Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 312 311 Jingxida (three in one, please vote)
August 1959, 8, Sunday, sunny.

Today is the day for the Tang family to plant cabbage. Zhang Guifang knew what was going on outside and planned to plant all the cabbages in the yard, but Tang Zhitong stopped her.

Although it is a little late to plant onions now, Tang Zhitong still recommends planting some onions.

I dare not say that green onions are the top condiments, but if you want to make dishes fragrant, green onions are often indispensable.

Some people may say that green onions are rarely used and one can be used several times, so just buy some. However, the actual situation is that it will be difficult to buy them next year.

Summer and autumn are the seasons when vegetables are on the market. Although vegetables are harder to buy than last year, at least they are still available.

When cabbage comes on the market this winter, the shortage will suddenly become apparent, and cabbage will become a second-class commodity.

As news of autumn harvests and autumn planting from various places spread to Beijing, the shortage of agricultural products has become a foregone conclusion, and relevant departments will soon classify other vegetables as second-class supplies.

Onions, ginger, and garlic are also some types of vegetables that are subject to regulation, and relevant bills naturally appear.

The most important thing here is vegetable stamps, which are proof for residents to buy vegetables. However, vegetable stamps cannot buy onions. If you want to buy onions, ginger, and garlic, you must have "green stamps." However, onion stamps are even rarer than vegetable stamps. They are street-level stamps. It is used to focus on taking care of the martyrs of the revolutionary army at the grassroots level.

Sometimes there is no food to buy with the ticket, but you can still buy pickles or pickles with the ticket. We will talk about this later.

Let’s talk about growing cabbage.

The best time to plant autumn cabbage is three to five days before and after the autumnal equinox, which lasts only about ten days.

It’s not difficult to grow cabbage. Tang Zhitong had leveled the ground in the yard yesterday. Today he just needs to dig a hole, bury the soil and water it.

"Put three cabbage seeds in each pit, no more, no less. Once the sprouts sprout, we will need to thin them out, and we can still have a meal of cabbage." Since Xiao Wang would not let her mother-in-law work off the field, Zhang Guifang was happy. I moved a maza and sat next to him, watching my daughter-in-law and her two daughters order some seeds.

"Okay, Mom. Fengzhi, you are responsible for putting the seeds into the pit, and they must be placed at the bottom of the pit. Fengzhen is responsible for burying the soil behind, and I am responsible for watering." Xiao Wang made clear arrangements for the two sisters-in-law. In vain, both of them do light work, and carrying a bucket to water the water by yourself is the heaviest among them.

Tang Zhitong listened happily and dug into the ground unhurriedly.

Last year, the higher authorities proposed an agricultural management method: soil, fertilizer, water, planting, density, protection, management, and work.

The intention was good, but there was a problem at the execution level. The original intention was to turn the steering wheel lightly to the left, but in the end, someone hit it to the bottom...

Many places use heavy fertilizers and high-density planting. Tang Zhitong did not go to extremes. He still followed scientific methods. When digging the hole, he paid attention to the depth. It was about 10 centimeters, as well as the row spacing and plant spacing. The best row spacing was 20 centimeters. , the distance between plants should be 15 cm.

After Tang Zhitong joined the organization, he had the authority to see some internal information. There was a letter on April 4 this year. The content was simple and clear, and it could clear away the fog.

Tang Zhitong did not dare to say who was right and who was wrong. The most important thing was to concentrate on living his own life.

Tang Zhitong worked quickly and dug the hole in the yard without much effort. Next, Tang Zhitong planted onions in the reserved onion land.

After doing all this, Xiao Wang, Fengzhen, and Fengzhi have not finished planting cabbage.

Tang Zhitong did not rush or interfere. He washed his hands and went into the house to prepare lunch.

Forget about big fish and meat, Tang Zhitong didn't dare to take it out for the time being. Today he would simply eat some vegetarian food, tomatoes and scrambled eggs.

Rice is the soul partner with tomatoes and scrambled eggs, the best choice.

Before cooking, put the rice in the pressure cooker to simmer. While washing the rice, Tang Zhitong took out a handful of Jingxi rice from the space and secretly mixed it into it.

Jingxi rice does not have a long history, but it is definitely a variety that takes the most care in crop cultivation.

Jingxi rice is actually an early-maturing variety. It was harvested in mid-June of the lunar calendar as early as Kang Mazi, while other varieties have to wait until after the white dew to mature (reference "Jixiagewubian·Yudaomi").

