Chapter 72 Chapter 72 It’s really good. No, it’s really good! …
"Mom! Aunt Xin!"
"Starfruit!"
Before getting off the train, Yang Tao happily greeted Liang Xin and Xia Xia who were queuing to get off the train at the door of the carriage and waved to them.
"You don't have to take it."
Liang Xin refused Yang Tao's help and pointed to the back, "Help your mother get it. She brought you a lot of things."
Yang Tao still had his mouth grinning from ear to ear as he helped Liang Xin get off the train. After Liang Xin landed, he went to take the things from Xia Xia's hands.
"Liang Xin!"
Li Jiankang's voice came from the crowd. He pushed through the crowded passengers and squeezed over with two men in worker's clothes. "Sorry, we're late."
"We just got off the train, so it's not too late."
Liang Xin was still holding the leather luggage bag in her hand, pointing at the relatives of the martyrs on the train, "The employees who come to Beijing to work have a lot of luggage with them, just help them carry it."
After saying that, Liang Xin also helped to lead the children down.
It is convenient to have someone pick you up, but after the reform and opening up, there were too many people at Beijing Railway Station, and public security became less safe.
Liang Xin carried the cowhide bag on her shoulders, held the hands of her two children tightly, and finally got safely on the minibus sent by Aviation Food Factory No. 1.
After getting in the car, Liang Xin counted the heads of people and made sure that no one was missing. Then he looked at the person in the passenger seat and said, "Brother Jiankang, thank you."
"We're a family, you're welcome." Li Jiankang looked back at the group of female comrades, "Seeing you all come with your families, I feel relieved. Let's go to where we live first. After we're settled, we can go and see the facade of the bakery. The two places are not far from each other, both in the Drum Tower area."
Liang Xin held Xiao Juan, who was a little carsick, on her lap, took out an orange jelly candy from her pocket, peeled off the wax paper outside, stuffed it into Tong Tong's little mouth, and opened the car window a little, "We'll be home soon, and we won't have to ride so bumpy anymore when we get home."
Tongtong chewed orange jelly candy, her big eyes full of childish longing, "Aunt Xin, is it as beautiful as Sister Xiaoya's house?"
Liang Xin said gently, "I just got off the train like you, and I don't know what the house looks like yet."
"Aunt Xin knows everything and everything." Tongtong hugged Liangxin's neck, "My mother said that Aunt Xin is the most conscientious person!"
Liang Xin saw that the little girl's attention was diverted and her expression was no longer so ugly. She smiled and told her the story from the comic strip.
When the children in the car heard the storytelling, they all pricked up their ears quietly and listened to Liang Xin telling the stories of The Three Strikes on the White Bone Demon, The Case of the Chopping of the Beauty, and Little Soldier Zhang Ga. The bell and drum tower were reflected in the car window.
"To the southwest of the Bell and Drum Tower is the famous Shichahai Lake. People in Beijing gather there every day to take a walk, skate, or practice Baguaquan. There is a lotus pond there in the summer. You live here, so you can go there often during your holidays."
Li Jiankang carried his luggage and led his child as they turned into an alley. "This is Qiaopan Hutong. I asked Fangxin Shop to rent a courtyard of a quadrangle for you to use as staff housing. Liangxin is not here, so I decided to book it after I saw that it was okay."
A small vendor carrying roasted sweet potatoes passed by Liang Xin and others.
The shouts of "Sharpening scissors and kitchen knives" also came from the alley.
There was also a shoemaker on the roadside who was carefully mending a pair of women's leather shoes. A woman was sitting on a stool, with her right foot wearing white socks placed on the leather shoe of her left foot. She heard the noise and looked out.
His eyes paused when he saw Liang Xin and Xia Xia, and were soon attracted by Li Jiankang, who was wearing a leather jacket and big-toed leather shoes.
Li Jiankang stopped in front of the gate next to the shoe repair stall. "This is it. Uncle Ding, the shoe repairman, lives in the small side yard to the right of the outer yard. He is the uncle of the outer yard. Whenever there is any problem in the outer yard, everyone is used to looking for him to mediate."
Liang Xin and others nodded politely to the shoe repairman.
Uncle Ding had just smiled when Li Jiankang said, "But the inner courtyard is not under his control. This is the house that was just returned to the capitalist. The capitalist's family is overseas and has not returned. He entrusted his nephew in China to handle the formalities at the Real Estate Bureau. After the street office acted as an intermediary and negotiated, all the employees who originally lived in the outer courtyard stayed here."
