Era: Starting from divorce from female college student

Chapter 209: The Housewife and the King of European Cooking
In the early morning of February 6, 1960, at Tong Debin’s home in Courtyard No. 9, Youxiang, Ji’anso, Beijing.

Hearing Zhao Mancang's promise, Tong Debin confirmed it again and again, and his old face suddenly turned red.

He seemed to want to regret it, but Zhao Mancang had not yet got the freshest seafood, so Tong Debin had to bite the bullet and said casually:
"Since Comrade Li has the resources and can ensure it, why don't you just catch a few top-quality groupers of various species, preferably groupers weighing over 200 kilograms? How do you do that?"

"No problem, when would you like it?"

Zhao Mancang responded immediately, and Tong Debin also got angry. At this time tomorrow, it’s still my house, can you do it?
After hearing this, Wu Xinqi couldn't help but pull Tong Debin's clothes and shook his head at the latter.

But Tong Debin didn't notice it at all. Anyway, he was determined to fight Zhao Mancang to the end.

The giant grouper is a grouper of huge size, especially one weighing more than 200 kilograms. It is not an easy task to catch such a fish.

What's more, how could it be so easy to receive this kind of fish tomorrow?

Now that he has Zhao Mancang's army, it depends on whether Zhao Mancang dares to agree.

"No problem, but comrade, what are you going to pay for it with? Honestly, I just can't seem to find these jade ornaments worth mentioning."

Zhao Mancang was still smiling, as if he didn't understand what Tong Debin meant.

Tong Debin was stunned for a moment, and then he said:

"Okay, please wait a moment, I'll get it!"

Tong Debin, who was angered, immediately planned to take out his home collection of antiques.

Because their ancestor was a corrupt official, who also knew how to keep a low profile, they collected all the gold and silver jewelry, jade ornaments, antique calligraphy and paintings that he had embezzled.

And the outside world is not very clear about it, so most of the good things have been passed down.

Buffalo-fat jade ornaments might have been worth some money in the past, but to be honest, they are worthless now.

Because it is not a jade bracelet, nor a pendant accessory, but rather an ornament weighing more than 20 kilograms.

Such ornaments have no collection value other than being placed at home and gathering dust.

Especially now, the country is at peace, but it happens to be a year of disaster. Supplies were already scarce, and now there are starving people everywhere.

In such an era, jade ornaments made of mutton-fat jade are really of little use and cannot be valued.

Since it doesn't have much price, it's normal that it is disliked.

If Zhao Mancang is so disgusted with it, how could Tong Debin and the others not be disgusted with it?
After a long while, Tong Debin returned and brought back a wooden box.

The material of the wooden box should also be golden nanmu, Zhao Mancang could tell it at a glance.

It can also be seen from here that Tong Debin's ancestors were indeed very wealthy, otherwise they would not have needed so many golden nanmu trees.

Whether it is the tables and chairs in the house or the furniture shelves, they are all made of golden nanmu.

The price of golden nanmu is extremely high, and it has always been one of the precious woods used by the royal family. However, it is extremely common in Tong Debin's home.

Tong Debin brought the wooden box over and placed it on the table in front of Zhao Mancang. After opening it, the silk inside was revealed.

Then, Zhao Mancang saw clearly that there was a yellow jade ring inside with words on it.

"Comrade Li, this is an absolutely exquisite antique. It's a jade ring that Emperor Jiaqing used to carry with him. Look, there's writing on it."

Under Tong Debin's instructions and under the light of the kerosene lamp, Zhao Mancang was able to see clearly.

During the Qing Dynasty, jade rings were a symbol of identity and status, and their materials and craftsmanship were very particular.

Emperor Qianlong had a yellow jade ring made of the famous Hetian jade.

The jade ring on Tong Debin's hand was once worn by Emperor Jiaqing during his lifetime. It is indeed a top-quality jade ring.

Emperor Jiaqing was born in 1760 and died in 1820, living a total of sixty years.

