Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 949 948 Only dared to talk about the world, dared not criticize current affairs

Carrying the cow's calf in his hand, Tang Zhitong weighed it in his hand; it must weigh at least one and a half pounds.

Currently, each person only has four ounces of meat coupons per month. This lump of meat is equivalent to a family of four's meat ration for a month. This gift is quite generous.

But Tang Zhitong always felt a little awkward.

It's important to know that not only Yan Xiongfei and his wife came today, but also Wu Aijun and Ma Wei, especially Ma Wei, who is still a virgin. They were delighted to have such a meal.
Many thoughts flashed through Tang Zhitong's mind, but only a few seconds had passed.

"Brother Meng, this kind of high-end ingredient..." Before Tang Zhitong could finish speaking, Xiao Wang, who had come out to welcome Meng Qingfeng, had already experienced physical discomfort and turned to run to the wall to vomit.

Wang Huiru is a native of Beijing and has never eaten this stuff before.

Although I have seen many similar human organs as a doctor, most of them are for the purpose of treating diseases and are alive!

This was the first time she had ever seen a separate, hairy, somewhat pink, and remarkably human-like reproductive system.

Having seen so many living things, I felt a little uncomfortable when I first saw individual parts.

However, Wang Huiru did not express much at this time. Instead, she went over and patted Xiao Wang on the back, asking her with concern what was wrong.

What else could happen?

Seeing this, Meng Qingfeng was extremely embarrassed and didn't know what to do. He had clearly gone to great lengths to ask his friend for the meat, but it turned out like this. He should have known better than to ask for help.

"Brother Meng, my wife is pregnant and can't stand the sight of water. Last time I asked a chef to make her some braised pork intestines, and she vomited for half the night." Tang Zhitong originally planned to use his poor cooking skills as an excuse to skip the dish, but now that his daughter Wang was behaving so intensely, she directly brought up the topic of morning sickness.

"Oh dear, what a mess this is! I'm so sorry, sister-in-law. Just throw it away!" Meng Qingfeng realized that his good intentions had backfired, and without hesitation, he tried to take Niu Huanxi back from Tang Zhitong.

“Brother Meng, there’s no need for that. I should thank your company for exchanging this nice house for me. The cellar is excellent, almost like an ice cellar. The meat won’t spoil in two or three days.” It was meat, after all. If Meng Qingfeng really threw it out like that, it would be a real slap in the face for him. Tang Zhitong certainly couldn’t do that.

"Are you alright? How many months pregnant are you?" Wang Huiru took out her handkerchief and handed it to Xiao Wang, asking with concern.

"Sister-in-law, it's alright. It's been over two months, and it's normal to feel nauseous during that time." Xiao Wang suppressed the nausea and gave Meng Qingfeng an apologetic smile: "Brother Meng, I'm sorry, you must have seen this."

"It's alright, it's alright, it was my oversight. Please come inside, Xiao Tang and I will deal with the meat." Meng Qingfeng didn't dare to put on airs. He had inquired thoroughly beforehand; Tang Zhitong's background was ordinary, but his lover was anything but...

When Meng Qingfeng took Niu Huanxi to the cellar, he kept apologizing to Tang Zhitong, as if he had done something that would anger both heaven and man.

A gentleman judges by actions, not intentions. If this lump of meat were on the black market, it would cost at least five yuan.

Tang Zhitong certainly wouldn't criticize Meng Qingfeng for not doing a good job just because Xiao Wang was experiencing morning sickness; instead, she kept comforting him.

After leaving the cellar, Meng Qingfeng pulled Tang Zhitong to wash their hands carefully under the tap, then smoked a cigarette to try to get rid of the smell before turning around and going back inside.

They were chatting enthusiastically inside, and the popsicle stand at the entrance of Dashizuo Hutong was also doing good business.

In Beijing, junior high and primary school students have holiday homework. In addition to regular written assignments, schools require students to read two good books and participate in productive labor during the holidays.

The book issue is easy to solve. Xiao Wang has already taken care of most of it. The books borrowed are all of the "red and expert" type, which are fundamentally different from the recommended reading list. That editor, if not executed, would at least be sent to a labor camp.

As for productive labor, it can be divided into two types.

The school requires students to support rural production or participate in productive labor in other forms during the summer vacation and to submit a practice report after the start of the new semester.

The current supply shortage is an open secret. Newspapers have repeatedly reported on summer planting and harvesting, rush planting, cooperation in drought relief, planting vegetables and melons, etc. Those who are sensitive can basically sense the situation.

In this environment, Tang Zhitong supported the labor organized by the school, since there were people leading the team, providing guidance, and coordinating food supplies, which could barely guarantee food rations and accommodation.

If they went to the countryside to provide support on their own initiative, it wouldn't be considered rural labor, but rather causing trouble. Tang Zhitong didn't support her sister and sister-in-law going to join in the fun.

