Chapter 136 The Kind-hearted Salted Fish is absolutely not true!
The famous "Maotai Chicken" of Guangzhou, which was renowned overseas in the 1960s and 70s, is a dish improved from poached chicken and was mainly used to entertain foreign guests during the Canton Fair.
In Guangzhou, it's common to serve poached chicken when entertaining guests. While poached chicken tastes good, many people may not be able to accept it because the bones contain bright red blood when cut open.
The chicken was cooked, but there was bright red blood in the bones, which frightened many people.
Let alone foreign guests, many Chinese people might not be able to accept such red streaks of blood in poached chicken. For locals, authentic poached chicken is one where the blood is still in the bones.
So the culinary masters of Yangcheng Restaurant improved the cooking method, first deep-frying the Qingyuan chicken and then steaming it with Moutai liquor, which added a unique aroma to the chicken and made it more tender and smooth, which was well received by diners at home and abroad.
This Maotai chicken is also beautifully presented, arranged in the shape of a phoenix. On the right is the reddish-brown chicken meat and head, forming the phoenix's body, while on the left are bok choy, a ring of stuffed mushrooms, and a ring of straw mushrooms, representing the phoenix's tail feathers.
This stuffed mushroom dish is filled with shrimp meat and garnished with crab roe; it's very beautiful and tempting.
A table full of Maotai chicken, but each person can only taste one piece of chicken and one stuffed mushroom dish.
Qin Xiang slowly finished a piece of chicken, thinking to herself that having a good meal at the Canton Fair made any amount of orders worthwhile.
“From the first Canton Fair in 1957 until now, for fifteen consecutive years, spring and autumn, rain or shine, a lot has happened over the past ten years.”
"In the first year, the Canton Fair's transaction volume was only over 17 million US dollars. But by 1965, the annual transaction volume of the Canton Fair had reached 750 million US dollars. And now, guess how much the transaction volume will be this year?" Manager Meng of the foreign trade company chatted with Qin Xiangxiang and others about the past of the Canton Fair.
Qin Xiangxiang: "Over a billion? Two billion?"
"The total transaction volume this year is 2 billion US dollars, but the exact figure has not yet been calculated."
"In just over a decade, it went from 17 million to 2 billion US dollars, a very rapid development."
"Many stories unfolded at the Canton Fair. In the 1960s, conditions were tough. Foreign trade companies and the organizing committee invited many domestic factories to participate in the fair, allowing them to promote their products themselves. But back then, people were poor, and many factories couldn't even afford the travel expenses. The Anshan Watch Factory sold their donkey to raise the money for their journey, traveling thousands of miles from Northeast China to Guangzhou to promote Anshan watches at the Canton Fair. Now, their watches are exported to many overseas countries, making them a model enterprise for foreign exchange earnings in the province..."
Manager Meng cited this example in the hope that factories and enterprises like Qin Xiangxiang could learn from Anshan Watch Factory and strive to become model factories for foreign exchange earnings.
In recent years, many factories have not been seriously engaged in production. However, factories like Anshan Watch Factory have a large number of foreign trade orders every year. The machines in the factory are constantly humming, and the workers are all immersed in production to earn foreign exchange, and they have no time to do anything else.
"Factory managers, please send more people from your factories to participate in the Canton Fair in both spring and autumn, and promote your factory's products to the outside world..."
"Initially, the Canton Fair mainly featured agricultural and sideline products, such as citrus fruits and tea... Now, there are more and more industrial products."
...
As Manager Meng was speaking, several people knocked on the door of the private room and entered. They were members of the Canton Fair Organizing Committee, and each of them shook hands with Qin Xiangxiang and the others.
One of the organizing committee members was named Li Yongjian. "Your name is Qin Xiangxiang. You're from Feiyan Textile Factory, right? You're selling a salted fish-patterned T-shirt?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
“We are truly destined to meet!” Li Yongjian exclaimed with deep emotion. “More than ten years ago, when the Canton Fair was first held, I was still an employee of the Guangdong Provincial Food Import and Export Foreign Trade Company. The first order I signed at the Canton Fair happened to be for several dozen tons of salted fish.”
Qin Xiangxiang: "??????"
Li Jinling, Yang Zhixia, and the others exclaimed in surprise, "Wow!"
Qin Xiangxiang was truly amazed. They were selling salted fish T-shirts at the Canton Fair, while this member of the organizing committee was selling salted fish at the Canton Fair more than a decade ago.
"What a coincidence! So when I heard about this at your factory, I felt really close to you. I'd like to buy a salted fish T-shirt from your factory as a souvenir." Li Yongjian spoke of this with great nostalgia. Fifteen years ago, his first order, consisting of dozens of tons of salted fish, marked the beginning of his career.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Comrade Li, you're too kind. Our factory will give you a few sets of Xianyu T-shirts."
“This won’t do, I need to buy a few more for my family and friends… For me, Xianyu (a type of online marketplace) is also the most unique meaning of the Canton Fair.”
"Guangzhou is by the sea, and your factory is on an island. Everyone has an inextricable connection with salted fish. It's all fate."
Li Yongjian asked curiously, "Why did your factory come up with the idea of printing salted fish on clothes?"
