Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

The small market sells a wider variety of goods than the 65th Regiment Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and the most surprising thing is that they even sell pork!

Although the line was very long and it looked like there wasn't much meat left, it was still a rare treat. She hadn't eaten pork since coming to the countryside and was craving it!

She had quite a bit of pork she bought from the black market in her inventory, including braised pork hock and braised pork belly with a tenfold return, but she had never dared to take them out. Now that's great! She can now eat pork regularly and without any qualms!

Besides pork, there were also snacks that didn't require ration coupons, such as hard candy, rice sticks, and sesame cakes. Items that did require ration coupons included everyday consumables like soy sauce, vinegar, salt, sugar, matches, and cigarettes.

Daily necessities such as needles and thread, clam oil, and sanitary pads (menstrual pads) are also available for sale.

Su Wanqing actually had quite a lot stored in her space, but this was a good opportunity to buy some more so that she could use them later without resorting to any legitimate means.

"Comrade Yanshen," she immediately assigned tasks, "you go and stand in line for pork, I'll go buy some other odds and ends and seasonings."

"Okay." Zhou Yanshen heard his wife call him and immediately obeyed unconditionally, walking towards the long line. His tall figure was quite conspicuous in the crowd.

Su Wanqing headed straight for the snack stall. "Big sister, how much are the glutinous rice strips?"

"Twelve cents a pound, no coupon required," the woman tending the stall answered briskly.

"Okay, give me three jin!" Su Wanqing readily took out her money. She received three jin of glutinous rice strips wrapped in old newspaper.

Then she looked at the condiment section. Salt, soy sauce, and vinegar were things her family often lacked, especially brown sugar, which was considered a good tonic in those days. She immediately said to the sales clerk:

"Comrade, I'd like a pound of salt, a bottle of soy sauce, a bottle of vinegar, and half a pound of brown sugar."

The salesperson efficiently weighed and bottled the brown sugar for her, but unfortunately, there was a limit to the amount of brown sugar that each person could only buy half a pound.

"That's 1.85 yuan in total, plus two liang of salt coupons and one food coupon," the salesperson announced.

Su Wanqing readily paid the money and carefully put the items into the basket on her back. Then, carrying the bag of glutinous rice strips, she bought some other miscellaneous things before squeezing back into the pork queue to find Zhou Yanshen.

She stood on tiptoe, pinched a glutinous rice strip from the paper package, and held it to Zhou Yanshen's lips: "Comrade Yanshen, have a taste, it's sweet."

Zhou Yanshen wasn't particularly fond of sweets, but looking into his wife's bright eyes, he lowered his head slightly and took a bite of the glutinous rice strip from her hand. The crispy and sweet taste melted in his mouth, and he seemed to think that the sweetness... wasn't bad either.

Su Wanqing also picked one up and ate it, her eyes squinting with happiness. The two of them ate glutinous rice strips while queuing, which made the children queuing around them almost cry with envy.

Soon it was their turn.

There wasn't much meat left at the pork stall, mostly lean meat, pork bones, and a little bit of pork belly. As for fatty meat? It was all gone.

"Lean meat is 78 cents a pound, you need a ticket. Pork belly is 90 cents a pound, limited to one pound, and you have to buy it with big bones that cost 25 cents a pound," the butcher shouted.

Su Wanqing then said, "Master, I want five catties of lean meat, five catties of large bones, and one catty of pork belly!"

People around Su Wanqing looked on with envy. What kind of family was this, buying so much meat at once? They usually bought it by the half-pound or by the pound.

"Alright!" The chef swiftly sliced ​​the meat. "That'll be five dollars and ninety-nine cents, plus six catties of meat coupons."

Su Wanqing paid the bill, then said to Zhou Yanshen, "Tonight we'll render the pork belly into lard and make braised pork with potatoes, then use the rendered lard to make pancakes—they'll be delicious! Tomorrow we'll make steamed buns with lean pork!"

Looking at her smiling face, Zhou Yanshen felt a surge of tenderness in his heart. He smiled gently and said softly, "Okay."

After buying the pork, their baskets were full, and the pork and bones could only be hung on the handlebars. The two prepared to head home. Just before leaving, Su Wanqing's gaze swept over a seed stall in the corner, which sold cabbage, radishes, and scallions.

She grabbed Zhou Yanshen's arm: "Comrade Yanshen, look, there are seeds for sale here! Let's buy some and plant them in the yard, then we won't have to worry about not having vegetables to eat in winter!"

"Oh, what a pity, I'm so clumsy... I can't even grow vegetables properly, I probably can't even hold a hoe properly."

Looking at his wife's weak and helpless eyes, Zhou Yanshen calmly replied, "Comrade Wanqing should sit aside and rest. Leave everything to me. You buy the seeds, and I'll do the planting."

"You can even farm? You're amazing!" Su Wanqing immediately showered her with her usual compliments, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

Zhou Yanshen kept a straight face and calmly nodded slightly, "Yes, I know a little."

But in his heart he was thinking that he had to go back and quickly find an experienced old man in the village to ask for advice, so that he could not lose face in front of his young wife.

Su Wanqing smiled and said, "Hmm, I'll get more spiritual spring water for the place where Zhou Yanshen is planting. I'll make sure the vegetables grow big and good, so that his image as a 'farming expert' will be firmly established!"

As the saying goes, to get a man to listen to you, just praise him a lot and that's it.

Soon, the two returned to the 65th Regiment.

"Dr. Su! You're back!"

"Comrade Yanshen, you've gone on a big shopping spree? Wow, you bought so much stuff!"

Upon seeing them, the villagers who were busy in the fields greeted them warmly.

The two responded one by one.

This scene was witnessed by Zhang Yan and several other female educated youths who were weeding. Zhang Yan stared at the hanging pork, then looked at Su Wanqing sitting leisurely on the back of the bicycle, and her eyes turned red with envy.

She muttered sourly, "Look at her arrogant attitude! So what if she got lucky and dug a well? What's she so smug about? Buying so much meat, can she even finish it all? Aren't she afraid of getting sick of it!"

One of my roommates sighed, "Sigh, Dr. Su is really capable; we can't compare. I think we should just do what Captain Tian did and marry a well-off local man in the countryside. At least we can live in a brick house then. Otherwise, when will we ever be able to go back to the city?"

Zhang Yan rolled her eyes dismissively: "No matter how good the conditions are in the countryside, can they be better than in the city? Can they be better than Chen Weidong?" A smug look appeared on her face. "Let me tell you, I'm not going to look for him in the countryside. Chen, the educated youth, told me to go to the county to find him in a while..."

The other three female educated youths indeed showed envious expressions. They had been in the countryside for four or five years and were already tanned dark, unlike Zhang Yan who was fair and tender and could find a good family as soon as she arrived in the countryside.

Back in the small brick house, Su Wanqing immediately got busy.

She hung the lean meat she bought, along with the large bones, on a rope and placed it in the cool well water in the backyard to chill it.

After blanching the pork belly and rendering the oil, I took out a portion of braised pork from a state-run restaurant from my spatial storage, along with potatoes, cabbage, and wild mushrooms, and made a stew.

In no time, the several flavors blended together, creating a fragrant aroma.

Dozens of educated youth were sitting together at the educated youth settlement, eating dry, hard flatbread with pickled vegetables. The aroma made their mouths water.

Zhang Yan's eyes darted around: "Hmph, some people just love to show off! I saw they bought a lot of meat, but they didn't share any with everyone. They just shut themselves off and ate it all by themselves! I think these capitalists should be sent to a cowshed for re-education, and then we can divide the spoils equally. What do you think?"