Therefore, the popsicle stall at the entrance of the alley became Fengzhen and Jingying's practical project.

Just as the sales were in full swing, Jingying saw Wu Aijun arriving with Ma Wei.

Jingying didn't know Ma Wei, but she was familiar with Wu Aijun.

At first, she wanted to pretend she didn't see Wu Aijun, since he was driving a girl and they looked like they were going to Beihai Park to date.

Unexpectedly, when Jingmin saw Wu Aijun, he greeted him warmly: "Brother Gousheng! I'll treat you to an ice cream!"

"Please, please, how much do you earn in a day?" Fengzhi, a little money-grubber, was displeased when she heard this.

Children are simple-minded. Yan Ningning felt a little embarrassed after hearing this from the side. Was this little aunt trying to enlighten her?
"Women are all talk and no action. Brother Gousheng is an adult. I'm embarrassed to invite him, but he's embarrassed to accept it? He has to pay for it, right?" Jingmin said to Fengzhi with disdain. After seeing Yan Ningning's embarrassed expression, he didn't forget to explain for Fengzhi, "Your aunt isn't talking about you. You're a child, and you're helping to sell popsicles. You don't count!"

Before Fengzhi and Yan Ningning could react, Wu Aijun had already parked his bicycle in front of the popsicle stand. Jingmin deftly took two popsicles from the popsicle box and handed them over: "Brother Gousheng, is this your new sister-in-law? It's on me!"

"Jingmin, call me by my full name from now on. Keep the popsicles to sell, I'm not eating them." Faced with Jingmin's way of addressing him, Wu Aijun corrected him earnestly.

"Okay, Gousheng. If you don't eat, your wife has to eat one, right?" Jingmin was a little disappointed when he saw that Wu Aijun wasn't eating, so he reached out to Ma Wei.

"You're Jingwen's younger brother, right? Your mouth is as sweet as honey. I won't let you eat for free, pay up." Ma Wei had inquired about Tang Zhitong and his wife's family structure from Wu Aijun. At this moment, she smiled and took the red bean popsicle from Jingmin's hand, took out a dime from her pocket and handed it over, then casually gave one to Wu Aijun.

"Thank you, sister-in-law. I can't refuse your money, otherwise it would be disrespectful to you." Jingmin skillfully took the money and handed it to Fengzhi, who was staring in disbelief.

"You're such a little devil. Are your sister and brother-in-law home?" Wu Aijun didn't hold a grudge against the child. He appraised Jingmin's cleverness and asked.

"Everyone's here. Do you want to go? I'll show you the way." Not wanting to earn these two cents for nothing, Jingmin stood up to offer directions. "No need, I know the way. Just be a good little boss." Ma Wei waved to Jingmin, nodded to the children, and led the way, taking Wu Aijun to the Tang family's house.

"Ningning, Fengzhi was just saying that Jingmin is being immature, not that she was talking about you, so don't overthink it." After Wu Aijun and Ma Wei left, Jingying patted Yan Ningning's head to comfort her.

Jingmin wanted to say that he wasn't being unreasonable, but under his second sister's stern gaze, he finally shut his mouth in protest.

“Such a big child, yet she speaks so carelessly. Fengzhi, apologize to Ningning.” Being shallow doesn’t mean being ungrateful. Fengzhen, who was standing to the side, realized that among these people, she was the only one who was suitable to make Fengzhi stand up and apologize.

"No need, I know Auntie wasn't talking about me, I didn't think much of it." Several elders took turns comforting him, and Yan Ningning quickly defended himself. If this continued, he would be seen as petty.

Fengzhi realized her words were inappropriate and apologized sincerely. She took an ice pop from the ice pop box and handed it to Yan Ningning: "Here you go!"

Children's emotions come and go quickly.

A popsicle can make a person and restore them to their former friendship.

With the arrival of Wu Aijun and Ma Wei, all the guests for the day were present. Tang Zhitong asked Xiao Wang to entertain them while she went to prepare the dishes.

Tang Zhitong planned to prepare eight dishes, with the main dish being boiled fish, and two cans of meat to stir-fry with loofah and lotus root.

Yan Xiongfei brought canned meat, and Wu Aijun also brought canned meat. The canned meat was more plentiful than ever before, so using one was nothing.

Zhang Guifang also took out her treasured salted eggs, boiled six of them, and cut each egg into four pieces with two cuts, arranging them on a plate to make up the number.

In addition, Tang Zhitong also plans to make a cold tomato salad with white sugar, which the children love to eat, especially the juice that flows out under the high osmotic pressure of white sugar, which is always a childhood delicacy that is cherished by the children.

Given that the gentlemen are going to drink today, Tang Zhitong felt that it was essential to prepare cucumber salad and peanuts. With these two side dishes, the other dishes were not so important.

