Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 443 Unexpected Letter
The salary that hasn't been received yet is divided up cleanly and no one is unhappy, which is good enough.

Problems that can be solved with money are never problems. The bigger problem ordinary people face is often lack of money!
Tang Zhitong went out to smoke a cigarette, and with the help of moonlight, he took a shovel and used the tool to spread the ash and soil on the top of the cellar while using the shovel to lift the soil up.

"Why are you doing this so late at night?" Student Xiao Wang heard the noise and came out to take a look.

"I have nothing to do anyway, so I might as well lay down a layer first to prevent it from freezing again when the temperature drops." Tang Zhitong made up an excuse. Isn't the reason he works so late at night just to spread the dust so as not to attract attention?
"Then I'll go with you." After hearing this, Xiao Wang felt that it made sense and immediately walked down the stairs.

"No need, I can do this kind of rough work. Otherwise, you can go back to the house and add some firewood to the stove, and I'll spread a layer of soil and go back." Tang Zhitong stopped and pushed Xiao Wang towards the wing room. There was a difference in color between the ash and cement, and he was afraid that Xiao Wang would find out something.

After laying a layer and throwing down the shovel, Tang Zhitong returned to the side room and fried a pot of pine nuts.

Firstly, we can't let Xiao Wang go to his friends to buy a jar without any reason. Secondly, when we deliver dumplings to Chunshu Hutong tomorrow, we can also take some with us.

I have only been eating according to the prescribed amount for a few days and I have already found that I am not full. My mother-in-law and her family have been eating according to the prescribed amount for a while, so I took some pine nuts to supplement their nutrition.

The next morning, the temperature rose slightly.

After breakfast, Xiao Wang took a bag of pine nuts and hurried out to find his connections to buy a jar.

Zhang Guifang chopped cabbage while Tang Zhitong led her two younger sisters to do some work, mainly spreading the remaining soil on the top of the cellar.

Tang Zhitong and Feng Zhen were responsible for spreading the soil, while Feng Zhi was responsible for mixing it.

During this period, Tang Zhitong also mixed the ashes accumulated from the recent fire in the wing into the soil.

Whether it is grass or trees, the ashes after burning are good things. They can be used to fertilize the soil, wrapped in menstrual cloth for adsorption, or used to make pig pancreas.

Pig pancreas is a general term used by the people to refer to an ancient type of soap. Because it is mostly made from pig's pancreas and wood ash, it is called pig pancreas.

The ancestor of pig pancreas should be something called "bath beans". The medicine saint Sun Simiao once recorded the method of making bath beans in "Qianjin Yaofang".

Wash the blood from the pig's pancreas, remove the fat and grind it into a paste. Add soy powder, spices, etc., mix them evenly, and let them dry naturally to become bath beans, which can be used for washing.

Today's pig pancreas simply replaces soybean powder with wood ash, and the craftsmanship and shape have changed, but the function is the same as its ancestor.

Pig pancreas is used by many people because it is cheaper than soap and has strong vitality, especially in rural areas, where it accounts for a large share of the market.

Given its widespread popularity, decades later, some people still call soap "pancreas" instead of "soap".

With Fengzhen's help and Fengzhi's interference, Tang Zhitong quickly filled the pit with living soil, but there was still some extra soil that was left piled around the cellar.

The soil that has just been filled in is fluffy, and it will collapse after some water or the next rain. At that time, the extra soil will have to be filled in again.

When Wobo carried the jar into the yard under the guidance of Xiao Wang, Tang Zhitong was preparing the stuffing.

After putting down the jar, giving the money and sending the waiter away, the family started making dumplings.

In order to give some to Chunshu Hutong, Zhang Guifang mixed four or five cabbages into a pound of meat filling, so that the filling only tasted like meat.

The cabbages were bought from a grocery store. Due to the drought when they were growing and the freezing when they were harvested, they were much smaller than the ones we bought at home or from the escort office, but they could not last much longer.

"There's not much pork in supply now. It would be great if we still had camels in our old city. Camels have big bones and lots of meat, and they're cheap. Maybe I could eat them a few more times." Zhang Guifang muttered as she rolled the dough.

"Is camel meat delicious?" Fengzhi asked while carefully pinching the dumplings.

"How can meat not taste good?" Zhang Guifang thought for a moment and replied. In fact, it was so long ago that she had forgotten what it tasted like.

When Xiao Wang heard this, he smiled. Tang Zhitong knew that this was someone who had eaten camel meat.

Tang Zhitong did eat camel meat when he was a child. His father bought it from Mentougou after get off work.

When it comes to camels, many people may have a stereotype that they can only be found in arid areas such as deserts.

In fact, for hundreds of years, camels have been playing a very important role as animal-powered transportation tools in the city and are closely related to people's lives.

A camel can carry four to five hundred kilograms of weight. Due to the poor road conditions in the past and the constant demand for coal and lime in the city, camel transportation came into being.

