Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 587 Chapter 586 Boiled Sweet Potato
There is a little trick to pushing the mill. You can't keep staring at the millstone, otherwise it is very easy to get dizzy. So donkeys and horses have to wear blindfolds, and cows and horses have to check their phones and slack off.

After grinding the beans, Zhang Guifang was responsible for cleaning up, while Tang Zhitong returned to the room to read letters.

There were four letters, two of which were from Ma Kejian and Gu Yong agreeing to get together and asking Tang Zhitong and Wu Haiyang to set a date.

Of the remaining two letters, one was from Wu Haiyang and the other was from Huo Xiaoping.

Huo Xiaoping's letter was the thickest because it contained a photo.

"My photo is pretty good." Tang Zhitong looked at the photo for a while. The photo was not big, but Xiao Wang's smile was very eye-catching. Such a good photo should of course be kept as a treasure.

"Take a look at them, I'll put them in the frame later." Tang Zhitong handed a few photos to Xiao Wang and turned back to read Wu Haiyang's letter.

Before tearing up the letter, Tang Zhitong had a feeling that Wu Haiyang had become a father. He tore open the letter and saw that it was true.

In his letter, Wu Haiyang complained to Tang Zhitong about the bitterness of his happy life:

He first thanked Jingwen for the eggs she sent him, and said that Doctor Lu asked him to ask Tang Zhitong to tell Jingwen the good news that he had given birth to a son on New Year's Eve.

Next, we talked about children, saying that they were naughty and caused headaches.

Whenever the little brat cries, nothing good happens, either he poops or he pees, and he cries more at night than during the day. I took a few days off and didn't even have a good night's sleep.

Every time I urinate, I have to wash it in time so that I can have a diaper to use later. After two days, I have lost two kilograms.

I really hope that Tang Zhitong can feel the same “suffering” that I have endured as soon as possible.

Finally, Wu Haiyang said that neither he nor Dr. Lu were locals, and asked Tang Zhitong if he knew a nanny who was trustworthy and asked him to recommend one.

Although the words between the lines expressed hardship, Tang Zhitong seemed to be able to see Wu Haiyang's excited and happy smile through the letter paper.

"Sister-in-law gave birth, and Brother Yang became a father." Tang Zhitong flicked the letter paper and handed it to classmate Xiao Wang for review.

"When did it happen? Boy, girl? The child must be very cute, right?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Wang put down the photo, picked up the letter paper, and asked first.

"It's a little boy. I guess Brother Yang is holding him in his arms and won't let go. I can already imagine the scene even through the letter." Tang Zhitong definitely didn't want to have a child so early. Taking care of a child is too energy-consuming.

Wu Haiyang is pretty good. He even knows to look after the children at night. If it were other men of this era, they would probably just be hands-off bosses.

"Really? Children are so cute, how could they be naughty?" Xiao Wang complained after reading the letter.

"Well, just think of it as him showing off his happiness." Tang Zhitong smiled. Wu Haiyang is a little older and it is his first time to be a father, so he must be excited, but he will not spoil his child into a "little bully" in the future. After all, the couple's character is there for everyone to see.

"Brother Yang asked you to find a nanny. Do you have anyone in mind?" Student Xiao Wang folded the letter, put it in an envelope, and asked.

"Emm...what do you think of Zhang Ye?" Tang Zhitong didn't consider the neighbors. People in Beijing are gossipy, and no one knows what they will say after entering the compound.

Even the chapel recruits people from other places, so when looking for a nanny for Wu Haiyang's family, we have to find a good one.

There was no problem with Zhang Ye's family background. With that condition, he could pass the examination in the synagogue. Moreover, he was married and had relatives in the city, so he would definitely not do anything sneaky.

Most importantly, Tang Zhitong felt that Zhang Ye was honest and hardworking.

"She has no experience in taking care of children, right?" Classmate Xiao Wang knew Zhang Ye's family situation. She had no younger brothers or sisters, and her sister-in-law didn't have any children, so there was no chance for her to take care of a baby at all.

"It's not important. My sister-in-law is an obstetrician. She definitely knows how to take care of children. A nanny will just do the cooking and washing diapers." You have to take care of your own children. Few mothers can safely leave their children to be taken care of by outsiders unless they have absolutely necessary circumstances.

"Then I'll go ask her when I pass by." Xiao Wang took the initiative to agree. It is more convenient for women to talk about this matter with each other.

"Okay." Tang Zhitong took the letter and put it aside, planning to wait for Zhang Ye's reply before replying to Wu Haiyang.

The photos need to be put away, and the photo frame that holds the award certificates is the ideal place to put them.

"By the way, didn't you say that you would invite Huo Xiaoping to sit together after the New Year? Have you told him the date?" Student Xiao Wang asked as she watched her husband carefully arrange the photos in the photo frames. She remembered this and asked.