So this jade ring has only been around for a little over a hundred years.

Even so, this is a rare antique.

"In fact, there were a lot of jade rings owned by emperors in the early years. However, when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded, the jade rings of emperors such as Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong were all snatched away by foreigners. Alas!"

After hearing Tong Debin's words, Zhao Mancang suddenly thought of something. It seemed that Great Britain had taken away a lot of jade rings from the capital back then.

It is said that among the Qing Dynasty cultural relics displayed in a museum in London, Great Britain, there are a large number of imperial jade rings.

"Well, this is indeed a good thing. What price do you plan to sell it for?" Zhao Mancang nodded and immediately asked about the price.

Now that you're here, let's ask about the price.

Unexpectedly, Tong Debin shook his head and said that he would not sell the jade ring because it was a priceless treasure.

"Comrade, are you kidding me?" Zhao Mancang's face suddenly darkened, while Wu Xinqi remained silent. It was obvious that he was not very competent as a middleman.

Tong Debin, who was about to put on airs, saw that Zhao Mancang was really angry, so he said:
"In the antique business, we sellers never set the price. It's you, the buyers, who set the price. If it's suitable, we'll sell it. If it's not, we'll keep it."

"Comrade Li, I know you have a good eye, but I didn't expect you to be unaware of the rules of our industry."

Zhao Mancang was stunned for a moment, then said generously:
"I really don't understand the rules of your antique business. I'm not in your business anyway. I just want to collect some antiques, that's all."

"I'll give you 1,500 for the Jiaqing Emperor's jade ring. How about that?"

It’s not that great, but the price is not low.

Tong Debin certainly knew how to pull and immediately shook his head.

Seeing this, Zhao Mancang stopped making an offer and stood up to leave.

Be it top-quality antiques or rare antiques, Zhao Mancang just wanted to get to know more people and find some tools because he was free.

Tong Debin and Wu Xinqi were dumbfounded when they saw Zhao Mancang stand up and say goodbye and leave.

When Zhao Mancang arrived at the Moon Gate, Tong Debin and the others caught up and stopped him.

After a fierce negotiation, the price of the jade ring was finally decided. The price was two groupers weighing more than 200 kilograms, and they had to be live fish.

Zhao Mancang couldn't help but be shocked when he heard this.

If he hadn't claimed to have a system space, Tong Debin's conditions would have been extremely difficult to achieve even in the future.

too difficult!
A grouper weighing more than 200 kilograms, and it has to be a live fish, how difficult must it be to obtain?

"Comrade Li, do you see this? This lake is where I used to raise sea fish. Although it's not big, it used to be full of seafood."

The three of them returned to the cross-courtyard again. They stood by the small lake in the yard, well, it was a small pond of a few square meters.

After Tong Debin finished boasting, Zhao Mancang spoke:

"Okay, let's trade again tomorrow. Goodbye!"

After coming out of Ji'an's Right Lane, Zhao Mancang went to the Pigeon Market in Andingmen. He didn't have much time, so he just strolled around for a while and left the Pigeon Market before dawn.

To be honest, the pigeon market now feels like a runaway wild horse, with no one in charge.

But fortunately, it did not enter a state of complete disorder.

When they returned to No. 7 Courtyard of Denglai Hutong, Lin Wan and the others had not yet gotten up, and Zhao Mancang was already busy in the kitchen.

During this period, because he was at home, the guards standing guard at the door only came once during the day and did not come at other times.

Especially at night, Zhao Mancang will come back to live here, so it would not be appropriate for the guards to stay here.

With Xiao Hei in Courtyard No. 7, he is completely able to take care of the house.

"Dad, what delicious food are you making? It smells so good!"

When it was just getting light, Lin Huijun came to the kitchen rubbing her eyes and asked with a twitching nose.

Zhao Mancang was making sesame balls, radish cakes and fried shrimp balls. These foods are all fried foods, so of course they are very fragrant.

