Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 579 Chapter 578

After looking at the stars, Tang Zhitong first gave Xiao Wang a cold compress.

Fortunately, it is winter and there is no shortage of ice water. If it were summer, I would have to go out and buy a popsicle.

Throw the towel into cold water, wait until it is soaked thoroughly, take it out and wring it half dry, then wrap it around your wrist.

While Xiao Wang was sitting next to him and applying a cold compress, Tang Zhitong began to read the letter.

There are three letters in total, which are replies from Wu Haiyang, Gu Yong and Ma Kejian.

Tang Zhitong first opened Wu Haiyang's reply letter. This time the handwriting was much better than the last time.

Wu Haiyang talked about this and that, and one could tell from his words that he was in a good mood.

At the end of the letter, Wu Haiyang said that he was about to become a father and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Although there was not a single word about self-heating hot pot in the entire article, with this sentence, Tang Zhitong knew that it was settled and the ratio of the hot pot was definitely finalized.

Right now, India is still mysteriously confident, claiming to be the third in the world, and constantly challenging our bottom line. We hope to quickly produce a batch and send it over, so that our border defense brothers can be even more powerful and defeat the enemy!

The second letter was from Gu Yong, who first promised to inform Tang Zhitong after learning the good news about Cai Feng. He also took the opportunity to chat about what happened at the construction site. Finally, he suggested that everyone find an opportunity to sit together and reminisce around the Spring Festival.

This time, Ma Jian's reply was much more tactful. He said that he had been busy recently and had always wanted to meet up but had not been able to find the time.

When Tang Zhitong saw this, he realized that the jam issue was already on the agenda.

Everyone is busy with their own things, which is good.

Ma Kejian didn't mention anything about Huaiyang cuisine and Anhui cuisine. It is estimated that he had not received his second letter when he wrote the letter.

Anyway, there is no rush for food, as there is still a long time to come. Tomorrow, Chunshu Hutong will have two kinds of rice made from Jingxi rice to eat. For now, this is definitely a great treat, after all, not everyone can eat this kind of rice.

Since Ma Kejian also wanted to sit down, Tang Zhitong planned to write a reply to Gu Yong and Ma Kejian to talk about this matter.

Before replying, Tang Zhitong changed Xiao Wang's towel again: "Brother Haiyang is about to become a father. Have you seen your sister-in-law recently?"

"I've been busy lately and haven't been there. It's about time now, probably in these few days." Xiao Wang was close to Lu Lixian, so he naturally knew the day she was due.

"Gu Yong and the third brother both wanted to sit together, so I asked them for their opinions and decided to go directly to visit my sister-in-law and the children after the New Year.

I'll tell mom tomorrow to ask you to bring some eggs to my sister-in-law.

So that we don’t bring too much after the New Year and make them look bad.” Tang Zhitong put the towel away, stood up, shook his hands, wiped his hands with another towel, and prepared to write a reply.

"Okay." Student Wang showed his dimples and agreed.

This time the reply letter talked about normal interpersonal interactions. Tang Zhitong did not use sign language and said directly that Wu Haiyang was going to be a father soon, so should we go over to see his sister-in-law and the child after the New Year?
After writing the two letters, Tang Zhitong put stamps on them, sealed them, and planned to put them in the mailbox early the next morning.

After changing Xiao Wang's water again, Tang Zhitong found the tiger bone wine hidden by Xiao Wang in the closet and planned to rub it on her tomorrow morning.

Safflower oil is available in Southeast Asia, but it is very rare in China. After all, importing safflower oil requires foreign exchange, which is something that is in short supply in China right now. It is impossible to import non-essential items on a large scale.

Although there is no safflower oil, there are substitutes. After all, ordinary people are bound to suffer injuries in their daily lives.

The one closest to ordinary people is probably the "Dali Pill".

Before liberation, many street performers also sold "power pills".

The reason why it is called concurrent business is that their target group is very broad. After a set of fancy moves, they first sell a wave of powerful pills, sell as many as they can, then perform a set of kung fu, and finally hold a hat to beg for money.

As for what the powerful pills are, Tang Zhitong has always been confused.

When Tang Zhitong was in primary school, he would occasionally see people performing on the street, and sometimes he would go in out of curiosity.

There are some ridiculous words in it like "take one pill and your penis will last the whole night", "take one pill and neither the body nor the bed can stand it".

The adults around were laughing, but Tang Zhitong was still a little confused at the time.

Sometimes, when a new group of people comes, although the medicine is still powerful, the rhetoric changes: "Traumas, soreness of waist and knees, one pill will work immediately and the disease will be cured" and so on.