"Forget it completely. Why don't you write him a letter to let him know? I have to remove the pig's hair and try to cook the pig's head today." Tang Zhitong slapped his head. If it wasn't for Xiao Wang's reminder, it would have been a joke. People would have thought he was not sincere.

"I'm a married woman, why should I write a letter to my male classmate? You write it, but there's no rush to remove the hair right now, and it won't take much time." Student Xiao Wang shook his head, unwilling to do it.

"Hey, why are you so feudal? It's not that I don't trust you." Although he said that, Tang Zhitong was still happy in his heart. Having a wife who knows what's going on, he has to worry less and doesn't have to worry about having a green head at all.

"Stop talking nonsense and start writing now. I'll help you submit it when I go to pick up Fengzhen and Fengzhi this afternoon." Classmate Xiao Wang rolled his eyes at Tang Zhitong, hung up the photo frame, stood below it, looked at it from left to right, and liked it the more he looked at it.

Tang Zhitong saw all this and was thinking about finding an opportunity to buy a camera.

It is not a big deal to write a letter. In addition to expressing your gratitude, you can briefly state the date of the party and who will be there. Then draw a simple map at the end. Don't worry about the scale. Just mark Chongwenmen, Donghuaishi Street, Tielugupba, Shijia Hutong and your home number.

After writing the letter, he wrote the recipient and sender's addresses on the envelope and handed it to Xiao Wang to put a stamp on it and seal it. Then Tang Zhitong went out to boil asphalt.

Asphalt is like a lump of coal at room temperature. It has a natural luster when broken open and a light smell. But once heated, the smell can be smelled from three blocks away.

Because asphalt contains substances such as phenols and benzene, which are harmful to the human body, the use of asphalt to remove hair in the livestock slaughtering process has been banned since the millennium.

But nowadays, no one cares about this. How many times do you eat it a year?
Talking about harm without considering dosage is just hooliganism.

Tang Zhitong first put the asphalt into the pot and heated it. After the asphalt became liquid, he pressed the pig's head directly into it and waited for the asphalt to condense.

The temperature outside is probably about minus ten degrees Celsius right now, and it will solidify in a short while.

The next step is to tear off the hair. Pinch a corner of the asphalt and tear it hard. Tsk tsk, a clean piece of pig head skin is revealed. The whole process is very relaxing.

In order to prevent his neighbors from smelling the asphalt, Tang Zhitong has been collecting the air around him, and plans to do the same when cooking the pig's head. It is not easy to have a legitimate opportunity to improve one's life, so it is enough for his family to know it, and there is no need to make others jealous.

After removing the hair from the pig heads, Tang Zhitong did not cook them immediately because Zhang Guifang had taken the pig heads away. These pig heads were stored with more meat on the necks, and Zhang Guifang would first take them into the house to cut out a piece of the neck for the New Year.

Tang Zhitong didn't dare to object. He took the asphalt pot down, filled a bucket with water, took out a basin, and scrubbed the pig's large intestine over and over with the ash.

A couple of years ago, if you occasionally rubbed pig intestines with cornstarch, you would just get a comment at most, but if you do that now, your mother will definitely beat you.

The supply in Sijiu City is the best in the country, and some areas outside are already using food substitutes.

The so-called substitute foods are first of all the stalks, roots, leaves and shells of crops, such as the leaves, stalks, roots of rice, wheat, barley, corn, sorghum, corn husks, corn cobs, rice husks, etc., as well as the leaves, stems and roots of potato crops.

The second category is wild food substitutes, which refers to the stalks, roots, leaves, skins, and fruits of wild plants, such as elm leaves, bark, acorns, taro, mushroom taro, Lycoris radiata, Smilax glabra, lily, wild amaranth, locust leaves, sand date, and communis.

In a word, what livestock used to eat is now used by people to satisfy their hunger, and what livestock used to not eat is now used by people to satisfy their hunger.

As for the livestock, those that were supposed to die have died, and those that were supposed to be eaten have been eaten. The rest are all skinny and bony, looking almost the same as humans.

Under the cover of the plug-in, Tang Zhitong processed the pig intestines, lungs and hearts cleanly.

"How about we cook it in the big pot we use for steaming buns?" Zhang Guifang cut off all the meat from the pig's neck, grabbed the pig's ears, and took out the pig's head again.

"Okay, I'll cook it in the side room. Close the door and try not to open it to prevent the smell from spreading." Tang Zhitong understood Zhang Guifang's concerns. She was simply afraid that the neighbors would smell the smell. In order to reassure his mother, Tang Zhitong readily accepted her suggestion.

"Well, boil the water and we'll eat first. After you finish cooking, we'll cook tofu in the evening." Zhang Guifang arranged today's tasks clearly, and Tang Zhitong could only listen.

When the pig's head was being cooked in the afternoon, Tang Zhitong didn't just sit there and wait, but took a few sweet potatoes from the cellar and washed them.

In addition to collisions, Jing Ye is also good at naming and classification.

