Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 98 Face Recognition
Having finally made it to the "Lujiawan CBD" and never having been here before, I naturally wanted to take a stroll around.

At the very least, I want to see what the purchasing stations and sales outlets unique to this era look like.

The two came out of the cotton-fluffing workshop, and Chen Fan looked around. "Have you been here before?"

Jiang Lili nodded. "I came once, with other educated youth. Some of them wanted to see what this place was like, so we all came together. But I haven't come back since. If we're buying things, the commune is closer."

Chen Fan chuckled twice, guessing that those young people were treating this place as a photo spot.

Indeed, the desire to watch a spectacle remains the same in any era.

Actually, he also enjoys watching excitement; otherwise, he should be going home by now.

Next to the cotton ginning workshop was a purchasing station; before he could go in, the people inside came out.

The man looked at them, and without caring whether they knew each other or not, said, "Here to fluff cotton?"

He had just seen the two people enter the cotton-fluffing workshop next door, and he was just making conversation because he was bored managing two shops all by himself.

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Ah, right."

Then he tilted his head and looked inside, "What kind of things do you collect here?"

The man laughed and said, "Judging from your appearance, you must be a sent-down youth."

Chen Fan looked up and smiled. "Don't you look like a farmer?"

The man waved his hand, "They're worlds apart; the difference is obvious."

He also pointed at Jiang Lili, saying, "This young girl looks more like a farmer than you do."

Jiang Lili stood to the side, awkwardly tugging at the corners of her mouth. She didn't know whether those words were a compliment or an insult.

During her three years there, she initially tried hard to become a real farmer and gain recognition from others. However, no matter what she did, no one talked to her, and they didn't include her in group activities. Over time, she could only bury herself in her work, and to this day, she still hasn't shaken off her former student-like demeanor.

Chen Fan laughed and said, "You have a good eye. But I'm not an educated youth; I'm just temporarily staying at the educated youth settlement."

The man suddenly realized, "Oh, you must be Master Chen."

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. So he really had become a celebrity in Lujiawan, and everyone knew him?
Seeing Chen Fan's expression, the man guessed what he was thinking and immediately laughed, "You took the initiative to teach the members how to cook turtle, and you're also the announcer of Lujiawan. I bet there's no one who doesn't know you now. I work here every day, so I definitely know you."

Since he was a celebrity, his attitude was different. He took the initiative to answer Chen Fan's question, "Actually, this purchasing station doesn't get much of anything good. It's just chicken feathers, duck feathers, chicken eggs, duck eggs, and some handicrafts made by farmers. After selling them, they exchange them for oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea at the consignment point next door."

He suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the opposite side, "Our main target for this acquisition station is still the goods from those two companies across the street."

Chen Fan turned his head and saw an oil press and a mill, so they were collecting oil, flour, and tofu?
People on this side can smell the aroma of tofu coming from across the street, so there must be tofu being made in this mill.

How about we buy a block of tofu to take home later?

However, I need to borrow money from Jiang Lili.

Just as Chen Fan was calculating Jiang Lili's wallet, the man said, "The oil cake left over from pressing oil, the bran and chaff left over from grinding flour and millet, and the soybean residue left over from grinding tofu are all top-notch products that can be used as fertilizer or animal feed."

These things, once collected and slightly processed, can be sent to the prefectural committee's farms and sold for high prices. Moreover, they buy as much as they can, so they are not afraid of not being able to sell them.

"If it weren't for these two workshops, our supply and marketing cooperative wouldn't have set up purchasing stations and sales outlets here."

Chen Fan suddenly realized that there was such a story behind it all.

But are these leftovers really that valuable?

Such business matters need no further discussion.

Later, at the invitation of this salesperson who also acted as a buyer, Chen Fan visited both stores. As he had said, the purchasing station didn't have anything of value: a few chicken and duck feathers, a dozen or so eggs, a few wooden basins and bamboo chairs, and that was it.

The neighboring sales outlet only had a dozen or so kinds of goods.

Oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, a few farm tools such as sickles, hoes, and shovels, plus a little kerosene and a few pieces of "Cuban sugar" in a jar.

Cuban sugar is cane sugar, a Cuban specialty that was specially imported with precious foreign exchange to support international friends.

The quality of this stuff is indeed hard to describe, but it is still candy. City people look down on it, so it has become a rare "luxury" for rural people. Because Cuban candy does not require sugar coupons and is cheap, it is very popular among rural children.

Yes, Jiang Lili told him all this in a low voice after they left the sales point.

When Chen Fan first heard about this candy, he thought it was something extraordinary. Turns out it's just this!

After exploring this area, we'll explore the other side.

The oil press was dark and covered in oil stains. Chen Fan only admired the "advanced" mechanical oil press at the entrance before heading to the mill next door.

Quite by chance, the miller was making tofu.

Master Chen, renowned in Lujiawan for his selfless passing on of his skills, wanted to observe the simple act of making tofu, and the tofu master agreed without hesitation.

They even explained while demonstrating how to soak the soybeans, for how long, how to grind them, to what degree, how to make soy milk, how to make tofu pudding, and finally how to make tofu, tofu skin, dried tofu sheets, yuba, dried bean curd sticks, and so on...

In his view, it's nothing more than a brief explanation; without a master's hands-on instruction, it's practically impossible to learn this skill.

However, Chen Fan stood silently to the side, watching his cooking skill experience points rise rapidly. In no time, he reached cooking skill LV5 (10/500), and he also became very familiar with the process and techniques of making bean products.

然后他想到的是，4升5级要200经验值，5级升6级就要500？那到了6级要多少？

Seeing that it was already 1:30, and he still had to go to work in the afternoon, Chen Fan reluctantly got up and left.

He also wanted to see how to make fermented soybean residue. He didn't see the master make it himself, he only heard him explain the process, and he didn't know if he could recreate it.

Fermented soybean residue is a delicious dish, especially when sliced ​​and added to fish hot pot. The residue fully absorbs the fish broth, and the taste is simply indescribable.

I just hope my experiment will be successful.

Before leaving, Chen Fan borrowed money from Jiang Lili to buy some tofu.

Well, I borrowed 1 cents and bought three pieces of tofu, each 15 centimeters square and about 5 centimeters thick. The weight wasn't small, and I even got 1 cent in change.

Chen Fan then simply bought another serving of fermented soybean residue.

For this piece of moldy bean curd residue, Chen Fan borrowed another penny from Jiang Lili.

The total debt is now 6 yuan and 11 fen.

Then another problem arises: plastic bags only became popular in the mid-80s. Nowadays, when people buy groceries, they either carry a bamboo basket "naked," meaning they put the groceries directly into the basket after buying them.

Alternatively, you can use straw rope or paper to wrap the meat. For example, if you buy meat, you can tie a pre-cut straw rope around it. If you buy fish, you can do the same, putting the rope through the gills and out of the mouth, then tying the rope tightly. You can then carry it away.

But this can only tie things that are not easy to come apart. Straw rope can't tie tofu, and paper can't wrap tofu. When people buy this kind of thing, they usually bring their own bowls to hold it.

What should Chen Fan do if he doesn't have a bowl?
It's okay, he has face!
He scanned his face, told people he'd come back on Thursday to pick up the quilt, and the tofu maker, knowing he was "Master Chen," agreed to lend him two bowls.

And so I carried it home.

(End of this chapter)