In the 1970s, it started with contracting out communal dining.

In the early morning of early autumn, the temperature carried a slight chill.

The sky was still dimly lit, but the kitchen and canteen of Tianjin No. 1 Steel Plant were already brightly lit.

The flames in the coal stove leaped up, illuminating the whole room. On the steamers stacked several meters high, large white steamed buns were being steamed, each bearing the character for "happiness".

It looks very festive at first glance.

Chen Wei, Wu Xiaochun, Lin Jun, and several apprentices from the kitchen had arrived early.

They were all wearing short jackets with their cuffs tied tight, and everyone was wearing aprons. Their expressions were more serious than on any other day.

Because today is the big day of Deputy Factory Director Qian's daughter, they got up at dawn to start preparing a ten-table wedding banquet.

Those who will be present are all former leaders and colleagues from the factory, as well as neighbors of Deputy Factory Director Qian. It is an extremely important gathering.

Fortunately, Wu Xiaochun had already pre-ordered the ingredients, and he just had to wait until 3 a.m. to pull a cart to pick up the goods and come back.

Making the people at the state-run grocery store work overtime for no reason naturally warrants a bribe.

Wu Xiaochun tucked a few red envelopes into his waistband, intending to use them when he went out later.

By the time the first light of dawn appeared in the east, he had already delivered the ingredients back on time.

Several large baskets of ingredients were neatly stacked: the pork was fresh and rosy, the shank meat firm and well-formed. The cucumbers were emerald green and straight, and the tofu was freshly made, still steaming. The carp, as usual, had been caught in the reservoir in the suburbs and had been kept in large basins in the back; there was no need to buy them, so we won't discuss that for now.

The remaining seasonings and condiments were neatly arranged, one by one, which made Chen Wei nod in approval.

It's different when it's used by your own people.

If we had to ask the purchasing department to buy these ingredients, we'd end up owing them countless favors.

With everyone working together, they carried all the ingredients into the kitchen. Chen Wei then scanned the neatly arranged ingredients one by one, and began assigning tasks as if he were calling on his troops.

"Today's tasks are heavy, everyone needs to work extra hard!"

"Zhang Tieniu, you take Liu Dazhu and Wang Xiaoming and are in charge of all the cutting and preparation today."

"Lin Jun, you'll come with me to blanch the vegetables, prepare the ingredients, and serve them. Everything must be done strictly according to my instructions."

"Xiaochun, you just need to lend a hand from the side."

"clear!"

Everyone readily agreed and immediately began to work, each fulfilling their assigned role.

Chen Wei naturally had to do the cutting of meat and vegetables himself, since the apprentices weren't quite sure how to do it.

Let's start with the most difficult dish: sweet and sour carp.

Chen Wei's knife work was steady and powerful, his movements fluid and graceful. One by one, the carp were caught and placed on the cutting board, gutted, and then taken back to the tap. They were all rinsed clean and their inner membranes removed.

The carp was then placed back on Chen Wei's cutting board and abruptly cut into decorative shapes.

When you lift the carp upside down, it looks like a blooming peony. In fact, if you look closely now, you can see that Chen Wei's knife skills for this dish have improved even more than when he tasted it a few days ago.

Every cut reaches the fish bone without severing it, and the steps of marinating, coating with batter, and starching are executed flawlessly.

Next, he marinated the fish. While busy with his own work, he began to instruct Lin Jun to prepare the main ingredients for steamed pork with preserved mustard greens.

Put the whole piece of pork belly into the pot, add scallions, ginger, and cooking wine to blanch and remove the fishy smell. Then boil water in a new pot and put the pork pieces in to cook until done.

Finally, take it out and soak it in the cold well water; the skin will tighten instantly.

Next, heat oil in a wok and deep-fry the sweet and sour carp and pork belly together.

Chen Wei held an iron skewer in his hand, skewering large pieces of pork belly onto it and slowly frying them.

He then directed Lin Jun to finish preparing the braised chicken pieces and braised pork knuckle, while he himself prepared the spice packet later.

"Knock knock knock knock—"

"Knock knock knock knock—"

In the kitchen, all sorts of wonderful melodies intertwined.

By the time it was broad daylight, most of the ingredients needed had been prepared.

The beef shank has already been braised in the pot, with the spice packet slowly floating in the broth. The chicken pieces have also been prepared and are soaking in ice water, ready to be cooked.

Soak the shredded potatoes in water to prevent them from turning black, cut the cucumbers into thin strips, and cut the tofu into small cubes and soak them in well water as well.

There were also some freshly picked vegetables from the backyard, which had already been washed, drained, and set aside for later use.

In a large basin, rows of carp, fried to the point of leaping over the dragon gate, are arranged neatly and placed in a strainer to drain the oil.

The pig's trotters were already stewing with soybeans on the small clay stove, bubbling away.

A mysterious fragrance wafted through the air, permeating the dormitory-style buildings behind the steel mill.

Old Qian watched with tears in his eyes as his wife and several other people with five blessings shredded noodles for their daughter.

Several of his wife's sisters also came, sitting cross-legged around the bed, sewing red waistbands for their daughter.

He had tightly threaded strings of ten-yuan bills into his waistband; those were the fruits of Old Qian's life's work.

Now the sewn-in fabric is sewn into his daughter's waist, but he feels no pity at all. He just looks at his daughter's face and can't help but wipe his eyes.

Just then, a series of fragrant aromas wafted in from outside the window.

Someone in the crowd muttered something first.

"Wow! What's that smell? It smells so good!"

Old Qian turned his head and immediately realized that the aroma was definitely coming from the cafeteria's kitchen.

The aroma wafting from the kitchen somewhat eased his sorrow, and he remembered that as the host, he was responsible for entertaining guests.

So he quickly wiped his eyes and beckoned the group of men sitting outside to come with him to the kitchen for a treat.

Qian Degui led several veteran comrades into the kitchen, and they were immediately overwhelmed by the aroma. Then they saw the kitchen staff working frantically.

Qian Degui's face immediately lit up with a smile.

"Oh, Xiao Chen! You've worked so hard! Getting up in the middle of the night to prepare dinner, haven't you!"

"Not at all, Deputy Factory Director Qian! This is what we should do!"

Chen Wei smiled calmly and replied casually.

Then, she deftly arranged the carp one by one on the white porcelain plate, and after arranging them, she even used her skillful knife work to carve a radish flower and placed it on one side of the white porcelain plate.

That presentation instantly elevated the carp on the white porcelain plate to a whole new level.

Qian Degui nodded repeatedly as he watched, and quickly called the guests behind him to serve the celebratory noodles.

In Jinshi, wedding banquets serve wedding noodles for both breakfast and dinner. The noodles are simply a combination of various vegetables and a three-delicacy meat sauce. A large pot of noodles is cooked, and whoever comes can help themselves to the noodles.

It wasn't troublesome at all; the canteen had prepared everything in advance, soaking the noodles in well water until they were icy cold, just the right amount of chewy and delicious to eat.