No matter whether the sweet potato has red or yellow skin, and whether the flesh is white, red or yellow, no matter what it is called in other places, it is all called "sweet potato" in the old city.

After spending most of the winter in the cellar to sweeten, the sweet potatoes now taste a level sweeter than when they were first acquired, making them perfect for roasting.

After throwing the sweet potatoes into the furnace, Tang Zhitong planned to have Xiao Wang take them to Chunshu Hutong as a snack for the little ones after they were baked.

When Tang Zhitong was a child, starting from November, there would be small vendors pushing carts selling boiled sweet potatoes on the roadside.

The so-called "烀" is the dialect of Sijiucheng, which is similar to "凉", but different.

Distilling is when a layer of grates is placed above the water surface, while braising is when the food is in contact with the water but not with the bottom of the pot.

In order to prevent the pot from getting sticky, vendors will place a round stone with a diameter of more than one foot at the bottom of the pot. Dozens of round holes are drilled evenly on the stone. This not only prevents the sweet potatoes from touching the bottom of the pot, but also effectively transfers heat.

Cook slowly over low heat in the pot. It usually takes about three hours. At this time, the sweet potatoes are cooked through and the soup in the pot has fully absorbed the sugar from the sweet potatoes, becoming thick, like honey.

When they arrived at a crowded street corner, the vendor set up the cart and opened the lid of the pot. The smell immediately spread out, attracting a group of gluttons to come over following the scent.

Sweet potatoes are cheap to begin with, and the ones used for boiled sweet potatoes are twisted sweet potatoes, which cannot be sliced ​​and dried into long and thin strips, so the price is naturally very cheap, so the price of boiled sweet potatoes is also very affordable.

Even though the Tang family was not rich at the time, they could still afford this meal.

Vendors selling boiled sweet potatoes will put a stack of small plates on their carts. When selling the sweet potatoes, they will use the tip of a knife to pick up the sweet potatoes and place them on the plates. Then they will use a tool similar to a whisk to dip the soup from the pot and pour it on the sweet potatoes.

The customers stood on the other side and picked up the food with a bamboo stick from the bamboo stick bucket.

In Tang Zhitong's impression, the boiled sweet potatoes absorb enough water, the skin will appear shiny brown-red, the flesh is soft, and when you bite it, it is like holding a mouthful of honey. Even if it is hot, you can't bear to spit it out.

There is no need to peel or chew the sweet potatoes. After biting them into your mouth, just push them towards the roof of your mouth with your tongue and they will immediately fall apart.

Pour it around in your mouth twice with your tongue, and you will enjoy its unique rich and sweet taste, which will leave you with a long-lasting aftertaste.

This thing is cheap and is loved not only by children but also by the elderly, especially those with bad teeth. Just put it in your mouth with your wrinkled lips and salivate. It tastes authentic!

Some gourmets pursue authenticity and love the soup base. Even if they come early, they will give up their seats to others and wait for the vendor to sell out most of the food so that they can eat the boiled sweet potatoes at the bottom of the pot.

The sweet potatoes at the bottom of the pot are exceptionally soft and mushy, and there’s no need for any soup. They’re already covered with a layer of sauce and taste even better than the ones above.

Another advantage of buying boiled sweet potatoes is that you can ask the vendor for more broth.

Tang Zhitong ate the soup base once and licked the bottom of the dish so clean that he didn't even have to wash it.

Although delicious, in the past few years, boiled sweet potatoes have gradually disappeared from the sight of people in Beijing, and more and more sweet potatoes are sold by roasting.

But it's all in vain this year, there are only a few people selling roasted sweet potatoes.

Compared with roasted sweet potatoes, boiled sweet potatoes lose less weight. Perhaps boiled sweet potatoes can still be found in some black markets.

Ultimately, it’s because the rationing is too strict.

Many people complained about this. Everything was fine before, so why are there suddenly so many ticket requirements?
Tang Zhitong had heard of this, but he usually didn't bother to pay attention to people who couldn't tell right from wrong.

The ticket system is a protection for the majority of the weak. If there were no tickets, how many people would not have food to eat?
They don't consider the problem at all, but just keep blaming and venting their dissatisfaction.

After the sweet potatoes were baked, Tang Zhitong wrapped them in newspaper and gave them to Xiao Wang to take to Chunshu Hutong.

Zhang Guifang also cut the meat into half and wrapped it in newspaper in several layers. Rather than trying to avoid being discovered, she decided to just stick some paper on the meat. It would disappear after soaking in water anyway.

Tang Zhitong estimated that his mother had cut out ten kilograms of meat. Fortunately, she did, because the big pot at home could hold it all, and he didn't have to borrow a pot from Uncle Ma.

Tang Zhitong squatted in the room watching the pot, trying to prevent the food from going bad while thinking about what to eat in the evening.

In addition to the pig head and offal, I also brought back a piece of soft pig blood. How about stir-frying it with spicy sauce?
(End of this chapter)