Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 511 Winter Solstice
The winter solstice in 1959 was on Tuesday, December 12.

The Winter Solstice is the beginning of the "Nine Nines" and is also a very important festival for the Han nationality.

Every festival requires eating something, but the food eaten during the winter solstice is different in the north and south.

In the north, people eat dumplings. There is a saying that goes "If you don't eat dumplings during the winter solstice, no one will care if your ears freeze off."

People in the south eat glutinous rice balls or glutinous rice cakes. There is also a saying that "Every family makes glutinous rice balls, knowing that it is the winter solstice in the tomorrow morning."

As for where to start dividing the north and the south, broadly speaking, the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River are the lines. The south is the south, and the north is the north. There is no heating in the south, but there is in the north.

Although heating is not yet popular, this is how the line was drawn with the help of Big Bear, and it was enforced in the same way decades later.

However, people's self-perception is a very strange thing. Many people have different definitions of the north and the south. Many people think that the north of their location is the north, and the south of their location is the south. This phenomenon becomes more obvious the further south you go, probably because the economy in the south is developing more rapidly.

Tang Zhitong did not have this cognitive bias, because he knew clearly that no matter how he drew it, his side was the north.

This is such an important festival, and it also happens to be the Winter Solstice, so naturally I have to fulfill my last promise and bring some vegetables to Tong Wang.

There are some tips on how to profit from people's actions. You have to provide them with something they really need or something with emotional value so that they feel that their money is worth it.

We are all smart people. Even if some of them are naive, they can be deceived once or twice. Once the leeks get used to the "wolf coming", no one will believe them no matter how loud they shout. In serious cases, not only will they not believe it, they will also do the opposite.

In order to ensure long-term stability and possible long-term cooperation, Tang Zhitong prepared some green vegetables for Tong Wang this time, such as leeks, green peppers, beans, spinach, etc., each weighing about two kilograms, focusing on being green and healthy.

This time, Tang Zhitong still did not go in, but was "thrown" in through the courtyard wall.

On the way to the escort office, Tang Zhitong heard vendors selling "Nine-Nine Cold-Eliminating Pictures" on the street.

Regarding vendors, Tang Zhitong had seen some extreme statements before, such as that they would disappear after the joint venture.

In fact, apart from controlled materials, vendors selling other things still exist. As I said, there are only so many jobs, and we have to leave people a way to survive. If people are left with no way to make money, it will also be a major destabilizing factor in society.

Besides, a scrap recycling station, even though it collects junk, has a formal organization. How can we let them sell things on the street?

What are you thinking? In the end, it still depends on some flexible workers who don't have regular jobs to go from street to street to collect the goods and deliver them.

Flexible employment workers earn hard-earned money, people at the recycling station complete their performance targets, and the statistics department can make the tables look better.

Food is expensive nowadays, and many people have saved on other unnecessary expenses, leaving money to buy some food. Therefore, it is even more difficult for people in flexible employment to make some money, and not many people buy the Jiujiu Xiaohantu.

It was a cold day, and Tang Zhitong felt sorry for the vendor, so he stopped the car and asked, "Sir, what's the price?"

"Hey! Sir, take your pick. One cent a ticket. Pay after you've chosen one." Hearing someone asking the price, the vendor hurried over with his cart and stopped next to Tang Zhitong.

"Oh, you're still a man from the banner." Tang Zhitong joked when he heard the accent and looked at the forehead, which showed lines running all the way to the sky.

Tang Zhitong didn't believe in the idea of ​​vertical lines between the eyebrows. People who are frowning all day long will definitely have vertical lines between their eyebrows, no matter whether they are frowning or not. The more they suffer, the more obvious the vertical lines will be. On the contrary, those who live a wealthy life do not have such lines.

Just because you have a line that goes all the way to the sky, you are a noble? This is such a joke. Do you even deserve the surname Zhao?
"My ancestors were in the banner, so we don't care about this anymore. I'll get you one, would you like to take a look?" The vendor was not annoyed by the joke. He turned around and pinched his nose with his hand, took a deep breath and exerted force, and the snot fell to the ground. Then he wiped his hand on his sleeve, and that was it.

"Don't bother picking. I'll do it myself." Tang Zhitong watched from the side and felt a little embarrassed. No matter how wealthy the ancestors of the bannerman in front of him were, he was still a poor man now. One cent per ticket was not cheap, but acceptable.

"Okay, you see, these are all made carefully with woodcuts, one brush at a time. One less for every one we sell." The vendor was quick-witted and deft with his hands. He took down a few pieces of wood from the pictures of getting rid of the cold, and pressed down the two ends so that the pattern in the middle would show through, trying to prevent them from being blown away or damaged by the wind.