Now that I think about it, these powerful pills are probably the ancestors of certain oral liquids and medicinal wines. There is no disease that they cannot cure, and even if they cannot cure it, they will definitely not kill you. If you really die, it is because you did not take them according to the course of treatment...

Of course, there are exceptions to everything. I’m afraid many people don’t know that the famous Yunnan Baiyao also originated from Dali Pills and was formerly called "Baibaodan".

This one is really amazing. It worked wonders on the battlefield and became a national secret formula.

Compared to the powerful pills sold on the street, Tang Zhitong believes more in tiger bone wine.

Tiger bone wine can not only be used for drinking, but also has great effects when applied on the skin.

"What are you doing so late at night? Don't drink." When Wang saw her husband in a daze with the wine in his hand, she stood up and snatched it from him. She had drunk some last time and had been tormented for half the night. The memory was still fresh in her mind!

"Ah? No, I'm thinking of taking it out and rubbing your wrists tomorrow." Tang Zhitong was stunned at first, then he laughed: "Xiao Wang, your thoughts are not pure! With my fighting ability, do I still need to drink?"

"Bah!" Xiao Wang blushed and spat at her husband, saying he was shameless.
Nothing happened all night, and after a good sleep it was January 1st, the 21rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Little New Year in the north.

After getting up, Tang Zhitong looked at his clothes, took off his coat, found an old set of clothes from the closet and put them on.

"Why are you wearing old clothes? You don't look energetic enough." After washing his face, classmate Xiao Wang looked at Tang Zhitong who had changed his clothes and asked.

"We're going into the mountains to hunt rabbits today. I thought I wouldn't feel bad if my old clothes were torn to pieces." Tang Zhitong evaded the question. In fact, he was planning to go to Shangzhuang and didn't want to dress so conspicuously.

"Oh." After hearing what Tang Zhitong said, Xiao Wang nodded. After all, it made sense.

"Here, let me rub some tiger bone wine on you." Tang Zhitong first poured a little tiger bone wine into the palm of his hand, rubbed it to warm it up, and then continued to rub it on Xiao Wang's wrist for a while until the skin turned red.

After dinner, Tang Zhitong told Zhang Guifang about the cornmeal and eggs. Zhang Guifang did not stop him, as both were serious matters: exchanging rice for the teacher and eggs for favors.

Tang Zhitong packed the cornmeal first, and then cheated when packing the eggs.

There were only so many eggs at home, so naturally he kept more for himself. Tang Zhitong mixed in some eggs that he had stockpiled before.

Because I often secretly feed my chickens small fish and shrimps, even in winter, the size of my eggs is outstanding and there is nothing unusual from the outside.

Nowadays, transporting raw eggs is a job that requires both skill and luck.

Generally speaking, you need to use a basket, put a layer of straw or bran at the bottom, then put a layer of eggs, leaving a two-finger-wide gap between the eggs, then put another layer of straw or bran, and so on.

But nowadays, we basically don’t need rice bran. At least there is some grain in the rice bran, which is edible!

In addition to straw and bran, supply and marketing cooperatives occasionally use sawdust as a buffer between eggs, but it is not common and ordinary people cannot get it.

Sawdust is a good thing. The emperor used it to burn floor heating.

Tang Zhitong tied the cornmeal and eggs to the back seat of his bicycle, picked up two pickled cabbages, and took them to Chunshu Hutong.

"Let's go?" Tang Zhitong slung the air gun across his back again. Since he had said yesterday that he wanted to go hunting rabbits, it was a good opportunity to do it today.

"Yeah." Xiao Wang already felt that his wrists were much lighter. He moved his wrists, put on cotton hand covers, and set off!

Tang Zhitong was still the one cooking lunch in Chunshu Hutong, and classmate Xiao Wang was there to send off his two younger sisters.

Jingmin was beaten so hard yesterday that he walked unnaturally today. He walked to the kitchen door and asked, "Brother-in-law, what are we having for lunch?"

"Don't worry about it. There is no meat today. One is stewed radish and the other is stewed sauerkraut. But the rice at noon will be more delicious than usual, so you can have more. I hope you two didn't steal some of the food I cooked yesterday morning?" Tang Zhitong asked as he cut the vegetables with a knife.

"No! Who are you looking down on?" Jingmin's nose was almost upturned to the sky, and he felt a little proud, but his tone was wrong.

"You are still strong. If your sister finds out, she will beat you up again. Do you believe it?" Tang Zhitong stopped what he was doing and said to Jingmin with a smile.

"Brother-in-law, I was wrong! Please don't tell my sister, okay?" Jingmin put his hands on his buttocks in horror and admitted his mistake quickly. It hurt. His elder sister hit him so hard this time!
"Forget it this time. Let's see how you perform next time." Tang Zhitong raised it high and put it down gently.

