Chapter 88
The honeycomb coal in the house dispelled the coldness and silence at the same time.
Xiaomei and Xixi were setting off firecrackers in the yard. Through the old-fashioned crabapple glass, the kitchen was crowded with Zheng Mei, Chen Mudan, Chen Fengjun and Chen Zhisheng.
Chen Lanjun leaned against the kitchen door and watched them frying rice cakes.
The iron pan is heated up, white smoke comes out of the lard, and the slices of homemade rice cake are slid into the pan along the edge.
“Sizzle!”
Lard surrounds the rice cake slices with small bubbles, and small bubbles also appear on the surface of the rice cake. The aroma wafts out, filling the nose and cannot be brushed away.
The fried rice cakes were ready and placed on a plate. Chen Fengjun was walking out with the cake in his hand when he was stopped by Chen Lanjun, who tried to take a piece of it.
"You're not afraid of burning your fingers."
Chen Fengjun glared at her, then pulled out a pair of chopsticks from the bamboo tube on the brick stove and handed them to Chen Lanjun.
"Here, eat it with a pinch of salt. Be careful of the heat."
Chen Lanjun took the chopsticks with a smile, picked up a piece of fried food with many bubbles on the skin and was a little burnt, blew on it twice with her pointed lips, and put it into her mouth.
The rice cake with brown sugar added has a subtle sweetness in itself, and after being fried in oil, the aroma is stimulated to be more thorough.
It tastes glutinous and chewy when chewed, and it is really delicious.
This is considered a very distinctive local New Year food, mainly because it sounds auspicious. Rice cake, rice cake, means getting taller every year.
However, Chen Lanjun glanced into the kitchen and saw Shen Mudan and the others frying rice cakes happily, so she reminded them, “There’s no need to make so many rice cakes, it will take a long time to eat them.”
"How can we not finish it? There are so many people?" Zheng Mei said.
"That's right," Chen Mudan agreed, "I was afraid it wouldn't be enough, so I asked Ahong to go to the neighborhood to buy some. Hey, it's just in time for me to come."
Zhao Hong came in from outside with a bamboo steamer in his hands and placed it on the stove: "I bought it, it's definitely enough, ten kilograms!"
Seeing so many rice cakes, Chen Lanjun's eyelids jumped.
Okay, here are the breakfasts for the first five days of the new year.
At night, after the New Year's Eve dinner, the adults cleared the table, spread a felt cloth on it, and started playing cards. The younger ones went out to play with the children from the neighborhood, and Zhao Hong followed behind to watch.
Chen Mudan, Zheng Mei, Chen Zhisheng, Chen Fengjun and others just happened to fit together a table and sat in four corners.
Chen Lanjun held a paper bag of snacks and looked at this brand, then looked at that brand again.
When I got close to Zheng Mei, my mother was just losing the game and was in a bad mood: "You don't even have a TV here, you can only play cards."
"Even if I had it, I wouldn't have time to watch it." Chen Lanjun said as she cracked a melon seed.
In 1981, even the first Spring Festival Gala had not been held, and after the big news broadcast on New Year’s Eve, there was nothing much to watch.
Chen Mudan played a card and said, "How can she have time to watch it normally? She is either doing homework or doing business."
While Zheng Mei was looking at the cards, she took the time to glance at Chen Lanjun: "Your chin is a little pointy, but that's just right. You should have a good rest during the New Year holidays. We are all here anyway, so you don't have to worry about the meals."
Chen Lanjun held the melon seeds and just smiled.
Seeing the second sister like this, Chen Fengjun knew that something must be wrong: "Why, do you have any other work?"
"A little bit." Chen Lanjun said, "Some friends want to set up a stall, I have to go and take a look."
Chen Fengjun nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
But when it was time to go to bed, she secretly handed Chen Lanjun a current savings passbook.
"Here are three thousand dollars. If you need funds, you can use them."
Chen Lanjun was stunned: "Sister, why are you giving me this?"