Uncle Ding: “…”
Liang Xin followed Li Jiankang through the hanging flower gate between the inner and outer courtyards, and went down the stairs. She saw four rooms on the left and right sides. In the middle was the main wing with two small ear rooms. There was a small path in front of the main door, and inside was a side courtyard. There were also the quiet and secluded south and north rooms in the side courtyard.
“Five suites.”
After Li Jiankang showed him around, he said to Liang Xin, "The whole courtyard costs 40 yuan a month, and the contract is for three years. You specifically told me that we are all female comrades, and we are afraid that it is unsafe to go out to the public toilet at night. We chose this courtyard because there is a courtyard toilet here. This is the only one in this alley that has space to install a sewage pipe leading to the culvert outside the alley. There is a department-level cadre living in the courtyard next door, and he still has to queue up to go to the public toilet outside. What do you think?"
Liang Xin looked at Xia Xia and the other four people.
The four of them were dumbfounded.
Yang Tao pushed her mother and said, "Mom, Aunt Xin wants to ask you a question."
"Well, that's great!"
Xia Xia found her voice again, "There are two courtyards this big here, which are better than where Jiang Jing and his family live. Now the children have somewhere to run!"
"It's because Liang Xin said there are many children that I considered the courtyard house."
Li Jiankang looked at the group of children and said, "If you are satisfied, you can pick a house first. Once you have settled down, take the children to the street office to register. The street office will assign schools to these children. After that, we have to go to the bakery as soon as possible to make bread and send it to the factory."
Liang Xin said sincerely: "Brother Jiankang, thank you so much."
"What are you thanking me for? Chong Feng just called me this morning. Besides, if Guang Rong was still alive, he could do a better job than me."
Li Jiankang raised his watch and looked at it. "How about this? I see you guys are nervous when I'm here. I'll leave the driver here and he will take you directly to the bakery later."
Liang Xin nodded and expressed her gratitude again.
The houses were divided by drawing lots.
On average, the relatives of martyrs who come to Beijing have more than two children.
Han Caixia has the most children, four. The eldest son is already twelve years old. It was time for them to have separate rooms. But in their hometown, the family did not split up and they had always been squeezed into one room. Unexpectedly, after trying hard once, they not only moved to the capital, but also got a separate ear room in the courtyard house in Beijing!
Han Caixia looked at Xia Xia and Liang Xin, "Director Liang, Director Xia, this is the house you won. Actually, the two rooms in the east wing are enough for us..."
"Just live here peacefully." Xia Xia said, "After Liang Xin signs the contract and opens the bakery, she will go back. I will be here alone, and Yang Tao will only come to stay for two days occasionally. We can sleep in the same bed. You have three sons and one daughter, and they will grow up into adults in two years. How can you live in the same bed with them?"
Han Caixia wanted to talk to Liang Xin again, but as soon as she opened her mouth, before any sound came out, her nose turned red and tears instantly flowed out.
I originally thought that I would have to raise four children on my own and was prepared to endure a lifetime of hardship, but I never dreamed that it would be like this now.
"I never thought I would have this blessing, Director Liang... Thank you so much."
Liang Xin let go of Tong Tong's hand, pointed to the three main rooms and said, "It's bigger than Sister Xiao Ya's house. Let's go and take a look at the new house."
The three boys standing next to Tongtong hesitated for a moment and then ran in. When they saw the huge main wing and the carved wooden windows, they burst into crisp laughter of surprise and excitement, which immediately filled the entire courtyard like sunshine.
The houses were divided up by drawing lots.
Liang Xin temporarily lives with Xia Xia in the two rooms on the east side that Han Caixia had originally drawn. The outer room is the kitchen and dining room, and the inner room has a kang.
The house has been found, but the furniture is not yet complete.
Liang Xin told the martyrs' families, "There are several trust stores in Beijing. There are a lot of second-hand furniture, such as kang tables, beds, desks, sofas, etc. The prices are cheap. You can go there to buy whatever you need. I just came here and saw rows of male laborers sitting on the roadside. They are all porters. If you can't move something, you can pay them 1 or 2 cents to carry it back. If you buy a lot, I remember that the trust stores can also deliver it to your door."
After hearing this, a relative of the martyr said with tears in his eyes: "Thank you, it's great, it's great to be alive. Fortunately, I didn't go with her father, otherwise my two children would not be able to live such a life."
