Chapter 72 Food is becoming increasingly scarce
Lin Jiageng and Lin Zhenzhen were on summer vacation, and before Lin Sanqi officially started working, he became a "temporary nursery teacher."
The teacher has to work for half a month and Lin's mother will retire before the two of them can switch roles.
Early in the morning, when everyone else in the family went to work, Teacher Lin took his nephews and nieces to have breakfast.
It was still the Red Star Hotel at the entrance of the alley, and Chef Zhao was still there. He saw Lin Sanqi coming and waved from afar:
"Comrade, are you here for breakfast again?"
Lin Sanqi pointed at the two little ones and said, "Good morning, Master Zhao. They were making a fuss and wanted to eat outside, so I had no choice but to bring them here."
"What do you want to eat? Just order it, haha."
After Master Zhao finished greeting, he said softly:
"Hurry up and eat. It won't be long before our hotel stops serving breakfast and you won't be able to eat even if you want to."
Lin Sanqi was a little surprised and asked in a low voice:
"Why? You're the only restaurant in these alleys. If you close, where are we going to eat?"
Master Zhao sighed heavily:
"There's nothing we can do. Look at this awful weather. From last year to this year, there hasn't been any rain at all. I heard the Guanting Reservoir is almost dry. How can we grow crops without water? If the harvest doesn't improve this year, it looks like a disaster is coming."
We've received an internal notice that all small restaurants like ours will be closed. "Brother, if you have connections, stock up on food now, as the situation won't improve in the next few years."
Lin Sanqi is a time traveler, so he naturally knows the destructive power of "three years".
But Lin Sanqi could not have imagined that a chef from a small restaurant at the entrance of an alley could infer the future food supply situation through a few small things. It must be said that there are experts among the people.
Lin Sanqi felt a bitter taste in his mouth, thinking that if even the city was like this, how were the people in other areas going to live like this?
Lin Sanqi was still worrying about the country and the people, but the two children were fed up and started arguing:
"Uncle, I want to eat big buns~~~"
"Uncle, I want to eat more sesame cakes~~~"
"Okay, okay, I'll order right away. But let's make a deal: order only as much as you can eat. Don't waste it, okay? Also, Master Zhao, give me three bowls of tofu pudding without any seasoning."
Master Zhao was surprised when he heard this:
"Hey, you're just eating tofu pudding without any seasoning? That's so tasteless. Listen to me, at least add some soy sauce."
Lin Sanqi waved his hand. "We southerners don't eat salty tofu pudding. Look, I brought some sugar with me. I'll just add it in later."
The waitresses nearby frowned in disdain when they heard Lin Sanqi's words:
"Whose unlucky child is this? White sugar is so precious, why is it used to add tofu pudding?"
"That's right, it would be great if I could exchange this sugar for mine. You really don't know how expensive firewood and rice are until you manage the household!"
"If it were my son, I would make sure he was so well treated that his grandmother wouldn't even recognize him."
Master Zhao waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright. He must be from some wealthy family. He was the one who exchanged the brown sugar for me last time. That means he has plenty of candy to eat, unlike us."
A few people were whispering there, but Lin Sanqi, his uncle and nephew were enjoying their meal.
Pancakes, fried dough sticks and tofu pudding were considered a top-notch breakfast in 1959, but the good times were clearly over.
When they had almost finished eating, Lin Sanqi stood up to pay the bill. Originally, he should have paid the bill first and then eaten, but after all, Lin Sanqi was a "child of the big compound" and had face.
"Master Zhao, how much is it?"
"One pound and two ounces of grain coupons, plus 40 cents will do."
"Okay, thank you, see you later."
Coming out of the restaurant, the two children were burping happily, while Lin Sanqi was a little worried. Why? His food coupons were getting less and less.
I used to have 5 jin of food coupons, but after two breakfasts, now there are only more than 2 jin left.
Given Lin Sanqi's lavish spending habits, this amount of food coupons obviously wouldn't last long. If he went to a big restaurant, he would probably spend it all on a single meal.
But where to get food coupons is a headache.
Lin Sanqi has already observed the black market and found that not many people actually use food coupons and meat coupons to trade. Eating is the most important thing now.
On the contrary, there were quite a lot of bicycle tickets, watch tickets, and radio tickets, but people were unwilling to exchange them for money and only agreed to exchange them for food tickets or grain, mainly for food.
Lin Sanqi had no shortage of food. The food in the space-time gate was enough for his entire village to have a feast.
He was greedy because he knew from watching documentaries that 1959 was the last glorious era of traditional catering, because there was still public-private partnership at that time, and the skills of the masters were not lost.
In fact, traditional catering, like traditional Chinese medicine, has had its inheritance interrupted from generation to generation.
Traditional cooking requires a master to guide you through the process. How much can a small chef learn by studying on his own with the help of a book?
For example, a little bit of salt, how much is a little bit?
For example, fry it until it is 70% done. What does 70% mean?
These real skills that can only be understood and not explained in words are the result of decades of experience gained by master chefs. They are not something you can learn by reading books for a few days.
So Lin Sanqi prepared to seize the time and go eat at some of the famous Badalou, Badaju, Badatang and Badazhai restaurants in old BJ.
The "Eight Great Halls" are: Huifeng Hall, Juxian Hall, Fushou Hall, Yunfu Hall, Huixian Hall, Fuqing Hall, Qinghe Hall, and Tonghe Hall.
The "Eight Buildings" are: Dongxing Building, Zhengyang Building, Hongxing Building, Taifeng Building, Zhimei Building, Xinfeng Building, Anfu Building, and Chunhua Building.
The "Eight Great Residences" are: Shaguoju, Tianxingju, Dingheju, Guangheju, Yishengju, Tongheju, Tianranju, and Huixianju.
The "Eight Great Springs" are: Shanglin Spring, Luming Spring, Qinglin Spring, Huaiyang Spring, Xinlu Spring, Dalu Spring, Tongchun Garden, and Chunyuan.
It is a pity that so many time-honored traditional restaurants have finally disappeared in the long river of history.
For example, of the eight buildings, only Dongxing Building, Taifeng Building and Zhimei Building remained in 2013.
Others, such as Hongxinglou, which is famous for its dumplings, Zhengyanglou, which was once as famous as Donglaishun for its shabu-shabu mutton, and Chunhualou, the only Jiangsu and Zhejiang restaurant among the eight buildings, have all disappeared.
Don’t wait until you lose something to cherish it. You must try them all while you have the chance.
Just as Lin Sanqi was thinking about how to get food coupons, the two children started waving their hands again:
"Uncle, look, there's a soda stall over there..."
Lin Sanqi took a closer look and saw a row of sodas at the entrance of the street supply and marketing cooperative. The orange color was particularly eye-catching. It was a luxury snack of that era - Beibingyang soda.
Lin Sanqi didn't care. "Want some soda?"
The two children nodded repeatedly: "Yes~~~"
"If you want to drink it, uncle will buy it for you. If you don't drink it now, you probably won't be able to drink it anymore. This is such a thief."
(End of this chapter)
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