Fried foods, like fried foods, should not be eaten frequently, especially for those who have a fried dough stick for breakfast every day. As long as the time exceeds half a year or a year, it will definitely be reflected in the physical examination report. It depends on the individual situation.

We rarely make fried foods like this at home, so it’s okay to eat them once in a while.

As a doctor, Zhao Mancang naturally knows this truth, so on weekdays, the menu at home needs to be rich and diversified, and we cannot always eat very monotonous food.

After Zhao Mancang told Lin Huijun the names of the fried foods in front of her, her eyes suddenly widened and she was no longer sleepy.

"Dad, let me help you watch the fire. Do you want a big fire or a small fire?"

The six-year-old girl was very enthusiastic. Zhao Mancang smiled and instructed her to be careful and not get too angry.

In addition to these fried foods, breakfast also includes hot milk.

Milk is all fresh ingredients taken out from the system space. It is just freshly squeezed milk and has not been sterilized at high temperature, so it cannot be drunk directly. It must be boiled before drinking.

You have to add some sugar when cooking, otherwise Lin Huijun might not like it.

Like fried foods, milk is a good thing, but you can't drink it all the time.

Especially for a child like Lin Huijun, it is actually not a good thing to let her drink milk every day until she is a teenager.

Drinking milk can strengthen Lin Huijun's physique and allow her to grow taller quickly, which is a good thing.

But in fact, her bone age is also increasing rapidly, and the rapid increase in bone age also means that her puberty will soon arrive.

If she enters puberty around the age of ten, would that be a good thing?

In later generations, Zhao Mancang had seen some girls who had grown to 1.6 meters tall and had entered puberty when they were in the fifth or sixth grade of elementary school or the first grade of junior high school.

Some of her peers are only 1.5 meters tall, or even 1.4 meters tall.

But after a few years, the girls who entered puberty early not only stopped growing taller, but other parts of their bodies also stopped developing. In contrast, those girls who were 1.4 or 1.5 meters tall before grew to 1.6 meters or even 1.7 meters tall, and their bodies developed better.

So whether you analyze it from a medical perspective or from other perspectives, any food that is beneficial to the human body can easily cause problems if you become overly dependent on it.

As a doctor, Zhao Mancang is well aware of these principles. He knows both the advantages and disadvantages of these foods, so he already knows how to deal with them.

Breakfast was ready quickly, and Lin Wan, Zhang Dongyue and the others had already gotten up.

Because of the two little kids, Xiao Baozi and Xiao Taozi, the adults in the family certainly can't sleep well all the time, and they definitely have to rest more.

The whole morning was like a war at home.

Zhao Mancang tried his best to help Lin Wan, but the two little kids kept him busy. After one finished pooping, the other started crying for milk.

And then there are the clothes!

There is no washing machine at home, otherwise I could just throw the clothes I take off into the washing machine.

There are furniture such as washing machines and refrigerators in the system space, but Zhao Mancang dare not take them out and use them.

He also had these tickets, but the problem was that they were too conspicuous.

So we have to find an opportunity to let Ma Jiugong and others build a washing machine factory in the capital. More people in the country own washing machines, at least not like now. There are no more than 10,000 washing machines in the entire capital. Naturally, Zhao Mancang's family is not suitable to own a washing machine.

In fact, there is always work to do at home. As long as you are willing, there is work to do everywhere.

Zhao Mancang is not a househusband, but he has kept the house in order during this period, which has made Lin Wan and Zhang Dongyue, mother and daughter, feel a lot more relaxed.

After finishing his housework, Zhao Mancang had to go back to No. 8 Guozi Lane for training.

Zuo Changsheng and his team returned today and brought back good news, that is, they finally brought back 7.8 tons of gold this time.

They should have been complacent, after all, they brought back a lot more gold than Qiu Shigui and his men.

As a result, they soon learned about Zhao Mancang's battle record from Wei Huayong and were stunned.

