Reborn in the end of the world, I scavenged in the empty city and bought for free

Li Chao had made scrambled eggs with tomatoes at home before, but they looked like two completely different dishes. The scrambled eggs with tomatoes in front of him not only had plenty of tomato juice, but each egg was evenly coated with the juice, and it also smelled of the sweet and sour aroma of tomatoes.

The same is true for another dish, stir-fried water spinach. Not only the leaves but also the stems look green, and with some garlic flavor, this dish deserves full marks in terms of color and aroma.

However, the water spinach stems in the other dish turned black right after they were fried, and the leaves and stems looked very old. Not only did they look unappetizing, they didn't even smell like vegetables. It looked unappetizing at first glance.

After seeing this, Li Chao couldn't help but ask, "Why are the colors of these two plates of water spinach so different?"

It’s no wonder that Li Chao thought so. Anyone who saw these two plates of water spinach would think so. After all, one plate looked delicious, while the other looked more like something to feed pigs. Not to mention the aroma of the vegetable, if it weren’t for the vaguely visible water spinach stems, who would have guessed that it was a vegetable?

Zhang Rong felt relieved, and the expression on her face became much more relaxed, with even a hint of joy between her brows.

Just now when she was cutting vegetables in the kitchen, she was surprised to find that the quality of the tomatoes was really good. Not only were they juicy, but they were also sweet and sour. The eggs from the apocalyptic farm had a strong fishy smell. In the past, tomatoes only had a sour taste and had no vegetable aroma at all. No matter how they were cooked, there was very little juice. When cut, they looked more like cut melons. After stewing for twenty minutes, the tomatoes still retained that crisp texture, so even the children at home were not very willing to eat this dish.

But just now she took a small bite in the kitchen, and the sour and sweet tomatoes immediately whetted her taste buds. The tomatoes were also juicy and dense. This soup would be absolutely delicious when used to mix with rice.

Then I stir-fried the water spinach. There was no need to add a lot of water to simmer the water spinach as usual to make it cooked through. Instead, it only needed to be stir-fried for three minutes. The aroma of the garlic from the wok was completely integrated into the water spinach, making the dish even more delicious.

But the water spinach that Old Lady Zhou brought back was not the same. No matter how much oil was added to stir-fry them, they still turned black right after being put into the pan. Moreover, the stems were very tough. Some water had to be added to simmer for a while before they could be eaten. If the water spinach was stir-fried directly without adding water, the stems would be like eating ropes.

Zhang Rong felt that the 100 points were well spent. Even if they couldn't eat such good vegetables every day, at least they could improve their meals a little twice a week. Moreover, although the price per kilogram was much higher than that of the supply and marketing cooperative, the quality here was also much higher than that over there. At least it restored their original desire for food.

Li Chao couldn't stop eating, while Old Mrs. Zhou frowned and looked doubtful. She hadn't even picked up her chopsticks yet, so she thought her son was pretending to be like that just to please his daughter-in-law.

"Mom, please try it. It's really delicious." Zhang Rong picked up a big piece of tomato and put it into Grandma Zhou's bowl.

Old Mrs. Zhou could only wait and nod, but she still didn't forget her precious grandson at this time, "Where's the eldest child's?"

"I've already served some in advance. I'll heat it up for him to eat after his fever subsides and he wakes up."

Mrs. Zhou, who had been frowning and had spent dozens of extra points on her wife, relaxed a little when she smelled the fragrance. She looked at the egg covered with soup in the bowl and swallowed her saliva involuntarily.

Li Chao also noticed that there were chopped green onions on the eggs, so he was surprised and asked, "I can actually buy chopped green onions?"

In fact, it is not surprising that Li Chao was surprised, because chopped green onions and coriander are indeed difficult to buy. The supply and marketing cooperative only supplies about ten kilograms every day, and there is a purchase limit. Each person can buy about fifty grams at most, but there are still many people scrambling for them. The last time he bought chopped green onions, he rode his bicycle and took Zhang Rong to the supply and marketing cooperative before seven o'clock to start queuing up to buy them. The price was not cheap either, fifty grams cost twenty points, but sometimes when cooking some dishes, scallions can add some flavor, so he had to buy it with pain.

"That store has quite a variety of vegetables. I think chives and cilantro are both 30 points for 50 grams. Each person can only buy 100 grams at most."

