Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 573 Chapter 572 Feeling at Home
After the two of them finalized the deal, Tang Zhitong gave Tong Wang a few extra words of advice to be careful before leaving. It was not entirely for himself, but mainly for Tong Wang's sake.

Tong Wang certainly knows the importance of safety. He pays extra attention when eating at home, always keeps the door closed, and never talks nonsense when he goes out.

Although Tong Wang had thought about what to do if the young man in front of him cheated him of his money, it was unlikely to go through the official process because he still didn't know Tang Zhitong's name or work unit.

At most, he would bring a few people, wait for Tang Zhitong at the place where he waited for him last time, and then catch him and beat him up to vent his anger.

But after these transactions, Tong Wang found that this guy was not just a trustworthy person, he was also a good person! That's why he repeatedly asked for money first and then the goods.

Tang Zhitong never thought that Tong Wang would hire someone to beat him up, but he had imagined that Tong Wang would be discovered by someone, or that Tong Wang might be so depressed that he would kill himself.

First of all, Tong Wang didn’t know his own name or unit. Even if he tried every means to find out his identity and go through the official procedures, he couldn’t find any evidence against himself.

If you throw something into space, who can find it?

There are very limited units in the entire city that can supply such large mackerel and such large shrimp.

If someone dares to investigate, they will only look for units that can get it according to this specification one by one, and I have no connection with that kind of unit.

According to the current situation, it is impossible to convict someone without evidence.

This is not nonsense made by Tang Zhitong, but a well-founded inference.

In March of next year, there will be a shocking case that will shock the highest level. 3 kilograms of food were stolen from No. 615 of Factory 100!
615 is the number for coinage, No. 100 is the factory's code for gold, and No. 200 is silver.

At that time, this batch of gold was assigned to Factory 615 to be purified and recast in order to repay the debt owed to the north, but it disappeared without a trace.

A death order was issued from above, requiring the case to be solved within a certain time limit. The original words were, "We must dig three feet deep to find the lost gold."

The result was that nothing was found. Some people received administrative penalties and had their jobs transferred, but no one was imprisoned.

The case was not solved until 1980 when the thief took 30 kilograms of gold that he had sawed off to the bank to exchange for money.

80 kilograms of gold, based on the domestic purchase price next year, is close to 21 yuan!

The shocking case ended so abruptly, so my little contribution might not even be enough to make a ripple, right?

There are definitely risks, but Tang Zhitong believes that the risks are controllable.

The reason for taking this order is to lay the groundwork for dealing with the things in the space later.

In addition to seafood, there are also pig heads, pig offal, vegetables, etc. Most of them are edible. We can't just store them like this, right?

Apart from what one needs to eat and use for oneself, the rest of the money should be converted into primitive accumulation, right? Who doesn’t want their children and grandchildren to have no worries about food and clothing?

The treasure collector was speechless when faced with several boxes of old banknotes in front of the camera, not to mention silver bills, bonds and other things.

To be honest, Tang Zhitong was envious. He envied the person on the other side of the camera for his stable emotions, his carefree attitude, and his lack of worries about food and clothing.

And all of this is based on having money.

It is said that every pore of primitive capital carries dirty blood. As a proletarian who has experienced the rain, Tang Zhitong does not want to play that way from the bottom of his heart. It would be so nice to cut Lao Tong's leeks. It is consensual and not dirty at all. It is simply perfect.

In addition, Tang Zhitong also wanted to save more. Whether he went to Pingxiang, Erenhot, or Manzhouli in the future, he had to have hard currency as a backup. What's more, Hami has been opened to traffic, so the "King of Jade"'s plan could be implemented.

The Escort Department received a new escort route map before New Year's Day. The Lanxin Line was opened to traffic in stages, and the train had reached Hami at the end of December 1959. The Ministry assigned the escort task of this section to the 12th City Bureau.

According to the original history, this route belonged to the Huxian Postal Escort. I don't know if it was affected by the flapping of Tang Zhitong's butterfly wings. After all, in November, the escort department just added staff to count the postal code promotion situation.

Now that the mail truck could reach Hami, Tang Zhitong was thinking about finding an opportunity to go there, run a few laps around the Jade Beach and stockpile some jade. But when he looked at the map, he was dumbfounded.

The Northwest is so fucking big!
Hami is in the northeast corner and Hotan is in the southwest corner. The straight-line distance between the two places on the map is more than 1300 kilometers, and there is no train between them.

There was no other way. Tang Zhitong could only prepare for the worst and go over to see the situation first. If he couldn't go to Hotan, he would buy some from Hami. Since he was buying, he would definitely need money.

After leaving Tong Wang's villa, Tang Zhitong rode his bicycle to Shichahai.

The lake was frozen solid, and many people were laughing and joking on it, some skating, some playing, some children, and some young people.

The middle-aged and elderly people were wrapped tightly and sat on the other side, each holding a stool and guarding a hole for ice fishing.

The two groups of people are clearly distinct.

Tang Zhitong put the bicycle on the side of the road, locked it, carefully went down to the river, and walked towards the ice fishing area.

