Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 142 Making Friends
At this moment, a burly man who looked about 80-90% like Master Zhu, but much younger, walked out from the kitchen.

He happened to overhear Chen Fan's words and couldn't help but say with a look of admiration, "No wonder Master Chen was able to publish articles in the prefectural committee's newspaper. He is diligent and eager to learn, which is indeed different from us roughnecks."

At the same time, I was wondering what raising chickens, pigs, and ducks had to do with handicrafts, carpentry, and electrical work.

Master Zhu quickly introduced Chen Fan, "This is Zhu Hao, my cousin."

Chen Fan stood up and said with a smile, "Hello, Master Zhu."

Wait, two Master Zhus?

Zhu Hao smiled and waved his hand, "I'm not much older than you, you can just call me Brother Hao."

Chen Fan readily agreed, "Brother Hao."

Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Please sit down for a while, the food will be ready soon."

He was about to go inside when he said that.

At this moment, Master Zhu stopped him and pointed at Chen Fan, "Perfect timing. You can talk to Xiao Juan tonight and see if the bookstores in the county have the book that Master Chen wants. If they do, please help bring it back."

He then smiled at Chen Fan and said, "Xiao Juan is my sister-in-law. She works in finance at the supply and marketing cooperative and has to go to the county every week to submit accounts. I'm going to the county tomorrow anyway, so I'll take a look for you while I'm there."

Chen Fan was overjoyed, but first looked at Zhu Hao.

I couldn't help but be a little surprised. Master Zhu was a butcher, Zhu Hao was a ladle maker, and his wife worked in finance. This whole family had good jobs.

"Stethoscope, steering wheel, butcher's knife, salesperson"—these are the most enviable professions in today's society. There is also the saying of "eight types of workers": salesperson, driver, telephone operator, projectionist, sanitation worker, cook, broadcaster, and technician.

These are all professions closely related to the quality of life of ordinary people. All practitioners are the envy of everyone. Even when they go out to find a partner, their chances of success are several times higher than those of ordinary people.

Finding a wife must be very easy for the Zhu family.

Upon hearing his cousin's words, Zhu Hao immediately patted his chest and assured him, "It's no big deal. Just write down which books you want to buy, and I'll have her buy them tomorrow."

Chen Fan then smiled and said, "Thank you so much."

He then took out a notebook from his bag, quickly wrote down some keywords, tore it off, and handed it to Zhu Hao along with 10 yuan. "Then I'll trouble you, Brother Hao. Also, if it's convenient, could you please bring me three meters of power cord and a power outlet?"

Zhu Hao took it and looked at it. It was similar to what he had just heard. He couldn't help but marvel. Was there really someone who knew so much?

He smiled and said, "Electric wires and sockets, right? No problem. You two sit down first, I'll go make you some dishes."

At this moment, Chen Fan suddenly said, "Brother Hao, I suddenly have a craving for twice-cooked pork and stir-fried pork liver."

Then, glancing at Chef Zhu's delighted face, he smiled and continued, "It just so happens that Chef Zhu brought some pork belly and pig liver today. How about I borrow some and make two plates?"

Zhu Hao burst into laughter, "Then I couldn't be happier!"

These past few days, he had heard his cousin talk about these dishes countless times, and he had even tried them himself a few times, but his cousin always said that the taste was far from perfect. Now, if he could see Chen Fan make them himself, he would definitely improve, if not be able to replicate them, and then he would have mastered a few unique skills.

Chen Fan entered the kitchen and, just as if passing on a skill, imparted all his knowledge of how to cook these dishes.

"For twice-cooked pork, choose pork belly with a good balance of fat and lean meat. First, put it in water with scallions, ginger, and cooking wine and simmer until it's tender enough to be easily pierced with chopsticks. It shouldn't be too raw or too overcooked. Then, take it out and slice it into thin slices. Fry it in oil until it forms a nest-like shape..."

Zhu Hao himself has been a head chef for nearly ten years, and he quickly understood the secret.

After Chen Fan finished cooking two dishes, he wouldn't even let his two apprentices touch them. He personally carried them out, along with a bottle of Yunhu Daqu liquor, and smiled very happily. "You can eat first. Please let Master Chen see my skills for the next few dishes."

Chen Fan laughed and said, "I've already called you Brother Hao, so you can just call me Little Chen or Little Fan. Please don't call me Master Chen anymore, I really can't accept that."

