1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 124 Sweet or Salty? A Battle Between Sects Where Only Tofu Pudding Remains! (6k-page Chapter)

When they left the watch counter, Zhou Yan and Comrade Lao Zhou were each wearing a Shanghai brand watch.

His shirt sleeves were rolled up, revealing a shiny steel watch strap on his wrist, making him a sight to behold wherever he went.

"This young man is so filial! He bought a watch for himself and also bought one for his father!"

"My son stole ten yuan from me yesterday! That little bastard, I'm going to hang him up and give him a good beating when I get home tonight!"

The customers at the counter looked on with envy.

"Hey, lady, can I take a look at that Shanghai watch too?" a balding man said.

The saleswoman rolled her eyes: "Seventy yuan each, not cheap. If you're not going to buy, don't try things on. I'm too lazy to clean them if you get them dirty."

Male: "Hey? You weren't like this just now..."

"I was in a good mood just now, but I'm not so good now, so this is my attitude."

"You little girl, you're no good."

……

When buying the watch, Mr. Zhou was very resistant and refused to give in. But now that he has the watch on his wrist, he can't help but turn it over to look at it. The usually serious man is now grinning from ear to ear, showing eight teeth. He's really happy inside.

“Look how happy your dad is. Every time we went to the supply and marketing cooperative before, he would stand in front of the watch cabinet for a while and say we should buy it for him, but he would say no. This watch of yours has really won him over.” Zhao Tieying said to Zhou Yan in a low voice with a smile on her face. “In all these years of slaughtering cattle, I have hardly had a good night’s sleep. I always feel uneasy when I don’t know the time, and I am afraid of making the master’s time too late.”

"The production tools should be in better condition, so he won't feel anxious sitting by the river," Zhou Yan said with a smile. No wonder Aunt Zhao, who is usually frugal, hadn't said a word just now; she had been thinking about buying a watch for her husband all along.

"Mom, is there anything you want?" Zhou Yan asked, looking at her again.

“I don’t want any, I have everything.” Zhao Tieying shook her head and said with a smile, “Sell two pieces of cloth and some new cotton wadding, and go back to Jia the tailor to make cotton-padded coats for the three of you. I think the cotton-padded coats he sells here are expensive, twenty or thirty yuan apiece, and the styles are not as nice as Jia’s, the stitches are sparse, and the cotton will leak out, so they won’t last long.”

“Okay, I’ll buy a few more, and get one for you too, so you can both have new clothes for winter.” Zhou Yan nodded with a smile.

Money is hard to earn these days, but ready-made clothes are indeed expensive. A woolen overcoat costs 120 yuan, which is equivalent to three months' wages for an average worker.

Machine-knitted sweaters are hung in the counter and priced at ten yuan.

Those who come to the department store to buy clothes are either from well-off families or fashionable young women who, for the sake of a compliment from their friends, grit their teeth and spend two or three months' salary to buy a beautiful wool coat, which they can wear for several years during holidays.

Most families would buy fabric and then make new clothes themselves, or buy yarn and knit sweaters themselves.

The sewing machine holds a prominent place among the "three turns and one sound" (referring to the sewing machine, ...

Aunt Zhao can knit sweaters, but she can't operate a sewing machine. She followed the old lady to learn for half a month, but was kicked out by the old lady. The old lady didn't speak to her for a week because she disliked her, so her family didn't buy a sewing machine.

For several years, the old lady made all the clothes for their family. Later, Aunt Zhao would buy fabric and cotton and go to town to find a tailor to make them. She would only need to pay him a small fee, which was better than buying ready-made clothes and she didn't have to bother the old lady.

Don't underestimate the tailors in town; they keep up with the times.

They would copy the popular clothing styles in the city and recreate them to a high degree of similarity, but at a price that was more than half the price of those in department stores.

If you want to have clothes made by a good tailor, you'll have to wait in line.

"Okay, I'll go take a look." Zhao Tieying handed Zhou Momo to Zhou Yan and rushed towards the fabric counter, which was crowded with women and was the noisiest place there.

Sichuan women never suffer losses, no matter what kind of salesperson you are. If you dare to curse me, I will curse you back. I'm not afraid of you.

Zhou Miao was about to follow when Zhou Yan stopped him and asked in a low voice, "Old man, do you know what my mother usually wants most?"

"What do you like?" Old Zhou scratched his head and glanced down at his leather shoes.