Assistant He quickly replied, "That's because of our Factory Director Qin's 'kindness'!"
Li Jinling chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes, this is called a kind-hearted salted fish!"
Qin Xiangxiang: "..." Absolutely not! This lazy bum is just a lazy bum!
"Our factory manager rescued a mute child who had been abducted. Later, when the child's relatives were found, it turned out that he was the grandson of the master painter Huang. To thank our factory manager for his kindness, Master Huang specially painted a picture for him."
"It's this salted fish pattern."
Li Yongjian exclaimed in surprise, "So there's such a connection! This salted fish was actually made by Master Huang. The story behind it is truly touching."
...
"Next time you come to the Canton Fair, be sure to contact me, and we can get together again."
"Okay, okay..."
After Li Yongjian and the others left, Manager Meng said to Qin Xiangxiang, "It's good to get to know the people on the Canton Fair organizing committee more often. If you have any problems that need to be solved, you can report them to the organizing committee."
Qin Xiangxiang felt that things were starting to become surreal.
I never expected that I could use Xianyu (a Chinese online marketplace) to build connections.
...Will there be "salted fish diplomacy" in the future?
Many countries abroad are coastal, and those who live by the sea inevitably eat salted fish. Could it be that some people will come along in the future claiming to have an inextricable bond with salted fish, or even making their fortune from it...? Qin Xiangxiang closed her eyes, feeling very peaceful.
During the meal with Manager Meng, we listened to the stories and achievements of the Canton Fair over the years. Whether it was Li Jinling, Assistant He, or Yang Zhixia, everyone was filled with enthusiasm!
The Canton Fair accounted for more than 40% of the export foreign exchange targets. From 17 million US dollars in the first year to more than 2 billion US dollars in 1972... Feiyan Textile Factory contributed a tiny part of these 2 billion US dollars! They were part of these 2 billion US dollars!
They were involved in a two billion dollar deal!
It was truly an eye-opening experience! The people at Feiyan Textile Factory couldn't help but start dreaming, hoping to one day receive the provincial "Outstanding Enterprise in Foreign Exchange Earning" award.
"Once you get to know them, your factory will be able to come to the Canton Fair every year to promote its products!"
"You can also bring more money, browse the exhibition, and enter the exhibition hall with your Canton Fair credentials. You are qualified to purchase export goods and buy what you need."
Qin Xiangxiang's factory arrived relatively late this time. If they had arrived earlier, they could have used their Canton Fair credentials to browse around more. Tea, tobacco, wine, oil-paper umbrellas, fruits, porcelain, lacquerware... all kinds of export goods were on display. As long as you had a Canton Fair credential, you could come in and buy goods.
Many products are divided into domestic and export versions. For example, Feitian Moutai made its debut as an export version at the Autumn Canton Fair in 1958. However, in recent years, the export version of Moutai has changed its name from Feitian Moutai to Sunflower Moutai and is now packaged in milky white glass bottles.
Each session of the Canton Fair has its own Canton Fair badge with a fishtail tag. You must have the Canton Fair badge to enter the Canton Fair venue, and a commemorative medal will be awarded for each session.
The Canton Fair badges and commemorative medals were kept by the participants as souvenirs.
After the meal, the group, wearing their Canton Fair badges and holding commemorative medals, took a group photo.
Back in her guesthouse room, despite being physically exhausted, Li Jinling was incredibly excited. "Sister-in-law, coming to Guangzhou for the Canton Fair is like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden!"
The phrase "Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden" was taught to her by Xue Haiyang. It's really hard to imagine that just two years ago she was a widow in a rural village in Northeast China, and now she has broadened her horizons and seen so many things: export-grade Moutai liquor for twenty yuan a bottle, all kinds of printed silk... and orders worth millions! A transaction amount of two billion!
She also met people from many countries, including England, the United States, Germany, and Russia... speaking gibberish incomprehensible languages, and some of them were blond and blue-eyed, dressed in suits and ties...
"If you talked about these things in our village, people could talk about them for a lifetime. Who has ever heard of anything like this?"
"I'm so tempted to go back to my hometown and brag about it!"
Qin Xiangxiang pinched her adorable daughter Sui Sui's little face and whispered proudly, "I'm going back to brag to your dad too!"
Attending the Canton Fair this time broadened Qin Xiangxiang's horizons.
Go back and tell that deadbeat Li Jianzhi, hmph, shock him to death! Let's see if he can still maintain that calm, deadbeat face.
When she went back, Qin Xiangxiang brought two oil-paper umbrellas with her, and also bought printed silk bed sheets from Chen Shulan's factory. Chen Shulan also asked her factory for some salted fish T-shirts.
Qin Xiangxiang spent money to buy a silk bed sheet with a tractor print. Although the pattern was quite ridiculous, the printed silk bed sheet was indeed very comfortable. She also bought a printed silk bed sheet for her sister-in-law, Li Jinling, who chose a sickle print.
She also picked out a tractor-print silk bed sheet for her parents, while the two sisters-in-law picked out a hoe-print silk bed sheet for their mother-in-law, Wu Xueyan.
The group took a boat back to the island.
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