Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 264 The harsh winter of 1959: different temperatures for different people
"Is there a Big Three Crossroads?"

"Have!"

"Give me a plate."

"Where's the small three-way intersection?"

"Yes... Comrade, you don't need to ask one by one. There aren't many customers in the shop right now, so we have whatever you need."

"Alright, one plate of small three-pronged fork, plus cucumber strips and braised pork belly, and seven sesame flatbreads. Bring six on the spot, and take the last one with you when you leave."

"Got it!"

"Oh, and one more dish of stir-fried fermented bean curd with mutton fat and bean curd!"

"..."

As soon as Li Hongbing opened his mouth, the waiters in the store knew that he was a seasoned foodie, and their attitude became more serious.

The so-called "big three-fork," "small three-fork," "cucumber strip," and "top sirloin" are all carefully selected cuts of mutton.

Big three-pronged, half fat and half lean, with one end white and the other red.

The small three-pronged fruit is also half fat and half lean, but its flesh is red at both ends and white in the middle.

The cucumber strips are made with pure lean meat, all red in color, and have a delicate texture.

The upper part of the head has a marbled pattern, and the fat and lean parts are evenly distributed.

Li Hongbing ordered sesame flatbread, which was not only a staple food but also a side dish to cut through the greasiness of the hot pot meat.

Stir-fried bean curd with mutton fat and soybeans is a specialty dish of Donglaishun.

Soon.

A copper hot pot with a charcoal fire was brought out, filled with clear water, simply with some scallion segments and ginger slices—the classic clear broth hot pot base of that era.

At this time, there's no such thing as spicy hot pot or tomato hot pot. When eating hot pot with mutton, you're enjoying the original flavor of the mutton, so the quality of the mutton is very important.

While waiting for the hot pot to boil, the waiter brought out the plates of mutton and sesame flatbread that Li Hongbing had ordered, as well as the plate of stir-fried bean curd with mutton fat.

There were hardly any customers in the store, that's how fast they were.

At that time, restaurant waiters and department store or supply and marketing cooperative salespersons were still relatively friendly and enthusiastic. There were not many cases of declining service attitude and quality, or even bad behavior, such as "customers must not be beaten or scolded at will." The timeline needs to be pushed back further, especially to around the 1970s.

Before the hot pot broth boiled, Li Hongbing personally helped Li Jianwu, Zhao Jianjun, Zhao Qingwan, and Xu Jingli prepare the dipping sauce for the meat later, providing excellent service.

no way.

He was the only adult at the table; the rest were all children. Even if you want to develop their practical skills, this isn't the time to do it.

Even the oldest, Zhao Jianjun, is only six years old.

Not a moment later.

The water in the pot boiled, and at Li Hongbing's urging, Zhao Jianjun and Xu Jingli started eating.

The children present, even the youngest Li Jianwu, had eaten hot pot before and had experience with it, so Li Hongbing didn't need to teach them.

The only problem is probably its short arms.

In this situation, Li Hongbing couldn't just focus on eating himself; he also needed to take care of and help them more. He didn't worry much about other aspects.

It was late autumn.

The weather in Beijing is getting colder, and it's the perfect season for hot pot.

After eating a few bites of mutton and drinking a sip of hot soup, your whole body feels warm.

Speaking of which, a few years ago, during the period of joint public-private ownership, the quality of Donglaishun experienced a serious decline.

Not only have the ingredients been downgraded, but the original fresh Inner Mongolian mutton has been replaced with mixed frozen meat or old mutton. The traditional manual aging process has also been simplified, and the meat slices are uneven in thickness, making them tough to chew. Even the quality of the seasonings has been significantly reduced.

At the time, the leader criticized Donglaishun for not tasting good mutton. After this incident, Donglaishun naturally made changes and gradually returned to its previous state.

Li Hongbing ate it today, and obviously there were no problems like before; the experience was quite good.

However, this one hot pot meal consumed the entire month's meat ration for Li Hongbing's family of five.

Li Hongbing wasn't bothered by the loss, since he had never used his monthly meat ration coupons to buy meat; the ones he brought home were all taken directly from the system space.

As for the meat coupons issued each month, they are naturally used outside, just like today.

If you leave it unused, it will expire the following month, which is a complete waste.

Because the system has sufficient storage space, Li Hongbing's need for these tickets is not that urgent. Even if he doesn't go to the pigeon market or the black market to support ticket scalpers, it's basically enough.

When Li Hongbing left Donglaishun, he, who already had a large appetite, was satisfied with his meal, even though he wasn't completely full.

Seeing that Li Jianwu, Zhao Jianjun, Zhao Qingwan, and Xu Jingli were all eating happily and contentedly, Li Hongbing felt even better.

After eating a sesame flatbread, plus the mutton, the combination of fine grains and meat, along with the oil, even though Li Jianwu and Zhao Jianjun were both big eaters, they were all quite full.

Back on Qianmen Street, Li Hongbing first took Xu Jingli back to the tavern, and then, while going to the silk shop to pick up his bicycle, he handed the sesame flatbread he had brought over to Chen Xueru.

"You took Jianwu and the others to eat hot pot, and this is what you give me?"

After learning from Li Jianwu that Li Hongbing had just taken them to Donglaishun for hot pot, Chen Xueru couldn't help but roll her eyes at the sesame flatbread in her hand that had no meat on it.

Seeing Chen Xueru's "jealousy," Li Hongbing couldn't help but smile and said directly, "Have something to eat first, and I'll make you something delicious when we get back." Actually, Li Hongbing knew that Chen Xueru didn't have any complaints; she was just saying it on purpose to complain.

"That's what you said!"

