Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 777 Spicy Fire
Tang Zhitong didn't even think about Lao Tong at this moment. It could even be said that he usually avoided the Bell and Drum Tower on purpose.

Since the last time he parted with Tong Wang, Tang Zhitong had been to the Drum Tower a few times, all of which were to accompany his brother-in-law to go fishing in Shichahai.

It looks close on the map, but in fact, each fishing spot we choose is more than one thousand meters away from Tong Wang’s house in a straight line.

As long as he doesn't show off there on purpose, Tong Wang generally won't be able to find Tang Zhitong.

After school today, Tang Zhitong deliberately passed by Nanchizi Street again.

Sophora japonica flowers bloom almost continuously, one bunch after another. As long as the people picking them don't over-exploit the pond, they can be eaten for at least half a month.

As usual, Tang Zhitong only picked the locust flowers that were high up and out of reach of others, and in the evening he had another meal of locust flower cakes as usual.

After dinner, Zhang Guifang took out a set of close-fitting underwear and said, "Wenwen, I bought some for Jingmin. You can take them back later."

"Mom, Jingmin has a lot of clothes. You can save them for Fengzhi." Xiao Wang declined quickly. Her original intention in bringing this up to her husband was to buy more for their own family, and she definitely didn't want to let her mother-in-law spend money.

"Fengzhi doesn't need it. Jingying gave it to her. Fengzhen wears the smaller one, so isn't it a bargain for her? Be obedient and take it." Zhang Guifang stuffed it into her daughter-in-law's hands without saying a word.

Tang Zhitong watched from the side with a smile and interrupted, "Mom, why did you only buy one for Jingmin? You should at least buy one for me."

"Do you think I didn't want to? The salesperson said they were out of stock every day. I waited for several days before I finally got such a small set." Zhang Guifang glanced at her son. She originally thought that it was good to have money. As long as she had money, how could she not buy clothes? Unexpectedly, these things really could not be bought even with money.

"Okay, then I'll just wear the old ones, and you don't have to run away." After hearing what his mother said, Tang Zhitong stopped encouraging his mother to go to the store.

The consumption capacity at the flower market is limited. Apart from the supplies that are supplied according to a fixed quantity, the supply of other things is obviously much worse than that of East Fourth Street and West Fourth Street.

Ready-made clothes may be common in the inner city, but they are rare in Flower Market Street. The residents here prefer to buy a few feet of cloth and ask someone to process it, so there are more tailor shops here than in East Fourth Street and West Fourth Street.

Even if ready-made clothes are occasionally supplied here, residents only buy those for adults, leaving some for children. Only the poor or those who have been poor would understand this practice.

Seeing that her husband had no objection, Xiao Wang finally took it and thanked her mother-in-law.

"Send it the day after tomorrow or on Sunday. I'll be making some steamed buns after get off work tomorrow, so you can bring some over." Tang Zhitong was thinking about Fengzhen's trip to the botanical garden on Sunday.

When Tang Zhitong was a child, whenever he went out for a spring outing, he would always beg his parents to bring him some delicious food, even if the food he ate on weekdays was poor.

Putting himself in their shoes, Fengzhen was sensible and didn't say anything, but as an older brother, he knew his family's financial situation very well, so he had to let his two younger sisters have fun.

Limited by the current season and supply, Tang Zhitong thought about it and it seemed that there was nothing he could offer, and in the end he could only rely on his own craftsmanship.

"Fire wastes fuel, doesn't it?" Zhang Guifang said, a little unhappy.

The ration of oil in our family is the same as that of others, which is definitely not enough. For the past six months, we have relied on our son to occasionally bring back some lard from outside. But this time, half of the lard he brought back was refined into oil and given to Zhang Chengping, so there is less oil in the dishes we eat on weekdays.

Zhang Guifang didn't want to use up more cooking oil at home because of her daughter's spring outing, nor did she want her son to have to worry about making noodles after a day of work.

"Mom, I won't make the pastry this time. I'll make the five-spice one, and use some pepper powder. Fengzhen goes to a key middle school, and there won't be spring outings in ordinary schools. We can't let Fengzhen down." Tang Zhitong understood what his mother meant, but Fengzhen listened attentively without saying a word. Knowing that she was happy to do so, he explained happily to his mother.

After hearing what her son said, Zhang Guifang fell silent.

Zhang Guifang said nothing, but Tang Zhitong didn't just let it go. Instead, he took the opportunity to make another request: "Mom, can you steam some sausages on Saturday and give them a dish on Sunday? I haven't eaten meat for a long time, so I'm craving meat."

The sausages from their own family were those sent by Tang Wenbang. After a few of them were destroyed by rats, the rest were collected by Zhang Guifang, and Tang Zhitong didn't know where they were hidden.

