Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 710 709 Toona Sinensis Buds Arrived

In ancient times there was a tree called Dachun, which took eight thousand years as spring and eight thousand years as autumn.

Zhuangzi must have recognized Chinese toon to write this, but he did not say what Chinese toon tastes like or whether it is delicious.

However, other more pragmatic ancients have pointed out the value of Chinese toon.

The "Zhongdu Miscellaneous Notes" of the Jin Dynasty said: In spring, the Chinese toon is the most sparse in Yan area. Its leaves are fresh and its taste is good, which is indeed the top quality.

The Ming Dynasty's "Wuzazu" wrote: People in Yan and Qi picked toon buds and ate them as vegetables.

There is a saying in Beijing: If there is a Chinese toon tree in front of the door, there is no need to worry about spring vegetables.

Before liberation, many alleys in the old city were planted with toon trees, and many roads, alleys and courtyards were directly named after toon, such as Changchun Street, Chunshu Street, Chunshu Hutong, Chunshu Lane, Chunshu Courtyard, Chunshu Pavilion, etc.

However, with the advancement of urbanization, the increase in foreign population and the increasingly abundant supply, toon sprouts have gradually disappeared from the dining table.

Not only that, some residents also reported that the toon trees shed hairy fruits in spring and summer, which was unfriendly to passers-by and posed a safety hazard, so the toon trees were gradually cut down and replaced.

I don’t know if those who made suggestions will regret it in this year’s situation.

Today is the 21st day of the second lunar month, and the moon rises at about 10 o'clock in the evening.

It was not yet eight o'clock when Tang Zhitong arrived at the agreed location. Although there was no moon, the sky was full of stars and people's shadows could still be seen clearly.

"Xiao Zhang?" Old man Zhang was huddled in a ditch by the side of the road. He opened his mouth and asked tentatively when he saw someone riding a bicycle stop.

"Uncle Zhang, why are you hiding in the ditch?" The sudden voice caught Tang Zhitong by surprise. He originally thought that old man Zhang had not arrived yet.

"Hey, aren't you worried about being seen by others?" Old man Zhang brushed the dirt off his body and walked out of the ditch carrying a bamboo basket.

"You are very thoughtful. How many kilograms is this?" Tang Zhitong also took down corn and an empty sack from the back seat, ready to trade with Old Man Zhang.

"The weather warmed up early this year, so there are more apples than last year, barely 15 kilograms. But it's still a little early, so I didn't pick the ones that were too small." Old man Zhang said very honestly.

"Okay, the next batch will be fine as long as they don't grow too old." Tang Zhitong naturally knew why Old Man Zhang didn't pick them. If he didn't pick them now, they would weigh too much if they grew for a while. If he picked them, the ones that grew later would still be tender buds, and they would not be enough.

The reason why we eat Chinese toon now is that it is fresh and tender. In May, Chinese toon will enter its peak production period. At that time, the Chinese toon buds will change every day. If you don’t pick them within three days, they will become too old to be chewed.

"Well, well, I dare not give it to you, old man. You should keep it for your family to eat." Old man Zhang nodded hurriedly, his eyes fixed on Tang Zhitong's sack. Fifteen pounds could be exchanged for nearly four pounds of corn kernels!
"Put the toon sprouts in this bag. There are ten pounds of corn in my sack. I'll put them into the basket for you." Tang Zhitong held open the empty sack with both hands and motioned to Old Man Zhang to put the toon sprouts in it.

When Old Man Zhang heard that there were ten kilograms of corn, he pinched a handful of toon sprouts and put them into the sack, as if he was afraid that Tang Zhitong would regret it.

"Well, Xiao Zhang, last time when we changed the millstone, you gave us a lot of sweet potatoes. This time, the toon sprouts are not worth as much as those sweet potatoes." After filling the toon sprouts for Tang Zhitong, Old Man Zhang did not reach out for the sack containing corn. Instead, hesitantly reminded Tang Zhitong that he still owed him money.

"Uncle Zhang, you are so honest and I won't play tricks on you. Let's put it this way. The toon sprouts this time are equal to the sweet potatoes last time. These corns are regarded as the deposit for the next batch of toon sprouts. I will refund you the excess and give you more if you don't." Old man Zhang was honest and Tang Zhitong was also straightforward. It was troublesome to deal with such a person. Tang Zhitong made concessions and was unwilling to haggle over the issue of food.

"Well, thank you very much." Old man Zhang was so grateful for Tang Zhitong's generosity that he almost bowed down to him.

Although Old Man Zhang’s bamboo basket is called a bamboo basket, it is actually made of woven bamboo strips and looks quite tight.

It was dark, and Tang Zhitong couldn't see the bottom of the basket clearly. Fearing there was a hole, he picked up the sack of corn and didn't pour it directly into it. Instead, he asked, "Uncle Zhang, this basket shouldn't leak, right?"

"No leakage, no leakage." Old man Zhang moved the bamboo basket forward and held the mouth of the sack with both hands, fearing that a grain would fall out.

