60s Splendid Life

"Okay, then come... a catty, can you cook it for me? Then cook it for me, and give me two pieces of stewed tofu." The man took out his money bag and counted out the money while talking. Pass over thirty cents.

"Do you want to eat here, or do you want to take it home to eat?"

"Just eat here, I'm too lazy to go back and cook."

"Okay, you wait here for a while, it will be fine soon."

Cai Chunmei took the money, weighed a full catty of dumplings in front of people, and asked Wang Xiumei who was inside to help cook them.After a while, the dumplings were cooked. I asked the customer if he wanted dry dumplings or soup dumplings. The man said he wanted soup dumplings, so she asked Wang Xiumei to add soup, a small handful of chopped green onions and a few drops of sesame oil. Put the stewed tofu bought by the customer on it, put a pair of chopsticks on it and push it over to the customer: "There is a place over there, you can sit and eat over there."

Today, they specially set up two square tables with four corners beside them. The two tables are put together, and there are several long benches around them, which can seat more than a dozen people.

"Okay." The man picked up the big bowl, found a place to sit down, blew on it, took a sip of the soup, and then picked up the chopsticks to pick up the first dumpling and put it in his mouth. The man's eating movement paused After a while, he continued to deliver dumplings to his mouth in silence. At first, there were two mouthfuls of one dumpling, and then it became one mouthful.

They were all from the same village, and they were all old acquaintances when they met. When the men who came to buy things saw Lao Qiang sitting there alone eating dumplings, they asked strangely: "Yo, Lao Qiang, you eat dumplings." Come on, where did you get the dumplings?"

"I bought it earlier, it costs [-] cents a catty, and I will cook it for you." Lao Qiang, who was eating, raised his head and pointed to the front.

"Twenty cents a catty, and help with the cooking?" After hearing it this way, it really isn't expensive.

Several men saw that Lu Qiang was eating a dumpling deliciously, and they all swallowed. Someone waved his hand and said, "Let's go, let's go and have a look."

Soon a few men came ahead and asked, "Is there any more dumplings?"

"Yes, yes, do you want a bowl to try?"

"How much is a bowl?"

"Twenty cents a catty, half a catty is fine, and I help cook."

The dumplings they make are big, and there are only about twenty dumplings per catty. No man who works in the fields these days can’t finish a catty of dumplings, and half a catty of dumplings is not enough to fit between teeth, so several men want A pound of dumplings, let them be cooked and eaten here.

Seeing that there were a lot of people, Cai Chunmei collected the money first, and asked everyone to find a seat first, and she called for someone to get it after the cooking was done.

It didn't take long for the cooked dumplings to be brought out. Several men walked away with a bowl of dumplings each.

The villagers who came to buy things later saw that the tofu shop sells tofu dumplings. Seeing the freshness, those who had money in their pockets were willing to buy some and go back to try it. The less bought a catty and a half catty, and the more bought a three-two catty to go home to the whole family. People tried it, so soon all the dumplings made by the tofu shop were sold out, and people who came later could not buy them.

"The dumplings are sold out, I want to buy them again tomorrow."

"Is it gone so soon?"

"I'll do less today, and I'll do more tomorrow, so you'll have it when you come earlier."

Cai Chunmei and the others did not expect their tofu dumplings to be so popular, they were all sold out in less than an hour. Most of the men cooked them here, and the women would take them back when they bought them. home to cook.

In fact, they are more willing to sell raw dumplings for people to cook at home, which is better than they have to help cook them, not to mention the firewood, sesame oil and green onion, and there must be someone standing in the kitchen ahead of them. Cook it, and then wait for people to finish eating and have to wash the dishes.But business is good.

The tofu and shepherd's purse dumplings sold well on the first day, and the next day Lu Jin launched fresh bamboo shoot and egg dumplings. The price was the same as the previous tofu and shepherd's purse dumplings.

The village knows that more and more people sell dumplings in their tofu shop, and their business is getting better and better.

People in the village are most willing to eat during the busy farming season throughout the year. Some commune members have just come up from the field and have not washed the mud on their feet. It seems that they have not even returned home. The way back to the village must be Passing by their tofu shop, many people smelled the aroma of dumplings cooked in their tofu shop, and they were hungry again. Bowl of dumplings to fill your stomach.

The taste of the two kinds of dumplings is very good. Some people like to eat tofu and shepherd’s purse dumplings, some like to eat fresh bamboo shoot and egg dumplings, and some people want to mix the two kinds of dumplings. In short, they are all optional.

People with a little more money in their pockets will spend another five cents to buy a piece of dried bean curd and let the helper cut it up and put it in a bowl. A small bowl of dried bean curd and a large bowl of dumplings can fill a big man. abdomen.Those with a smaller appetite will need half a catty of dumplings, which can also be cooked and eaten here.

Every day at the entrance of the village is the busiest place. Some people will go home to have a rest after eating dumplings at the tofu workshop, but some people sit under the tree at the entrance of the village and close their eyes for a while to rest.There are also those who are full of energy and don't need to rest. Three or five people sit together and chat, and continue to work in the field when the afternoon comes.

***

A few days later, some budget-minded women in the village felt that it was not worth spending two cents a catty to buy tofu and wild vegetable dumplings. So that the whole family can eat together.

If they are making fresh bamboo shoot and egg dumplings, they don’t even need to spend money to buy tofu. They go to the back of the mountain to dig a few bamboo shoots and bring them home. They then fry two eggs and mix them with fillings. They can wrap them with some flour and boil them in the pan. , doesn’t it have to be a big pot when you pick it up?

