1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 69 A Man Who Was Always Strong!

Zhou Yan held the painting and looked at it for a long time, until a small head popped out from under the painting, tilted its head up, and asked with a smile, "Brother, what did Sister Yao Yao say in her letter? Did she mention Mo Mo?"

Aunt Zhao poked her head out of the restaurant, looking equally gossipy.

"Yes, she told me to say hello to you and Aunt Zhao," Zhou Yan said with a smile, reaching out to lift Zhou Momo up and place her on his lap. He then put away the two sheets of paper and showed Zhou Momo the drawing: "Hey, this is a sunset drawn by Sister Yaoyao, isn't it beautiful?"

Zhou Momo's eyes sparkled as she nodded, "Beautiful! So pretty! Sister Yaoyao is so amazing!"

"Let me see." Aunt Zhao also came over, stared at the painting for a while, and exclaimed, "It's so beautiful! Xia Yao is truly talented, no wonder she's a college student!"

Zhao Niangniang's admiration for college students reached its peak at this moment.

Zhou Yan took the painting back to the shop, found two pieces of wood, carefully clamped it between the boards, and placed it on the second floor.

The envelope was too small, and the painting was folded in several places. He wanted to smooth out the creases first, and then find a box to store it.

Oh, and we also need to hang a lock to keep out the mischievous kids.

He didn't understand what it meant before: In the past, carriages and horses traveled slowly, and letters took a long time to arrive...

Now he understands a little.

This is much more pleasant than a WeChat message that pops up in the middle of the night saying, "Brother, are you free tonight? I can have ice cream today."

After coming downstairs, Zhou Yan thought about how to reply to Xia Yao.

A lot has happened at the store these days, and there's a lot I can share with her.

But when he thought of her fresh and elegant writing style, he was a little confused.

The last time he wrote a letter was probably in a primary school essay.
How should I write my opening remarks to match the phrase: "Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person; opening this letter brings a smile to my face"?
Xia Yao: Hello?

Zhou Yan scratched his head.

When the book is used, it will be less regretful.

A man who strives for excellence throughout his life must never lose to a woman in writing!

Even a simple letter for everyday communication must be given the appropriate level of intensity!
If he writes poorly, it's not just his face that's being lost, but the face of the Chinese teacher.

"I've put the envelope, letter paper, and stamps on them all for you. Remember to write back when you have time." Aunt Zhao suddenly appeared and stuffed a bunch of things into his hands.

"Huh?" Zhou Yan looked at the thing in his hand, not expecting that Aunt Zhao was even more anxious than he was.

However, he did need this, and nodded with a smile, "Okay."

If you can't write it, just leave it for now and write it later when it's dark and quiet at night.

With the spice list written for her by the old lady Zhang Shufen tucked in her pocket, Zhou Yan pushed her bicycle out to go shopping.

These past few days, the restaurant has been serving braised and stir-fried dishes, keeping me so busy that I've neglected to prepare the braising liquid.

The old lady promised to teach him how to make and maintain brine, so it's time to move forward with that.

If he can't get his hands on the old brine, he'll make his own pot.

The old lady was right; you have to raise your own brine to get the right flavor, and then you'll know how to cherish it more.

To make braised dishes, you first need a large braising pot.

Iron pots won't work; they rust easily, causing the braising liquid to turn black, and a pot of braising liquid will be ruined in just a few days.

Stainless steel pots would be suitable, but unfortunately they're nowhere to be found now, so aluminum pots are the best choice.

Back then, aluminum pots weren't universally hated, and every household used them.

When Zhou Yan was renting a room in Chengdu, his landlady's 98-year-old mother cooked rice and soup in an aluminum pot every day. It was a small Yu Niao brand aluminum pot from 1982, which was kept shiny and well-maintained.

Zhou Yan first went to buy all the spices, spending eight yuan and twenty cents. Fearing that it might not be enough in one go, he bought a little extra as a backup.

Anyway, during the braising process, you have to keep adding spices to the braising liquid to ensure the flavor is good.

I rode my bike to the dock to find Zhou Jie. He has many connections and knows a lot of people, so maybe I can find him a big and cheap aluminum pot.

It was past lunchtime, but there were still two or three customers scattered around the stall eating braised beef.

Zhou Hai squatted to the side washing dishes, while Zhou Jie stood behind the stove counting money.

"Brother Jie, Brother Hai." Zhou Yan stopped the car and greeted them.

"Zhou Yan, you're here." Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai both stopped what they were doing and greeted him with smiles.

"Looks like business is good today," Zhou Yan said, looking at the two of them.

Zhou Jie nodded: "I'll listen to you. Business is really good. We sold more than seventy bowls at noon today, and almost everyone ordered the six-cent portion." "Everyone who ate it praised the soup for its freshness, the tender beef, and the fragrant offal." Zhou Hai added with a simple smile.

"That's good." Zhou Yan nodded, then told Zhou Jie the purpose of his visit.

