The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 131: The rhythm is off in the dormitory of educated youths

In the 1970s, anyone who could work as a chef in a restaurant had to have good skills.

Compared with factory canteens, restaurants are for the general public, so the chefs in restaurants are generally of higher level and have better skills.

In the factory canteen kitchen, people often exaggerate a chef's cooking skills by saying "the dishes you cook are as good as those in restaurants."

It is not ruled out that there are a few skilled cooks working in some factory canteens, but they are only a minority. Those who are really skilled, unless they have a weird personality, will basically have better arrangements.

It can be said that even if there were no many seasonings in that era, the dishes made by many county restaurant chefs were good enough to be opened in any restaurant in later generations.

After Jiang Cheng finished his meal, he paid and went back to the car to rest. He planned to lie down in the car and read a book. He brought two books in the car when he set out, just to deal with this boring time.

Feng Hua was still eating in the restaurant. He was too restrained when they were eating together just now and didn't dare to pick up any food. Jiang Cheng was in no mood to persuade him. Jiang Cheng was very hungry after driving for half a day, so he just ate the food and rice in big mouthfuls.

The braised pork was eaten in bites, and it was quite enjoyable. Even though the dishes in the restaurant were good in portion, Jiang Cheng ate more than half of them by himself. He asked Feng Hua to clear the rest. The 16-year-old boy was still growing up, so he could lick the bowl clean.

Changcheng, Jinhe Commune, educated youth dormitory.

At this time, Zhou Lingying had a lot of food with her. In this era, there were very few people who borrowed things and didn't return them. Many people who owed others things actually kept them in their hearts.

Before, Zhou Lingying lent out food coupons, but what she lent out were national food coupons. Now, there is no such thing as a national food coupon premium. People just return Zhou Lingying one kilogram of rice for every kilogram of national food coupons borrowed, and Zhou Lingying doesn't have to pay for the rice.

Some people also use whole grains to offset the food. For example, if it is corn cobs, three pounds of corn cobs can be used to offset one pound of fine grains. As for sweet potatoes, Zhou Lingying didn't take them because they were too weak to satisfy her hunger. If she took too much, people wouldn't be willing to give her more. If she took too little, it would be a waste.

Even corn cobs need to be processed to make cornmeal. Zhou Lingying wants this mainly because she raises chickens, and can grind the cobs to feed the chickens after eating the corn.

"Zhou Lingying, this lotus root powder is really delicious. I've heard of the lotus root powder from Sanjia Village in Hangzhou. It's very expensive, right? I heard it costs more than one yuan per pound."

"It's not that expensive. Jiang Cheng bought it in Hangzhou for 92 cents."

Now in the female educated youth dormitory, all the female educated youth were drinking lotus root powder from enamel cups. Zhou Lingying brought a bag of lotus root powder, and each of them poured a little, and it was gone. The male educated youth didn't get any.

The educated youth came from all corners of the country, so it was normal for some of them to know about the lotus root starch from Sanjia Village. When I asked about the price, I heard that although it was not one yuan per catty, it was still 92 cents, and it was only sold in the cities near the production area.

There were more than a dozen female educated youth, and the cost was only five or six cents per cup. Many people savored it slowly, and felt that good things were fragrant.

In fact, this thing has a light fragrance, and people of this age may feel that they will not get tired of drinking a lot. But for Jiang Cheng, after drinking it twice, he felt that it was just like that.

"Zhou Lingying, did Jiang Cheng really come to your hometown and bring you food cooked by your parents? They won't go bad, right?" The person who asked the question this time was Zhang Yan, who had the best relationship with Zhou Lingying among the educated youth.

"Well, Jiang Cheng is a big shot. He said he could get some ice cubes, just like the ones selling popsicles, and they wouldn't go bad if you brought them here. It's just that you'll waste some money." Zhou Lingying replied. This was also what Jiang Cheng told her.

In fact, there are many places where you can get ice, but ordinary people can't get it. Only some units can buy it with a certificate. For example, ice factories, cold drink factories, and meat processing factories also have their own cold storage to store meat.

When Zhou Lingying said this, everyone was really envious. Unfortunately, it was not easy for them to solve their own food and clothing in the educated youth team. Some of them wanted to bring things home but they didn't have anything to bring. Unless the family was well-off, they would not ask Zhou Lingying for help, which added burden to the family.

It is true that many educated youth who went to the countryside received training, whether they were willing at first or not.

In fact, Zhou Lingying was the same. When Jiang Cheng said he could go to her house, the first thing she thought of was to bring something home, rather than asking for things from her family. Zhou Lingying couldn't think of anything of her own to honor her parents, so she relied on Jiang Cheng to get things.

Zhou Lingying felt that she had taken it for granted. Many of her family members had jobs and were in a slightly better condition. But most of the others were in average conditions, and even the girls from the city were more sensible.

Zhou Lingying said that if she is lucky, her husband will be able to bring something for everyone. Most people are thinking about whether they can bring something back to their families. Being far away from home, they miss their families more than material things.

"Zhou Lingying, I plan to raise a chicken and send it to my home in the fall."

"Wang Fang, you know how to weave a basket with bamboo strips, can you teach me? I want to weave a blue basket for my family."

"I want to embroider a handkerchief for my mother."

"I think~~."

~~
When one person starts something, many people will follow suit. Zhou Lingying didn't know how she got off the track, and she even wanted Jiang Cheng to bring her own hens to her family.

Those who lived far away or in different directions could only envy them from the side. Family affection is inseparable, but many educated youth would hide their weak side in their hearts.

It was getting late, Zhou Lingying received the food and showed off her wonderful life in front of everyone. But she didn't expect that this arrival would make many people plan to start a side job to send things to their families.

Zhou Lingying couldn't refuse. Bamboo baskets and other things could be bought without tickets and were cheap. She felt that it was not good to let her man travel so far to give him such a gift. But these were some thoughtful things, so Zhou Lingying had to explain it to Jiang Cheng.

Zhou Lingying returned home from the educated youth dormitory and it was time for dinner.

Jiang Changhe and Zhao Yuxia would not go to Changcheng in the afternoon. Jiang Changhe was not able to move around easily, so he asked Zhao Yuxia to take the money and go to find her daughter Jiang Yan in the afternoon. Then she would make up the work points and buy the food.

If everything goes well, the two of them will take the bus back to Changcheng to see a doctor tomorrow afternoon. If it weren't for the fact that it would cost 84 cents for a round trip for two people, they would have wanted to go back to the village every time after going to the hospital.

In her hometown, she has grandchildren to keep her company, and she can chat with her neighbors when she goes out, which makes her feel free. Zhao Yuxia even wants to go to the fields to earn some work points when she has nothing to do.

After dinner, Zhou Lingying and her sister-in-law Li Xianglan discussed how to make pants out of fertilizer bags. They had heard that fertilizer bags could be used to make pants, but they didn't exist in Jinhe Commune.

(End of this chapter)