Zhou Yan laughed and said, "Leather shoes don't count. She came to the department store with you before, and she kept stopping at certain counters to look at things, but she just couldn't bring herself to buy anything."

Zhou Miao's eyes lit up: "Gold earrings!"

“Gold earrings.” Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan looked around and quickly found the gold jewelry counter surrounded by a group of women. He picked up Zhou Momo and squeezed over there: “Let’s go take a look.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Miao quickly followed.

It's true that women love gold jewelry, no matter the era.

The price of gold was 27.3 yuan per gram, which seemed much cheaper than the 800 yuan per gram in later years.

But now the salary is only thirty yuan, which is more expensive than in later generations.

Gold jewelry is definitely a luxury item in this era.
The earrings were relatively light. Zhou Yan bought a Shanghai watch for Old Zhou and a pair of gold earrings of similar price for Aunt Zhao, with a budget of less than 3 grams.

The counter was full of women. Zhou Yan and Old Zhou waited in line for a while before finally getting to the counter.

Behind the counter was a middle-aged female sales clerk, who was quite kind. Looking at Zhou Yan, who was holding a child, and Zhou Miao, who was wearing patched clothes, she asked with a smile, "Comrade, what kind of jewelry would you like to buy?"

"Sis, I'd like to pick out some earrings for my mom, around three grams each. Could you please recommend some?" Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"You're so filial, even buying your mom gold earrings." Men usually address sales clerks, but Zhou Yan, a handsome young man in his early twenties, touched the sales clerk's heart with his address of "sister." She smiled and said, "Take a look at these. The styles are simple and elegant, and the patterns are beautiful."

With the three pairs of earrings laid out together, Zhou Yan couldn't tell the difference, so he turned to Old Zhou and asked, "Old man, which one do you think you should choose?"

"Well, when your mother came last time, she stared at that one and this one looked very similar," Old Zhou said, pointing to the one in the middle.

"Sis, how much does this cost?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

The sales clerk picked up the tag hanging on the middle pair of earrings, glanced at it, and said, "These are Lao Feng Xiang earrings, weighing three grams, with a processing fee of 15 yuan, for a total of 96 yuan."

"Okay, I'll take this pair." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile and decisively bought them.

"Okay, I'll put them on for you." The sales clerk nodded with a smile, took a jewelry box, put the earrings in, and then gave him a receipt.

"Isn't it a bit expensive?" Old Zhou said in a low voice.

"It's not expensive. That's the price of gold. This stuff also holds its value," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

Old Zhou patted his pockets, looked around, and stuffed something into Zhou Yan's hand.

Zhou Yan looked down and saw two large unity bills wrapped around a stack of smaller denomination banknotes.

Before Zhou Yan could speak, Old Zhou explained, "Here's twenty-three yuan and eight jiao. I'll make up the rest for you next month when I get my salary. Consider these earrings my purchase. I haven't bought your mother any gold jewelry in all these years, so I can't let you snatch them first."

"Okay, then I won't argue with you." Zhou Yan accepted the two ten-yuan bills and handed the remaining change back to Old Zhou. "Keep the change, I'm too lazy to keep track."

Zhou Yan went to queue up, paid, and successfully got the gold earrings. He put the receipt into a brocade box and handed it to Old Zhou. "There are a lot of people. Give it to my mom after we leave the department store. She'll definitely be happy."

"Okay." Comrade Zhou put the box in the inner pocket close to his body, his expression a mixture of happiness and nervousness.

"Brother, do I have a gift?" Zhou Momo looked at Zhou Yan expectantly.

"Come on, let me take you for a walk and pick out a toy you want." Zhou Yan smiled and pinched the little guy's cheek as they walked towards the children's toy section.

"You're really generous! Buying me gold earrings!"

“Absolutely! My husband wouldn’t buy it for me. I saved up for half a year before I could afford a small pendant.”

As the three figures walked away, the women in front of the counter cast envious glances.

After looking around, Zhou Momo was overwhelmed by the choices, and finally chose a tin frog for three cents.

"Croak, croak~~" The little guy held the little frog, overjoyed, and gave Zhou Yan a big kiss on the cheek: "Brother, I will always be loyal to you!"

Zhou Yan was also amused.

Yeah, little girls are easier to coax.

A three-cent toy was enough to pledge allegiance.

Zhou Yan and his group went to the fabric stall, where Aunt Zhao had already packed up the fabric and cotton she wanted and was about to pay.