The first dish was boiled fish. The fish-scraping tool I made yesterday came in handy; it's better than a kitchen knife for removing fish scales.

Tang Zhitong did a very careful job; there wasn't a single fish bone in the fish meat. After the fish slices were put into the pot, he also used a hook to process the meat from two grass carp and threw them in.

There was no other way; the Empress Dowager had instructed me yesterday that a portion had to be given to Director Ye after it was prepared, otherwise there wouldn't be enough to go around.

After the boiled fish was cooked, Tang Zhitong packed a box of it for Director Ye in a lunchbox, wrapped it in newspaper, put it in a net bag to level it, and then stood at the gate and called out loudly to Jingying.

"Your sister and I are both busy. The organization has given you an important task: make sure this dish is delivered to Mom's dinner table. Go quickly and come back soon. Be careful on the way," Tang Zhitong instructed as she helped her sister-in-law move her bicycle outside the gate.

"Hmm!" This was the first time Jingying had ever seen her brother-in-law elevate such a trivial matter to such an inappropriate level. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond, so she just gave a perfunctory reply, got on her bike, and left the alley.

Tang Zhitong turned back, served the boiled fish, divided it into two portions, one to the main room and the other to the east wing.

The same applies to other dishes; each dish is served in two portions, and the portions are quite large.

After hanging the Flying Dragon Soup in the water, Tang Zhitong began to prepare the last dish—stir-fried lotus root slices.

Stir-fry lotus root slices in boiling water for half a minute, then remove them and cool them in cold water. Drain the water, then add balsamic vinegar, sugar, salt, and shredded ginger. Finally, add the soul sauce—pre-soaked Sichuan peppercorn water, along with the peppercorns, toss them in the bowl a few times to mix well, and it's ready to serve.

Making the other dishes took quite a while, and by the time Jingying returned, they were just finishing up. Tang Zhitong asked her to tell the other children to pack up and have dinner.

"Thank you all for coming. There's nothing fancy to eat, so please make do with this meal." After setting the dishes on the table, Tang Zhitong took out some tiger bone wine from the inner room, intending to give the men present a nourishing meal.

"This is already quite a feast. Don't laugh at me, but ever since this fish was served, I've been drooling." Wang Huiru put her arm around Yan Zhiyuan, who was getting restless from the aroma of the food. He reached out his little hand to eat, but since the meal hadn't started yet, Wang Huiru had to hold her child down.

"This is the only dish that counts as meat. Sister-in-law, try it later and give me your feedback. See if there's any room for improvement." Before pouring the wine, Tang Zhitong picked up a slice of lotus root and handed it to little Yan Zhiyuan. This one was sweet, which the child liked.

The men drank tiger bone wine, and the women drank Arctic Ocean soda. After the drinks were poured, Tang Zhitong, as the host, raised his glass first to welcome everyone.

As they ate, everyone praised Tang Zhitong's culinary skills, making Xiao Wang very happy.

Although some of the ingredients in the eight dishes were repeated, and there was a suspicion that the dishes were just made up, no one complained. Everyone knew what the situation was like outside.

After a couple of drinks, the atmosphere at the dinner table became increasingly lively. When the men got together, they inevitably talked about current affairs, but in most cases, they only touched on the topic briefly.

"Chlorella is great. It doesn't compete with crops for land, water, fertilizer, or labor. No matter how much it produces, it's all free. It's easy to cultivate and rich in nutrients. As long as the yield can keep up, it can not only eliminate edema but also reduce food poisoning caused by indiscriminately harvesting substitutes."

When discussing Chlorella, Tang Zhitong changed his tune again, surprisingly omitting any mention of Chlorella production limitations, a stark contrast to his conversation with Fang Yuan that day.

Chlorella can be seen as a mirage, or a lifeline. Despite the positive news reports, the underlying predicament is already on the desks of many leaders.

"Now the higher-ups are requiring us to diversify our approach. I heard that in addition to Chlorella, the Chinese Academy of Sciences also held a meeting at the Xiangshan Hotel at the end of last month on 'expanding the sources of grain and feed by using grain substitutes.' At the meeting, they proposed to develop artificial meat. I believe we will be able to eat artificial meat soon."

Meng Qingfeng's speech received unanimous approval.

As for whether it's true or false, everyone knows the answer in their hearts, but seeing through it without saying it is one of the signs of maturity in adults.

Tang Zhitong not only knows about artificial meat, but also about leaf protein.

These things are indeed rich in protein and can supplement nutrition, but due to limitations in technology and production capacity, they can only benefit a very small number of urban residents. As for rural areas, even if the production method is passed down, the implementation is a downgraded version, or even rotten leaves are used as substitutes.

At first, many people believed in chlorella, but later it truly became just wishful thinking...

It's fair to say that things are getting worse each time.

(End of this chapter)