"Damn, one hundred and fifty tons of gold, are you still human?"

When Zuo Changsheng, Pan Chengdong, Tie Wanzhong, Mi Shouyang and others saw Zhao Mancang, they immediately surrounded him.

"What do you mean I'm not a human? If I weren't a human, would I dare to stand before you?"

Zhao Mancang rolled his eyes and didn't bother to pay attention to them. He told Wei Huayong that he was going outside for training and drove away.

Qiu Shigui and his companions had already left the capital to carry out their mission, and now he was the only one training. Wei Huayong was too lazy to care about him, nor did he dare to.

There’s no way, who made Zhao Mancang so awesome now?
At noon, after Zhao Mancang had lunch at home, he told Lin Wan that he would not be back until the early morning of the next day, which made her worried.

Especially Lin Huijun, she thought her father didn't want her again.

At the Tianjin Wharf, Zhao Mancang quietly came here, found a deserted place to enter the sea, and then headed towards the deep sea.

If he wanted to get giant groupers, there probably wouldn't be any in Bohai. He would have to go to the East China Sea to get them.

There are not so many tools in the system space, but there is a warehouse in Lingguang County that has all kinds of tools.

Therefore, Zhao Mancang first came to Lingguang County to check the progress of the airport construction here to ensure that his interests were not harmed. Then he went to the warehouse to get the tools he wanted before going out to sea.

Although the person in charge of Peninsula has become somewhat accustomed to the elusive Zhao Mancang, he is still quite scared and surprised every time he knows he appears.

After all, no one knows when Zhao Mancang will appear. Even if the person in charge is not lazy or speculative at all, he is afraid of being caught by Zhao Mancang if he occasionally slacks off.

Zhao Mancang entered and left Lingguang County under the alias Smith, so of course he could tell the difference and remembered it very well.

The person in charge has nothing but fear in his heart for Sam’s men like Smith.

Also because Zhao Mancang appears from time to time, Lingguang County has always been peaceful.

After leaving Lingguang County, Zhao Mancang immediately went deep into the East China Sea. After arriving at the destination, he began to fish heavily.

It must be said that at that time, the fishery resources in our coastal areas were still quite abundant. It was only after the 1980s and 1990s that the fishery market was liberalized and gradually got out of control.

Of course, some marine creatures such as whales were indeed eaten to extinction by the Kimura people.

"Fuck, I can't pull it anymore?"

On the sea, under the cover of night, Zhao Mancang was driving a fishing boat to fish in the Pacific Ocean. He had only been trawling the seabed for about an hour when he suddenly could not pull the net anymore.

After knowing this, Zhao Mancang could only stop the fishing boat temporarily and then jump into the seabed.

The trawl net was full of fish, including conger eels, groupers, lobsters, blue crabs, etc., and the grouper that Zhao Mancang wanted also appeared.

Zhao Mancang searched the trawl net that was hundreds of meters long and finally confirmed that there were six living groupers. He then couldn't wait to reach out and put them all into the system space.

What Tong Debin wanted was a living grouper, so of course Zhao Mancang had to agree to his request.

There are also many good seafood, such as sea bass, cod, redhead fish, etc., as well as the famous yellow croaker.

There are still many wild yellow croakers nowadays. You can always see a lot of them along the coastal areas.

After the 1980s, yellow croaker was caught in large numbers and was soon eaten to the point of extinction. In the end, it could only be farmed.

This also led to the extremely high value of wild yellow croaker.

Zhao Mancang collected most of the seafood into the space, regardless of whether they were dead or not.

Also, there are a lot of big rocks in the trawl net, which need to be cleaned out.

And the fishing nets that were torn by some unknown fish need to be repaired, otherwise they cannot be used next time.

After finishing his work, Zhao Mancang returned to the sea, entered the control room of the fishing boat, and collected the trawl net.

After finishing all this, it was already early in the morning. Seeing that it was getting late, he hurried back.