"Yeah." Zhang Guifang saw through her son's plan, but still nodded and agreed.

Before going to bed at night, Tang Zhitong cleaned the stove in the wing room.

After the weather got hot, although the stove in the main house was moved outside and the chimney was put away, the one in the wing room was not moved because Zhang Guifang had no intention of using the stove invented by her son.

Tang Zhitong's idea was simple. He just wanted to use the stove in the house while it was not too hot now. When summer really comes, the stove will definitely be idle, and he will not be able to eat the firewood he made.

The next day, January 4th, Friday.

During the morning break, Luo Zhiping brought back a stack of letters from his office and handed one to Tang Zhitong: "Teacher Tang, you have so many friends, both in the power supply bureau and in the public security department."

"Well, it's all work. Who knows what else I need to do." Tang Zhitong took it and glanced at it. From the handwriting he knew it was sent by Zhang Xinping.

No matter what time it is, it is extremely impolite to read other people's letters. Luo Zhiping is a college student after all, so he naturally knows this. As for whether it is work or not, doesn't it all depend on Tang Zhitong's words?

Tang Zhitong opened the letter and read it quickly. There was indeed something to do, but it was not work, but moving.

There were no moving companies back then, and most people moved by asking relatives and friends for help. At most, they would hire two laborers and pull two carts, and the job would basically be done in one trip.

That is to say, nowadays each household has a small living area and limited belongings, otherwise moving would not be so easy.

Although he was forced to do hard labor, Tang Zhitong did not feel reluctant at all. This is how friends get along with each other.

Since they were friends and he was also responsible for keeping the pots and stoves warm, Tang Zhitong began to think about what to bring when the time came.

After thinking for a long time, Tang Zhitong couldn't remember any custom of warming pots and stoves in Sijiucheng. He could only plan to go back and ask his mother, after all, she was also a native of Sijiucheng.

In the afternoon, Tang Zhitong went to the research class again. Not only had the incubator taken shape, but each group had also begun to imagine various warships on paper.

Some students even borrowed related books to study the working principles of radar.

When asked when the fan would be finalized, Tang Zhitong could only smile bitterly and say "soon". In fact, he had no idea at all. It had been three days, and there was no news from Ding Hui at all. The wait was heartbreaking.

After school in the afternoon, Tang Zhitong still took a detour to Nanchizi Street, but he did not eat locust flower cakes tonight.

No matter how delicious the food is, you will get tired of it if you eat it continuously, not to mention that this thing can fill your stomach but not make you full. After returning home, Tang Zhitong first busied himself with kneading the dough, and while kneading the dough, he asked his mother about the custom of warming the pot and cooking on the stove.

"I haven't heard of any particular custom." Zhang Guifang paused and added, "But after a daughter gets married, her family has the custom of going to warm the pot and sending a flour sieve, a rice measuring cup, rice cakes, and fish buns. They say that life will be prosperous, step by step, abundant every year, and the whole family will be healthy and long-lived."

She was a girl from another family. When she was sold to the Tang family, she had nothing. Everything was provided by her mother-in-law.

"Okay, then I'll buy some. A friend of mine is moving on Sunday and asked me to come over to help." Tang Zhitong quickly explained why he asked this. This is different from marrying off a daughter, and it's not like poking at one's own mother.

Since his own mother hadn't heard about it, Tang Zhitong planned to pick up some auspicious things he could get and take them over.

Tang Zhitong didn't know what the sayings were in other places, but in Qi and Lu, there were indeed some particularities about warming the pot.

In Tai'an, tofu and bean sprouts are a must when warming the pot, symbolizing wealth, getting rich, and taking root; in Tengzhou, chicken, fish, and bean sprouts are used instead, symbolizing getting rich and abundance; Weihai prefers steamed buns made of leavened dough, symbolizing prosperity and getting rich quickly.

In addition, some people bring pots, pans, tea sets, chopsticks and so on, mainly for practicality, with the intention of helping to set up the home.

It's just that this kind of attention to detail has gradually lost its market after people have become wealthy. Most people just buy some gifts and have a meal. Some people even choose not to cook at home, but choose to entertain relatives and friends in restaurants.

After Tang Zhitong finished kneading the noodles, he went to the side room to light the stove.

At the same time, open all windows and doors to keep the air circulating so that the room is not too hot.

Five-spice fire-baked bread is much easier to make than crispy fire-baked bread.

Prepare a rolling pin, a dish of pepper and salt, and a dish of cooking oil and you can start working.

Pick up a two-liang piece of dough, knead it into a long strip again, and then use a rolling pin to roll it into a long cake.

Put four fingers together, dip them in some cooking oil and spread it on the dough, then spread some pepper and salt on it, and then roll the dough into a cylindrical shape.

