Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 582 Chapter 581 Eating Rabbit on Little New Year

After pedaling for seven or eight miles, Tang Zhitong chose a deserted place to get off the bike and rest.

It's already past noon and we haven't had lunch yet.

For lunch, Tang Zhitong had pork head cooked on the Yalu River again, and he rewarded himself well.

After eating and drinking, Tang Zhitong slowly headed towards Sijiu City.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Tang Zhitong did not choose to take the train on the return trip, because there were many people going to the market in Sijiu City, and there was a chance that someone with a good memory might recognize him.

Fortunately, there are more downhills than uphills from here to the city, so it is generally quite smooth.

This time, Tang Zhitong rode more than 20 miles in one breath and only stopped to rest when he was almost at Zhongguancun.

Zhongguancun has had many names, including "Zhonggong", "Zhongguan", "Zhongwan", "Zhongguan", "Zhongguan" and "Zhongguancun".

Among them, he was called "Eunuch" for the longest time.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, eunuchs were generally not called "eunuchs" but "eunuchs."

When eunuchs get old and can no longer work, they will retire.

Due to their physical defects, very few of them are willing to start a family, so many eunuchs can only live together in their old age.

"Zhongguancun" is the place where eunuchs live in their old age, and most of them are buried here after their death.

At the time of liberation, this place was a cemetery and fields.

The construction of the Atomic Energy Building began in 1951, followed by the Institute of Geophysics, the Institute of Literature, the Institute of Philosophy, the Fourth Institute of Social Sciences, the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Automation and Telecontrol, the Institute of Electronics, the University of Science and Technology of China, etc.

Although it seems a bit far from the city at the moment, it is convenient to build here. Since eunuchs have no descendants, it will be less troublesome to expropriate land and level graves.

Many people may not believe it, but the name "Zhongguancun" is a typo. In March 1953, the editorial office of "Chinese Geography" moved here. When printing official envelopes and letterheads, the place name was written as "Zhongguancun".

Then all the units that moved here followed suit and used "Zhongguancun" as their mailing address, thus fixing the place name.

Tang Zhitong had rested enough, but he didn't get up immediately. Instead, he lay on the ground and rolled twice.

I told classmate Xiao Wang that we went out hunting, and he was too clean.

Looking at the dry grass leaves and dust on his body, Tang Zhitong stood up with satisfaction.

While there was no one around, Tang Zhitong pulled out the air gun and pulled out four more rabbits. This time he did not use a hard "bang" between the rabbits' heads and the wall. Instead, he used the air gun to "bang" them at close range, mainly to make it more realistic.

After tying the rabbit to the frame of the bicycle, Tang Zhitong picked up his gun and bag and continued on his way home.

When passing by the Atomic Energy Building, Tang Zhitong only took a glance and did not dare to look any further, because this was a confidential unit with disciplined soldiers standing guard with guns.

With the experts from the north withdrawn, the research work on mushroom eggs can only be carried out on our own.

Currently, a special task force called "123" is working inside, and one of its main research directions is to solve the Boltzmann equation.

Currently, the country’s only two computers—Machine 103 and Machine 104—are both located here. They have a very high level of confidentiality, the highest kind.

Tang Zhitong did not stop for the rest of the journey and rode all the way to the Women's Federation compound.

I took the things upstairs directly. It was already past four o'clock and Xiaogu had already returned to school. There were only four younger sisters and brothers at home.

When Wang Jingmin saw the rabbit in Tang Zhitong's hand, his saliva began to water, and he kept swallowing it: "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, do you want to eat rabbit tonight?"

"Well, let's eat. Today is the Little New Year, so let's improve the food." Tang Zhitong took off the shoulder bag and air gun from his body and placed them next to the sofa.

Jingying was sensible. Seeing that Tang Zhitong was dirty, she went back to the room, took out a bed broom and handed it to Fengzhen.

"Brother, let's go out and let me sweep you." Feng Zhen understood immediately and showed the broom in her hand to Tang Zhitong.

"Okay. Let's go downstairs." Tang Zhitong looked at himself and found that there was indeed a lot of dirt on his body.

There were no property management companies back then, and no one was assigned to clean the corridors. People usually just swept the snow in front of their doors. In order not to offend his neighbors, Tang Zhitong chose to go downstairs.

After going upstairs again, Jingmin and Fengzhi were squatting in front of the peaceful rabbit, poking and prodding it, and then discussing how to cook the rabbit to make it delicious, like restaurant chefs.

"It tastes good no matter how you cook it. Aren't you two little brats afraid of getting your hands dirty with blood?" Tang Zhitong started to chase them away.

Rabbits are different from other animals. Few people go out of their way to bleed them. They just skin them directly after they are knocked dry.

The rabbit was already completely cold, but Tang Zhitong performed the "peeling" operation on the rabbit's skin in the kitchen before it froze, saving him the trouble of cleaning it up when he got home.

