She bought a lot of cured pork to prepare for the New Year.
Tips
culture
腊 refers to the 12th lunar month (腊月), traditionally the time for curing meats (腊肉, 腊肠) for winter and New Year. The word originally named an ancient midwinter animal sacrifice.
usage
Modern Chinese uses only the là reading, including in the country name 希腊 (Greece). An older classical reading xī meant 'dried meat' but is not used in modern words.
Left meat radical, visually identical to 月 (moon) but historically the flesh form of 肉. It anchors 腊 in the cured-meat sense and groups it with 肝, 肠, 脂.
昔 supplies the sound, drifted from xī to là. Its 'past times' imagery dovetails with the meaning: 腊月 is the year-end month when meat is set aside and preserved for the cold months ahead.
