Siheyuan: I am a big capitalist after the founding of the People's Republic of China

In the box, the six people sitting there saw the old man and others coming and all stood up to greet them.

All six of them were elderly people, and one of them was in a wheelchair.

After sending away the attendants, five of them even knelt on one knee to salute. The old man in the wheelchair also saluted with his fists clasped.

The old man said with a sullen face: "Everyone, get up! What era is this? You are still doing this. If outsiders see it, it will cost me my life!"

"Master, no matter what era it is, the master is still the master. There can be no rules."

"Hey, old guard! I haven't seen you for a few years. How come you look like this?"

(Lao Shou) His real name was Shou Heng. He was the person in charge of the Li family's business in Tianjin before the public-private partnership. During the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, his ancestors served the ancestors of the Li family. He was Shou Shan's father.

"Master, thank you for your concern. I had a stroke two years ago. Now I am in this state."

"Madam, I haven't seen you for many years, and you are still as charming as ever."

Grandma: "I'm old now, not as good as I used to be. Is Meiya doing well lately?"

Lao Shou: "Madam, please worry about my wife. She is still the same as before."

Grandma: "Grandson, this is your Grandpa Shou, that is your Grandpa Zhang, and these are your Grandpa Wang, Grandpa Zhao, Grandpa Qian, and Grandpa Sun."

After Li Zihang called out to people, he was praised by a group of old men.

The old man: "Sit down, what's the point of standing?"

After arranging the servants brought by the Li family and Shoushan to eat in another private room, a young man from Shoushan was left in the box to serve.

As the dishes were served, Shoushan introduced them to Li Zihang. The old man and grandma had traveled all over the country in the early years and had tasted and seen all kinds of dishes.

Shou Shan: "Korean whitebait, eight-treasure tofu, fried three, jar meat, fried fish slices, pot-fried pork loin, and shrimp paste stewed tofu. These are all famous specialties of Tianjin."

"Young Master, please try it."

Then Shoushan poured a jar of aged wine to each of them, starting from the old man.

"Master, this jar of wine is really great. If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have been willing to take it out."

The old man became interested when he heard this.

"Old Qian, tell me, what is so special about this wine?"

(Old Qian) His real name is Qian Longhuan, an old servant of the Li family. Later, he followed Shouheng to Tianjin to look after the business for the Li family. Before the public-private partnership, he was the head of the Li family's foreign trade business.

Old Qian: "This wine is the top grade red wine that was buried when his wife was pregnant with his son. It has been sealed until now, exactly 50 years."

“The real deal, half a century old wine”

Li Zihang had never drunk such aged wine in his two lifetimes. Curiously, he stretched his head and looked at the wine in the old man's glass.

I found that the wine in the glass had a light yellow hue, and felt like rice wine.

The old man helplessly pushed Li Zihang's head back with his hand.

"What are you looking at? It's not time for you to drink yet."

The rest of the people were amused by this scene.

Seeing that Li Zihang was so curious, Lao Qian started to explain to him

"My dear young master, this wine is made from pure grains. A jar of 30 kilograms of wine has been sealed for 50 years, and half of it has evaporated in the jar. After opening it, the aroma of the wine is rich and deep, and it lasts for a long time."

"The wine is thick as if it were thickened with starch. The color is also amber. But when drinking this wine, you have to mix it with new wine according to the proportion."

"If the master and the mistress hadn't come, I would never have taken it out even if I was beaten to death."

(Old Sun) His real name is Sun Qiming. He was an old servant of the Li family and the head of all teahouses and tea shops in Tianjin before the public-private partnership.

"Qian Guazi, you old man, haven't you ruined my good wine enough! Over the years, no matter where my good wine was hidden, you can ruin it for me."

"Old Wang, you know. Good fellow, I left all the wine at your place. He was able to find it."

(Lao Wang) His real name is Wang Dongyue. He was hired by the old man when he was young, and later became the old man's confidant step by step.

Lao Wang: "When Lao Qian comes to see me, he's a jerk. He doesn't do his job and runs to my wine cellar first. I can't stop him. Last time my son complained a few words, he gave my son a good scolding."

Old man: "Old Qian, why are you still addicted to alcohol? Can't you change? You are so old."

"Master, this wine is the essence of grain. The more you drink, the younger you will feel."

"I don't know if you are young or not, but you are getting smarter and smarter. Not only did you cheat me, you even cheated my grandson. You are a ruthless person."

As soon as these words were spoken, Old Qian instantly lost face.

"Old Zhang, don't be ungrateful. You're almost as bad as the old guard. I'm drinking some of the wine for your own good. Besides, I was just teasing your grandson. How can you say I'm lying to him?"

(Lao Zhang) His real name is Zhang Jiayuan. He was adopted by Li Zihang's great-grandfather. Later, he was sent to Tianjin by his grandfather to do timber business. He was the director of the largest timber factory in Tianjin before the public-private partnership.

"Master, you don't know that Old Qian is now like a child. None of us old friends like him. He went to Old Zhang's house to drink, but found that Old Zhang was not at home, so he tricked his 13-year-old grandson into drinking. My goodness, after Old Zhang's grandson got drunk, he acted crazy. He rode on Old Zhang, like Wu Song fighting a tiger, and forced Old Zhang to beg for mercy."

"Tell me, what does he do?" The speaker was Lao Zhao.

