The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 42 Books are the ladder for human relationships

The chubby team leader pulled Qian Jin over and asked tentatively, "Which leader of the Commercial Bureau are you from..."

Qian Jin chuckled softly, "You're overthinking it. I do have a good recipe book on hand."

"It was collected at great expense by someone, and then I asked someone to make a copy."

"Aren't you bothered by the recipe book? How about this? I'll give you this recipe book, and you don't have to bother with it. Just use the ready-made ones!"

The team leader immediately responded with a "Hi".

He sneered and said, "What's the use of this? Do you think I don't even have a recipe at home?"

"Team leader, please don't jump to conclusions yet. How about taking a look at this recipe book that I have collected at home?" Qian Jin said.

"If it works, wouldn't it make you feel lighter?"

The team leader pondered with his greasy forehead.

Yes, it doesn’t hurt to take a look at the recipe!

In case there are any new dishes in this recipe that you have not learned, you can research them yourself.

When the Commerce Bureau holds an inspection meeting, you can just put the dishes up and give yourself a chance to show off, right?
Qian Jin asked the team leader to arrange seats for everyone, Xu Weidong greeted the guests, and he rode Cheng Hua's bicycle home quickly.

The backwardness of urban development and the small urban area also have their advantages. As long as you are in the main city, it is convenient to go anywhere. It only takes him ten minutes to ride his bike home from the State-owned Second Hotel.

Go upstairs quickly.

Qian Jin found the golden box and went into the mall to find a handwritten cookbook, "500 Handwritten Recipes - Food Recipe Notes".

Of course, although it is nominally 'handwritten', it is actually printed.

The only difference is that the handwriting and traces were arranged in a handwritten style, the edges of the paper were deliberately made to look worm-eaten, and the ink was of varying shades, making it look like it was copied by hand.

There are no photos in this kind of recipe, it's all text records.

The price is very cheap, a large book as thick as a small dictionary costs only 18 yuan.

Qian Jin immediately checked the item for signs of age after purchasing it.

He tore off the title page and the last page, glanced through them and found nothing wrong with them, then rubbed them hard to make them look old, stuffed them into his bag and hurried out.

But after thinking about it, he came back to write:

Save for the revolution, and dedicate cooking skills to the people!
He was right to be in a hurry, as the team leader had been waiting for him.

This is a very down-to-earth comrade.

He stood at the door, tilting his big round head and looking in the direction he came from.

Looking forward to it.

Qian Jin took a quick look.

The old saying is so true.

Big head and thick neck——

He handed the recipe to the team leader.

After flipping through the recipe, the team leader's face was covered in excitement. "Great, comrade. Where did you get these recipes?"

"What a complete selection of dishes! Your ancestors must have worked in the imperial kitchen, right?"

The team leader's stubby fingers flipped through the papers and pointed:

"All eight major cuisines are here! There's also Northeastern cuisine, Henan cuisine, local cuisine, Hakka cuisine, and hey, ethnic minority cuisine?"

"Let me take a closer look. Is this the plating secret for the Manchu-Han Banquet? And the sweet and sour ratio for the state banquet squirrel fish?"

"My master never taught me this 'three no-stick' secret technique, but you actually have it here! The egg yolk, starch, and sugar are combined at 7.32 cents, and the heat should be three degrees of gentleness and four degrees of hardness..."

Qian Jin asked, "How is it? With this recipe book, you don't have to scratch your head anymore, right? Can you get back to your job?"

The team leader clapped his hands excitedly:

"That's fantastic! I've always wanted to find a proper cookbook like this, but I went to every Xinhua Bookstore in town and found nothing but revolutionary books."

"Our pots and pans have nothing to do with the revolution, and there are no books about us!"

The team leader opened the menu again with great interest and said, "It's a pity that I don't recognize many of the words in it."

"No wonder the country is promoting simplified Chinese characters. For an illiterate person like me who never went to school in the old society, learning modern characters is still too difficult!"

I was lucky to make money in this area.

The second simplified Chinese character policy will be implemented soon.

In May this year, the Chinese Character Reform Commission submitted a "Request Report on the Second Scheme for the Simplification of Chinese Characters (Draft)" to the State Council.

Then in recent months, there have been rumors in the newspapers, some saying that the use of simplified Chinese characters will be officially implemented in December this year.

Once the second simplified Chinese characters were implemented, people basically didn't dare to bring books from the mall anymore.

Fortunately, the simplified Chinese characters currently used are from the 56 edition, which are almost the same as the Chinese characters used in the 21st century.

Seeing the team leader adoring the recipe, Qian Jin didn't dare to get complacent and remained cautious:

"Comrade, this recipe is a treasure I've worked so hard to obtain. I'm not giving it to you. You must copy down all the ingredients and return them to me!"

The team leader only needed the recipe itself, no books, and immediately patted his chest:
"Don't worry, comrade. I'll immediately find my apprentice to start copying it and try to get it back to you within a day!"

Qian Jin said, "So you have to cook now?"

"What are you guys eating? It's my treat today, buddy!" the team leader said cheerfully.

Qian Jin pointed him to the northwest corner of the hall and said, "There are more than a dozen people over there, all of them are my people!"

The team leader raised his big head and showed his double chin: "What? Do you look down on your old buddies?"

"At worst, I can just give you a month's salary. You're such a generous person. You gave me such a valuable and complete recipe book. How can I be stingy?"