Just use a seaplane to save time, otherwise, relying on a fishing boat will be a waste of time.

At this point in time, he didn't have enough time to return to Lingguang County, so he went ashore directly from the Tianjin Wharf and then returned to the capital.

Despite hurrying, we still arrived at No. 9 Courtyard, Youxiang, Ji'anso nearly twenty minutes late.

Tong Debin and Wu Xinqi had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Zhao Mancang pulling the carriage into the alley, they couldn't help but widen their eyes. Could he really have brought him back?
"Fortunately, I live up to my fate!"

Zhao Mancang said something in a literary way, and then asked Tong Debin if they wanted to make the transaction now?
It is relatively easy to find a living grouper at sea, but it is not easy to find one in the capital.

It's so scary.

Tong Debin and the other man, dumbfounded, came to the carriage and checked the specially made net cage. They didn't pay attention to the plastic net cage, but were frightened by the huge grouper inside the net cage.

They are indeed giant groupers, but it is really amazing that they are alive.

The net cage was very huge, and there were only two groupers in it, each of which weighed more than 200 kilograms.

The key is that these two groupers are still very active, just like they are swimming in the sea, and have not suffered any harm.

It’s simply outrageous to open the door for outrageous things. It’s so outrageous.

"Comrade Li, how did you do it? This is too..."

Tong Debin and Wu Xinqi's three views were shattered. What the hell is going on?

"Don't worry about how I did it, the two of you. Just ask yourself: Can this deal go through today? If it can, then we'll do it now. If not, that's fine, we'll talk about it next time."

Zhao Mancang was also quite surprised. Tong Debin was actually a qualified tool man who could bring him 199 experience points.

This was the fifth experience value tool person he had met after Xu Wenluo, Zhuang Xiaoting, Yuan Yushan and Ma Jiugong.

In fact, there is another one, that is the leader, but who is the leader?
Therefore, Zhao Mancang never treated his leader as a tool, because the status of both parties was too different, and it was difficult for him to have more interactions with the other party and let the other party bring him more experience points.

At this time, Tong Debin seemed unaware that Zhao Mancang was relatively easier to talk to today because he was still in shock.

Two groupers appeared alive in front of him. This was his boast, so he could only trade the jade ring of Emperor Jiaqing with Zhao Mancang.

Seeing that the other party had agreed reluctantly, Zhao Mancang happily drove the carriage into the other party's house, and then put the two groupers in the cage directly into the small pond in the other party's yard.

The transaction was completed quickly. Tong Debin was reluctant to part with the jade ring, but Zhao Mancang had already taken it.

"Comrade, if you ever want to eat seafood again in the future, just tell me and I promise to bring it to you."

Tong Debin quickly shook his head when he heard this.

Wu Xinqi asked curiously, "Comrade Li, did you only bring back two groupers from your trip to the sea? Did you not bring back any other seafood?"

After these words were spoken, Tong Debin also cast a curious look.

Zhao Mancang shook his head and said:
"I haven't been out to sea, so I naturally have my own channels for seafood. But if you have any seafood you want, you can tell me now and I'll try my best to get it for you."

There is still a lot of seafood in the system space at this time, so he certainly hopes to ship it out as soon as possible.

However, in order to ensure value for money, he will definitely not sell live seafood in large quantities in Beijing in the future, otherwise the value of the live seafood will be greatly reduced.

"Comrade Li, I asked you yesterday if you could get me any other seafood? Grouper or something else, no matter the size, as long as it's alive and looks good enough. Then you can pick five of the jade ornaments I had yesterday. How about that?"

Hearing Tong Debin's words, Zhao Mancang rolled his eyes:

"I won't do that. Don't think it's easy for me to prepare these seafood. I even got you some seawater. These seafood can survive for a relatively long time."

"As long as you can keep them well, there's no problem even keeping them forever."

