The first lunar month in Beijing was dry and bitterly cold. Outside, everything was still frozen solid. As the Lantern Festival approached, however, the festive New Year's atmosphere had yet to fade.
Just before the Lantern Festival, food shops had already set up tables and equipment out front to start rolling fresh sweet rice dumplings, each about the size of a ping-pong ball.
Bai Chenggang wasn't sure how many of these rolled sweet rice dumplings an average family could buy with their grain and non-staple food ration books, but using his own grain coupons to purchase them as a gift was out of the question.
Though some of the grain coupons he had were a gift from his aunt and her husband, honestly, his relationship with Bai Mi wasn't close enough to warrant an expensive present.