Three generations of Kang Mazi’s ancestors were very concerned about their food rations.

Kang Mazi made a start by opening several acres of paddy fields in Fengzeyuan, observing rice cultivation, and bred an early-maturing rice species that matured in more than 80 days. This was the prototype of Jingxi Rice.

Yong Laosi even went to farm in person and asked the painter to paint as a souvenir. It was not a painting, but a set of 23 farming pictures and 23 weaving pictures.

(Picture attached, can you find the fourth child in the picture?)

The sealing madman came to power and was not as elegant as his father when he went to the fields, but he still cared about the cultivation of Jingxi rice. When he went to Jiangnan, he brought back a new variety "Purple Gold Hoop" from the local area, which has been shaped and passed down to this day.

In addition to new varieties, this poet, who wrote more than 20,000 limericks in his life, also wrote several poems about Jingxi rice:

It is suspected that the mountain village is a water town, and the rice seedlings are low and the rice seedlings are yellow. The sound of cicadas is rising ten miles away from the green poplars, and the aroma of porridge is blowing in the refreshing wind.

Unexpectedly, the scenery of the river in the north of the village looks like spring in March in the south of the Yangtze River.

The rice fields ten miles away ripen early in autumn, and the little Jiangnan in the painting is clearly visible.

Zijinhuan is a very special variety. The rice awns are purple-red and relatively long, which can effectively prevent birds from pecking. Even so, the yield is not high, with an output of only 300 kilograms per mu.

Before Cixi died, she loved eating Jingxi rice.

Time passed by, and in 1954, Jingxida was purchased by a unified company and moved to a special warehouse for safekeeping.

The original intention was to be eaten by friendly foreigners, but later the scope expanded a little bit (data comes from the encyclopedia "Jingxi Rice" entry).

Those who are covered with silkworms are not silkworm farmers. It's a very ironic thing at any time.

There is a certain margin left for the villagers who grow Jingxi rice. Each villager who grows Jingxi rice can receive 5 kilograms of rice rations per year, and the grain seeds for next year are reserved.

The Jingxi rice and rice seeds in Tang Zhitong’s space come from this surplus.

The identity of Jingxi Rice has regained its brilliance. In order to maintain stable quality, it is bound to be unified in planting, new technologies, and varieties.

But in the beginning, no one dared to make a one-size-fits-all decision. New varieties required trial planting and screening, so the old variety of Zijin Hoop still existed in 58.

Varieties such as Yue Fu, Qiuguang, Shangxiang No. 1, etc. were all established after the s.

It cannot be said that these varieties are not good. After all, with good mountains, good water, and good fields, the ones grown will not be too bad. However, Tang Zhitong still wants to save some old varieties, so that when he can contract them in the future, he can cultivate such a piece of land by himself. Feed the whole family.

It doesn't matter how much the output is, just to experience and criticize the three generations of Kang, Yong, and Qian, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, criticize every day!

Because of the pressure cooker, the rice cooks faster, and the aroma soon overflows from the vent.

Although the pressure cooker locked the smell, the aroma still attracted the three sisters-in-law outside.

"Brother, what did you cook? Why does it smell so good?" Fengzhi rushed into the room, sniffed and asked.

"What do you think?" Tang Zhitong did not tell Fengzhi, but looked at Wang Jingwen.

"Is it Jingxi Rice?" Wang Jingwen still remembered the taste and asked tentatively.

"You have to be stupid! Tell yourself, is there anything you haven't eaten before?" Tang Zhitong gave classmate Xiao Wang a thumbs up.

"Disgusting! Where did it come from?" Xiao Wang, who was not angry, also sniffed and asked.

"When I was training there, I went for a walk and saw someone selling it, so I bought some." Tang Zhitong said nonsensically. The planting area was near the Summer Palace, so it was fair to say that.

The couple had just communicated last night, and classmate Xiao Wang gave Tang Zhitong a blank look and said nothing more.

Tang Zhitong chuckled. Even if this matter is over, it is still a good start. After all, as the supply becomes increasingly tight, he will bring back more and more things. It is not easy for Xiao Wang to adapt to it so slowly. bad thing.

Tang Zhitong has read some information about Jingxida, which was dictated by the person involved.

Jingxi rice has a particularly strong fragrance. Once a pot of rice is cooked, the whole street can smell it. It also has the characteristics of clear grains. Folks call it "three stretches of waist".