Zhang Rong tried hard to recall the prices in the store. Generally speaking, the prices of almost all vegetables were about 20 to 30 percent higher than those in the supply and marketing cooperatives, but the quality control of the vegetables was more than twice as high.

At this time, the expression on Mrs. Zhou's face, who had already tasted scrambled eggs with tomatoes, changed from surprise to emotion. She picked up the water spinach next to it with her chopsticks. The green tea leaves were more tempting than the meat. After eating the water spinach, Mrs. Zhou was stunned, and then she took two bites of the hard and moldy white rice.

"Where is the vegetable store you mentioned?"

Originally, Zhang Rong and her husband were chatting about some daily things, but she didn't expect her mother-in-law to suddenly ask her this question. She suddenly felt uneasy. The dish had already been eaten and it tasted good. Could it be that she wanted to go back and complain to them?

Seeing Zhang Rong's face turn green and red, Old Lady Zhou knew what her soft-tempered daughter-in-law was thinking, so she said angrily and amusedly, "Starting tomorrow, let's buy vegetables there twice a week. Pick out some affordable vegetables. Tomatoes are okay, but cucumbers are too expensive. There's not much left after frying them. I'll go see if I can find anything more affordable tomorrow."

Zhang Rong didn't expect that just a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes would conquer her mother-in-law. She was happy but embarrassed at the same time. "Mom, the food there is really expensive. This way, the food expenses will cost 300 to 400 points more every month." Originally, it would only cost more than 300 points a month, but if she bought them at the vegetable store, the food expenses would have to be at least 600 to 700 a month. Who could afford that? It's half of her husband's salary.

Zhang Rong's husband heard this and said, "By the way, I just came back in a hurry and didn't tell you that I have been promoted to deputy director. Starting from next month, my salary will increase to 1,500 points, and there will be an extra subsidy every month, an extra bag of 30 kilograms of rice and a bag of 20 kilograms of flour."

After seeing the delighted expressions on his wife and mother's faces, he continued, "Also, another department under our company is looking for an order recorder who is familiar with computers. I have mentioned Rongrong to my boss and I have secured a trial job opportunity for her. Rongrong can try to work for a few days. If she can do it, she can basically stay. However, the salary for that job is not high, but the workday ends very early, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with a 40-minute lunch break and weekends off. The salary is 450 yuan."

This is definitely good news for their family. In this way, the combined salary of the couple is nearly two thousand. Even in the inner circle, they are considered a middle-class family. Even the wrinkles between Old Mrs. Zhou's eyebrows have decreased a little.

"I'll report in tomorrow." Zhang Rong happily agreed, but she thought in her heart that in this way she could use her salary directly as food expenses and buy some delicious food occasionally, and maybe Da Wa's business would be able to keep up.

The family here was eating happily. Maybe because they were in a good mood, they ate faster. But at this moment, there was a knock on the door.

Although Zhang Rong was wondering who was knocking on the door at this time, she still stood up and asked outside, "Who is it?"

"Zhang Rong, it's me. I want to borrow a pair of scissors from you."

When Zhang Rong heard the voice, she naturally knew who it was. So after opening the door, she saw her neighbor Liu Wanrou standing outside the door with a smile on her face.

Liu Wanrou lives across the street. Their neighborhood is considered a relatively good neighborhood. It has a design of one elevator for four households. Although the area of ​​a house is only 40 square meters, it is planned as a two-bedroom and one-living room layout. However, the rent is also quite expensive. If you are not a government employee, the monthly rent is at least 800 points. However, there are also many people like Li Chao who enjoy the housing subsidy of the base government, and the monthly rent is half. Liu Wanrou's husband is also a small leader of a functional unit of the government. Because they are of similar age and Liu Wanrou doesn't have many friends, she likes to chat with Zhang Rong when she has nothing to do.

As soon as the door opened, Liu Wanrou smelled the aroma of food coming from the room. In fact, she had just prepared lunch and came out. She had just fried a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and there were pork ribs stewing on the stove. Because her husband had a stable income and both of them were DINKs, they had decided not to have children in such an environment as the end of the world. Therefore, they were willing to spend money on food. The monthly grocery money alone was almost one thousand points.

Originally, her husband was on annual leave and resting at home these two days, so she bought a lot of vegetables and put them in the refrigerator, just to reward her husband for his hard work.

