The end of the Lantern Festival marked the end of the Chinese New Year. It was time for the production team to get back to work, but since it had just rained heavily, they wouldn't be going out on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. The team leader called the members for a short meeting that was over in less than half an hour. Everyone then went home to pull out and repair their farm tools, preparing to start work.
Since the adults were still home, the mothers took care of everything from cooking to feeding the pigs, so the kids had it easy. Today also happened to be market day at the commune. Guan Ailan, Mo Linghui, and the others who had bicycles at home decided to ride to the market and invited Xiao Man to come along.
Before Xiao Man could even answer, Grandpa told her to go with them. He gave her some money and asked her to buy some fresh pork from the market. "Be sure to pick a lean cut," he said. "Hao Hao is a city kid; he doesn't like fatty meat."