"But to be honest, I don't think much of your ornaments. Only the buffalo-fat jade ornament is okay, but you treat them as treasures."

There is a saying that only real buyers will complain about this and that.

The mutton-fat jade of this era really could not be sold at a high price. Because of the scarcity of supplies, everyone was only concerned with eating and drinking. Who would think of collecting these stones that could only be looked at but not eaten?

No matter how beautiful a buffalo-fat jade ornament is, it is just a stone.

Look at the two groupers swimming freely in the small pond at this time, it is so pleasing to the eye.

Tong Debin heard this, gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, saying:

"Well, Comrade Li, as long as you can bring more grouper and other seafood species, two fish of each species, for every species you bring, you can take away a jade ornament. However, the top-quality items, such as the buffalo-fat jade ornaments, must be large fish with excellent ornamental value and high edible value."

Zhao Mancang rolled his eyes immediately. The other party really had high demands.

It seems that the conditions for taking away one ornament of one variety are very simple and easy, but there are also regulations that the best items such as buffalo mutton fat jade ornaments must be of high enough value.

"No, you should just tell me what kind of seafood you want. If I have it, I'll bring it to you. If not, then I can't do anything."

Hearing what Zhao Mancang said, Tong Debin couldn't help but fall silent.

As an older man, Tong Debin is very knowledgeable about seafood and is also a very qualified gourmet.

When he was young, Tong Debin had eaten a lot of seafood, but most of the time, he had only heard of it and had never seen it in person.

Take the giant grouper for example, this fish is full of treasures.

In the Manchu-Han Banquet, grouper is one of the most important ingredients, such as braised grouper in abalone sauce, steamed grouper with egg, grouper belly with corn, grouper belly braised with bitter melon and bamboo shoots, etc.

The most expensive dish in the Manchu-Han Banquet is actually Kunlun Baofu.

Kunlun Abalone and Braised Grouper in Abalone Sauce are different dishes. The main ingredient of the former is the skin of grouper. After going through multiple processes, it becomes golden in color, soft, glutinous and fragrant.

It must be made from the skin of a grouper weighing more than 300 kilograms, because this kind of fish skin was also called dragon scales in ancient times.

Although braised grouper in abalone sauce also involves cooking with abalone sauce, compared with Kunlun abalone, there are differences in the selection of raw materials and manufacturing process, and the taste is also very different.

Braised giant grouper in abalone sauce is a cooking method that uses giant grouper meat as the main ingredient and abalone sauce as seasoning.

Tong Debin is an old man from the old times. When he was young, the Qing Dynasty had not yet fallen, so he grew up listening to the legend of the Manchu-Han Banquet.

The extravagant and luxurious Empress Dowager Cixi enjoyed a life of luxury. Tong Debin also wanted to be like Empress Dowager Cixi, but he also wanted to live longer.

Empress Dowager Cixi lived for a full seventy-three years, so Tong Debin thought that living to eighty would be enough.

Ten years ago, the whole country was in chaos, so Tong Debin naturally kept a low profile as much as possible.

Even now, Tong Debin is still very low-key.

Buffalo-fat jade ornaments seem to be very valuable and high-profile, but in fact, in this era, antiques are not very valuable.

Especially for things like jade, the raw materials are only worth one or two dollars. Even if they are carved by a master, the value of the raw materials will at most range from a few dollars to dozens or hundreds of dollars depending on the size of the raw materials.

Therefore, ordinary jade bracelets, pendants and other jade articles only cost a few to more than ten yuan, and they cannot be more expensive.

But these jade pieces, especially mutton-fat jade and mutton-fat jade of different grades, would have cost tens of millions or even hundreds of millions before liberation.

Of course, the RMB depreciated severely at that time. According to the current price, tens of millions would only be a few thousand yuan.

These items that cost thousands of dollars are now only a few dollars, which is a huge discount.

It is now the 1960s, and Tong Debin certainly knows what era it was, so he knows very well the price of these jade ornaments in his hands.