Tang Zhitong was not sure when the Jiujiu Xiaohan custom became popular, but he knew that the Jiujiu Xiaohan diagram started in the Qing Dynasty. It was created by this group of "gentlemen", and there are many types of diagrams, including those with words, paintings of plum blossoms, and paintings of copper coins.

Writing is both educational and entertaining, and can teach children to recognize words.

The person who painted the coins could see the weather, because there are rules for painting coins: painting cloudy on the top, sunny on the bottom, windy on the left, rainy and snowy on the right. If someone can find an ancient copper coin painting to dispel the cold, it might be used as weather archaeological material.

Tang Zhitong thought the above two options were too troublesome, so he chose a plum blossom style one.

There are nine plum blossoms, each with nine petals. Paint one petal every day. After 81 days, the whole plum blossom will be in full bloom, and spring will be here.

"Give me a plum blossom one." Tang Zhitong said and took out a dime from his pocket and gave it to him.

"Okay! I'll get it for you." The vendor packed up the money and quickly prepared to lift the wooden board to get the picture.

"Youfeng, you hold the board, I'll do it myself." Tang Zhitong didn't feel comfortable saying that he was being rude, so he took one from the bottom himself. It was in perfect condition, without any flaws. He folded it up gently, put it in his bag, and left.

When he arrived at the escort department, Tang Zhitong first made a handover with Ma Wei and took on the work that was his responsibility. It was not right for him to bully a girl just because he was the department leader.

The winter solstice is the shortest day. By the time we get off work at five o'clock, it is already dark.

Ma Wei left first, and Tang Zhitong stayed behind and locked the door.

When I got home, Xiao Wang and Feng Zhen had not come back yet. Zhang Guifang was kneading dough, and Feng Zhi was playing with Bei Bei.

Tang Zhitong poured the corn into the jar first, and then prepared to mix the stuffing: "Fengzhi, have you finished your homework? I see that you haven't been studying hard recently. You just play with the cat when you get home."

When Fengzhi heard this, she became unhappy, but she didn't dare to argue.

"Hurry up and do your homework. You can help me make dumplings later. You're such a grown-up girl, but you don't have any tact." Zhang Guifang added.

Fengzhi knew she was in the wrong, so she could only do her homework in a sullen mood. Zhang Guifang had already chopped the cabbage and sprinkled salt on it, and the vermicelli had already been soaked, waiting for Tang Zhitong to process it.

For vegetarian fillings, Tang Zhitong feels that apart from the three vegetarian delicacies, the best filling is cabbage vermicelli, especially the vermicelli that has absorbed the flavor, making the dumplings not loose but full. Pour a little more oil on it and take a bite, the fragrance is so authentic!
Squeeze the water out of the cabbage, drain the water and chop the vermicelli, pick two onions from the yard and chop them, put them together with the other fillings into a bowl, then sprinkle with fine salt, pour some soy sauce, and set aside.

Tang Zhitong scooped out half a spoonful of lard, heated it in the pan, and poured it on the stuffing. As the sizzling sound came, the aroma followed.

Fengzhi was doing her homework, secretly glancing at her brother and swallowing her saliva. Beibei just squatted at Tang Zhitong's feet, meowing and acting cute.

Tang Zhitong picked up a pair of chopsticks and started stirring, secretly adding some oyster sauce while stirring.

When Xiao Wang and Feng Zhen came back, they just happened to be making dumplings.

"We had dinner a little late today, so eat more later." While the aunt and sister-in-law were washing their hands, Zhang Guifang quickly rolled out the dough on the chopping board.

"It smells so good, I must eat more. I can finish a whole plate of it by myself!" After hearing this, Fengzhi threw down her pencil, spoke boldly, and ran to wash her hands.

"Fengzhen, can you teach me some English after dinner?" Tang Zhitong also participated in making dumplings and asked while making them.

"Hmm? Okay, but my pronunciation is not very standard." Feng Zhen was stunned for a moment and replied.

"It's okay, I'm not picky." Tang Zhitong said happily.

"Why do you think of learning English now?" Student Wang wiped his hands, sat next to Tang Zhitong, picked up the dough and started making dumplings.

"I don't live on campus on weekdays. These days I noticed that many of my classmates are reading foreign reference materials, and I don't want to fall too far behind." This is not an excuse for Tang Zhitong, but a fact. It is true that the country is experiencing economic difficulties, but the country has bought a lot of advanced foreign journals and has placed them all in the library for students to borrow.

Except for those on commission, all students admitted to the Post and Telecommunications College were selected through the college entrance examination. Although New China was poor, education was strictly enforced.

Before the education department decided to cancel foreign language classes in junior high schools in 54, both junior and senior high school students had to learn foreign languages, with Russian being the primary foreign language class.