Mentougou produces coal, Moshikou produces lime, and many people in Gucheng Village and Babaoshan area make a living by raising camels, thus forming a complete industrial chain that complements and promotes each other.

Some breeders sold coal and lime themselves, while others rented out camels, just like taxis decades later.

Tang Zhitong had seen camels when he was a child. They carried baskets on their backs and had leather ropes tied to their noses. There were extra ropes to string several camels together in a row. A coal dealer walked in front, leading the way, with the last camel having a camel bell hanging on it.

Camel bell is what common people call it, while camel breeders call it "safety bell".

The camel bells will ring slowly as the camel walks. Because they are made of copper, the sound is very clear and can be heard from far away.

As long as the camel bells keep ringing, the vendors generally won't look back. Only when the camel bells stop ringing will they stop and look back to see what's going on.

Camels can carry heavy loads, but they are naturally afraid of heat, so they are driven to the north of Zhangjiakou to escape the heat at the turn of spring and summer, which is also called "summer break."

Only in autumn would the children of the city see camels again.

Camels are hard-working, slow-tempered, and easy to bully. That is why the book written by Lao She named Xiangzi "Camel".

Once a camel lies down, it is slow to stand up. Many naughty children come forward to play with the camel. If the camel gets annoyed, it will spit at the children. The smell is so unpleasant.

At this time, children often say a pun unique to Beijing: The camel in Mentougou - bad luck, and then laugh and walk away.

The jingling of camel bells string together Tang Zhitong’s childhood.

In fact, this is not just Tang Zhitong's childhood, but the childhood of the people in Sijiucheng who were born 40 years ago.

Later, the camel bells gradually disappeared and were replaced by tram bells, which would ring "dangdang" every time the tram arrived at a station or to remind passers-by to be careful and avoid it, so the people called it "dangdang car".

Due to the needs of transportation development, the last tram in the inner city was discontinued a few days ago, and the tram has since bid farewell to the historical stage of the old city.

Back to camel meat, camels are used as a means of transportation and are bound to wear and tear. The old, weak, sick and disabled ones cannot escape the fate of being slaughtered.

It is said that some camel breeders are reluctant to part with their camels and will even cry out before selling them: "I am so heartbroken, my little camel..."

Every time at this moment, Tang Zhitong would think of those mourning ladies at funerals, all crying in the same tone.

Camel meat tastes a bit rough, and its price is lower than beef and mutton. It is more commonly eaten in Niujie. As one of the eight delicacies, camel hump is definitely not on the table of ordinary people, but other parts are fine.

There are many people of noble religion in the flower market. In those days, there were also vendors pushing carts and shouting: "The spiced camel paws are just out of the pot, they are mushy..."

Tang Zhitong hadn't heard the long and melodious shouts unique to the old city for a long time.

As for camel meat, you won't be able to eat it this year, but you will probably have a chance to taste it next year or the year after. Because the supply of pork, mutton and beef is insufficient, other meats will be supplied to fill the gap.

In order to allow her in-laws to eat dumplings in time for lunch, Zhang Guifang specially cooked a pot of dumplings early.

Her mother-in-law loved eating dumplings when she was alive. In addition to the ones she served as offerings, Zhang Guifang put the rest on a tea tray to dry and quickly cooked another pot for herself.

Seeing Fengzhi's pitiful look, Tang Zhitong pinched a dumpling from the tea tray and handed it to her: "You have performed well these two days, so I'll give you one as a reward."

As soon as Fengzhi's mouth bulged out after eating the dumpling with large filling and thin skin, she couldn't even speak, and a little bit of the dumpling skin was sticking out.

"You only know how to spoil your children. Send these two pots to your in-laws first. We'll make the rest and eat them later. What's wrong with that?" Zhang Guifang glanced at her son, a little dissatisfied.

"Mom, let's taste it first. If it's too salty or too bland, we can adjust it." Tang Zhitong smiled and picked up a few more, giving one to each person.

There were probably about eighty or ninety dumplings in two pots. The three people in Chunshu Hutong definitely couldn't finish them all in one meal.

"Okay, stop eating." Seeing that her son had good reasons, Zhang Guifang tacitly agreed to let each of them eat one and decided to let the children eat the rest.

Zhang Guifang didn't understand her son's work, but based on her life experience, her son's promotion was inseparable from the support of his in-laws. Otherwise, how could a child from a common family take on a leadership position at such a young age?

Therefore, Zhang Guifang wished she could worship her in-laws.

"Yes, yes, I'll listen to you." Tang Zhitong also stuffed one into his mouth. It was full of fillings and tasted a little salty.

If you want dumplings to taste good, they must be slightly salty, otherwise they will not have any flavor. This is the simple understanding of a half-baked cook.

Everyone's eating preferences are influenced by family habits and social environment. They are developed in the first half of life and will stay with us throughout our lives.