"I'll pay." Zhou Yan quickly stepped forward, shoved Zhou Momo into her hand, and took out the money to pay the bill.

Comrade Lao Zhou stepped forward and carried the two large bags of things that were tied with rope.

Aunt Zhao asked with a smile, "Where did you all go? Why didn't you come back for so long?"

“Um…that…” Comrade Zhou’s eyes darted away.

"I went to buy a little frog for Momo. I couldn't walk past the toy section." Zhou Yan paid and then took over the conversation with a smile.

"Hey, this is a toad that my boyfriend bought for me." Zhou Momo grinned as she proudly presented the little frog.

"Your husband is so good to you." Zhao Tieying smiled and playfully pinched her nose. He glanced at Zhou Yan's canvas shoes and said, "I'll buy you a new pair. The soles of these are almost worn through."

“Okay.” Zhou Yan nodded. He really needed to buy shoes; he ran every day and his shoes were wearing out quickly.

Aunt Zhao wanted to buy him a pair of leather shoes, but he refused and instead bought two pairs of rubber-soled liberation shoes for eight yuan, which were cheap and durable.

The Warrior sneakers in the counter cost ten yuan a pair. They are more fashionable than the Liberation Shoes, but they are also much more expensive.

"All you do is spend money on us. Young people should dress more presentably." Zhao Tieying shook her head as she watched Zhou Yan pay. She glanced at the black leather jacket hanging in the counter next to her, priced at over a hundred yuan, and muttered to herself, "Get him a leather jacket for the New Year. I think he'll look more dashing in it than that young man at noon."

Zhou Yan brought over the shoes and said with a smile, "We don't need to buy anything, so let's go out. There are too many people, it's too crowded."

As everyone emerged from the department store, a thin layer of sweat appeared on their foreheads.

Just then, a breeze blew by, and I immediately felt cool.

"There are too many people. City people are still willing to spend money. They're scrambling to buy such expensive things," Zhao Tieying said with a smile.

“They’re not all city dwellers; there are also people like us who come to the city to spend money,” Zhou Miao added.

Zhou Yan and Zhao Tieying both laughed when they heard this; the bent-legged pole was a self-deprecating term used by farmers.

Zhou Momo didn't understand what they were laughing at, but as a fan, she immediately joined in the laughter.

Today, when we went to town to buy supplies, Zhou Yan still had the two backpacks hanging on the back of his seat. He lined them with a clean urea bag, put cotton wool and fabric inside, and they were almost full.

This amount of fabric is enough to make four sets of cotton-padded coats and four pairs of trousers, costing a total of 26.6 yuan, which isn't even enough to buy a proper Zhongshan suit at a department store.

For everyday life, you still have to rely on Aunt Zhao.

Zhou Yan calculated that this trip to the department store cost 270.9 yuan.

That's quite a big purchase.

The weather is getting colder every day, and having a tailor make clothes means waiting for the production line—it's a necessary expense. Over there, Old Zhou has already taken the jewelry box out of his pocket and handed it to Aunt Zhao.

"What?" Aunt Zhao took it without thinking. She paused for a moment when she saw the three characters "Lao Feng Xiang" on it, then opened it. Her eyes lit up when she saw the golden light. She exclaimed in surprise, "Gold earrings!"

She looked at the earrings in the box, then at the father and son, still somewhat incredulous: "Bought them?"

"The receipts are all here, it can't be stolen," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "My old man used an advance of his salary to buy it for you. He said you always stop to look at it every time you come here. I haven't bought you any gold jewelry all these years, so I had to arrange it for you today."

"Yes!" Comrade Zhou nodded, smiling somewhat shyly.

"So expensive, why buy it..." Aunt Zhao muttered, reaching out to pick up the earrings and examining them in her palm, her eyes sparkling. "Beautiful! Even more beautiful than the pair I saw last year."

“My old man’s judgment is still spot on. He said you’d definitely like this pair,” Zhou Yan said.

“Sanshui…” Aunt Zhao looked up at Comrade Zhou, her eyes already a little moist.

"It's a bit small, I'll buy you a bigger one next time," Old Zhou said with a slightly embarrassed smile, his hands tucked into his pockets.

“That’s big enough!” Aunt Zhao laughed, and gently punched Old Zhou’s chest. “One pair is enough. Do I have two more pairs of ears? Why buy so many?”

"Hehe." Old Zhou chuckled foolishly.

"You take it, I'll put it on, so I don't lose it." Aunt Zhao handed the box to Comrade Zhou, walked to the window of the department store next to her, and put on the gold earrings while looking out the window.

