Siheyuan: From Being Called Shazhu

"and many more."

Master Sun stopped He Yuzhu who was about to go out to continue applying eye drops to Captain Zhang.

"The teacher gave you a gift and asked me to pass it on to you."

As he spoke, Master Sun took out a paper tube wrapped in newspaper from the drawer and threw it to He Yuzhu.

"Ok?"

He Yuzhu subconsciously took the paper tube and weighed it in his hand. It was not heavy.

"Teacher, why did you give me a gift during this unseasonal occasion?"

Although He Yuzhu was joking, his hands were moving quickly.

Just open the newspaper.

"It's because the teacher had a good meal during the Chinese New Year, and he knew about you and that you were going to have a birthday, so he asked me to give you a gift. I won't earn that favor."

Watching He Yuzhu unpacking the package, Master Sun explained with a smile and started smoking his pipe nearby.

At this time, He Yuzhu had already unwrapped the newspaper wrapping.

"Oh my god, 53 daggers?"

Looking at the gift in his hand, He Yuzhu couldn't help but speak out.

53 dagger, the full name is Type Scout Dagger.

He Yuzhu is very familiar with this knife.

He Yuzhu of later generations had one in his hand, but it was brought back from Laoshan by He Yuzhu's father at that time.

Finally, He Yuzhu, who had just turned 18, begged and pleaded until he was given the license.

Unfortunately, in the end, it was confiscated as evidence of "murder".

He Yuzhu had never expected that after so many years, he would receive 53 daggers.

"you know?"

He Yuzhu here was surprised by the dagger in his hand.

Over there, Master Sun was also shocked.

"This thing was only developed last year, and only a few have been issued. How did you know about it?"

"Well....."

Now, He Yuzhu is in trouble.

He didn't know how to explain it.

“I…I…”

I kept saying "I" for a long time but couldn't come up with anything.

Fortunately, Master Sun frowned and "explained" to He Yuzhu at this time.

"In the future, you should stop hanging out with those brats who like to show off. Whenever they have something good at home, they just talk about it without restraint and go out to show off all day long."

As he said this, he glared at He Yuzhu.

"You didn't go out and show off our factory's products to them, did you?"

"No, no, I don't touch anything produced in the factory now, so I can't show off even if I want to."

He Yuzhu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and smiled awkwardly.

But Master Sun, who was still worried, reminded He Yuzhu again.

"Remember, although many people in our factory know about this, you must remember the principle of confidentiality."

"Okay, okay, okay, I remember."

He Yuzhu now felt that he had escaped a disaster, and quickly nodded in agreement.

This time, Master Sun didn't say anything.

Just waved his hand.

"Okay, Master, I'll be out first."

He Yuzhu hurried out of the office.

He Yuzhu finally breathed a sigh of relief when he arrived at a place where there was no one.

It was so close.

He Yuzhu squatted in a corner, smoked a cigarette, calmed down, walked over, and began to carefully examine the dagger in his hand.

The sword in his hand now is not much different from the one that He Yuzhu's father gave him in later generations.

They all have black scabbards, maroon handles, and brass sword guards and butt guards.

The blade is still the familiar double-edged sword with a blood groove in the middle.

The difference is that the blade of the 53 dagger in He Yuzhu's hand has a matte finish.

The blade of the later one is shiny.

Moreover, the engraving on the sword guard is gone.

The later sword had a number engraved on the sword guard and a steel stamp with the words "9826".

But now, there is no inscription on the sword guard.

“Could it be a product of the research institute?”

He Yuzhu knew that most military experimental products in the research institute were not numbered, so he happily put the Type 53 dagger into his bag.

Now, the gun head can finally retire.

Otherwise, it would be embarrassing if he were to use a gun as a cold weapon all day long as a deputy company commander.

Besides, the gun tip can cut your hand if you don’t use it properly, just like what happened to He Yuzhu last year.

Gradually, He Yuzhu's enthusiasm for the Type 53 dagger, which he had obtained for a few days, subsided.

The school has started.

The school that He Yuzhu is attending now is an "adult continuing education class" for two semesters, one academic year, after work.

To put it bluntly.

This class is meant to train workers, not technicians or engineers.

It would be great if I could teach you the theory for half a year.

As soon as the next semester started, the courses in He Yuzhu’s class turned into “practical operations”.

Tonight, I might ask you to go over and grind the parts with a file.