Seeing that Old Man Zhang was being careful, Tang Zhitong slowed down when pouring the corn into the sack. He then pulled the two bottom corners of the sack and shook the sack to ensure that all the grains returned to the basket.

Old man Zhang stroked the corn kernels in the bamboo basket with his hand, just like he caressed the girl he loved when he was young, carefully and gently.

Tang Zhitong stood quietly by the side, without moving or speaking, just looking at Old Man Zhang quietly.

If someone asks who has the deepest feelings for food, Tang Zhitong believes it must be farmers, and farmers who have suffered from famine. Other groups, because they do not participate in spring ploughing and autumn harvest, only have a superficial understanding and praise of food.

Old man Zhang grabbed a handful and let the corn kernels fall back into the basket through his fingers. Listening to the rustling sound of the dry corn kernels, he felt very satisfied.

Old man Zhang bent down, and with the help of the starlight, he tried to see the grains of corn in his hand clearly. He picked one and put it in his mouth.

With a "click", Old Man Zhang felt a toothache, but a smile appeared on his face.

The hardness of the corn and the taste in his mouth told him that it was first-rate corn, dry and not spoiled.

After the joy, Old Man Zhang thought more.

Based on last year's experience of exchanging toon sprouts for food with "Xiao Zhang", Old Man Zhang knew that his own toon tree could only produce another thirty pounds of fresh and tender toon sprouts, which was not enough to exchange for the ten pounds of corn. Even so, he wanted more!

"Xiao Zhang, there are many families in our team that have toon trees. How about I help you harvest more?" Old man Zhang reluctantly put the corn kernels in his hand back into the basket, but he didn't want to spit out the ones in his mouth, so he asked while holding them in his mouth.

In the past, Old Man Zhang would not have been able to say such words, but after suffering from hunger and cold for a whole winter, he really didn't want to experience the feeling of hunger again.

As for whether "Xiao Zhang" could eat all these toon shoots by himself, Old Man Zhang knew the answer but still asked, hoping that "Xiao Zhang" would agree.

Tang Zhitong hid in the dark, looking at the expectant eyes of Old Man Zhang under the starlight. He wanted to agree immediately, but he opened his mouth and swallowed the words that came to his lips: "Uncle Zhang, you really know how to give me a difficult problem."

"Alas, I have no choice." Seeing that Tang Zhitong did not agree, Old Man Zhang still had disappointment on his face, but he did not continue to beg.

"Uncle Zhang, how many families do you know? How many toon sprouts can you get? I will ask my colleagues tomorrow to see if they can help share some." Tang Zhitong certainly did not want to give up this opportunity. He did not agree just now because he did not want to give Old Man Zhang the impression that food was easy to get.

"There are still four or five families who have some, about the same as mine. Each family can get about 10 catties of toon sprouts in the first crop, and each family can get about 30 catties in the later ones." Old man Zhang saw that things had turned around, and he hurriedly reported the quantity. In fact, when he went home to pick toon sprouts in the afternoon, he began to think about this problem. He exchanged one catty of corn for five catties of toon sprouts with those families, and each family could earn two catties of corn. If he could gather six families, it would be twelve catties of corn!
"Okay!" Tang Zhitong gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and promised in front of Old Man Zhang as if he had made a great decision: "It will also be based on the ratio of one catty for four catties, and there must be no old stubs. If I find any old stubs, I won't exchange them."

"No! I, Zhang Laosan, can't do that kind of thing! This time I will go through them one by one and pick out all the old ones!" Seeing that Tang Zhitong agreed, Old Man Zhang patted his chest and made the promise, as if he was afraid that Tang Zhitong would go back on his word.

"Okay, that's settled. When will your side be ready?" Even though he had to make two more trips after agreeing to do so, Tang Zhitong didn't mind at all.

After a while, when food rations were repeatedly compressed and saved, and the supply of non-staple food was seriously insufficient, these toon sprouts became a hot commodity.

Especially in winter, it is not convenient to take out the vegetables in your own space, but you can take out pickled toon vegetables, which is definitely the first choice for showing favors.

But how do you turn fresh toon sprouts into pickles?

Tang Zhitong scratched his head and decided to put this question aside for the time being and believe in his future wisdom.

"Still here at this time tomorrow, okay?" The food was beckoning, and Old Man Zhang was full of energy.

"Okay, but you can only come alone." Although he wanted the toon sprouts, Tang Zhitong did not want to cause trouble, so he cooperated with Old Man Zhang and also put forward his own requests.

Tang Zhitong felt that Old Man Zhang wanted to have a hand in this, but he didn't mind it. After all, most people run for fame or profit. If someone suddenly appeared and selflessly cooperated with them, he would not dare to do so.

"Okay, okay, then I'll wait for you here at this time tomorrow." Tang Zhitong's request was exactly what Old Man Zhang wanted, and he nodded quickly in agreement.

After agreeing on a time and place, the two of them took their things and went home contentedly.

