, I've told you, don't keep buying things for us. Why won't you listen?"

Shen Yu replied with a smile, "Mom, I'll only buy this once. I definitely won't buy things recklessly in the future. You should rest a bit more; I'm going to take Chenchen and the others home now."

Liang Sanmei waved her hand with a smile, "Go on, go on!"

After stepping outside, Shen Yu called to the three children, "Chenchen, Kangkang, Xiao Shu, let's go home."

"Coming..."

The three children cheered and ran toward her.

As the family of four left the old house, Shen Yu carefully closed the gate before leading the children back home.

Once home, Shen Yu said to the eldest, "Chenchen, you start school tomorrow, so go and review your lessons quickly. Kangkang, play with your sister; Mom is going to cook."

The three children all obediently complied.

Shen Yu then took out a box of mung bean cakes and some large meat buns and said to the children, "If you three are hungry, you can eat some mung bean cakes and buns first."

The moment the three children saw the pastries and buns, they cheered and rushed to the table.

The second child was a little foodie; seeing food, his eyes lit up. "Wow, wow! There are buns to eat! I want buns!"

Little Shushu pointed at the mung bean cakes and said, "I want cake, Brother, I want cake..."

Shi Zichen opened the transparent box of mung bean cakes and was about to reach out to give a piece to his sister when Shen Yu stopped him.

"Chenchen, you've been playing for a long time. Did you wash your hands after getting home?"

Shi Zichen shook his head. "No."

Shen Yu said to him patiently, "Then hurry and take your siblings to wash their hands. You can only eat after washing your hands; otherwise, the bacteria on your hands will go into your stomachs and make you sick later."

Shi Zichen nodded. "Okay, I understand. I'll take my siblings to wash their hands right now. Kangkang, Xiao Shu, let's go wash our hands."

Watching the eldest lead the two younger ones to the kitchen to get water to wash their hands, Shen Yu picked up the basket containing the pork and went to the kitchen.

She first gathered firewood and kerosene to light the coal stove. While waiting for the stove to heat up, Shen Yu began preparing the ingredients with efficient movements.

The pork she had brought out was pork belly.

She sliced the pork belly into thin pieces and stir-fried them in oil until they turned golden brown, then skimmed off the excess oil. Then, she added bean paste, sliced green peppers, ginger slices, garlic, and light soy sauce, stir-frying everything together.

Soon, a dish Shen Yu loved—fragrant Twice-Cooked Pork—was finished.

The aroma of the Twice-Cooked Pork quickly drew the three children into the kitchen.

The little foodie, the second child, leaned in and asked, "Mom, what delicious thing are you making? It smells so good!"

Shen Yu replied with a smile, "You'll know if you look."

The second child looked at the dish on the side, and his eyes crinkled with joy. "It's meat! We're having meat today! This is great!"

Shen Yu said to the eldest, "Chenchen, take this dish over first. I'm going to stir-fry some greens."

She didn't make much—just the Twice-Cooked Pork, a dish of garlic sautéed wheatgrass, and the large meat buns. In this era, eating these dishes was already considered quite a feast.

From the original owner's memories, this family usually only ate meat once or twice a month at most; wanting to eat more was impossible.

However, now that their village was being developed into an industrial zone, life would soon improve. The Hong Kong investors being brought in would significantly raise the workers' wage levels.

For the workers currently building the industrial zone, under the "more work, more pay" system, their wages had already reached one or two hundred yuan. Their wages were even higher than many cadres, which had caused resentment among the officials. They had even reported it to higher authorities, sparking intense social debate.

But after the "more work, more pay" system was abolished, worker morale plummeted, and construction progress was severely delayed. In the end, the higher-ups made a final decision to continue implementing the performance-based wage system, which allowed construction progress to accelerate rapidly and eventually finish ahead of schedule.

(End of Chapter)