She also re-tied her hair, which was covering her ears, revealing her ears and sparkly gold earrings.

"Is it pretty?" Aunt Zhao asked Comrade Zhou when she returned.

"Beautiful!" Comrade Zhou nodded. "The earrings are beautiful, but the person is even more beautiful."

"You have excellent taste." Aunt Zhao's smile grew even brighter.

“Mommy’s new earrings look so good!” Zhou Momo clapped her hands as she sat on the front bar.

Zhou Yan's lips also curled up slightly; the love of her parents' generation was simple yet sweet.

In the bustling shopping mall, one subconsciously loses track of time. He glanced at his watch and saw it was already four o'clock. He had been shopping in the mall for more than two hours.

“Come on, it’s a rare trip, let’s wander around the city.” Aunt Zhao sat on the back of the bicycle, put her arm around Old Zhou’s waist, and said with a smile.

Zhou Yan replied, "Let's take a walk around, have dinner, and then go back. There's nothing at home."

Aunt Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go to Jiaozhou Port later. It used to be called Yingchunmen Wharf. It's very lively there. Dongda Street, Jiaochangba Street, and Banchang Street are all very bustling. There are food stalls everywhere. There are many restaurants and many vendors. Speaking of which, I want to eat Emei tofu pudding."

"Tofu pudding!" Zhou Momo's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "I want to eat sweet tofu pudding too!"

“Let’s go then, let’s go to East Street, we can eat and stroll around.” Zhou Yan nodded. He knew that place well too. It was lively now, and it would be even more lively forty years from now.

Comrade Lao Zhou led the way, with Zhou Yan following behind.

On the way, they passed the Jiaozhou People's Cinema. Zhou Momo tilted her head and looked at it for a while, then asked curiously, "Guoguo, who is that pretty lady in the photo? She's so beautiful!"

“That is…” Zhou Yan looked at the somewhat blurry poster on the wall, unable to recall the name for a moment.

"Those are celebrities. The pretty one on the left is Gong Xue, and the handsome guy next to her with thick eyebrows and big eyes is Zhu Shimao," Aunt Zhao chimed in with a smile.

Zhou Yan immediately remembered.

Oh, it's Old Xu!
It's clear that Aunt Zhao is quite fond of Lao Xu's looks.

“Next time we have time, our family will come to see a movie,” Zhou Yan said.

Aunt Zhao shook her head: "You have to pay to watch movies at the cinema. But we show movies in the open every month in town. You can just bring a stool and go. It's free and lively."

The family chatted and laughed as they arrived at East Street.

There were indeed many people, and many tricycles were parked on the roadside, all belonging to vendors.

The noodle vendor had a large pot set up, the sweet-skinned duck vendor had a row of bright red ducks hanging from a pole, and there were also vendors selling candied hawthorn, fried skewers, pot-boiled chicken, shumai...

I rode along the way and was dazzled by all the sights; I couldn't possibly take it all in.

Zhou Yan looked down at the water droplets on his leg, reached out and gently lifted Zhou Momo's chin to close her mouth: "Stop drooling, you're dripping all over my leg."

"Slurp..." Zhou Momo swallowed, turned around and looked at him in a childish and coquettish voice: "Brother, I'm hungry."

"This one!" Aunt Zhao tugged at Old Zhou's clothes, and the bicycle stopped in front of a stall with a sign that read "Ganji Emei Tofu Pudding".

The owners are a middle-aged couple. When they saw customers coming in, the wife immediately put on a smile and said, "Want some tofu pudding? Sit here."

Zhou Yan also stopped his bicycle, put Zhou Momo down, and glanced at the "Zhao Ji Niu Hua Tofu Pudding" shop next door.

Besides a large pot of thickened sauce, the tofu pudding stall also has three rows of small steamers next to it, filled with steamed pork intestines and beef, which serve as toppings for the tofu pudding.

Toppings and tofu pudding—listen to that, what an unusual combination!

Tofu pudding.

Elsewhere, the sweet and savory factions are usually locked in a fierce battle.

Jiaozhou is a different place.

This forum doesn't participate in the sweet vs. savory debate, but it does have its own factions: the Emei School, the Niuhua School, the Jiajiang School, the Qianwei School, and so on...

They fought fiercely for the title of the best in the world.

Of course, if you say you only like tofu pudding with white sugar.

That would make them vulnerable to being besieged by the six major sects.