"We need to clean up quickly." Liang Xin didn't want the sentimental atmosphere to continue. "If we want to continue living like this, we have to run the bakery quickly. We just paid the rent, and now the bakery is already in debt."
The sentimental hearts of the martyrs' families were immediately turned into motivation. They quickly packed up their homes, took their children to the street to register, and got in the car to the bakery.
Li Jiankang said, "This was originally a bakery run by a Hui Muslim. Later, the workshop was rented to a time-honored brand that made snacks. During the Ten Years of Revolution, it was converted into a restaurant. The decoration was done according to the drawings you gave me. I think the old-fashioned oven is good, so I didn't take it down. What do you think?"
Liang Xin looked at the door sign, which was the same as Jiang Jing Bakery’s, brown with gold lettering, and read “Conscience Bakery”.
All the doors and windows have been replaced with glass.
As soon as you enter the door, you will see a circle of glass counters. There is a large brick fireplace in the middle of the counter against the wall. It should be the brick oven used by the original Hui people to bake bread. It really looks like it will add to the atmosphere of the bakery.
Liang Xin smiled and said, "Brother Jiankang, as a manager, your taste in aesthetics is indeed extraordinary."
Li Jiankang also smiled, "You made the decision early. This place is on the central axis of the capital, and the market has not yet been fully opened. No one like a self-employed baker or a cadre or employee of a state-owned enterprise can have the same long-term vision as you. Otherwise, it would be impossible for you to get this location for a monthly rent of 120 yuan."
Liang Xin knew where this place was, but she didn't say anything and just listened to Li Jiankang's introduction.
Li Jiankang pointed to the street outside and said, "See that street? It's full of foreign affairs departments. West Point cannot be without foreign affairs cadres. Of course, there are also many Chinese people. Walking from the staff housing, you will see Qianhai and Houhai. Look over there, Di'anmen. Students, workers, cadres, countless people go to get off work here every day. The geographical location is not worse than what you can find in Jiangjing."
Liang Xin nodded, "Thanks to Brother Jiankang, otherwise we wouldn't be able to find any clues if we did it ourselves."
"You're welcome. I won't say thank you."
Li Jiankang walked through the storefront and went to the workshop in the backyard. "The ovens have been installed for you. Now the civil aviation has been handed over from the military to the local governments for self-management. Although our Aviation Food Factory No. 1 still supplies airline meals, there are many people who want to have a piece of this big cake. On New Year's Eve, someone went to Shanghai to poach a master chef from a hotel's pastry room and came to the factory to ask the party secretary for bread. Fortunately, the party secretary is not in charge of production and operation, and the final say is with me, so we have to settle this matter as soon as possible to avoid more trouble."
Liang Xin said: "If the equipment and raw materials are complete, we will start now."
"Aren't you tired?"
"It's just a batch of samples, not mass production. That's okay."
"Okay, write me a list of materials you need and I'll get it from the factory right away."
Liang Xin put on a white coat and a white hat and walked into the workshop.
Xia Xia and four other relatives of martyrs also put on their clothes and assisted Liang Xin.
Liang Xin focused on selecting three types of bread: red bean paste bread, butter buns and milk toast.
"Would you like to make a few more?"
Xia Xia sifted the flour. "Aren't these very basic? I remember the jam bread, garlic baguette, and walnut rolls you made all looked more upscale than these?"
Liang Xin said: "If you carry too much jam bread, it may leak due to air pressure problems during the flight and cannot be delivered to passengers in an attractive state. Breads such as garlic baguette and walnut bread may cause food allergies to passengers and the smell is too strong and irritating, which will disturb passengers. In addition, these breads are very large in size. There are size and weight regulations for all items in the passenger cabin of an airplane, and the plates and dining tables are also very narrow. The three types of bread we selected not only meet the tastes of passengers all over the world, but are also more suitable as airline meals."
The four of them suddenly realized.
Han Caixia couldn't help but say, "After all, they are college students. How can ordinary people think of these things?"
“Other college students wouldn’t think of that either.”
Li Jiankang said with a smile: "The secretary of our factory is still obsessed with the garlic baguettes made by the Shanghai Pastry House. The smell is indeed worthy of special consideration. After the separation of civil aviation, all localities are trying their best to compete with each other. Lobster, steak, Maotai, roast duck and everything else are served on the plane. But I think it is not a good thing to eat like this."
Liang Xin glanced at Li Jiankang and said, "Brother Jiankang, you are more aware than most people."
