Chapter 49: Hugging the thigh
As the saying goes, dumplings are eaten in the first ten days of the dog days, and noodles are eaten in the second ten days of the dog days. In the summer, noodles are a very ritualistic food for northerners. Midsummer is the time for spring wheat harvest. Only at this time can people eat noodles made from new wheat that are full of wheat fragrance.
For people in Yanjing, sesame paste noodles are a must.
After Shi's father kneaded the dough, he covered it. The dough needed to rise for an hour or so before it could be used. During this time, he made a cold dish.
Shi Lan came back from outside buying sesame paste. Lin Weimin watched her dig some sesame paste with her fingers while no one was paying attention, then secretly put it into her mouth with a look of satisfaction on her face.
For children of this generation, sesame paste is a rare delicacy.
After the dough was ready, Father Shi kneaded it for a while and then pinched it into small dough pieces of appropriate size.
He first used a rolling pin to evenly roll the dough into a large pancake on a panel sprinkled with dry flour, and then used a small cloth bag to thinly sprinkle starch on the pancake.
Then roll the large dough loosely on the rolling pin layer by layer, gently press the rolling pin with both hands, and rhythmically stroke the two ends while rolling. The more you roll, the thinner the dough becomes, and the more layers you roll, the more you roll.
After a while, the thin dough roll was neatly folded into a wide strip about three feet long and three inches wide. Then it was cut into thin strips horizontally with a knife, and then sprinkled with flour and rolled out. The noodles were cut.
While Shi's father was busy, Lin Weimin was not idle and took the initiative to help make sesame paste.
The sesame paste you just bought doesn’t taste good if you eat it directly. It will be bitter and astringent.
He scooped a few spoonfuls of sesame paste into the bowl, added a spoonful of salt, and then gradually added cold boiled water while stirring evenly with chopsticks.
After two minutes, the sesame paste slowly blended with the water and its color changed from the thick chocolate-colored sesame paste when I bought it to a brown-yellow slurry.
Lin Weimin tried it with chopsticks and found that there was no sauce on it, so he thought it was ready.
"Uncle, the sesame paste is ready."
Hearing his words, Shi's father put the noodles into the pot.
During this time, Father Shi started to prepare the side dishes.
Chopped green onion and soy sauce are essential condiments. Pour soy sauce into a bowl and sprinkle some chopped green onion on it. Then fry the peppercorns slowly over low heat. Watching the peppercorns burn and the oil emit green smoke, Father Shi poured the hot oil with the burnt peppercorns on the chopped green onion and soy sauce in the small bowl, and the fragrance immediately wafted out.
After taking out the noodles, Shi Lan had already filled in the cold water from the well outside and rinsed the noodles twice.
"Eat." said Father Shi.
Shi Lan served Shi Tiesheng a bowl of noodles. Lin Weimin didn't hesitate and served himself a full bowl. He poured sesame paste and other seasonings into the bowl and stirred them with chopsticks for a long time before taking a sip.
"Delicious! Uncle's cooking skills are incredible!"
Father Shi was mixing noodles. When he heard his praise, he smiled shyly.
Shi Tiesheng said: "It's such a treat to be able to eat something like this in the hottest days of summer!"
For a while, the sound of eating noodles could be heard constantly in the Shi family's house, and a large pot of noodles was eaten up in a short time.
Father Shi was afraid that Lin Weimin was not full, so he wanted to cook some more noodles, but Lin Weimin quickly stopped him.
"Uncle, I'm full, really full. If I eat any more, I'll get choked up."
"Just eat enough."
After having a hearty meal at Shi Tiesheng's house, Lin Weimin returned to the Institute of Cultural Research in the afternoon and was stopped by Xiao Lin, as she was on duty today.
"Wan Fang came to see you this morning and said that Mr. Wan had returned from his overseas visit and asked you to come to his house when you have time."
Xiao Lin handed over a piece of paper with Mr. Wan's address on it.
Lin Weimin was very happy in his heart, as he could finally hold on to this powerful figure.
Lin Weimin had originally planned to take a half-day break in the afternoon, but this time he had a big job to do, so he didn't even go back home. He rode his bike straight to Wangfujing.
After walking around, Lin Weimin felt quite conflicted as to what gift to buy for the visitor.
After much thought, the old man is of high rank and is one of those people who are not short of money in this era. His treatment is not bad. No matter how expensive the things are, they are just ordinary in his eyes. It would be safer to just buy some gifts and visit him.
After buying the gifts, Lin Weimin went to the address on the note left by Wan Fang.
South of Fuxingmenwai Street, near Muxidi, there are high-rise residential buildings that are rare in this era. The building numbers are Muxidi Building 22 and Building 24. In the mouths of ordinary people, these two buildings are called "Shangshu Building".
As the name suggests, all the people living there are of Shangshu level. Mr. Wan moved in last year.
Lin Weimin followed the house number to Mr. Wan's house and knocked on the door.
The person who opened the door was an old lady with white hair. She was his current wife, Li Yuru.
Seeing Lin Weimin, a strange young man, the old lady was not surprised, but asked: "You are Lin Weimin, right?"
"Hello, I'm Lin Weimin."
"Come in."
Lin Weimin walked in. He found that the house was very large and the furnishings in the rooms were very simple. In the living room, there were no other decorations except for the sofa, coffee table and walls full of books. There was only a painting hanging on the wall facing the sofa. It seemed to be a painting of red plum blossoms. Lin Weimin glanced at the signature on the painting, which was "Guanshan Yue".
"He's in the study." Li Yuru led Lin Weimin to the door of the study, knocked on the door, and motioned Lin Weimin to go in.
Lin Weimin felt inexplicably nervous. He pushed open the door and saw Mr. Wan looking up at him.
"Hello, sir!" Lin Weimin bowed politely.
Mr. Wan smiled and said jokingly, "It's not the first time we meet. This is not your style!"
Lin Weimin smiled awkwardly, and the old man smiled kindly, "Sit down."
Lin Weimin sat opposite Mr. Wan. Unlike the previous meetings, he felt a little restrained, mainly because his status was different now.
"Your Institute of Literature arranged for me to be your tutor, but I really don't know what I can teach you."
"Just being able to follow you and learn from you is enough for me to benefit a lot."
"This is a good flattery. It can be seen that he has some literary skills."
The old man's joke made Lin Weimin smile, and the tension in his heart also dissipated.
"I mean this from the bottom of my heart."
Mr. Wan quickly waved his hand, "Okay, stop talking nonsense. I asked you to come here today just to get acquainted with me. Come and sit down when you have time. I really don't know what I can teach you. Like you said, you will learn from what you see and hear. What you can learn depends on your ability."
"Okay, teacher, I will definitely study hard with you." Lin Weimin shouted.
Mr. Wan pointed at him with a wry smile and said, "You, you really are just taking advantage of the situation."
(End of this chapter)
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