While waiting in line at the state-run restaurant, Li Lezhi noticed the blackboard menu prominently displaying dishes such as braised pork and tomato scrambled eggs. She immediately queued up and ordered a serving of braised pork along with two large white steamed buns.
“The braised pork is one yuan and fifty cents, plus a half-jin meat coupon and grain coupons,” the employee informed her coldly.
Fortunately, she still had several ration coupons on hand. She handed over the required money and coupons, then found a seat and quietly waited.
When the employee called her over to collect her food, she happened to see Shen Yueyue gracefully entering the restaurant.
Li Lezhi paid little attention to her. After all, she and the Female Lead were still strangers at this point.
Taking her meal, she sat down and began eating.
Looking at the generous portion before her, she could not help but sigh in admiration. Things in this era were genuinely substantial and delicious. The plate of braised pork and the two enormous steamed buns left her completely satisfied.
Just as she was halfway through her meal, two girls around seventeen or eighteen years old appeared at the restaurant entrance.
The prettier of the two immediately shouted, “Shen Yueyue! So you actually stole money from home and came here to eat!”
Her angry voice echoed through the restaurant as she loudly called out the Female Lead’s name.
Everyone inside turned their attention toward Shen Yueyue.
However, the white lotus image described in the novel was certainly not exaggerated.
Shen Yueyue immediately revealed a delicate and helpless expression. Biting her lip lightly, she spoke in a weak voice.
“I… I only used the money I’ve saved over the past eight years. I just wanted to know what meat tastes like.”
Then she seemed to remember something.
With tears threatening to fall yet stubbornly refusing to cry, she suddenly raised her voice.
“It was you and your mother who came to my house and took all my belongings! You only give me one coarse bun to eat every day!”
As soon as she finished speaking, tears streamed down her face.
Only then did Li Lezhi realize that the girl at the entrance was the Female Lead’s stepsister, Shen Ruoruo, one of the novel’s cannon fodder supporting female characters.
In the early stages of the story, Shen Ruoruo was actually quite formidable. The novel described her as matching the Female Lead move for move for a considerable time.
Unfortunately, she was far too obsessed with romance and ultimately fell victim to the Female Lead’s schemes.
Shen Ruoruo could never stand the hypocritical face of her so-called elder sister.
Immediately losing her temper, she shouted, “I knew it! So this is how you act innocent and obedient to fool Father!”
Then she turned to the girl beside her.
“Xiaomei, help me teach her a lesson!”
With that, she charged forward, intending to slap Shen Yueyue.
But Shen Yueyue had returned from rebirth and was naturally no longer someone who could be bullied at will. She accurately caught Shen Ruoruo’s wrist before the slap could land.
Two lines of tears rolled down her cheeks, making her look like a pitiful girl who was constantly bullied by her younger sister at home.
At that moment, one bystander could no longer remain silent.
A young man stepped forward and spoke up for Shen Yueyue.
“Comrade, how can you be so unreasonable? You’re bullying your own sister in public.”
The moment Shen Ruoruo heard this, her face flushed red.
“What do you know? She’s the best at pretending to be pitiful and obedient. She tricks everyone. She acts exactly like this in front of Father too. She’s full of schemes!”
However, most of the crowd was already standing on Shen Yueyue’s side.
After all, she genuinely looked helpless and vulnerable at the moment.
“If you dare hit her again, I’ll report you to the Women’s Federation,” the young man added.
Shen Ruoruo nearly exploded with rage.
Violently shaking free of Shen Yueyue’s grip, she pointed at her and snapped, “Fine! Fine! I’ll let you off today, but just wait until we get home!”
With that, she grabbed her companion and stormed out of the restaurant.
Shen Yueyue wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes and politely thanked everyone who had spoken on her behalf.
At the same time, she subtly painted her stepsister in an even worse light, earning herself another group of people eager to stand up for her.
Watching the entire performance, Li Lezhi could not help admiring her.
As expected of the Female Lead.
The tears came exactly when needed, and her acting was absolutely flawless.
If she were living in the modern world, she would undoubtedly win the award for Best Actress.
After finishing her meal, Li Lezhi left the state-run restaurant feeling completely satisfied.
Sure enough, wherever the Female Lead appeared, there was bound to be drama.
The novels of Blue Star truly did not deceive people.
After watching the clash between the Female Lead and the supporting female character, she could not help admiring the Female Lead’s remarkable charm.
She headed toward the state-run department store and arrived about half an hour later.
The entrance was packed with people, creating an extremely lively scene.
In this era, crowds were inevitable. There were only a handful of stores in the entire city, unlike the countless shopping options available in the future.
With no choice but to squeeze along with the crowd, it took her nearly an hour just to enter the building.
Inside, most of the fabrics were still primarily blue, green, or gray.
Li Lezhi gave the employee a list of what she wanted to buy: five chi of fabric, five jin of brown sugar, five jin of white milk candies, Golden Rooster biscuits, and five cans of malted milk.
The employee, a young woman, looked annoyed after hearing the size of her purchase. Nevertheless, she said nothing and simply moved the items onto the counter.
“Eighteen yuan total, plus five coupons and three sugar coupons.”
After paying, Li Lezhi went to a clothing section and selected several pairs of shoes and a few sets of ready-made clothes.
Since she was not lacking in ration coupons, she had no intention of treating herself poorly.
Once her shopping was finished, she found an empty corner and stored everything inside her space.
Seeing that it was still early, she decided to look for the black market.
However, after searching through several alleys, she still could not find the legendary location.
Just then, an older woman carrying a basket passed by.
Li Lezhi suddenly had an idea.
In her experience, older women often possessed the best information and seemed to know everything.
Taking out five cents, she approached the woman.
“Auntie, what are you out shopping for today?”
At the same time, she subtly displayed the money.
The woman had initially looked reluctant when stopped, but the moment she saw the money, her expression brightened. Following Li Lezhi into a nearby alley, she glanced around cautiously.
“Miss, what is it you want?”
Pretending to be embarrassed, Li Lezhi said, “Auntie, do you know where the black market is? My brother is getting married, and there are still many things we haven’t been able to buy. I wanted to take a look there.”
After accepting the money, the woman gave her a knowing smile.
These days, families often spend years preparing supplies for a wedding.
After giving Li Lezhi directions to the black market, the two parted ways.
Following the instructions, Li Lezhi soon arrived near the meat processing factory.
To her surprise, the black market was hidden in an alley behind it.
Since it was her first visit, she approached cautiously.
Several large men were guarding the entrance.
Pretending to be calm, she walked forward, only to have a dark-skinned man stretch out an arm to block her path.
“Little girl, this isn’t a place you should be.”
Li Lezhi quickly smiled apologetically.
“Comrade, I’m only here to buy a few things. My brother’s wedding is coming up, and we urgently need supplies.”
The man looked her over before collecting twenty cents and finally allowing her inside.
The market was dimly lit, but there were quite a few stalls.
Everyone kept their heads down while browsing goods, all the while remaining alert to their surroundings.
She had just spotted a stall selling eggs and was about to buy some when a whistle suddenly sounded from outside.
Before Li Lezhi could understand what was happening, everyone sprang into action.
Many people abandoned their goods without even taking them and immediately scattered into the maze of interconnected alleyways.