Zhu Hao laughed and said, "Alright, alright, from now on I'll call you Xiao Fan. Come on, you guys have a drink first, I'll be right there." After saying that, he went into the kitchen.

Master Zhu smiled at Chen Fan and said, "You don't know my name yet, do you? My name is Zhu Shaojiang. If you think highly of me, you can call me Brother Jiang from now on."

Chen Fan immediately raised his glass, "Then I'll toast Brother Jiang."

They clinked their glasses and both beamed with joy.

Originally, Zhu Shaojiang only wanted to treat Chen Fan to a meal and let him try a few new dishes, but he didn't expect Chen Fan to be so generous and teach his cousin the recipes. This favor was truly immense.

Chen Fan was also very happy. Building good relationships with the head chefs at the food station and the state-run restaurants would be entirely beneficial to him.

Both of these positions involve dealing with people. The food station is where everyone in the commune goes to buy meat, and the restaurant chef meets with the leaders every few days. In this era that values ​​personal connections, these two people probably have "connections to the highest levels" in the small area of ​​Nanhu Commune.

While drinking and chatting, Chen Fan listened more and spoke less, like an excellent straight man, listening to Master Zhu tell various little-known secrets about the commune, which also increased his understanding of the place.

A little while later, Zhu Hao also came out with two dishes and a soup, and we sat down to chat.

Men tend to talk more when they drink, and this conversation lasted from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The four dishes and soup weren't enough, so they added a plate of braised beef and braised large intestine.

Zhu Hao was worried that Chen Fan would think he was stingy for not serving fatty meat but instead serving a plate of beef, so he laughed and said, "Don't be fooled by the fact that this beef is two cents cheaper than pork. It's because it's not very oily, so fewer people buy it. But when it's cooked well, this beef tastes much better than pork. You should try it if you don't believe me."

Chen Fan grinned awkwardly. Beef is cheaper than pork? Really?
He picked up his chopsticks, took a bite, and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Mmm, very tender. Brother Hao, you have excellent skills."

Zhu Hao was immediately surprised. "Wow, you're an expert! You know that braised beef should be tender. Many people say that this meat has no chewiness, which is a waste of my skills."

Zhu Shaojiang laughed and said, "You don't even know what Xiao Fan does. He might be a chef even more skilled than you."

Zhu Hao immediately shook his head and said seriously, "That's impossible. Xiao Fan is a cultured person who makes a living with his pen. How could he possibly be someone who uses a ladle?!"

Upon hearing this, the three of them burst into laughter again.

It was already noon when the restaurant door was pushed open, and a group of people walked in, bringing with them a chill.

Those people stood outside the counter by the door, looked at the blackboard menu hanging on the wall, and ordered a few dishes.

The sales clerk wrote down a menu and said expressionlessly, "4.8 yuan, two jin of grain coupons."

One of them quickly took out his money to pay the bill, then took a receipt and went to sit at the back of the room, near the kitchen door.

The sales clerk then hands the written menu through the food delivery slit.

Zhu Hao, who was supposed to be cooking, remained motionless, still chatting away with his wine glass in hand.

Seeing this, Chen Fan realized that it was probably a bit too late.

Looking outside again, the snowflakes that had been falling sporadically in the morning were now gradually becoming heavier. He whispered, "Brother Jiang, Brother Hao, it's getting late. How about we call it a day and have another drink sometime?"

Zhu Hao wanted to say something, but Zhu Shaojiang waved his hand and said seriously, "You have to go to work this afternoon, and it's a bit far to walk there, so let's stop here for today. You'll have to come back to pick up the book tomorrow, so let's continue drinking."

Chen Fan quickly said, "Brother Jiang, Brother Hao, I would be happy to have good wine and food, but I do have a lot of things to do these days, especially since the New Year is approaching and I haven't prepared anything yet. I'm afraid I really can't do it during this period."

Seeing that he was telling the truth, Zhu Shaojiang didn't press the matter and said with a smile, "Alright, there's plenty of time in the future."

He paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "But on the day before the Lunar New Year, your Captain Xiao asked me to come over and slaughter a pig. You can't escape that day, can you?"

Chen Fan immediately laughed and said, "Alright, alright, we'll drink again on that day."

(End of this chapter)