"Brother-in-law, are we going to eat four rabbits tonight?" Jingmin stood at the kitchen door and watched.

"You're so beautiful. I'll make one today. The other three have other uses." Tang Zhitong cut open the intestines and squeezed the contents of the digestive system into the spittoon, and then went to the toilet to flush it out.

In other words, the rabbit has a small taste. If it were a pig, the taste would be so bad that I guess only the Commander-in-Chief of the Mongolian Navy, Mr. Wang, could stand it.

Jingmin chuckled and was not annoyed. He wished he could just stand there and watch the rabbit come out of the pot.

"Don't look at it anymore. You'll have to take a bite to check the dish after it's cooked. Go open my bag. There's a little gadget I bought for you inside." Tang Zhitong thought of the slingshot, but he didn't know whether his brother-in-law liked it or not. If he didn't, he wouldn't have to tinker with bicycle inner tubes, as they were hard to find.

When Jingmin heard this, he immediately turned around, braked, and said, "Brother-in-law, don't forget it later."

"Go, go, you're not the only one who can make a difference." Tang Zhitong waved his hand and started dismembering the rabbit.

Last night, Zhang Guifang asked the young couple to take the two little sisters home today. The Little New Year is a festival of moderate importance, and people in Beijing take it very seriously.

So Tang Zhitong chose a smaller rabbit this time, which would be enough for the mother and her two children to have a meal.

Jingmin didn't wait until the rabbit was cooked. He ran over with the slingshot rack in his hand and said, "Brother-in-law, why is there only one rack?"

"Is the rack handy?" After Tang Zhitong prepared the dishes, he put the pot on the stove, lit the fire, and prepared to stir-fry the peppers first.

"Well, although it's a little big, I will grow out of it!" Jingmin simply couldn't let go of the slingshot stand.

"Okay, put it back when you've had enough fun. I'll tie it up with rubber bands and a leather bag and send it back to you later." While the oil was hot, Tang Zhitong opened the window. The pungent smell of the chili was not only unbearable for the nose, but also made the eyes tear up, so ventilation had to be ensured.

"Okay!" Jingmin was so happy after hearing this that he jumped three feet high.

"Okay, go out and close the door. I'm going to fry some peppers. Choke." Tang Zhitong started to chase people out.

While his brother-in-law was out, Tang Zhitong added the necessary spices. He believed that the rabbit that would be stewed in a while would make people from the Small Animal Protection Association shed tears from their mouths... Since it was for the mother and her two daughters to eat, Tang Zhitong did not make two flavors, but made the whole rabbit spicy.

When the rabbit was almost out of the pot, Ye Zhijuan and Xiao Wang came in following the smell.

"You actually caught a rabbit?" Xiao Wang's eyes were full of surprise.

"Look at what you said. Not only did we catch them, but we caught four of them. A whole family of rabbits. We'll eat the rabbits today, and send the remaining two to Uncle Hao and Aunt Li the day after tomorrow." Tang Zhitong had already made arrangements for the ownership of the rabbits.

"Great!" Student Xiao Wang is someone who can provide emotional value, and he gave Tang Zhitong a thumbs up with both hands.

After receiving praise from classmate Xiao Wang, Tang Zhitong could only grin and smile foolishly, looking dazed and almost blinded.

Ye Zhijuan was very pleased that her daughter lived a happy life, but she felt it was too much to bear to see her daughter and son-in-law being so affectionate, so she coughed twice as a reminder.

"Hey, Jingmin! Come and check the vegetables!" Tang Zhitong shouted to his brother-in-law who was standing by the windowsill with a slingshot stand and simulating bird shooting.

When the slingshot is made, I have to remind him not to hit other people's glass because of the low height.

Tang Zhitong had done this kind of thing when he was a child. It was a package deal where he had to pay for the glass and get beaten. There was no way to escape.

When the young couple and their two younger sisters returned home, the door was locked and Zhang Guifang was not at home.

"Is our mom going to queue up?" Thinking of the long queue at the grocery store he just passed, Xiao Wang asked tentatively.

"Fengzhen, go and take a look. If the team leader says so, tell mom to go home and we'll talk about it tomorrow." Tang Zhitong got out of the car, opened the door, and instructed his sister.

It’s getting late, we should eat first, right?

"Yeah." Feng Zhen didn't hesitate and turned around and walked out of the alley.

After opening the door, Beibei saw Fengzhi and stopped meowing. He immediately crawled under the bed.

Tang Zhitong did not go into the house. He gave one rabbit to Xiao Wang and went to the bathroom. He hung up the remaining two rabbits. It was cold now and even in the bathroom, they could be frozen solid overnight and there was no need to worry about them going bad.

When he returned, Tang Zhitong put away all the things on his body and immediately started cooking, stewing the rabbit.

Even though the rabbit was a little big, it was still not enough for five people, so we had to add more side dishes.

The dishes had just been cooked when Zhang Guifang and Fengzhen came home.

