Hearing Liang Bo’s exaggerated promises, Bai Ruolian’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Brother Liang, I knew it you’re still the best to me! Then let’s go eat first! After eating, we still have to go buy wedding candy!”
“Uh…”
At the mention of wedding candy, Liang Bo stopped walking again.
“Lian’er, I don’t have any sugar ration tickets left here. Why don’t we wait a bit? Besides, we’re still busy moving today. Where would we even have time to give out wedding candy?”
Bai Ruolian blinked in confusion.
No money… not even ration tickets anymore? They both came from the same compound why was the gap between Liang Bo and Song Yunlan so huge?
Could it be that all the ration tickets his parents sent were taken by Song Yunlan?
“Brother Liang, tell me… did Song Yunlan take all your ration tickets? Otherwise, why would you be so short on them?”
At the mention of Song Yunlan, Liang Bo’s eyes flickered.
“No… no, it’s just that we spent too much before. It’s fine, the tenth is coming soon. Just bear with it for two more days.”
Bai Ruolian frowned and touched the pocket at her side, looking conflicted.
Liang Bo noticed her movement.
“Lian’er, do you still have tickets on you?”
Hearing this, Bai Ruolian quickly shook her head.
“No, no! Brother Liang, you misunderstood. How could I have something so valuable? Come on, let’s go eat!”
Liang Bo looked at her suspiciously.
“Really not? I remember I gave you quite a lot of money and tickets before. Every time we went out, I paid what did you even use yours for?”
Seeing him press the issue, Bai Ruolian secretly pinched her thigh, and her eyes instantly turned red.
“Brother Liang… you know my family situation is difficult. I thought the things you gave me weren’t useful to me anyway, so I sent them all back home!
Did I do something wrong? Please don’t be angry I just couldn’t bear seeing my younger siblings go hungry!”
Seeing her tearful eyes, Liang Bo felt a tight knot in his chest.
He wanted to lose his temper, but couldn’t. It was frustrating.
Sigh.
“Stop crying. Since you already sent them, what’s there to be angry about? They’re still your family after all.
But in the future, once we’re married, we should prioritize ourselves first.”
Liang Bo was an only child and had always been selfish, so he couldn’t really empathize with Bai Ruolian.
Hearing his words, Bai Ruolian obediently nodded.
“Brother Liang, don’t worry. I won’t do that again. If I send anything out in the future, I’ll tell you first. After all, we’ll be family from now on.”
Liang Bo seemed satisfied with her attitude.
“Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s hurry. If we delay any longer, the state-run restaurant might not have anything left.”
Food supplies were tight at the time, and meat dishes in state-run restaurants didn’t require meat coupons only higher prices so they were still very popular.
As soon as they entered the restaurant, they heard the server shouting:
“No more braised pork! Only two servings of stir-fried wood ear with pork left! Order quickly!”
Hearing that the braised pork was gone, both of them felt a bit unhappy. But feeling their empty stomachs, they didn’t hesitate any longer.
“Comrade server, we’ll take one stir-fried wood ear with pork, one braised tofu, and three steamed buns!”
“Alright! Pay here and wait for your food. Stir-fried pork is 1.4 yuan, braised tofu 0.8 yuan, three steamed buns 0.15 yuan plus one jin of grain ticket!”
The server quickly calculated the total.
Liang Bo took out his last ten-yuan bill and his remaining grain ticket, painfully handing them over.
The server glanced at his grimacing face and rolled her eyes in disdain.
“Here’s your change 7.8 yuan. Take it and find a seat. We’ll call you when the food is ready.”
Taking the change, Liang Bo stuffed it all into his pocket.
Bai Ruolian watched from the side, slightly envious.
Normally at times like this, she could still manage to get some small change from Liang Bo.
But today, it was clear that wouldn’t happen anymore.
“Brother Liang, there’s a seat over there. Let’s go.”
“Mm, alright.”
They quickly walked over to the window seat. Bai Ruolian took out a piece of tissue paper and pretended to wipe the table.
“This restaurant is good in every way except the hygiene it’s so greasy everywhere.”
Liang Bo nodded.
“Just wipe it off. Go get two cups of water I’m dying of thirst in this heat.”
Hearing this, Bai Ruolian paused for a moment, then quickly got up to fetch water.
About ten minutes later, their dishes were ready. While Liang Bo only went to the counter once to pick up the order, Bai Ruolian was the one running back and forth the entire time.
By the time she brought back the stir-fried pork, the braised tofu was also ready.
Because of that, most of the meat in the stir-fried dish had already been eaten by Liang Bo.
Bai Ruolian’s face darkened.
“Brother Liang, you’re eating too fast I haven’t even started yet!”
Without even looking up, Liang Bo picked up another piece of meat.
“You’re slow because you’re not that hungry. I’m starving.”
With that, he grabbed another steamed bun.
They only ordered three buns total, and this was already his second.
Seeing this, Bai Ruolian hurriedly grabbed the last bun, afraid she’d miss out completely.
Compared to their miserable situation, Song Yunlan’s side was far happier.
A fragrant pot of chicken stew with mushrooms had just come out of the pot.
Shen Zhiyan carefully picked out two chicken legs and two chicken wings and placed them in front of Song Yunlan.
There was also a small bowl of mushrooms soaked in rich chicken broth.
“Wife, eat the chicken legs and these chicken wings are delicious too.”
With fragrant white rice and the delicious chicken stew, Song Yunlan was thoroughly satisfied.
Being cared for so attentively by Shen Zhiyan, her smile was no longer polite or forced it was genuine happiness from the heart.
In the Shen family courtyard, Zhu Cuiping stood in the kitchen angrily, banging the ladle around.
“The third son still isn’t coming home for dinner today. We haven’t seen any meat in half a month. I clearly saw Sun Liu bring a wild chicken into our village before.
Second daughter-in-law, where do you think he took that chicken? He only knows our third son here!”
Li Chunhua, who was tending the fire, blinked but said nothing.
There was no need to say it it was obvious. The third son must have taken the wild chicken to the Song educated youth’s place.