Since the price was not high, there was naturally nothing wrong with displaying it to Zhao Mancang yesterday.

On the contrary, Tong Debin didn't mention gold at all.

Because nowadays the capital has increased its purchases and cracked down on private gold transactions.

"Okay, I'll suggest a few." After thinking for a while, Tong Debin mentioned a few kinds of seafood. Zhao Mancang agreed after hearing that.

In less than ten minutes, Zhao Mancang, who had left with the carriage, came back again.

Tong Debin fell into complete silence as he looked at the yellow croaker, sharks and other sea fish in the net cages.

The same was true for Wu Xinqi. He became more and more certain that there must be more than one person behind Zhao Mancang.

After completing the transaction honestly, Zhao Mancang left happily with the buffalo mutton fat jade ornaments and other items.

In front of Tong Debin and others, Zhao Mancang was very disgusted with mutton-fat jade, but now, he was still quite happy.

Whether it is mutton-fat jade or other Hetian jade, these are all good things passed down by our ancestors.

I can only say that in this day and age, they are indeed worthless.

But for Zhao Mancang, it is also the time to buy them at the bottom.

Especially the buffalo mutton-fat jade ornaments, which are naturally good things. If they were put aside, they would also be precious jade tributes to the royal family, and of course they are extraordinary.

Buffalo has a high status in ancient and modern times.

It was only in later times when mechanization became extremely advanced that the status of the buffalo plummeted.

When Zhao Mancang was young, he was always a cattle herder and had a special feeling for cows.

"Dad, what is this? It looks so good."

In Courtyard No. 7, Denglai Hutong, after Zhao Mancang came back, he took out the buffalo mutton-fat jade ornaments, which immediately aroused Lin Huijun's curiosity.

Lin Wan and Zhang Dongyue also cast their attention over it. This buffalo-fat jade ornament was indeed very beautiful and very pleasing to the eye.

It is as smooth as fat and feels great.

"How much did you pay for it? What a beautiful jade." Lin Wan praised, and Zhao Mancang said with a smile:
"It doesn't cost much. This is mutton-fat jade. In the past, it was a very valuable item. Most people didn't have it. But jade is not valuable now, and our family doesn't lack this little money."

"Our country will get better and better in the future, so it's a good time to buy some jade and jadeware, and treat them as heirlooms."

"This ornament is in the study. Please be careful when you clean it. Don't mess with it. If it breaks, its value will be greatly reduced."

As soon as these words were spoken, Lin Huijun became the focus of attention.

The buffalo-fat jade ornaments are only new for a while, and the novelty soon wears off.

Because it is really just a stone, a slightly beautiful stone. You can look at it and touch it, but you can't eat it.

In this age of food, Lin Huijun and her friends soon lost interest in it.

In the next few days, Zhao Mancang lived a routine life every day. He trained during the day, cooked and took care of the children at home. In the evening, besides accompanying Lin Wan to sleep, he would go to the Pigeon Market in the early morning.

But his good luck ended there. Apart from meeting Tong Debin, he didn't meet any other tools.

It was not until February 12, the day after the Lantern Festival, that Zhao Mancang met the four siblings of the Hu family again at the Xizhimen Pigeon Market.

"Big brother, it's big brother, thank you."

This time when I met the Hu siblings, they were not begging like last time, but instead set up a stall to sell wild vegetables.

They are all wild garlic and onions mixed with weeds. They are not valuable and not many people buy them.

If it weren't for the fact that the four siblings were so close together, Zhao Mancang wouldn't have noticed them in the blink of an eye.

"You don't have to thank me. Are you selling these wild vegetables now?"

Zhao Mancang didn't want to get closer at first. Even though Hu Xiaocao recognized him and thanked him again, he didn't plan to squat down, but the system received their experience points at this time.

All four siblings got some, not much, 99 each, but multiplied by four that’s 396, quite a lot.

This is definitely a very powerful tool.

