Chapter 7: Eighty cents a jin

Listening to the voices around her, Mei Xue realized one thing. "Grandma, how much money can we get for all of this?"

Grandma He smiled. Seeing how nervous Xiao Xue was, she assumed the girl was intimidated by the amount of money. "No less than thirty yuan."

Mei Xue felt like she was going crazy. There was at least thirty-something jin here; if they sold it all for only thirty yuan, heavens, couldn't she just not sell it?

"Haha, this precious thing is quite valuable. Right now, it can sell for at least eighty cents a jin," Grandma He said, looking proud.

Eighty cents?

Mei Xue was truly losing it. "Grandma, can we not sell it?" At this price, it would be better to just take it home and eat it herself.

"What's wrong?" Grandma He found a spot, stopped, and asked.

"It's so cheap, it's a loss to sell it." In the end, Mei Xue couldn't bring herself to say that this item could sell for hundreds or thousands in the future.

In the apocalypse, meat wasn't something an ordinary family could afford. Even wealthy families only ate it a few times a month.

She was craving meat, too.

"Cheap?" Grandma He was caught between laughter and tears. "Do you know how much pork costs per jin? Pork is only one yuan and twenty cents a jin. This thing has meat, sure, but it’s full of thorns, so it’s only a few cents cheaper than pork."

Hearing this, Mei Xue didn't dare ask any more questions and could only listen to her grandmother—sell it was.

Fortunately, there were quite a few people who liked this stuff, and it was all sold out in about an hour.

Holding thirty yuan in her hand, Grandma He looked very happy. "Come on, Grandma will buy you some meat to eat."

Hearing the word "meat," Mei Xue’s mood improved a little. "Mm, and let's buy oil." She still had crabs in her space that she hadn't fried yet.

"Haha, we'll buy some."

At this time, everyone ate lard; few people ate vegetable oil—that stuff was expensive.

Besides, if you bought some fatty meat, you could render quite a bit of oil, and the cracklings could be eaten with rice. How cost-effective.

And so, the unsuspecting Mei Xue was led down another deep rabbit hole, one that would make her fall in love with the taste of lard.

Transactions were private at this time. When Mei Xue followed her grandmother to the pork stall, the meat there was still dripping with blood; it was clear it had been slaughtered not long ago.

"Old lady, want some meat?" The pork boss was quite hospitable, asking Grandma He with a rough, smiling face.

With money in hand, one doesn't panic. Holding several tens of yuan, the old lady felt very confident.

"Give me two jin of fatty meat, and half a jin of lean meat." Usually, fewer people bought lean meat and more bought fat, because fat could be rendered into oil.

Lean meat had no oil and was very tough; unless they were looking for a bargain, families usually wouldn't buy it.

Smelling the aroma of the pork, Mei Xue swallowed her saliva. That soft, glutinous braised pork (which she had only seen in pictures), and sweet and sour pork ribs (also in pictures), and so on.

Mei Xue wanted to rob the boss, but her reason stopped her.

However, the way she swallowed her saliva was seen by everyone, and Grandma He felt a pang of heartache.

Since she was her own granddaughter, how could she let her crave meat like this? The heartache started right there.

"Xiao Xue, be good. Grandma will stew meat for you tonight." Grandma He held Mei Xue's hand tightly, afraid she might lose control and try to eat the raw meat.

Mei Xue came back to her senses and felt a bit embarrassed. "Hehe, Grandma is so kind."

Seeing that the grandmother and granddaughter were very kind-faced, the boss laughed and said, "Old lady, you really dote on the child. If you want to stew this meat, this piece is better, and the price is cheaper than the fatty meat."

The boss took a piece of pork belly weighing a little over a jin from behind the cutting board; he had originally saved it for his own son to eat.

Seeing how loving they were, the boss couldn't help but take it out.

As soon as she saw the pork belly, Mei Xue's eyes lit up, and she looked at Grandma He with longing.

How could the old lady withstand Mei Xue's pleading gaze? She immediately nodded, suppressing the pain in her wallet: "Fine, boss, then take this piece, and we won't take the lean meat."

The boss was stunned. Why didn't they want the lean meat anymore? He... forget it, forget it, kindness doesn't pay.

Mei Xue certainly saw the boss's awkwardness, but they didn't have much money, so she would just have to come back and buy more meat next time she had money.

"Old lady, here you go. It's four jin and one tael in total, I'll count it as four jin." The boss tied the meat with a straw rope and handed it to the old lady.

Mei Xue hurriedly took it.

Seeing her act so childish, the old lady was caught between laughter and tears: "Here." After paying, it wasn't early anymore, and the work in the fields wasn't finished yet, so they had to go back.

"Xiao Xue, let's go home." The old lady pulled Mei Xue and walked back the way they came.

"I'll listen to Grandma." Mei Xue didn't have many demands; as long as there was meat to eat today, that was enough.

Grandma He was so happy, and the grandmother and granddaughter walked home with their full harvest.

It was almost noon when they arrived home. They had walked a long way, and having only eaten a little at home in the morning before leaving, their stomachs were long since empty.

As soon as she entered the house, Mei Xue carried the meat to the kitchen. "Grandma, go rest for a while, I'll go cook."

The old lady was indeed tired and didn't stand on ceremony with her granddaughter-in-law. "Alright, then I'll go sit for a bit. I'm old, and I'm not as useful as I used to be."

Sitting under the eaves to rest for a while, when she finally caught her breath, the smell of food began to drift from the kitchen. The old lady felt a tinge of reluctance in her heart, but then she saw Xiao Xue's thin, frail figure.

"Forget it, being able to eat is a blessing."

She stood up and went to the well to wash her face, feeling much more refreshed.

Relying on the mountain, one eats from the mountain. This well was fed by groundwater from the mountain; it was cool, thirst-quenching, and had a hint of sweetness.

There was a hand-cranked well in the front yard and a shallow well the family had dug behind the house. It was usually used for washing clothes and vegetables. The well cover was wide open, and water flowed down from the mountain, flowing out on its own once the well was full.

Mei Xue used the water behind the kitchen to wash the rice and vegetables. Mei Xue was a person with strong initiative, so she quickly got the rice steaming. As for the dishes, she didn't make them too complicated.

Of course, she wouldn't know how to make them complicated anyway. She just cut off some lean meat, minced it, and made a meatball soup.

The vegetables were even simpler; they were all grown by the family, and this was the harvest season for the home garden.

Two simple dishes, one vegetable and one soup, one meat and one vegetarian. "Grandma, time to eat." The sun was getting higher, and because the fire was burning, the kitchen was very hot.

Mei Xue carried the dishes to the small table outside the kitchen. This was usually where the family ate; guests would eat inside the kitchen because there was a large table there.

If the family were hosting a banquet, it would have to be in the courtyard and the main room. But for the grandmother and granddaughter, eating at the small table was just right.

The rice was also opened early. They used a stove to cook here, which Mei Xue knew how to use; it was about the same as cooking in the wild, which she was used to.

"Coming! My Xiao Xue is truly capable." The old lady hung her towel on the wall of the house.

All the houses in He Village were wooden. By driving nails into the wooden walls and stringing ropes, one could hang many things.

They ate this lunch with great relish. Grandma He was happy that her grandson had finally married a wife, and Mei Xue was happy that she could finally live a life where she was full and didn't have to live in fear.