After selling Amur cork bark for 64 gold, two hosts enter the mart and spend 58 gold buying rice, meat, eggs and milk for their thin children, Ryan and Lola. At home they cook. The children, who have never smelled meat before, eat gratefully while parents urge them to drink the milk. Outside, nearby villagers smell the meat and recognize the diners as Julian's family, recalling the family's prior hunger and their own meager gathering of wild vegetables. Resentment builds and the villagers decide to go over, leaving the meal and the family's position unresolved.