(Lao Zhao) Real name is Zhao Jingzhe. One of the 28 secret guards of the old man. Sent by the old man to Tianjin to supervise all the business.

At this time, Lao Qian, who was embarrassed, saw the waiter bringing the dishes and quickly took over the conversation.

"My young master, please try this dish. This old servant prepared it especially for you."

Li Zihang frowned when he heard Grandpa Qian calling himself an old servant and a young master.

"Grandpa Qian, you can just call me Zihang. Don't call me old servant. I'm a little flattered."

As soon as these words came out, the old friends next to them looked at each other, and smiled unconsciously.

Old Qian shook his head. The rules that had been ingrained in his mind for a lifetime made it impossible for him to forget the old etiquette.

The old man spoke at this time.

"You are all Xiaohang's grandfather's generation. Besides, it's a different era now. You should change your ways from now on. Just call him by his nickname."

"Don't call yourself an old servant anymore. The country now advocates that the people should be the masters of the country. If someone with ulterior motives sees this, it will be bad for everyone."

Everyone present here is an experienced person. As soon as he heard what the old man meant, he knew what he meant. Old Qian also changed his tone immediately.

"Then I will dare to call you Xiao Hang."

"Xiao Hang, try this dish, braised bear paw. Three days ago, the old master wrote to me about coming over. I asked someone to prepare it."

"For this dish, remove the hair and fishy smell. Steam it three times and simmer it three times. Finally, simmer it over low heat and then cook it over high heat until the sauce thickens. It takes 36 hours to enjoy this delicacy."

Li Zihang took advantage of the situation and picked up a piece of bear paw to taste it. He found that it was soft, glutinous and smooth in the mouth, and it felt like stewed beef tendon. The taste was also fresh and salty in the mouth, with a mellow aftertaste and sweetness. The more he tasted, the better it tasted.

Old Qian watched Li Zihang finish tasting the dishes and asked him how it went, as if to seek credit.

"Bear paw smells like wine, but it doesn't taste like wine when you eat it. It's fat but not greasy, soft, fragrant and smooth. It's also a little chewy. It's fresh and salty with a hint of sweetness. You can taste the freshness of winter bamboo shoots, the saltiness of ham, and the sweetness in the aftertaste, which also carries the sweetness of high-quality honey. The soup also has the mellow taste of old soup. It's full of color, aroma and taste. It's endless aftertaste~"

Li Zihang's comments were instantly greeted with applause from the audience, many of whom praised the answers they had obtained after careful consideration.

Lao Qian: "It seems that Xiaohang is also an old gourmet. You got everything right."

When the old man saw the bear paw, it brought back some memories.

"Lao Zhao, and Lao Qian. Do you remember when we were young, we went to Guandong to buy medicinal herbs and skins?"

"On the way, I met a blind bear blocking the road."

Old Zhao: "It seemed to be the first year of the Ming Kingdom. Our old master arranged for a few of us to follow our uncles to explore Guandong. I remember that we were terrified. The horses even ran away in shock."

"If it weren't for the guards sent by the old master, we really wouldn't know what to do."

Lao Qian: "Who says it's not true? I remember that I was only 21 at that time. The master was only 17. It was our first time to go to Guandong. We had never experienced anything like this. We were all scared by the blind bear that stood 2 meters tall."

"Later, it was Uncle Qiufen who stepped forward and shot the blind bear down with one shot."

The old man said: "We weighed the carcass of the starving bear. Wow, it weighed more than 400 kilograms just out of hibernation. Its claws were like daggers."

Li Zihang asked curiously what happened next.

Lao Qian: "Later, we peeled off the skin and cooked some of the bear meat. When we ate it, we found that the bear meat was tough and had a strong smell. So we fed it all to the hunting dogs."

"We also ruined the four bear paws."

Lao Zhao: "I get angry when I talk about the bear paws. When they were first stewed, they were so smelly and strong. I couldn't bite them. I didn't believe it and carried the clay pot with me all the way. In the end, the four bear paws were stewed into a mush and still tasted terrible. I was so angry that I almost smashed the pot."

The old man said, "I told you you're stupid, but you still don't believe me. Who among us knew how to cook that? Besides, we didn't have the time or the ingredients. We were told to save it and find someone to cook it. But you were so stupid as to remove the hair and start cooking it."

"Not only did I waste four bear paws, but I also wasted a pot of good medicinal materials."

Old Zhao chuckled and didn't refute or say anything.

Li Zihang also expressed his doubts about the bear paw at this time.

"Grandpa Zhao, is it true that bear paws are just like what is described in the books, that only the front paw used to dig out honey can be eaten among the four bear paws?"

Without waiting for Lao Zhao to answer, Lao Sun spoke directly.

"My dear, look at my memory."

After saying that, he slapped himself lightly.

"Xiao Hang, don't listen to the nonsense in the book and those people who run the restaurant business."

"Think about it, bears, cows, sheep, and pigs all have the same virtue: they all walk on their four paws."

"Every day when I walk on the ground, I avoid all kinds of filth. There is no difference between the front and the back."

"It's all hyped up by those bear paw merchants. They just want to sell their products at a high price because they are unique."

"Anyway, I haven't been able to tell the difference between the front and back paws in these years."

Old man: "Many things in the world are hyped up for profit. It's not just the bear's paw."

Everyone was eating and chatting, and the topic turned to public-private partnerships.