That is to say, the rice made by Jingxi Rice can be cooled three times and reheated three times, and it will be the same as freshly made rice.

There is also a saying in the publicity decades later, which is called "seven steaming and seven drying, the color will remain as before".

Either way, it shows that Jingxi rice is different from ordinary rice.

Jingxi rice is very precious to ordinary people. Even the farmers who grow it cannot easily eat it.

Every year, it only appears on the family dinner table during the three major festivals of Spring Festival, May Day and August 1st, and everyone can try it.

In order to eat more Jingxi rice, local rice farmers will also make a kind of "two rice rice", which is to mix a little precious Jingxi rice and a lot of millet and steam it together. After eating this meal, you will always want to eat it.

More rice farmers are not even willing to use Jingxi rice to make two-meter rice. Instead, they use it to make porridge. The rice soup that comes out is green and green. The rice is rice soup and soup. It will form in a bowl instantly. A thin transparent skin.

Tang Zhitong quickly realized this.

In an era of food shortage, no one would throw away the rice washing water, and many families even skipped the rice washing step and directly steamed the rice.

Tang Zhitong washed the rice once and made a pot of rice soup without draining the rice water.

After doing all this, Tang Zhitong started making scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes is a very common dish. It is sold in restaurants outside and can be made at home, but the taste is very different.

The reason is that restaurant chefs usually use heavy oil and strong fire, and the firepower of their own stoves is not good, so there will be some differences in the results. With the help of cooking oil, Tang Zhitong's scrambled eggs with tomatoes also tastes delicious.

With the blessing of Jingxida, even if there is only one tomato scrambled egg, the whole family will have a very delicious meal.

Even someone like Tang Zhitong, who doesn’t often eat rice, ate an extra bowl.

As far as taste is concerned, the taste of Jingxida rice is much better than that of Wuchang rice.

Don't talk about the amylose content. It tastes good. You don't need to look at the data. The taste cannot deceive people.

However, Tang Zhitong also understands that domestic cultivated land is limited and the population is large. Whether it is vegetables or grain, filling the stomach is the most important, and everything else is secondary, so most of the products with low yields will be eliminated.

This is one of the reasons why Tang Zhitong plans to contract his own land to grow purple gold hoops.

"I haven't eaten Jingxi rice for several years. It tastes so good." After getting married, classmate Xiao Wang ate too much for the first time. He put down his chopsticks, still feeling a little unsatisfied.

"When was the last time you ate?" Tang Zhitong rubbed his stomach. He felt full and full of happiness.

"A few years ago, my dad was still here." Xiao Wang handed the bowl and chopsticks to Feng Zhen. He learned this from Tang Zhitong, and there was no psychological burden when using his sister-in-law.

"We'll eat it later. I bought about ten kilograms." After hearing what Xiao Wang said, Tang Zhitong stopped asking. The pain of losing his father cannot be relieved by a few words, but delicious food can do it.

"Is it easy to buy? I'll give you money, and you can buy some more?" Classmate Xiao Wang was not sad, but missed his mother's family.

"Why bother? Didn't I buy ten kilograms of eucalyptus? You take half of it back." Zhang Guifang listened to the side and directly opened her mouth to make arrangements.

"Thank you, Mom. The yield of Jingxi rice is not large. Let's save these for eating. If we can buy it, buy some. If we can't, forget it." Xiao Wang is very measured. Her husband's family has already supported her mother's family a lot. If she takes it this time, It's equivalent to asking for something, which is inappropriate.

"You should be able to buy it. I have nothing to do this afternoon. I'll go over and have a look." Tang Zhitong could understand what Xiao Wang was thinking. In order not to embarrass her, he continued, "It must be easy to buy. I have it in my space..."

"That's just right. You two can go for a run together in the afternoon, just in time to bring some of the vegetables you just picked, so as not to spoil them here." Zhang Guifang saw that her son and daughter-in-law had their own ideas, so she stopped trying to persuade her and got up. Prepare vegetables for them to take to Chunshu Alley.

"Where did you hide the rice? Why didn't you give it to our mother? Aren't you afraid of hurting our mother's heart?" After Zhang Guifang left, classmate Xiao Wang asked quietly.

"Hey, aren't I worried about being criticized? It's under our bed, I'll get it right away." After finishing speaking, Tang Zhitong got up and went back to the wing, taking this opportunity to expose Jingxidao.