It's not that I intend to make things difficult for Jingmin, but I just want him to change his bad habit of speaking without thinking. Even if it's still speaking, expressing yourself well can achieve twice the result with half the effort. This is also a shortcut with the lowest investment and the highest return.

"Then can I learn how to use a gun?" Jingmin breathed a sigh of relief, as he had escaped this hurdle.

"Go ahead, don't reload, just raise your hand and try." Tang Zhitong instructed without turning his head. The bullets were all in his pocket, but he was afraid that this unlucky child would stuff pencil stubs or something in it.

"Okay!" Jingmin got permission and moved away happily.

When Xiao Wang came back to get the eggs, Tang Zhitong had not finished cooking the dish. Although there were only two vegetables, he had to make them spicy and non-spicy, which was equivalent to cooking four dishes.

"I'm leaving first. I won't wait for you. I have something to do at the office." Student Wang picked up the basket of eggs, said hello to Tang Zhitong and went out.

Tang Zhitong was so happy because he had to deliver something to Tong Wang later.

After cooking, Tang Zhitong put some of the mixed rice into the pressure cooker and soaked it in water, making sure the water is one index finger joint higher than the rice. There is no need to make extra rice or double-steamed rice at home.

It is impossible to wash rice. After the food supply became severe, almost all families stopped washing rice.

Most of the time, housewives hold a bowl or watch over the pot, picking out the impurities in the rice little by little, and then put it into the pot to steam or boil it.

Due to the limitations of current processing technology, it is normal to have a little sand in the rice occasionally, but too much sand is abnormal, and people in some areas are very dissatisfied with this.

Tang Zhitong heard that some workers at Baotou Iron and Steel Company even put millet rice with sand in it into the lake...

The workers speak with confidence!

After picking out the sand from the rice, Tang Zhitong put on his air gun, put on his gear, left Xiao Gu and the two students behind, and went out with the cornmeal.

I didn't go to work yesterday, so it would be a bit unreasonable if I didn't go today. So Tang Zhitong first found a public phone and called Fang Yuan to ask for leave. The reason, of course, was to go to school to collect tickets and invoices and solve the living problems of his classmates, because he was the living committee member.

While riding his bike to the Bell and Drum Tower, Tang Zhitong activated the cheating device, posted a letter, and sorted out the fish, shrimp, pig heads, and offal on the way.

After confirming that there was no one in the yard, he simply "threw" it in, then walked away and headed straight for Xizhimen.

Outside the Xizhimen Railway Station, Tang Zhitong found a corner, put his bicycle, cornmeal, and air gun into the space, and then went into the station to buy a ticket.

This time he was lucky as there was a car. Although the smell was bad, the journey was not far. Tang Zhitong planned to smoke at the connection between the carriages and he arrived there in a few cigarettes.

The carriage was not full and there was no one between the two carriages.

"Hey~ buddy, are you going to Shangzhuang market too?" Some people got on the train from Wudaokou Station. Among them, a man with a bag on his back chose to stand between the two carriages like Tang Zhitong did, instead of looking for a seat.

Tang Zhitong was stunned. Collection? There is actually a collection? ?
In a flash, Tang Zhitong's face was full of smiles. He made up a story while handing a cigarette to the man: "Is it so obvious? Well, I heard someone say it, so I wanted to try my luck. Brother, smoke."

"It looks like you're going there for the first time, so you changed into old clothes, right? They're washed so clean. What are you planning to buy? Where are you going?" The man took the cigarette and asked Tang Zhitong for information.

"Well, this is really my first time. Don't be afraid of being laughed at by your elder brother, I just bought some food for my own family. The city is strictly controlled, so I dare not trade with others.

I heard the magpie calling early this morning. What a coincidence! I ran into a noble person right when I went out." Tang Zhitong smiled and took out a match to light a cigarette for the man, also thinking about getting information from him.

This trip was a spur of the moment one, and I had not explored the route in advance, so I was completely in the dark about the other side. I had planned to put some dust on my face, wear tattered clothes, and sneak into the village quietly. Since there was a market, things would be much easier. It would be even better if someone could lead the way.

"Hey, I don't deserve your kindness." The man held a cigarette in his right hand. After looking around to make sure there was no one around, he made a money-twisting gesture with his right hand and gestured to Tang Zhitong, "I can take you there. It's not impossible."

"Okay, it's a pleasure talking to you!" Collecting money to do things is the common rule followed by most people nowadays, but Tang Zhitong did not give the money directly. Instead, he took out two boxes of Daqianmen, and he could add more if it was not enough.

"Brother, I'm a straightforward person! Don't worry, get off the car and follow me, I guarantee you'll get what you want." The man saw that it was the Daqianmen and quickly took it and put it in his pocket.

(End of this chapter)