Then tomorrow night you will be given a blank sheet of paper and asked to draw three views.

The day after tomorrow, you will be asked to sift sand and make molds.

Not to mention "work" like operating a lathe, touching the tool (the tool on the lathe), connecting wires, welding parts, riveting parts, and so on.

It can be said that every day is different and it repeats itself every week.

Fortunately, He Yuzhu is a boy.

(First of all, I don’t mean to discriminate against women here)

As for boys, they are more or less okay in terms of hands-on ability.

Just learn and practice and you will get the hang of it.

He Yuzhu persisted like this for two weeks.

On the second Friday after school started, He Yuzhu finally took the first leave in his school career.

You have to invite me.

The second Friday of March, which is March 3th in the Gregorian calendar, is Arbor Day.

Yes, there is no such thing as Arbor Day at this time.

Or, to be precise, March 28th has been designated as Arbor Day since 3 years ago.

It was only in 79 that March 3 was officially proposed as Arbor Day.

However, March 3th this year is the eighth day of the second lunar month.

February 8th is such a sacred day for people in Northeast China.

Because, today, we can make sauce cubes...

(Well, because Northeast China is vast and rich in resources, I personally cannot represent Northeast China, so what I write here only represents the scene when my family makes soybean paste.)

That’s right, He Yuzhu’s first leave was to go back and make soybean paste.

Even during the daytime shift at the factory, Master Sun asked Xiao Li to send He Yuzhu back early.

Just tell me how anxious Master Sun was.

Making sauce starter is actually quite troublesome.

Those who are more particular are like Master Sun and his old comrades.

We started early to bring back the Northeast soybeans that we had ordered from the logistics department some time ago and began to pick them.

It's these old guys who have the patience.

seriously.

Don’t think that He Yuzhu in later generations has to make soybean paste every year.

But when it comes to choosing soybeans, it doesn't matter if they are roughly the same. I want them to be plump and crystal clear.

After these idle old guys have picked out 20 kilograms of soybeans, it is He Yuzhu's turn.

The first step is to fry the soybeans.

First, fry the soybeans over low heat until the skin cracks, and that's it.

Next, it’s time to cook the soybeans.

This step is troublesome.

You also have to cook it slowly over low heat and stir it frequently.

When turning it over, you cannot turn it over vigorously like you would when frying soybeans. You just have to turn it over carefully.

Wait until the soybeans are cooked for almost an hour.

Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and then cover the pot with a quilt and let it simmer overnight.

Because it was done under the grape trellis in front of Master Sun's house.

Add to that the soybeans from Northeast China, which are fried and boiled, and the bean aroma is fully released.

This night is going to be a big sin.

Not to mention small animals.

Even a group of children from the compound, led by He Yushui, who had just returned from school in the evening, came over.

Fortunately, He Yuzhu was prepared.

When frying soybeans, prepare a bowl in advance.

When cooking soybeans, I also prepared a bowl of salted soybeans.

Finally, these hungry children were sent away.

As for the rest, he and Xiao Li just had to keep watch at night and look after the small animals.

Fortunately, He Yuzhu and Xiao Li are both young people.

It was still a bit cold that night, even though it was February in the lunar calendar, but it passed after a while.

In addition, Master Sun would come out of the house from time to time.

He Yuzhu and Xiao Li chatted and laughed while smoking, and managed to get through it.

It was still dark the next morning.

He Yuzhu scooped out all the soybeans that had been simmering in the pot overnight into a large basin.

Next, if this happened in later generations, He Yuzhu would directly use a wall breaker or grinder to grind the soybeans into powder or crumbs.

But for now, just make do with it.

On one side, Xiao Li was pounding hard with a pestle in a large basin.

On one side, He Yuzhu was grinding with a small stone.

It was a hard job, but I finally managed to crush all the soybeans.

He Yuzhu also began to shape the image.

After all, it is a sauce cube. If you don’t make it into a rectangle, it’s not called a sauce cube, right?

After working on thirteen pieces in a row, two large rectangular blocks of sauce were ready by dawn.

"Master, the sauce cubes are ready, where should I put them?"

He Yuzhu washed his hands and elbowed Master Sun who was still grinning at the piece of sauce.

"I suggest that you leave the sauce cubes in the factory when you go to work."

"Not really. It's just a piece of soy sauce. It's not even soy sauce yet. No one would steal it."