"Mom, it's the 23rd, and the sugar-coated melons are sticky. In previous years, we would buy meat on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month. You bought things quite early this year." Tang Zhitong took the basket from Zhang Guifang, which contained vermicelli, frozen mackerel, black fungus, and frozen tofu.

"Of course I told you. Today the street issued New Year's coupons, and each household is only entitled to six taels of meat.

Some people said that all the meat was sent to the north to pay off debts, and the remaining meat might not even be worth six taels.

The whole family was hoping to improve their lives during the New Year, so they all lined up when they heard this.

I couldn't help it and went over to buy some too." Zhang Guifang took off her scarf, put it down in the inner room, and came out again.

"What do the grocery stores say?" Tang Zhitong shook his head. It's really easy to spread rumors, but it's very difficult to refute them. There will be a shortage of meat this year, but it definitely won't be at the end of the year. People's emotions still have to be taken into consideration.

"What else can I say? The supply will be guaranteed. They said today's meat is sold out, but more will be delivered tomorrow, so people will be able to buy meat." Zhang Guifang felt a little regretful. She waited in line for two hours but didn't buy any meat.

"Mom, don't worry. We will eat meat today. Leave the meat for the New Year to me. Please take some time to hang the skin up and dry it tomorrow." Tang Zhitong pointed to the rabbit skin on the ground.

"Did you make this? It looks similar to a domestic rabbit." Zhang Guifang picked up the rabbit skin and looked at it. In fact, she saw it as soon as she entered the room, but she was so busy talking that she didn't bother to look at it.

"It just looks like it. Nowadays, anyone who raises emergency livestock will keep a close eye on them. It's impossible that one of them escaped?" Tang Zhitong put the basket aside and replied fearlessly. Fortunately, he didn't raise white rabbits at that time, otherwise this matter would have been impossible to cover up.

"It should not be domestic. It's winter now and the rabbit's fur is quite thin." Zhang Guifang rubbed the rabbit's fur and said.

"It doesn't matter how thick or thin it is. We won't need the rabbit anyway. We'll save up the money and make you a rabbit fur coat." Tang Zhitong smiled. He really wanted to get one for each family member.

If I can't get otter skin, rabbit skin is still okay, but it's too eye-catching. In the end, I gave up the idea and decided to save up some first.

"Why are you wearing such a rabbit fur coat? It's so showy. By the way, I have another letter for you today." Zhang Guifang put the rabbit fur aside and took out an envelope from under the tea tray.

"You are such a busy man. You have received letters for two consecutive days." Student Xiao Wang said with a smile.

"A letter from my third brother." Tang Zhitong took the letter and saw at a glance that it was Ma Kejian's handwriting.

After tearing open the letter, Tang Zhitong took out the letter paper and read it under the light.

Ma Kejian explained something about the cuisine in the letter. Their unit often had external reception missions, and because of that, they were more cautious in cooking. Most of the dishes they cooked were Huaiyang cuisine, and there was no Anhui cuisine.

As for the Huaiyang cuisine that can be cooked at the moment, Ma Kejian said frankly that there is nothing suitable.

He also explained that Huaiyang cuisine mostly uses ham, bamboo shoots, and broth, which is not suitable for eating at home because the conditions are not available.

Having said that, Mark Jian still included the recipes for crab meat lion head and Yangzhou fried rice at the end.

Tang Zhitong was scratching his head after watching how these two Huaiyang dishes were prepared.

Although Yangzhou fried rice is just fried rice, it requires ingredients such as rice, eggs, river shrimps, ham, green beans, etc.

The Tang family has rice and eggs, but river shrimp, ham and green beans are difficult to come by.

In addition to Yangzhou fried rice, Ma Jian also wrote about the recipe of crab meat fried lion head.

After watching it, Tang Zhitong temporarily gave up the idea of ​​making Huaiyang cuisine.

Crab meat and crab roe lion head, as the name suggests, must contain crab meat and crab roe, but where can you get this stuff in the middle of winter?
However, Ma Kejian was very considerate. At the end of the letter, in addition to asking Tang Zhitong "Why do you want to learn this?", he also implicitly suggested that he could try to help Tang Zhitong solve the food problem.

Meat has five kinds of flowers and three kinds of layers, and people are divided into different classes. It is normal to treat people differently according to their taste.

Tang Zhitong planned to write back to Ma Kejian later as he couldn't let him help him with the food.

It is okay to try dishes and eat leftovers at work because there are rules to follow, but it is absolutely not allowed to smuggle ingredients from outside the work. There is an essential difference between the two.

Although Xiao Gu has a bright future, we cannot cause trouble for Ma Kejian just to entertain him.

Although he can’t make the taste of Xiaogu’s hometown right now, Tang Zhitong is not in a hurry. He can just wait a little longer. He still has five and a half years before graduation, and he will have to stay in school after graduation.

When I have the chance to go out of town, I will collect some ingredients and bring them back to make them. There will be plenty of opportunities.

(End of this chapter)