Colorful years

Zhang Cong followed Teacher Li slowly to the front door, just as they met Teacher Man carrying a large piece of fresh pork back home.

This is a row of neatly arranged single-story dormitory buildings, quietly located to the west of the office building, where more than a dozen families live.

At that time, housing conditions were quite simple and scarce. For ordinary workers, the only accommodation they could be allocated was a spacious open room. People would cleverly set up a partition in the middle of the room to divide it into two separate rooms.

Although each room was not small, probably over 20 square meters, and the total usable area was over 50 square meters, reaching the construction area of ​​a two-bedroom, one-living room house, it was built as a simple dwelling at that time, without a dedicated kitchen and bathroom.

Zhang Cong later carefully considered the design and construction of this type of house, and after much thought, he concluded that it was simply a cost-saving measure.

The Li family lives in such a dormitory. When his family and children are not around, the inner room is used as a bedroom; while the outer room serves as both a study and a living room.

However, if a wife and children live in the house, then a bed must also be placed in the outer room, because this space is needed for both daily rest and receiving visitors.

It is worth mentioning that a coal stove is placed in the narrow corridor above the door of each household.

This coal stove is not used often on ordinary days. It is only lit when relatives, friends or important guests come to visit, and is used to boil water, cook food and prepare delicious dishes.

Unless there are important guests such as relatives or friends visiting, the staff usually choose to eat their three meals a day at the staff canteen.

After opening the door, Teacher Li asked Zhang Cong to chat with Teacher Man while she started a fire to cook.

Zhang Cong was a clever young man. He immediately understood Teacher Li's intention, so he warmly took Teacher Man's hand and walked into the house together.

"Old Man, look at my home, it's really quite simple! This dinner to welcome Zhang Cong will have to be simple!" Teacher Li stood in front of the coal stove, her hands busy adding coal to the dark firebox, and turned around to say to Teacher Man with a slightly apologetic smile on her face.

"Hey, Lao Li, don't say that! Your student Zhang Cong is also from a poor family, he wouldn't care about these things. Besides, don't bother, let's just make a simple pork stew with vermicelli and some cabbage tonight, how about that?" Teacher Man responded cheerfully, her eyes crinkling into slits with laughter.

"Alright, my cooking skills are just so-so, I really can't come up with anything fancy, so I'll leave it to you!" Teacher Li replied, and as she spoke, the coal stove was successfully lit, and the bright red flames danced merrily.

Teacher Li deftly placed a large iron pot steadily on the stove, then began to clean the pork in an orderly manner, and skillfully cut the meat into evenly sized pieces with a cleaver.

There's no need to worry about cooking rice. You can simply go to the canteen in the government office and easily get a fresh, fragrant bowl of white rice, which saves a lot of time and effort.

Time passed quietly, and after about half an hour, the entire corridor seemed to be enveloped by a rich and mellow aroma of braised pork with vermicelli.

The enticing aroma wafted into people's nostrils, causing passersby to stop and take deep breaths of this intoxicating fragrance.

Teacher Li and Teacher Man worked together carefully to move the steaming pot of delicious pork stew with vermicelli from the kitchen into the house.

Just then, Zhang Cong returned from the bustling farmers' market nearby with a large basket of fresh, tender cabbages. As soon as he entered the house, without even taking a moment to rest, Zhang Cong rushed to the sink and carefully washed the large bunch of cabbages until they were clean, then gently placed them in a large basin.

Everything is ready; we're just waiting to cook the fresh cabbage in the hot pot and enjoy it together after the meal begins.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. Zhang Cong looked up and saw a burly man with a simple, honest face walk in.

The visitor was Zhang Ying, Zhang Cong's junior and senior. He had been recommended by Teacher Li to work in the county government office. After get off work, he came here as arranged.

"Zhang Ying is here, let's start the meal!" Teacher Li smiled when she saw Zhang Ying and gave the order to start the meal.

After everyone was seated, Teacher Li took out a pot of corn liquor and four porcelain bowls. He poured a bowl for each person, and together they raised their bowls to enjoy this simple yet joyful dinner.

"Teacher Li, I'm really sorry, but you see, I'm not a good drinker at all!" Zhang Cong said, carefully picking up the full bowl of corn liquor in front of him, which was emitting a strong aroma of alcohol, with a very embarrassed expression on his face.

At this moment, Teacher Man, who was sitting to the side, couldn't help but glare at him and earnestly advised, "Xiao Zhang, this dinner is specially prepared for you to welcome you back! Even if you don't drink much, you should at least drink a little, otherwise it will spoil everyone's fun!"

After listening to Teacher Man's words, Zhang Cong pondered to himself: "That's true. On such a special occasion, if I insist on not drinking at all, it might spoil the fun for everyone." With that thought, he gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

A grateful smile slowly appeared on Zhang Cong's face. He raised the wine bowl in his hand high and said loudly, "I am very grateful to my two mentors for their care and support, and to my senior brother Zhang Ying for coming to support me. It is such an honor! I will take a big gulp first to show my sincerity. You all can do as you please!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Cong brought the bowl to his mouth without hesitation and gulped down a large mouthful of corn liquor.