There must be no Jingxi Rice on the bed. Tang Zhitong now pulled out more than ten kilograms from the space and carried it back to the main room and handed it to Zhang Guifang: "Mom, I will buy these this time. You can make arrangements."

"Okay. You will bring the vegetables later, and then bring the watermelon that Jingwen bought yesterday." Zhang Guifang put the vegetables into a sack and placed them at the door of the house. She said, not wanting to see her son outside at all. .

"Sure, don't worry." Tang Zhitong agreed readily.

The young couple took the things prepared by Zhang Guifang, got on their bicycles and rushed to Chunshu Hutong.

"Brother Eucalyptus, shall I go with you?" At the entrance of Chunshu Alley, classmate Xiao Wang stopped his bicycle and looked at Tang Zhitong and asked.

"No, it's all the way. I'll just make the trip myself. You carry the vegetables upstairs first, and I'll come back after I buy them." Tang Zhitong definitely didn't dare to let Xiao Wang follow him. There are no rice farmers selling Jingxi rice. , you can't take it out from the space in front of her, right?
"Okay then. You can keep the money, and you can refund the excess and make up for the less." Wang Jingwen took out twenty yuan and handed it to Tang Zhitong.

"This rice is not cheap, but it is not that expensive either." Tang Zhitong took the money and returned half of it, then waved to Wang Jingwen and rode his bicycle to the north.

Naturally, Tang Zhitong did not go to the Summer Palace. Instead, he strolled around Shichahai, watched other people fishing, smoked a few cigarettes, and picked up several river fish from the lake.

I can’t explain the source of seafood, right? Anyway, they are sold here.

By the way, Wang Jingwen went upstairs carrying vegetables, and the whole family of three was at home.

"Hello, eldest sister, what delicious food did eldest sister bring?" Wang Jingmin was the first to come around after entering the door.

"You just sent over ten steamed buns yesterday, why did you send something again today? How can you help your mother's family like this? Are you living in poverty?" Ye Zhijuan saw the sack in the eldest daughter's hand, and there was a hint of sternness in her voice. .

"Did he bring the steamed buns here yesterday?" Wang Jingwen put down the sack and ignored her smelly brother. She immediately took Ye Zhijuan's arm. Although she asked this question, she was already so moved that she didn't want to give it up.

"You don't know?" Ye Zhijuan asked in surprise.

"He brought some steamed buns back yesterday. He said they were exchanged for meal tickets from the training place. He didn't say he sent them here." Wang Jingwen took her mother's arm, sat on the sofa, and explained.

"Oh, it's hard for this child. He always thinks of good things here." Ye Zhijuan patted the eldest daughter's hand and sighed.

"Sister, it's all vegetables." Wang Jingmin opened the sack and saw that it was just some vegetables. He muttered and took out a tomato from it. He didn't wash it and just gnawed on it. It was gritty.

"The food can't stop your mouth. These persimmons are so delicious. The ones I brought you are all unbroken, just be satisfied." Wang Jingwen glanced at her brother and retorted dissatisfiedly.

Today's tomatoes are old varieties, which are delicious, but their skins are thick and not water-resistant. Due to the heavy rain two days ago, the skins exploded a lot.

In the past two days, the Tang family has been digesting the exploded tomatoes, mixing persimmons, frying persimmons, and persimmon soup. The only thing left is to make persimmon sauce.

"Hehe." When Wang Jingmin saw that the eldest sister was showing signs of taking action, he immediately became silent and did not dare to provoke her again. He concentrated on chewing the persimmon, and his mouth was full of persimmon juice.

"Is this a good harvest for the vegetables grown at home?" Ye Zhijuan asked speculatively after hearing her son's complaint and knowing that there were vegetables in it.

"Yes, they have all been harvested. Yesterday, he leveled the ground and planted cabbage today. I plan to harvest another crop before the Spring Festival." Wang Jingwen nodded and admitted.

"It's good, I'm living a good life." Ye Zhijuan was very pleased to hear her daughter say this.

"He bought some Jingxi rice from the Summer Palace. I tasted it very delicious. I asked him to make another trip and he will probably be able to go back in a while." Wang Jingwen was also very happy to hear her mother's approval and said with some pride. , these days, if you can get food, you have the ability.

"You'd be bossing me around even though I'm far away." Ye Zhijuan poked Wang Jingwen on the forehead, with a hint of criticism in her intimacy.