Tang Zhitong's understanding of this comes from the Spring City before he traveled through time. Since college, he and his friends have been searching for dumpling restaurants all over the streets. In this era of advanced Internet, he would definitely be an Internet celebrity who explores dumpling restaurants.

Around the millennium, the rent for storefronts was not outrageously high, and there were many dumpling shops on the streets and alleys.

Tang Zhitong has eaten dumplings from more than 20 or 30 restaurants, big and small. All of them, without exception, have a slightly salty taste and are well-received and always crowded.

At that time, there was an unwritten rule in dumpling shops that they were sold by the pound.

If the filling is rich, two taels will fill one person up, three taels will make one feel full, and half a pound is just right for two people. After eating, we can stroll back to school.

A friend from the south went to the north for the first time and saw how much a pound of rice cost. He thought to himself: Wow, who are you looking down on? Give me a pound!
At this time, the waiter will often advise: Our dumplings are big, you can't eat a pound by yourself, three ounces will be enough.

Those who listened to the advice packed up what they couldn’t finish and took it away. Those who didn’t listen to the advice still packed up what they couldn’t finish and took it away. The difference was how much they packed up in the end.

The reason is that this "liang" does not refer to the weight of the dumplings, but the weight of the dumpling wrappers. Generally speaking, one jin of flour can make sixty dumplings, and three liang means eighteen.

Later, with the development of marketization, rents became higher and higher, and many businesses either used less filling or sold it by "portion".

Tang Zhitong watched as a delicious restaurant slowly developed from a two-story shop of about 100 square meters to a single-story shop.

Later, only a storefront was left, and people had to squat on a small roadside table to eat dumplings.

Later, the storefront was gone, and they moved into a tent at the entrance of the alley after get off work in the afternoon.

In order to create a healthy city, the old couple closed their tent and switched to selling frozen dumplings. However, they didn’t last long because not many people bought dumplings, so they simply gave up.

When Tang Zhitong brought pine nuts and dumplings in a pressure cooker to Chunshu Hutong, Jingying and Jingmin were still the only siblings at home.

"Hello, brother-in-law. What's delicious?" Jingmin's eyes were shining, just like Fengzhi's.

After eating the rationed food for a few days, Tang Zhitong understood this look too well; it was the desire to be full.

Words like shameful and useless are things you can only think about after you've eaten your fill. People who aren't starving to the point of being skin and bones won't understand that kind of look.

"Dumplings. Go get the dishes." After Tang Zhitong sent his brother-in-law to run errands, he asked his sister-in-law, "Where's our mother?"

"Overtime." Wang Jingying glanced into the pressure cooker and couldn't help swallowing.

"Brother-in-law, he's here!" With food in front of him, Wang Jingmin was very active. He took out three pairs of chopsticks and three plates and placed them around the pressure cooker.

"Come here, Jingying, you divide them. Jingmin can eat at most fifteen for lunch today, and you can eat at most twenty. The rest will be left for our mother to distribute. You two are not allowed to grab or fight." The dumplings had too much filling, and Ye Zhijuan was not around. Tang Zhitong was afraid that the two little ones would overeat, so he drew a red line for the first time.

"Yes, yes, brother-in-law, don't worry, I will never snatch it from my sister!" Wang Jingmin couldn't wait to express his opinion.

Wang Jingying glanced at her naughty brother and thought: You have to be brave and be able to snatch it.

"Good boy. Let mom distribute the pine nuts to you two every day to supplement your nutrition. Don't eat them secretly." Tang Zhitong rubbed his brother-in-law's head, took out the pine nuts and put them on the table, then said to Jingying: "Put this pot here, I'll take that one away. You two can eat slowly at home."

When Tang Zhitong returned home, a pot of dumplings had already been cooked. Except for Zhang Guifang who was cooking the dumplings, everyone else had already started eating with their plates.

Alas, this family is a mess.

"Here, let's eat one dish first." Xiao Wang's bowl of dipping sauce contained chili peppers, so he pushed the bowl of vinegar that he had prepared in front of Tang Zhitong and handed his man a pair of chopsticks.

"Hey, okay." Tang Zhitong washed his hands and sat down without being humble to Xiao Wang and Zhang Guifang.

My mother is like this. She is always the last one to sit at the table in the family, and she won’t sit at the table even if you ask her to.

"Tang Zhitong~letter!" Tang Zhitong hadn't taken a few bites when he heard the deliveryman shouting "letter" outside through the main door. The penetrating power of his voice had some of his own charm last year.

Hearing the message, Tang Zhitong hurriedly stuffed a dumpling into his mouth, opened the door and walked out. Don't expect the deliveryman to knock on the door to deliver the letter, most of the time he just shouts outside.

Tang Zhitong received the letter, thanked the deliveryman, took it in his hand and looked at the mailing address first, which was Hujialou Branch.

Since being transferred to the Escort Section, Tang Zhitong has only been to the Hujialou Branch a few times and has had little contact with his former colleagues there. He has no idea who wrote to him.

(End of this chapter)