Zhou Jie pondered for a moment and said, "As for large aluminum pots, you probably can't buy them at the supply and marketing cooperative. I'll take you to ask Lao Qian again. He can always get some good stuff from him, but the price will be a bit higher."

"Let's go take a look first, and then we'll discuss the price if we find something suitable," Zhou Yan said.

Zhou Jie took Zhou Yan to the black market and found Lao Qian, who had bought the big iron pot last time. After some haggling, they got an aluminum pot with a diameter of sixty for eighteen yuan.

The jade bird brand is very solid, but it has been sitting for over a year and has a layer of dust on the surface, which can be wiped clean and makes it shiny again.

A small aluminum pot for home use costs just over two yuan at the supply and marketing cooperative if you have a receipt.

These large-diameter commercial boilers are usually only purchased by company canteens. They are made with high-quality materials and can boil 140 liters of water at a time, or stew 70 jin (35 kg) of meat.

Even if you go all the way to Jiaozhou, you might not be able to buy this. Zhou Yan gritted his teeth and bought it even though it was a bit expensive.

When doing business, you have to think long-term.

There are many kinds of braised food: braised duck parts, braised chicken parts, braised goose, braised pig's trotters, braised pig's head, braised beef, braised meat...

Vegetables can also be braised, such as lotus root, bamboo shoots, bean curd sheets, and dried bean curd...

Both can be expanded.

Even if we only sell a few items, if they sell well, we won't mind selling a hundred pounds.

If you buy a pot that's too small, you'll not only have to replace the pot later, but also the matching stove and other appliances.

Zhou Yan tied the pot to the back of his bicycle and, on his way back, found a bricklayer and asked him to come and build a special earthen stove according to the pot's dimensions.

He also considered using a honeycomb briquette stove, which would save money and time, but he gave up on it because the firepower was difficult to control.

This place cost 36.2 yuan in one go, not even counting the bones and free-range chickens needed to make the braising liquid.

Starting a braised food business requires a significant initial investment.

In times of scarcity, crops grown in the fields were worthless, but industrial products were expensive.

Question Xiao Zhou, understand Xiao Zhou, become Xiao Zhou.

"Are you really going to make braised food? Did your grandma agree to give you her braising liquid?" Aunt Zhao asked Zhou Yan as she watched the bricklayer build the stove.

"The old lady wouldn't give me the old brine, but she promised to teach me how to make brine, how to maintain it, and how to braise beef," Zhou Yan replied casually as he helped move bricks to meet the deadline.

With a touch of emotion, Aunt Zhao said, "Your grandma's braised food is the best in Suzhou. Even state-run restaurants can't match the taste. A couple of years ago, when she was at the market, more than one person came to ask if she still sold braised beef and braised pig's head. If you could learn how to make it, you would definitely have a lot of customers."

"Are you talking about Aunt Zhang who used to sell braised beef and braised pig's head under the tree at the stone bridge?" Master Zhang, the bricklayer, stopped what he was doing, turned around and asked with a smile.

"Yes, that's my mother." Zhao Tieying nodded with a smile. "Master Zhang has eaten there too?"

In Sichuan and Chongqing, artisans and craftsmen are usually addressed by their surname followed by the character "shi" (師), which is both friendly and respectful.

“When I was a young man, my father would take me to buy her braised pig's head and braised beef offal every few days to go with my drinks. The taste was so good, I still remember it to this day.” Zhang Shi smacked his lips, with a nostalgic expression. “Especially the braised pig's ears, they were soft and chewy with a bit of cartilage, and the braised aroma was rich. The taste was simply amazing, and my mouth waters just thinking about it.”

"Master, is it really that delicious?" the disciple asked, swallowing hard.

"You know nothing! Back then, Zhang Ji's braised food was incredibly famous. Not only people from Suzhou, but also from Jiaozhou would come specifically to buy it to eat. Restaurants in Jiaozhou even came to buy it directly to resell. Business was booming." Master Zhang smiled, then looked at Zhao Tieying and Zhou Yan and asked, "Why did you stop selling it later? Aren't individual businesses allowed now?"

“My mother is seventy-five years old. She’s too old and doesn’t have the energy to do all this,” Zhao Tieying said with a smile.

There was another reason, actually. Her sons had all grown up and started their own families, so she no longer needed to sell braised food to support them.

As for Zhou Weiguo, his disability allowance is very high, so he is not actually short of money.

The old lady's worries about him getting married are not something that selling braised food can solve.

Zhou Yan persuaded him to accept the work assignment, saying that once the work was settled, the matter would probably be resolved quickly.

Zhou Yan listened with some emotion, feeling that the old lady was exaggerating a bit.

But when the bricklayer told me about it, it felt different. His grandmother was indeed a big hit in the braised food industry back in the day.

How many people in Suzhou still savor the taste memories of their childhood so vividly that Master Zhang is still reminiscing about them at the age of forty?
This braised food.

Sell!

……

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(End of this chapter)