Hearing that Li Hongbing promised to make her something delicious when he got back, Chen Xueru, who was still feeling a bit sour, took a bite of the still-warm sesame flatbread and instantly felt surrounded by happiness.

Chen Xueru wasn't happy just because Li Hongbing promised to cook special meals for her. In the years she'd been with Li Hongbing, she'd eaten all sorts of delicious food. Even a simple sesame flatbread made her happy knowing it was specially brought for her by Li Hongbing.

"I'm a cook, and if you marry me, I'd be a complete failure if you ever go hungry."

Upon hearing this, Li Hongbing couldn't help but tease him.

"See what you can do!"

Although Li Hongbing was telling the truth, and Chen Xueru knew in her heart that Li Hongbing had done exceptionally well in every aspect, leaving no room for criticism, she still couldn't help but roll her eyes at him when she saw his smug look.

After exchanging a few words with Chen Xueru and waiting for her to finish her sesame flatbread, Li Hongbing led Li Jianwu, Zhao Jianjun, and Zhao Qingwan back home.

There was still some time before the silk shop closed, and even if they wanted to pick up Chen Xueru from get off work, they had to take these kids home first. Otherwise, carrying so many people on a bicycle would be like performing acrobatics in the street.

"Uncle, would you like to come to our house with Jianwu? My mom and dad are sure to be home."

After seeing Zhao Jianjun and Zhao Qingwan off at the gate of their house, Li Hongbing prepared to take Li Jianwu back, but Zhao Jianjun reluctantly spoke up, trying to persuade them to stay and inviting them to stay.

"No, your uncle will come to see you and Qingwan again next time."

Li Hongbing shook his head and said, "I have to take Jianwu home, and I also need to pick up your aunt from get off work later. You guys go inside!"

"Oh~"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jianjun didn't say anything more.

Seeing Zhao Qingwan wave goodbye to him and Li Jianwu, and Zhao Jianjun also spoke up, Li Hongbing waved his hand and watched them turn and go inside before leaving with Li Jianwu with peace of mind.

When Li Hongbing and Li Jianwu returned to the courtyard, Yan Jiecheng, who had borrowed a bicycle early that morning to exchange for sweet potatoes in the suburbs, had already returned.

Yan Bugui even cleaned the borrowed bicycle thoroughly before returning it.

As for the quantity of sweet potatoes they received in exchange, Chen's mother has already accepted them.

In this regard, Li Hongbing was not worried about Yan Bugui having any ulterior motives.

Although Yan Bugui likes to take advantage of others, he is very clear about what kind of advantage is acceptable and what kind is not, and he will not do something that would cause him to lose more than he gains.

“Hongbing, Old Yang’s wife next door went to the outskirts to dig for wild vegetables today. She brought back some wild onions and amaranth, and I traded some cornmeal with her.”

Back home, when Chen's mother brought up the matter, Li Hongbing couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "To be able to dig up these at this time of year is truly remarkable!"

Li Hongbing's words about how difficult it was were not only because winter was approaching, but also because of the famine that had arrived. Everyone was scrambling to dig for wild vegetables, and they had almost dug up the entire area around the city. Those who had survived to this day were quite rare.

"Yes, it's quite lucky to find these at this time of year."

Hearing Li Hongbing's words, Chen's mother smiled and said, "Winter is almost here, and there are fewer and fewer green vegetables available in the market now. It's a rare opportunity like this, so let's make some wild scallion buns again before winter."

"Okay, I'll bring back another piece of meat tomorrow."

Li Hongbing nodded and did not object.

Wild scallions are fragrant, but buns without oil are not tasty.

After staying at home for a while, Li Hongbing rode his bicycle out and came to the small tavern on Qianmen Street again. Li Hongbing had just handed over the funds for the next phase of the antique acquisition to Cai Quanwu for safekeeping in the backyard when Uncle Niu came over.

It wasn't because of what happened in the afternoon, nor did I know that Li Hongbing would come over at this time. The main reason was that Niu Ye was a regular customer of the tavern, and since he and Cai Quanwu were helping Li Hongbing with his antique business, he naturally came over even more frequently.

It was precisely because of this business that, even when the tavern business was declining and many old customers rarely came, Uncle Niu was still living a comfortable life, unlike others who were in dire straits.

Niu Ye was extremely grateful to Li Hongbing.

Without Li Hongbing, without the opportunity Li Hongbing gave him, and without the monthly allowances, even though Master Niu had ancestral property that would have helped him survive the current predicament, he would have had to sell off his family's various ancestral properties and treasures, just like the other members of his clan.

With food so expensive on the black market, the pressure is unimaginable.

If Uncle Niu had known that this hardship would last for three years, he probably would have regarded Li Hongbing as his benefactor.

Even if many people manage to survive, they will eventually run out of money by selling off their ancestral property. The key issue is that the black market grain prices have skyrocketed in the past three years, and filling this hole will not be easy.

Three years later, many people not only lost all their wealth, but also fell back into poverty.

Li Hongbing had already told Cai Quanwu everything he needed to say about collecting antiques that afternoon, and the money had been transferred to Cai Quanwu's hands. Naturally, there was nothing more to say to Master Niu. The group then ordered a pot of wine in the tavern and chatted idly, which added some life to the tavern.

When it was almost time, Li Hongbing rode his bicycle to the silk shop to pick up Chen Xueru after get off work.

The following evening, Li Hongbing naturally kept his promise from the previous day and brought back a piece of fine pork.

The next morning, the whole family ate big steamed buns filled with wild onions and pork.

After that day.

The weather is getting colder and colder, and soon it will be the beginning of winter, marking the official arrival of winter.

Just like the cold weather, many people's moods are sinking as they look at the grain in their rice bins.

Life is getting harder and harder.

(End of this chapter)