But why is there such a delicious smell in Zhang Rong's house? Did she go out to eat and bring back some takeaway food?

It's not Liu Wanrou's fault for thinking this way. After all, she has some understanding of Zhang Rong's family situation. Her family conditions are not as good as her own, and the expenses of a family of four are also high. When she goes out to buy things at nine o'clock, Zhang Rong has already returned from the supply and marketing cooperative. Most of the things she buys are slightly cheaper vegetables or some ordinary fruits, unlike herself who always goes to the commercial center to pick out good things.

But today, the aroma of the food she smelled at Zhang Rong's house immediately made the gluttony in her stomach start to growl, and she even made a sound in front of Zhang Rong.

Zhang Rong also heard the sound. Although she thought it was quite funny, she did not show it on her face. "Then wait for me. I will get you a pair of scissors."

Seeing Zhang Rong walking back, Liu Wanrou's gaze immediately fell to the hall, and she saw Li Chao and Old Lady Zhou sitting at the table eating, and the aroma of the food kept rushing into her nostrils.

She was so greedy that when Zhang Rong came back from her room with the scissors, she pulled her aside and asked, "Zhang Rong, what did you cook today? Why does it smell so good?"

Zhang Rong saw that Liu Wanrou's eyes were full of curiosity and urgency, so she smiled and said, "It's nothing, just scrambled eggs with tomatoes and stir-fried vegetables."

"Zhang Rong, that's not nice of you. I mean to ask you which restaurant you bought this dish from. It smells so good, it's almost killing me."

Liu Wanrou made a sniffing motion as she spoke, as if she couldn't wait to smell it for a while longer.

If it was any other time, Zhang Rong would have invited her to stay for dinner, but now she couldn't bear to let her go, so she could only smile and say, "What restaurant? I cooked all the dishes, just some simple dishes, fried eggs with tomatoes, and stir-fried water spinach."

"You cooked it? Is that true? Don't lie to me. Is it because the food in this restaurant is so good that you hide it from others?" Liu Wanrou still looked unconvinced.

Zhang Rong was really at a loss whether to laugh or cry at this moment. She had never thought that one day her cooking skills would be comparable to those of restaurant chefs. But she knew very well in her heart that it was not that her cooking skills had improved, but that the vegetables today were good and the dishes she cooked were particularly fragrant, without even adding any seasoning.

"I'm not lying to you. I just fried it. But if you think it smells good, it might be..." Zhang Rong paused deliberately, mainly because she was hesitant about whether Liu Wanrou would believe her.

Liu Wanrou was impatient and urged: "What could it be? Oh my God, please tell me. It makes me so anxious."

Zhang Rong briefly explained the situation at the vegetable store, and Liu Wanrou was indeed skeptical.

"Really?"

"Why would I lie to you? You can go down and see for yourself. And I think the prices for vegetables at the commercial center are quite expensive, and the distance is far. It would be better to buy them downstairs."

"Well, okay. I'll go take a look this afternoon." Liu Wanrou nodded, with a look of suspicion on her face. Zhang Rong didn't say anything more. Anyway, for her, discovering such a treasure vegetable store was an unexpected surprise.

When Liu Wanrou returned home, her husband He Feng was already waiting at the dining table. Seeing that she still looked worried after taking the scissors, he asked, "What are you thinking about? Come over and eat."

Liu Wanrou saw the dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes that she had just cooked. Not only was there no juice, but the tomatoes were still tomatoes and the eggs were still eggs. The flavors of the two ingredients were completely separated.

He Feng put an egg and a piece of pork ribs into her bowl. The ribs looked like they had a lot of meat, but in fact, they tasted very strong of pork. Even though they had been marinated with ginger and cooking wine, to be honest, the taste was not that good.

At this moment, thinking of the tempting fragrance she smelled in Zhang Rong's house, and thinking of Zhang Rong's words, Liu Wanrou immediately stood up and walked out.

He Feng looked at his wife's back and shouted, "Wanrou, where are you going at this hour?"

"I'm going downstairs to buy something. You eat first." Liu Wanrou hurried out while finding her points card in the drawer, looking very hurried.

It was 1:15 in the afternoon, time for lunch break. Gu Tongwan felt a little sleepy, so he made himself a cup of tea and planned to watch a TV series to refresh himself. But suddenly he caught a glimpse of a bright red figure rushing into the store accompanied by a fragrant breeze.