Press down from the top of the cylinder with your hands, then use a rolling pin to roll it into a regular round cake, and then you can put it on the stove to steam.

When the dough becomes slightly hard, transfer it to the drawer and continue heating.

The whole process is similar to making fried dough sticks, but less oil is used and there is no need to worry about how much the dough has risen, let alone adding more dough.

As for the taste, the surface is slightly hard and the inside is soft. With the addition of pepper and salt, it tastes not bad and is durable. It is suitable for DIY experts to make at home. Although it is a bit troublesome, you can eat it with confidence.

"Aren't you feeling hot? Get out quickly." Tang Zhitong seemed to have returned to his childhood when he helped out in the fire shop, sweating profusely as he watched the stove. But there were some who didn't feel hot, such as Fengzhi, who was watching her brother kneading dough with great interest.

"It's not hot. I want to learn cooking skills from my brother and cook for our mother in the future!" Fengzhi took a step back but refused to go out.

"Hey, your little mouth, is there honey on it today?" Tang Zhitong didn't believe what his sister said. It was obvious that she wanted to take a bite of the hot bun.

"What honey? Where is the honey?" Fengzhi stared at the fire and swallowed her saliva. She was absent-minded just now and did not hear clearly the question her brother asked.

"You'd better be more careful. Watch out for being cheated out of food in the future." Seeing his sister's look, Tang Zhitong didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Humph, I'm not that easy to fool!" Feng Zhi heard this and raised her head with a rather disdainful look, but then she turned around and asked, "Brother, what delicious snacks are there?"

"Okay, just pretend I didn't say anything." Tang Zhitong smiled. He didn't need to worry too much about his sister being tricked away by delicious food. With a half-baked cook like him around, Fengzhi would become picky when she grew up. If he really wanted to trick his sister away with his cooking skills, he would have to be as good as Sui Po, right?

Although Tang Zhitong had never tasted Sui Wubai's cooking, he knew that he was a good person. MCN wrote one short essay after another, saying that he was unemployed and doing odd jobs and that they felt sorry for him, but he never said a bad word about his former employer.

Sui Wubai was really capable of doing such a thing. Everyone who knew him knew that the reason he was unemployed was that his master was in poor health during that time, so he quit his job and served his master every day until Chef Zheng passed away.

Such character is rare in any industry.

"Brother, can you make sugar-coated steamed buns?" Tang Zhitong said nothing, and Feng Zhi did not ask further questions, but it was obvious that she did not intend to let him go.

"What's the matter? Haven't you eaten enough?" Tang Zhitong asked, glanced at his sister, and nodded as fast as a chick pecking at rice.

"Okay, go to the main room and ask mom to get the sugar jar, and tell her that I want to make two sugar-coated steamed buns for your sister-in-law to try." Tang Zhitong sent him away. He didn't know how to make the sugar-coated steamed buns like Dashunzhai's, but he could still make a simple version.

The simplified version of sugar-coated steamed buns requires you to first roll the dough into a round cake shape, then add some flour, either white sugar or brown sugar, and knead it evenly, then sprinkle it in the middle.

Then, just like making steamed buns, pinch the dough around the edges to close it, and it will probably look like the picture below.

Then use a rolling pin to roll it into a pancake. In this step, you need to control the strength well so as not to break the skin.

The rest is no different from making five-spice fire cakes.

Of course, there is no rule that huo bao must be round. Some people even make huo bao into long strips. It doesn’t matter. The key is that it has to taste good.

"Don't just stand there. Go back to your room and do your homework. You are not allowed to eat if you don't finish it." Feng Zhi had no intention of leaving, but Tang Zhitong would not let her stay any longer.

The stove at my feet was constantly releasing heat, and the temperature in the room was touching, almost as warm as the warmth that Xiao Wang had when he had a cold and fever, and that Tang Zhitong had wanted to try but had never experienced.

Seeing her brother threatening to burn the room, Fengzhi left the room, looking back every few steps.

As soon as Feng Zhi left, Tang Zhitong immediately started to work, replacing the cold air brought in from the northeast with the unbearably hot air in the house.

There is not much fragrance when making five-spice fire-baked bread, but the fragrance from making shrimp, stewing fish, stir-frying chicken, refining lard, and boiling pork head is still in the space.

While making the fire, Tang Zhitong threw the fragrant air he had gathered into the air sixty meters high, letting it drift away with the wind.

The most difficult time is not here yet. These aromas can only make children cry. If we wait another half a year, people will probably die of greed, which would be a great loss.

While Tang Zhitong was using the hanging device to cool down the room, he was also thinking about the problem of cooling down in the summer. Could he take out all those big lumps of ice in his own space and use them when the time comes?
(End of this chapter)