Jiaozhou's tofu pudding is a bit different from that of other places. It is more accurate to call it starch-based tofu pudding than tofu pudding.

The tofu pudding made up less than half of the bowl, serving as a garnish in the porridge.

The different factions added different ingredients and each had its own strengths, which led to factional disputes.

The Emei School is famous for its egg-infused tofu pudding.

Niu Hua likes to use sweet potato starch as a base, or add mushy tofu pudding, and then scoop a spoonful of braised beef broth and beef on top, making the flavor even richer and more fragrant.

Jiajiang style simplifies the process, with a base of thick tofu pudding, topped with fried peanuts, crispy fried dough sticks, steamed beef, and pork intestines. The ingredients are plentiful and varied, ensuring that every bite is packed with flavor.

When Zhou Yan was a food blogger, he visited Jiaozhou countless times. Apart from Chengdu, it was the place he knew best in Sichuan. He could talk about the food in it with great expertise.

Being a food blogger isn't easy; just having appealing eating habits isn't enough, the field is too competitive.

Although Zhou Yan's success is attributed to 30% professional skills, 70% luck, and 90% good looks.

But they still put in a lot of hard work to get those three majors into their studies.

Next door to the next door, there's a "Liu's Jiajiang Tofu Pudding" shop.

Enemy!

The strongest members of each sect are never afraid of competition; they always want to gather together and compete to see who is the best.

Clearly, Aunt Zhao is a staunch supporter of the Emei School.

However, she was unaware that in this family, her eldest son had already developed ulterior motives and joined the Niu Hua faction next door.

"I'd like a bowl of egg drop soup with tofu pudding, with steamed beef with rice flour." Aunt Zhao sat down first, ordered from the owner, and then looked at the three of them, asking, "What toppings would you like?"

"I want to eat the tofu pudding from Niuhua next door." Zhou Yan didn't sit down, but pointed to the next door.

"Hmm?" Aunt Zhao was somewhat surprised.

The owner of Ganji's sharp gaze immediately pierced over, carrying a hint of menacing murderous intent.

The proprietress of Zhao's Restaurant next door put on a big smile and said warmly, "Handsome guy, would you like a bowl of tofu pudding? What toppings would you like?"

"Add a serving of steamed pork intestines and a serving of steamed beef, a little spicy," Zhou Yan ordered decisively, then sat down contentedly across from Aunt Zhao.

This is the furthest distance at a table; factional disputes have always been like this.

"And you? Could it be that you also have ulterior motives?" Aunt Zhao raised an eyebrow, looking at Comrade Zhou who hadn't sat down yet.

Comrade Zhou hesitated and said, "I want to try Jiajiang tofu pudding. I haven't had it in a long time. The last time was three years ago."

Zhou Yan's eyebrows twitched. Good heavens, one family, three factions, won't they start fighting while they're eating?

"Go where you want to go." Aunt Zhao waved her hand, but didn't say anything. The gold earrings were still warm.

Comrade Zhou happily went next door and ordered a bowl of Jiajiang tofu pudding, then carefully sat down opposite Aunt Zhao.

"And you? What would you like to eat?" Aunt Zhao asked Zhou Momo.

"I want to eat sweet tofu pudding," Zhou Momo said.

After hearing this, the proprietress shook her head and said, "Then go buy it next door. We don't have sweet tofu pudding here."

"We don't have any either," the proprietress next door shook her head in agreement.

Zhou Momo pouted, her big eyes immediately welling up with tears as she stared at the boss and his wife.

The shopkeeper couldn't stand it any longer and quickly waved his hand, saying, "Yes, yes, yes! Don't cry, sweetie. I'll add some sugar for you, and I'll add more tofu pudding too. It's delicious. My granddaughter also loves sweet tofu pudding."

The proprietress was amused and tacitly approved of her husband's unconventional way of making tofu pudding.

There's nothing we can do; this little one is just so adorable.

Zhou Momo smiled and said sweetly, "Thank you, Uncle! Thank you, Auntie!"

"You're welcome, you're welcome." The shopkeeper's smile widened, and he even added an extra spoonful of sugar.

Zhou Yan silently turned her face away, thinking through all the saddest things in her life, and barely managed to suppress the corners of her mouth.

Goodness, this seemingly harmonious family couldn't even finish a single bowl of tofu pudding.

Aunt Zhao's Emei-style egg-infused tofu pudding was served first.
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(End of this chapter)