In the open space in front of the tenement building, there are always children playing with incense sticks and small firecrackers.
The fat boy snatched a firecracker from a little fat boy, lit a cigarette, and started throwing them around one by one.
In another world, fireworks and firecrackers are banned in the main urban area. The sound of firecrackers can no longer be heard during the Lunar New Year, nor can the lingering smell of sulfur be detected in the air.
The fat man, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, said, "Don't cry. Later, I'll take you to buy ground squirrels and sky-piercing monkeys."
The chubby boy, with tears in his eyes, asked, "You mean what you say?"
Frustrated, the fat man pulled out a one-yuan bill and waved it in front of him: "Are you relieved now?"
Ground rats are firecrackers wrapped in red or green striped paper, which, when lit, emit red or green light and spin.
In another world, when he was a child, the fat guy did something quite remarkable: he set a whole board of mole rats on fire, and they flew everywhere, eventually falling from an upper floor and landing on a young woman's stockings...
And that was the end of it.
His parents compensated the other person for the stockings and even treated him to a meal of stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork!
Fatty, leading Little Fatty, swaggered arrogantly into the convenience store, then pointed at the firecrackers displayed at the entrance and said, "How much are the small firecrackers? Twenty-one cents, a hundred firecrackers? Okay, this one, this one, and those two, I'll take them all!"
Then, amidst the envious gazes of a group of kids, the chubby boy and I each released one ground mouse and one skyrocket, perfectly fairly.
I also bought three large firecrackers, which are giant firecrackers wrapped in yellow paper and as big as thermos cups. I then placed them in a triangular shape in the middle of the road to tie Nian'er together.
Just as I was about to light a cigarette, an uncle wearing a peaked cap stopped me.
The fat man grinned when he saw him: "Oh, it's you, brother-in-law. How's my sister Yushui doing lately?"
This police officer is the person He Yushui was dating.
To be honest, Fatty and Silly Zhu have been estranged for ages, but their relationship with He Yushui is surprisingly not bad.
Yu Shui works at a textile factory and lives in the staff dormitory. Fatty has delivered food to him twice and paid his rent at the same time.
That uncle was there when I went there, so that's how the two of them met.
The police officer was also exasperated: "Are you burning money? They're only 70 cents each, and you bought three at once?"
The fat man's eyes darted away: "I was thinking that jumping around would bring bad luck..."
"What kind of bad luck would cost you two dollars? I have a gun! Why don't you come and jump over there?"
"No, no, it's the Lunar New Year, I don't want to trouble the police officers. I'll go and cancel it right away."
Snow began to fall from the sky. At first, it was just fine snow powder, but the wind swept it up and pelted it densely onto people's faces and bodies.
The fat man stood quietly in the snow. The snow fell heavier and heavier, but the wind gradually became gentler. The snowflakes then poured into the alley, and soon the eaves, roads, and steps were all covered with snow.
The entire alley gradually merged with the sky, as if disappearing into this world.
On New Year's Eve in 1965, Fatty was reunited with his family once again.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Fatty arrived at Deputy Factory Director Li's house as promised.
Deputy Factory Director Li's father-in-law lived in the South Gate area, right next to the Seventh Military Hospital.
A five-story building! Each building has three entrances, and three families live in each entrance.
Each household had its own independent kitchen and toilet, making it a desirable house that everyone envied in that era, even in the early 1990s.
Fatty led Zhao Lao Er up the stairs to the 3rd floor, number 1, and gently knocked on the door.
A moment later, Deputy Factory Director Li opened the door, saw the two of them, and greeted them with a beaming smile, "Happy New Year."
Zhao Lao Er was flattered and speechless; the fat man, seeing this, could only speak for him: "Thank you for your care and guidance over the past year. You are a good leader with style, achievements, vision, and talent. In the new year..."
Upon entering, an elderly man said, "What a man of style, achievement, vision, and talent! Li Huaide, do you think you've achieved that?"
This old man must be Deputy Factory Director Li's father-in-law. He's said to be a high-ranking leader as well.
Deputy Factory Director Li was incredibly gentle, courteous, frugal, and modest in front of him: "Dad, you are right. In the new year, I will take advantage of my little brother's auspicious words and strive to achieve these four things."
Deputy Factory Director Li found the fat man increasingly pleasing to the eye. He walked over, patted him affectionately on the shoulder, and introduced him to his father-in-law, saying, "Dad, this is the Huaiyang cuisine master I mentioned to you before. His name is Chen Kang."
Upon hearing this, Deputy Factory Director Li's father-in-law looked at the fat man in surprise, not expecting him to be so young!
Following Deputy Factory Director Li to the kitchen, we also met his wife and mother-in-law.
Deputy Factory Director Li's wife is the same size from top to bottom, like an imported guinea pig... cough cough, no wonder he flirted with Liu Lan at the factory, and also coveted Qin Huairu's beauty.
They are frying dough sticks, a kind of snack that is often eaten in northern China during the Chinese New Year. The dough is tied into a knot, filled with white sugar, and then fried.
The rest included jellyfish head ready for cold salad, aspic that had been cooked but not yet cut, a can of Great Wall brand canned pears in syrup, and a can of army green braised pork!
These two cans of food were definitely luxuries for that era. They weren't something you could just buy with money; they were supplied to specific groups, and the labels read "Supervised by China National Food Export Corporation."
Compared to Zhao Lao Er's timid and submissive manner, the fat man appeared much more composed.
Having figured out the tastes of Deputy Factory Director Li's father-in-law's family, Fatty decided to cook savory and salty dishes for today.
Simply cut the canned braised pork in half with a cleaver, pour it into the stir-fried cabbage, add water and bring to a boil, then add a handful of glass noodles, and you've got braised pork with glass noodles.
The fresh meat was of excellent quality. The fat man sliced it directly with a flat knife, then cut it into tiny cubes with a straight knife, each cube about the size of a pomegranate seed. This is what is known as "not chopping with a single cut, but cutting it into small, delicate pieces."
This is the requirement for Huaiyang cuisine's lion's head meatballs: they cannot be chopped with a cleaver, let alone a meat grinder.
The real skill in making Lion's Head meatballs lies in the seasoning; a rich broth must be added to enhance the flavor.
The fat man was carrying two cloth bags today, filled with many bottles and jars. Deputy Factory Director Li asked him curiously, "Did you prepare all of this in advance?"
The fat man nodded: "Take this broth for example. It's made by simmering pork bones, old hens, old geese, and ham for eight hours. It's the source of the umami flavor in this lion's head meatball dish."
These materials were collected by him and Zhao Lao Er when they were preparing banquets for others before the Lunar New Year.
The key is to use bones as the broth base, chicken for its clear freshness, and goose for its rich aroma, so that the resulting broth has distinct layers. This ensures that the lion's head meatballs are fragrant, flavorful, refreshing, not greasy, and not dry.
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