"Isn't it just tofu and wild vegetable dumplings? Let's go to the field to pick some wild vegetables, and go to the tofu shop to buy two pieces of tofu and make it at home. Isn't it more cost-effective than spending [-] cents to buy a bowl?"

"That's right, they are all picked in the field. Let's pick some wild vegetables tomorrow and cook them ourselves."

These budget-minded women discussed behind their backs, thinking that they didn't need to spend the unjustified money to buy a bowl of dumplings, and they didn't let the men in the family spend money to sell them. A few women teamed up to pick wild vegetables the next morning. Those who picked wild vegetables and dug bamboo shoots made dumplings when they got home that day.

The woman who made the dumplings and served them proudly asked her man, "How about it, I told you that we can make dumplings at home, so don't spend that unjust money to eat them outside. Tell me if you want to eat, let’s make it at home and save money!”

It's just the same shepherd's purse tofu dumplings. These women who make them at home are reluctant to add oil. The dumplings they make are dry and shriveled. There is no oil or water. How can they be delicious.There are also fresh bamboo shoot dumplings. The fresh bamboo shoot dumplings sold by Tofu Square are crispy and fragrant, but what are these made at home?

The children had never eaten such a delicious thing, so they naturally said it was delicious.

As long as the men who have eaten the dumplings from the tofu shop and the dumplings made by their daughter-in-law at home, they always feel that the difference is too far. Some men who are not afraid of their daughter-in-law will bluntly say that they are average, but some men who are afraid of their daughter-in-law will force their faces to smile. You have to praise your daughter-in-law's craftsmanship while eating, and so on.

To Lu Jin's delight, he found that there were many more people in the village going together to pick wild vegetables and dig bamboo shoots, most of them were women and children. At this time, only these people had some time to do these things, because men Most of them went to work in the fields.

The dumpling business in their tofu shop has been hot for a few days, and then gradually stabilized. They can sell 34 catties of dumplings every day, but there will be no more.

On this day, Captain Lu brought several small captains and members to their tofu shop to eat dumplings. Each person had a big bowl, and they went to more than ten bowls at once.

"Master Xiaojin, the captain brought people to our place to eat, should we take the money or not?"

"Accept it, why don't you accept it, we can accept it as we like."

When Cai Chunmei sneaked over to ask him, Lu Jin said almost without hesitation that he would charge money, how could he not charge money for business?How can the village cadres come to eat for free, so if they don't accept it this time, won't the village cadres come to them to eat and drink for nothing in the future?Of course they are determined to put an end to this bad habit!

And not only money has to be collected, but credit is not allowed!

Of course, he believed that Captain Lu and the others would not credit them with a few cents, and Lu Jin still believed in the character of their captain.

However, after learning that Captain Lu and the others had paid the money, Lu Jin asked Cai Chunmei to cut a few pieces of stewed tofu and a basket of blanched wild vegetables to make a cold dish, and took it out for Captain Lu and several small captains. , the latter two are free gifts.

That day, Captain Lu and his team all left with full stomachs. Before they left, they still praised the delicious food made by their tofu shop. I don’t know if it’s really delicious or just a gift for them. Food, let's say Lu Jin has both.

After the dumpling business stabilized, Lu Jin launched pancakes baked with wild vegetables. The reason for making this pancake is that it is easy to carry, has a good taste and can satisfy the hunger.Recently, he often bakes afternoon tea snacks for his children at home, but if they make them at home, the ingredients will be richer. He will add milk, nuts and other things into it to make it taste better. And the taste will be more delicious.

But because the tofu shop is made for sale, the price can't be too expensive, so the materials used are much more common, that is, ordinary corn flour and wild vegetables are used together, and the price is also cheap. The palm-sized baked pancakes taste delicious. Salty and crispy, five for ten cents, that is, two cents each, and five pancakes are about half a catty.

Needless to say, as soon as this pancake was released, there were quite a lot of people in the village who came to buy it. In addition to the adults who like to eat it, the children in the village also like to eat this pancake.

It's not that everyone has never eaten wild vegetable pancakes and wild vegetable steamed buns before, but this is the first time that people in Lujia Village know that wild vegetable scones can be so delicious, and the point is that the price is not expensive.Many adults are willing to spend one or two cents to buy a few for the elderly and children at home to taste, and some adults buy them and take them to the field for lunch, so that they don’t have to walk so far home at noon. .

However, with the end of the spring plowing, the business of selling dumplings and wild vegetable scones in their tofu shop gradually declined. In addition, the wild vegetables and bamboo shoots in the field were old and tasted bad, so they stopped. dumpling.Just because people still come to ask for dumplings, they made leek and tofu dumplings, which are only served briefly at two times at noon, and they are not available for the rest of the time.

Because there are no wild vegetables at the moment, they made wild vegetable pancakes into simple cornmeal scones, and the taste changed from salty to sweet, but the pancakes were the same size and price.

There were not many adults who came to buy pancakes, but there were quite a lot of children. Each child took two cents to buy a pancake as a snack. Some pet children bought one to eat by themselves, and some children bought a pancake. The pancakes are broken into several pieces by hand and distributed to brothers and sisters to eat together.

Every time he saw the innocent and satisfied smiles on the faces of these children, Lu Jin couldn't help laughing along with him. That's why he didn't remove the baked pancakes, just to make the children in the village more happy and happy. look forward to.