"I got this enlightenment from being beaten when I was little."
Li Jiankang smiled and said, "You guys are busy here. I went to the state-owned restaurant to buy some dishes and brought them over. I was so anxious that I forgot that you guys started working before you even had your meal."
Liang Xin took out her wallet and handed it to Yang Tao, "Yang Tao, go with Uncle Jiankang and order a few more dishes. Uncle Jiankang has been running around in our bakery, so we should treat him to a meal."
"Put it away." Li Jiankang pushed Liang Xin's wallet back. "I'm in Beijing, how can I ask you to pay? If you want to treat me to a meal, there will be plenty of time later. This first meal should be hosted by me to welcome you."
Liang Xin didn't argue anymore. The most important feedback at the moment was to make the bread.
Flatten the dough, add softened butter, knead it hard, pick it up, and beat it into a yellow basin. Repeat twenty or thirty times, and the dough will begin to become smooth.
Xia Xia really wanted to help Liang Xin, but was afraid that she would not be able to do a good job at this critical moment and ruin the cooperation, so she could only do some auxiliary work.
The other three people thought the same way, especially after Li Jiankang mentioned just now that competition was fierce everywhere, and people were rushing over to grab business during the New Year. Then they thought of the new home they had just been assigned, and for a moment they didn't dare to act rashly.
Liang Xin suddenly looked up and said, "Why are you all looking at me? Aren't we all apprentices now? I'll make the butter buns, and you guys can divide the work and make the red bean paste bread and milk toast."
"I, we do it?"
Xia Xia was nervous. "Why don't you just take the trouble to sign the cooperation agreement first?"
"Keep calm. Many of the officers on the plane may not have higher ranks than the officers in the division. People with higher positions than them have eaten the bread you made. What are you afraid of?"
Liang Xin brought the dough to the stove and started the first fermentation. "As long as you don't put psychological pressure on yourself, no one can put pressure on you. Just do it."
The four of them quickly divided the work, and Xia Xia took Wang Yun to make milk toast.
Han Caixia and Liu Fang went to eat red bean paste bread.
Han Caixia was beating eggs in a basin. When she saw Liang Xin coming over, she thought she was here to give her some instructions. Just as she was about to smile, she saw Liang Xin carrying a chair and sitting at the door.
The eggshell almost fell into the basin due to nervousness, fortunately Liu Fang quickly reached out to catch it.
The two looked at each other, took a deep breath, encouraged each other, and began to cooperate.
"Yang Tao, you've already started filming. You must be familiar with the people in the film and television cultural work department in Beijing, right?"
"Most of them are familiar, what's wrong?"
Liang Xin took out a plan from her bag and handed it to Yang Tao, "Would you mind helping me contact a few newspapers? I want to promote the Liang Xin Bakery."
"advertise?"
Yang Tao flipped open the plan document, read two pages, and said in surprise: "Aunt Xin, this plan is so creative! Using the name of the airplane to attract customers, who can't afford to take a plane, but only need a few cents to buy the bread that the passengers eat on the plane. If it were me, I would definitely buy it!"
Liang Xin said, "Wait until you finish reading it."
Yang Tao continued to turn to the next page. Before he finished reading, he was surprised and said, "Cut out the food coupons and the 10-cent coupons, and you can get a discount on the food coupons needed for any of the three airplane breads. Then the 10-cent coupon is money, which can reduce the price of the three breads by 10 cents? In this way, wouldn't the bakery lose a lot?"
"Just once."
Liang Xin said, "The bakery will pay for the newspaper advertisement. If you need money to build relationships, you can also get it from the bakery. Can you get this advertisement in the newspaper on the opening day?"
"Of course."
Yang Tao put away the plan and said, "Our production studio has long-term dealings with major newspapers. Leave this matter to me. However, Aunt Xin, you have to make sure you get the order for airline meals before you can talk about the rest."
The four people behind had forgotten how nervous they were after hearing Yang Tao's surprise. Yang Tao's words made them even more nervous.
Li Jiankang bought some food from the state-owned restaurant, but the four of them refused to eat and had to wait until they saw the bread was made before they could feel at ease.
Stir-fried mutton with green onions, mutton offal soup, fried kidney with onions...
Liang Xin opened the three lunch boxes, glanced at Li Jiankang, rolled up a soy sauce roll, drank half a bowl of mutton soup, and went to the stove to take the fermented noodles down.
Poke a small hole in the top of the dough and observe that the hole does not shrink and the dough does not collapse. Once you are sure that it has been fermented, gently press and beat the dough to release the air.