Although a notice was issued in 54 to cancel foreign language classes in junior high schools, they are still required to be studied in high schools.

Under the call of "March Toward Science", the education department decided to add English classes starting from the first year of high school in areas with better English teacher conditions from the fall of 1956, and decided to resume foreign language classes in junior high schools from the fall of 1957, and for the first time proposed that the ratio of Russian to English should be 1:1.

In terms of specific implementation, Tang Zhitong only studied Russian for half a year, and he knew a little bit, and was not very familiar with it.

Fengzhen is only in junior high school this year. The breakdown of relations with the North is a foregone conclusion this year, but it has not been made public. Many parents of key classes have sensed the trend and asked their children to tell the teachers and choose to learn English.

Class 1 is a key class, so the school naturally attaches great importance to students' voices, so Class 1 learns English.

Fengzhen is in Class 2. The reason why Class 2 can learn English is purely because of Class 1, because the teachers usually arrange the classes in order, Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3. The classes behind them have other teachers teaching Russian.

Although the dumplings had vegetarian fillings, the whole family said they were delicious after being seasoned with animal oil and Tang Zhitong. However, Zhang Guifang suppressed Fengzhi and did not dare let her eat a whole plate of them.

After eating the dumplings and drinking a bowl of dumpling soup, Tang Zhitong studied English with Fengzhen for more than ten minutes, mainly listening to Fengzhen reading, and then writing uppercase and lowercase letters under Fengzhen's guidance. That was the end of the class for the day, and it was very perfunctory.

Of course Tang Zhitong can speak English. The reason he did this was to make it “legitimate” that he can speak English.

"Do you know everything?" Xiao Wang asked when they returned to the room. It was only more than ten minutes, what could he learn?

"It won't be that fast. I need to consolidate it tomorrow. I'm not in a hurry. It's mainly to avoid delaying Fengzhen's studies." Tang Zhitong made excuses. He said that if he could learn something in one day, he would be a little bit better. If he persisted for a week, then it would be natural for him to be able to write and read.

"Oh, then do you want to learn Russian? This won't interfere with Fengzhen's studies." Xiao Wang has always been supportive of her husband's pursuit of progress. At this moment, she is smiling, looking as if she is going to give her husband extra lessons.

"Hmm? Oh~Oh! Teacher Wang can speak Russian?" Tang Zhitong was stunned at first, then he reacted.

"Yes, there is no problem with daily conversation and writing. It's more than enough to enlighten you." Xiao Wang's eyes were almost narrowed into slits, and his face was full of praise.

"That's amazing! I only learned a little bit in junior high school, but I can't even pronounce all the notes." Tang Zhitong gave Xiao Wang a thumbs up.

"There's nothing we can do. The coach at the dance school is from the north, and we can't just rely on translation. The teacher teaches a little bit, and the coach teaches in Russian. After a while, you will learn it. You know, it was so painful when you first started learning it. You have to be able to curl and flick your tongue." Xiao Wang, who was praised, began to complain to Tang Zhitong.

"Oh~ No wonder, I was wondering why your tongue is so clever, the root of your feelings is here?" Foreign professors give lectures, how can ordinary people get such treatment? However, Tang Zhitong did not mention it, but "suddenly realized" and said.

"Oh! That's annoying! What's on your mind all day long?" Xiao Wang understood immediately and hit her husband with a blushing face.

"Hahaha, you're full, so you can't help but think about more pleasant things. Oh, by the way, I bought you some little things today." Tang Zhitong stopped teasing Xiao Wang and stood up to take out the Jiujiu Xiaohantu that he bought today from his bag.

"Oh, the Jiujiu Zaiche Tu? This will look good only if it is colored in red pencil." Xiao Wang was very happy when he unfolded it.

"We sell them at school. I'll buy you one tomorrow."

"No, I have one in my office. I'll go get one tomorrow. It's an office supply, hehe." Student Wang looked around and finally couldn't bear to stick the Jiujiu Xiaohantu on the wall, so he put it on the desk.

"Okay, then I'll start applying it tomorrow." It doesn't matter if it's a day earlier or later. Tang Zhitong bought this to entertain Xiao Wang. She has recently finished knitting Fengzhi's sweater and is currently knitting one for Zhang Guifang. It's almost done, except for the two sleeves.

"Well, I'll give you the first lesson tonight." Xiao Wang glanced at the bookshelf and pulled out a bilingual dictionary: "I'll teach you some basics first. Once you have mastered the roots and affixes, I'll help you borrow a professional dictionary from your workplace. You can just use the dictionary to study on your own."

"Okay, please let Teacher Wang start the lecture." Tang Zhitong is a studious and motivated young man. He picked up a pen and paper and listened carefully. When learning a foreign language, the most important thing is to be legal...

(End of this chapter)