"Hehe, it's okay. I just went for a walk. We both ate a lot at noon today." Wang Jingwen shook Ye Zhijuan's arm twice, with a hint of coquettishness in her pride.

The two of them were chatting about their daily life. There was a watermelon under the sack, but Wang Jingwen had no intention of taking it out. She wanted to wait until her man came back to eat it...

This wait is three hours.

Tang Zhitong was holding his watch. He estimated that he would be able to call back to the Summer Palace and take into account the time it would take him to buy fish on the return trip.

After carrying the rice bag and fish into the house, Wang Jingwen handed the rice bag and fish to Wang Jingmin and asked his brother to put them in the kitchen while she took out the watermelon from the sack and cut it to eat.

"Sister! You are so uninterested. You didn't take out the watermelon earlier." Wang Jingmin came out of the kitchen and saw the watermelon, his eyes lit up.

"Huh? I'll give you another chance to reorganize your language." Wang Jingwen raised her eyebrows and glared at her brother.

"Sister! You are so funny. You even brought me watermelon. Brother-in-law, eat a piece of watermelon quickly!" Under the pressure of the eldest sister, Wang Jingmin organized the speech very quickly. He didn't even give the first piece of melon to his mother, but gave it to him directly. To Tang Zhitong.

"Jingmin, if you speak nicely, you'll save yourself a lot of beatings." Tang Zhitong took the watermelon with a smile and passed it to Ye Zhijuan: "Mom, you come first."

"Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance. Being a submissive citizen does not reflect the character of my successor!" Wang Jingmin mumbled while stuffing watermelon into his mouth.

"Stop being so talkative, eat your watermelon so much that it spurts out. Watermelon costs nothing, right?" Wang Jingwen tugged on Wang Jingmin's ear, warned him, and handed Tang Zhitong a bite of watermelon.

Tang Zhitong happily watched the battle between the siblings, but did not dissuade them. Children aged seven or eight were at the time when they were lively, so this was not bad.

Tang Zhitong took the watermelon and handed it to Wang Jingying. After giving a piece to Wang Jingwen, he picked up a piece and ate it.

Ye Zhijuan saw all this and became more and more satisfied with this son-in-law.

While eating watermelon, Tang Zhitong reported to his mother-in-law about his recent work situation and Hao Ren's support for him.

Speaking of Potian, Hao Ren was connected here, so it was necessary for Ye Zhijuan to know many things.

After talking about this, Tang Zhitong looked at his watch. At half past five, he walked into the kitchen to cook.

Whenever he comes to Chunshu Hutong, Tang Zhitong is the one who cooks. Who knows that Tang Zhitong is a half-cook? If he doesn't cook here, Wang Jingmin will probably be beaten up and he will have to beg his brother-in-law to do it.

"Wenwen, take these two bottles of wine back later and give them to Guzi to drink." Ye Zhijuan took out the unfinished wine last time, and took two extra bottles and put them at the door, telling Wang Jingwen.

"Okay." Wang Jingwen didn't tell her mother at all, and agreed happily with a grin.

Tang Zhitong naturally didn't know this. He was concentrating on cooking in the kitchen.

There are a lot of high-quality rice here, and the fragrance of Jingxi rice is not noticeable, so Tang Zhitong did not make two rice rice. He used all Jingxi rice, which is only two kilograms of rice, but the pressure cooker is not big enough to hold it.

Some people don't like cooking, and some only regard cooking as a job. However, Tang Zhitong regards cooking as a pleasure, and indulging in it is very relaxing.

We had a sumptuous meal at the flower market, and we also had four dishes and one soup at Chunshu Hutong. The main dish was two catfish brought back in the afternoon.

Catfish will not be available on the table in a few decades. The earthy smell is too strong, but now, it is an out-and-out good dish. Without it, it has its own oiliness and is very oily!
After the meal was served, Wang Jingwen filled a bowl of Jingxi rice and several bowls of vegetables, and brought them to his father's portrait before everyone started eating.

"Eucalyptus, you can drink as much as you like, just like at home." Ye Zhijuan unscrewed the bottle and handed it to Tang Zhitong, without mentioning drinking with her son-in-law. She picked up the rice served by her daughter and was ready to eat.

"Okay, thank you, Mom." Tang Zhitong was not polite, poured himself a full cup, and watched the whole family eating happily.

That’s home over there, and it’s home over here too!
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(End of this chapter)