Lin Xiang described Beijing life passionately and how difficult it was, and the aunts went from being envious and jealous at first, to eventually turning around to comfort Lin Xiang.
"Big cities may look good everywhere, but it's not easy to live well. Take food, for example, we at least have our own plots in the countryside, and though in winter there's no vegetables, in spring and summer there's more than enough to eat! Can city folks manage that?"
"Certainly not!" Lin Xiang replied, "There are no private plots in the city, you have to buy everything you want to eat, and it's expensive to buy anything in Beijing. Just like pork, it's only seven or eight cents a pound here, but at least a yuan per pound in Beijing!"
"That expensive, huh? Do you need meat tickets to buy meat in Beijing?"
"How can you not? The control is even stricter!"