"Hey, can you have a cigarette?" Tang Zhitong walked over to the person who had caught the most fish, took out a cigarette and handed it to him.

"Thanks, man. It's not for nothing. It's two dollars and fifty cents." The man stepped on the fishing line with his foot, took off his hand, picked up a cigarette, and said.

"Wow, is it so obvious?" Tang Zhitong laughed. Before he could even ask the price, someone had already given him a quote.

"Hey, it's so cold in winter, who would come to skate on the ice? You'll freeze to death." The man came over, lit a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and rubbed his hands vigorously together a few times to promote blood circulation.

"You make sense. Is anyone checking now?" Tang Zhitong gave up the idea of ​​buying fish when he heard the price. Two months ago, it was RMB 1.5 per catty, but now it is RMB 2.5 per catty. With the little postage he got from the Women's Federation, he could only buy four catties. The price increase was quite drastic.

"What's the point of checking in this weather? Besides, it's so cold and no one wants to go out and freeze." The man didn't care at all. He didn't avoid Tang Zhitong or anyone else.

This answer reminded Tang Zhitong of some traffic police who, when enforcing traffic laws, see vulnerable groups, either lower their heads or turn their heads away, pretending not to see them.

No matter what, it’s good that law enforcement is warm.

"Okay, thanks, sir." Tang Zhitong stood up and looked around. Apart from a few people who were trying to buy fish furtively, he didn't see anyone following him.

"You're welcome." The fishing brother raised his hand holding a cigarette towards Tang Zhitong, not caring at all that he was just asking but not buying. These days, as long as there are fish, there is no problem selling them.

Tang Zhitong looked around and walked towards the shore again. It was still early, so he could go fishing first and then go back to cook.

After buying fishing line and hooks, Tang Zhitong pulled out a bamboo pole from the space to use as a bench, then returned to the ice and looked for an ice eye that was unguarded.

The ice debris around the ice eye is clearly visible, but the bottom is already a little frozen.

Tang Zhitong guessed that the man couldn't stand the cold and left because he didn't catch any fish.

Tang Zhitong doesn't pick a place, he uses a shovel to break the ice below, then sits on the shovel and puts bait on the hook. Fish eat less in winter, and they especially like meat, so Tang Zhitong uses the viscera of Spanish mackerel.

Perhaps it was the strong smell of the bait that soon a fish took the bait.

In an hour or so, Tang Zhitong caught six or seven fish. His speed of catching fish made the fishermen nearby jealous. Some even came forward to buy fish, but Tang Zhitong didn't even nod.

Tang Zhitong looked at the time. It was almost eleven o'clock. He had to go back to cook, so he picked up the hook, packed up and went back.

There are six or seven fish, big and small, which can be used as a side dish for lunch.

As soon as Tang Zhitong left, the jealous fisherman next to him quickly packed up his things and moved over...

When they arrived at Chunshu Hutong, Tang Zhitong did not interrupt the teaching. He smiled and nodded, put his coat and luggage away, carried the fish into the kitchen, and closed the door.

People say that Jiangsu Province is in bulk, but in fact Anhui Province is about the same.

Anhui Province is traversed by two long rivers, the Yangtze River and the Huai River, and is geographically divided into three regions: Northern Anhui, Central Anhui, and Southern Anhui.

Whether it is food culture or language and living habits, these three places are very different.

Northern Anhui is mostly plains, with wheat as the main crop. The diet is more similar to that of the Central Plains, with pasta being the staple food. The cuisine tends to be Shandong cuisine, which emphasizes the use of oil, color, and knife skills.

Central Anhui is sandwiched between the Yangtze River and the Huai River, with a well-developed water system and rice as its main food crop. Therefore, the people in central Anhui eat rice as their staple food. Their cuisine tends to be Huaiyang cuisine, which pays attention to the heat and is good at careful selection, with a mild and fresh taste.

Southern Anhui has "seven mountains, two rivers and one piece of land". The harsh geographical conditions have created the spirit of hard work and fighting spirit of the people of southern Anhui. Among them, the Huizhou merchants are the most representative, and the most famous is probably Hu Xueyan.

The staple food in southern Anhui is rice, but people also eat noodles and Anhui cuisine.

Anhui cuisine has a characteristic: heavy salt, good color, and slightly corrupt. Its representative dishes are stinky mandarin fish and hairy tofu.

Anhui cuisine is good at roasting, stewing and steaming. It likes to use rapeseed oil, uses a lot of oil, likes freshness, and has fewer spicy dishes.

Due to his living environment, Tang Zhitong doesn't know how to cook Anhui cuisine, but he can ask for help from his friends outside the field. There must be someone on Ma Sange's side who knows how to cook.

Gu Kezhan’s ancestral home is in Anhui Province, but he was born and studied in Taizhou. When the time comes, we can ask him about the recipes of Huaiyang cuisine. There will always be one that suits him.

I have to write another letter quickly to get the recipe as soon as possible, so that Gu Kezhan can taste the flavor of his hometown in the old city. It would be even better if he can feel a little more at home.

Tang Zhitong cooked the dishes in his own style, making two servings of each, one spicy and one non-spicy, which barely catered to everyone's tastes.

