The Female Lead and Male Lead were indeed exceptionally good-looking. Even by modern standards, they would still be considered strikingly attractive and outstanding in appearance.
Faced with the woman’s question, Li Lezhi did not know how to respond, so she could only smile shyly and offer a few vague replies.
The woman continued talking on her own.
“I heard that everyone at your Sent-down Youth point cooked rabbit meat yesterday, is that true? When Meifeng got home yesterday, her mother scolded her the entire evening. You Sent-down Youth really are impressive. Wild rabbits run so fast that ordinary people can never catch them. I’m neighbors with Meifeng’s family, and even though I’m pregnant, I couldn’t sleep all night because of all the commotion.”
It was not until the old man driving the ox cart arrived that Li Lezhi finally got some peace and quiet.
She truly admired these people. They could talk about a single incident for three days and three nights without getting tired of it.
As always, the journey on the ox cart was difficult to endure, but there was no helping it. Walking the mountain roads to the county town would take her three full hours.
Along the way, Li Lezhi listened to the women gossiping about all sorts of village affairs until they finally arrived at the county town.
The moment the old man stopped the cart, she eagerly jumped down and stretched her stiff, aching limbs. Once she felt somewhat better, she hurried toward the county town.
Her first stop was the post office.
Inside sat a young woman with two braided pigtails, lazily lounging behind the counter. It was no wonder city workers were so proud of themselves these days. In this era, a single job brought in around thirty yuan a month, while rural families often could not save even a few yuan in an entire year. The difference was simply enormous.
“Hello, may I mail parcels and letters?” Li Lezhi asked politely.
The young woman glanced up lazily.
“Fill out the form first.”
She handed over a form.
Li Lezhi placed five ten-yuan Great Unity notes into the three letters she had written. Sending too much money in one envelope carried the risk of loss, so she had no choice but to divide it among several letters.
After mailing everything, she headed straight to the state-owned restaurant.
It was nearly lunchtime, and the restaurant was crowded.
She ordered a plate of celery stir-fried with pork and a bowl of rice, which cost only eighty cents and one grain coupon.
She could not help sighing at how cheap things were in this era. On Blue Star, eighty cents would not even buy a bowl of soup.
After receiving her food, she looked for a seat and discovered that nearly all the tables were full. Most people were sharing tables with strangers.
There was only one empty seat left on a long bench. Two soldiers were already seated there eating.
One of them happened to be the injured soldier she had encountered in the alley before, the man with the injured arm. She had not expected to meet him again. Judging by his appearance, his arm seemed to have recovered almost completely.
Gathering her courage, Li Lezhi carried her tray over.
Truthfully, she felt a little shy. The soldier’s appearance, physique, and voice all perfectly matched her preferences.
Of course, she herself was not unattractive either.
Perhaps it was simply the reserved nature of women, but the feeling was strangely unfamiliar.
As she approached the table, she heard the soldier’s companion speaking while eating.
“I say, Ji Jingchi, when are you going to stop pushing yourself so hard? You’re not the only soldier in the entire army.”
Only then did Li Lezhi finally learn his name.
Ji Jingchi.
It seemed whoever had named him must have hoped he would pursue life’s beautiful scenery and chase his dreams with determination and speed. In a way, the meaning behind his name was quite similar to her own.
“May I sit here?” Li Lezhi asked softly, interrupting their conversation.
Ji Jingchi merely lifted his eyes toward her for a few seconds before calmly lowering his head and continuing to eat.
His companion, however, answered somewhat awkwardly.
“Y-yes, of course.”
He shifted inward on the bench.
“Hey, Ji Jingchi, move over a little so the comrade can sit down comfortably.”
Ji Jingchi set down his chopsticks and quietly moved the dishes and bowls further inward.
Li Lezhi nodded politely before taking her seat.
She picked up her chopsticks, her slender fingers curling slightly as she lowered her head and focused on her meal. Every movement was graceful, each bite carefully chewed and savored.
Although the restaurant buzzed with noise and conversation, their table remained unusually quiet, as though isolated from the rest of the world.
Li Lezhi had to admit that she was feeling somewhat shy. Even her manner of eating became especially refined as she quietly concentrated on her food.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ji Jingchi noticed the young woman sitting beside him, and his entire body unconsciously tensed.
As a soldier, his discipline prevented him from openly staring at a woman. He could only keep his head down and focus on eating, yet an unfamiliar feeling stirred within him.
He had never experienced anything like this before.
This was the first time he had so clearly sensed the difference between being near a woman and being near a man.
It was not as though he had never interacted with women before, but he had never felt this kind of nervousness.
His palms were already damp with sweat around the chopsticks.
Even with some distance between them, he could clearly smell the pleasant fragrance coming from her. The scent invaded his senses with surprising force.
He could not help wondering why she smelled so good.
Nor could he stop himself from imagining whether she smelled the same whenever she was close to other men.
He quickly suppressed those wandering thoughts and sped up his meal.
“I’m done eating. Hurry up.”
Ji Jingchi set down his chopsticks and spoke to his companion in his deep, magnetic voice.
The companion paused briefly before hastily finishing his own food. Soon, both men stood and prepared to leave.
Before leaving, Ji Jingchi could not resist taking one final glance at the quiet young woman eating at the table.
Then he turned and walked toward the restaurant entrance.
Hearing his departing footsteps, Li Lezhi also seemed to casually lift her head to look at him before lowering it once more and continuing her meal.
After eating, she visited the supply and marketing cooperative to purchase daily necessities and ready-made clothing before heading toward the Meat Processing Factory.
She wanted to stockpile more meat. Once Li’s Father and the others arrived, food consumption would increase significantly. At that point, there would be three people eating instead of one.
As soon as she arrived at the meat market, she saw a burly man guarding the stall.
“Sir, how much is the lean meat?” Li Lezhi asked softly.
The man replied with a fierce expression.
“First-grade meat is eighty cents, second-grade is sixty cents, and third-grade is fifty cents.”
To her surprise, lean meat was considered third-grade meat.
Li Lezhi found it rather amusing, but quickly understood the reason. Cooking oil is scarce these days. Fatty pork could be rendered into oil, providing enough cooking oil for an entire family for a week.
She purchased one jin of third-grade meat and one jin of second-grade meat, spending just over one yuan in total.
In this era, meat was a highly sought-after commodity. Ordinary families were limited to purchasing one jin of each type of meat and needed meat coupons as well. Only wage-earning urban households were eligible to buy it. Farmers did not have that privilege.
For rural families, the only chance to eat pork usually came during the New Year pig slaughter, when some meat would be distributed.
After finishing her purchases, she checked the time and saw it was almost time to leave, so she headed back toward the ox cart.
By the time she arrived, most people had already gathered there and were busy exchanging gossip.
When the women saw Li Lezhi returning with a basket full of goods, jealousy immediately appeared on their faces.
One woman mocked her.
“Oh my, look at that. City people really do know how to live comfortably.”
Her tone dripped with envy.
Li Lezhi was not about to let the remark pass.
After loading her belongings onto the cart, she replied calmly,
“My family worries about me. They think I’m still young and don’t know how to take care of myself. They even sent me more things today. These are simply expressions of a mother’s love for her child living far from home. Is there something wrong with that?”
The woman was instantly rendered speechless.