On the way, Tang Zhitong felt that his consumption concept had changed unknowingly.

When stockpiling supplies the year before last, they either purchased them at low prices from nearby farmers under the name of supply and marketing cooperatives, or they intercepted them at supply prices from slaughterhouses, supply and marketing cooperatives and other units under the banner of construction sites, focusing on careful calculation, high quality and low prices.

But now, in order to save trouble, people are willing to exchange toon sprouts through Old Man Zhang.

Tang Zhitong felt that this scene was familiar. It was very similar to what netizens said on the platform before. Rich people are stupid and have a lot of money, and are willing to spend money to buy things with similar functions but higher prices.

Now that I think about it, few rich people are really stupid. They just don't want to spend time comparing prices and bargaining. They use money to buy time and peace of mind.

These are two different perspectives on consumption.

When Tang Zhitong returned home, Zhang Guifang had not yet rested. Looking at the half sack of Chinese toon sprouts her son brought back, she asked in surprise, "Five cents for these?"

"You can't buy it with 50 cents. It cost me 70 cents!" Tang Zhitong said seriously, taking out 30 cents from his pocket and giving it to Zhang Guifang. "Look, this is my change."

"Wow! Brother is so awesome, he bought so much with only 70 cents!" Although Fengzhi is young, she understands that food is in short supply right now and cannot be bought with money.

"Do you think I'm a three-year-old child? You never tell the truth." Zhang Guifang glanced at her daughter who believed her, then rolled her eyes at her son. She did not take the money, but rolled up her sleeves and prepared to collect the toon sprouts overnight.

"Mom, it's getting late. Let's do it tomorrow. It won't go bad if left overnight." Tang Zhitong chuckled. Maybe his mother had seen something. It didn't matter if she did. As long as she didn't say it out loud, it would be fine. This would save his brain cells that were always used to make up lies.

"Wash and scald them first. It doesn't take much effort. You go to bed first." Once the toon sprouts are no longer fresh, not only will the leaves wilt, but they will also fall off easily and the taste will be bad, so Zhang Guifang plans to blanch them overnight.

"Let's take that one. It'll be faster if two of us do it." After Tang Zhitong said that, he turned the sack over and poured out the toon buds inside.

Fengzhen said nothing, found the basin for washing vegetables at home, and looked like she was ready to join in.

Classmate Xiao Wang heard the noise of the door opening in the side room, and came to the main room wearing his clothes.

This time, the whole family gathered together and participated in the making of Chinese toon pickles.

It is not complicated to make Chinese toon pickles. Just pick them, wash them, blanch them, dry them, rub them with salt, and store them in a jar.

Although it is not complicated, it is obviously impossible to finish it tonight. After blanching the toon sprouts, Zhang Guifang took them out, squeezed them half-dry, put them on the chopping board to drain the water, and then urged her children and daughter-in-law to have a rest. She planned to do the rest tomorrow.

"Hey, have you ever eaten fried fish with Chinese toon?" After returning to the room and getting on the bed, Tang Zhitong hugged Xiao Wang and asked.

"It's fried toon sprouts, right?" Xiao Wang guessed as it was the first time he heard the name.

"Yes, Old BJ calls it Toon Fish, probably because it looks like fish after being fried." Tang Zhitong couldn't figure out the origin of the name. Old BJ knew too much, and he only knew a little bit of it.

"I have eaten it, but it was a long time ago. It was fried by Director Ye at that time. The heat was not controlled well, so it was a little burnt and tasted bitter." The husband's words evoked Xiao Wang's memories.

"If it's burnt, it will be bitter. Wait a few days, I'll make some for you to try. There are some tricks to frying Chinese toon fish. You need to add some baking soda when making the batter. It will be crispy and crunchy after frying. The taste is so good that you can bite off your tongue in one bite." Tang Zhitong said, he even felt greedy.

Although Zhang Guifang has increased the staple food for her family these days, there is basically no side dishes, especially those with high oil content. The only difference is that there were a few slices of meat in the dish that Ma Kejian brought yesterday.

"It's so annoying. You're talking about this so late at night." When Xiao Wang heard the sound of her husband swallowing his saliva, she also felt her mouth watering.

"Hahaha, classmate Xiao Wang, remember this. I'm going to make the following arrangements. Within fifteen days, I will make sure you can eat fried toon fish."

"You talk like a legion commander. There's no need to issue a military order. It's okay to eat or not. I'm content with the life I have now. Go to sleep. You can dream about anything. Maybe we'll get to eat tonight." Xiao Wang didn't want to embarrass her husband, so she touched his face and said.

Dreams contain everything, but they are not controlled by humans. Tang Zhitong did not dream of fried toon fish that night. Instead, he dreamed of returning to his childhood. His grandmother was hugging him and coaxing him to sleep, humming a nursery rhyme about toon sprouts:

The buds of the small Chinese toon tree are yellow and fragrant. Scrambled eggs and mixed tofu are fresh and fragrant. Try them...

(End of this chapter)