Seeing that Master Sun completely misunderstood his meaning, He Yuzhu had to speak up.

"It's not a matter of stealing or not, but the sauce cubes need to ferment for two months, and by then, they will stink."

"Smelly?"

Master Sun was a little disapproving.

"No matter how smelly it is, can it compare to the battlefield? I didn't even frown when I ate and drank on the battlefield, so how smelly can this little thing be?"

"Well...."

Since Master Sun said so, He Yuzhu didn't know what to say.

Anyway, he has decided that he will definitely not live with Master Sun in the next two months, absolutely not.

"You kid, you are just full because you have been hungry. Look how many meals you have been hungry for. In what environment can you not eat?"

Seeing He Yuzhu's face full of disgust, Master Sun was still unwilling.

But no matter how disapproving Master Sun is now, how humble Master Sun will have to be in half a month.

Yes, after only half a month, the sauce cubes started to ferment and were wrapped in newspaper.

Master Sun couldn't stand it anymore.

The sauce cubes were brought directly to the factory.

"Uh, it's not that I can't stand it, it's the rain. Yes, I'm afraid I can't stand the rain."

Looking at He Yuzhu's teasing eyes, Master Sun was still trying his best to save face.

In a blink of an eye, more than a month has passed.

It is May 10th in the Gregorian calendar and April 8th in the lunar calendar.

In the Northeast, the 8th, 18th and 28th of the fourth lunar month are all mysterious days.

During these three days, I dare not say that every household, but most families will make soybean paste.

Why is it mysterious?

It has to be said that in the Northeast, making soybean paste is a kind of metaphysics.

Because there is a saying in Northeast China that when making soybean paste, you cannot let outsiders watch.

He Yuzhu has always respected metaphysics... No, he respects tradition.

So, even though it was Monday, He Yuzhu also started making soybean paste.

In fact, He Yuzhu wanted to follow the custom of later generations and start making soybean paste on the 28th day of the lunar calendar.

In the words of my family, 28, 28, Dajiang just loves to make money.

But now, located in Beijing, the latitude is several degrees higher than my hometown in Northeast China, so the temperature is naturally a few degrees higher.

Now, it’s the perfect time to make soybean paste on the eighth day of the new year.

Just do it.

Use water and a brush to clean the hairs on the surface of the formed sauce cubes.

From this step, you can basically tell whether the sauce of each restaurant is delicious or not.

For someone like He Yuzhu, whose sauce blocks only have white hair on them, if he doesn't make any mistakes in the subsequent steps, the sauce will definitely not taste bad.

Some people make sauce cubes that have both white and green hairs on them.

As for this, let’s wait and see. If there are no mistakes in the follow-up, the soybean paste will still be edible.

Just saying it’s delicious is definitely not enough.

But if something goes wrong later, the food will definitely be unpalatable.

As for the sauce cubes, there are black spots or even black hairs on them.

Congratulations, all your previous preparations have been wasted. No matter how you remedy it later, it will still be unpalatable.

After washing the sauce cubes, drain them and dry them, cut them into small pieces and put them into a jar that has been cleaned in advance. The next step is to add water and salt.

As for adding water and salt, there is a proportion to this.

Normally, for one pound of beans, you should add 3 taels of salt and pounds of water.

Please note that the salt must be coarse salt, not refined salt.

Although, in the past, people chose to add salt because there was no refined salt.

However, He Yuzhu has tried it and found that if refined salt is added, the resulting paste will have a slightly bitter taste.

(This is true...)

But now, He Yuzhu took the temperature into consideration.

He Yuzhu added 20 kilograms of salt to 8 kilograms of soybeans.

Moreover, He Yuzhu heard that the water quality in the capital was relatively hard.

He didn't care that the water in the compound was brought from a spring on the mountain.

Bring it to a boil and let it cool before adding it to the jar.

After stirring it with a pestle for a few times, the salt, water and sauce cubes are fully blended.

Take out the jar curtain made of fine gauze that had been prepared long ago and cover the jar.

Then use an elastic band to secure the cylinder curtain.

That’s all for this day’s work.

Do you think you can just sit back and wait to eat soybean paste?

wrong.

From that day on, He Yuzhu had to tinker with the sauce jar every morning and evening, skimming off the foam until the sauce was completely fermented.

After all, as the old saying goes, if you want to eat delicious soybean paste, you can’t miss the skimming foam.

Alas~~~~

do it.