Reborn in 1977

At 5 o'clock after work, Chen Fan packed up and went to Grandpa Lu's house.

As soon as he opened the door, he smelled a rich aroma of stewed chicken with potatoes. Grandpa Lu was holding a copy of "Mr. Li's Anthology," reading with great interest.

This was also the only book openly visible in his house.

Seeing Chen Fan arrive, he closed the book and prepared to move the table.

Chen Fan quickly stopped him, "Take it easy, Grandpa, let me do it."

He was already over seventy years old and had a limp. He was really worried that he might stumble and get hurt.

Seeing his actions, Grandpa Lu went along with it and didn't try to be a hero, chuckling as he went back to his room to put the book away.

By the time he came out again, Chen Fan had already set the table and chopsticks, and had also found a piece of wood to use as a pad, bringing the casserole over and placing it on top.

Grandpa Lu took out a plate of braised fish and a small dish of tofu from the cupboard, and said with a chuckle, "For the New Year, you can be without meat, but you can't be without fish, it's for the good omen of 'having abundance every year'. This tofu, on the other hand, has the saying of 'vegetarian meat', and also implies that one should be upright, so these two dishes are indispensable on the table."

Chen Fan poured wine while asking, "Would it work if I replaced it with tofu meatballs? I didn't prepare any fresh tofu."

He did have a small stone mill to grind soy milk, but he forgot to buy bittern. Without bittern, he couldn't make brine, and without brine, he couldn't make tofu. Ordinary table salt could also be used to make tofu, but the tofu made was too soft and could only be used in soup, so he simply didn't make it.

Hearing his words, Grandpa Lu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, shaking his head and saying, "If there's no tofu, tofu meatballs will do, anyway, it's just for the meaning."

Then he said with some emotion, "In the early years, there were times when there was no tofu. What did I do? I got some soybeans, cooked them, mashed them, and made soy milk to barely pretend to be tofu. Later, when there weren't even soybeans, I simply cut slices of cabbage stalks and pretended they were tofu. Anyway, they were all white, so it was passable."

He didn't say what to do if there was no fish. In this area, anything was possible to be missing, except fish!

The difference was whether it was a big fish or a small fish. No matter what, catching a small crucian carp weighing two ounces was not difficult.

After Grandpa Lu finished telling the old stories, Chen Fan uncovered the lid of the earthenware pot.

A burst of white steam rose up, and the aroma instantly became ten times stronger, spreading throughout the house.

The oily potatoes, chicken pieces, and red chili sauce in the pot were mixed together, and then sprinkled with pre-cut scallions, making people drool.

Through the thick mist, Grandpa Lu's face bloomed with a smile.

Having fish and tofu on the table was important, but having meat, wine, and, more importantly, people, was what made it the New Year!

Not knowing whether it was because he was smoked by the mist or what, Grandpa Lu took out a handkerchief to wipe his eyes, then picked up his wine glass, "Come on, let's have a toast, I wish you a Happy New Year."

Chen Fan held the wine cup with both hands, lowered the rim of the cup and touched it, and said with a smile, "Happy New Year, Grandpa."

After taking a small sip, Chen Fan put down his wine cup and picked up a chicken leg for Grandpa Lu, "Try my cooking."

Grandpa Lu picked up his chopsticks, took a bite, and after chewing and swallowing, he put down his chopsticks and gave a thumbs up, "It's no worse than the master chef at Wangjiang Tower in Yunhu."

Chen Fan was a little disappointed. Is my dignified level-five cooking skill only at the level of a chef in a prefecture-level city?

Grandpa Lu didn't see Chen Fan's expression. At this time, his eyes were a little dazed, as if he was reminiscing about the past, "Back in the thirties, I went to Yunhu. That Wangjiang Tower was by the river, and it was the best restaurant in Yunhu. Even many dignitaries from the provincial capital went there to eat. It is said that the master chef's skills were superb even in the provincial capital. Counting it, it's been nearly forty years."

Chen Fan also looked up into the distance. Nearly forty years?

If I were to live another forty years, I would be entering the new century.

This old man spans several eras, and they are eras of upheaval and constant change!

After reminiscing about the past, Grandpa Lu chatted with Chen Fan about food, from the Lu cuisine that originated in the Spring and Autumn period, to the Huaiyang cuisine that began in the Han Dynasty, from the unique Sichuan cuisine, to the Cantonese cuisine known as "eating in Guangzhou", the old man could talk about them all in great detail.

Chen Fan silently muttered in his heart, it seems that this guy was also a foodie back then.

Having obtained level-five cooking skills and read countless websites, Chen Fan had never lost in terms of chatting, and he chatted with the old man back and forth, "You just said 'eating in Guangzhou', but there are eight major cuisines in the world, why is it 'eating in Guangzhou'?"

Grandpa Lu's eyes moved slightly, "I really don't know about this, do you know?"

Chen Fan raised his head triumphantly, "Of course, but this is a long story. It is said that as early as the Ming and Qing dynasties, Guangzhou was a commercial center. In addition, those foreign devils came here by boat, and they usually landed in Guangzhou first, and then went to Fujian and Tianjin, so Guangzhou absorbed the food from all over the country and the West.

By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty closed its doors to the country, and only the Thirteen Hongs of Guangzhou could trade with the outside world, which promoted the concentration of merchants from all over the country in Guangzhou. What Yangzhou stir-fry, Jinling famous dishes, Gusu flavor, Sichuan snacks, Beijing-Tianjin buns, Shanxi pasta, etc., can all be found in Guangzhou.

Qu Dajun of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties said that the beauty of Lingnan's diet is due to 'all the food and goods in the world, Guangdong has almost all of them. All the food and goods in Guangdong, the world may not have all of them'. 'Eating in Guangzhou' comes from this."

Grandpa Lu nodded suddenly, "I know Qu Dajun, he studied under Chen Bangyan, and is one of the three great masters of Lingnan. Like his teacher, he is an anti-Qing righteous man, with a body of integrity. In his later years, he was not afraid of the Qing court and wrote "The Record of Achieving Benevolence in the Four Dynasties of the Ming Dynasty" to write biographies for the anti-Qing patriots in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. I didn't expect that this sentence was also related to him."

The old man glanced at Chen Fan, and couldn't help but feel playful, and said with a smile, "As the saying goes, there is give and take, I will also ask you a question."

Chen Fan swallowed the chicken, wiped his mouth, "You say."

Grandpa Lu smiled and said, "If you need to eliminate sores, toxins, and swelling, go and participate in Jingfangfeng. Where does this sentence come from?"

Chen Fan was slightly stunned, and said helplessly, "Grandpa, you just gave me the Decoction Rhymes, and now you are giving me an exam, it's too anxious."

Grandpa Lu couldn't help but be stunned, "Oh, have you already read it?"

Chen Fan said with a smile, "Not only have I read it, but I have also memorized some of it, just finished memorizing 'Warming Agents'."

The Decoction Rhymes has 13 chapters, namely relieving exterior, purging downward, harmonizing, clearing heat, dispelling summer heat, warming interior, relieving both exterior and interior, nourishing, calming the nerves, opening orifices, consolidating, regulating qi, and regulating blood.

What Grandpa Lu asked just now was "Jingfang Baidu Powder" in the "Supporting Righteousness and Relieving Exterior Agents" in the "Relieving Exterior Chapter".

If Chen Fan's mental and intelligence attributes in the basic attributes had not been increased to 9.5, he would not have been able to memorize it so quickly.

But now, it's easy to memorize half of the content in an hour.