"You're just going to let me watch?" Li Jiankang said, "I see your technique is extraordinary. Is it like a chef cooking, with a lot of skill?"
"That's about right."
Liang Xin divided the dough into thirty oval shapes, placed them in a baking tray to continue fermenting, and then put them into the oven.
After the first batch of buttered bread was ready, two middle-aged cadres dressed in people's uniforms stepped into the backyard.
"This is our factory's Party Committee Secretary Wang and the Director of the Supply and Marketing Department." Li Jiankang said, "Don't be nervous. They were all transferred from the military to work in the factory."
Liang Xin nodded at the two of them and turned on the oven.
Amid the smoke, the aroma of fluffy butter wafted into the air, instantly catching the attention of the aviation food factory officials who had never eaten bread.
As the tempting golden and crispy butter buns came out of the oven, the few people could not take their eyes away and involuntarily followed Liang Xin to the long table.
“This bread is really special!”
Li Jiankang hadn't eaten either. He was used to good food, so he looked at the golden, fluffy butter bread and swallowed his saliva several times unconsciously. "No wonder your sister-in-law couldn't forget the bread you made after eating it once!"
“I made extra portions on purpose.”
Liang Xin said, "You three can try three portions first, and leave ten. This is enough for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to try the taste quality after reheating. As for the remaining ten or so, you can divide them up and take them back home to taste."
Secretary Wang smiled and said, "Let me try one first!"
Liang Xin picked up a bamboo clip, picked up a piece of bread, put it on the wax paper and handed it to Secretary Wang, "Be careful of the heat."
Secretary Wang seemed to have an iron mouth. He took a bite of the steaming hot butter bread. The surface was crispy, and the inside was well-organized, soft, chewy and delicate. Not a single crumb fell off after the bite. Instead, a rich aroma of butter and milk emanated, attracting the other two people's attention.
Almost everyone in the room was nervously watching Secretary Wang's reaction.
Li Jiankang asked: "How is it?"
Secretary Wang stuffed the remaining half of the bread into his mouth, chewed it, and reached out to Liang Xin again, "I don't know, I have to try one more... at least three more, before I can taste it!"
Li Jiankang was stunned at first, but he immediately pushed Secretary Wang's face away and said, "Come on, he didn't eat this much bread last time when he ate bread made by a Shanghai pastry chef. Let me and Director Zhou have a taste."
There was a sigh of relief in the bakery.
Liang Xin also smiled and picked up two pieces of bread and gave them to Li Jiankang and Director Zhou, then picked up another piece of bread and handed it to Secretary Wang.
"It's really good. No, it's really good!" Director Zhou bit into the bread. "This is the softest bread I have ever eaten! It feels smoother than silk! It's fragrant and soft, and the crust is crispy!"
"tasty!"
Li Jiankang was halfway through eating when he felt sorry for the fact that his first bite was too big. "There is no chef in the whole country with your skills. When I saw you cooking, I felt that your strength was extraordinary. It was completely different from the workers on the production line in our factory. It was really delicious. The key was that it didn't fall apart."
"Some breads don't crumb when they're just out of the oven, but they won't after a day." Secretary Wang said, "Bring me a few more. I'll heat one at different times of the day and night to check them."
Secretary Wang was pushed away by Li Jiankang again. "Why are you in such a hurry? There are still two types that have not been made yet."
It takes time to make the bean paste, but the milk toast has already been molded and put into the oven.
After the toast came out of the oven, Xia Xia took a knife and cut it into slices and put them on the long table. Then she and Wang Yun waited with shaking hands for the three cadres to taste it.
“You can eat the toast directly.”
Liang Xin handed a slice to each of the three people, "But there is a very popular and convenient food in the world, called sandwich."
The three of them were just about to say that the toast was full of milk flavor and was smooth and soft.
I saw Liang Xin cut a slice of tomato and a slice of ham, put them on a slice of toast, picked up the fried egg and added it in, then covered it with another slice of toast, cut off the four corners with a knife, and then cut a diagonal cut in the middle, and two triangular sandwiches were ready.
"I know this, it's very popular. I heard in the United States..."
After the word "America" attracted the attention of Li Jiankang and Director Zhou, Director Wang immediately reached out and picked up a whole sandwich, put it in his mouth and took a bite, and immediately narrowed his eyes, "Delicious~!"
The other two looked at the only sandwich left on the long table: "......"
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