While cooking, Ye Zhijuan carried the vegetables into the kitchen, looked at the already stewed fish, and said, "Anzi, did you go fishing?"

"Well, I was free in the morning, so I went over there. I'm lucky, so I can order an extra dish." Tang Zhitong said while shaking the spoon.

"I asked the chef in the canteen to bring some dishes, including two mackerels. I thought I would eat them at noon, but they bumped into each other." Ye Zhijuan was satisfied with her son-in-law's attentiveness, but also felt a little regretful. It would be a bit extravagant to eat them all in one meal, but she was worried that they would go bad if she kept them.

"It's okay, Mom. I'll find a box later, put the fish in it, and then hang it outside the north window. In this weather, the fish won't go bad in three to five days." As if seeing Ye Zhijuan's worry, Tang Zhitong glanced at the kitchen window.

If this were left for a few decades, I guess someone would have to install a special window sill that extends outward, and then close it with a sliding window. This would not only keep the heat in, but also prevent rats from invading.

There are no such conditions at the moment. Even if you want to put something outside the windowsill, you have to find a suitable place to put it. Otherwise, mice and birds will not observe etiquette with their owners.

Tang Zhitong turned off the gas stove, served out the stir-fried dishes first, and then served out the fish in the stew pot next to it.

"Okay, that's trouble for you. You don't have to make two special servings, just make both lighter." Ye Zhijuan understood that both fish dishes were stewed, but with different seasonings, one with chili and the other without.

"It's okay. I'm just sitting around doing nothing." Tang Zhitong started to scrub the pot quickly. It was called scrubbing, but in fact he just poured some boiling water in it and swirled it around with a broom twice before pouring it out.

Seeing that she couldn't persuade him, Ye Zhijuan smiled and shook her head, handed the kitchen to Tang Zhitong and went out.

After a while, two little heads popped out of the kitchen door: "Brother-in-law, do you want to eat fish today?"

"Well, be careful of fish bones when you eat. Come, wash your hands and help serve the dishes." Tang Zhitong cleaned the two pots and wanted to steam rice, but looking at the time, he felt a bit rushed today, so he decided to eat tomorrow.

There were a lot of people eating here today, eight people, and two dishes with two flavors each, which barely made it four dishes. Tang Zhitong glanced at the kitchen and cut another bowl of pickled vegetable strips.

It’s too late to cook porridge, but you can make some cornmeal porridge. You can drink it as soon as it boils, but it cools down slowly, so it’s just right for filling the seams after a meal.

As soon as the water was boiled, Xiao Wang came back with his two younger sisters.

When Tang Zhitong was taking his brother-in-law and sister outside to serve the dishes, he heard Ye Zhijuan chatting with Gu Kezhan.

They say they are chatting, but in fact it is almost like checking household registration, such as how old are you, where is your hometown, how many people are in your family, whether you have eating habits here, etc.

"I got stuck while fishing today and didn't have time to steam rice. Let's just make do with some steamed corn bread first." Tang Zhitong took out the steamed corn bread that had been steamed before cooking from the kitchen, put it on the table, and gave Gu Kezhan an apologetic smile.

"Brother Tang, you are too polite. I can eat anything. I am not picky." The sunny boy was not stage-frightened and smiled brightly.

Before liberation, his family had a teahouse, but they joined forces in the past two years. Plus, he has two younger sisters, so it's almost like he's living off his family's savings.

The situation in my family is relatively good. I heard that some families have too many people to raise a child, so some have sent their children to orphanages.

Everyone took turns washing their hands, sat down at the table and started eating. Tang Zhitong was the last one to sit down because water was still boiling on the stove.

"Brother-in-law, this steamed bread is delicious!" Jingmin took a bite of the steamed bread and immediately said in surprise.

"My mom and sister-in-law made this. They put a lot of chestnuts in it." Fengzhi looked proud of it. After spending a morning together, the two little guys have become good friends and no longer poke each other.

"If it tastes good, eat more. You too, just treat it as if you're at home. Don't be polite." The sunny boy was at the age where he could eat a lot. Tang Zhitong was afraid that he would feel embarrassed and dare not eat as much as he wanted, so he took four steamed buns and placed them in front of him.

"Yeah!" The sunny boy nodded. The food here was much better than what he had at school. The steamed bread was solid, the dishes tasted good, and the patrons were kind. He even felt respected and was very satisfied.

Halfway through the meal, Tang Zhitong went to the kitchen to cook porridge, and brought out a bowl for each person, with the goal of making sure everyone present was full and well fed.

After dinner, the two younger sisters took over the task of clearing the table. Tang Zhitong found a wooden box, put the mackerel in it, covered it tightly, and tied it outside the kitchen counter, intending to leave it overnight and eat it tomorrow.

Take a short rest, go to work if you need to, and prepare to study if you need to.

Tang Zhitong planned to go back to the escort department to write another letter to Ma San Ge, then stamp it with a stamp from the mail truck and throw it into the sorting department. He estimated that Ma San Ge would receive the letter early tomorrow morning, and he would receive the recipe the day after tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)