"You are in a hurry to do business," Chen Fengjun said, "I asked Ah Hong, he said you invested some money in this factory and he was worried that you were short of money. Don't worry, Xixi and I have enough money. It's just a savings now, you can just use it."
Afraid that she would not accept it, Chen Fengjun deliberately stuffed the money into Chen Lanjun's arms.
"Really," Chen Lanjun didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and took her sister's hand and sat down. "I'm not that poor now. I can sell a batch of goods during the Spring Festival and the funds will come back immediately."
"Then you can take it too, it will be considered as my investment."
Chen Lanjun thought for a moment and said, "You should take it back. After the Chinese New Year, we should open a store in Hong Kong."
"Huh? You're really opening a store in Hong Kong?"
Speaking of this topic, Chen Fengjun was somewhat excited but also somewhat worried. "The rent over there is very expensive."
"We need a store," said Chen Lanjun. "Although we are mainly doing business here, we are still operating under the banner of a Hong Kong enterprise. In the future, the exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong will become closer and closer. If someone finds out that we don't have this brand over there, it will cause trouble."
Now that Zhengmei Company has started up and is gaining momentum, Chen Lanjun does not want to and does not need to bear such a big risk anymore. Once the payment from the Fourth Food Factory arrives, she can start planning to open a store in Hong Kong.
Chen Fengjun nodded repeatedly: "Indeed, there must be a store over there. Oh, right."
She said excitedly, "A lot of changes have taken place in Pengcheng City in the past six months. I heard that some companies can apply for a pass to allow their employees to travel back and forth between Hong Kong and the mainland. I will ask about this when I get back. Since you want to open a store in Hong Kong, you should check the place out in person."
Is there any chance to apply for a pass?
Chen Lanjun also became interested: "Sister, you really need to take a good look at this matter. It would be best if I could go over there and take a look."
If you can really make money there, the rewards will definitely be huge.
The two sisters talked for half the night before they fell asleep.
I had only slept for a few hours when I was woken up by the sound of firecrackers.
Chen Lanjun yawned and got up, fried some rice cakes, and ate them with pork bone porridge. Then she rode her bicycle out to see the stalls selling New Year gift packages.
*** ***
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Lanjun was not the only one who went out early. There were also many people who went to pay New Year's greetings.
An aunt came out of her house with a rather unhappy look on her face.
She was supposed to rush to her boss's house to wish him a happy new year today, but when she woke up she discovered that half of the candies she had prepared to give away had been eaten by the children at home.
Fortunately, it was Chinese New Year, so the child escaped a beating.
Now when I want to go out to buy something, all the supply and marketing cooperatives are closed, which really worries me.
Suddenly I saw a small stall on the street. Next to the stall was a red paper bag hanging on the clothesline, which looked very festive.
Auntie couldn't help but walk over to watch the fun: "You're still setting up a stall outside on New Year's Day? What are you selling?"
The lady at the stall greeted me enthusiastically, "We're selling New Year gift packages. Look, Auntie. This package has candy, biscuits, and 'Smiles'. It's an assorted gift box specially made by the Fourth Food Factory. It's best to take it and give it to someone."
When the aunt took it and looked at it, she found that there was a handle tied with a red rope on it. It was very convenient to carry and most importantly, it looked beautiful.
"How much do you sell this?"
"This is only three dollars, no ticket required."
The aunt was in a dilemma. Three yuan, a pound of sugar costs more than one yuan, and there are other things. It’s not expensive, but fortunately it doesn’t require a ticket.
"Okay, give me a pack."
My aunt bought a big gift package and went to her boss’s house to wish him a happy new year.
There are many colleagues at the leader's house, some carrying candies or biscuits. It is rare to see someone carrying a big New Year gift package like the aunt.
It stood out among the pile of gifts. Even the boss praised: "This New Year gift package looks quite interesting."
The aunt came out with a happy face, and her colleagues asked: "Where did you buy that big gift bag? It looks very fashionable. I will buy one next year too."
"You don't have to wait until next year," Auntie said, "There's a stall selling them at the corner. I'm going to buy a pack, do you want to go?"
"Okay, let's go together."
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