"I started learning cooking in 51, and for the first three years I gave all my salary to my master!"

Qian Jin quickly changed his words and called him "brother".

The food expenses for more than a dozen people are not a small amount, especially since the members are very hungry after traveling all the way today.

Qian Jin explained the situation to the chef Guan Dabao.

Guan Dabao patted his chest again, and it looked like mountains and hills:
"Are our farmer brothers here to save you? You are so simple and honest. Then this meal should be paid for by me!" Qian Jin still insisted on paying a bill.

A serving of braised pork and a piece of pork elbow.

He ordered these two dishes for Section Chief Lin and his group, and asked Guan Dabao to cook for their table first.

This is the real purpose of his painstaking efforts to send out the recipe!

After ordering the food and paying, he returned to the table and apologized repeatedly, saying that he had something urgent to do.

The members didn't care. They were still watching with curiosity, preparing to brag about it when they got home.

Liu Youyu told Qian Jin what he saw: "Oh my god! You know, braised sea cucumber with scallions for 3.2 yuan, this restaurant is really ruthless!"

Others came forward to join the discussion:

"Sea cucumbers are also precious items in our fishing community. It's not surprising that they're expensive. Look at that dried tofu with hot peppers. It's only 80 cents!"

"Five cents more for pickled cabbage. That's murder!"

"The fried pork slices look pretty good, one yuan a piece. I think the meat is quite fatty, so it must be delicious!"

Liu Wangcai whispered to Qian Jin, "Just eat anything. We actually brought some food with us."

He opened his bag and found golden tortillas inside.
“This year’s steamed cornmeal is so delicious!”

Qian Jin patted the back of his rough hand, signaling him not to worry.

The waiter came over and handed the money into the menu book.

The cover was stained with grease, and the golden letters on it, "Supreme Instructions: Practice Strict Economy," had been worn away to the point of being mottled.

"Comrades, the host is here to order some food, shall we?"

Qian Jin said, "Your team leader will treat me, go ask him."

When the waiter heard this, he was immediately surprised and suspicious.

Zhao Bo, Tian Gang and others looked at each other in confusion.

The waiter left in a hurry and went to the kitchen.

The main dishes were served quickly, and the Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative was served first.

The restaurant's signature dishes are all prepared as semi-finished products. Whether it's braised pork or pork elbow, they are all stewed until mushy in advance. When someone orders a dish, it is processed again, so the serving speed is actually quite fast.

Section Chief Lin was surprised to see the braised pork and pork elbow served.

The waiter pointed in Qian Jin's direction and said a few words.

Seeing this, Qian Jin pulled Cheng Hua and Xu Weidong:

"Can you please borrow the hotel's phone? Can you call someone you know and ask who is Section Chief Lin at our Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative?"

This was an easy task for the security guards.

Cheng Hua introduced himself to the waiter and said that he had a business call. He asked his colleagues in the street where the Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative was located and then came back to whisper to Qian Jin.

At this time, they also started serving the dishes.

The first thing served was the cold dishes.

The evenly sliced ​​pork head meat was placed tremblingly on the porcelain plate. The old captain dipped the tip of his chopsticks in the marinade and sipped it: "It's different from the ones we have at home."

"When can we eat pig's head at home?" a member of the cooperative challenged him.

Qian Jin greeted: "Eat, eat."

Liu Youguang quietly asked him, "I saw on the blackboard that this pound of pork head meat requires a pound of meat coupons, right?"

Qian Jin nodded.

A man named Liu Xingguo said with a wry smile, "My whole family can't even afford a pound of meat coupons."

Roasted chicken, braised pork shank, pork belly with garlic paste, braised pork liver, shredded pork heart...

In duplicate.

The members were dazzled but their chopsticks did not stop flying, and the clacking sounds were crisp and clear.

Section Chief Lin came over with a glass of wine:

"Comrade Qian Jin? Excuse me, have we met before?"

Qian Jin smiled calmly and said:

"I met you when I visited your company. I was in your Comprehensive Coordination Section. Oh, I was once awarded the city's Advanced Individual title."

These days it is very common for employees from different units to visit and learn from each other.

Especially when it comes to models and advanced things, I visit them all year round and give reports from time to time.

When Section Chief Lin saw that he knew his identity, he no longer suspected him and said:

"Is this the meeting for advanced individuals to report on their achievements during the flood relief efforts in July? You look familiar to me."

"Thank you so much today. To be honest, I almost lost face in front of my colleagues from another unit. I have to toast you a glass."

Qian Jin clinked glasses with him and introduced Cheng Hua, Liu Wangcai and others.

When it was Section Chief Lin's turn to be introduced, he told him the information Cheng Hua had just given him:
"This is the head of the General Management Section of our Supply and Marketing Cooperative, the famous Section Chief Lin Hai."

"He was a model worker in the city and a celebrity in the supply and marketing system. He was the role model we followed!"

Hearing this, Zhang Aijun stood up and saluted.

He treated the city leader the same as the chief minister.

Lin Hai smiled and patted his shoulder, then toasted the remaining half glass of wine to everyone at the table, and then shook hands with Qian Jin and said goodbye.

The leader's toast made Liu Wangcai and his group so excited that their fingers left white marks on their patched pants.

Qian Jin breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a temporary assault but the goal was achieved, and now we have established a relationship with the people from the Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative!
The old saying is still true.

Books are the ladder for human beings to build relationships!

(End of this chapter)