Zhao Mancang originally thought that his luck had run out, but he didn't expect to be lucky again today. That was indeed quite a surprise.

"Yes, big brother, do you want some wild vegetables? Take them back. These wild vegetables are very delicious."

Hu Xiaocao's eyes lit up and she immediately became enthusiastic.

Although she was still very young, she was very sensible and mature. She knew how to please Zhao Mancang and did not even suggest exchanging wild vegetables for food. Instead, she helped to tie them up and prepared to let Zhao Mancang carry them back by himself.

Although these were wild vegetables that the four siblings had collected after a busy day, this was already their limit.

"What happened to your sister?"

Zhao Mancang originally wanted to persuade the other party that he did not need these wild vegetables, but when he glanced at the Hu siblings, he found that her sister seemed to be injured.

It is indeed not easy for these four siblings. Zhao Mancang is happy to help them to the best of his ability. Especially now that he knows that they are qualified tools, he wants to help them even more.

"She fell down when we were picking wild onions yesterday. It's nothing serious."

Just as Hu Xiaocao was explaining, Zhao Mancang stepped forward and asked the little girl to show her calves. Under the kerosene lamp, her calves were severely bruised and purple, which showed that something was wrong.

"Where do you live now? I'll bring some plaster over later and apply it to your sister. Otherwise, she might become a cripple in the future."

As a doctor, Zhao Mancang could tell at a glance whether Hu Xiaohua's calf injury was serious or not.

The lame man's words were not meant to scare them. I believe that the older Hu Xiaocao would definitely understand.

Of course, even Hu Xiaohua, who was only five years old, heard it clearly, so she was very sad and wanted to cry, but she was strong enough not to cry.

Because they have lost their parents and have no one to rely on, and her elder sister Hu Xiaocao is very fierce, so how could she dare to cry?

"Big brother, there's no need to bother. My sister will be fine." Hu Xiaocao quickly waved her hand and refused: "Besides, we live far away from here, so there's no need to trouble you, big brother."

Compared to becoming a cripple, staying alive is obviously more important.

How old were the four siblings? They were four children, so being able to pick wild vegetables was already quite good. Besides, it was already early to mid-February, and the only places around the capital where wild vegetables could be found were probably near other people's vegetable gardens, right?

So, to be precise, these were not wild vegetables they picked, but rather they were stolen.

But they may not be able to survive and can't care about so many things. It's rare to see wild vegetables, so of course they take care of their own stomachs first.

In fact, this is true. They picked wild vegetables from the experimental plantation under the Agricultural University.

In other words, it was their first time doing this and they happened not to be discovered, otherwise Zhao Mancang would not have met them.

"Okay, then you wait for me, I'll be back soon." Zhao Mancang nodded without exposing Hu Xiaocao's lie.

Zhao Mancang guessed that the four siblings had no place to live. Maybe after their parents died, they were all wiped out?
Otherwise, they would not be left unattended and would instead run out to find food on their own.

"Then we will wait here for big brother, thank you big brother"

Hu Xiaocao knelt down excitedly. Seeing that her brother Hu Xiaoming did not move, she quickly forced him to kneel down and express her gratitude.

Her younger brother is still very young, probably just over two years old but less than three years old, so he doesn't understand much.

After leaving Pigeon City, Zhao Mancang's brain was racing, thinking about how to help the four siblings.

If they were allowed to drift like this, Zhao Mancang was sure that it wouldn't be long before the four siblings would all be gone.

In fact, Hu Xiaocao and her family were originally one of five siblings. Since their parents passed away, their family property was divided up by their uncle, even the house.

Their uncle himself had five children, so naturally he could not afford to support Hu Xiaocao and her five siblings.

So after pretending for a while, they sent Hu Xiaocao and her five siblings to an orphanage.

In the orphanage, it was even more difficult for Hu Xiaocao and her four siblings to survive. The youngest brother, who was only half a year old, died.

(End of this chapter)